Bahrain1 triumph in US drag race

TDT | Manama                                                

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com     

Bahrain1 Racing’s Justin Bond powered to a fantastic victory in the Pro Mod category at the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) New England Nationals in the US. Bond’s triumph in his 1969 Camaro came early yesterday morning, Bahrain time, at the Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tennessee, as a delayed event due to unstable weather the weekend prior, which forced the rescheduling of action from the New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire.

The change in venue made little difference to Bond and his Bahrain1 crew, as they went on to claim first place in spectacular fashion, beating Tony Wilson in the final run. It was the third win for Bond after four meetings so far in the 2023 Fueltech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.

It added to his triumphs in Gainesville, Florida, in March and Charlotte, North Carolina, in April.

Bond has now extended his lead on the championship standings with the result. “I have an awesome team and lots of good people behind me,” Bond said after his win about Bahrain1 Racing, which is owned by His Majesty the King’s Personal Representative His Highness Shaikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa.

“In the final we put on a new set of tyres and we had one run on them, so I did a good old smokey burnout. The tyres I had on before had 35 runs, and my team is awesome.

“We’re just loving it out here and having a blast. That’s three out of four races I’ve been in the final so I couldn’t be any happier.” Bond will now be hoping to make it two quick wins in a row as he gets right back into the car for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at the same venue.

Bond will be one of three Bahrain1 challengers in the Pro Mod class, as he will be looking to power through the eliminations alongside teammates Khaled Al Balooshi and Kristopher Thorne, both racing in 2021 Camaros.

In the New England Nationals’ Pro Mod final, Bond made his move mid-track to win his headto-head with Wilson in a time of 5.853 seconds, overcoming his rival’s 6.123s. Bond also triumphed despite Wilson’s better reaction time of 0.027s compared to his 0.064s mark.

Earlier in the eliminations, Bond beat Doug Winters with a 6.976s elapsed time in the third round, while Wilson beat Tylor Miller.

In round two, Bond won over Eric Dillard and Wilson defeated JR Gray Jr, while Miller overcame Todd Tutterow and Winters beat Mike Castellana. In the first elimination round, Bond was a winner against Mike Thielen. Al Balooshi and Thorne also appeared in that stage, with Al Balooshi losing to Miller and Thorne being defeated by Tutterow.