Championship Drag Racing

Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals
Columbus, OH
(May 19-22)

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Driver Profile

Scott Weis Serta/Barrett Enterprises dragster

Columbus, Saturday: A nail biter is nothing new to the "working man's team," as driver Scott Weis often uses the first three qualifying shots as a test session. The Pontiac Performance Nationals was no exception, after two non-representative runs Friday and a tire-smoking run third session Saturday the Barrett Enterprises team sat on the bump spot, which became an even more uncomfortable position when Jack Beckman bumped them out of the field. Now the team's destiny was in their own hands: run quicker than 4.803 or go home early.

Weis rose to the occasion, running a 4.76 at a slowing 295 mph with only seven cylinders. The 4.76 was enough to place Weis and his team in the 11th starting spot.

"Howard (crew chief Weis) has a combination that lets us run 4.70s on a gravel road, if we have to," said Weis.  "On our other two runs we were trying to move the earth and just couldn't get the car to cooperate.

Weis and his family-owned team have set only one goal this year: a national event championship.

“Our game plan this year has been to sacrifice some parts and points when we have to so we can develop a combination that can win the final,” said Weis. “That's our goal for this year, to get our first 'Wally' regardless of how many pistons, cylinder heads and superchargers have to be sacrificed to get there. We're not trying to run for 8th or 10th in the points like last year; we want a big trophy.

The 4.76 run was the result of a dropped cylinder; any crew chief will tell you that a dropped cylinder will rob at least a tenth of a second from your run.

"I was looking for a mid to low 4.60," said Howard Weis. "We're in the show and I guess that's what really matters, but I was shooting for the top half of the field. We're not points racing this year, we're developing a winning combination."

If the Barrett Enterprises team can get their Top Fueler to keep all eight cylinders lit, they could be quite a match for their first-round opponent Morgan Lucas.

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