ROOKIE SHAUN CARLSON AIMS TO CONTINUE HIS PROGRESS IN HOUSTON
BAYTOWN, Texas (Mar. 29, 2006) - The start of the 2006 NHRA POWERade
Drag Racing Series has proven to be an uphill battle for Don Schumacher
Racing Pro Stock rookie Shaun Carlson. He is playing catch-up after landing
the seat in the Team Mopar/SRT Dodge Stratus and looks to qualify in the
16-car field for the first time this season at this weekend's NHRA O'Reilly
Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway.
The Southern California native has been making the most out of the team's
test sessions, as well as in the qualifying runs on race weekends. "I'm just
trying to absorb as much as I can with each run I make," says Carlson. "I
know I'm getting better; it's just taking some time, but I really think I'll
get there."
Carlson got an encouraging phone call from crew chief Bob Glidden a week
after the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. "Bob is so adamant that he is
going to teach me the way a coach would in basketball, or any of those stick
and ball sports," says Carlson. "He told me he'd make me a winner, and that
we are gonna do a lot of testing, whatever it takes. He doesn't care if he
has to strap me into the passenger side of the car while he makes a run, he
says; we're gonna prove everyone wrong."
As a rookie, Carlson has not competed at all of the dragstrips on the
23-event NHRA schedule, but he's had the luxury of racing at Houston
Raceway. "I've raced at Houston a couple times with my Pro FWD car, so that
makes me feel better going into the weekend. I know it sounds stupid, but it
relaxes you a lot when you know where everything is at a track.
"I'm always thinking about the Pro Stock class now, I'll be sitting at the
stoplight and trying to time the lights, or lifting my foot quickly off the
clutch; it's definitely in my system. I have the bug, and I guess any little
thing I can do will help. I'm looking for any little advantage so I can make
my way into the field and race on Sundays with my teammate Richie (Stevens
Jr.)."
-dsr
