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Phil Burkart ran right with his Checker, Schuck's, Kragen teammate, Del Worsham, with a pair of solid laps on Friday in Denver. In the first session, contested under a sizzling Colorado sun, Burkart posted a 5.318 which was actually good enough for the No. 5 spot at the time, while Worsham was No. 4 after one lap. Under the lights on Friday night, when the environment was far more conducive to solid performance, Burkart streaked to a much quicker 4.952 to land in the No. 6 spot overnight. His speed reading of 313.37 mph was second-best of the day, and only trailed Worsham's ultra-fast 317.64 on the scoreboard.
"That second run was just about as nice and easy as they come in a Funny Car," Burkart said. "It never wavered, never made a strange move, and just powered right down there. In some ways, the first run was even more impressive, because only a handful of teams were able to negotiate the full track this afternoon. It was seriously hot, and the track was not very forgiving. We went right down there, and even though a 5.31 sounds like a number out of the early 1990s, it was still a good lap under the conditions.
"We knew it would be better tonight, but we weren't going flat out for glory or nothing. There's too much at stake on these Friday night runs for us to risk it all with some sort of home run swing. We just wanted to stay in the top half, put a good lap on the build, keep building the momentum, and set ourselves up for a good race here. The key is to be in the show, and if we can stay in the top half that's even better."
BURKART'S SOLID EFFORT IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR No. 6 OVERNIGHT
Phil Burkart ran right with his Checker, Schuck's, Kragen teammate, Del Worsham, with a pair of solid laps on Friday in Denver. In the first session, contested under a sizzling Colorado sun, Burkart posted a 5.318 which was actually good enough for the No. 5 spot at the time, while Worsham was No. 4 after one lap. Under the lights on Friday night, when the environment was far more conducive to solid performance, Burkart streaked to a much quicker 4.952 to land in the No. 6 spot overnight. His speed reading of 313.37 mph was second-best of the day, and only trailed Worsham's ultra-fast 317.64 on the scoreboard.
"That second run was just about as nice and easy as they come in a Funny Car," Burkart said. "It never wavered, never made a strange move, and just powered right down there. In some ways, the first run was even more impressive, because only a handful of teams were able to negotiate the full track this afternoon. It was seriously hot, and the track was not very forgiving. We went right down there, and even though a 5.31 sounds like a number out of the early 1990s, it was still a good lap under the conditions.
"We knew it would be better tonight, but we weren't going flat out for glory or nothing. There's too much at stake on these Friday night runs for us to risk it all with some sort of home run swing. We just wanted to stay in the top half, put a good lap on the build, keep building the momentum, and set ourselves up for a good race here. The key is to be in the show, and if we can stay in the top half that's even better."
