Championship Drag Racing

O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals
Houston, Texas
(March 28-30)

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Driver Profile

Justin Humphreys RaceRedi Motorsports Pontiac GXP

Houston, pre-race: With a little luck, the weekend weather forecast for Houston Raceway Park will be sunny and dry for the 21st running of the O’Reilly Spring Nationals. That would be just fine with Justin Humphreys and the rest of the visiting NHRA POWERade Series drivers.

Rain on Friday at the last two stops (Phoenix and Gainesville, Fla.) idled everyone at a time when competitors needed to make runs to stay in top competitive form.  Humphreys, for example, took the new RaceRedi Motorsports Pontiac GXP to Gainesville and – thanks to three days of pre-race test runs – grabbed the No. 10 Pro Stock starting berth with only two qualifying attempts.  

Humphreys advanced to the quarterfinals before unpredictable track conditions and ensuing loss of traction ended his day. But not before he secured ninth place (137 points), marking the sophomore driver’s third straight race in the top 10.

“We are going to Houston hoping to get more than two qualifying sessions,” said Humphreys, of Monrovia, Md. “It’s frustrating (and nerve-racking) when you only get to make two runs. We were happy that we qualified at all the races. Qualifying is still tough because there are so many good cars.”

Humphreys said crew chief Bob Glidden and engine builder Richard Maskin “ have been busy at the shop trying to find more horsepower. We won’t test before going to Houston but Bob feels confident with the way our new car is working. We’ll see how track conditions are.”

Glidden, winner of 85 NHRA Pro Stock races and 10 series championships, won the first two races at HRP. The first, in 1988, came just before a huge lightning and thunderstorm struck the area.  Glidden also won again in 1993.

“Our first goal is to try and qualify in the top half of the field so we get lane choice in the first round,” added Humphreys.

After that, four round wins and winner’s circle photos would be the preferred race-day sequence.

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