ADRL GATEWAY DRAGS III - EVENT NOTEBOOK

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - ANOTHER ONE IN THE BOOKS AND IT'S A FAST ONE

A MUCH BETTER FINISH - Alex Hossler’s first American Drag Racing League (ADRL) win 10 months ago ended with the Pro Extreme driver crossing the finish line with his car on fire in one of more memorable ADRL finishes.

In Hossler’s eyes, however, the Canton, IL native topped himself on Saturday during the Hardee’s Gateway Drags III at Gateway International Raceway (GIR).

With more than 100 friends, family and co-workers looking on, Hossler was never better and it paid off with his second career ADRL PX win.

His ‘71 Camaro went a Saturday-best 3.69 at 203 miles per hour, beating Gaylen Smith in an entertaining final before a massive overflow crowd at GIR.

”(The 3.69) put quite the exclamation point on the coolest win I’ve ever had,” Hossler said. “I don’t know how I could have made it any better.

“There is no race I would rather win. This is definitely the highlight of my ADRL career. This has been great, to share this experience with all the people I care about.”

The capacity crowd soaked in the record-breaking weekend, as track E.T. and speed records were broken in every class over the two-day stretch.

Ulsch capped his amazing day with one more record, as his 3.99 run in the finals against Billy Glidden came at 206.55 mph, giving him the new world speed record in XTF.

That it came during a finals victory was simply icing on the cake for the Clarksville, MD native.

“I saw the win light and that’s all I needed to see,” Ulsch said. “This was real cool because I lost this race (in the finals) last year. Anytime you can win, it’s great.”

The location added plenty more for Hossler, but how he did it was also meaningful.

After qualifying fifth, Hossler went 3.74 in the opening round and then knocked off Frankie Taylor a round later with a 3.76 at 204 mph.

That gave him KH Al-Thani in the semifinals and the buzz at GIR in preparation for that race was palpable. But it was Hossler who prevailed, denying Al-Thani of his second win in two days with a 3.75 to set up his terrific finals run.

“Anybody that tells you don’t get jacked up for something like that, you’re lying. You do get jacked up,” Hossler said of his semifinal matchup against Al-Thani.

“You just have to try to block that out and do what you always do.”

After wrecking in Houston two weeks ago, Shannon Jenkins has been driving the car of teammate Mike Castellana in Pro Nitrous.

It was a lethal combination on Saturday, as Jenkins went 3.88 at 193 mph to deny Randy Weatherford of his first ADRL win.

Instead, Jenkins picked up his class-best ninth - and it still felt as good as his first.

“This is why I still do it,” Jenkins said in the winner’s circle. “Winning is all I dream and think about.”

Before that, though, Jenkins had to overcome the crash in Houston and some difficulty on Friday with Castellana’s car.

But after staying up until 2:30 a.m. correcting the problems, Jenkins went 3.93 in the final qualifying session to set the tone for the day. He got better in each round, going 3.92 to beat Burton Auxier in the second round and 3.91 to top Stan Allen in the semifinals.

“We’re just racing for Mike,” Jenkins said. “We came out with that .93 in qualifying and it felt like a different car. After that, we knew we could win.”

DEJA VU', KINDA SORTA - Chuck Ulsch’s path to the finals was eerily similar to a year ago at the track, as he met Jeff Naiser and Gary White in the second and third rounds, respectively, for the second straight time.

He had passes of 4.03 at 205 mph and 4.02 to reach the finals, and this time he got the better of Glidden, who cut a perfect .000 light but shut the car off shortly after.

“Hopefully this puts us back in the mix. Every little bit helps,” Ulsch said. “We made major changes before every run and we threw some stuff out there. We got where we want to be.”

SAME OLD SONG AND DANCE - It was the same old dominant story for Ashley Owens, as the Decatur, AL native made it a double-win weekend after also qualifying first.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the “Fast by Gast” driver, who went 4.09 at 174 mph to beat Kim Morrell’s 4.16 in the finals.

Morrell was making her first finals appearance, but had to relent to Owens, who now has a remarkable six wins in seven ADRL races.

“It’s hard to keep this going,” Owens said. “All the little stuff and there’s so many things that goes into this, it’s just unreal. It’s been a wonderful thing.”

Owens cut a .013 light in the finals, which is simply par for the course in the 2010 season.

His ‘07 Suzuki went 4.11 in the first round, a weekend-best 4.08 at 175 mph in the quarterfinals and a 4.10 to put him in the finals, where he remains perfect on the season.

“There’s quite a few people that stepped up and we were just trying to get that win light,” Owens said. “There’s a lot of tough people out here, but everything went good and the bike was real consistent.”

OVER AND OVER - Consistentcy was what Brian Gahm kept coming back to en route to picking up his second win of the year.

He didn’t put up monster numbers - though his 4.11 in the finals was strong - but he never went worse than 4.15 on Saturday.

Gahm went a 4.13 at 173 mph to beat Cary Goforth in the semifinals, and Cale Aronson, making his first finals appearance, timed out on the starting line in the finals.

“We ran consistent all day,” Gahm said. “We weren’t the fastest but we were right there. The guys did a great job of reading the track all day.”

Aronson reached the finals by knocking off red-hot John Montecalvo, denying Montecalvo the chance to become the first ADRL driver to win five straight races.

That opened the door for Gahm, who gladly took advantage on a productive Saturday.

“We’re always ready to win, but (Montecalvo’s) Chevy has been hard to deal with,” Gahm said. “We’re very happy. It was a great weekend.”

GATEWAY FINALS ESTABLISHED - It has been a day of upsets at Gateway International Raceway, where many of the favorites have fallen by the wayside as the final rounds are now in place.

After eliminating Pete Berner from round one, Extreme Pro Stock rookie Cale Aronson led stripe to stripe in round two over number-one qualifier and last night’s winner of the delayed Topeka race, John Montecalvo, denying Montecalvo the chance to make ADRL history with his fifth-straight event title. Aronson next caught a break in the semis when Steven Boone had more problems in his lane, allowing Aronson’s off-the-pace 4.53 at 169.44 to put him into the final against Brian Gahm, the winningest driver in the class with five event titles to his credit.

Gahm has been running quicker and faster all day, dusting off Trevor Eman, Doug Kirk and Cary Goforth in the semis with a 4.13 pass at 174.28 mph, giving him lane choice by a wide margin and making him the obvious favorite heading into the final.

In Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Ashley Owens is going to his sixth final in seven races and hasn’t lost one of them yet. At Gateway he initially took out Derrick Holloway, then ran low ET of the event so far with a 4.08 win over Ronnie Procopio. Owens fell back to a still very stout 4.10 that matched his number-one qualifying time in the semis against former back-to-back class champ Billy Vose, which gave him lane choice in the final over Kim Morrell.

After qualifying third, Morrell, the lone woman competing full time in the class, reached her career-first final by easily beating James Helton in the opening round, but also needed a little good fortune in the form of a red light by Eddie Gonder in round two when she ran only 4.43 seconds, her worst time of the weekend. The Florida-based rider regained her form for the semis, though, going 4.15 at 171.42 to overcome a holeshot by Ricky Gadsen.

The Extreme 10.5 final features a repeat of the 2009 Gateway Drags final as Billy Glidden will line up beside Chuck Ulsch. Glidden came out on top last year.

This time around, Glidden made a 4.09 solo pass to start when Randy Matlock was a no show, then ran his nitrous-fed ’10 Mustang to 4.04 in eliminating Todd Moyer before going another 4.04 at 179.52 mph to oust Brad Brand from the semis. Ulsch, meanwhile, drove his blown-Hemi-powered ’69 Camaro to a 4.12 win over H.T. Wilson before dropping the hammer with a 4.03 at 205.22 against Jeff Naiser in the only 200-mph run for the class so far. His speed dropped to “only” 199.08 in the semis, but the 4.02 against a redlighting Gary White secured lane choice for him by two hundredths.

Randy Weatherford qualified third in Pro Nitrous with a 3.91 pass, but hasn’t been able to match it yet in eliminations, going 3.97, 3.95 and 3.94 at 187.47 to take out Lee Adkins, local hero Aaron Hodges and Doug Riesterer, respectively.

On the other side of the ladder, in round one Shannon Jenkins went 3.94 to down Charles Carpenter, then ran 3.92 to beat Al-Anabi teammate Burton Auxier before securing lane choice for the final with a 3.91 blast at 191.81 to douse the hopes of Stan Allen.

Both Pro Extreme semis featured upsets of sorts as Gaylen Smith turned in a strong 3.72 at 204.08-mph performance to get by defending World Champion Todd Tutterow and Alex Hossler hooked up for a 3.75-seconds run at 203.68 mph to end Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani’s effort to double up in the win column this weekend.

Previously, Smith turned in a pair of 3.75s to beat teammates Tommy D’Aprile and Quain Stott, while Hossler ran 3.74 and 3.76 to take out Texans Steve Wiley and Frankie Taylor to set up—on paper at least—the most closely matched final of the day.

FIELDS SET FOR GATEWAY DRAGS III - All five top qualifiers from Friday held onto their positions after the fourth and final qualifying session AlThani_No1 was completed Saturday morning for the ADRL Gateway Drags III at Gateway International Raceway, near St. Louis.

John Montecalvo of Center Moriches, NY, leads the Extreme Pro Stock field into eliminations based on the 4.07 and 176.47 mph (both track records) he ran in last night’s rain-postponed Independence Drags final from Topeka, Kansas, and will be going after an unprecedented fifth-straight ADRL race title today. Brian Gahm starts second with a 4.11 run in his last qualifying attempt, with Cary Goforth just four thousandths back in third place. Brad Waddle bumped his way into last place in the 16-car field with a 4.19 in the final session and will face off against Montecalvo in round one.

Decatur Alabama’s Ashley Owens sat out his final qualifying opportunity, confident his winning 4.10 pass at 174.14 (both track records) from Friday night would hold fast. He was right, as the closest anyone came was a 4.14 by Friday night’s runner-up Terry Schweigert, followed by Kim Morrell with a 4.15 pass. Derrick Holloway’s 4.29 filled the 16th and final qualifying position, and notably, defending class champ Scott Gray is in the first alternate spot at 17th with a 4.33-seconds effort.

Halsey_No1 The 3.98 track record ET at 190.27 run yesterday by reigning Extreme 10.5 World Champ Spiro Pappas of Glenview, Illinois, also held up through Saturday’s session. Gary White’s 4.00 that won the Topeka event placed him second and Chuck Ulsch with a 4.03 pass placed third, while Dustin Miller filled the 16th spot with a 4.57-seconds pass.

Jim Halsey’s track record 3.87 came up just a little short of winning last night, but remained strong enough to hold on to the number-one slot on Saturday, so the Havre de Grace, Maryland, racer will face off against number-16 starter Terry Murphy and his 4.05 in round one of eliminations. Right behind Halsey at the top of the list is Friday’s winner Rickie Smith, who also sat out the final qualifying session to stand on his 3.89 from last night’s final, followed by the 3.91 of Randy Weatherford.

Despite establishing the second-quickest 16-car field in Pro Extreme history, no one came even close to challenging Qatar’s Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani’s dual track record 3.66 at 208.84 mph that gave him the number-one starting position and the Independence Drags win on Friday night. Gaylen Smith’s 3.70 from Friday’s third session put him second, with Jason Scruggs also at 3.70 in third place. Terry Leggett held on through the final session to place 16th with a 3.84-seconds pass.

Eliminations are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Central.

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ADRL’s NEW TV PARTNER? - There’s a teaser dated Aug. 3 on the ADRL website (adrl.us) that mentions “some big moves the ADRL is making in the television world,” and we couldn’t help but notice a trackside camera pan past a sign for MavTV, self-described on its website (mavtv.com) as “… no ordinary television network. It’s a 24/7 high-definition look at precisely what guys want to see – motorsports, fighting, comedy, gadgets, and crystal clear bikinis.”

The ADRL site promises an official TV-related announcement “within the next couple days” and with its much-publicized connection to ADRL President Kenny Nowling’s new Fight Me Mixed Martial Arts series, it would make perfect sense for both organizations to be featured on MavTV.

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FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - FRIDAY'S RACING AT THE ARCH

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AN EMOTIONAL WINNER'S CIRCLE - Late Friday night, John Montecalvo led the winners’ parade for the rain-postponed Hardee’s Independence Drags IV from Topeka with his fourth- rsmith in-a-row ADRL Extreme Pro Stock event title. Also adding to winning streaks were Rickie Smith with his third-straight Pro Nitrous win and Ashley Owens with his second Pro Extreme Motorcycle win in as many events. Also scoring Topeka titles were Gary White with his third Extreme 10.5 win of the year and Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani, who turned in a dominating performance to take his second Pro Extreme trophy this season.

Eliminations for the delayed Topeka race were held within qualifying sessions for Saturday’s ADRL Hardee’s Independence Drags III at Gateway International Raceway, lying practically in sight of downtown St. Louis, just across the Mississippi River in Madison, Illinois.

Driving a pair of ’08 Chevy Cobalts, both drivers in the Extreme Pro Stock final made their best passes of the day in the final, but it was Montecalvo’s 4.07 at 176.47 mph that put away the 4.13 at 173.83 combination by Jeff Dobbins over the Gateway eighth mile. Montecalvo, who qualified fourth back in Topeka on the July 4th weekend, defeated Scott Hintz, Bob Bertsch and Cary Goforth, going quicker each time to reach the round that counts.

“Any time Jeff and I go to the line it’s going to be a battle, but it’s all in good fun. I told him he was going to think it was the jet car running beside him,” the man they call “Monte” said about a brief starting-line duel with Dobbins.

“But I owe it all to my crew,” he continued. “They are giving me an absolutely great car right now and we’re going to see if we can make it five in a row. But I’m not being cocky; I want to stay grounded, but I want to be feeling positive, too, and I feel like there’s no reason we can’t do it. Of course, this is drag racing, so who knows what’s going to happen?”

xtf The Pro Nitrous final certainly produced a fascinating story, too, but it wasn’t just about the seven-thousandths-of-a-second margin of victory for Smith over Jim Halsey. Rather, it was the personal journey for Smith, who two weeks earlier had dedicated back-to-back wins at Houston to his ailing 79-year-old father, Burke, who died just one day before the Gateway event.

“I can’t help but feel the Lord let me win this one,” Smith said, his voice cracking in an emotional winner’s circle ceremony. “I dedicated those last two wins to Daddy, but this one’s for my mother (Dorothy), who’s still alive back home (in North Carolina).”

Out on the track, Smith won the closest final of the night thanks to a .022 holeshot that allowed the 3.89 at 190.67-mph pass by his ’68 Camaro to beat the quicker and faster 3.87 at 193.99 by Halsey’s similar machine. Smith also made his quickest pass of the day in the final after taking out Dave Pierce, Halsey’s teammate Pat Stoken and Dan Stevenson to get there.

Owens continued his remarkable dominance of the ADRL’s two-wheeled class this year with his second straight Pro Extreme Motorcycle event title, but also his fifth win in six races held this year. With only an eight-bike field from Topeka, Owens had only to beat Brunson Grothus and Eric McKinney to reach the final, where he left with a solid .031 advantage, then ran a class-leading 4.10 at 174.14 mph to handily defeat the 4.19 at 168.56 by Canadian rider Terry Schweigert.

“He’s simply the best; I have the greatest rider in the world,” team owner Paul Gast said after Owens’ latest victory. “People don’t realize how hard it is to ride these bikes and Ashley Owens is the absolute best at it. I’m in awe of his abilities.”

A sheepish White admitted in victory lane that his own abilities nearly let him down in staging for the Extreme 10.5 final against Jeff Naiser.

“I forgot to set the boost switch and I realized it wasn’t making any boost when we were staging so I had to slip it into neutral and hit the switch just as Jeff turned on the second (staging) bulb,” said White, who enjoyed a rather easy path to the final with a first-round bye followed by another solo pass when Judd Coffman was disqualified from round two for rolling through the beams and a strong semi-final win over Topeka native Dustin Miller.

“I thought I was finished then, but it made just enough boost to leave and get the job done,” White said about the 4.00 at 185.79 that got the job done while Naiser had problems early in his run and had to shut off early.

sheikh2 Sheikh Khalid, the number-four starter from Topeka, served notice straight off the trailer he would be a force this weekend, advancing past Al-Anabi teammate and defending class champion Todd Tutterow in round one of Topeka eliminations before easily handling Wes Johnston and overcoming a near-perfect .001 start by Gaylen Smith in the semis.

Al-Thani’s final-round charge against Frankie Taylor, a winner at Houston, also produced his quickest and fastest pass of the weekend so far, giving him not only his second Pro Extreme win, but also the Gateway Drags III provisional pole with a track record 3.66 at 208.84, while Taylor went a solid but distant 3.80 at 195.48 mph.

Jimmy Sackwich, the 10th-place qualifier in Pro Jr. Dragster, won his first ADRL race with an 8.12 run at 80.93 mph against an 8.11 dial in when opponent Kendall Thiesse redlighted away her Topeka final-round chances.

Significantly, all five winning Independence Drags passes stood as number-one qualifying times for the pros heading into a fourth and final qualifying session Saturday morning before eliminations begin for the ADRL Gateway Drags III.

TIME FOR TOPEKA FINALS - Lane choice for the Extreme Pro Stock final in the rain-postponed Independence Drags from Topeka, Kansas, went to John Montecalvo at Gateway International Raceway, courtesy of his 4.11 win at 175.52 mph over Cary Goforth in the semis. His opponent for the Topeka win will be Jeff Dobbins, who scored a 4.13 win against a redlighting Mark Martino in the semis.

Topeka native Dustin Miller left with a huge holeshot on Gary White in their Extreme 10.5 semi-final match-up, but Miller’s Olds Cutlass slowed while White went quickest of the weekend so far with a 4.03 at 184.02 mph in his turbocharged, inline-six-powered Scion. Likewise, Michelle Wilson left with a stellar .012 reaction, but her 4.34 was no match for the 4.11 at 183.59 that sent Naiser and his nitrous-boosted ’02 Grand Am to the final against White.

After losing his father just a day earlier, Rickie Smith further demonstrated his resiliency and focus in his Pro Nitrous semi race against Dan Stevenson with a 3.91 win at 189.87 mph that sent him to his third straight final. In a battle of ’68 Camaros, Jim Halsey took lane choice for the final, however, with a 3.87 at 196.30-mph win over Lee Adkins.

Gaylen Smith did all he could with a brilliant .001 light followed up by a 3.75 at 202.45 mph, but it still wasn’t enough to hold off KH Al-Thani and his 3.69 at 207.56-mph pass. Al-Thani then held on to lane choice by just .013 as Frankie Taylor used a 3.70 at 204.48 to get past Alex Hossler’s 3.73 at 204.26 mph.

And as mentioned earlier, with only an eight-bike field from Topeka, the Pro Extreme Motorcycle final was already set with Ashley Owens holding lane choice over Canadian Terry Schweigert.

TOPEKA SEMIS SET - The semi-finals for the rain-postponed Independence Drags from Heartland Park Topeka have been established within qualifying for this weekend’s ADRL Gateway Drags in Madison, Illinois.

Extreme Pro Stock sees a clash of the titans on one side of the ladder as John Montecalvo, winner of the last three events, will go up against Cary Goforth, the number-one qualifier from Topeka. The winner of that pairing will then take on either Mark Martino, who is looking for his first ADRL final-round appearance, or Jeff Dobbins in the car that Matt Hartford drove to the championship last season.

With only an eight-bike field from Topeka, the Pro Extreme Motorcycle final was actually set after round two, with Ashley Owens scheduled to determine the event win with Terry Schweigert in a repeat of the final from Richmond, Virginia, earlier this year.

A pair of Texans, Jeff Naiser and Michelle Wilson, make up one half of the Extreme 10.5 semis, while top qualifier Gary White will take on Topeka’s own Dustin Miller in the first meeting of their driving careers.

Lee Adkins, a winner back at Martin, Michigan, in June, will be going after his second Pro Nitrous final-round appearance of the season, but first he has the formidable task of getting past Jim Halsey. In the other Pro Nitrous semi, Rickie Smith will be looking to go to his third straight final—and his third straight win—but will have to get by Dan Stevenson, who had an easy advancement after Mike Castellana was a no-show again in St. Louis.

Alex Hossler nipped Jason Scruggs in the quarters when the blower belt snapped on Scruggs’s car, sending Hossler to the Pro Extreme semis against Frankie Taylor, one of the class winners in Houston. Sheikh Khalid is looking strong going into the other semi-final, where Gaylen Smith will have all he can handle in trying to reach his first ADRL final.

GATEWAY DRAGS ROUND ONE QUALIFYING - John Montecalvo wasted no time asserting himself at the Gateway Drags, jumping to the top of the Extreme Pro Stock qualifying list with a 4.10 at 175.71 mph that also marked top speed of the opening session. In the last pair of XPS'ers down the track, Montecalvo was running alongside Texas Drags runner-up Brian Gahm, who went 4.12 to take over second place and bump Dean Goforth down to third. Eighteen cars made qualifying attempts in round one.

In a change of order, the Pro Extreme class took to the track next and after 25 cars made qualifying passes (and a couple others were pushed off with breakage at the line), it was the sheikh from Qatar, KH Al-Thani, sitting on top of the list with an outstanding 3.687 at 208.14 mph that also set both ends of the track records for the class (incremental times: 60 feet -0.946 sec. and 330 feet - 2.494 sec.) Many top PX teams had a tough time getting ahold of the Gateway asphalt, but Brian Daniels placed second with a 3.89 pass, followed by former class champ Bubba Stanton at 3.94 seconds.

Next up were the ADRL’s two-wheeled warriors on their Pro Extreme Motorcycles, with Canada’s Terry Schweigert taking the early lead with a solid 4.17 pass, followed by Ronald Procopio and Kim Morrell. Just as in Pro Extreme, several of the 19 teams that made attempts had difficulty getting down the track.

After one round of Extreme 10.5 qualifying, part-time entrant Brad Brand placed first among 14 entries with a 4.19 pass that looked like it may have cost him some engine parts. Right behind Brand was Eric Stubbs at 4.21 and defending class champ Spiro Pappas, making it a trio of turbocharged entries at the top of the list.

Pro Nitrous closed out the first qualifying session for the Gateway Drags and Jim Halsey earned the preliminary number-one spot with a 3.92 pass to lead Rickie Smith and Halsey’s teammate Pat Stoken.

With only two pairs of cars making passes in the first round of eliminations for Pro Extreme at Topeka before the rains came, the remaining six pairs from that session are up next at Gateway. All other pro classes completed their first-round races, so they’ll follow with their second-round eliminations (including PX) within round two of qualifying for the Gateway Drags.

OWENS BACK ON TOP - When Ashley Owens lost in round two against eventual race winner Travis Davis in the rain-postponed ADRL Dragpalooza Owens_bike VI last month in Houston, some may have sensed a chink in his armor after the Pro Extreme Motorcycle points leader hadn’t lost an elimination round all year to that point.

The loss was traced to a faulty transmission that day and Owens quickly reasserted his place at the head of the class with a win the next day in the inaugural ADRL Texas Drags.

Now, after two rounds of qualifying for the Gateway Drags III in Madison, Illinois, Owens is again headed for the rain-delayed final of the Independence Drags from Topeka and sits firmly on top of the starter’s list with a 4.14 pass.

George Bryce, team owner for Star Racing that last competed in the PXM class in May at Richmond, Virginia, thinks he knows why Owens is enjoying such dominance this year.

“Right now Ashley has everything he needs in what I call a five-spoke wheel that’s required to win consistently: one, a powerful, reliable engine; two, a really great rider that consistently turns on win lights; three, a great chassis that can put the power to the ground and take advantage of its superior rider; four, a great support crew of tuner, owner and crew members; and five, the funding in place to get all the other spokes,” Bryce explains. “When I go to ADRL national events I see all five of those components scattered all through the pits, but only Ashley and maybe—maybe—a couple of others have all of them in place.”

Bryce is quick to emphasize, however, he thinks Owens’ success should be used as a source of motivation and not resentment like he sometimes senses.

“If you’re not running with Ashley, don’t get mad at him,” Bryce counsels. “Realize that he’s worked hard for a long time to get all five spokes and that’s what it takes to win at all levels from ADRL to NASCAR.”

FIRST RACE WITH EFI PXM - The ADRL is substantially loosening its rules governing the previously all-carbureted Pro Extreme Motorcycle (PXM) class.
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ADRL Director of Technical Services Tom Grooms called it a “no brainer” to lift practically all restrictions on induction and nitrous systems beginning Sep. 1, save for limiting nitrous delivery to one nitrous nozzle per cylinder.

“It’s time we bring current available technologies into the Pro Extreme Motorcycle class,” Grooms stated in an official ADRL release. “Having the ability to mechanically progress the nitrous oxide will really help control the power that these machines create. Being able to better control the fuel and nitrous will make these machines much smoother with more repeatable performances.”

The move comes amidst rumors that the powerhouse Al-Anabi Racing Team that already campaigns at least five teams in the ADRL’s Pro Extreme and Pro Nitrous classes with strong ties to at least a couple more, is planning to enter the PXM arena with electronic-fuel-injected (EFI) Harley-Davidsons next season.

Noted PXM engine builder and Star Racing owner George Bryce confirms he is currently building four EFI-equipped Harleys, with the first scheduled to go on display in an established team’s pit space Sep. 1-6, at the NHRA’s U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, Indiana. Though not at liberty to reveal the team he’s working with, Bryce did say he’s currently engaged in testing with rider Mantez Thompson and hopes to have Thompson enter an EFI-equipped Star Racing entry in the ADRL’s Dragstock VII Sep. 10-11, at Rockingham (NC) Dragway.

Regardless, Bryce says he thinks the timing is right to shake up the class with rule changes after points leader and record holder Ashley Owens has lost only one elimination round so far in 2010, with that one attributed to a broken transmission.

Gast_mug Paul Gast, team owner for Owens and a PXM rider himself, says he was surprised by the announcement, especially after being assured by Grooms just a week or so earlier that allowing EFI was not being considered by ADRL rule makers.

“I build and sell carburetors, so obviously I’m not going to be happy with it,” Gast says. “But I’m also not worried. I don’t think they’re going to come out here and run 4-ohs, at least not right away. I’ve had all kinds of EFI systems on the dyno before and none of them can match up with carburetors. They found that out in NHRA and they’re going to find that out here, too. I just feel sorry for the guys that are going to spend a lot of money changing over to EFI and chasing it before they realize it.”

The rising cost of the class is a concern for rider and team owner Monte Campbell, too, who was instrumental in introducing Pro Extreme Motorcycle to the ADRL in 2007.

“The average bike right now is probably $70-thousand to $80-thousand and requires pretty high maintenance, but these new Harleys will probably be close to $100-thousand and require even more maintenance,” Campbell says. “Right now we’ve got pretty good turnouts for an ultra-competitive field and while EFI might offer a great opportunity to some people, you have to worry about the health of the class in the long run.”

Still, Campbell stresses he’s not automatically opposed to adding EFI to the class.

“EFI could be good or it could be bad for us. It’s gone nowhere in NHRA Pro Stock (Motorcycle), but it may be a very different story when you add nitrous to the mix. And I know the cars are starting to see some success with it, but they’re not operating in the 10,000- to 13,000-rpm range where PXM engines are most happy,” he says. “The main thing that concerns me is if we start seeing more carnage and it slows down the program. That would not be good.”

And that’s also a no brainer.

ANOTHER ADRL ‘TWO-IN-ONE’ WEEKEND - The American Drag Racing League (ADRL) is staging its second-in-a-row, two-races-in-one event this weekend (Aug. 6-7), at Gateway International Raceway, just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis in Madison, Illinois. In addition to the entire scheduled Hardee’s Gateway Drags III, elimination rounds from the rain-interrupted Hardee’s Independence Drags IV from the July 4th weekend at Topeka, Kansas, will be completed within Friday’s qualifying sessions.

Just two weeks earlier the ADRL completed its season-opening, but rain-postponed Dragpalooza VI prior to the inaugural Texas Drags at Houston Raceway Park.

In Extreme Pro Stock (XPS), John Montecalvo will be looking to extend a winning streak dating back to June that’s given him three race titles in a row, including the two from Houston. After transmission woes in the postponed Dragpalooza VI interrupted Ashley Owens’ perfect record in Pro Extreme Motorcycle (PXM) eliminations this year, he rebounded with the Texas Drags win and no doubt will be focused on remaining the rider to beat.

The weekend also marks a return to ADRL competition by Chuck Ulsch, who last appeared at the Richmond, Virginia race in May, but made the first 200-plus mph pass in Extreme 10.5 (XTF) on the Gateway eighth mile last year. Also expected to make waves in XTF is Jeff Naiser, who turned in his career-first three-second lap in testing just a week ago and Billy Glidden, who is loaded for bear off the strength of double-up wins at Houston two weeks ago.

In Pro Nitrous (PN), Rickie Smith grabbed all the headlines in Houston with back-to-back race wins and despite the death of his father just yesterday (Aug. 5), he’s at the St. Louis event and racing with a heavy heart. So while Smith has momentum on his side, the door appears open for Shannon Jenkins or defending event winner Mike Castellana to step up in their Al-Anabi rides, or for the Jim Halsey-Pat Stoken pairing to again make their presence felt at the top of the class.

Meanwhile, the debut of a brand-new ’63 Corvette for former back-to-back world champ Jason Scruggs is creating the buzz in Pro Extreme (PX), as is the growing on-track rivalry between Qatar’s Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani (KH) with his Frank Manzo-led Al-Anabi team and Joshua Hernandez with tuner Jim Oddy and a team that just days ago was purchased outright by Sheikh Abdullah Al-Khalifa from the Kingdom of Bahrain.

With temperatures predicted to go no higher than the mid- to high-80s all weekend and practically no chance of rain, it looks like the ADRL will enjoy perfect racing conditions that could lead to some record runs in any or all classes.

AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE - Kenny Nowling, President of the American Drag Racing League, heads across town to the seventh of ten events on the schedule, the ADRL Hardees Gateway Drags III, with a dark cloud hovering above. And for Nowling, according to weather.com, there’s a zero chance of rain forecast this weekend.

The dark cloud has nothing to do with Mother Nature or the successful organization and everything to do with the future of Gateway International Raceway, the host of this weekend’s event.

The ADRL is based in O’Fallon, Mo., and with Gateway International announcing their departure from NASCAR, there’s a strong likelihood this year’s ADRL event will be the last.

For Nowling, the loss of the hometown event will bring forth huge ramifications.

“This weekend coming up is our largest in attendance with the exception of Dragstock [Rockingham],” said Nowling. “I believe that every sport has its majors. Right now, Virginia, Norwalk, St. Louis and Rockingham are our majors. The idea of not having an event here is deeply concerning to us.

“We were notified in advance by the Gateway management what was going on. Needless to say, we are broken hearted about it. I’m hoping and praying that someone can save the place. What a tragedy it would be for us not to be able to hold an event in our hometown.”

Gateway International recently announced their withdrawal of NASCAR sanction and their annual event. Track management told Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com that their NHRA event is still planned for 2011 fueling speculation the ADRL will return as well.

This speculation depends on track owner Dover Motorsports, Inc., weighing their options on the facility located outside of St. Louis.

“A number of options are being looked at including running Gateway as a drag strip with a road course. There’s an option to possibly sell the track. Then there’s the option to close. All of those options are being looked at equally,” confirmed Brandon Mudd, Director of Media Relations for Gateway International Raceway.