Doug Kalitta lost in the first round in a wild pedalfest against Billy Torrence earlier today at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park outside of Phoenix.
The Mac Tools team did not have the qualifying effort that they are accustomed too. They had three solid passes in the mid 3.7 second range, but in quick conditions in Phoenix, that was only good enough for 11th overall. That gave the Mac Tools team a draw of Billy Torrence, who was in his first race of the season.
The final pair of the first round of eliminations would put on a very memorable show. Both machines hit tire smoke quickly after the hit of the throttle and both drivers began pedaling quickly after. After getting on and off the throttle many times and putting on quite a show for the sold-out Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park crowd, Kalitta was defeated by the closest of margins.
Statistics:
Qualified: No. 11 (3.742 sec., 328.78 mph)
E1: Kalitta defeated by B. Torrence – 6.714 sec., 154.46 mph to 6.570 sec., 138.34 mph
Quotable: “Not the weekend we were looking for with this Mac Tools Toyota. A wild pedalfest for sure and we came up just short. We will get this Mac Tools machine tuned up and head to Gainesville and try to score another win there.”
Point Standings: Second; leads Tony Schumacher by four points for third; trails Steve Torrence by 39 points for first
Kalitta Motorsports PR/Photo Gary Nastase Photography
