McVey dominates in St. Louis for second win of year

MADISON, Ill. – Canadian NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car racer Scott McVey recorded one of his strongest performances of his career in a winning effort during this past weekend’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Regional at Gateway Motorsports Park just outside of St. Louis. McVey qualified No. 1 and set low elapsed time of every round on his way to the winner’s circle.

McVey, from Ile de Chenes, MB, wheeled his Will Hanna tuned Monte Carlo to the No. 1 spot with a 5.591 at 259.31 mph. First round nearly ended his run to the winner’s circle against defending North Central Region Champion Todd Robertson. Right before starting, McVey’s crew heard an air line leaking. Some quick thinking by Hanna enabled McVey to take the win with a 5.612 at 260.56 mph.

“After having a freak problem on the line at our last race in Columbus, when I saw the guys scrambling, I was thinking ‘not again,” said Hanna. “The leak was well into the belly pan area, so I knew we had zero chance of finding it, much less fixing it on the line. So I told Scott to put it in high gear (for the burnout), we turned the air bottle off and did the burnout. After backing up from the burnout, we lifted the body, waited for Robertson to move towards the line, said a prayer, turned the air on and quickly motioned Scott to the line. Luckily for us, it had just enough air to make the run.”

In the semifinals, McVey took out Lance Van Hauen with a 5.591 at 259.91 mph, matching his qualifying pace. That set up the finals with Andy Bohl, in what may prove to be a pivotal race in the North Central Region Championship. McVey took a sizable jump off the line, .045 to .119 and never looked back, taking the win with a 5.613 at 260.56 mph.

“This was a nice bounce back from Columbus,” McVey commented. “The track was great all weekend and the crew did a fantastic job of putting a great car on the track all weekend. We really have to thank Lucas Oil Products and Polo Park Bowling Center for their support this year and all the parts manufacturers that got our parts repaired or new parts coming on the quick turnaround after Columbus. This is a great way to lead into my home race in Brainerd in two weeks.”

The win gave McVey a 52 point lead over Chris Foster in the North Central Region standings. Foster entered the event in the points lead, but lost in the first round. McVey is quick to point out the title fight is far from over.

“It’s nice to have the lead, but it’s who has the lead at the end that counts,” cited McVey. “Bohl started late, but he has a very good hot rod right now and will be in the thick of things for sure by the time he gets a few more races in. Foster and [Tony] Bogolo are more than capable of picking up more wins as the year goes on. I have a prior commitment and won’t be able to make the Bowling Green (Ky.) race, so we will have to take the fight to Earlville (Ia.).”

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