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Columbus: Shaun Carlson Saturday summary

Racing series NHRA Date 2006-05-20
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SHAUN CARLSON MAKES PROGRESS, MISSES FIELD IN COLUMBUS

HEBRON, Ohio (May 20, 2006) - Pro Stock Rookie Shaun Carlson hopped into what felt like a new race car to him at National Trail Raceway this weekend, after major adjustments were made to the Team Mopar/SRT Dodge Stratus R/T last week at Jerry Haas' chassis shop in Fenton, Missouri.

The California native made four straight passes, and although he was unable to claim a spot in the ultra-competitive 16-car NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Pro Stock field here at National Trail, he and the team feel progress is being made.

"My car is doing better and it's getting a lot easier to drive," says Carlson. "It stays straight when the front end is off the ground, and it doesn't carry the front end very much anymore. During the run, everything seems to happen a lot slower now than at the beginning of the season. We're learning a lot and making progress."

The best of his four qualifying runs came Friday night, a 6.751-second pass at 204.01 mph. His other sessions produced a 6.786/203.92, a 6.798/202.94, and a 6.759/203.52.

"We've been making a lot of changes with the car, whether it's stuff inside the cockpit, or mechanical stuff, that David (Nickens, crew chief) and Terry (Adams, assistant crew chief) have been trying. We've found some things out that have helped our performance, and we'll all keep working towards the ultimate goal, and that is to qualify and start to go rounds.

"I've made more passes in the last month than I had in the first few months of the season. These Team Mopar/SRT guys have been working their butts off with all of the testing and races. But, I think that is the key to this class. It takes time to get comfortable and to be competitive here, and I'm glad Don (Schumacher, team owner) is sticking with this and giving me the chance to drive the Mopar/SRT Dodge Stratus R/T."

He and the Team Mopar/SRT Dodge team will aim to continue the progress and qualify for next weekend's O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka (Kansas), May 25-28.
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