Massey solid in Gatornationals

March 12

Spencer Massey and his Prestone/FRAM Top Fuel dragster produced a solid semifinal finish in today's 42nd annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals here at Gainesville Raceway.

Massey, who was a quarterfinal finisher at the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season-opening Winternationals two weeks ago in Pomona, Calif., stepped up the pace in the East Coast opener, scoring wins in the first two rounds of eliminations.

"When you get to the semis, you want to get to the finals," said the 28-year-old Fort Worth native. "But that wasn't the case for our Prestone/FRAM Top Fuel team.

“Overall we did have a good weekend, but we wanted more. And the way this team is progressing, we'll get to where we want to be."

Massey's dragster, tuned by co-crew chiefs Phil Schuler and Todd Okuhara, clicked off consistent runs in the first two sessions with wins over Chris Karamesines and Shawn Langdon. Massey's elapsed time and speed in the first round was 3.853 seconds at 311.41 miles per hour. He came back in the quarterfinal round with run of 3.862 at 314.02.

"We had the consistency until that semifinal round against Del (Worsham)," said Massey. "We were on a roll and felt this could be our day."

But when the green lights flashed and the 8,000-horsepower dragsters launched off the line, both cars lost traction early, which set off a pedaling duel to the finish line. The close tire-smoking race was won by Worsham, who went on to win the event with a final round win over Massey's Don Schumacher Racing teammate, Tony Schumacher.  

"I did my job on the starting line, I just wish I could've done a better job pedaling the car," stated Massey. "I was trying my hardest to feather the throttle."

Massey remains seventh in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series point standings.

He heads to the next event, the 12^th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, April 1-3 on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.