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Tran Sets
New World Record In San Antonio
#1 Qualifier,
Event Win And 8.591 at 170mph Makes A Perfect Weekend For Jotech Racing
10-11-2002- Garland Texas. The NOPI world finals in San Antonio, Texas
saw Kenny Tran shatter the world record with a stunning 8.591 sec pass
at 170mph. Driving the Jotech/AC Honda Civic, Tran, not only set a new
record but also qualified for the event in first place and went on to
beat Lisa Kubo in a breathtaking final round race.
Tran's march into the record books almost didn't happen because of the
unpredictable weather conditions. Saturday's qualifying sessions were
cancelled because of rain and the Jotech team didn't decide to travel
to the NOPI event until the early hours of Sunday morning.
" We were keeping a close eye on the weather conditions on Saturday
evening." Said Tran. " We finally decided to make the trip down
to San Antonio early on Sunday morning. It was about 4.00am when we left
Dallas. I'm glad I dragged myself out of bed now…"
With only
two qualifying sessions on Sunday morning Kenny made an easy pass in the
first session to enable tuner, Bob Norwood, to gather some data on the
track conditions.
With the information in hand Norwood dialed in a near-perfect tune up
for the second session and Kenny blasted to a 8.591 @ 170mph to clinch
the top qualifying spot and the chance to set a new world record.
" We made a few changes to the car earlier in the week and this was
the first chance we had to test it out." Tran commented. "Bob
came up with a new header design and he burned the midnight oil to build
the header in time for this event. We also installed a new Turbonetics
ball-bearing turbo and made a couple of other minor changes. Overall I
would say that the changes worked pretty good."
After grabbing
the top slot in qualifying Team Jotech got a bye in the first round and
eliminated Len Ayala's HRC Neon in the second round. That set up a final
round race against the hard-charging Lisa Kubo who is definitely back
on the pace after a difficult early part of the season.
" Lisa
and Gary Kubo are good friends of mine but when we line up to race we
both know that it is going to be a real battle. Gary has got his car flying
now and Lisa is a really tough competitor so any wins against the Kubo's
are hard won." Said Kenny. " With a chance to back up the 8.591
pass and set a new record we knew we had to have another great run. Thankfully
the team got it right and we managed to do the job in style with a 8.61@170mph
to get both ends of the record."
While Tran
tripped the lights at record-setting pace, Kubo was having a nightmare
in the other lane. After recording an 8.81 second run Lisa's Honda Civic
suffered a mechanical problem that resulted in the Nitto Civic standing
on its nose at high speed followed by a spectacular spin and contact with
the wall. Kubo was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
"I had no idea what had happened." Said Kenny. " Thankfully,
Lisa is OK. and she will be back soon and will probably be faster than
ever.
On a lighter note, I have got to thank everybody in the team for making
it a perfect race. I am totally pumped now for the final round of the
NHRA championship in Pomona next weekend. We are going to California with
all guns blazing and everything is set up for a perfect season finale."
The NHRA Sport
Compact final is scheduled for 25th-26th of October at Pomona California.
Contacts:
Jotech Motorsports
www.jotechracing.com
972-278-9744
Bob Norwood
www.bobnorwood.com
972-831-8111
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