Scott Palmer needs a touch more magic in Magic Dry dragster for race day success

DINWIDDIE, VA – Scott Palmer’s Magic Dry Organic Absorbent Top Fuel dragster was definitely consistent during qualifying for this weekend’s second annual Virginia NHRA Nationals and the affable Missourian said he’ll spend the evening trying to fine-tune his power curve to prepare for a true race day battle against the best drag racers in the world.

“This is the hottest race weekend we’ve encountered so far this year so when it gets like this you put a premium on getting down the track every time,” Palmer said. “You also know the one night session is the only real time you can post any sort of number so if you miss that round you’re gonna qualify lower than what you want.

“The reality is if you’re not in the top four by the end of qualifying, you’re gonna be racing a badass in the first round on Sunday. We were going for it last night and gave it a touch too much power and drove right through the clutch. I mean we murdered it but still posted our best pass. In today’s heat we had to switch our plan of attack and we’re really happy with how the car responded.”

In order, Palmer ran a 3.937 at 317.19 mph in Q1, a 3.886 at 321.65 mph in Round 2, smoked his tires in Round 3, and closed with a 3.889 at 320.74 mph in Round 4.

Now slotted 12th overall, he’ll open eliminations against fifth-ranked pro Doug Kalitta, who went 3.783 at 323.81 mph in the one decent session Friday evening. Like Palmer, Kalitta failed to get down the track under power in one of the four qualifying sessions, smoking the tires in Q3.

“As hot as it gets when the sun is on the track and knowing it’s supposed to be even hotter tomorrow on race day than it’s been in either of the last two days, we went ahead and switched to race mode today,” Palmer said. “We found our limits in Q3 and then ran another 3.88 in Round 4 to finish it up.

“It’s pretty satisfying to look over in the other lane (in Q4) and see Mike Green tuning Austin Prock’s dragster and we run identical numbers. That tells you how hard it is to get down the track that a guy with Mike’s pedigree and a car from John Force Racing is running the same numbers as we are.

“The car that wins rounds tomorrow is a car that runs 3.86s and 3.88s all day without smoking the tires. We know how to do that.”