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Tulsa readies for Skull Shine Sooner Nationals

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320 MPH NITRO CARS RETURN TO TULSA JUNE 23

 

Capps and Litton Hold Top Spot in Nitro Funny Car and Top Fuel

 

NORWALK, Ohio (June 19, 2007) – Bruce Litton and Jon Capps will return to Tulsa Raceway Park June 23 as the No. 1 qualifiers for the two Nitro classes for the Skull Shine Sooner Nationals presented by Wolverine and Academy Sports + Outdoors. Both drivers will have to battle their way through a field of stout competition, all jockeying for the early season points lead in the Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series.

 

Litton, a veteran drag racer, is anticipating different track and weather conditions that could lead to some quick speeds and elapsed times.

 

“I’m looking forward to going back to Tulsa as the No. 1 qualified car, but I have no doubt that every dragster out there is a quality car and at any time you can get beat,” Litton said. “It’s a little closer to summer so we’ll have warmer temperatures and it’s going to be a night race, so it’s really something you have to be prepared for. We could see some tremendous times going down the track.”

 

During the original event in May, Litton set the Tulsa Raceway Park record with a 4.626 second pass.

 

“We’ve actually made three major changes to our car since we left Tulsa a month ago. Preparation for the changed conditions will be key,” he added.

 

Litton, of Indianapolis, currently sits second in the Knoll Gas Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Top Fuel category, a mere 44 points behind leader T.J. Zizzo. A Nitro Jam veteran, Litton won the first race of the season in San Antonio, Texas, and is in position to win his first career world championship. He’s finished second in the point standings three times.

 

A 31 year-old from Lincolnshire, Ill., Zizzo, on the other hand, is relatively new to the Nitro Jam tour and hopes to ride his lead out to the end of the season. He earned his second career event win at Rockingham Dragway earlier this year after finishing runner-up to Litton in San Antonio.

 

Zizzo sits in the third spot on the qualifying ladder, with Mike Strasburg second and Doug Foley fourth. Foley holds the current track speed record at 325.27 mph. Luigi Novelli is fifth, followed by Scotty Cannon, Bobby Lagana Jr. and Scott Palmer.

 

In the Knoll Gas Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Funny Car class, Capps, 37, a resident of Las Vegas, is currently third place in the point standings. The rookie trails veterans Dale Creasy Jr. and Jack Wyatt, first and second respectively.

 

Prior to this season, Capps raced Alcohol Funny Cars, injected nitro dragsters and USAC Midgets and Sprint Cars. He’s a racing instructor at the American Racing Academy in Las Vegas as well as a stunt driver for television commercials and movies.

 

This marks Capps’ second No. 1 qualifier of the season, his first coming at the Spring Nationals in April. However, this time, he earned the position in somewhat unusual fashion.

 

Before the event was rained out last month, Gary Densham sat in the top spot, followed by Tim Wilkerson in second. Capps was third, but when Densham and Wilkerson both decided not to return to the event due to schedule conflicts, Capps slid to his second No. 1 of the year.

 

In Nitro Funny Car class Terry Haddock is qualified second, followed by Creasy Jr., Andy Kelley, Wyatt and Todd Simpson. Bob Gilbertson and James Day, who were not qualified but bumped into the field when Densham and Wilkerson decided not to return, are seventh and eighth respectively.

 

The Skull Shine Sooner Nationals presented by Wolverine and Academy Sports + Outdoors, the third event of the $19.5 million Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series, returns to Tulsa Raceway Park June 23 to complete the rain-delayed event. (The event was originally scheduled for May 25 – 27.)

 

Action will begin at 12 noon with a round of time trials for the professional categories, followed by eliminations at 4:30 p.m., 6, 8 and finals at 10. Sportsman competitors will compete throughout the day, as well as on Friday, during a Sportsman only special event with a total possible purse of $300,000.

 

Fans with Sunday tickets from the original event in May can redeem those at the gate. An adult ticket is only $35 and kids are only $5. Contact Carson Attractions at www.carsonattractions.com for tickets or log onto www.tulsaracewaypark.com.

 

For more information on the Skull Shine Sooner Nationals presented by Wolverine and Academy Sports + Outdoors, please visit www.ihra.com or www.tulsaracewaypark.com.

 

SKULL SHINE SOONER NATIONALS RETURNS TO TULSA JUNE 23

 

NORWALK, Ohio (June 14, 2007) – The Skull Shine Sooner Nationals presented by Wolverine and Academy Sports + Outdoors, the third event of the $19.5 million Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series, returns to Tulsa Raceway Park, Saturday, June 23, to complete the rain-delayed event. (The event was originally scheduled for May 25 – 27.)

 

“With the event returning to Tulsa to be completed as a one-day race, fans can expect the same entertainment-filled show the Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series is known for,” Jim Marchyshyn, IHRA vice president of marketing said. “A single day filled with the quickest, wildest cars on the planet, a time trial for professional categories followed by eliminations, by 10:30 p.m. Tulsa fans will have seen one of the most exciting days of motorsports ever in Oklahoma.”

 

Action will begin at 12 noon with a round of time trials for the professional categories, followed by eliminations at 4:30 p.m., 6, 8 and finals at 10. Sportsman competitors will compete throughout the day, as well as on Friday, during a Sportsman only special event with a total possible purse of $300,000.

 

“Fans who witnessed this event before racing was postponed in May got to see several 300 mph passes, including Doug Foley’s 325 mph pass that set the Tulsa Raceway Park Top Fuel record,” Marchyshyn added. “By mid-summer the competition is at its highest so the drivers should be ready to lay down even faster times.”

 

Fans with Sunday tickets from the original event in May can redeem those at the gate. An adult ticket is only $35 and kids are only $5. Contact Carson Attractions at www.carsonattractions.com for tickets or log onto www.tulsaracewaypark.com.

 

For more information on the Skull Shine Sooner Nationals presented by Wolverine and Academy Sports + Outdoors, please visit www.ihra.com or www.tulsaracewaypark.com.

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