Bruce Litton concludes 2004 campaign with second place finish in point standings
Rockingham, NC - October 26, 2004 - Bruce Litton finished the 2004 IHRA Hooters Drag Racing Series ranked second in the point standings and how fitting it was the season culminated in a qualifying berth for the quickest-ever IHRA Top Fuel field. Litton, of Indianapolis and driver of the Lucas Oil/Torco Race Fuels-sponsored dragster, lost a tough battle to friendly rival Clay Millican.
Despite the early departure, Litton was still smiling at the fortunes he achieved during a season that started off terribly.
?When you look at all we accomplished, it?s enough to make you smile for a long time,? Litton said. ?You always look at the positives in any situation and for us the positives greatly outweighed the negatives.?
Litton entered eliminations as the fourth quickest. His ranking paired him opposite of Millican, who had clinched the world championship prior to the event.
Litton left alongside of Millican in the battle, but a flurry of tire smoke ended Litton?s season.
Litton’s day in Norwalk ends with close race opposite of Bobby Lagana, Jr.
Norwalk, OH - October 11, 2004 - In drag racing lore, sometimes you win ?em and sometimes you lose ?em. For the Lucas Oil/Torco Race Fuels-sponsored driver Bruce Litton, he was hoping for the former, but instead it was the latter the prevailed. During the completion of the rain-delayed Sunoco World Nationals presented by PPG, the Indianapolis-based Litton dropped a tough battle opposite of Bobby Lagana, Jr.
Litton was the first driver off of the line, but fell short at the finish line as Lagana scored the victory.
?We had the third quickest run of the round and we had a safe tune-up, but we fell a bit short,? Litton said. ?Bobby has an up and coming team and we expected no less from them from a first-rate performance.
Litton entered eliminations as the fifth quickest with a 4.892, 294.94 in qualifying that was completed in August.
Litton pulled away from Lagana with a quicker reaction time, but his 4.782, 332.84 was enough to seal the deal. The veteran Top Fuel driver is running under the current NHRA rules, which mandate an 85% nitromethane max.
Litton heads into Rockingham, the final stop on the 2004 IHRA Hooters Drag Racing Series ranked second in the points standings.
Litton campaigning for three more in Budds Creek Top Fuel election
BUDDS CREEK, Md. – Located on the outskirts of Washington, DC., Budds Creek, Md., is not only mired in the middle of a tough 2004 presidential campaign, but also one that promises more firepower than a traditional debate could withstand. Six thousand horsepower…300-miles per hour…and more g-forces than even the finest platform that either George W. Bush or John Kerry could present, is exactly what Lucas Oil-sponsored Top Fuel driver Bruce Litton is bringing to the high-horsepower polling stations at Maryland International Raceway.
Unlike Bush and his desire for four more, the Indianapolis-based Litton wants three more – three round wins that is. If he can pull off that tall order during this weekend’s IHRA President’s Cup Nationals, he achieves a feat that no other driver except Clay Millican has reeled off since Paul Romine did it in 2002. He would really like to win two national events in a row.
Litton won the last event on the tour just two weeks ago in Epping, NH. The victory marked the ninth career Top Fuel victory for Litton who moved into sixth on the IHRA Top Fuel division’s all-time winningest driver list. He’s only two wins out of fifth.
“The stats are great and we certainly want to grab all the marks for our sponsors Lucas Oil and Torco Race Fuels,” explained Litton. “However, the thing we have to concentrate on the task at hand and that is to keep trying to gain points on Clay Millican. We want to make this championship a fight until the finish.”
Litton is currently ranked second in the IHRA Hooters Drag Racing Series point standings with only three races left. Those three include this weekend’s event, the completion of the rain-delayed Norwalk, Ohio stop and the season finale in Rockingham next month.
Since 1999, Litton has finished no worse than third in the point standings.
The IHRA President’s Cup Nationals hosted by Maryland International Raceway in Budds Creek, Md. Is the eleventh stop on the twelve-race IHRA Hooters Drag Racing Series.
Bruce Litton scores ninth career Top Fuel victory; Pulls into sixth on all-time winningest list
EPPING, NH. - Persistence and faith means everything to the Lucas Oil-sponsored Top Fuel driver Bruce Litton. During the 9th annual Amalie Oil North American Nationals in Epping, NH., those key characteristics for the Indianapolis-based Litton yielded huge dividends as he defeated Tim Cullinan to win his ninth career Top Fuel championship.
A trailer full of broken parts and a lot feverish thrashing between rounds incredibly resulted in one of his finest race weekends of the season.
"We worked hard today and we broke a lot of parts," explained Litton. "Our trailer is going home with more broken parts than we have ever had this season. Through it all, God was good to us. I had a safe car. We hurt a few tires, but we didn't hurt the car.
"I'm very grateful to Lucas Oil and everybody that helps us make this happen. Torco Race Fuels, Renegade and United also play an important role ad without all of our sponsors we couldn't do this."
Litton entered eliminations as the fifth qualifier and wasted no time in laying down a 4.806, 302.96 to take out Rick Cooper.
In the semi-final, Litton scored one of his largest round wins of the season when he took out point leader Clay Millican in a tire-smoking pedal-fest. At the end of the run, Litton exploded the supercharger ensuring a between rounds thrash just to make the final round.
On the other side of the ladder, final round opponent Cullinan couldn't make the final round call due to parts attrition incurred during his semi-final win against Doug Foley.
In the end, Litton was disappointed in a sense that the final round was a single.
"All wins are good wins, but it really makes it even more gratifying when you do it with competition. Certainly every win goes through the Werner team and when we were able to do that, it was very sweet."
The next event on the 12-race IHRA Hooters Drag Racing Series rolls into Budds Creek, Md., September 24 - 26, for the IHRA President's Cup Nationals.
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