Shawn Bowen is tired of being second-best on the drag strip.

Bowen, of Montrose, Mich., is looking for his first victory of the season after two runner-up finishes in the Nostalgia Funny Car division this weekend during the 16th annual Holley National Hot Rod Reunion at Beech Bend Raceway Park.

“Yeah, we’ve been the bridesmaids the last two races,” Bowen said. “We’re hoping to get a win here quick. We’re getting close. We debuted the car last year with Bartone. We did three races last year is all we did, and we’ve done three races so far this year.”

Driving for owner Michael Bartone and with his father, Mike, and brother Scott forming much of his team, Shawn Bowen has been right on the doorstep of picking up his first victory in Bartone’s Camaro Nostalgia Funny Car. In the season opener in Boise, Idaho, he finished second to Jeff Arend. Then in Salt Lake City, Bowen fell just short in the final round to current points leader Bobby Cottrell.

With an experienced team and solid financial backing, Bowen said the final hurdle to winning is simply fine-tuning a a motor combination that is still new to him and his team.

“Just keep picking away at the tune-up, trying to make it run a little bit quicker on this spot of the track or that spot of the track,” Bowen said. “Just figuring out how to do that. This motor combination compared to our personal combination that we ran in our funny car is totally different. It’s a total 180, it’s just really weird. But we’re figuring it out.”

If past results are an accurate predictor, the Bowens will likely figure it out sooner than later. Mike Bowen, who enjoyed solid success in NHRA’s Top Alcohol Dragster division during his driving career, handed off driving duties to Shawn Bowen two decades ago and has helped him run on a national level ever since – first in Top Alcohol, and then about 10 years ago making the switch to the Nostalgia circuit.

In the garage, Scott Bowen has the final say on the car setup and engine matters. But you can be sure Michael and Shawn Bowen will have their say as they work to get Bartone’s car dialed in to win.

“We clash a lot of times, but we’ve done it for so long that we listen to each other’s idea and then we just come together and make one idea,” Bowen said. “It works out pretty good.”

Racing in the Holley National Hot Rod Reunion at Beech Bend continues through Saturday.{&end}