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June0204__This past weekend the Pro Rear Wheel Drive Sport Compact racers traveled to Topeka, Kansas to attend the first Street Glow Extreme Rush event this year.

This past weekend the Pro Rear Wheel Drive Sport Compact racers traveled to Topeka, Kansas to attend the first Street Glow Extreme Rush event this year. Amidst the storms and winds, they ran with big boys of Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock. This event was different to qualify for, as the teams have been earning points since the beginning of the year. In order to attend, you must have attempted to qualify at the previous events, and only the top eight in points have earned the privilege to race at the national NHRA event. The Summit Racing/MTX/Fram Cavalier, piloted by Matt Hartford, was qualified in the number seven position.

The first pass on Saturday, the winds were very high, and switching from head winds to cross winds at about 35-40 mph. Hartford was paired up against Matt Scranton (Turbonetics Celica). Scranton got out of the groove, and his car flipped onto its lid with a strong gust of wind. Luckily, Scranton was okay, and Hartford was clearly ahead, crossing the finish line with a 7.33 ET. The second pass on Saturday proved to be much better, as Hartford piloted the Summit Racing/MTX/Fram Cavalier to a 7.07 ET at 193 MPH! That is the fastest mile per hour this car has ever seen, and the driver was only at 3/4 throttle. Standing on the sidelines you could tell the crowd enjoyed the long burnouts, as well as the numbers that were showing up on the board.

On Sunday, the weather and wind had calmed and the sun came out to put some heat in the track. Hartford was paired up with George Ioannou in the first round, and they were both ready to race. As they left the line, Hartford heard the engine popping as he came up on 10,000 RPM. He then shifted into second and third before he realized that the shift light was not activating, telling him to shift. By the time he was in fourth gear, Hartford realized the popping was the engine bouncing off the upper rev limiter, at 10,600 RPM's. Looking ahead, he realized that Ioannou crossed the finish line, so he clicked the engine off at about 1000 feet, and still managed a fine 7.13 ET! When Keasler tore the engine down on Tuesday, there was minimal wear internally. The crew is very excited about there accomplishments and the motor is already ready to go for Denver for the Mopar NHRA Sport Compact National event.

The Summit/MTX/Fram Cavalier was able to make three complete passes this weekend. Their team has found the dependability they have been searching for. "We came to Topeka completely prepared," states Hartford, who was ecstatic over the progress made. "In conjunction with GM Powertrain and GM Racing, we fixed the parts that were having reliability issues. Our engine builder, Mylon Keasler, ran the motor on the dyno after installing the new parts, and throttled it on the two-step for 1 minute and 12 seconds. We went through the motor after the dyno pull, it looked brand new, as if it had just been put together. There were no signs of wear, fatigue, or anything that would be considered marginal. The motor looked perfect."

That was the same motor that Hartford ran all weekend. "The reliability and consistency has been found, which is what we have been hoping for," Keasler said while walking back to the pits. "Now we can contend for the championship without the worries about cam-drive survival. That instills great confidence that we can hunt down that championship Wally now." The Summit Racing/MTX/Fram Cavalier is powered by a Twin-Turbo Charged General Motors Hi-Feature V6. The engine is producing massive amounts of horsepower while running on Methanol.

The team would like to especially thank all of their sponsors for the continued support: Summit Racing Equipment, General Motors Powertrain, GM Racing, MTX Audio/Streetwires, FRAM, Autolite, Turbo by Garrett, Keasler Racing Engines, Don Ness Racecraft, Total Seal Piston Rings, AEM, Darton Sleeves, Crane Cams, Mickey Thompson, Dart Heads, ARP, Royal Purple, CP Pistons, Weld Wheels, Dewco, Lamb Components, Ferrea Valves, Fluidyne, MGP Rods, HardBlok, Headway Clutch Discs, ATI, Flatout Gaskets, Stef's Oil Pumps, Auto Meter, Richmond, Johnson's, Magnaflow, Accufab, and thank you to all of the fans that help make this sport possible.