FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kevin Macvaugh
Bullish Racing Communications
(201) 342-8374
pr@bullishmotorracing.com
BULLISH RACING SOLARA HITS JACKPOT AT NHRA LAS VEGAS
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (April 19, 2005) – In front of tens of thousands of NHRA POWERade fans, Bullish Motor Racing’s StreetGlow-sponsored Solara raced to the Pro RWD winner’s circle for the team’s first NHRA victory of the season at the Nitto NHRA Sport Compact Nationals. The event was the second round of the 11-event 2005 NHRA Summit Sport Compact series and the first of three to be held in conjunction with the NHRA’s long-running POWERade Drag Racing Series. Team owner and driver Ara Arslanian automatically earned his third career NHRA victory after competitor Steph Papadakis fouled on his start in the final round match up between the two. Arslanian launched his Solara a second later and coasted to the finish after a hard move toward the retaining wall; finishing with a 15.88-sec/51.67-mph clocking.
“Las Vegas was a perfect place for our first NHRA “Wally” [trophy] of the year,” said an ecstatic Arslanian after the win. “I only wish that we would have been able to race Steph to the finish line and put on one more show for the crowd. Overall, I think the sport compact guys made a great impact at the event. The POWERade crowd really gave us a great reception; the paddocks were filled with people all weekend and they were genuinely excited about the StreetGlow Solara.”
While the final round victory was automatic, the team’s hard work provided the momentum to get to the last stanza. The latest outing for the team’s new-for-2005 Turbonetics twin-turbocharged, HKS 3.4 L Stroker powered Solara again proved the program’s reliability and showed consistency throughout qualifying and elimination rounds. This was incredibly important at the Las Vegas event since the tight event schedule meant as little as 30 minutes between elimination rounds. Faced with this constraint, Bullish crew chief Fred Bauer pursued a conservative plan of attack.
The result was a pair of 6.7-sec. passes in qualifying; the quickest of which (a 6.72-sec/205.35-mph pass in the third and final round of qualifying) was good enough for the third slot in the qualifying ladder. The final ladder paired Arslanian with 2004 series champion Matt Scranton in the first round. Arslanian streaked across the finish line first with a 6.86-sec/204-mph to Scranton’s 7.10/205 clocking, but had already won because of Scranton’s red-light foul start. In the semifinal round, competitor Vince Fourcade’s Titan Celica faltered after his burnout and Arslanian blasted a 6.89/202 single on his way to the final round match with Papadakis. The Las Vegas final round pairing between Arslanian and Papadakis was the latest meeting in a hard fought, but friendly rivalry between the two. Arslanian now has a slight advantage with the latest victory; a rematch of last year’s Las Vegas (in which Papadakis edged Arslanian) and Englishtown 2 (in which Arslanian prevailed) races.
“There are two main reasons why we won here [at Las Vegas]: first, the team and our excellent group of supporters delivered a great car again; second, we raced our own race. [Crew chief] Fred and I spoke about race strategy before every round and we decided that we would just go with our regular routine. That comfort on the line and behind the wheel helped me knock down the [starting light] tree without being overly aggressive.”
The victory, which follows on the heels of the team’s first victory in the NDRA series last weekend, gives Arslanian a boost into second place – right behind points leader Papadakis. Arslanian, the defending NDRA Pro Compact Champion, is currently leading in that series. With ten events left in the NHRA series and ten left in the NDRA series, Arslanian and the team know that they will need a lot more gas in the tank before the end of their 20+ event season. In fact, the team now directly travels to Virginia - for the third round of the NDRA series and the fourth stop of a grueling consecutive 5-week stretch of races.
“We’re 2 and 1 on our tour so far and the team is pumped to make it a 3 and 1 homecoming [to the NHRA Englishtown race]. It’s only at the beginning of the season, but the adrenaline is flowing now - so we’re excited about finishing our road trip. Most importantly, the saying usually goes “what goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” but we’re going to make sure we take what happened in Vegas on the road with us to Virginia.”
The Nitto NHRA Sport Compact Nationals will be broadcast on tape-delayed basis on ESPN2, Thursday, April 28, 2 p.m. (Sunday, May 1, 1:30 a.m., repeat) More information about the Nitto NHRA Sport Compact Nationals can be found on www.NHRAsportcompact.com.
Editor’s Note: Members of the media interested in attending the event are encouraged to contact Kevin Macvaugh, Bullish Motor Racing, (201) 342-8374 or Seth Rubin, Alan Taylor Communications, (212) 714-1280.
About Bullish Motor Racing
Bullish Motor Racing, based in Hackensack, New Jersey, is a premier professional sport compact drag racing team competing in both the NHRA and NDRA sport compact drag racing series. Owner/driver Ara Arslanian competes in a tube-framed Toyota Solara powered by a 1,600 horsepower production-based, turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-6 engine. In the past three years, the team has amassed an unprecedented 4 championships with their third consecutive NDRA Championship coming last year. In addition to the national titles, the team also currently holds and has held quarter mile ET and MPH world records in the NHRA and the NDRA, as well as numerous track records. www.bullishmotorracing.com
About Street Glow, Inc.
StreetGlow® defined a new category in the automotive aftermarket with the introduction of Auto-Neon® and has since inspired a new generation of enthusiasts with its extensive line of performance lighting products. Their cutting-edge line of StreetGlow and OPTXR by StreetGlow branded products continues to drive new automotive lighting trends and showcase the popularity of this emergent category. Named to the prestigious Inc. 500 list of America's fastest growing private companies for four consecutive years, StreetGlow, Inc. is the number one choice in Auto-Neon and performance lighting products worldwide. For more information, visit www.streetglow.com or www.optxbystreetglow.com
Bullish Motor Racing 2005 Season Statistics
ABOUT OUR SPONSORS
Through our sponsors, team Bullish Motor Racing has been able to compete at the highest level of performance with the best resources and equipment. Bullish Motor Racing thanks all of our sponsors for their great support in making us a championship team.
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