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Von Smith on the road to
recovery
August 15, 2004 - Von Smith has
been released from the hospital following quintuple heart
bypass surgery and has begun the process of recovery in
his hometown of Oak Ridge, TN. Though no date has
been set for his return to Pro Modified competition, early
indications are for a speedy recovery. The
outpouring of support in the form of cards, flowers and
emails from fellow racers, fans, friends and family was
incredible and Von would like to express his appreciation
to all who have sent their encouragement. It's
rumored that the hospital staff would also like to send
thanks to the unknown person(s) who sent gifts in exchange
for keeping Von in the hospital as long as possible.
TLR 1 for 2 with DNQ at
Northern Nationals
August 14, 2004 -
Martin, MI - With Von Smith sidelined for the Northern
Nationals, veteran Pro Mod Driver Tommy Gray has stepped in
and taken his first shot at piloting Dr. Moon's RAGE during
Friday qualifying. Gray met with tire shake on each of
his three qualifying attempts and had to lift each time,
besting a 9.497 / 93.81mph pass and leaving him outside the
qualifying field for eliminations.
Despite the Pro Mod
troubles, team TLR wasn't absent from Saturday eliminations, as IHRA
newcomer Joshua Hernandez made his first attempt at qualifying for a
national event behind the wheel of Tommy Lipar's 2000 Dodge
Avenger Funny Car. Besting a 6.132 / 227.54 mph
qualifying pass on the new combination, Joshua ended up #12
on the qualifying ladder and was set to face #5 qualifier
and recent IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals event winner Jeff
Burnett in the first round of eliminations. Upon
facing Burnett, Joshua left the starting line first but was
chased down by Burnett's better elapsed time 5.922 to 6.046.
The TLR Avenger heads for the next IHRA event to be held in
Norwalk, OH the weekend of August 25-28, 2004.
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