EMcBride
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- Apr 27, 2006
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ADJUSTMENT PERIOD
Palmer Makes Transition to 10.50 Index Competition
By DHRAOnline.com staff
Things changed for Philip Palmer this season and as a result, running successfully in DHRA wasn’t always easy.
What Palmer did was adapt.
So did his team, Stuckey Racing.
Because they did, Palmer and Stuckey Racing won the DHRA’s Diesel Power Drag Racing Series’ AirWerks Pro Street class’ East season points title. Because of that, they enter the Texas Diesel Nationals in October with a chance at a second consecutive national Pro Street title.
That’s cause for pride for Palmer. A big-time cause for pride.
“We had a good year,” Palmer said as he and Stuckey Racing prepared for the Texas Diesel Nationals, which will be held at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas, on October 13-14.
“Pretty much at every track, we set a new track record.”
But in DHRA this season, track records weren’t necessarily the objective.
That was how things changed for Palmer and Stuckey this season, and adapting to that change made the season a successful one, Palmer said.
The Stuckey Racing team’s Team Green truck is designed to go fast. Really, really fast.
And last year, Stuckey won the Pro Street season points title by doing just that, winning two races and finishing second in two others, outdistancing the field by 190 points en route to their first season championship.
That same season, the team became the first Pro Street Truck to run in the 9s, turning in a 9.98-second run at Rockingham.
This season, the DHRA changed its Pro Street format from Outlaw to 10.50 Index.
That’s a different style of racing, more about timing than raw speed.
It was an adjustment, Palmer said, and not always an easy one.
“We were basically geared up to go fast,” Palmer said. “We basically want to set records and go fast. When you do that, it’s hard to back up and dial in on vehicles for a 10.50 index. That is a big thing. We’ve actually tried to slow down, and it doesn’t respond to slowing down very well. We built the truck to go fast and that’s what it does best.”
Palmer said he and Stuckey continued to focus on DHRA this season because of a belief in the series.
“We were team players and whatever DHRA decided – whatever would help grow the sport – we’re willing to do,” he said.
While the Team Green truck continued to go faster this season, performing well in the index style was challenging at times.
“If you’re not on reaction times and not on knowing what the truck’s going to run, it definitely makes a big difference,” Palmer said. “That’s been, I’d say, our weakest point this year – not necessarily me as a driver, but there were other good drivers and other good trucks out there who were dialed into the 10.50 index.”
Still, Palmer and Stuckey were able to have success. They ran fast at the various tracks on the DRHA schedule, and set a DHRA record with a 9.56-second pass at Maple Grove. Later in the season, they turned in a 10.23-second run without nitrous, becoming the fastest Fuel on No. 2 Only Pro Street truck.
“People think it’s about nitrous,” Palmer said. “Well, anybody can go fast with nitrous. We took the nitrous off of it and we still went fast. That was kind of neat.”
Palmer also performed well enough in the index format to win one series race and finish second in three others.
That was enough to earn the East points title.
On Saturday, October 13, he will square off against West runner-up Chris Calkins in one Pro Street semifinal round at the Texas Diesel Nationals. The Calkins-Palmer winner will face the winner of another semifinal – featuring Pro Street West winner Pat McSwain versus East runner-up Jimmy Smith – in the championship round.
A victory will make Palmer and Stuckey the first team to win back-to-back DHRA Pro Street titles.
That, Palmer said, was a goal worth a little adaptation.
“We actually started this year and we were going to go fast, go around to exhibitions and set track records,” Palmer said. “That’s all our goal was. We just wanted to go deeper into the 9s and we have. Now, we’d like to see a 5-second 1/8-mile pass. We’ve done some 6.14s, 6.16s and that kind of stuff. We feel like it’s not a problem, to go faster. Some other people have anticipated us doing it and we’d like to.
“That’s one of the goals we haven’t reached, but winning the East Pro Street championship was real neat because we didn’t seek out, per se, to shoot for points this year. But going to every race, being at every race, attending and qualifying and doing well – it’s just like a points chase in NASCAR. Everything counts.”
Palmer Makes Transition to 10.50 Index Competition
By DHRAOnline.com staff
Things changed for Philip Palmer this season and as a result, running successfully in DHRA wasn’t always easy.
What Palmer did was adapt.
So did his team, Stuckey Racing.
Because they did, Palmer and Stuckey Racing won the DHRA’s Diesel Power Drag Racing Series’ AirWerks Pro Street class’ East season points title. Because of that, they enter the Texas Diesel Nationals in October with a chance at a second consecutive national Pro Street title.
That’s cause for pride for Palmer. A big-time cause for pride.
“We had a good year,” Palmer said as he and Stuckey Racing prepared for the Texas Diesel Nationals, which will be held at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas, on October 13-14.
“Pretty much at every track, we set a new track record.”
But in DHRA this season, track records weren’t necessarily the objective.
That was how things changed for Palmer and Stuckey this season, and adapting to that change made the season a successful one, Palmer said.
The Stuckey Racing team’s Team Green truck is designed to go fast. Really, really fast.
And last year, Stuckey won the Pro Street season points title by doing just that, winning two races and finishing second in two others, outdistancing the field by 190 points en route to their first season championship.
That same season, the team became the first Pro Street Truck to run in the 9s, turning in a 9.98-second run at Rockingham.
This season, the DHRA changed its Pro Street format from Outlaw to 10.50 Index.
That’s a different style of racing, more about timing than raw speed.
It was an adjustment, Palmer said, and not always an easy one.
“We were basically geared up to go fast,” Palmer said. “We basically want to set records and go fast. When you do that, it’s hard to back up and dial in on vehicles for a 10.50 index. That is a big thing. We’ve actually tried to slow down, and it doesn’t respond to slowing down very well. We built the truck to go fast and that’s what it does best.”
Palmer said he and Stuckey continued to focus on DHRA this season because of a belief in the series.
“We were team players and whatever DHRA decided – whatever would help grow the sport – we’re willing to do,” he said.
While the Team Green truck continued to go faster this season, performing well in the index style was challenging at times.
“If you’re not on reaction times and not on knowing what the truck’s going to run, it definitely makes a big difference,” Palmer said. “That’s been, I’d say, our weakest point this year – not necessarily me as a driver, but there were other good drivers and other good trucks out there who were dialed into the 10.50 index.”
Still, Palmer and Stuckey were able to have success. They ran fast at the various tracks on the DRHA schedule, and set a DHRA record with a 9.56-second pass at Maple Grove. Later in the season, they turned in a 10.23-second run without nitrous, becoming the fastest Fuel on No. 2 Only Pro Street truck.
“People think it’s about nitrous,” Palmer said. “Well, anybody can go fast with nitrous. We took the nitrous off of it and we still went fast. That was kind of neat.”
Palmer also performed well enough in the index format to win one series race and finish second in three others.
That was enough to earn the East points title.
On Saturday, October 13, he will square off against West runner-up Chris Calkins in one Pro Street semifinal round at the Texas Diesel Nationals. The Calkins-Palmer winner will face the winner of another semifinal – featuring Pro Street West winner Pat McSwain versus East runner-up Jimmy Smith – in the championship round.
A victory will make Palmer and Stuckey the first team to win back-to-back DHRA Pro Street titles.
That, Palmer said, was a goal worth a little adaptation.
“We actually started this year and we were going to go fast, go around to exhibitions and set track records,” Palmer said. “That’s all our goal was. We just wanted to go deeper into the 9s and we have. Now, we’d like to see a 5-second 1/8-mile pass. We’ve done some 6.14s, 6.16s and that kind of stuff. We feel like it’s not a problem, to go faster. Some other people have anticipated us doing it and we’d like to.
“That’s one of the goals we haven’t reached, but winning the East Pro Street championship was real neat because we didn’t seek out, per se, to shoot for points this year. But going to every race, being at every race, attending and qualifying and doing well – it’s just like a points chase in NASCAR. Everything counts.”
