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Disappointment and aggravation are just two of the words Top Doorslammer driver Victor Bray used to describe his feelings about not qualifying for the Golden State titles this weekend - "The other words are best left unprinted," Bray said. All qualifying runs were tyre-smoking lessons for the driver of the Castrol Edge 1957 Chev Top Doorslammer. All passes having trouble just after the 100-foot mark, and ending Bray senior's chances at keeping his No. 3 spot in the ANDRA standings. He found himself in sixth after racing.
"It's really disappointing, to say the least, but, we're not out by any means. I've said it before, not qualifying is something we have to deal with - and for us, DNQ means 'Do Not Quit' - which is exactly the attitude we're taking as we move forward from here."
"In times like this, I have to take a step back and look at the big picture, and, from that perspective, things are just okay. We've had an okay season but as we head into the second half of the season we need to do some testing because as the old saying goes practice makes perfect", Victor said.
As for 'Benny The Kid' his week-end was typical of the highs and lows Bray junior has endured all season long. He started by qualifying in fourth position with a 6.161 / 233.16.
The quarterfinals saw 'Benny The Kid' paired against seasoned campaigner Gary Phillips and the Studebaker, a very formidable opponent. Leaving the line 9 hundreds of a second ahead of Phillips, who was fighting tyre shake and wasn't able to catch him. Benny taking the win 6.129 / 234.98 to Phillips 6.362 / 233.76
His hopes of taking the scalp of local West Australian hero Mr 5 second man in the semi finals went up in tyre shake however, after about 200 feet of track against Zappia who delivered a 5.950 / 239.36 to Bray's 6.804 / 163.33. Bray cut the better light 0.114 to Zappia's 0.316 but was unable to recover after massive tyre shake.
Victor said, "We were a little too aggressive for what we thought the track would handle, and it just shook the tyres early in the pass."
"The up side of this weekend is, although I dropped from 3rd to 6th position in the Championship Ben actually moved up few spots from 9th to 5th because 50% bonus points on offer in the west. Overall, it's really a positive weekend for him,"
For Benny it is now a trip back across to Sydney for Top Alcohol duties at West Sydney International Dragway for the 2007 International Top Fuel event December 8 & 9
A Semi for Benny and a Do Not Quit for Vic.
Disappointment and aggravation are just two of the words Top Doorslammer driver Victor Bray used to describe his feelings about not qualifying for the Golden State titles this weekend - "The other words are best left unprinted," Bray said. All qualifying runs were tyre-smoking lessons for the driver of the Castrol Edge 1957 Chev Top Doorslammer. All passes having trouble just after the 100-foot mark, and ending Bray senior's chances at keeping his No. 3 spot in the ANDRA standings. He found himself in sixth after racing.
"It's really disappointing, to say the least, but, we're not out by any means. I've said it before, not qualifying is something we have to deal with - and for us, DNQ means 'Do Not Quit' - which is exactly the attitude we're taking as we move forward from here."
"In times like this, I have to take a step back and look at the big picture, and, from that perspective, things are just okay. We've had an okay season but as we head into the second half of the season we need to do some testing because as the old saying goes practice makes perfect", Victor said.
As for 'Benny The Kid' his week-end was typical of the highs and lows Bray junior has endured all season long. He started by qualifying in fourth position with a 6.161 / 233.16.
The quarterfinals saw 'Benny The Kid' paired against seasoned campaigner Gary Phillips and the Studebaker, a very formidable opponent. Leaving the line 9 hundreds of a second ahead of Phillips, who was fighting tyre shake and wasn't able to catch him. Benny taking the win 6.129 / 234.98 to Phillips 6.362 / 233.76
His hopes of taking the scalp of local West Australian hero Mr 5 second man in the semi finals went up in tyre shake however, after about 200 feet of track against Zappia who delivered a 5.950 / 239.36 to Bray's 6.804 / 163.33. Bray cut the better light 0.114 to Zappia's 0.316 but was unable to recover after massive tyre shake.
Victor said, "We were a little too aggressive for what we thought the track would handle, and it just shook the tyres early in the pass."
"The up side of this weekend is, although I dropped from 3rd to 6th position in the Championship Ben actually moved up few spots from 9th to 5th because 50% bonus points on offer in the west. Overall, it's really a positive weekend for him,"
For Benny it is now a trip back across to Sydney for Top Alcohol duties at West Sydney International Dragway for the 2007 International Top Fuel event December 8 & 9
