Championship Drag Racing

Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals
Sonoma, CA
(July 27-29)

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Driver Profile

Justin Humphreys RaceRedi Motorsports Pontiac GXP

Sonoma, prerace: After a weekend of inclement Seattle weather, rookie Pro Stock driver Justin Humphreys is looking forward to a little California sunshine.

One can’t blame him. There wasn’t much sun prior to or during the Schuck’s Nationals that concluded Sunday. By Monday, Humphreys, of Monrovia, Md., had his first look at Seattle in his rear-view mirror en route to the wine country of Sonoma, Calif. – and another new stop on his racing agenda.

“It’s my first time out here – another new place, another new track,” he said.

Rain showers washed out Friday’s qualifying sessions and only allowed one session on Saturday. Humphreys and the RaceRedi Motorsports Knoll-Gas Energy Pontiac GTO team were able to extend their qualifying streak to four and they hope to keep it going at the FRAM-Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.

That success caused Humphreys to rethink his pre-season goal.

“Our goal this year was to qualify, and now our expectations have been raised,” said. “You win rounds by running good. That’s our next step.”

 Humphreys already has been to two semifinal rounds while he adapts to the competitive pressure of racing in one of the sport’s toughest categories. He made the most of his lone qualifying attempt at Seattle, turning in a 6.724-second elapsed time at 205.26 mph that put him 15th overall. He was sent to the sidelines by Allen Johnson in the opening round.

While he is new to Pro Stock battles, Humphreys previously raced in the Sport Compact and Nopi series.  He is surrounded by veteran crew members, led by crew chief Eric Luzinski.  

One drawback of the rain at Seattle was that he only made the one run and Luzinski wasn’t able to gather more track data.

It should be different at Sonoma.

“Hopefully we can get more (track) data and make more qualifying runs than we did at Seattle,” added Humphreys. It’s all part of his ongoing Pro Stock  education.

This is the 15th race of the season and ends the grueling string of six races in succession.

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