Tom Martino...the troubleshooter or maker?

Tom Martino just won Pro Stock at the Gatornationals in Gainesville...on the side of his car it says "the troubleshooter" (with shooter marked out and "maker" written above it)...the other Tom Martino is a guy in Denver who does a consumer problem nationally syndicated radio show called the "troubleshooter". Actually, he lives in the same town I live in (Parker), ex-home of Melanie Troxel and current home of retired FC owner John Constanza. Here is the link...The Troubleshooter
Now you know the rest of the story!

Gainesville...first 4's and 6's

Gainesville saw it's first 4 second runs in 1990, when Darrell Gwynn and Lori Johns ran 4's in qualifying. Lori lost to Gary Ormsby in the 2nd round and Darrell went on to win the event, record low e.t. and low reaction time.

The first four second run showed up in 1996. John Force ran a 4.999 in defeating Chuck Etchells in the final. John also set low reaction time of the event as well. Al Hofmann qualified #1.

1996 was memorable for the Pro Stock cars as well, when Warren Johnson broke the six second barrier during qualifying...but Warren lost in the first round on a hole shot to Mike Edwards, who lost on a holeshot in the 2nd round to Mark Osborne (got that?). Jim Yates won the event.

2005 saw the first six second bike run by Andrew Hines...you would think this was Andrew's race, as he set low et, top speed, low reaction time and was #1 qualifier...unfortunately he redlit in the second round against Steve Johnson. Steve went on to win the event.

Sway...

Jose Sway was mercifully axed on American Idol last night. The only other person I have heard of or known is Joe Sway...here is Joe's stats from 1987 to 1989...the last year he qualified. As you can see, Joe made it to the 2nd round 4 times, only to lose each time. His best qualifying spot was #4 at Seattle in 1988. Joe has a rare stat...qualifying lower than 16 and racing the next day, under old NHRA rules. Joe did this at Reading in 1987, qualifying #17. Joe ran 18 rounds and red-lit 5 times, over 25% of the time. Joe split his 4 wins over each type of win. One good, one aborted win, one holeshot, one on an opponent redlight.

A few Phoenix notes...

Hello Everyone: I'm going to post a few stats during the NHRA season. I'm starting with this about Phoenix.

Phoenix saw it's first 4 second run in the second round of the 1989 race, when Darrell Gwynn defeated Gary Ormsby. But the 1989 race was Shirley Muldowney's. She qualified #1, set top speed of the meet, set low reaction time and beat Gwynn on a holeshot in the final.

While Al Hofmann ran the first 4's in Funny Car at the 1998 event, Chuck (first in 4's) Etchells set low e.t. and top speed at the event and went on to win the event. Chuck ran two 4's at the event, one in the second round over Whit Bazemore and one over an up-in-smoke Ron Capps in the final. Ron and Cruz Pedregon also recorded 4's during the first round of the event as well.

Warren Johnson and Jim Yates were the first in the 6's at Phoenix in 1997. WJ qualified #1, set low et and top speed, but Yates won the event defeating WJ with a 6.995 in the final.

I was thinking to myself Saturday night why I was watching the qualifying.
It wasn't Marty Reid's continual gaffes or Mike Dunn setting him straight again or Dave Reif walking down the return road. It wasn't watching fuel cars shut off and abort runs.
Actually, I wanted to see the new sponsors and paint schemes and see if Erica Enders had become any cuter...

Have a great day.