Team owner confirms he’s playing the waiting game on Connolly program …

The highly-anticipation sponsorship program which could bring Dave Connolly back to NHRA Pro Stock is in a holding pattern,
according to team owner Victor Cagnazzi.

“We’ve felt we were close, but at this point we aren’t really sure how close we are,” Cagnazzi said in a recent interview with Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com. “The process seems like it’s been at 90-percent for a month now.”

Connolly was poised to challenge fellow Cagnazzi Racing teammate Jeg Coughlin, Jr. for the 2008 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock championship when sponsor/team owner Evan Knoll suspended sponsorships before taking a medical leave of absence due to injuries sustained in a non-racing automobile crash.

Team owner confirms he’s playing the waiting game on Connolly program …

The highly-anticipation sponsorship program which could bring Dave Connolly back to NHRA Pro Stock is in a holding pattern,
according to team owner Victor Cagnazzi.

“We’ve felt we were close, but at this point we aren’t really sure how close we are,” Cagnazzi said in a recent interview with Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com. “The process seems like it’s been at 90-percent for a month now.”

Connolly was poised to challenge fellow Cagnazzi Racing teammate Jeg Coughlin, Jr. for the 2008 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock championship when sponsor/team owner Evan Knoll suspended sponsorships before taking a medical leave of absence due to injuries sustained in a non-racing automobile crash.

In the meantime, Cagnazzi has moved forward with the Coughlin program and the car driven by Connolly has been kept in the rotation by Ron Krisher, another teammate.

Connolly told Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com at the NHRA Gatornationals he anticipated being back sometime in 2008. If the package comes together, last year’s third place points finisher will be ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Hope is what you survive on in this business. Once you lose that, you might as well just stop. - Victor Cagnazzi

 

“We’ve continued to work on the car,” Connolly said. “We have a brand new car ready to hit the floor soon and once that’s finished, we’ll get back out there testing. We’re just waiting for everything to go through. There are a lot of things that need to happen first.”

“How quick we return depends on the activation the sponsor wants to take,” Cagnazzi added.

In the meantime, Connolly is keeping the driving talents sharpened by racing in the sportsman ranks.
“I’m just keeping my edge out here racing,” Connolly said. “I’m racing just as much if not more than I would if I was still in Pro Stock. I’m enjoying it and having fun. Drag racers don’t care what they are driving. It’s all fun to them.”

Until he makes a return to Pro Stock, Connolly will continue running the brackets and Cagnazzi will keep his hopes high not to mention fingers crossed.

“Hope is what you survive on in this business,” Cagnazzi admitted. “Once you lose that, you might as well just stop. Everybody in the front office is working hard to make something happen.

“I wish we had something closer.”