EVENT RESULTS EVENT NOTEBOOK ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS			THURSDAY GALLERY FRIDAY GALLERY SATURDAY GALLERY LIVE VIDEO

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK -

ONE UGLY FINAL - ADRL Pro Extreme racer Alex Hossler won’t argue with Pro Stock legend Warren Johnson and his most profound statement. Johnson once said, “There are no pretty losses and no ugly wins.”

The fans at Royal Purple Raceway might disagree because Hossler’s final round victory over Von Smith in the Dragpalooza finals was anything but pretty.

When Smith broke a reverser on the burnout, he sped his way through the shutdown area only to get stopped short of the turnoff area when the mandatory Electrimotion device, a safety instrument intended to automatically shut-off a car activated. As the safety crews labored feverishly to get Smith’s car removed from the track, Hossler sat on the starting line with the car running. And he sat. And he sat, until crew chief Frank Manzo motioned for him to take the stage light and then shut off.

Hossler only needed to take the green light in order to secure the victory.

“That was as close as you could get to an ugly win,” Hossler said. “This was about as bad as Dallas and this is starting to become a trend. It didn’t matter how we won. The fact we had two team cars in the finals meant a lot. We were going to win and when you can win with team cars qualifying one and two, that’s a great feeling. I hope Sheikh Khalid is happy with this win.”

Hossler entered eliminations as the No. 1 qualifier and defeated Michael Ricchia, Quain Stott and Bubba Stanton to reach his second consecutive final round in ADRL competition. He ended the 2011 season by winning the Pro Extreme title at the season-ending World Finals.

“What a credit to Frank Manzo and my guys who worked their butts off,” said Hossler. “This was the first race where Frank tuned a torque converter car. Yeah, we got it handed to us in the final but we made some good runs to make it here. He’s had to overcome a lot because of the clutch frame of mind. I’m sure it is much different from a torque converter frame of mind. It just goes to show how versatile he is in order for us to experience this type of success.”

Even though he knew the win was his, the time sitting on the starting line seemed like an eternity to Hossler.

“I saw him stop and then take off I said, ‘ah s***’. I know we won’t get to run. Then I’m watching him as I back up and knew the Electrimotion device was going to get him if he didn’t speed up. Then he stopped just past the quarter-mile. I knew it was going to take forever at this point.

“Frank decided at this point there wasn’t going to be enough fuel and then I realized it was going to be worth risking the car for a race we had already won. I wanted to put on a show for the fans. But in the end, I just took the win.”

The victory, no matter how many style points the final round might have earned, only reiterated Hossler’s faith in Manzo.

“I’m certain if I had a Moped, Frank Manzo could tune it to a victory and we’d contend for a title,” Hossler said with a smile.

RICKIE DIDN'T LOSE THAT NUMBER - Though just fourth quickest after three rounds of Pro Nitrous (PN) qualifying in his brand-new, RJ Race Cars-built, Summit Racing 2012 Camaro, Rickie Jones stepped up with the quickest pass in each of three rounds of eliminations Mar. 31, to win his career-first ADRL national event at the CarSafe Dragpalooza VIII in Baytown, TX.

“I was with my dad, Rick Jones, when he got his first IHRA Pro Stock win back in the day, which he actually won in San Antonio, and now here he was with me for this, so I guess Texas has been pretty good to our family,” the second-generation racer from Galesburg, IL, said. “I don’t know; new car, new sponsor, new year; everything just lined up perfect this weekend to make it happen.”

With a 3.888 at 188.20 mph, Jones followed polesitter Mike Castellana, John DeCerbo and fellow finalist Bob Rahaim on the qualifying list, but ran 3.896 at 193.43 in round one to beat Jim Laurita before improving to low ET of the meet for Pro Nitrous with a 3.821 solo pass at 197.45 mph after Mike Castellana couldn’t answer the call to stage when a wire shorted out in his cockpit on the starting line.

That left only Rahaim between Jones and victory and after running so well in the semis, Jones said he left the tune-up completely as-is for the final. “We didn’t touch one thing; just checked the clutch and put it back together and let it go.”

The final was essentially settled at the starting line, as Jones left with a .028 advantage and then ran 3.836 at 195.79 to an off-the-pace 4.039 at 155.47 by Rahaim.

“I’m really happy to get this win for Summit and especially Mark Stockseth and Butch White and just everybody who’s been behind us for years,” Jones said. “And I can’t say enough about Reher-Morrison and the engines they build for us, and of course I have to say thank you to all the people back at our shop and in the office; they’re all a big part of this team.

“And I really have to thank God. Since I gave my life to Jesus last summer, you know, I really went through some different stuff like the crash (at Ennis, TX, last fall), and God was by my side the whole time. I really owe everything to Him and give Him the glory for this. He’s amazing.

“And you know, it’s been really awesome growing up in this sport,” Jones added. “I see all these little kids running around, playing with little plastic dragsters and Hot Wheels and think, you know, that was me not all that long ago. It’s just been great to go from that to learning how to work on the real cars, learn how to tune them, how to wrench on them, drive them and come up through the ranks, and it makes it just so much cooler to finally win a race like this. I love it.”  

TAKING ONE FOR THE TEAM - Alan Pittman got the job done all weekend behind the wheel of the screw-blown ’09 Mustang built at his own chassis shop in Greenville, SC, but after earning his first Extreme 10.5 (XTF) event win Mar. 31, at the ADRL’s CarSafe Dragpalooza VIII at Royal Purple Raceway, he repeatedly insisted it was the result of a total team effort.

“There’s no way one man can do it, no matter how good a driver he is,” Pittman stated after cutting a .014 light and running 4.045 at 192.88 mph to handily beat the .055 reaction followed by a 5.438 at just 98.14 by California’s Dan Myers in the final round.

“You’ve got to have The Man upstairs, a good team, and the car’s owners, Terry and Greta Leggett; I couldn’t have done any of this without them. I also have to thank Darrell Makin of Under Pressure Performance. He came over to help us last year with Terry’s Pro Extreme car and it bled right over to the Extreme 10.5 car and his tuning of both cars is a very, very big asset to us.”

After qualifying second with a 3.931 at 194.46 in the eight-car XTF field behind only Billy Glidden, who bowed out with traction trouble against Myers in the semis, Pittman mowed through defending event champion Lamar Swindoll Jr. and Eric Stubbs to reach Myers.  

“This is the quickest and fastest I’ve ever been and on that little tire it just makes it even more fun,” Pittman declared. “I thought I had a good light (against Myers), but I didn’t realize I’d bulbed him that bad. But once I saw him disappear from my window I knew all I had to do was finish the lap. I mean, I was celebrating even before we got to the finish, which I know you’re not supposed to do, but I knew we pretty much had it at that point.”

And though it marked the first win for both himself and Leggett, Pittman claimed it didn’t come as a complete surprise.

“Coming here we had big hopes,” he said. “We took some weight off the car this winter and it’s the same with the Pro Extreme car; I think we’re right in the hunt with that one, too.”

He also confirmed the two-car Leggett team plans to run the entire ADRL 10-race schedule this year.

“I love the ADRL. I don’t want to step on anyone else’s toes, but as far as I’m concerned this is where it’s at for door car racing.”

CASEY AT THE BAT - When Casey Stemper took the top qualifying spot in the first Pro Extreme Motorcycle race he’d ever entered in September 2008 at Rockingham Dragway, people wondered aloud, who is this kid and where did he come from? When Stemper won the PXM final Mar. 31, in the 2012 ADRL season opener at Royal Purple Raceway, near Houston, the only question being asked was what took so long?

“It’s no surprise to me,” Stemper said of the wait to win after setting low ET of the meet with a 4.084 at 171.88 to beat number-one starter Eric McKinney, who blew an engine in the final. “There are so many great riders and bikes out here that it’s never going to be easy.

“We were in the right lane, right groove; we tried something a little bit different and it ended up working out for us,” Stemper said of the final round. “Eric was right there beside me until about the 330 (feet) and then I heard something go wrong for him and as soon as that happened I knew it was all over.

“I think the new weight rule (625-lb minimum) also helped make us more competitive because it took out the advantage that some of the lighter riders had and made it more of a tuner’s race now,” he added.

Stemper started his 2011 Suzuki Hayabusa from the number-two spot with a 4.123/171.34 qualifying effort on Friday night that McKinney clipped in Saturday’s lone session with a 4.096 blast at 174.57 mph on his 2012 ‘Busa. In eliminations, Stemper raced through Curtis Nichols, David Vantine and former two-time class champ Billy Vose to reach McKinney, who took out C.D. Watson, Rob Hunnicutt and 2009 PXM champ Scott Gray in the preliminary rounds.

Stemper called it “an incredible feeling” when he saw his win light come on against McKinney. “I just could not believe it. I almost fell off the bike, I was so happy.

“We’re definitely trying to race a lot smarter than we used to and also me, I’m trying to mature as a rider and really work on my lights to where I’m not too, too tight on them and in danger of making red lights,” he said. “Our whole team has worked so hard these last couple of years, really paid our dues, so it’s just so great to see it finally coming around.”

HIS PLACE IN HISTORY - Bo Butner has his place in drag racing history.

The Ford Cobra Jet driver from Floyd’s Knob, Ind., scored the victory in the ADRL’s inaugural SuperCar Showdown event. He ran a 5.862-second elapsed time at 119.46 to beat Chris Holbrook, the quickest driver in the history of the new eliminator.

“This is pretty special,” said Butner, who earned his way to the ADRL Dragpalooza final round by defeating Kevin Helms twice by virtue of the ADRL’s unique no bye-run rule.

“This adds to this car’s firsts as it was the first of its type into the eight-second zone and to do this in our first race here; is special. It’s cool, and a real laid back experience. I love it.”

Butner believes this first race, which only attracted five entries, is the start of something special.

“I think it’s really going to take off,” Butner said. “Naturally we would have wanted more cars but as the season goes on, you will see more Mustangs show up. Mopars will come out and definitely, you will see some of the new Camaros. Everyone is going to want their bragging rights. Right now our Ford guys are happy.”

Chris Holbrook had low elapsed time and top speed of the event with a 5.756-second pass at 120.33 miles per hour.

FREQUENT FLIER -

It is hard to think John Pluchino had no interest in racing in this weekend’s ADRL Dragpalooza event. It’s not that he doesn’t like driving his Ford Extreme Pro Stocker. The method of transportation which would deliver him to the race track was the deal-breaker.

Pluchino’s son talked him out of his fear of flying for at least one round trip from New York to Houston and the end result was the longtime drag racer’s first career national event victory.

For a long time Pluchino has lived in the shadow of being Pro Stock racer John Nobile’s cousin but in beating Brian Gahm in the final round, their roles have since been reversed.

“I guess I don’t have to fly under that flag anymore,” Pluchino said with a smile.

Pluchino entered the event as the No. 10 qualifier and defeated Dean Goforth, Pete Berner and Cale Aronson to reach his first ever final. In the final round, he beat Brian Gahm off the starting line by .054 and held on to win with a 4.112, 176.05 over a quicker 4.074, 177.30.

“I think after the semi-final victory, it started to appear that we had a chance to win this thing,” Pluchino said. “I really have to thank my team because they worked hard for this and I have to thank Trevor Eman for encouraging us.”

Part of the impetus for the weekend’s participation was an offer from Trevor Eman and the Team Aruba operation to transport Pluchino’s car free of charge to the event under the condition he deliver his car to their Union, SC-based shop.

“We worked out of milk crates, but we made it work,” said Pluchino. “Team Aruba, Jon Kaase helped us along with Pat from Ram. I wanted this win for my guys so bad and thanks to Team Aruba for encouraging us.”
A large measure of credit goes to Pluchino’s willingness to put aside his fear of flying.

“If I would have known this was all it took to get the win, I would have flown a long time ago,” said Pluchino. “Now I have to make sure I don’t crash on the way home.”

Pluchino’s fear of flying was born out of a 1978 experience where the plane he was flying on had to make an emergency landing due to a failed landing gear. He vowed if he landed safely to never fly again, and he didn’t until this weekend.

NEARLY A DOUBLE - Though the ADRL’s new Pro Mod class quite predictably provided a first-time official class winner at Baytown, TX, a familiar face remained in victory lane as 2011 Pro Nitrous World Champion Mike Castellana defeated Jeff Naiser in the final round.

Castellana had qualified a pair of Rick Jones-built 2012 Camaros in the top spot for both Pro Mod and Pro Nitrous and also had a shot at winning both classes until an electrical problem ended his Pro Nitrous quest in the semis. Regardless, wins over a redlighting Joe Lepone Jr. and Rickie Smith put Castellana into the PM final where Naiser got away first with a .021 holeshot, but soon lost traction and gave way to a 3.978 at 192.58-mph charge by Castellana.

Though he followed up his number-one start by running low ET in each round of eliminations, Castellana called it “an up-and-down day that overall worked out real good.” He said the car started “popping and banging a little” in the final, making him glad it was his last race of the day.

“We came here with two new cars and had a little problem with the one, just new car blues, but I’m real happy with the way things turned out,” crew chief Shannon Jenkins said. “It would’ve been great to get both cars in the finals, but we’re real happy with the one final and our guys did a great job and deserved to win.”

Finally, despite his success at the 2012 ADRL season opener, Castellana concluded it’s “pretty tough” driving two cars all weekend in two distinct classes.

“I told Shannon he’d better renew his license,” he said with a laugh. “I don’t want to drive two cars.” 

ALL IN WITH WIN - Marco Abruzzi admitted the trip to Royal Purple Raceway for the ADRL Dragpalooza was the furthest he’d ever driven from his Warren, Ohio home to race. Winning Top Sportman this weekend is bound to take some of the sting out of the diesel bill he incurred.

“It was worth the trip even though financially, it is going to be a close call,” Abruzzi admitted. “For Top Sportsman cars, this is the place to race. I’m glad I did it. I was going to let this race determine if I was going to race the points. I’m all in now, for sure.”

NARROW TIRE GETS RAVE REVIEWS - There was a time when the Pro Extreme doorslammers demanded the tallest and widest tire available to handle the challenges of covering the eighth-mile drag strip in 3.5-seconds at 210-miles per hour. Mickey Thompson Tires, and their new 3190W slick which made its competition debut at the ADRL Dragpalooza event, went a long way towards proving bigger isn’t always better.

The manufacturer lists the new slick as 14-inch inches in tread width but some racers believe its narrower at 13.5 inches. Even averaged together the widths are considerably smaller than the traditional 17 inch tires.

Todd Tutterow ran the third quickest Pro Extreme time of qualifying with a 3.694-second run at 203.98 miles per hour.

“We looked at some of the tires we were running that were 17-inches wide and it became apparent to us that we were not using the entire tire,” said Tutterow. “My experience with the 10.5-inch tire is that with the larger tire, we were running entirely too big of a tire.”

“[With this tire] you mount them on the same wheel, so it spreads the entire tire out. We don’t have the extra sidewall flexing around.”

Controlling the sidewall is crucial says Tutterow.

“If we can control the sidewall, we are less likely to shake,” said Tutterow. “It’s a lot smoother run as you apply the run.”

Tutterow first tested the tire back in January and ran a career best.

Defending Outlaw 10.5 racer Dan Millen moved up to the Pro Extreme division this year and even though he can legally run a much larger tire, he’s chosen this 3190W slick from Mickey Thompson.

“I think within the next few races, you’ll see most of the class running this tire,” Millen said. “This tire has provided an excellent transition.”

This was the objective for Jason Molton, Product Development Manager for Mickey Thompson Tires.

“We’ve been working with Billy Glidden on this tire for the last three years,” said Molton. “We brought in Jeff Naiser and he and Billy worked together on developing this tire. Then we started to look at the areas where we could place this new tire design.”

Molton confirmed that preliminary tire tests, including the one with Tutterow, provided the kind of results his company had hoped to achieve.

“All of them had instant success when they bolted them on,” said Molton. “We’ve been really pleased with it. I wanted to see how this first event went and now, trust me, we have more coming in the production pipeline.”

Such success is even more impressive considering the tire’s extremely humble design beginning.

“This project started as a concept – the kind that comes to you on a paper napkin late at night,” admitted Molton. “We’re looking at probably expanding some sizes in this range … not quite as big as what everyone else is running. Some will have some different rollouts and maybe some different tread widths. We are going to explore everything. We want to build tires for the application not what everyone else is building.”

Beyond Pro Extreme, Molton said he expects racers in the Pro Nitrous, Pro Modified and Top Sportsman to try the 3190W. Immediately the racers, he believes, will gain a tire that will easily work with their combinations.

“It opens up the tuning window,” Molton explained. “The nice thing about this is we can keep it under control. With the way we do our tires, we can keep it aggressive.”

THE RIVALRY SHIRT - Choose a side and it could win you an Apple I-Pad.

Past ADRL Pro Extreme series champions Todd Tutterow and Frankie Taylor have organized a competition for race fans to predict who will have the better head-to-head record in their meetings during the 2012 season.

You must buy one of the shirts, fill in the blanks with the estimated record, snap a picture of the prediction and let the drivers determined who wins and loses.

“We just felt like last year in Dallas, the ADRL’s Pro Extreme class needed a little bit of controversy,” explained Denise Tutterow, Todd’s wife.

“There’s really no better of a rivalry than Todd and Frankie. You could always watch them, the intensity of the races when they’d roll to the line. It’s all good fun and besides, a little controversy never hurt anyone.”

And to hear Cindy Taylor, Frankie’s wife, the women-folk might be having the most fun out of this good-spirited competition.

“We just want to get the fans involved,” Taylor said. “We want to put some excitement into the class. I think it is all in good fun.”

Presently the only place to buy these shirts is at the race track from the Tutterow and Taylor race trailers.

UNDERSTANDING OBSERVER -- With the ADRL requiring the use of radio frequency (RF) shut-off devices this year for all classes except Pro Extreme Dave Leahy (left) of Electrimotion explained to ADRL Pro Nitrous racer Robert Mathis how tethered shut-off triggers can be applied to nitrous engines, too. Motorcycle and Jr. Dragster, David Leahy of Electrimotion, the Delaware, OH-based company providing the units, was on hand for the season opener Mar. 30-31, at Baytown, TX.

“The main reason I’m here is to address any questions anyone may have regarding our safety shut-off systems with the track position systems done by RF and on blown cars we also shut them off based on burst-panel breakage or fire-bottle activation,” Leahy said. “It’s the ADRL’s first race where it’s mandatory on every car so I just wanted to be here to support the product and if anybody had any problems or questions I’m here to help them right now.”

Leahy, who’s been attending NHRA races professionally for 22 years, said the weekend marked his first visit to an ADRL event.

“My first impression is the cars are all top notch, very nice and very well built. My first impression of the ADRL is that they’re very safety conscious. I’ve been in touch with Chris Bell here and he seems right on top of things safety wise and always wants to do the next thing to make the sport safer,” Leahy said.

The cost to outfit a nitrous car to meet the new rules’ minimum requirements is $375 and “about $700” for a supercharged entry, Leahy added.

Why the difference?

“Basically, the nitrous cars just have the RF system and they’re just shut off from the track position, where the blown cars can also be shut off with tether kits or the fire bottle system,” he explained. “We can do that for nitrous cars, too, in the event of manifold failures and things like that; we just didn’t do it across the board simply for cost reasons.

“I’m a racer, too, so we try not to hurt the racer too much on the price, we really try to keep our stuff pretty reasonable, and that’s mainly because I’m a racer and I understand.”

LEARNING EXPERIENCE - Pitted directly between Top Sportsman veterans and past champions Ronnie Davis and Earl Folse at the ADRL CarSafe Dragpalooza VIII was the youngest and least experienced driver in the field—but with one of the most famous last names on the grounds at Royal Purple Raceway—as 21-year-old Lizzy Musi made her door-car competition debut.

In fact, her last time racing was nearly five years ago at the wheel of a Jr. Dragster and heading into the ADRL season opener, the New Jersey native had only about two dozen total test runs in team owner John Lee’s 1969 Camaro with a nitrous-boosted, fuel-injected, 762-cubic-inch engine built by her doorslammer legend father, Pat Musi. Her crew members include brothers Randy and Keith Auwarter.    

“I’ve already been pretty quick in it; 4.25 is the best I’ve done so far. And I’m really having a lot of fun, which is the main thing, but I really couldn’t do this without my family and crew,” Musi said after qualifying fifth at the Baytown, TX, strip.

“Everything is just coming to me, which I guess I got from my dad and how he’s been teaching me and just from watching so many runs throughout my life. All I’m doing is listening and whatever I’m told to do, I just do it.”

The younger Musi strapped a holeshot on first-round opponent Ricky Adkins when eliminations began and ran just one thousandth over her 4.32 dial in to seal the deal as Adkins broke out. Her second round against Folse didn’t turn out quite so well, however, as she lost control of the Camaro on the burnout and wound up sideways and straddling the center line about a hundred feet out.

Fortunately, Musi suffered no contact with the wall and her crew and track personnel quickly turned the car around and pushed it off facing the starting line from which it came. She was visibly angry upon emerging from the car, while Folse made his solo run into the semis.

“I was mad, but I was also embarrassed,” Musi later admitted. “But something happened with the chip that’s supposed to control the RPMs for the burnout. I don’t know if it wasn’t turned on or something went wrong with it, but I heard and felt the engine just keep going up and I tried to ease out of the throttle, but it just got away from me. I was mad because I wanted to go a lot farther.

Though obviously disappointed, team owner Lee said he was happy Musi didn’t get hurt and all four corners were still intact as the car went back in the trailer.

“She qualified well, won a round and probably learned something there,” he reasoned. “All in all, not really a bad weekend. We’ll load it up and take it to the next race.”

FRESH START FOR MOYER - Last fall, Todd Moyer couldn’t wait for his ADRL Extreme 10.5 season to end; this year, he can’t wait for it to start.

Moyer struggled more often than not throughout the 2011 season as he attempted to apply more than 1,800 horsepower to the track through a new Terry Murphy-built ’63 Corvette. The tire shake and haphazard launches were so violent they routinely bent mounting tabs and suspension parts and the car’s body had so many cracks and outright breaks that Moyer didn’t even bother to have it painted.

But with a sharp, new white-with-flames paint job adorning the car, after three rounds of qualifying for the CarSafe Dragpalooza VIII in Baytown, TX, Moyer comfortably occupied the third starting position with a run of 4.020 at 202.76 mph set during Friday night’s second session.

“That was two rounds back to back with no tire smoke, no breakage, and it went nice and straight,” Moyer said. “Looks like we might finally have a good weekend.”

The Pasadena, TX-based racer credited Joe Oplawski of Hyperactive Solutions for the dramatic turnaround of his racing program.

“I knew we had tuning issues and Joe’s got different ideas and different thoughts and so far it’s paying off,” Moyer said happily. “Learning how to manage and apply all that power to the track is what it’s all about and even in the heat we expect to be able to run in the 3.90s.”

Moyer admits he’s already feeling better at the track this weekend than he did all through last year.

“That was a real down time for me; I was real disappointed,” Moyer said. “But it’s just part of life. You deal with it and you move on and I’m more than ready for that.”

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - LATE START, STRONG FINISH

MANZO KNOWS BEST - The more Frank Manzo made tuning adjustments to the Pro Extreme Camaro Alex Hossler was driving at the ADRL Dragpalooza event, the more uneasy the veteran doorslammer driver got.  Manzo’s apparent indecision wasn’t indecision at all. He was merely adjusting to changing conditions by the second and a freefalling dew-point.

Hossler learned in his first race with the Top Alcohol Funny car legend turned Pro Extreme tuner a valuable lesson. Manzo knows best.

Hossler drove his way to a 3.658-second, 205.26 mile per hour run to snatch the provisional No. 1 qualifying position from Von Smith at Royal Purple Raceway located outside of Houston, Texas.

“The dew-point was falling fast and Frank kept going into the box, I bet it was like six times before we even started the car,” explained Hossler. “He went into the box so many times I was almost starting to get nervous. Every single car would go down the track and he’d make a change. Another car would run and he’d make another change. I almost wanted to take my helmet off and ask him what he was doing.”

A few minutes later Hossler realized Manzo was merely preparing him for an incredible run.

“Then you learn quickly how to bow to his experience,” Hossler added. “I know now if I am eating, and he wants it, I will put it down and go get something else. You can’t argue with his success. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have him.”

And for Hossler, he knows when he’s got it going on.

“I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t be willing to trade places with me now,” he added. “I don’t take it for granted either.”

Hossler is driving this weekend the car most recently driven by Shiekh Khalid Al-Thani. He tested the car back in December. Friday evening presented its own set of challenges.

“The dew was bad out there,” Hossler said. “That was going through my mind as my visor kept fogging up. I couldn’t even drop my visor, I had to leave it up for the pass. It really didn’t matter because I still couldn’t see anything anyway. The dew was beading up and running across the windshield. I couldn’t tell if I was two feet or twenty feet off of the wall. The pass felt so good that I couldn’t lift anyway.”

Besides, as Hossler knew, Manzo had his back.

OUTHOUSE TO THE PENTHOUSE - Chris Holbrook wasn’t a candidate for a place in ADRL history considering the test session he had heading into the ADRL Dragpalooza event at Royal Purple Raceway.

Holbrook, racing in the new SuperCar Series eliminator, entered the maiden event untested with his current combination because he couldn’t get his Cobra Jet settled down enough to make a full run. Then, in Friday’s first session, he matted the throttle and the car lunged forward drawing a disqualification and no elapsed time in the first session.

So how did Holbrook respond to the adversity?

The past IHRA Pro Stock champion simply answered the miscues with a provisional new world record of 5.756-seconds. He also walked away with the fastest speed of the five cars on the property with a 120.21 blast.

“I never expected that one,” said Holbrook, of Livonia, Mich. “I figured the car had maybe a high-5.80.”

In the first run Holbrook was in the first pair of the new class and before the light flashed green his Mustang launched before the tree was activated.

“To be honest, we were screwing with the wiring before the run and trying to undo the brake lights and hit the two-step, so when I went to the floor – it left. Needless to say we put the brake light wires back in for the second session.”

Only five cars made the trip to Houston for the inaugural SuperCar Showdown, Holbrook wishes more cars would have attended because they are missing a great time. He expects more than a dozen of this type car to make the events in the Midwestern events, particularly the Martin, Mich.-based event.

“I was thinking we were going to get about eight but I’m not overly disappointed that we have five cars here,” said Holbrook. “I really believe this class is going to take off.”

BRIMMING WITH CONFIDENCE - Straight off the trailer in his Mickey Thompson-backed 2010 Mustang, Billy Glidden unloaded a 3.921-seconds pass at 190.14 mph that held up through both sessions of Extreme 10.5 (XTF) qualifying Mar. 30, for the ADRL’s season-opening CarSafe Dragpalooza VIII at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, TX.

“I was very happy,” the 2008 XTF champ said. “I had intentionally put a soft tune-up in it to make sure I got down the track, so I was very pleased.”

“I made some small changes to a couple of things based on what I learned from the Hemi after the last race at Ennis (TX) last year and put it on this engine. That was the first run I’d made this year with that combination and I think it went really, really nice. I’m not putting as much nitrous through it as I was at Ennis; it’s just using it more efficiently and I think if I just cleaned it up a bit more for sure I can go .88 or maybe even an .87.”

“I don’t want to jinx myself or anything, but I feel like if I can keep up with everything tune-up wise to keep from hurting it, we should be able to run better.”

He opted out of making a pass in the second round Friday night.

“Money. It cost us a lot of money to make all the changes just to come here; it’s no cheaper to get down here than it was last year; it costs us more just to get in the gate and we’re racing for less money, so every run I can pass up, reasonably, financially it makes good sense,” Glidden explained.

Alan Pittman ran exactly one-hundredth behind Glidden’s time to place second with his screw-blown ’09 Mustang, while Todd Moyer’s twin-turbocharged ’63 Corvette placed third with a 4.020-seconds pass. With only nine entries, only Grant McCrary, after an off-the-pace first effort and breaking on the line before his second attempt, was left outside the eight-car qualified field.

A third and final qualifying round for all classes is scheduled to begin at noon on Saturday with eliminations to follow.

“I’m ready to race,” Glidden answered when asked if he planned to take advantage of the opportunity. “You know, for a lot of years with the old, black Fox body (Mustang), that’s what we did; I’d go out and make one run and I really didn’t care where we qualified. Unfortunately for the class, I know I’m not going to get bumped, so I think I’ll just leave things the way they are.”

DOUBLE DOWN - Mike Castellana leads in two classes after two of three scheduled qualifying sessions were completed on Friday at CarSafe Dragpalooza VIII. With an 11 p.m. curfew looming at Royal Purple Raceway, ADRL officials made the decision about 8 p.m. to delete the third session, leaving just one more qualifying opportunity Saturday morning before eliminations begin.      

Driving a pair of nearly identical-looking Rick Jones-built 2012 Camaros with Reher-Morrison horsepower under their hoods, Castellana took the Pro Nitrous lead with a 3.841-seconds pass at 195.68 mph and the top spot in Pro Modified with a run of 3.884 seconds at 194.27 mph.

“We just picked up the Pro Nitrous car less than a week ago, so we’re pretty pleased with that,” the defending ADRL class champion said. “The Pro Mod car is the same one we qualified number one with at Gainesville (NHRA) a couple of weeks ago.”

Immediately following Castellana in the 11-car Pro Nitrous field was John DeCerbo, while Jeff Naiser placed number two in Pro Mod.

When asked what the major difference was between his two cars, Castellana deadpanned, “the Pro Mod car is 2,425 pounds and the other one is a little lighter.”

He then gave all the credit for the day’s success to tuner Shannon Jenkins and the rest of his crew. “They’re the guys that make it fast; I’ve got the easy job.” He also said he tried to convince Jenkins to drive the Pro Mod entry. “I told him he’d have all the old guys in Pro Mod. Rickie (Smith), Pat Musi, Joe Lepone; it would be like the senior citizens tour.”

Castellana said he expects both runs will remain on top through Saturday’s session, especially if it’s a hot day.

“You never know, though, tonight a lot of guys didn’t get down, so you know they’ll be going for it tomorrow,” he said. “These guys are pretty good and someone could step up, but I think we’re in pretty good shape.”

SAME GAME, DIFFERENT DAY - Cary Goforth left Texas last fall as the No. 1 Extreme Pro Stocker in ADRL competition. He returned five months later at the season-opening ADRL Dragpalooza only to realize nothing has changed.

Goforth, of Holdenville, Ok., covered the Royal Purple Raceway in 4.069 seconds at 177.56 miles per hour to edge Pete Berner for the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot. One qualifying session remains on Saturday as Friday’s third run was cancelled due to a combination of a delayed schedule, rapidly falling dew-point and curfew.

“It’s a good feeling to stay number one because for most of the winter I was worried about how much the competition was picking up,” said Goforth. “I know those guys have been working hard but so have we. We didn’t find as much as we wanted to, so I was a bit nervous.”

Goforth followed up the first session run with a 4.072. He believed he could have improved on the first run but missed just a little on the second run.

Goforth admitted the first run was a shot in the dark which went his way.

“I never expected that one,” admitted Goforth. “I knew Lump [crew chief] Brian Self would make a good call. This was really special. I don’t know what to say about how I felt when I saw that number light up on the scoreboard. You could see how hard the field has worked by their performances in the second session. I was really expecting an 4.08 but I’ll take this.”

Goforth is intent on trying to improve during tomorrow’s final session.

“We’re going for it,” Goforth said. “We might shake the back window out of it, but we’re going to try.”

TOPS IN TOP SPORTSMAN – Chuck Mohn of Fountainville, PA, jumped up one position from his first qualifying effort at Royal Purple Raceway to take over the Top Sportsman lead with a 4.113 pass at 175.89 mph in his ’69 Camaro. Georgia’s Ronnie Davis was second heading into Saturday’s third and final qualifying round, followed by Jerry Holt, Earl Folse and Lizzy Musi in her ADRL debut.

STRONG START - Casey Stemper led both sessions of Pro Extreme Motorcycle (PXM) qualifying on the opening day of the 2012 ADRL season, improving to a 4.123 at 171.34 on Friday night for the CarSafe Dragpalooza VIII at Royal Purple Raceway, near Houston.

“It was a decent run, just a 1.06 (second) 60-foot (elapsed time), which is not very good for our combination,” the young Maryland-based rider said. “But at least we have something to go from now.”

Another Maryland rider, Dave Norris placed second, with New York’s David Vantine third. Of 19 entries, former class champion (2010) Kim Morrell enters Saturday’s third and final qualifying session in the 16th-place bump spot with a 4.550 at 127.25 mph.

At six feet tall, Stemper is one of the bigger PXM riders, so he said he was happy to see the ADRL impose a 625-pound minimum weight on the previously unlimited class this year.

“We’re able to add a little bit of weight because we were still under (weight), so we added some power-producing parts like a vacuum pump and a couple of other little tricks that we never had before. There’s a lot more sensors on the bike, too, so we get a lot more data acquisition,” the Maryland-based rider said after taking the provisional top spot.

Stemper ran a career-best 4.05 at the ADRL season ender at Ennis, TX, last fall, where he also went to his second career final, so he felt like the Lone Star state would offer him good luck again.

“We’re going into race mode now, being a lot more conservative with our stuff. I don’t really care if we’re number one, two or three; we’re still going to be in the top half of the field,” he said. “I’m looking forward to racing tomorrow.”

RENEWED ENTHUSIASM - Chris Holbrook admits he hasn’t been this excited about driving a race car since his 1999 IHRA championship Pro Stock season. Thanks to ADRL, and their recently announced SuperCar series, the son of Ford drag racing legend Carl Holbrook, is now as giddy as a little boy with a new toy.

Friday at the ADRL Dragpalooza event at Royal Purple Raceway will provide Holbrook with the opportunity to channel his inner child.

“I’m glad the ADRL has brought out this class,” said Holbrook, who races a Ford Cobra Jet. “I really hope [the series] takes off because I expect it to be a lot of fun. It’s the kind of drag racing that is right up my alley.”

Holbrook was once a stalwart in the mountain motor Pro Stock ranks but has reinvented himself over the last decade into a premium provider of sportsman race engines.

“I think this class is going to be good for my business,” added Holbrook. "I this class will work well for the manufacturers.”

Finding a new niche in Stock eliminator and with ADRL’s SuperCar Showdown has gone a long way to filling the void of losing his original competitive Pro Stock ride in 2000. The Stu Evans team parked their operation that year effectively ending Holbrook’s opportunity to defend his one and only series championship.

Twelve years later Holbrook understands that time heals all wounds.

“Honestly, when I got into the Cobra Jet engines, I have sold more of these style engines in the first month than I ever did when I was building the Pro Stock stuff,” Holbrook explained. “The sportsman racers are just great people. Not saying anything bad about the professional guys, but the sportsman racers I have dealt with are the most down to earth guys you could ever meet.

“You can get more face-to-face time without having to deal with all of the secrecy you need to have in professional competition. I’m glad this aspect of the business has taken off and we’re building a lot of these Cobra Jets.”

At the time Holbrook moved out of the mountain motor Pro Stock ranks, this volatile style of factory hot rod was knocking on the door of the 6.30s. Holbrook now races at a slower but just as exciting pace, running 9.0s.

“It’s a different kind of fun,” Holbrook admits. “Because there isn’t as much between rounds maintenance, you get more time with the fans and your family and this is important. You’re not thrashing changing clutches and gear ratios. It’s different when you can cool the engine and open a can of pop. It’s a lot of fun.”

Holbrook understands his role as a sportsman racer in the NHRA but in rolling through the gates at Royal Purple Raceway, he experienced a welcome he hadn’t received since racing as a professional.

“When we pulled in the gates, we were greeted with open arms,” explained Holbrook. “I saw a lot of people I haven’t seen in many years. It was just like being at home again.”

Indeed, Holbrook is in his comfort zone again.

TEACHING A MAD MAN NEW TRICKS - Frankie “The Mad Man” Taylor didn’t earn his nickname for his propensity to drive in a conservative manner. This weekend at the ADRL season opener at Royal Purple Raceway, the past ADRL series champion will find out if a “Mad Man” can learn new tricks.

Taylor made his competition debut behind the wheel of a turbocharged entry, a car which will require a totally different driving approach than the one he’s mastered over the last decade.

“It’s a little different, you have to rev it up before you put it in the beams,” Taylor explained. “It’s a little different and it’s going to run okay and if we can get it into the 3.70s, we will be happy.”

Taylor thinks he might have been further ahead at this stage in the game if he’d tested at tracks capable of handling the monstrous horsepower his Corvette is producing.

“Our runs didn’t produce enough 60-foot to maintain the pace,” said Taylor.

Taylor admits it took a little time to get used to a car which sounds like a machine gun on the starting line and a purring kitten at the finish line.

“It’s totally different to drive – when it starts banging and popping is when you put it into the beams,” Taylor said. “But, it’s a lot of fun. I think eventually this car is going to be quick if we can get it to run.”

Headed into Houston, Taylor admits to having no idea of the car’s potential.

“There’s no telling,” Taylor admits. “We got it up to 188 but it just wasn’t running right. I think it’s going to run pretty fast because we are going to put our basic combination in it and get after it.”

Unlike the supercharged combination where Taylor was able to get after the horsepower early, the turbocharged combination requires him to leave the starting line gingerly and get aggressive as the car travels the eighth-mile. Those who know Taylor are aware that being conservative is not part of Taylor’s DNA composition.

“I think a good starting point is about 50-percent power at the hit,” Taylor said. “I know if we can get the car up on the tire and rolling, we will do well.”

This is a big time back-up from where Taylor first sought his baseline.

“We were trying at 100-percent,” Taylor admitted with a smile. “The car went every bit of two feet, then it smoked the tires. It didn’t like that at all.”

THE CONVERTERS ARE COMING! - According to Marty Chance, Pro Nitrous is about to be converted. The founder and president of Neal Chance Racing Converters (named after his father), said the company, along with Carl Rossler Racing Transmissions, has developed a new lock-up torque converter and transmission system for high-horsepower nitrous engines.

“In the turbo world and the blower world we’ve been pretty dominant, whereas in the nitrous world the clutch cars still had an advantage on us because they are very load sensitive; they need a lot of load on the motor to make a lot of power,” Chance explained.

“We haven’t released it yet, but in a week or so it won’t be top secret anymore, so I guess I can tell you that we have developed a very technologically advanced lock-up torque converter and transmission system. I don’t want to give away any secrets, but it’s lightweight and we’ve addressed and cured many of the issues that current and past lock-up converters have had for these high-horsepower applications.

“We’re going to be able to put a tremendous load on the lock-up clutch and not worry about the clutch smoking. We’re also going to be able to turn it on as smoothly as we want, we’ll have a lot of control in that area, and we’re also going to be able to turn it off when we want, which would be at the shifts.”

No release date has been established for the new converter.

“We’ll be doing a lot of testing first. In fact, we’ll be here Sunday (at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, TX),” Chance confirmed, though he declined to say which ADRL entry car will be the test platform. He also said the new horsepower delivery system could eventually be used like a traction-control device, too.

“This is going to open the door to the torque converter to run competitively in the Pro Nitrous class against the clutch cars,” Chance declared. “That’s a market that the torque converter just hasn’t been able to reach before, strictly because of the load issue.”

The conversion begins Sunday.

SENTIMENTAL RESTORATION - The past is a nice place to visit but not to live.

In talking with Pro Extreme racer Quain Stott, he’s content living in the past – at least for this racing season.

Stott, a past IHRA Pro Modified champion, has cleared out the back of his shop and restored the 1963 Corvette he enjoyed during the lion’s share of his success. He built the car in 1997 as a nitrous car before converting to supercharger in the early 2000s.

“We have restored the car, and we like to call it restored because the car is 16 years old,” explained Stott. “When they get that old, you restore them, not revamp them. We have an antique out here, but it’s a championship antique.”

Stott won the 2005 IHRA championship with the car and eight national events. He also won the 2002 NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals crown. He built the car while working for Tommy Mauney at Tommy Mauney Race Cars. He started the initial bracing for the chassis and then moved the car to his shop where he finished it.

Ironically Mauney’s shop in Spartanburg is the same one where Stott built race cars until 1989.

“Maybe we’re reaching out for a little luck,” Stott explained. “This car was always good luck for us. Because it was a car I built, it will never be for sale. It is built off of the Mauney design. And while I am not trying to sound like a commercial for Tommy Mauney, if you look at his cars, they last. It’s unreal. Facts are facts, his car last forever.”

Stott said he and his team added extra bracing and in some cases replaced pre-existing bars. The car was also put on a strict diet.

If Stott’s Pro Modified were a street car, it might be rolling over the odometer for the third time.

“We redid a lot of stuff which could have caused a problem,” Stott said. “I think we have taken care of the tired stuff and added some extra bracing. There are a few little things we do different than when we first built the car. It should be fine for us. This is a car that has been really good for me. Hopefully we can get back to our winning ways.”

Stott’s sentimentality has extended to the engine compartment as he is running an engine named “Old Blue”, in memory of his father Bob Stott who died in October 2004 after falling from the team’s golf cart.

Stott had one test session before heading to the ADRL Dragpalooza event at Royal Purple Raceway and gleaned no helpful data due to an ignition issue.

“I can honestly say that I could have built a new car a lot cheaper and easier than what I restored this one for,” Stott admitted. “If you’ve ever restored an old house, you’ll know what I am talking about. We just wanted to do this car. It was well worth the trouble.”

INFREQUENT FLIER - John Pluchino has long, long wanted to run the full ADRL Extreme Pro Stock schedule but a major obstacle stood in the way of chasing the dream. Pluchino has been held hostage by a fear of flying.

Pluchino has been grounded since 1978 when an incident convinced him to find other means of travel. He was on a flight from Chicago’s O’Hare to New York’s JFK airport when just moments before landing the pilot informed Pluchino and the other passengers that a possible landing-gear malfunction might force an emergency landing.

“They thought they were going to have to land the plane on its belly so they foamed down the runway,” said Pluchino. “At that point I said that if I could get off of the plane in one piece I would never fly again. We ended up landing and sure enough I said, ‘Never again.”

Pluchino only wishes that was all there was to the story. In between the time he made the statement, the pilot had to make a low fly by to ensure the landing gear was still attached to the plane. This was achieved on a low altitude fly-by and once it was determined the landing gear was attached, it still couldn’t be determined if the unit was locked in place. Pluchino and those on the plane found out when the plane actually touched down.

“I meant it, I wasn’t going on a plane again after that,” explained Pluchino. “My son had been busting my chops for the last few years about it. Because of this, we were unable to make many of the races because we couldn’t take the time off to drive.”

Enter Trevor Eman and the Team Aruba Pro Stock team. They offered to transport the car to all ten 2012 ADRL races for Pluchino if he could get his car to their Union, SC-based shop. The Pluchino family quickly took advantage of Eman’s offer and transported their Ford Extreme Pro Stocker down south.

Pluchino was finally convinced to fly again and did so under his own terms headed to this weekend's ADRL Dragpalooza event outside of Houston.

“I was only going to take a direct flight,” said Pluchino. “No sooner had I gotten on the plane did they announce they were going to have to make a stop in Florida along the way. I got upset about it but there was nothing really that I could do.”

“I could take my clothes off and wring them out, that’s how bad I was sweating it out. I can tell you that I wasn’t the only one on sweating it out. Johnny talked me into flying again, he usually talks me into a lot of stuff.”

Pluchino made it safely and even though he heard an unnerving true story, he may fly again.

“Yeah, we're on the way here and I see where the pilot on the Jet Blue plane went berserk, that’s a real good feeling,” Pluchino said. I’m surprised I wasn’t on that flight.”

Just to think, he still has to fly home.

DRIVING INSTRUCTION – Is nitrous tuning guru Brandon Switzer considering a move to behind the wheel—of a Pro Extreme car? That’s what we wondered after spotting Switzer warming up Todd Tutterow’s ’68 Mustang GT 500 with King Tut himself leaning in from the far side to provide a few last-minute tips.

JEEPERS, CREEPERS … THOSE DARNED WEEPERS – A steady appearance of weepers, the percolation of rain water to the top of the racing surface though it hasn’t rained today, put racing on hold for nearly 90 minutes as track crews worked to eliminate the problem. Constant rain storms on Thursday severely saturated grounds of Royal Purple Raceway. ADRL officials are determined to provide racers with the full complement of three qualifying sessions on Friday.

HAPPY TO BE BACK - At just 17-years old, Jamie Hancock became the youngest-ever champion of a major, touring drag racing series when he won the 2007 ADRL Pro Nitrous world championship. Fast forward nearly five years and the still-fresh-faced Hancock is now married, a new home owner, working as a ground equipment mechanic for a jet engine manufacturer, and well on his way to an engineering degree through studies at Southern Union College and soon Auburn University.

This weekend, though, the Opelika, Alabama, native is concentrating on competing in his first Pro Nitrous event since the 2010 ADRL season ender.

“It feels great to be out here running again,” Hancock said while preparing his Precision Racecraft-built ’68 Firebird for the Mar. 30-31, Car Safe Dragpalooza VIII event at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, TX. “The ADRL is still the biggest thing out here for this kind of car and everybody wants to run it if they can.

“We’ve teamed up with Chris Patrick this year, too, and both cars have MagnaFuel helping us out here, so we’re real thankful for that,” he added. “We may even try to run the whole circuit if everything holds out okay. ”

Hancock admits he sometimes felt frustrated last season at being held on the sidelines, but realized funds were short and work obligations came first for the small, family owned race team led by his father and crew chief, James Hancock III, himself an accomplished Pro Nitrous racer. Now that he’s back in action, though, Hancock also realizes he needs to race smart.

“Realistically, I’m hoping to qualify; I mean, I’d like to win of course, but qualifying, just get some good runs on the car and hopefully go some rounds, that would be a good start if everything pans out.” 

THURSDAY NOTEBOOK - IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER SEASON

If you happen to see ADRL Extreme Pro Stock racer Dean Goforth up and about in the pits at Royal Purple Raceway, and the walking cane he’s required to use isn’t in his hand, you should have no reservations about becoming a snitch. Quickly find a crew Dean Goforth (center) will race after recovering from a near-fatal staph infaction. (Denise Ramsey photo)member and let them know that the 67-year old driver who nearly lost his life when a staph infection invaded his body, isn’t taking the proper precautions which are enabling him to race this weekend at the ADRL Dragpalooza event.

Chances are he won’t get angry with you tattling on him. Words cannot describe his elation in just being at the track much less driving. At this point, there’s nothing that can really anger him, and really before the illness, he wasn’t much different.

“I never thought I would have been a spectator back in January, much less drive,” said Goforth. “I really don’t make a good spectator but in this case I wouldn’t even have made one at all. I didn’t expect to make it out of the house or hospital to be honest. I guess I’ve amazed myself beyond what I thought I could accomplish.”

Goforth began experiencing health issues around Thanksgiving time last year and within weeks was hospitalized with an unknown illness. Doctors ran numerous tests and pumped him full of antibiotics before diagnosing a form of a staph infection. The illness was traced to a splinter in his finger that he extracted with a dirty pocket knife.

A spirit of determination and receiving the maximum medical treatments sped up the healing process.

Goforth’s doctor suggested he take the year off in 2012 to which he responded, “Doc, I’m 67 years old … I can’t afford to sit out much.”

Much to the chagrin of the doctor, he’s racing this weekend in hopes of improving on a No. 4 point finish in 2011. He’s got enough test runs in the last seven days to confirm he’s ready to return.

“If I had driven as well last year as I have in the last week … I might have a better number on my windshield,” Goforth admitted. “I guess there are easier ways to improve on my driving skills than taking time off to get sick and heal. I guess I am just so thankful to be back that the experience has inspired me to go beyond my best.”

Goforth also shed nearly 50 pounds in what he describes as his $1 million dollar diet. There is truth to his statement. His medical bills came to just a few pennies short of seven figures.

“Thank goodness I had insurance,” said Goforth. “I’m sure I just paid for some doctor to field a nitro car. The bills are still coming in. I had my share of $45 dollar aspirin. You get the bill for it whether you take it or not.”

Goforth still has a few antibiotics he’s taking.

“I made sure they didn’t give me anything which would impair my driving,” said Goforth. “I’m not sure the insurance doesn’t cover race car wrecks.”

Besides, as Goforth put it, he’s tired of walking with that “blamed” walking cane and those people ready to snitch on him.

TEAMING UP – The Mad Man will have an accomplice in 2012.

Past ADRL Pro Extreme series champion Frankie ‘the Mad Man” Taylor will team with veteran doorslammer pilot Tim Tindle. Taylor will drive a turbo combination while Tindle will drive the supercharged Jeffers Race Cars-built supercharged Corvette most recently campaigned in the Extreme 10.5 division.

Tindle is a former NHRA Pro Modified racer who has raced outlaw competition over the last few seasons.  

“I am excited to join Frankie Taylor and the Taylor Racing team,” said Tindle. “We have been anxious to start racing in the ADRL and this weekend couldn’t get here fast enough. The Pro Extreme class is stronger than ever and we are fortunate that we will be racing with Frankie and his team.

“The Taylor team is one of the most competitive teams in the league and I hope that we can both start the season off strong this weekend in Baytown.”

Returning the Corvette more commonly known as the “yellow” Corvette to Pro Extreme makes racing a lot easier for Taylor and his team who labored to make the car run efficient on the narrow tires with a different combination.

“We ran two cars in the same class several years back and it was a lot easier than running two different tires like we did last season.  My crew will definitely be happier,” said Taylor.  

Having Tindle in the car ensures Taylor will run two cars. There was the likelihood this season that only one of the two cars would have run.

 “I felt that the yellow car is way too strong to be sitting in the trailer all year,” explained Taylor. “During the off season, we were trying to find an experienced Pro Mod driver that could handle this car and we felt that Tim is definitely the right fit.”

THEY CALL HIM KING - Ronnie Davis has won five IHRA Top Sportsman championships and is a two-time NHRA Div. 2 champion, but this weekend he begins a quest to win the first-ever American Drag Racing League (ADRL) Top Sportsman national title. This weekend’s event will mark the first race with Top Sportsman as an official class and not exhibition.

“I’m excited about getting to this first ADRL race and going after the championship,” said Davis. “I’m very happy that ADRL added Top Sportsman and becoming the first to win a championship in it with all three major sanctioning bodies would be a tremendous achievement.

“I’m very, very serious about this. At almost every race I go to I’m working as well as racing; I bring golf carts and satellite systems to sell and I service carts and satellite dishes at the track, but this time the only golf carts I’m bringing are my own. I’m going to the ADRL with one objective only and that is to race. It’s the first time I’ve done this in a long, long time, but I think it will help me mentally and to stay focused. I’m looking forward to that.”

Davis drives a Tommy Mauney -built ’63 Corvette powered by a nitrous oxide-injected, 822-cubic-inch engine from Roush Yates Performance Engine Group.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS – When you represent the Caribbean island of Aruba, there’s not much left to want in life. However, for driver Trevor Eman and his Pro Stock team there’s one huge void in their operation – getting an ADRL Extreme Pro Stock event win. In an attempt to fill the void, Eman and his team have been burning up the strips between their U.S. base in Union, SC and Orlando, Fla.

“We were fortunate with four days of great weather,” Eman said of the team’s recent test in Bradenton Motorsports Park, located outside of Tampa. “It was a great time for the crew and me to get back into the swing of things. After not being in the car for five months you wonder if you remember how to do everything right, and often all it takes is that one first pass to feel right back at home behind the wheel. Our crew also didn’t skip a beat and picked right back up where we left off after Dallas. It feels really good to have everyone back together and be back at it again.

“Over all we were pleased with our test session results. We had our backup motor in the car, so we weren't very fast, but the point of the test session was mostly for everybody to get comfortable again.
We were also testing different things, which we would usually not be willing to try during competition. So we learned what we can do and also what we cannot do. Trying new things and different combinations really pays off when linedup against the competition on race day.

“Our motor is back from Jon Kaase's shop,” Eman continued, “and we are confident he put a lot of work over the off season finding us every little horsepower we can use.”

BIG PLANS - Mel Bush has big plans for his team this season. He’s putting his money where his mouth is and plans a full ADRL tour and has hired veteran crew chief Todd Tutterow to tune his ride.  A recent test session with driver Tommy D’Aprile has the team brimming with excitement

“I am really pleased with everything that Todd has done and feel like this is a fresh start and I am looking forward to this season," said Mel Bush. "The Pro Extreme Class is absolutely packed with the best drivers in the country, and competing at this level is not for the faint at heart."

D’Aprile is more than happy to return to the ADRL community.

"We ran only a couple events last season, and I missed seeing the crew and my fellow competitors, so I am really excited about our plans to run all 10 events this season," said D'Aprile.  "I am very excited for this season to begin. I'm a race car driver and my focus and goal is to do the best possible job driving Mel's car. My hunger and desire to win is bigger than ever before. This season my goal is winning races and challenging for the championship. I am confident in and dedicated to Mel and his racing program.”

FITS LIKE A GLOVE - Pete Berner’s sharp new Summit Racing Equipment ZL1 Camaro is a keeper by his high standards.

“I couldn’t be more excited about this car,” told Berner. “GOS Motorsports Graphics did a fantastic job on the design, mixing my nostalgic colors with the familiar Summit red and blue. Rick, Rickie and the crew at RJ Race Cars did a phenomenal job, as did Steve Dekkenga and his group at SD Enterprises. The detail is awesome. I think the car truly speaks for itself. I know our Summit fans are going to love this ride.

“Last season we weren’t running like I expect of myself. I’m a very goal-oriented individual and this season my goals are to fix our issues from last year. In some ways, we were the pursuer last year. We’re ready to return to being the one that everyone else is trying to run down.”

The piece of nostalgia featured in the Camaro’s color scheme might be the only heritage part of the car, however, as much of the new Extreme Pro Stock machine is equipped with chassis and engine innovations which Berner hopes will pave the way for the next generation of XPS racing.

“Rick worked very closely with us on some new innovations in the building of this chassis. As teammates this upcoming season, we’re going to continue to work closely in testing these items and others.”

“Pete’s car was our first Pro Stock 2012 Camaro,” added Rick Jones of RJ Race Cars. “I think it’s so cool to see the Chevy Camaro come back to Pro Stock. We put a lot of effort in this car; we are trying a few new things we have found lately. We are excited to see how it runs. My expectations are very high!”

Further changes for Team Summit include a new engine shop:

“Jerry’s [Janota] and Mike’s [Slaviero] new engine shop is up and running and we plan on burning our dyno up in the next few weeks,” elaborated Berner. “Those guys have put a tremendous amount of effort into this. It’s like a surgical suite in there, which is fitting for Jerry and Mike. They are truly doctors of engine dynamics. The new shop is quite the work of art and makes for a fantastic workplace. It’s a reflection of how this Summit team operates- always shooting for perfection.”

ON THE WAY – Pete Berner isn’t the only Extreme Pro Stock racer bragging on his new Camaro. Long Islander John Montecalvo has a Bow-Tie he’s proud of too.

“I’m really pleased with our new Camaro,” told Monte. “RJ Race Cars always builds a great ride and this car is certainly no exception. And thanks to Lois Anne’s work with Eddie Hollon on the design, we’ve already received many compliments on the car’s appearance before we’ve made it to the first event. We can’t wait to see the fans’ reactions at Houston.”

The new car is not the only change in Montecalvo’s operation as he’s also quickly adjusting to a new shop, based in Georgia, and new crew members.

“Even with just one time out of the trailer, this crew is already meshing. Justin and Wayne have blended well with the returning crew. It’s like they’ve been together forever. Fans see all the action happen on the track, but ninety percent of our battle is won or lost at the trailer. Having a crew that works well together is essential. I’m thrilled that our team is accomplishing that in such a short amount of time.”