HOSSLER TAKING STEPS TOWARD STRONG FINISH
Thu, 2010-08-26 14:40
Sometimes taking a step back is the best way to move forward. At least that’s the way the ADRL’s most recent Pro Extreme winner sees things.
Alex Hossler, from Canton, Illinois, made a final-round pass of 3.69 seconds at 203.89 mph to beat Gaylen Smith’s 3.71 effort at 204.85 mph by less than a car length early this month at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
“Any time you can win in front of your home crowd and do it in somewhat dramatic fashion, running our first 3.60, I don’t see how the weekend could have gone much better,” said Hossler, who jumped up to second in points, just 16 markers behind Joshua Hernandez with the win.
“We did get in some lucky rounds when Frankie (Taylor) shook against us in the second round and Khalid (Al-Thani) had to pedal in the semis against us, but a wise man once told me you’re not going to win certain races without some lucky rounds and those were definitely some lucky rounds.”
Sometimes taking a step back is the best way to move forward. At least that’s the way the ADRL’s most recent Pro Extreme winner sees things.
Alex Hossler, from Canton, Illinois, made a final-round pass of 3.69 seconds at 203.89 mph to beat Gaylen Smith’s 3.71 effort at 204.85 mph by less than a car length early this month at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
“Any time you can win in front of your home crowd and do it in somewhat dramatic fashion, running our first 3.60, I don’t see how the weekend could have gone much better,” said Hossler, who jumped up to second in points, just 16 markers behind Joshua Hernandez with the win.
“We did get in some lucky rounds when Frankie (Taylor) shook against us in the second round and Khalid (Al-Thani) had to pedal in the semis against us, but a wise man once told me you’re not going to win certain races without some lucky rounds and those were definitely some lucky rounds.”
It wasn’t mere luck that earned Hossler his second ADRL event title, however. He traced the success back to May when he opted out of attending the ADRL event at Virginia Motorsports Park, near Richmond.
“We had a rough go a couple of races or two before that; it was a long way from home; I was really busy at work at the time, and I was just a little frustrated with racing because we weren’t running all that great, so I just skipped it,” he explained. “I took some beatings from some guys for doing that, but I still think it was the right move for me at the time and I kind of think missing a race lit a fire under my guys.”
Additionally, Hossler said the money he would have spent racing in Richmond instead went toward testing, in particular with a new Coan Engineering torque converter.
“If we had just gone to the Richmond race we wouldn’t have tried out that new stuff and I don’t think we’d be running as good as we are now,” he stated. “I’m still on a shoe-string budget, you know, I don’t have near the budget that most of the top teams have. I read an article lately about Frankie Taylor and he was bragging about running his whole season on $100Gs a year and all I could think was, ‘Geez, I wish I had $100Gs.’
“So we’re definitely a low-budget team; we run our parts probably a little longer than most of the top teams do and try to squeeze everything we can out of what we have. It’s a disadvantage, but at the same time I think it makes us work that much harder and when we can line up next to Hernandez or next to Sheikh Khalid and beat them, well, that just makes it that much cooler.”
Heading toward the 2010 championship-deciding ADRL Battle for the Belts this October at the Texas Motorplex, south of Dallas, Hossler plans to continue testing with his Chris Duncan Race Cars-built ’70 Camaro with the goal of becoming a consistently quick threat.
“I think when we get to Dallas the weather will be right, the track will be right and they will be running consistent .60s and if we can’t do that, too, I don’t think our chances will be very good. Now, at the same time I will say that (crew chief) Chris Duncan always seems to find a way to make things work. He somehow finds a way to pull a run out of his tail when we need one and that’s got us to where we are,” he said.
“I can’t say enough about Chris. He builds a chassis that outperforms those of some other chassis builders that charge up to $200-thousand-plus. It’s much less expensive and very, very consistent; it goes down the track every single time. But we’ve had a lot of help to give us the performance that we have this year,” Hossler said.
“Mike Stawicki Racing, MSR Performance, they do our engines and they are absolutely flawless. And Jon Salemi, Rob Flynn, all the help they give us, and Coan Converters, they make absolutely the very best converter that you can put in a Pro Mod car, I truly believe that.”
Regardless of the outcome at the Motorplex, Hossler added that he’ll again be heading overseas this winter to contest the Arabian Drag Racing League circuit, in which he won twice during its inaugural 2009-10 season.
“We’re leaving shortly before Thanksgiving to do a little testing before the first race in the beginning of December. We’re doing eight races in the Middle East this year and looking forward to them very much,” Hossler said. “They’ve upped the payouts on them a little bit this year and to any racer that is lucky enough to get invited I would strongly recommend taking full advantage of the opportunity. It’s an incredible experience.”
Alex Hossler, from Canton, Illinois, made a final-round pass of 3.69 seconds at 203.89 mph to beat Gaylen Smith’s 3.71 effort at 204.85 mph by less than a car length early this month at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
“Any time you can win in front of your home crowd and do it in somewhat dramatic fashion, running our first 3.60, I don’t see how the weekend could have gone much better,” said Hossler, who jumped up to second in points, just 16 markers behind Joshua Hernandez with the win.
“We did get in some lucky rounds when Frankie (Taylor) shook against us in the second round and Khalid (Al-Thani) had to pedal in the semis against us, but a wise man once told me you’re not going to win certain races without some lucky rounds and those were definitely some lucky rounds.”
Sometimes taking a step back is the best way to move forward. At least that’s the way the ADRL’s most recent Pro Extreme winner sees things.
Alex Hossler, from Canton, Illinois, made a final-round pass of 3.69 seconds at 203.89 mph to beat Gaylen Smith’s 3.71 effort at 204.85 mph by less than a car length early this month at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
“Any time you can win in front of your home crowd and do it in somewhat dramatic fashion, running our first 3.60, I don’t see how the weekend could have gone much better,” said Hossler, who jumped up to second in points, just 16 markers behind Joshua Hernandez with the win.
“We did get in some lucky rounds when Frankie (Taylor) shook against us in the second round and Khalid (Al-Thani) had to pedal in the semis against us, but a wise man once told me you’re not going to win certain races without some lucky rounds and those were definitely some lucky rounds.”
It wasn’t mere luck that earned Hossler his second ADRL event title, however. He traced the success back to May when he opted out of attending the ADRL event at Virginia Motorsports Park, near Richmond.
“We had a rough go a couple of races or two before that; it was a long way from home; I was really busy at work at the time, and I was just a little frustrated with racing because we weren’t running all that great, so I just skipped it,” he explained. “I took some beatings from some guys for doing that, but I still think it was the right move for me at the time and I kind of think missing a race lit a fire under my guys.”
Additionally, Hossler said the money he would have spent racing in Richmond instead went toward testing, in particular with a new Coan Engineering torque converter.
“If we had just gone to the Richmond race we wouldn’t have tried out that new stuff and I don’t think we’d be running as good as we are now,” he stated. “I’m still on a shoe-string budget, you know, I don’t have near the budget that most of the top teams have. I read an article lately about Frankie Taylor and he was bragging about running his whole season on $100Gs a year and all I could think was, ‘Geez, I wish I had $100Gs.’
“So we’re definitely a low-budget team; we run our parts probably a little longer than most of the top teams do and try to squeeze everything we can out of what we have. It’s a disadvantage, but at the same time I think it makes us work that much harder and when we can line up next to Hernandez or next to Sheikh Khalid and beat them, well, that just makes it that much cooler.”
Heading toward the 2010 championship-deciding ADRL Battle for the Belts this October at the Texas Motorplex, south of Dallas, Hossler plans to continue testing with his Chris Duncan Race Cars-built ’70 Camaro with the goal of becoming a consistently quick threat.
“I think when we get to Dallas the weather will be right, the track will be right and they will be running consistent .60s and if we can’t do that, too, I don’t think our chances will be very good. Now, at the same time I will say that (crew chief) Chris Duncan always seems to find a way to make things work. He somehow finds a way to pull a run out of his tail when we need one and that’s got us to where we are,” he said.
“I can’t say enough about Chris. He builds a chassis that outperforms those of some other chassis builders that charge up to $200-thousand-plus. It’s much less expensive and very, very consistent; it goes down the track every single time. But we’ve had a lot of help to give us the performance that we have this year,” Hossler said.
“Mike Stawicki Racing, MSR Performance, they do our engines and they are absolutely flawless. And Jon Salemi, Rob Flynn, all the help they give us, and Coan Converters, they make absolutely the very best converter that you can put in a Pro Mod car, I truly believe that.”
Regardless of the outcome at the Motorplex, Hossler added that he’ll again be heading overseas this winter to contest the Arabian Drag Racing League circuit, in which he won twice during its inaugural 2009-10 season.
“We’re leaving shortly before Thanksgiving to do a little testing before the first race in the beginning of December. We’re doing eight races in the Middle East this year and looking forward to them very much,” Hossler said. “They’ve upped the payouts on them a little bit this year and to any racer that is lucky enough to get invited I would strongly recommend taking full advantage of the opportunity. It’s an incredible experience.”
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