Simonton Takes a Wild Ride at Indy
CLERMONT, IN – Top Alcohol Funny Car fan favorite Cassie Simonton suffered a close first round loss at last weekend’s 59th Annual 
Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway near Indianapolis. She was able to continue her SK Racing Monte Carlo’s streak of full passes into the final qualifying session where she went on a wild ride in an effort to improve in qualifying position.
Cassie’s Randy-Anderson tuned car was one of the most consistent through qualifying, running 5.702, 5.691, and 5.695 in the first three sessions.
“We had a consistent car all weekend,” Cassie said. “We were the No. 4 qualifier until the last session when I had a bit of a wild ride. We weren’t able to get down the track during the fast conditions so we were bumped down to tenth place.”
The fourth session provided the best conditions of the weekend, tempting tuners to shoot for the top spot. In Simonton’s attempt, the SK Racing entry struggled to stick to the track, giving the former Junior Dragster driver a tough time behind the wheel.
“It all happened really quickly. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I felt the other side of the car come down and I knew I was on two wheels. Luckily I was able to get it under control quickly before it crossed the center line or hit the wall. I’m happy that everything came out okay so we could keep racing for the rest of the weekend,” Simonton said of her close call.
A starting position in the bottom of the tight field meant a first round match-up with national points frontrunner Tony Bartone.
“Qualifying tenth set us up against one of the toughest drivers in the class, Tony Bartone, first round. It was a close race – 5.64 to 5.67 – but we were on the wrong side of it. We can’t be too upset with it. At least we went out there and made a full pass; it didn’t shake or smoke the tires or do anything stupid. It was another one of those close races that we’ve had this season, and came up a little short,” recalled Cassie, a new Indianapolis-area resident.
The legendary U.S. Nationals was the first weekend for new team sponsor Schepel Buick-GMC, a leading General Motors dealership based in Merrillville, Indiana. Drag racing fans might recognize Schepel from their long-running support of Top Alcohol Dragster driver Dave Hirata.
