Friday, November 8, 2002

Hemphill takes Brad Penn^® Oil to Norwalk Quick 16 Title

Clarksburg, PA - Tom Hemphill went to Norwalk’s Halloween Classic in a close first for his first ever Norwalk Track Championship.  He ended up winning the event and taking the Championship title, which made new sponsor Brad Penn Oil very happy. Brad Penn had played their part in the win by keeping a hurt motor lubricated long enough for Hemphill to best Jeff Elam in the Bad Boyz blown Camaro in the final of the Moser Engineering Top Gun Shootout.

Like all the other racers Hemphill had to wait out Friday’s rain before getting one qualifier on Saturday to set the Q16 field. Tom’s 6.99 was good enough for fourth spot and a place in the Oddy’s Automotive / G-Force Racecars Frantic 4. Unfortunately Hemphill was up against fellow Dodge runner Joe Boniferro, who was a man on a mission and ran his personal best E.T. to move past Tom into the next round. The downside to running in the Frantic 4 was hurting the motor on the starting line as a converter screwed up. In the mad dash to get ready for the Q16 event all manner of people showed up to help and the team would like to thank Carl Rossler, who probably had more to lose by Hemphill making the race.

All the excitement was not over as Tom progressed through the field. A .501 light against Bob Schmidt went up in smoke when Hemphill shook the tires but he managed to pedal the Barracuda to the win. Another .501 came in the second round against Don Hardesty who promptly red lit and handed the win to the Clarksburg, PA based team. Hemphill singled in the third round before meeting Hemphill Racing Engines customer Tony Fagnili in his nitrous assisted Monte Carlo. Fagnili broke and Hemphill was advanced into the final against Jeff Elam in the ex-Persico Brothers blown Camaro. Elam had a massive lead out of the gate but shook the tires and coasted towards the finish only to be caught out by a recovering Hemphill who slipped past for a 7.40 to 8.48 win. 

Hemphill was ecstatic about winning his first ever Norwalk Track Championship and was happy for his customers who had performed well during the event. The ‘Our Gang’ Firebird driven by Bill Huwe made a milestone pass during the event when they ran their first ever six second pass. Hemphill Racing Engines wish them well in 2003 when they step up to IHRA Pro Stock.

Hemphill Racing Engines is proud to announce they are developing a website to keep everyone informed about the business and their racing exploits. Check out www.hemphillracingengines.com when it comes on line.

Brad Penn information can be found at their website - www.amref.com.

Hemphill Racing would like to thank the Brad Penn Oil Company and their distributor Townsend Gas & Oil for the support and excellent products. All Brad Penn products are available through Tom Hemphill Racing Engines.

They would also like to thank their other sponsors, Koffels Place of Huron, OH and Walled Lake, MI, Cam Motion and Tom Hemphill Racing Engines.