Live from Atco , NJ - NHRA Lucas Oil Series

[Jack Matyas]

OK - I'm over it - after losing to Kenny Kopecky I went back into reporter mode and i did my regular deal .Kenny beat me fair and square by the way as I just lost total concentration and he did his job well . After finishing my wife took me to Tullia's for a fine birthday dinner ( mine is Monday BTW ) and after a hard day racing it was welcomed .

Talk about some great racing - would you believe a double G/SA heads-up in round three - it was Pires v Quatarone and Infantino v Richard with Pires and Richard winning but having to face each other in the next round and the winner of that match would get a bye into the next round - whew - following ? ? Now it really gets wierd - Kenny Kopecky racing Pires in the semis dialed an 11.73 on his 11.70 index and no one noticed - and almost got away with it ( he just made a mistake and wasn't trying to pull something ) but in the end he ran out by a few hun .

In the final it was all Pires - David Barton tried hard with his mighty Hemi Coronet but Billys' .009 and .01 over hard on the brakes was too much to handle - congrats to both drivers - it wasn't an easy day to drive or dial .

Wish I had as much info on SuperStock but being busy going a few rounds today just didn't leave much time for it .And as usual Kenny told me he'd help out but we all know Kenny - and you can't fire the boss .

Anyway - I did get to do the S/S final between Jeff Tripp in his Monte Carlo and James Antonette in his familiar Grand Am - James left first and went red handing the win to Jeff who followed with another red - congrats to them also .