Hoyos chases drivers’ title at full speed

Thursday, July 15, 2004 | 9:52 a.m.

WHAT: Second annual Garrett Turbos NHRA Sport Compact Nationals, Round 6 of the 10-race 2004 NHRA Summit Sport Compact Drag Racing Series.

WHEN: Friday and Saturday.

WHERE: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

SCHEDULE: Time trials Friday from 6 p.m. to midnight; heads-up qualifying sessions Friday at 7 p.m., 9:30 and midnight. E.T. time trials begin at 6:30 p.m. Saturday; final eliminations begin Saturday at 8 p.m.

TV: Saturday, July 31, 3:30-4 p.m., ESPN2.

ADMISSION: Friday: Adult $15, Child $5, Children 6 and under free. Saturday: Adult $20, Child $8, Children 6 and under free. Weekend pass, Adult $30, Child $10.

At this point of the 2003 NHRA Summit Sport Compact Drag Racing Series season, Nelson Hoyos was well on his way to clinching the championship in the Pro Front-Wheel Drive category.

As the halfway mark of the 2004 season begins this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Hoyos is hoping that the Pro FWD championship battle goes down to the final race of the season.

That, of course, has everything to do with the fact that Hoyos trails Lisa Kubo by 81 points after five of 10 rounds.

"We had the opportunity to (wrap up the title early) last year," said Hoyos, who won seven of 10 races in 2003. "Last year, we ran super strong and I won five races in a row and won seven of the 10 and so by the seventh race, we had mathematically locked up the championship.

"We were able to really orchestrate it well last year."

After changing teams, cars and engine programs during the off-season, Hoyos admittedly was playing catch-up for the first four races of the season. Although he had advanced to the final round of eliminations at each of the first four events, Hoyos was winless going into the fifth race of the season last month at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo.

Finally, everything came together for Hoyos as he powered his Chevy Cavalier to national records for elapsed time (7.778 seconds) and speed (191.51 mph) en route to his first victory of the season and eighth of his career.

Kubo lost in the second round of eliminations, allowing Hoyos to move within striking distance of the category leader heading into this weekend's second annual Garrett Turbos NHRA Sport Compact Nationals at The Strip.

"We had a stellar weekend (at Bandimere)," Hoyos said. "We've been kind of fighting a motor issue for the last couple of races. It had been real strong on the bottom and on the takeoff but on the top end, for one reason or another, has just laid down on me and has given Lisa the ability to just drive around me on the top end.

"Our crew was working really, really hard to gain that disadvantage that we had and we found some problems that were causing the issues. We realized that we got this thing licked and Bandimere sure showed that. We went back in with that new motor concept and just ran really, really strong all weekend long."

Strong and consistent. Hoyos posted six 7-second runs at Bandimere -- the first time that had been accomplished in the Pro FWD category.

"The difference from last year to this year is that we have a brand-new team, we have a brand-new car, we have a brand-new engine program, so we started the year back to square one, basically," Hoyos said. "Unfortunately, it took us four races ... to really establish what this car liked and what it needed.

"Luckily, on the fifth race, we were able to put it all together and come out and really run a lot stronger than the rest of the teams and show our muscle and go for the win. We got behind the 8-ball a little bit there in the first four races, which is kind of dangerous because you see the points lead getting away from you and mathematically it becomes a challenge to gain all of those points toward the end of the season; it puts a lot more pressure on you."

His confidence going into Friday's time trials in Las Vegas is further bolstered by the fact that Hoyos is the defending Pro FWD champion here.

"We really feel good about it," Hoyos said of the race. "Being that fast (at Bandimere) at that high of an altitude, we know we will have a little bit more leverage at the better conditions that you have at Vegas. Obviously, that track is prepared beautifully every time so we really have strong hopes for running real strong there in Vegas.

"We had a real good race last year and I plan on doing the same thing again this year. I want to try and qualify on the pole and win the event and hopefully set a new record -- that would close the gap a little bit between me and Lisa and make it a real drag race to the finish."

Although he wants to run fast, Hoyos said his strategy is not to run too fast in Las Vegas.

"We don't want to run killer numbers yet because I have to gain points on Lisa and the best way to do that is, of course, by setting records; those give me an extra 20 points every time we do that," he said. "We want to re-establish a record this weekend but we don't want to kill it so that we can, in turn, go back and re-establish the record again at the following race.

"Every time I get a record backed up, I gain 20 points so, technically, I could win a race and she could runner-up and I would get 20 additional points for (setting a record). Right now, she is 80 points in front of me with five races to go so I can technically not finish any better than second place every race and if I gain, four times, the 20 points to close that gap to zero, I will reach her and technically I will win the championship."