After 32 winless years, Koretsky came within .002-second of his first Wally
When Ken Koretsky returned to his home in the Philadelphia suburb of Richboro Monday night he found himself in the midst of party. It seems his friends and co-workers had joined his family in celebrating the longtime racer's best day ever at the drag strip. The bar was open, the food was on the grill, and the DVR was set to replay Sunday's O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, where Koretsky had driven like a man possessed to his second career final round.
"They threw me a Runner-Up Party," the 49-year-old real estate mogul yelled into the phone as the party raged on. "I just had maybe the biggest day in my drag racing career. It was unbelievable. Everyone here just wanted to congratulate me so we're all together and we're gonna watch the race again. Maybe I'll win it this time."
Koretsky woke up early Sunday morning in his motorcoach at Bristol Dragway, looked at the elimination ladder, and quickly realized he needed to have an exceptional day of driving if his 15th-ranked Indicom Electric/Nitro Fish Chevrolet Cobalt race team, which is owned by Greg Hill, was going to have any success at all.
Koretsky has competed in Pro Stock, Top Fuel, and
Stock Eliminator in his 32-year drag racing career.
Auto Imagery
His day would start against none other than three-time series champion Greg Anderson, the current POWERade points leader who was still smarting from a fluky Round 1 loss the week before in Norwalk, Ohio. Mathematically speaking, Anderson had out-qualified Koretsky by .035 seconds, a gigantic margin in the nip-and-tuck world of Pro Stock racing.
"I called my buddy Clay Millican and asked him to come over," Koretsky said. "We hang out a lot and talk about racing. He's a real calming influence on me. He has a way of talking to me that gets me focused. Clay's an awesome leaver in Top Fuel and I told him I needed to kill the Tree because everyone I was going to race would probably have me covered, so he gave me a strategy."
Koretsky, known as "Captain Chaos" in racing circles, wouldn't divulge exactly what Millican told him but evidentially it worked. Unencumbered by any family members, sponsors, or close friends from outside the sport bothering him during the day, Koretsky stayed locked in a zone that sent him on an incredible journey that almost resulted in his first Wally in 32 years of NHRA competition.
As expected, Anderson's GTO dominated Koretsky's Cobalt on the timing sheets, running .049 seconds quicker down the quarter-mile. But Koretsky had left on the 49-time national event winner with a cosmic .001-second reaction time that put him a whopping .067 seconds ahead, delivering a shocking holeshot victory at the other end that might go down as the biggest upset of the year.
In Round 2, Koretsky faced good friend Larry Morgan, left first with a .033 to .037, and won easily after Morgan got out of shape and was forced to shove in the clutch and abort his run.
Koretsky averaged a .013-second start Sunday.
Auto Imagery
The semifinals brought Dave Connolly to the line. Widely regarded as one of the top starting line specialists in the business, Connolly posed a big hurdle for Koretsky. But when the lights flashed it was Koretsky dusting the 24-year-old Connolly, registering an otherworldly light of .006 seconds to Connolly's .032-second reaction time. The advantage was just enough to give Koretsky another holeshot win, 6.827 to 6.805.
Red-hot Jeg Coughlin Jr. and his low qualifying JEGS.com Cobalt were waiting for Koretsky in the final and once again Koretsky knew he needed a quick start to have a chance. Remarkably, he pulled it off, leaving with a .013-second start to Coughlin's .041 launch. Koretsky led at every incremental timer down the racetrack -- getting tantalizingly close to the Holy Grail -- but at the finish line Coughlin was able to squeak by to win by .0024 seconds. "I thought Kenny had me," Coughlin admitted later.
"I think 99 percent of the people there were pulling for me to win," said Koretsky, who turned Pro in 1982 after seven years in the sportsman ranks. "They wanted to see me get my first one. That's nothing at all against Jeggy. Heck, he's a great friend of mine, but maybe even he was pulling for me a little bit.
"We're family out there. After Round 1 Greg came over and congratulated me and Jason [Line, Anderson's teammate] was down there and he wished me luck. After I beat Larry he headed home but he was calling after every round to see how we were doing. He was rooting for us.
"When I beat Dave I almost felt bad because he looked so down. I love that kid. I just bought a Super Comp dragster from him for my son to drive. He was bummed out but he was happy for me.
"Against Jeggie, damn, I did all I could. I wish I had won. I had a .013 and I needed a .010. So close. But I'll get mine. I guess it wasn't meant to be [Sunday] but it'll come. I'll get a Wally one of these days. Then we'll really have a party."
This
2 votes
