Jimmy DeFrank Wins Fifth NHRA Super Stock Championship
- 3 Feb 2017
“They’re all different. I can’t say it was more exciting or better or anything. They’re all different,” DeFrank said. “That kind of sticks in my mind more than others. I was very focused on the championship and we changed our game plan a little bit. We usually run two cars, in the Stock category and the Super Stock category. We started this season with a high focus, a 100 percent focus, just on the one category and the one car in Super Stock and it paid off by winning the championship.” DeFrank started the season by winning the NHRA national event at the Winternationals in Pomona. He won two more events, had two runner-up finishes, and won by a comfortable margin. “Our theory on focusing on one car worked out well,” DeFrank said. “It’s the one we favor and the one I race the most.” DeFrank started his NHRA drag racing career in 1995. In 2015, running two cars, he was in contention for championships in the Stock and Super Stock categories. He didn’t win either. “It just kind of frustrated me and everything,” DeFrank said. “We were close but we just weren’t closing the deal on them. It felt like we weren’t giving 100 percent to each car, because when you’re racing two, it felt like it took us down to 90 or 95 percent effort in each car. We were just rushed and you can’t look at things as close.”
“We took a step back for this year and focused on the one car, our primary car and category, and it paid off and proved our gut feeling,” DeFrank said. After winning the NHRA national event in Pomona to start the season, DeFrank won an NHRA Divisional event in Fontana. But it wasn’t until he won the Super Stock event in Woodburn, Oregon, a Lucas Oil Division 6 race in September, did he feel confident about winning the championship. “That’s the one that really gave us the end of the year huge boost in points to put us far in the lead,” DeFrank said. “It was great. It was so much different than past ones. We had some championships that have come down to the very last race of the season where we had to win the race. That was my very first one. This one, it just kind of fell into place, probably the earliest out of any championship. The pressure was off earlier than usual.” Rain and bad weather affected the races in Oregon. Rain washed out the final day. DeFrank and his team had to wait until Monday before winning the event. He said he and his team, his dad Jim and his crew chief, missed a day of work, but it was worth it. “It was actually a delayed race,” DeFrank said. “It rained on Sunday. We only got maybe one or two rounds in. We were really focused on making good runs, watching the details, all three of us worked very closely. Of course with one car we can really do a lot. We made really good runs and it came together.”
“There’s no difference in preparation,” DeFrank said. “Our team is so big on preparation, literally the day after the world finals ended, the last race of the season, we came home and started preparing for this season. We started preparing the car and also the trailer. It’s just the way we are. Even the small things are important to us, even the inventory of the trailer and the maintenance of the trailer. We did start that early, the day after the race.” Using K&N air and oil filters in his cars are a big part of how his team prepares for each race and the season. DeFrank said the K&N filters are integral to his team’s success. “K&N is huge for multiple reasons,” De Frank said. “K&N does a ton for our sport. For our particular car, reliability and preparation are so important. But using the K&N products, which are the best products, they are reliable.” | ||||
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