Shane Conway anxious for another Pomona victory, this time as a driver

POMONA, CA – Shane Conway knows his way to the winner’s circle at Auto Club Raceway, having visited there in 2010 when he tuned Mike Manners to the Top Alcohol Dragster title of the annual Auto Club NHRA Finals. This time through, he hopes to return to that hallowed ground, this time in the seat of his Magic Dry 100% Organic Multi-Purpose Absorbent dragster.

“Last time I went to the winner’s circle in a tow vehicle,” Conway said. “This time I’d like to go in this Magic Dry dragster. That was a fun win because it was Mike’s first one and it came at the last race of the year. Maybe we can repeat that day and I can get my first win in this class.”

This will mark the ninth race of the season for Conway, who hails from the Houston area. Although he’s not in the hunt for the world title — he’s currently ranked 21st — he has proven to be a spoiler of sorts, knocking off championship hopefuls when he can.

“I think we have the car figured out a lot better now,” he said. “We are going to have to step it up a little bit from what we did in Vegas. The weather is going to be better in Pomona, as it generally always is, and that helps our tune-up a little but we are probably going to change the engine up too to try and make a little more horsepower. We’ve definitely got to make some more power to get to the later rounds.”

Conway’s famous drag racing father Tom will be on hand in Pomona, offering advice and maybe a few secret tips.

“This will be my first time racing at Pomona myself,” Shane said. “It will be fun. I’ve been warned that it’s a short shutdown area at that track so you definitely have to be paying attention but other than that, it should be about the same as anywhere else. A quarter mile is a quarter mile.

“Pomona has a little different atmosphere, especially being the last race of the year. Vegas was cool because you can look at the mountains as you are going down the race track but in Pomona the mountains are behind you. It’s still a cool atmosphere. We’ll be ready to roll.”