There's not much NHRA season left, but FireIce drag racer Jay Payne still has a chance to move up in the season points standings in both of the classes he races at this weekend's 11th annual Big O Tires NHRA Nationals.
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is the site of the season finale for the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series and Payne's FireIce supercharged Camaro is fighting to stay in the top 10 in season points.
"We spent half the season messing around with a turbo car and now we're back to the blown car," said Payne, a past world champion in the category. "The blower car is part of our grass roots, and it's a lot more fun to drive. It's a real Pro Mod car.
"I'm not sure if it's a car capable of winning, but it's capable of going a few rounds and doing well."
Payne currently sits in 10th place, eight points behind Dennis Radford for ninth and six points in front of 11th-place Donnie Martin.
In Top Alcohol Funny Car, Payne still has three races left on the schedule -- two nationals and a divisional -- and plenty of opportunity to move the FireIce Ford Mustang up in the standings.
"If we have good outings we could move up quite a bit," Payne said. "But it's not life or death either. We're solidly in the Top 10 nationally, so we've got next year covered. So we're really looking to win those races and have some fun. We've got a Division 7 championship to lock up before the season is over, so we if we win, the points will take care of themselves."
Payne is fifth in the national Funny Car standings, six points behind fourth-place Roger Bateman and 24 points behind Mickey Ferro for third place.
This weekend, Payne is dedicating the race to Las Vegas-area first responders, particularly the ones who worked the horrific crash at the IndyCar race that claimed the life of racer Dan Wheldon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway two weeks ago.
"The racing world is a small community and when we lose one of our own, everyone feels the pain," Payne said. "These first responders, many of whom are firefighters, do their best to keep everyone safe while we do what we love. This dedicated group of pros rarely get the credit they deserve, but my race team and FireIce have all the respect in the world for the work they do."
FireIce, the title sponsor of Payne's racing operation, routinely salutes the courage and dedication of the nation's 1.1 million firefighters. A subsidiary of GelTech Solutions, a publicly traded corporation (OTCBB: GLTC), FireIce is an environmentally friendly fire suppression gel firefighters add to water to help extinguish fires much quicker than with water alone. Earlier this year, FireIce was added to the United States Forest Service's Qualified Products List.
To remind fans of the sacrifice firefighters make every day, Payne will banner the Leary Firefighters Foundation (www.learyfirefighters.org), Angel Faces (www.angelfacesretreat.org) and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (www.firehero.org) logos on his FireIce-branded hot rods.
