Permatex/Follow A Dream Team Earns First Win of 2016

MARSTONS Mills, Massachusetts (July 5, 2016) - Jay Blake's Follow A Dream/Permatex Top Alcohol Funny Car team enjoyed an extra special 4th of July weekend.

The team got an early start on celebrating Independence Day by roaring to its first win of the season, capturing the NHRA Division 1 (Northeast Division) regional event at Lebanon Valley Dragway on Saturday, July 2.

The event came up aces all the way around for the Follow A Dream/Permatex team:

* Driver Phil Burkart, who joined the team at the beginning of this season, earned his first win with his new team.

* Burkart was the No. 1 qualifier.

* Burkart recorded low ET and fastest speed of the meet.

* And to cap things off, Burkart (5.641 seconds at 254.40 mph) defeated D.J. Cox Jr. (5.688 seconds at 250.60 mph) in the final round to take the event victory.

"We did great," Jay Blake said. "It doesn't get much better than that. We went into the race fighting D.J. Cox for No. 1 in the region. We were No. 1 and he was No. 2 by a point.

"So we had him in the final round. It was a real close, tight race. The team did a phenomenal job all weekend, didn't miss a beat and it was awesome to win the race.

But wait, there's more: The Follow A Dream team continued its dominance at the West Lebanon, New York dragstrip, winning the TA/FC for the third straight year and fifth time in the last seven years.

"It's a pretty crazy run we've had there, but it's pretty awesome," Blake said. "We were so close to winning (a couple months ago) at Richmond, so it's really awesome to finally get that first win, not just for Phil but also for the whole team. "Winning at Lebanon Valley gives us a lot of confidence and we should be in good shape."

The Follow A Dream/Permatex team now moves on this weekend to the next NHRA national event, the Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago).

Given what his team did at Lebanon Valley, Blake is excited to see the momentum continue in the Windy City.

"This is a big race," said Blake, whose team reached the semifinals at Route 66 in last year's race. "The best cars in the country are there. You really want to go and be part of that group, I believe we are, and we need to go show that on the racetrack."

Burkart comes into this weekend ranked ninth in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series national points standings with 265 points. He's only nine points out of seventh and 31 points out of sixth place.

However, Burkart is ranked No. 1 in the NHRA Lucas Oil Eastern Region standings and Blake feels confident his team can go all the way.

"We're really fighting for a regional championship," Blake said. "We've got two races left and the points are really, really tight.

"We're not going to win the national championship this year unless something miraculous happens, but the goal is to win the regional championship and to be in the top-10 in the country (nationally). Those are our two goals."