ADRL HOUSTON FINAL RESULTS
Sat, 2009-03-07 21:35
Overflow
crowds, record-setting performances and the debut of a new professional
category into National Guard ADRL competition were the highlights of
the National Guard ADRL Safety-Kleen Drapalooza V at Houston Raceway
Park.
Todd Tutterow (Pro Extreme), Stan Allen (Pro Nitrous), Billy Glidden (Extreme 10.5), Charlie Prophit (Pro Extreme Motorcycle) and Doug Kirk (Extreme Pro Stock) took home the Minuteman in their respective categories.
Tutterow mowed down a tough Pro Extreme field, using seven 200+ mile per hour runs throughout the weekend to score his first career Pro Extreme national event win. The North Carolina-born Tutterow defeated reigning two-time Pro Extreme champion Jason Scruggs in the final round with a 3.925 seconds - 201.46 mph to Scruggs' 4.241 - 136.41. Tutterow, Allen, Glidden, Prophit and Kirk Win in Houston
Houston Raceway Park hosts largest drag racing crowd in history
Overflow
crowds, record-setting performances and the debut of a new professional
category into National Guard ADRL competition were the highlights of
the National Guard ADRL Safety-Kleen Drapalooza V at Houston Raceway
Park.
Todd Tutterow (Pro Extreme), Stan Allen (Pro Nitrous), Billy Glidden (Extreme 10.5), Charlie Prophit (Pro Extreme Motorcycle) and Doug Kirk (Extreme Pro Stock) took home the Minuteman in their respective categories.
Tutterow mowed down a tough Pro Extreme field, using seven 200+ mile per hour runs throughout the weekend to score his first career Pro Extreme national event win. The North Carolina-born Tutterow defeated reigning two-time Pro Extreme champion Jason Scruggs in the final round with a 3.925 seconds - 201.46 mph to Scruggs' 4.241 - 136.41.
Ironically, winning the race wasn't the original reason the veteran racer from Lewisville, NC brought his family and his race team to Baytown. It was for the chance to win the $5000 bounty put up by Flowmaster for being one of the first three drivers to exceed 200 miles-per-hour down the eighth-mile in a Pro Extreme car. That goal was accomplished earlier, as Tutterow shattered the mark during qualifying, joining Scruggs and Bubba Stanton as members of the ultra-exclusive club.
"This is like a dream come true," said Tutterow. "When I won the $5000, I thought that would be enough. But to come here and race in front of 50,000 fans and then take home a Minuteman – it's still hard to believe."
Tutterow had run over 200 mph in testing at the end of last season, so entering the weekend's competition, he was confident it could duplicate the feat during a national event.
"I worked on making the car consistent," said Tutterow. "We struggled like everyone else at the low-end of the track this weekend, so I worked on making it up on the top end. The speed is there, the ET (elapsed time) will come around."
Pro
Nitrous winner Allen, a member of the Bankston Boyz Racing team had a
long history of success in street car racing prior to joining the
National Guard ADRL tour, but this was his first win at the
professional level.
He entered eliminations qualified 13th after struggling in qualifying.
Allen admitted that his poor qualifying performance was primarily due to persistent clutch problems that kept the Bankston Boyz crew searching for answers.
"We were just trying to find some consistency and not make mistakes," said Allen, from New Iberia, LA. "We knew eventually that if we could get the clutch to work like we wanted it to, the track would come to us."
In the final, against two-time national event winner Jim Halsey, Allen gave up a slight starting line advantage but when Halsey lost traction, Allen drove past him to take the win light with a 4.134 – 168.81 to Halsey's losing 4.203 – 149.18.
In Extreme 10.5 the Glidden juggernaut continued as defending world champion Billy Glidden scored his fifth national event title.
The second-generation racer from Whiteland, Indiana hadn't been the star of the class heading into eliminations. That distinction went to Todd Moyer, who not only qualified No. 1, but claimed $5,000 in cash from Flowmaster for being the first Extreme 10.5 driver to run faster than 185 mph. Moyer easily accomplished the feat during qualifying with a run over 187 miles-per-hour.
However, during eliminations, Moyer fouled out during the second round, clearing the way for Glidden.
"We weren't the fastest car here this weekend, but we were when it mattered," said Glidden, son of drag racing legend Bob Glidden. "I was just doing my job. When we don't win, I don't get paid."
Glidden used a string of four - 4.1 second performances to claim his Minuteman, beating Jake Carlton in the final with his slowest pass of eliminations, a 4.143 – 175.23 mph to edge out Carlton's 4.194 – 175.98 mph.
Glidden commented afterwards that a repeat title isn't going to be easy.
"Everyone here has stepped up their game," said Glidden. "It's getting harder to see the win light every round. You have to be completely prepared and get everything just right every time you pull up to the starting line."
The Pro Extreme Motorcycle final was a family affair between the Prophit brothers – Charlie and Matt. Having qualified on opposite sides of the elimination ladder, talk began almost immediately in the team's pits about a brother vs brother finale.
"I was 0-1 going into the finals against Matt," said race winner Charlie. "As kids, he was always beating me. It's nice to even the score."
Charlie Prophit entered eliminations qualified 4th while younger brother Matt was qualified 7th. As they both worked their way through the field, it soon became apparent that indeed it would be an intramural final.
In the final, Matt left early lighting the red light and handing older brother Charlie his second career Minuteman, breaking his own world record (4.240) in the process with a very quick pass of 4.237 – 168.75 mph.
The debut of the Extreme Pro Stock class in National Guard ADRL competition concluded with a final round battle between two long time friends and rivals, Brian Gahm and Doug Kirk. Gahm entered eliminations as low qualifier with a 4.105 second elapsed time at 176.51 miles per hour. Kirk had qualified third with a 4.119 second effort.
Throughout the day, these two racing veterans had put on a great show, playing the kind of psychological mind games this class if
famous
for - each driver taking his time at the starting, lighting the
pre-stage light on the Christmas Tree starting system and then taking
as long as possible until eventually rolling into the staging lights a
split second before the starting lights are activated.
In the final round, the mind games continued as each man took his time rolling into the staging beams.
As the lights turned green, Gahm's car took an almost immediate turn to the right and it was over. Kirk motored on through the eighth-mile for an easy win, scoring his first Minuteman with a convincing 4.165 – 175.25 pass.
"Brian and I are old friends and it's always great to beat him," said Kirk. "He's done it to me so many times before. It was nice to turn the tables on him."
Afterwards, Kirk said he was pleased with his first National Guard ADRL experience.
"This was just great," said Kirk. "The two-day program makes it a lot easier for us to get to the race and get home. And the crowds are just unbelievable. It's nice to come to the starting line and see the stands packed with so many people."
Gahm was smiling, but vowed revenge.
"We'll be at all the ADRL events this year," he said. "This is the best place to race. I had a lot of fun. I know I'll have several more opportunities to beat him (Kirk)."
In the Pro Junior Dragster final, Dillon Richards used a better reaction time (.020) and pure horsepower to defeat Chris Benham (.093) and take the win light with a 7.95 – 78.27 to Benham's 8.938 – 78.82 effort
An overflow crowd of over 50,000 passed through the turnstyles throughout the day, taxing the Houston Raceway Park facility's infrastructure to its limits. Shortly after 7:30 p.m. local time, after traffic had been backed up over three miles on the surrounding highways - forcing local law enforcement officials to close roads - HRP General Manager Seth Angel declared that the gates to the track would have to be closed and that those who were not already on the grounds would be turned away.
"I realize that there were still several thousand more race fans trying to get in, but my concern at the time was for those already here," said Angel. "This was undoubtedly the largest crowd we've ever had at Houston Raceway Park and I wanted to make sure that everyone here was safe, comfortable and enjoying the show."
The next stop on the ten-race National Guard ADRL tour is the ADRL Georgia Drags V at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil, Georgia April 10-11.
Todd Tutterow (Pro Extreme), Stan Allen (Pro Nitrous), Billy Glidden (Extreme 10.5), Charlie Prophit (Pro Extreme Motorcycle) and Doug Kirk (Extreme Pro Stock) took home the Minuteman in their respective categories.
Tutterow mowed down a tough Pro Extreme field, using seven 200+ mile per hour runs throughout the weekend to score his first career Pro Extreme national event win. The North Carolina-born Tutterow defeated reigning two-time Pro Extreme champion Jason Scruggs in the final round with a 3.925 seconds - 201.46 mph to Scruggs' 4.241 - 136.41. Tutterow, Allen, Glidden, Prophit and Kirk Win in Houston
Houston Raceway Park hosts largest drag racing crowd in history
Todd Tutterow
Todd Tutterow (Pro Extreme), Stan Allen (Pro Nitrous), Billy Glidden (Extreme 10.5), Charlie Prophit (Pro Extreme Motorcycle) and Doug Kirk (Extreme Pro Stock) took home the Minuteman in their respective categories.
Tutterow mowed down a tough Pro Extreme field, using seven 200+ mile per hour runs throughout the weekend to score his first career Pro Extreme national event win. The North Carolina-born Tutterow defeated reigning two-time Pro Extreme champion Jason Scruggs in the final round with a 3.925 seconds - 201.46 mph to Scruggs' 4.241 - 136.41.
Ironically, winning the race wasn't the original reason the veteran racer from Lewisville, NC brought his family and his race team to Baytown. It was for the chance to win the $5000 bounty put up by Flowmaster for being one of the first three drivers to exceed 200 miles-per-hour down the eighth-mile in a Pro Extreme car. That goal was accomplished earlier, as Tutterow shattered the mark during qualifying, joining Scruggs and Bubba Stanton as members of the ultra-exclusive club.
"This is like a dream come true," said Tutterow. "When I won the $5000, I thought that would be enough. But to come here and race in front of 50,000 fans and then take home a Minuteman – it's still hard to believe."
Tutterow had run over 200 mph in testing at the end of last season, so entering the weekend's competition, he was confident it could duplicate the feat during a national event.
"I worked on making the car consistent," said Tutterow. "We struggled like everyone else at the low-end of the track this weekend, so I worked on making it up on the top end. The speed is there, the ET (elapsed time) will come around."
Stan Allen
He entered eliminations qualified 13th after struggling in qualifying.
Allen admitted that his poor qualifying performance was primarily due to persistent clutch problems that kept the Bankston Boyz crew searching for answers.
"We were just trying to find some consistency and not make mistakes," said Allen, from New Iberia, LA. "We knew eventually that if we could get the clutch to work like we wanted it to, the track would come to us."
In the final, against two-time national event winner Jim Halsey, Allen gave up a slight starting line advantage but when Halsey lost traction, Allen drove past him to take the win light with a 4.134 – 168.81 to Halsey's losing 4.203 – 149.18.
In Extreme 10.5 the Glidden juggernaut continued as defending world champion Billy Glidden scored his fifth national event title.
Billy & Shannon Glidden
The second-generation racer from Whiteland, Indiana hadn't been the star of the class heading into eliminations. That distinction went to Todd Moyer, who not only qualified No. 1, but claimed $5,000 in cash from Flowmaster for being the first Extreme 10.5 driver to run faster than 185 mph. Moyer easily accomplished the feat during qualifying with a run over 187 miles-per-hour.
However, during eliminations, Moyer fouled out during the second round, clearing the way for Glidden.
"We weren't the fastest car here this weekend, but we were when it mattered," said Glidden, son of drag racing legend Bob Glidden. "I was just doing my job. When we don't win, I don't get paid."
Glidden used a string of four - 4.1 second performances to claim his Minuteman, beating Jake Carlton in the final with his slowest pass of eliminations, a 4.143 – 175.23 mph to edge out Carlton's 4.194 – 175.98 mph.
Glidden commented afterwards that a repeat title isn't going to be easy.
"Everyone here has stepped up their game," said Glidden. "It's getting harder to see the win light every round. You have to be completely prepared and get everything just right every time you pull up to the starting line."
The Pro Extreme Motorcycle final was a family affair between the Prophit brothers – Charlie and Matt. Having qualified on opposite sides of the elimination ladder, talk began almost immediately in the team's pits about a brother vs brother finale.
Charlie Prophit
"I was 0-1 going into the finals against Matt," said race winner Charlie. "As kids, he was always beating me. It's nice to even the score."
Charlie Prophit entered eliminations qualified 4th while younger brother Matt was qualified 7th. As they both worked their way through the field, it soon became apparent that indeed it would be an intramural final.
In the final, Matt left early lighting the red light and handing older brother Charlie his second career Minuteman, breaking his own world record (4.240) in the process with a very quick pass of 4.237 – 168.75 mph.
The debut of the Extreme Pro Stock class in National Guard ADRL competition concluded with a final round battle between two long time friends and rivals, Brian Gahm and Doug Kirk. Gahm entered eliminations as low qualifier with a 4.105 second elapsed time at 176.51 miles per hour. Kirk had qualified third with a 4.119 second effort.
Throughout the day, these two racing veterans had put on a great show, playing the kind of psychological mind games this class if
Doug Kirk
In the final round, the mind games continued as each man took his time rolling into the staging beams.
As the lights turned green, Gahm's car took an almost immediate turn to the right and it was over. Kirk motored on through the eighth-mile for an easy win, scoring his first Minuteman with a convincing 4.165 – 175.25 pass.
"Brian and I are old friends and it's always great to beat him," said Kirk. "He's done it to me so many times before. It was nice to turn the tables on him."
Afterwards, Kirk said he was pleased with his first National Guard ADRL experience.
"This was just great," said Kirk. "The two-day program makes it a lot easier for us to get to the race and get home. And the crowds are just unbelievable. It's nice to come to the starting line and see the stands packed with so many people."
Gahm was smiling, but vowed revenge.
"We'll be at all the ADRL events this year," he said. "This is the best place to race. I had a lot of fun. I know I'll have several more opportunities to beat him (Kirk)."
In the Pro Junior Dragster final, Dillon Richards used a better reaction time (.020) and pure horsepower to defeat Chris Benham (.093) and take the win light with a 7.95 – 78.27 to Benham's 8.938 – 78.82 effort
An overflow crowd of over 50,000 passed through the turnstyles throughout the day, taxing the Houston Raceway Park facility's infrastructure to its limits. Shortly after 7:30 p.m. local time, after traffic had been backed up over three miles on the surrounding highways - forcing local law enforcement officials to close roads - HRP General Manager Seth Angel declared that the gates to the track would have to be closed and that those who were not already on the grounds would be turned away.
"I realize that there were still several thousand more race fans trying to get in, but my concern at the time was for those already here," said Angel. "This was undoubtedly the largest crowd we've ever had at Houston Raceway Park and I wanted to make sure that everyone here was safe, comfortable and enjoying the show."
The next stop on the ten-race National Guard ADRL tour is the ADRL Georgia Drags V at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil, Georgia April 10-11.
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