Teammates Scott Palmer, Dom Lagana to race one another in Reading eliminations
READING, PA – Teammates Scott Palmer and Dom Lagana made their best qualifying passes in the final session of 
the 34th annual Dodge NHRA Nationals. But as luck would have it, their hard work resulted in a race day ladder that pits them against one another in Sunday’s opening round of eliminations at Maple Grove Raceway.
Palmer earned a slight advantage for his CatSpot Organic Cat Litter Top Fuel dragster after topping out at 3.779 and 321.19 mph, which placed him seventh on the grid. Lagana’s best pass of 3.792 at 304.19 mph in the Magic Dry 100% Organic Multi-Purpose Absorbent dragster earned him the No. 10 slot overall.
“Track conditions were really good this afternoon and we were both able to run our best ETs so we’re pleased with the performance of both team cars,” Palmer said. “It’s not what you want when you end up on opposite sides of the ladder and have to race each other right out of the gate but we’ll look at the positive side of it and say we’re happy that for sure one of us will be advancing to the second round.”
The CatSpot dragster has been extremely consistent with Palmer posting runs of 3.817, 3.822, 3.820 and 3.779 down the historic drag strip in Pennsylvania’s Dutch Country.
“We’ve had a great car almost every race this year and it’s one of the main reasons this season has been different than in the past,” said Palmer, who recorded a runner-up finish earlier this season in Phoenix. “No one takes this team lightly any more. They know we will get down the track with competitive times every pass. We proved that again in qualifying.
“This is the best time of the year for us to show Tommy Thompson (owner of CatSpot and Magic Dry) how much we appreciate his support. We have big dreams about winning in the playoffs and bringing a lot of attention to his products. Why not us tomorrow?”
With the exception of Friday’s first pass, Lagana’s Magic Dry rail also has been a steady ride for the part-time team. He’s made runs of 4.062, 3.798, 3.801 and 3.792.
“The alliance we have with the CAPCO guys is the reason we’re sitting in this position,” Lagana said. “They’re a great group and they’re all about making all three cars go as fast as possible. I know when I’m working on Steve (Torrence’s) car we are always thinking about what Scott’s doing and I know the guys are thinking about me this weekend.
“Just look at how Steve, Scott and me ran this weekend so far. We’re all strong and I’ll be surprised if one or more of us isn’t in the mix for the trophy tomorrow. I open against Scott so we know we’ve got a tough draw but we’ll run as best we can with these new Magic Dry Absorbent colors on the car and see what happens.”
