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The Spiro Kontos-owned KonRodz entry (which is based from the GTA) was in race-winning form through qualifying, but tire smoke quickly ended the Canadian team’s weekend.

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Simonton’s Randy Anderson-tuned Monte Carlo funny car overpowered the track on the first qualifying run. The Minnesota driver streaked to a 5.624/259 MPH lap, enough to sit in the No. 2 spot after day one of qualifying. The Kon Rodz machine improved further in the final qualifying session, running 5.587/260 MPH, which was low of the round by almost a tenth of a second. Simonton would start eliminations from the No. 2 spot, just four thousandths of a second behind No. 1 qualifier Steve Harker.

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The Kon Rodz Racing TAFC was running at the top of the field through qualifying, so everyone was surprised when the car lost traction down-track during Cassie’s first round match with Bill Naves.

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“The car ran great in qualifying. We were excited to get in the No. 2 spot. I had a lot of confidence going into eliminations. The car shook out a lot further than it ever has and I didn’t recover quick enough from it to catch him. I learned something new. Next time I will be prepared to recover from it to still get down the track,” Simonton said, always eager to learn and improve.

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Team president Stefan Kontos says the Kon Rodz Top Alcohol Funny Car will be checked over before the team’s next race in Indy, the NHRA North Central regional opener, April 25-27.

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“We are still learning a new combination which is hurting our consistency. We’re continuing to improve and it was just a tough track and it got the best of us. We have been fighting small gremlins with the car and it’s causing a problem for us. We’re heading to Indy a couple weeks early for the regional. We’ll strip the car down and get to the bottom of it.”

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Kon Rodz Racing is an NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car team owned by Canadian businessman Spiro Kontos. Minnesota native Cassie Simonton drives the team’s KonRodzRacing.comMonte Carlo Alcohol Funny Car in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Spiro, Cassie, and the entire Kon Rodz team are grateful to the companies who support their racing program: Rat Pack Apparel, CRC Industries, Aerodine Composites Group, Bell Helmets, CleanBoost Performance Oils, Nick Pastura Motorsports, Sparco USA, Goodyear Tire, NGK Spark Plugs, MAHLE/Clevite, Goodson Tools, and Hedman Hedders.

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For more information on Kon Rodz Racing, please visit www.KonRodzRacing.com. Keep up with Cassie and the team on Facebook (www.facebook.com/konrodzracing) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/cassiesimonton and www.twitter.com/konrodzpr).