BETHESDA SOFTWORKS NORTHERN NATIONALS QUALIFYING REPORT

- Carpenter’s speed was so far off in his second run (217.53-mph) he decided to do some investigative research. He looked at the computer data and found that the third timer in the nitrous system had failed. This timer engages 1.5 seconds into the pass. Carpenter was able to duplicate this failure in the pits and they replaced the component prior to Saturday’s qualifying rounds.

- This was the first race that Carpenter had run with a three-disc clutch. In nearly three-decades of racing, Carpenter has always used a two-disc clutch.

- Carpenter qualified for the elimination rounds by the slimmest of margins, just 0.001 seconds. As the final entry in the field, Carpenter will face the number one qualifier, Mike Janis, in tomorrow’s elimination rounds. Janis qualified at the top of the ladder with a 6.212 elapsed time, establishing a new track record for elapsed time.

Charles Carpenter Quote:

"I’m really disappointed to be fooling around with these gremlins (the timer failure). This is the first time that I have run a three-disc clutch and I was planning on spending my time fine-tuning that. So far, I really like this clutch as it is very driver-friendly because I am not fighting against the pedal anymore and it releases good at the finish line. The only downside, so far, is that it added 10 pounds back into the car, which I don’t like. But we’ll have to lose it somewhere else -- I guess I won’t be eating lunch for the next couple of days."

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