SIMONTON’S CAREER BEST ET HIGHLIGHTS KON RODZ 2011 DEBUT

Courtesy of Rodz Racing

Gainesville, FL – A career best elapsed time and speed of 5.612 seconds in excess of 256 miles per hour, propelled Cassandra Simonton and the Kon Rodz Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team to a provisional number 6 qualified spot today, after the first day of qualifying at the 42nd Annual Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals contested in Gainesville, Fla.

Simonton, the 24-year old sophomore driver for Spiro Kontos’ Maple, Ont. headquartered team, entered this event with high expectations after a very successful test session with new head tuner, Randy Anderson turning the wrenches earlier this week at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Ga. Although the team did not record any full quarter-mile laps under power, the decrease in tire-shake, and how smooth the car ran in comparison from last season, gave the second-year driver a lot of confidence for the 2011 season debut.

“The car drove much smoother in testing than last season,” noted Simonton, a graduate of The University of Northwestern Ohio with a degree in High Performance Engineering. “Randy made several wholesale changes to the car in order to provide us with a car that was more consistent and allows me to concentrate on improving my driving. Randy always takes the time to show me everything about what the car is doing during a run and has given me some great tips on staging the car. I’m very happy with how we tested and am very optimistic about our chances to qualify well in Gainesville.”

The optimistic young lady was jubilant after the 5.612 second blast at a career best speed of 256.50 miles per hour during Q-1 at Gainesville Raceway. Her run today eclipsed her previous ET best by 0.07 seconds. Prior to the team’s second round of qualifying, a mechanical glitch prevented the Kon Rodz Monte Carlo from improving their initial off-the-trailer performance. Heading into tomorrow final qualifying session, Simonton believes her Anderson-tuned flopper can improve even more.

“The car left very hard in Q-1 but got a little loose at the top end so we lost a bit of ET on that .61,” Simonton stated. “Randy is very good about making sure we lay down a solid base-line off the trailer then tends to hop it up later during the event. With racing conditions expected to improve for tomorrow, I’m sure we’ll be ready to see how quick this new look Kon Rodz TAFC can run. We will take it one run at a time, but nothing would make me happier than to give Spiro and the team a few round wins to build off for the 2011 campaign.”

To learn more about Cassandra Simonton and the Kon Rodz Racing TAFC, please visit their website at http://www.konrodzracing.com. You can also follow Cassie and the Kon Rodz team on Facebook and Twitter @Konrodzracing.

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