Fri, 04.03.09: Funny Car racer Bob Bode claimed the qualifying lead for the first time in his nine-year NHRA championship series drag racing career Friday at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals. Bode powered his Alard Machine Chevy Impala to a performance of 4.145 seconds at 303.43 mph to claim the first provisional No. 1 qualifying position of his career. "I was way surprised our time held up," said Bode, a former powerboat racer. "By the time they got the cars going again and I went back to the radio to listen, there were about four or five pair, and I’m going, “Well, the worst I’m going to be is ninth. Then, I went. The worst I’m going to be is seventh, figuring these guys were going to hit their numbers. Then it got down to the final pair, and we were actually nervous, standing at the radio listening. The nine guys who work on this thing just jumped up and down after that final pair ran because we’ve had a couple of unsuccessful races so they know how hard it is when it runs bad. They were just unbelievably happy when it happened. "Coming in here, the dream was to maybe be in the top half after the first round or after all four rounds. Standing here being the No. 1 qualifier after the first day is amazing; all the stars lined up for us. We were 16th in Houston, but we had a good tune-up, and we knew we could step it up a little. We didn’t know we’d step it up to where I’d be No. 1." - Credit CP
== Bob Bode 2009 NHRA Qualifying Results ==
Winternationals: #15 4.891 seconds - 244.65 mph
Arizona Nationals: #17 4.307 - 285.05 DNQ
Gatornationals: #17 4.352 - 286.07 DNQ
Spring Nationals: #16 4.204 - 294.37
SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals:
Fri Round 1: #1 4.145 - 303.43 (Career Best in very bad track cross-winds conditions)
Sat Round 2: #2 4.158 - 302.48 (R2 #1 John Force 4.156, Bode remains #1 FC qualifier)
Sat Round 3: #- 6.533 - 102.28 (Lost Traction)
Final Qual:. . #5 4.145 - 303.43 from R1 (Great R3 ET's by 4 other drivers knocked Bode to 5th)
Courtesy FlA & Co.
