Mike Castellana likes the kind of odds he faced in the Pro Nitrous final round at the ADRL Gateway

Roger Richards

Nationals in St. Louis. If he won, it was a huge win. If he lost, it was still a win.

Castellana topped his Al Anabi Motorsports teammate Khalid Al-Balooshi
in the final round. The triumph marked the second of the 2009 season
for Castellana and the second consecutive final round appearance for
Balooshi.

“It’s a great win for us and especially when we can have two cars in the final,” Castellana said.

Matt Hartford’s objective in the ADRL Gateway Nationals was to come out and race at chassis builder

The
Billy Dingman Cobalt after the first round crash. Driver Matt Hartford
believes the car will be repaired in time to race Columbus. (StreetLegalTV.com Photo)

Jerry
Haas’ home track, run hard in front of his friends and family, and at
the end of the evening deliver an Extreme Pro Stock trophy. Instead, the
driver of the Dingman Motorsports, delivered a bruised Cobalt in need
of repair.

In a first round match with Jason Collins, Hartford got loose,
corrected the car but the tires dug in to the track forcing the car up
onto two wheels. The errant car went across the track, made contact
with the wall before barrel rolling once and landing in the middle of
the track. If not for a superb driving job by Collins, the accident
could have collected his car.

Only Pro Extreme Motorcycle rider Travis Davis had never previously visited a National Guard American Drag Racing League (ADRL)

Pro Nitrous -- Mike Castellana (near lane), Chevy Camaro, 4.579, 118.45  def. Khalid Al-Balooshi, Camaro, LBT.

winner’s
circle, but that didn’t make their victories in the ADRL Hardee’s
Gateway Drags any less thrilling for Mike Janis (Pro Extreme), Mike
Castellana (Pro Nitrous), Billy Glidden (Extreme 10.5) or Brian Gahm
(Extreme Pro Stock).

Janis, from Lancaster, NY, steered his supercharged 1968 Firebird past
Brian Daniels in the opening round, then made a remarkable string of
unopposed passes to secure his second win in the last three ADRL
national events. Both Wes Johnston and finalist Jason Scruggs damaged
their car’s engines beyond repair in previous passes, while Cody
Barklage suffered the heartbreak of a $20 fuel fitting breaking on the
starting line following his burnout for the semis.

Try to imagine this - Billy Glidden was surprised that he won the Extreme 10.5 division at the ADRL

Roger Richards

Gateway Drags contested outside of St. Louis.

On the outside, looking at Glidden’s stats, anytime he wins shouldn’t
come as a surprise considering his victory over Chuck Ulsch marked his
ninth since joining the ADRL tour midway through the 2008 season. He
won the title in 2008 and save for two race weekends, the
second-generation Glidden, son of famed Pro Stock racer Bob Glidden,
would be undefeated in 2009.

Nothing was going to erase the smile from Extreme 10.5 racer Chuck Ulsch’s face, not even losing a hard fought battle against Billy Glidden in the finals at the ADRL Gateway Drags in St. Louis on Saturday night.

That’s because win, lose or draw against Glidden, Ulsch knew his name
would be forever etched in drag racing history as the first driver in
his class to ever record a three-second elapsed time.

Ulsch posted a monumental 3.986 elapsed time at 197.88 miles per hour
to not only beat class heavy-hitter Jeff Naiser but also advance to his
second consecutive ADRL final round.

StreetLegalTV.com Photo

“This is my second wreck of the year so I think we’re going to take the rest of the season and evaluate things.”

Those were the words of Mike Yedgarian, an NMCA Super Street racer from
Toronto, Ont., who traveled to zMax Dragway to compete at the NMCA/NMRA
All-Star Nationals in Concord, N.C.

Yedgarian lost control of his turbocharged Firebird during the final
session of Mickey Thompson 10.5 Tire qualifying. His car made contact
with the retaining wall and skidding to a stop in the shutdown area.

Ronald F. Marcum, 52, a sportsman drag racer from La Habra, Ca., was
killed on Saturday morning at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, when
the transmission on his dragster engaged during a routine test and
hurtled the vehicle into a parked trailer. Ktla.com reported that
Marcum struck a parked trailer in excess of 100 miles per hour.

Earlier in the morning, in preparation of the day’s racing activities,
Marcum was seated in his dragster testing his trans-brake, this
according to a report quoting CHP Officer Jeff Briggs. The NHRA
requires the test to be conducted with the vehicle’s tires off of the
ground. According to the Ktla.com, Marcum didn’t follow the procedure.

The Summer Showdown presented by Matco Tools, a round of the NHRA Lucas
Oil Drag Racing Series at Cordova Dragway Park, ran late into the night
on Saturday but champions in 11 categories were crowned.  Marty Thacker
of Robinson, Ill., led the winners, taking the crown in Top Alcohol
Dragster while Andy Bohl, Racine, Wis., scored the win in Top Alcohol
Funny Car.  Davenport’s Tom Klemme rode to the win in Sportsman
Motorcycle presented by Harley Davidson and Muscatine resident Hank
Brown won in Top Dragster.

Thacker, who was the event’s No. 1 qualifier in TAD, laid down a
5.510-second, 261.12 mph pass in the final.  That run was more than
enough to give him the win over No. 3 qualifier Justin Davis of
Murrieta, Calif., who slowed to a 9.540-second lap at 83.90 mph.

Tony Bischoff is a lucky man and Gary White can testify to the fact.

The ADRL Extreme 10.5 racers barely avoided what could have
been one of the worst crashes in ADRL history. White's quick thinking
and reaction helped him avoid an out of control Bischoff during the
third qualifying session at the ADRL Gateway Drags in St. Louis.

Bischoff’s car had suffered handling problems in the earlier second
session but he managed to corral the car back into his lane. In the run
alongside White, his car rode the centerline early in the pass and 
eventually he lost control, sending the car into a series of barrel
rolls.

NMCA’s Pro Street eliminator isn’t recession proof.

If anything, the state of the economy has inspired Scott Shafiroff and
Vinny Budano to scrutinize their major racing decisions a little closer
than in the past.

“There’s nothing out of the ordinary that we are doing this season,”
said Budano, the three-time Pro Street world champion from Hicksville,
N.Y. “With the economy the way it is, we have decided to stick to the
Pro Street racing.”