Brandon “The Kid” qualifies strong in NHRA Lucas Oil opener, pleased with progress

Third-year NHRA funny car driver Brandon "The Kid" Lewis put together a strong run to qualify in the top half of the field at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division-4 season opener, but early-season technical problems slowed the Aluminum Tank and Truck Accessories funny car in eliminations.

[ClickPress, Mon Feb 19 2007] The time Brandon “The Kid” Lewis achieved on his second qualifying pass – 5.854 seconds – was good enough to put him in the top half of the field at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division-4 opener at Houston Raceway Park.

In fact, that time would have been good enough to win the top alcohol funny car final.

Unfortunately for Lewis, he wasn’t able to duplicate his second-round pass. A combination of cold track temperatures, tire problems and mechanical issues slowed the third-year funny car pilot in his first race of the season.

Facing Jimmy Jones in the first round of eliminations, Lewis was forced to shut down the Aluminum Tank and Truck Accessories funny car to avoid veering across the center line. The apparent cause of the vibrations which pushed Lewis left was a pair of tires the have now outstayed their welcome.

“We just have to work out the little bugs you don’t find until you go out to that first race,” Lewis said. “We weren’t the only ones who had a few technical problems this weekend. It’s a new season and those are the kind of things that are going to happen right out of the box.”

The Broken Arrow, Okla. native was one of several drivers who couldn’t get traction on the cold strip during the Friday night qualifying pass and he didn’t make a third qualifying pass due to a mechanical issue.

Lewis said his best run will prove to be his norm at future events, including the next SouthCentral points meet in Memphis, March 23-25.

“I felt we could have won this weekend. We just got behind the eight ball when we didn’t make the third pass and we fought an up-hill battle with the tires,” Lewis said. “For Memphis we’ll put the Goodyears back on and hopefully the bad luck we had with one faulty rod won’t follow us.”

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Photos of Brandon “The Kid” Lewis, the Aluminum Tank and Truck Accessories funny car and crew members are available by contacting Jimmy Hart.

Visit Aluminum Tank and Truck Accessories at www.attatank.com.

Media contact:
Jimmy Hart
Public Relations Director
Brandon “The Kid” Lewis
Mobile: 918-261-7887
E-mail: jimmy@brandonthekid.com

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