POMONA, Calif., Oct. 23, 2004 - Nelson Hoyos' Ecotec-powered Chevy Cavalier established a national speed record of 194.88 mph in the NHRA Pro FWD category today during the final qualifying session for the Nitto NHRA Sport Compact World Finals at Pomona Raceway. Hoyos' Chevrolet bolted to its sixth pole position of the season with an elapsed time of 7.451 seconds and a record-setting top speed of 194.88 mph. The 2003 Pro FWD champion has a 45-point lead over defending race champ Lisa Kubo heading into tomorrow's season finale in his quest for a second consecutive Pro FWD championship.
Hoyos' Ecotec-Powered Chevrolet
Sets National Speed Record In Sport Compact
Season Finale At Pomona
POMONA, Calif., Oct. 23, 2004 - Nelson Hoyos' Ecotec-powered Chevy Cavalier established a national speed record of 194.88 mph in the NHRA Pro FWD category today during the final qualifying session for the Nitto NHRA Sport Compact World Finals at Pomona Raceway. Hoyos' Chevrolet bolted to its sixth pole position of the season with an elapsed time of 7.451 seconds and a record-setting top speed of 194.88 mph. The 2003 Pro FWD champion has a 45-point lead over defending race champ Lisa Kubo heading into tomorrow's season finale in his quest for a second consecutive Pro FWD championship.
"We came to this race to execute it exactly like every other race we've gone to this year," said Hoyos. "Which is to just go out on the first run, establish a good baseline and tune from there. The track is a little off and probably won't give us record times, but the miles per hour have just been booming. This Ecotec engine is just screaming on the other end. So that's mega-horsepower, which is nice after we've been going fast and running in the .40s consistently. Now to go 194+ mph, that's wild.
"The fact that we can run fast is one thing, but the thing that this team does so well is to run fast again, and again, and again. A lot of teams can make one good run, but not two or three. We seem to be able to put three, four, five good runs together. This team is just awesome. They've been able to read the track well and do exactly what they need to do. When you're able to run a 7.47 and a 7.45 back to back, that's great."
Ron Lummus' Ecotec-powered Pontiac Sunfire grabbed his second consecutive No. 1 qualifying position in the NHRA HOT ROD category today with a run of 7.970 seconds at 185.66 mph. Lummus set both the elapsed time and speed record in the HOT ROD category at the series' previous event at Englishtown (N.J.).
Marty Ladwig's Pontiac Sunfire is qualified in the No. 2 spot in HOT ROD after the San Antonio, Tex., resident ran an elapsed time of 8.191 seconds at 177.95 mph. Ladwig has already clinched the 2004 NHRA Summit Sport Compact championship at the series' August event in St. Louis to back up his 2003 championship season.
"We're off just a little bit and I'm not sure where," said Ladwig. "We still have a couple of passes tomorrow to hopefully get this Sunfire dialed in. It's a little less stressful, though, just worrying about how to win the race and not having to worry about points or the championship."
In Pro RWD, Matt Harftford drove his twin-turbo GM Global 3.5L V6-powered Chevy Cavalier to the No. 6 qualifying position with an elapsed time of 7.287 seconds at 149.07 mph. Stephan Papadakis, who is tied for the points lead going into tomorrow's season-ending eliminations, took the No. 1 qualifying position with a run of 6.606 seconds at 210.34 mph.
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