After making the long haul to the ADRL Hardee’s Independence Drags III in Topeka, KS without a full run on his rebuilt Pro Nitrous ’55 Chevy, Charles Carpenter feels much more comfortable about the logistics facing his Charlotte, NC based team this weekend.

Carpenter and crew are headed into this weekend’s ADRL NATIONALGUARD.com U.S. Drags II with much more confidence and far less travel time as they make the short trip north to Virginia Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie, VA, located just outside Richmond.

Carpenter continues to refine rebuilt ’55 heading into Richmond

After making the long haul to the ADRL Hardee’s Independence Drags III in Topeka, KS without a full run on his rebuilt Pro Nitrous ’55 Chevy, Charles Carpenter feels much more comfortable about the logistics facing his Charlotte, NC based team this weekend.

Carpenter and crew are headed into this weekend’s ADRL NATIONALGUARD.com U.S. Drags II with much more confidence and far less travel time as they make the short trip north to Virginia Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie, VA, located just outside Richmond.

“We got some more hits on this rebuilt chassis a couple weeks ago during a Quick 8 at Farmington Motorsports Park in Winston-Salem, NC,” said Carpenter. “After the rains cleared out, we went out for the last qualifying session and laid down a 3.987 to take the number one qualifying spot before the race was called due to curfew. Needless to say, we were really happy to get back in the 3’s and hope to apply what we learned to this weekend’s race.”

Carpenter will need to apply that knowledge as soon as he hits the track VMP to keep up with the torrid pace being set in the Pro Nitrous category and maintain his long shot hopes of a Speedtech Battle for the Belts championship run.

“After missing three races, our chances for the Pro Nitrous belt are slim-to-none, but if you do the math we theoretically still have a chance,” said the doorslammer icon. “We’re only six elimination rounds out of eighth place, so with some luck we can make up ground on those guys that are right above us in the standings. We went to the finals at this race last year, so we’ll see what happens.”

Known for his raceday toughness and savvy, the veteran driver says the formula to accomplish that climb in the standings is very simple.

“For me, qualifying isn’t about making that one moonshot or shaking the tires trying to rotate the Earth. It’s about figuring out what the car is going to want when it comes time for eliminations. We’ve got to make it down the track every run in qualifying,” Carpenter admitted. “The data from those runs is critical. From there, we have to put ourselves in a solid qualifying position and once I get confident in what the car will do, I can start focusing on drilling the tree.”

A time-tested veteran of the tiny local tracks scattered across Virginia from his match racing days in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Carpenter will surely have the hearts and hopes of both the local diehard fans and the thousands of new ones in attendance at the U.S. Drags riding along with him in his one-of-a-kind shoebox as he makes his bid for a Minuteman trophy and a shot at a championship.
 

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