AMERICUS, Ga. - The O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals this past weekend gave Sovereign-Star Racing's Scotty Pollacheck his second appearance in a final round of competition and moved teammate Michael Ray up three places in the overall points after he won his first two rounds of the 2013 season.

 

Rainy Saturday weather conditions at Royal Purple Raceway in Houston, Texas, halted qualifying after only three sessions, but that was all the Sovereign-Star Racing pair needed after making strong passes straight off the trailer on Friday. The teammates went into Sunday's Pro Stock Motorcycle Mello Yello Series eliminations with Pollacheck at No. 2 and Ray at No. 6.

 

"I knew how close we were after Charlotte to really turning a corner, so it was great to come to Houston and out of the truck we qualified two and three on Friday. I ended up qualifying a competitive No. 6 after having to change engines," Ray said.

 

Ray earned his first bonus points in Houston when he took the No. 3 position in round one qualifying on Friday. Pollacheck had also qualified at the No. 2 position previously at Charlotte, which was his career best and a team best for Sovereign-Star Racing. 

 

"Everything has definitely been coming together where we're consistently doing well in qualifying and going rounds. Especially now that Michael and I are both in the top ten and he was going rounds, everybody was happy and it makes everything more fun," Pollacheck said.

 

In round one of Sunday eliminations, both Pollacheck and Ray kept their focus and made solid passes as both their competitors fouled at the starting line to turn on the red light.

 

Ray posted the low ET of eliminations with his 6.876/194 mph pass against Jim Underdahl. Pollacheck's 6.894 pass also took the round one win after Chip Ellis redlit.

 

During round two, Pollacheck led from start to finish, posting a 6.913 against Angie Smith's 6.968. Ray also won second round when Andrew Hines turned on the red light, ending his three-year winning streak at Houston.

 

The Sovereign-Star Racing teammates faced each other in the semifinals, where Pollacheck took the win after Ray staged too deep and redlit when the bike inched forward too far.

 

"It was the same routine that I had done all weekend. When I turned on the stage light, the bike was creeping and I just couldn't hold it back enough. I was in a lot deeper than I wanted to be. I knew that I had gone red, so I was just ready to get it through there and go cheer on Scotty in the finals," Ray said.

 

Pollacheck advanced to the final round for the second time in his career, following his first appearance last weekend at the Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte.

 

"It's crazy to think that we just went to the final round two weeks in a row. I definitely liked it. It makes you feel like you accomplished a lot more over the weekend," Pollacheck said.