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The Thrill of Victory and The Agony of Defeat

51st Annual Auto Club NHRA World Finals
November 12 – 15, 2015
Pomona, CA

Smoke ResizedThe 2015 season was coming to a close as Team Litton Racing, along with the Powerhouse combination of Crew Chief Randy Meyer and crew members Dan Pomponio and Craig Schmidt, entered into the 51st Annual Auto Club NHRA World Finals hoping to end the season on a high note. 25 of the best teams in the world, with the entire season to refine their set ups, registered to have their shot at holding up the final “Wally” of 2015.

The Team’s weekend had a shaky start in Q1 when the car smoked the tires at the hit. Chief Meyer commented on the run, “We are not off to a good start but we will be back tomorrow to make another attempt.” Not the ideal start to their weekend. However, Team Litton had been in this position before and knew the changes they needed to make to find their way into the elimination rounds.

 

Takeoff ResizedThe car found traction in Q2 on Friday running a competitive 5.45 @ 261.07 mph. However, this run still wasn’t enough to land Team Litton into the elimination rounds. Driver Litton had this to say after the run, “Chief Randy has an extraordinary ability to figure this out. You can bet he will come out swinging in the final qualifying round.” Team Litton would have one more qualifying run in the cool of Saturday morning to prove their worthiness for entrance into the elimination rounds.

Driver ResizedAs the car was being towed up to the starting line for Q3 on Saturday, Driver Litton reflected, “It was a long sleepless night waiting for this last shot.” The car launched hard in the final round and the nitro breathing monster screamed off the line hitting on all eight down cylinders down the track, clocking a 5.28 @ 267.85 mph, catapulting Team Litton into the #6 spot for eliminations. Chief Meyer elaborated, “We had an early run so we had the car loaded up pretty hard. It was a great run that Bill made moving us into the #6 spot, a great spot to be in.” The team would have to quickly refocus to prepare for Saturday afternoon’s first elimination run.

 

 

 

Full Car ResizedTeam Litton went into E1 with confidence hoping to repeat its Q3 success. Driver Litton had the starting line advantage with a 0.055 of a second reaction time on the Christmas tree but soon found himself behind and couldn’t quite catch up. Chief Meyer analyzed the run, “Bill was off the start line first. Unfortunately, we had a weak cylinder which means we had a hole go out and not burn the fuel well which slowed the car way down.” Even though Litton ran a 5.38 @ 270.37 mph, it wasn’t enough to beat his competitor’s 5.31 @ 269.46 mph.

Driver Litton reflected on the weekend and season, “We have come a long way this season… I feel blessed and very thankful to finish #14 in the world for this year. It would be great to get a shot at the top next year!”

It’s hard to believe that the 2015 season has come to a close. However, this season brought many new accomplishments for Team Litton Racing including: a career best ET, a career best MPH, a runner up Regional Event finish and a National Event Victory in the fastest qualifying field in history. Team Litton Racing would like to thank all of their family, friends, and fans that have supported them and they look forward to continuing the pursuit in 2016!