[BLOG]: T&T's Rishi Kanick to compete in NHRA

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

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Article by Rodney GranadoLocal drag racer, Rishi Kanick will drive a top alcohol dragster at the National Hot Rod Association`s (NHRA) events in Virginia and North Carolina during the month of April 2013.

Kanick is no stranger to speed with a trail of fast times within the Caribbean.  Since his motorsport debut in 2005, he has acquired a lot of experience behind the racing wheel and several trophies in his collection.  With his experienced Brazilian motorsport friend, Sidney Frigo, motivating him to secure his “A” fuel dragster license in 2012, Kanick is now set to go one step further and break many records along the NHRA circuit as a Caribbean national.  However, he may eventually be the first Caribbean native to race at NHRA`s elite Top Fuel bracket if he gets his lifelong wish.

Presently, his top alcohol dragster is nitro-methane powered and produces speeds in excess of 250 miles per hour.  Kanick will officially break the ice at the NHRA event in Richmond, Virginia from April 11-14 and then head to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Four Wide Nationals from April 19-21 for more action.  Kanick will join world class company such as legendary US racers Bill Reichert and Jim Whiteley. He will continue the full tour on the schedule below but for more NHRA info click the link:
http://www.nhraeventreg.com/ListEventCatgs.asp?ey=2013&ec=CN1&cc=4&rn=5

Schedule

April 11-14: NHRA regional race. Richmond, Virginia
April 19-21: NHRA national race, Charlotte, North Carolina
June 28-30: NHRA national race, Chicago, Illinois
August 2-4: NHRA National, Seattle
August 28 - September 2: NHRA national race, Indianapolis, Indiana
September 13-15: NHRA national race, Charlotte, North Carolina

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Article in Yesterday's Guardian newspaper

Chaguanas’ Rishi Kanick is the fastest drag racer in T&T. Yesterday, he clocked a time of 5.58 seconds at the Richmond Motorsports Park at Richmond, Virginia, USA, during his first qualifying round to advance to today’s final.

The 40-year-old clocked a top speed of 237 mph in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.

Rain delayed the start of racing as Kanick spent the greater part of the morning fine-tuning his $2 million nitromethane-powered car. Kanick said: “I am the first in the region to race in the A-Fuel class and I expect to break all regional speed records in drag racing.”

Kanick was accompanied by Hollister “Flambeaux” Edwards, a veteran in the T&T’s drag racing.

Edwards said he was impressed with Kanick’s performance.

He said: “Kanick may just prove to be this decade’s greatest drag racer in T&T. But let me remind you that drag racing is not for the weak-hearted or the shallow-pocketed.”

http://guardian.co.tt/sport/2013-04-12/ ... cing-final

[Dragist]

Great to hear and good luck .

[brams112]

Wish this guy all the luck in the world because his sport aint cheap.

[RoTaRyBoYz]

Good stuff man.. I might be at Zmax taking in the action, so I'll try to get some pics for you fellas.

BTW, I just found out that Rishi is some kinda pumpkinvine family. Apparently his grandfather or somebody is cousins with my great grandmother who lived in Eldorado

[TonyM]

I'm confused. The Guardian article said "Kanick into Virginia drag racing final", but according to NHRA.com this guy qualified LAST and didnt even make it to the semi finals on Saturday!

Check it here http://sportsman.nhra.com/content/divne ... &zoneid=12
He was the slowest qualifying driver. Am I missing something here?

He lost his races against Dan Page and didn't make it into the semi-finals or the finals.

Why is the newspaper making it seem as though he won or broke a record or something?

[foss]

would he be competing against Sheldon B?
Or is that a different category all together?

[zaxxon1]

Pics and videos can be seen on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/#!/rishi.kanick

[zaxxon1]

still trying to post the video.if someone can do that please do.

[zaxxon1]

Rishi speaks about his runs "quote: What a fantastic weekend of drag racing it was for me. I debuted driving my A-Fuel Top Alcohol Dragster at the Virginia Motorsports Park. (A-Fuel uses a percent of injected Nitro) My first pass was on Thursday doing a trial run. Prior to this I first drove the car in April 2012 at the Zmax dragway Charlotte NC to get my NHRA Top Alcohol license at a best time of 5.54 @ 263 MPH. On Friday we made two passes with the car at the time of 5.58 @ 243 MPH and 5.60 @ 265 MPH which was good enough to qualify for final round elimination. During the elimination round I was the first to react off the line, the tremendous power of the car lifted it into a wheelie just before the 1/8 mile mark. By the time I peddled it I was at the 1000ft mark, i hit the throttle, it wheelied again and I managed to control the powerful beast and shoot to the finish line at 5.56 @ 249 MPH. That was my fastest elapse time for the weekend with a double peddle and a double wheelie. My opponent clocked a time of 5.38 However, I was highly praised by the officials for this run and my keen ability to control the car as it wheelied twice . The track announcer said , "Kanick is poised to become the next household name in drag racing".
I am ready for Charlotte next weekend as the car is having the aerodynamics adjusted to keep the nitromethane machine from going airborne. Going to Charlotte is like going home where it all stared for me and I'm very confident that my team and I will give an impressive performance."

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

would he be competing against Sheldon B?
Or is that a different category all together?

Different category

Sheldon has the world record for the fastest Top Dragster.
Rishi is running in Top Alcohol Dragster.

The cars in TAD are faster than the cars in TD.

[kurpal_v2]

Bodow! Bai Rishi! GEE DEM FYAHZ

[link]

I'm confused. The Guardian article said "Kanick into Virginia drag racing final", but according to NHRA.com this guy qualified LAST and didnt even make it to the semi finals on Saturday!

Check it here http://sportsman.nhra.com/content/divne ... &zoneid=12
He was the slowest qualifying driver. Am I missing something here?

He lost his races against Dan Page and didn't make it into the semi-finals or the finals.

Why is the newspaper making it seem as though he won or broke a record or something?

the trick is how u DON"t say what u DIDN't do.....

[X2]

I'm confused. The Guardian article said "Kanick into Virginia drag racing final", but according to NHRA.com this guy qualified LAST and didnt even make it to the semi finals on Saturday!

Check it here http://sportsman.nhra.com/content/divne ... &zoneid=12
He was the slowest qualifying driver. Am I missing something here?

He lost his races against Dan Page and didn't make it into the semi-finals or the finals.

Why is the newspaper making it seem as though he won or broke a record or something?

The blog is worded to make it appear as though kanik is breaking an official record... which he isn't... hes claiming to be the fastest person in the Caribbean as hes been to whatever speed he says...technically it should be `quickest`.

[TonyM]

^ oh so it's about tricks! Well he definitely trick alot of people including the Guardian reporter!

The Guardian reporter said "to advance to today’s final" but Kanick got beat in the first round so how could the reporter say Kanick advanced to the final?

This is just like in 2011 when Kanick claimed he was the fastest man in T&T in the other Guardian article when all he did was make a few passes to get his TAD license.
http://guardian.co.tt/sport/2012-04-22/ ... drag-racer
Someone commented here last year

Guest • a year ago −
This article is MISLEADING and INCORRECT..... he did passes for his LICENCE.... those are not qualifying/competition or otherwise passes..... this author and editor needs to do their homework and stop pulling at sheldon....

Sad....

Like i said before this is erroneous reporting and it makes other drag racers look bad.

[tourniquet]

reminds me of ........
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=434222&p=6159353&hilit=Kanick#p6159353
btw is this the same guy that was/ is building a racetrack? If so, any updates on that?

[TonyM]

I'm confused. The Guardian article said "Kanick into Virginia drag racing final", but according to NHRA.com this guy qualified LAST and didnt even make it to the semi finals on Saturday!

Check it here http://sportsman.nhra.com/content/divne ... &zoneid=12
He was the slowest qualifying driver. Am I missing something here?

He lost his races against Dan Page and didn't make it into the semi-finals or the finals.

Why is the newspaper making it seem as though he won or broke a record or something?

The blog is worded to make it appear as though kanik is breaking an official record... which he isn't... hes claiming to be the fastest person in the Caribbean as hes been to whatever speed he says...technically it should be `quickest`.

racing is about winning, not so?

[Dragist]

would he be competing against Sheldon B?
Or is that a different category all together?

Different category

Sheldon has the world record for the fastest Top Dragster.
Rishi is running in Top Alcohol Dragster.

The cars in TAD are faster than the cars in TD.

Any updates on Ryan's campaign with the EVO ?

[TonyM]

reminds me of ........
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=434222&p=6159353&hilit=Kanick#p6159353

this Kanick guy is real interesting

he posted this on facebook


but the NHRA site shows that he lost the races he ran
http://sportsman.nhra.com/content/divne ... &zoneid=12

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER:
ROUND ONE
6) Wayne Morris, Lincoln University, Pa., 5.636, 251.77 def.
3) Duane Shields, Boulder City, Nev., 6.039, 261.88;

4) Randy Meyer, Spring Hill, Kan., 5.880, 235.47 def.
5) Jackie Fricke, Flemington, N.J., 9.219, 119.22;

2) Dan Mercier, LaPrairie, Quebec, 6.174, 248.80 def.
7) John Finke, Selkirk, N.Y., 15.586, 59.92;

1) Dan Page, Hampstead, N.H., 5.389, 260.61 def.
8) Rishi Kanick, Trinidad & Tobago, , 5.568, 249.44;

SEMI-FINALS
Mercier, 5.429, 264.75 def. Morris, 5.425, 260.11;
Meyer, 5.303, 270.86 def. Page, 5.403, 267.16;

FINALS
Meyer, 5.321, 271.57 def. Mercier, 5.330, 265.01.

what's this guy trying to pull here?

[RoTaRyBoYz]

Maybe he was counting one of his qualifying runs as a win

In all honesty, he qualified on Saturday so that's a plus even though he was on the bump spot. Last weekend's event was a Northeast regional race, so the pressure may not be as intense as Zmax this coming weekend. It'll be interesting to see how well he does with a full field of experienced, fast drivers

[frustr8ed]

this Kanick guy is real interesting

he posted this on facebook

HAHAHAHA! man say a "whole shot win" . To start with Mr. Kanick, there is no such thing as a whole shot in drag racing. There is however a "hole shot" . This is where you have a better reaction time and a slower elapsed time than your opponent. Your reaction time was among the slowest of the day.You had a slower reaction time and a faster elapsed time than the guy in the other lane which is the opposite of a hole shot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holeshot



it is one thing to embarass yourself but please don't embarass Trinidad and Tobago and its race fans. Please note that the world has access to your posts on Facebook. First of all, can you please stop the lies. You qualified last and was eliminated in the first round. Please stop saying you made it to the final elimination and that you won a race. A qualifying run is not a race. A red light does not even matter in a qualifying run. It's all about runing an elapsed time fast enough to put yourself into your prefered qualifying position.

Furthermore, it was a qualifying run and not an elimination round.

There are drivers like Sheldon Bissessar, Vijay Ramkisoon and Ryan Garcia who have worked long and hard to represent Trinidad and Tobago in International Drag Racing . They have all won races and set official records in the United States. Not once have you heard them begging for recognition or lying about their accomplishments.

Please don't get me wrong. You will get credit when its due, earned and true.
Please dont go around boasting about things you haven't done.
I will be the first to congratulate you when you win a race or set an official record in drag racing.

I might need to contact Autosport for results from Wallerfield. Have you ever won an actual race?

Furthermore, the Top Alcohol Dragster world record is 5.103 284MPH
Your average time is 5.60. You are more than half of a second slower than the record.

Bissessar,Ramkisoon and Garcia are record holders and are on top of their game.
Please stop putting your foot in your mouth and embarassing yourself and us.
Good luck at your next race and please don't lie to us, yourself or your country.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

T&T's Rishi Kanick sets a personal best of 5.26 secs @274 mph at the Dollar General NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in North Carolina yesterday (Saturday 20th April)!!!!

http://www.trinituner.com/v3/2013/04/21 ... -carolina/

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Rishi mentioned on dragracecentral.com

There are a lot of things that I have seen in my drag racing announcing career and a lot of very interesting people that I have met, but in all these years I have never met a driver who lists "cricket" as one of his favorite pastimes. But then I haven't met many drivers who have a certificate in Bible and Theology from the West Indies School of Theology, either. I mention this because Manuj Rishi Kanick (my spell check should have a field day with that) is on the entry list for the 4-Wide Nationals this week and he will be making his national event debut in the Top Alcohol Dragster class. Mr. Kanick will be driving a car that is owned by Anthony DiCero and he'll be jumping right into the deep end this week. A quick glance at the entry list shows that the reigning Lucas Oil World Champion, Jim Whiteley, is coming to town and so is Chris Demke, the runner-up in Las Vegas as well as Bill Reichert the five-time NHRA World Champion along with some of the other top cars in the class. It should be fun and if it doesn't work out for Mr. Kanick there is always a good cricket match going on somewhere in North Carolina, isn't there?... I mean this when I say it, it's things like that I really miss this year. I would love to be doing the alky show on ESPN with a great field of cars and a new driver because that was always a lot of fun?.By the way, Rishi, as he is called, qualified for the Lucas Oil race in Virginia this past weekend and did a huge wheelstand in the first round where he lost to Dan Page. Did you know that he is the first driver from Trinidad and Tobago to ever qualify in the alky dragster class? Or any class for that matter. Ok, so I didn't actually check my records but I'm taking a wild stab on that one. I wish Mr. Kanick the best of luck this week and I hope the fans enjoy the alky cars as much as they do the ones in the NHRA Mello Yello categories.


Manuj Rishi Kanick
Photo copyright 2013 Phil Hutchison

http://dragracecentral.com/DRCStory.asp?ID=266544&Filter=100#indextop

[RoTaRyBoYz]

Maybe this might help to clear up the word "final eliminations" used by Rishi. The NHRA listed Sunday's ELIMINATION session as "Final Eliminations", so I guess no harm was intended with Rishi stated the obvious.

[RoTaRyBoYz]

CONCORD, N.C. - FastNews Network - Results of final, round 4 eliminations in Top Alcohol Dragster at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, Fourth annual Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals fueled by Full Throttle:

W/L Driver R-Time E-Time Speed

(W) Bill Reichert (Bars Leak/Rislone A/FD) 0.073 5.301 262.90
(L) Rishi Kanick (Trinidad & Tobago Racing A/FD -9.999(R) NT-Left Before Tree

5:21 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 65 degrees, relative humidity 39 percent, barometer 29.62 inches, adjusted altitude 970 feet, track temperature 96 degrees.

Reichert is 27-21 in final rounds. This is Kanick's first race and final round.

Kanick jumps the gun, leaving before the tree is activated giving Reichert the win.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

video on Rishi Kanick



Video and Edit: Rodney Granado

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

ESPN feature on the race in which Rishi Kanick made it to the final round.

[kurpal_v2]

Interview @ 21.25


Run @ 43.32


Zmax girl intrigues me

[sliderz1]

thanks for that^^^^

good stuff from Kanick