FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kevin Macvaugh
Bullish Racing Communications
(201) 342-8374
pr@bullishmotorracing.com
BULLISH RACING SITTING ATOP ALL MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS CHASES
ENGLISHTOWN, New Jersey (May 3, 2005) – Following an exciting, rain shortened weekend of racing at the Nitto NHRA Sport Compact Nationals, April 30 – May 1, Bullish Motor Racing team owner and driver Ara Arslanian is now leading in points for the 2005 NHRA Xplod Sport Compact Racing Series Pro RWD Championship. Arslanian drove his StreetGlow-sponsored Solara to a runner-up finish at the team’s home track to cap off a grueling consecutive five-weekend competition schedule with three victories and one runner-up finish. The 2004 NDRA Champion is currently atop all major leader boards; leading the championship points chases in the 2005 NDRA XBOX Cup series as well as the Nitto NHRA Trifecta Program – a special three race crown.
“We might have come in second in the battle, but we’re leading in the war,” said Arslanian. “Considering the weather and track challenges that were facing everybody, a second place here would have been as good as a first at any other race. It would have been nice to finish the 5-race trek with a homecoming win, but we’re more than happy to be leading the points chase after three rounds.”
Persistent rain canceled all Saturday activities at the New Jersey event, leaving only a single session to qualify for the elimination ladder. Facing less than ideal track conditions and the critical qualifier, the Bullish crew tuned the Solara for a conservative pass. The resulting pass was clocked at 6.909-sec/199.76-mph, and good enough for the second spot on the ladder. Arslanian and team then quickly prepared for a first round match with reigning NHRA champion Matt Scranton. While Scranton had a start line advantage in the match, Arslanian’s Solara drove around Scranton’s Celica for a 6.805-sec./202.03-mph to 7.907/164.35 victory into the semifinal round.
Arslanian drove around Adam Saruwatari’s 7.149/191 run with a 6.920/181.32 performance for a fourth (second NHRA) consecutive final round appearance. While the team used a conservative tune up on the StreetGlow Solara’s Turbonetics twin–turbocharged, 3.4L stroker 2JZ Inline-6 enigine, the car was still the only one to run six-second passes in both the first and semifinal rounds. In the final round, No. 1 qualifier Matt Hartford just edged Arslanian to take the win with a 6.990/197.33 to the Solara’s 7.066/200.14.
“This is our home track, so we can read it as good as the best. We knew the steady downpour on Saturday and Sunday morning would make the track very tricky. So [Crew Chief] Fred, called for a more conservative tune up and that’s what we put in. There were a couple of wiggles in the semifinal and the final, but overall the car was responding to the setup nicely. Unfortunately, we just came up a few ticks too short in the final round.”
The weather eventually turned around Sunday afternoon, and with the sun came the crowd. Thousand of local fans turned out in time to fill the stands for the elimination rounds. Many of the estimated 10,000 fans on hand for the event stopped to check out Bullish Racing paddock; and most of those walked away with an autographed hero card in hand.
“Besides leaving with the points lead, the next best thing of this past weekend was getting to see all our local fans. They were lined up four and five deep at times. I signed what must have been a couple of boxes worth of hero cards. The Englishtown fans are some of the best in the country and we really appreciate their support – they’re ultimately the reason why we’re doing this. Now, we’ve just got to focus on staying atop all the point chases.”
The Nitto NHRA Sport Compact Nationals will be broadcast on ESPN2, Wednesday, May 11, 2 p.m. (Sunday, May 15, 2 a.m., repeat). For more event information about the Nitto NHRA Sport Compact Spring Nationals, please visit 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Head Games Motorworks
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
