GUGLIOTTA COMPLETES MARTIN SWEEP
Sun, 2009-08-02 21:35
While there were plenty of exciting races and record runs throughout
the weekend in Elite Motorsports Pro Stock, there was little
doubt who the winner was going to be after Saturday night.
After all, there simply wasn’t anyone who could keep up Frank Gugliotta.
Gugliotta, who never faltered even once in putting up consistent chart topping numbers lap after lap, defeated John Montecalvo in the final of the IHRA Northern Nationals presented by Dart Machinery Sunday in Martin, Mich.
“That is my crew and a good car. We made good calls all weekend long and I drove halfway decent and we just had some consistency and that is what it takes to win,” Gugliotta said. While there were plenty of exciting races and record runs throughout the weekend in Elite Motorsports Pro Stock, there was little
doubt who the winner was going to be after Saturday night.
After all, there simply wasn’t anyone who could keep up Frank Gugliotta.
Gugliotta, who never faltered even once in putting up consistent chart topping numbers lap after lap, defeated John Montecalvo in the final of the IHRA Northern Nationals presented by Dart Machinery Sunday in Martin, Mich.
“That is my crew and a good car. We made good calls all weekend long and I drove halfway decent and we just had some consistency and that is what it takes to win,” Gugliotta said.
With the win Gugliotta (Mt. Airy, Md.) extends his points lead over Montecalvo (Center Moriches, N.Y.) to 46 points and pushes his career final round winning percentage to an astonishing 80 percent in picking up his 12th Ironman in 15 tries.
Gugliotta also got a huge chip off his shoulder as he avenged his first round loss from two weeks ago that allowed Montecalvo to jump back into the championship hunt.
“That is what I have been struggling with the past two weeks in thinking about Grand Bend and that first round loss,” Gugliotta said. “We had the fastest car there and that just didn’t sit right the past two weeks and we came here and we have done well, but I didn’t take any of that for granted.”
Gugliotta ran another solid 6.351 elapsed time at 220.22 miles per hour to claim his second win of the season in a holeshot over Montecalvo who ran a 6.349 second lap at a new track record pace of 220.98 miles per hour.
“I didn’t count John out for a second. John struggled all day and all weekend long, but I knew he would put a run together and as you saw he outran me in the final.”
Thanks to one of the most consistent weekends in Pro Stock history, Gugliotta was able to top the charts on Friday night and never looked back in mowing through the field.
Gugliotta defeated Montecalvo, J.R. Carr, Cary Goforth and Scott Hintz in picking up the win.
“There are a lot of tough guys in this class and they will be gunning for us over the next couple of races,” Gugliotta added.
On the flip side Montecalvo found himself as the runner-up for the fourth time this season.
Montecalvo reached his fourth final round of the season via a victory over one of the fastest drivers of the weekend Mark Martino. Martino, who briefly reset the track speed record during the afternoon session, struggled in his run against Montecalvo who ran a 6.740 second lap to give up lane choice to Gugliotta.
Gugliotta took down teammate J.R. Carr who gave him all he could handle in the semis. Gugliotta ran another lap in the 6.30s at 6.335 at 218.34 miles per hour, but Carr was just behind with a 6.400 second lap at 219.36 mph.
In quarterfinal action Gugliotta continued his weekend of dominance with a win over Cary Goforth, Montecalvo edged Chris Holbrook, Carr beat Robert Patrick and Martino got around Richard Freeman.
Martino was able to move on via his second consecutive run in the 220 mile per hour range, resetting the track speed record in the process.
In the opening round Pete Berner saw his hopes of a third championship take a big hit when Montecalvo knocked him out of the first round. Berner nailed the tree, but shook the tires early in the run allowing Montecalvo to cruise around him.
Dean Goforth, the winner two weeks ago in Grand Bend, also suffered an early exit at the hands of Carr.
Roger Richards
After all, there simply wasn’t anyone who could keep up Frank Gugliotta.
Gugliotta, who never faltered even once in putting up consistent chart topping numbers lap after lap, defeated John Montecalvo in the final of the IHRA Northern Nationals presented by Dart Machinery Sunday in Martin, Mich.
“That is my crew and a good car. We made good calls all weekend long and I drove halfway decent and we just had some consistency and that is what it takes to win,” Gugliotta said. While there were plenty of exciting races and record runs throughout the weekend in Elite Motorsports Pro Stock, there was little
Roger Richards
After all, there simply wasn’t anyone who could keep up Frank Gugliotta.
Gugliotta, who never faltered even once in putting up consistent chart topping numbers lap after lap, defeated John Montecalvo in the final of the IHRA Northern Nationals presented by Dart Machinery Sunday in Martin, Mich.
“That is my crew and a good car. We made good calls all weekend long and I drove halfway decent and we just had some consistency and that is what it takes to win,” Gugliotta said.
With the win Gugliotta (Mt. Airy, Md.) extends his points lead over Montecalvo (Center Moriches, N.Y.) to 46 points and pushes his career final round winning percentage to an astonishing 80 percent in picking up his 12th Ironman in 15 tries.
Gugliotta also got a huge chip off his shoulder as he avenged his first round loss from two weeks ago that allowed Montecalvo to jump back into the championship hunt.
“That is what I have been struggling with the past two weeks in thinking about Grand Bend and that first round loss,” Gugliotta said. “We had the fastest car there and that just didn’t sit right the past two weeks and we came here and we have done well, but I didn’t take any of that for granted.”
Gugliotta ran another solid 6.351 elapsed time at 220.22 miles per hour to claim his second win of the season in a holeshot over Montecalvo who ran a 6.349 second lap at a new track record pace of 220.98 miles per hour.
“I didn’t count John out for a second. John struggled all day and all weekend long, but I knew he would put a run together and as you saw he outran me in the final.”
Thanks to one of the most consistent weekends in Pro Stock history, Gugliotta was able to top the charts on Friday night and never looked back in mowing through the field.
Gugliotta defeated Montecalvo, J.R. Carr, Cary Goforth and Scott Hintz in picking up the win.
“There are a lot of tough guys in this class and they will be gunning for us over the next couple of races,” Gugliotta added.
On the flip side Montecalvo found himself as the runner-up for the fourth time this season.
Montecalvo reached his fourth final round of the season via a victory over one of the fastest drivers of the weekend Mark Martino. Martino, who briefly reset the track speed record during the afternoon session, struggled in his run against Montecalvo who ran a 6.740 second lap to give up lane choice to Gugliotta.
Gugliotta took down teammate J.R. Carr who gave him all he could handle in the semis. Gugliotta ran another lap in the 6.30s at 6.335 at 218.34 miles per hour, but Carr was just behind with a 6.400 second lap at 219.36 mph.
In quarterfinal action Gugliotta continued his weekend of dominance with a win over Cary Goforth, Montecalvo edged Chris Holbrook, Carr beat Robert Patrick and Martino got around Richard Freeman.
Martino was able to move on via his second consecutive run in the 220 mile per hour range, resetting the track speed record in the process.
In the opening round Pete Berner saw his hopes of a third championship take a big hit when Montecalvo knocked him out of the first round. Berner nailed the tree, but shook the tires early in the run allowing Montecalvo to cruise around him.
Dean Goforth, the winner two weeks ago in Grand Bend, also suffered an early exit at the hands of Carr.
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