HERNANDEZ, SAVELL, GLIDDEN, GAHM, PROCOPIA LEAD DRAGPALOOZA V QUALIFYING

While
others struggled with the tricky race track, local favorite Joshua
Hernandez set the pace in Pro Extreme (PX) with a blistering 3.83 run
in first round qualifying for the Safety-Kleen Dragpalooza V, round one
of the ten-race National Guard ADRL tour.

Tim Savell, Billy Glidden, Ron Procopio and Brian Gahm also led their
respective categories at the end of qualifying under the lights at
Houston Raceway Park.

Josh Hernandez came out early in testing during the ADRL Safety-Kleen Dragpalooza V and burned out
all the way to the eighth-mile clocks. When you only race 660 feet like
the ADRL does this kind of a burnout can easily be construed as sending
a message to the competition.
 
Hernandez, the former NHRA Pro Modified champion and now full-time ADRL
front-runner, was sending a message alright. He was letting everyone
know that he didn’t have any brakes on his National Guard-sponsored
Camaro.
 
“We had just put on a set of new tires and we were going to do a
reasonably long burnout in order to set them up for a 3.80 run,”
Hernandez admitted. “Sometime gremlins will creep up on you at the most
inopportune times and for me they showed up on that run.”

John Montecalvo’s hopes of winning two races in one weekend have
quickly been dashed. Tough track conditions and minor parts breakage
changed his plan to run both the ADRL event in Houston and the IHRA
event in Baton Rouge. The perfect combination to get down the track at
the IHRA Mardi Gras Nationals has eluded most of the Pro Stock racers.
Montecalvo made some right calls and was fourth quickest for the first
session with a 6.462 at 220.91. His second qualifying attempt looked
even better, posting a .982 60ft time, but an air line broke on the
shifter ending the run early.

“Sometimes the smallest thing can throw a kink in your plan. That’s
what has happened to us here this weekend,” tells Montecalvo. “When the
air line broke on our shifter, it aborted the run. Unfortunately it
also got up on the chip, and, although we don’t think it hurt anything,
we don’t want to take any chances on running the motor anymore this
weekend. We’ll put in a different motor and get a fresh start at this
track tomorrow. Because of all the issues we’ve run into - the track
being more difficult to negotiate than anticipated and putting in a new
motor - we need all four qualifiers here at the Mardi Gras Nationals to
be fully confident on race day. It looks like there will be a bye run
in eliminations, so we also want to qualify at the top to be in a
position to take advantage of that. The team and I would have liked to
have run both the IHRA and ADRL this weekend, but I would rather not
compromise our potential, so I feel it’s best to run only the one
event.”

In the first rounds of qualifying at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing
Series event presented by Budweiser at Southwestern Int’l Raceway, Mike
De Palma of Glendale, Ariz., sits atop the Comp Eliminator field and
Peoria, Ariz., racer Tibor Kadar leads in Super Stock.  Tucson
residents Lance Samson and Tom Patterson are the No. 1 and 2 qualifiers
in Sportsman Motorcycle presented by Harley Davidson. The race kicked
off Friday and will wrap up on Saturday.

De Palma, wheeling his ’98 Firebird, covered the quarter-mile in 8.261
seconds, just enough to put him ahead of No. 2 qualifier Dean Carter,
also a resident of Glendale.  Tucson’s Jeff Sams is currently the No.
10 qualifier in the category.

Kadar drove his ’92 Camaro to the top of the Super Stock field with a
9.618-second pass. No. 2 qualifier Frank Grossi of Upland, Calif., and
No. 3 qualifier Eric Bell of Chandler, Ariz., are just off the pace.

R2B2 Racing teammates Roger Burgess and Raymond Commisso delivered stellar performances in the first day of qualifying at the Summit Racing Equipment Inaugural IHRA Mardi Gras Nationals at State Capitol Raceway in Baton Rouge, La.
 
After a disappointing first round for both drivers, Commisso blasted to
the provisional No. 1 spot and earned the Last Man Standing award. His
5.993/245.09 will re-set the IHRA Pro Mod speed record should he be
able to back it up. Burgess grabbed the provisional No. 4 position on
the strength of his 6.116/237.25 second-round pass.

Pro Nitrous racer Doug Reisterer was uninjured during a Friday evening crash. The veteran driver from Victoria, Texas,
moved around within the right lane before his car shot across the
centerline and impacted the left lane retaining wall. He barely missed
Don DeFlorian in the left lane. Fortunately for DeFlorian, this was the
one run he made it to the finish line after repeated bouts with tire
shake during testing.
 
“I think the track was so good that it couldn’t get on the tire and it
shook,” Reisterer said. “I felt it shake and thought for an instant it
might drive through. By the time I figured out it was too late. Luckily
I wasn’t going too fast.”

Pro Nitrous racer Tim Savell used a cue from a practice run to land in the top qualifying spot during Friday’s provisional qualifying at the ADRL Safety-Kleen Dragpalooza V.
 
The Terry, Miss.-based driver really had no other choice.
 
Between the fenders of his 1968 was a brand-new and unproven 822-inch Reher-Morrison engine.
 
“That was the first eighth-mile hit the engine had ever made,” Savell admitted, alluding to Friday’s 3.994, 185.89.
 
If Friday’s provisional run holds, it will mark the first time he’s nailed down the top qualifying position.

Del Cox Jr. sets provisional Top Fuel pole Friday night; Commisso, Collins top Pro Mod, Pro Stock

Del Cox Jr. topped the charts Friday night in Top Fuel qualifying for
the opening night the IHRA Summit Racing Equipment Mardi Gras Nationals
at State Capitol Raceway in Baton Rouge.

Cox (Downey, Ca.) made a 4.712 run at 314.83 mph to hold off 2008 IHRA
Nitro Funny Car Champion Terry Haddock (Woodinville, Wa.) who set his
personal best Top Fuel E.T. and speed with 4.768, 302.41 mph pass.
 
Ray Commisso (Toronto, Ont.) took home the Ironman in Pro Modified with
a record-challenging 5.993 pass at 245.09 mph. Ed Hoover (Gilbert, SC)
was second with a 6.049 run at 237.88 mph.