Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil Pro Stock-winning team owner Kenny Koretsky has added the Tonglet Racing Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle team and Indy champ LE Tonglet to his Nitro Fish lineup for the remaining five Countdown to the Championship races. Tonglet’s first event with the bike’s new colors is the O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals, Sept. 16-19, at zMax Dragway in Charlotte.

“We want to thank Kenny for helping us,” said LE, the family’s youngest driver. “Getting Nitro Fish as a sponsor is going to boost our spirits going into Charlotte, and it is really going to help out going to each race after that.

“We have a bike that can potentially win the championship now, and with Kenny and Nitro Fish onboard, we have a backup,” he continued. “Now we don’t have to worry if we are going to be at the next race or if this will be our last race. That really takes the burden off us.”

The U.S. Nationals triumph was the second in his first full season of NHRA racing. He was runner-up in Madison in his fourth race and went to the winner’s circle two races later in Chicago. His team includes his father, Gary, and brother, GT.

Gary had three top 10 NHRA finishes during his career, and GT added to the family tradition with four top 10s. They serve as co-crew chiefs for LE.

“The Tonglet family has been racing for a long time, and LE is an excellent driver,” Koretsky said. “He showed Monday that he is capable of winning the championship. He is definitely a top contender for NHRA’s rookie of the year award.”

Tonglet qualified second at the U.S. Nationals behind Andrew Hines and in front of Eddie Krawiec. He ousted Krawiec in the semifinals and erased Hines’ title hopes in the final with the quickest elapsed time of eliminations, 6.869, at 195.22 mph.

“Our Suzuki is going to have a whole different look at Charlotte,” Tonglet added. “I’m looking forward to seeing how everyone reacts when we unveil it.” NHRA.com
__________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

Koretsky Shakes Flu Bug; Concentrating on Preparing

Kenny Koretsky rolled out of bed Thursday and pronounced himself fit for the beginning of the new 24-race NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season that gets underway Feb. 7-10, at Pomona, Calif.

It’s a good thing, too, because he was scheduled to begin testing at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Thursday.

Koretsky, of Richboro, Pa., was bedridden for 11 days with flu-like symptoms.

“I feel a lot better now,” said the popular driver who also answers to the nickname Captain Chaos. “I couldn’t do anything, and that was difficult for me because I’m always on the go. But I did lose 11 pounds, and that made Eddie happy. (Eddie Guarnaccia is the longtime crew chief on his Nitro Fish/Indicom Electric Chevy Cobalt.) He’s always after me to lose weight. That’s not the way I wanted to do it, but we’ll take advantage of it.” (Koretsky graciously refused to reveal his current weight.)

“We were excited to get out of Pennsylvania and to Las Vegas for testing and the Pro Stock Shootout Saturday. In my book there’s no better place for Captain Chaos to start than in viva Las Vegas.”

Koretsky said he and Greg Hill “are racing partners again this year. Sonny Leonard is working on Greg’s engines and we are really looking forward to getting Sonny’s motor in the car to see what it can do. Sonny had the motor on the dyno Tuesday in his shop (in Lynchburg, Va.) and it was in our car Thursday.”

Hill also is working with fellow Pro Stock driver Greg Stanfield. We hope this two-car concept reaps dividends,” he commented. “They are separate teams but we will share information to make both cars run better,” said Hill. “We’ll get double the feedback.

“Kenny is running my motors that Leonard is working on and I own both cars,” Hill said. “Pro Stock is getting so technical and competitive that you need every edge you can get. We are shooting to get both cars into the winner’s circle.

“We think it’s a pretty good deal. We are working to develop our own motor program with Sonny and, at the same time, Stanfield is working on his stuff. I think we have to do our own motor program if we are to be successful. The top six teams (from 2007) all had their own motor programs.”

Koretsky was scheduled to buckle up for action Thursday, but cold weather at The Strip kept action to a minimum. Three rounds of Pro Stock qualifying are on tap for the Shootout Friday – plus additional testing – before Saturday’s 16-car eliminations. Sunday is listed as the final test day.

“I’m ready to go to the NHRA winner’s circle for the first time,” Koretsky concluded. “We all hope to get at least one win.”
NHRA increased the schedule to 24 events with a formal announcement of a new event in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 11-14. The track is being built by Bruton Smith on the same property as his Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
www.fastboyzracing.com
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Koretsky to Test New Nitro Fish/Indicom Electric Pontiac GXP

Kenny Koretsky’s Nitro Fish/Indicom Electric Pro Stock team has something new and something borrowed for the 39th edition of the ACDelco Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. The weekend goal, obviously, is to make the rest of the Pro Stock field blue by Sunday evening.

It’s a challenge, to be sure, but Koretsky and crew chief Eddie Guarnaccia are vowing to put their best foot forward when they resume the quest for a POWERade Series victory in the ultra-competitive category.

“We are excited because we have a new Jerry Bickel-built Pontiac GXP test as long as we need to – Tuesday, Wednesday and even Thursday, if necessary, at Valdosta (Ga.’s South Georgia Motorsports Park),” Koretsky said. “Eddie said Bickel did a good job on the car and it will be ready to make test runs.

“More good news is the report from Sonny Leonard, our engine supplier. He said his latest motor is good and will be in Gainesville. We also have a deal with Tom Hammonds for his (borrowed/leased) motors so I think we’ll be in good shape there.”

Hammonds’ power plants were in the 2007 Chevy Cobalt for the season’s first two races and enabled Koretsky to qualify at Pomona, Calif., and Phoenix. He is, however, still in search of his first 2008 round win.

“I tell you, just to qualify right now is a plus,” added Koretsky, who is tied for 14th going into Gainesville. “There have been a lot of good cars that haven’t raced on Sunday so far this year. We want to make sure we get our new car in the top 16 for Sunday’s eliminations. Once you’re in, anything can happen.

“We love going to Gainesville because we are back on the East Coast and the weather usually is very good. We’ve had a cold winter in Richboro and the Philadelphia area,” he continued. “There are a lot of Pro Stock fans that come to this race, too.”

Friday and Saturday’s qualifying sessions are at noon and 2:30 p.m. while Sunday’s eliminations begin at 11 a.m.

Television: Sunday, March 16, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 1 a.m. (ET).

Sunday, March 16, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will telecast NHRA Race Day at 11 a.m. (ET). Sunday, March 16, ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will televise the race at 6 p.m. (ET).
www.fastboyzracing.com

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

One Milestone Down, Koretsky Goes After

The thrill of claiming his first NHRA Pro Stock low qualifier award in 214 races is still a sweet memory for Kenny Koretsky.

It was just 10 days ago in Las Vegas when Koretsky ended one of his career droughts with a 6.724-second elapsed time that was one-thousandth of a second quicker than that of Jason Line.

And it merely whetted his performance appetite. He wants more – like his first national-event victory.

“Eddie (Guarnaccia) and I have been racing together for 20 years and we want to get that first win,” Koretsky said. “It felt great to qualify first, and we want to do it again. We don’t want to wait another 214 races.”

His next opportunity comes in the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, April 25-27, at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga.

The affable Koretsky will be testing the Nitro Fish/Indicom Electric Pontiac GXP in St. Louis on Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s a two-fold visit: Guarnaccia wants to put some laps on a new Sonny Leonard motor and get some data on Gateway International Raceway’s quarter-mile asphalt.

“It’s good for me to be getting more laps in our GXP, too,” Koretsky said. “It helps Eddie figure out chassis setups. We need to get more race-day experience. The more runs we make, the more we learn. I’m starting to feel comfortable in the car. That also makes a difference.”

Koretsky’s first NHRA race came in 1987 and he has driven in both Pro Stock and Top Fuel. He is the first – and only – driver to qualify in Top Fuel and Pro Stock (at Phoenix, 1990). His finest NHRA season was 2004. He finished ninth in points and made his first final-round appearance, at the U.S. Nationals, losing to Greg Anderson.

The NHRA POWERade Series moves to St. Louis for the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals, May 4-6.

Summit Racing Equipment Nationals:

Qualifying: Friday, Pro Stock, 2 and 5:30 p.m.; Funny Car and Top Fuel, 3 and 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, Pro Stock, 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.; Top Fuel and Funny Car, 12:30 and 3:30 p.m.

Television:

ESPN2 – Saturday, qualifying, 6-8 p.m., EDT; Sunday, eliminations, 7-10 p.m., EDT
www.fastboyzracing.com
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Data in Hand, Koretsky Believes Good Test Session

A little more than a week ago, Kenny Koretsky took a business trip to St. Louis. There were no sit-down meetings and it was conducted at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill., across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.
It is best described as a test session to gather data for the Nitro Fish/Indicom Electric Pro Stock Pontiac GXP he drives in NHRA’s POWERade Series.
Now the businessman/racer plans to put that knowledge to good use Friday when the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals begins its three-day run at Gateway.
“We had real good results when we tested at St. Louis last week,” Koretsky said. “Our best run was 6.682 seconds at 206.29 mph. We’d like to do the same thing Friday so we can get qualified early.”
Disappointed at missing the starting lineup by six-thousandths of a second last week at Atlanta, Koretsky wants to bounce back at Gateway.
“Eddie (Guarnaccia, crew chief) and the team have been working hard on our new Jerry Bickel-built Pontiac GXP,” Koretsky continued. “It has a lot of potential. Now that we qualified No. 1 for the first time in my career at Las Vegas last month, we want to get our first win this year.”
Koretsky has been pursuing that goal throughout his two-decades-plus Pro Stock career. He came close twice, finishing second at the 2004 U.S. Nationals and at Bristol, Tenn., last year.
“We know we can run good enough to be No. 1, now we need to put together four good rounds of racing on Sunday. I didn’t realize until after we qualified number one that there are a lot of race winners who have never qualified first.
“Eddie has done a good job working on the new car and getting it to respond to his tune-ups. We’re looking forward to racing in St. Louis. One of these days we are going to win a race.”
Koretsky said the Nitro Fish Pro Stock Motorcycle of Matt Smith has been running well. “Matt will be racing in St. Louis, too. He won the second motorcycle race of the year in March at Houston and is in third place (251 points), 38 behind the leader (Andrew Hines) and he’s only 13 behind Matt Guidera.”
However, any of the above gets going, Koretsky is joining a select number of NHRA drivers Thursday night in a special dirt-track race at Tri-City Speedway, Granite City, Ill., Others completing include Ron Capps, Gary Scelzi and Scott and Doug Kalitta.
Tri-City is a three-eighths mile dirt oval, much different than the quarter-mile asphalt straightaway Koretsky is quite familiar with.
www.fastboyzracing.com
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cool Conditions Bring Season's Lowest Pro Stock Times

St. Louis, May 3, 2008 -- Kenny Koretsky's quickest qualifying elapsed time came in Saturday's final session at Gateway International Raceway, but it wasn't quick enough to get into the starting line-up for Sunday's O'Reilly Midwest Nationals.

Times dropped dramatically Saturday when the temperatures dropped into the low 50s with wind-chill listed in the mid-40s. Koretsky posted a 6.662-second time at 206.23 mph in the Nitro Fish/Indicom Electric Pontiac GXP and later began checking with his airline to see if he could get home Sunday.

"I think we got a handle on the tune-up a little too late," Koretsky lamented. "It wasn't a bad run, but mineshaft conditions like we had Saturday are tough on us.

"Eddie (Guarnaccia, crew chief) and the guys worked hard to get everything together. We'll keep working on it. We still want to get our first win before the season is over."

The next NHRA POWERade Series race is at Bristol, Tenn., May 16-18.
www.fastboyzracing.com
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kenny Koretsky Sets Sights on Another Final Round at Bristol

Mention Bristol Dragway to Kenny Koretsky and he shakes his head. “Man, we should’ve won there last year,” he says.

He came as close as he ever has to winning a NHRA POWERade Series Pro Stock race a year ago with a stellar performance. A combination of terrific reaction times – plus good engine and chassis tune-ups – sent Koretsky to the finals against Jeg Coughlin. Koretsky’s fourth quick reaction proved to be two-thousandths of a second short of the coveted win light as Coughlin overtook him at the finish line.

Can he pull it off when the Thunder Valley Nationals unfold at Bristol Dragway this weekend?

“Anything is possible in Pro Stock,” Koretsky said. “We are excited to be going back to Bristol. That was a good race for us last year. Of course we’d like to get to the finals again . . . and get the win, you just never know. This class is about as tough as it has ever been. It’s an accomplishment to just make the starting lineup.”

Eddie Guarnaccia, crew chief on the Nitro Fish/Indicom Electric Pontiac GXP, will have a Sonny Leonard motor providing the horsepower.

“Sonny said the motor looks pretty good, so we’re going to give it a try,” added Koretsky.

Ultimately, Koretsky would like to challenge for a top 10 berth in the Countdown to the Championship. He’s 15th with 181 points, 105 behind 10th place with 11 races remaining before the title chase field is downsized to 10.

Thunder Valley Nationals

Qualifying: Friday, Pro Stock, 4 and 6:30 p.m.; Funny Car, Top Fuel, 4:30 and 7 p.m.
Saturday, Pro Stock 12:30 and 3 p.m.; Top Fuel, Funny Car, 1 and 3:30 p.m.

Television: ESPN, ESPN2

Saturday – Qualifying, 6:30-8:30 p.m., ET
Sunday – NHRA Race Day, 11 a.m., ET
Eliminations, 6:30-10 p.m., ET
www.fastboyzracing.com