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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK:

THROUGH THE MINEFIELD - Jason Scruggs would rather be good than lucky. This is not to say he’s ready to give back his ADRL Spring Drags title. The Saltillo, Miss.-based Pro Extreme driver has a preference but a win is a win.

“It wasn’t pretty but we got it done,” Scruggs said. “There are no easy draws in Pro Extreme. Anyone who qualifies for these events can bite your butt.

Scruggs beat an upset-minded Tommy D’Aprile with a 3.675-second, 205.75 pass in the final round. D’Aprile lost with a 3.692.

The ugliness in Scruggs latest victory was fueled by the inability of him to make his car repeat. In his first three rounds, Scruggs ran a 3.758, 3.687 and 3.741.

“Every time I tried to get the car to go fast, it wouldn’t run,” said Scruggs. “I’ve been doing a better job. The car ran a 3.64 in bad air. Now today it was 1,000 foot better and I couldn’t detune the car enough. It was shaking and I was pedaling. Von had me beaten until he got over on the center-line and had to lift. It was one of those days where everything went right for us.”

To tune or to detune, that was the question.

“It was really a matter of the tuner being confused,” admitted Scruggs. “I really couldn’t figure out why the car was shaking. It didn’t look like it should be but it was. I guess I was overpowering the track. If had known, I would have fixed it.”

Life would have been a lot easier for Scruggs if he’d had a confident handle considering the line-up he faced throughout the event.

“Well you run Tim Tindle and he’s with Frankie Taylor and you know they are going to run,” said Scruggs. “Then you get Frank Manzo with Alex Hossler, you know they are going to run. Then I had Von Smith and D’Aprile with Todd Tutterow. That’s hitter after hitter. I had to earn it tonight.

“I really didn’t know I had won until I had the trophy in my hand.”

D’Aprile was running on mean en route to his first final round in ADRL competition. He defeated Joey Martin, Bubba Stanton and Mick Snyder to earn the right to face Scruggs. There was no taking D’Aprile lightly.

“I was concerned because he was so tough on the tree, plus you know he’s a really good driver. I tried to leave with him and it worked out. Luckily it worked out. I was on time and it worked out. He fell off and I detuned it so it wouldn’t shake. I figured it would have gone a 3.66 or 3.67.”

In the end, Scruggs was just happy to win a race in what he considers hallowed ground for fast doorslammer racing.

“Bristol and Darlington is where Pro Modified started; this is pro modified country. I would have liked to have done better. We lucked through the rounds. Maybe can earn the next one.”

WINNER AGAIN - With visions of Harold Denton and Billy Huff racing for the win at the “old” Bristol Dragway running through his mind, Rickie Jones savored his second Extreme Pro Stock win in as many races this year after defeating Bob Rahaim in the final—also for the second straight time—for the ADRL Spring Drags III at Bristol, TN.

“I love being here in Bristol; I remember coming here as a little kid and the old tunnel down there where me and Scotty Cannon’s son would roll our plastic dragsters down the hill. We’d go over to the little creek down there and go fishing and stuff. Bristol has always been a part of my life; it’s like Indy that way, it’s one of the big ones for me,” Jones said at the track that was completely rebuilt in 1998 to become one of drag racing’s greatest venues.

Jones, from Galesburg, IL, left with a .022 reaction time in his Summit Racing 2012 Camaro, then ran 3.823 seconds at 194.27 mph while Michigan’s Rahaim rolled through the starting beams with his ’69 Camaro before the tree was activated.

“I saw him kind of take off, but I just did my deal, but driving by (the tree) I was kind of wondering if I was late,” Jones admitted. “I was expecting a really good race because Bob Rahaim has a really strong car and he’s been in the last two finals with me to prove it. You know, this is actually the second straight race we were parked next to each other, too, so I think we’re going to try and arrange that from now on.”

Jones deflected all the credit for the win to God, his father, Rick, his team, and “all the guys back at the shop” at RJ Race Cars that built his car.

“We were consistent, just raced the race track every time, took one round at a time, knew what we could run and just tried to run that number and everything just sorted itself out,” he said. “In Houston (last month at the ADRL season opener) it was just our day and it was just our day here, too, I guess.”

And maybe someday another starry-eyed kid will remember with fondness the day Rickie Jones beat Bob Rahaim at Bristol Dragway.  

DREAM SEASON, PT 2: Although he scored his second Extreme 10.5 (XTF) win in a row, Alan Pittman enjoyed a weekend of “firsts” Apr. 20-21, during the ADRL Spring Drags III in Bristol, TN.

 After beating Brad Brand in the final round, the noted race car builder pointed out he’d gone quicker and faster than he ever had before, he’d set probably the quickest 60-foot time ever for the narrow-tired class, and he’d won two straight races, something he’d never managed previously in a long and storied doorslammer career.

“But it’s like I said last month in Texas, it takes a good car owner, a good crew and the Good Man above; you just can’t do this without all that good help,” Pittman said.

Pittman, who drives the ‘09 Mustang for car owner Terry Leggett, qualified number one for the eight-car field with a career-best 3.841-seconds pass at 199.35 mph.

He made a solo pass in round one after Dennis Sugrue’s car broke on the starting line, then dodged trouble—quite literally—in his semi-final match against Grant McCrary and his turbocharged ’08 Stratus.

“It was ugly and it was scary,” Pittman described. “I had pedaled because we spun the tires at about a hundred feet and then I was catching him, catching him real fast, and I was hoping he wasn’t coming over, but I could see him coming, seen him hit the cones, saw his win light come on, and I said to myself, ‘That is not your win.’ I knew at the end of the track that I had won—but—I didn’t know what they would call in the tower, but they made the right call.”

In the final round, Pittman left with a sizable .046 holeshot before posting a 3.858 at 197.45 to back up his victory at the 2012 ADRL season opener three weeks earlier at Baytown, TX. Meanwhile, Brand ran into traction trouble and coasted to the eighth-mile finish.

“I was heading toward the center line and didn’t know where he (Brand) was, but in the finals it’s just hard to quit,” Pittman said. “But I did get it back and it didn’t cross over, but it was close to the center line. It was slick or something out there. Or it might be that little tire on the back—or that new motor under the hood.

“Anyway, it had a .970-something 60-foot, which is the best I’ve ever seen on one of these (XTF) cars. It left the starting line great; there was just something a little ways out that it didn’t like,” he added.

Regardless, Pittman was left with a lot to like about winning at historic Bristol Dragway.

“This goes back a long time, but I’ll be honest, I always wanted to win at Bristol and I can finally say I’ve won here now, so that was another first.”

And it may well be the “first” he remembers the longest.

RACING INSPIRED: Japel Heard gave himself the greatest birthday present a racer could imagine Apr. 21, as he won his first-ever Pro Extreme Motorcycle event in the ADRL Spring Drags III at Bristol Dragway. But Heard had an even higher purpose in winning as he dedicated the victory to his chassis builder Dan Parker, who is recovering from severe injuries sustained in a high-speed Pro Mod car racing accident three weeks earlier in Alabama.

“This whole weekend has been for Dan Parker and his family,” Heard said in an emotional top-end interview after defeating Casey Stemper, winner of the previous ADRL race last month in Houston. “We love Dan and wish he could be here with us right now, but hopefully this win will help to make him feel just a little bit better and maybe help with his recovery.”

Heard secured the number-one qualifying spot with a 4.119 blast at 171.16 mph, then ran even quicker with a 4.107 in an opening-round solo pass after Lamond Payne wasn’t able to make the call. He slowed to a 4.231 in round two, but still was able to hold off 2010 class champ Kim Morrell, who had even more trouble in her lane.

A 4.127 run at 169.83 got Heard past Paul Gast in the semis to set up the final against Stemper, who started from the number-two slot before beating Mike Thyen, Dave Norris and Eric McKinney.

Stemper left first with a .011 light to Heard’s .027 in the final, but Heard caught up and passed Stemper while both bikes were popping and banging their ways across the eighth-mile finish line. Heard’s Parker Chassis-built 2012 Suzuki ran 4.160 at just 163.91 to Stemper’s 4.189 at 167.80, giving the Atlanta-based rider a narrow .013 margin of victory.

“I heard it eating itself up, but I wasn’t going to lift and I knew Casey wouldn’t either. It was great seeing my win light come on and it was well worth it, mainly to win for Dan, so I was very happy,” Heard said.

He also credited Star Racing, Fast by Gast, Cooper Performance, Dan Wagner and Doug Frierson for their support before singling out “Bobby Webb, my main man here that works on the bike 24-8—not even 24-7 because that’s not enough! He works day and night on this thing.”

THE HOT HAND: Cary Goforth has had easier days in the office and he’s actually excited about it.

Goforth, the defending ADRL Extreme Pro Stock series champion, captured the Spring Drags title at Bristol Dragway, defeating Richie Stevens in the final. Saturday in Bristol was a day where Murphy’s Law was in full effect.

“It hasn’t been worth a d***,” said a smiling Cary Goforth when asked how his weekend was. “Until now, there wasn’t a whole lot to smile about. In Houston, we had the best car until we broke a transmission. This race, we didn’t. The engine was tired and didn’t think we had anything stronger in the trailer. It held together and we won.

“But I’d be afraid to try and start it again.”

Goforth ran a 4.091-second elapsed time in the final round at 175.51 to beat Stevens, who had issues shifting his Mustang and was forced to abort the race early.

Credit Pro Stock legend Warren Johnson for saying there are no ugly wins or pretty losses. Goforth wouldn't consider so much ugly as it was fortunate.

“It’s a gratifying win,” confirmed Goforth. “My crew earned this one. They knew the engine was hurt and we were just changing the oil right and left in an attempt to keep the vacuum up.”

Knowing this, the pressure was on the champ to earn his keep behind the wheel.

“I knew full well that if I didn’t do my thing, we were going to lose,” admitted Goforth. “The pressure was on today, and I know I can’t do that every day. I’m so proud of my guys; I wish everyone could have seen what we went through this weekend.”

Case in point, Goforth adds that they would have seen a team determined and intent on winning the battle.   

“In the semis, we stripped a spark plug hole so we oversized and put a bigger plug in it,” Goforth explained. “We had to drill and tap that as the race officials were calling us up. We’ve had some adversity. Adversity and winning is always sweet.”

Sometimes winning is better when you’re not supposed to. Goforth can say this with authority.

“I really love to have .03 on the field, don’t get me wrong, winning big is our bread and butter,” Goforth explained. “I think when you have a cushion like that, you tend to relax. That’s human nature. Today I didn’t have a cushion.

“But, we will take this engine out and freshen up and try to get that .03 to .04 for the next race.”

Goforth reached the finals by qualifying No. 3 and defeating Scott Hintz, Pete Berner and Richard Penland.

NOT HIS BEST, BUT GOOD ENOUGH: With one victory on the NHRA side after already going to two finals in 2012 and now scoring his second ADRL Pro Modified win in as many races held this year, Mike Castellana is starting to make a habit of on-track success.

“Yeah, I’m telling you, it’s been just great,” he said after defeating Rickie Smith Apr. 21, in the Pro Mod final of the ADRL Spring Drags III at Bristol Dragway. “I’ve just got to thank Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani for all his help and for supporting us and giving us the opportunity to work with people like (crew chief) Shannon Jenkins. And the rest of our guys, they just do an awesome job; they give me a great race car.”

Castellana qualified his Al-Anabi Racing 2012 Camaro on top of the eight-car field with a 3.880 pass at 188.31 mph, just ahead of Pat Musi and Smith, who is among just 10 men officially listed as “Legends of Thunder Valley” at the historic east-Tennessee facility and the only one to remain actively racing as a professional.

Despite slowing to 4.005 at just 166.39 in round one, Castellana still managed to beat Pete Farber before using a holeshot to get by Ray Commisso with a 3.927 at 189.60 pass in the semis. Smith and his own 2012 Camaro, meanwhile, took out Edward Wilson with a 3.932 at 191.97 mph, then set low ET and top speed of the meet for the class and secured lane choice for the final with a 3.845-seconds win at 194.55 mph over Musi.

Smith left with a slim .004 advantage over Castellana, but his weakest run of the day came at the worst possible time as he ran 3.941 at exactly 191 mph, while Castellana returned to qualifying form with a 3.885 pass at a wining 193.43 mph.

“We didn’t run like we should’ve run this weekend, but we still pulled out a win and hopefully we’ll get back to the stride that we should be in and we’ll go from there,” Castellana concluded.

THE ART OF DOMINATION: The Bo Butner train of momentum rolled through Bristol Saturday evening. Two races into the inaugural ADRL SuperCar Showdown series he sports a perfect record.

Butner captured the ADRL Spring Drags title at Bristol Dragway by defeating first time participant Ray Skillman. His winning time in the final round was a 5.880, 109.48.

Thus far, Butner has defeated the best competitors the series has presented. He still awaits his toughest foe.

“You never know who the toughest opponent is going to be,” Butner said.

The return to Bristol is a triumphant one for Butner who once crashed at the famed facility under the previous configuration with the dogleg shutdown area with his Super Stocker. He has since raced at Bristol since the facility switched sanctions in 1999 to NHRA.

“This place is awesome and the fans are great,” Butner said. “I probably have a lot more runs at this facility than most of the competition. We come to win no matter where we are racing.”

Butner believes that as the ADRL tour moves to Reading in two weeks, it will inspire other racers of this style of competition to get involved.

“They’ll want to be involved,” Butner said. “When you are racing on a four-tenths tree, it becomes anyone’s race to win.”

GLASER GETS WIN - Top Sportsman racer Aaron Glaser is accustomed to winning and has two IHRA divisional championships to prove it. After last weekend in ADRL competition, he’s got a Spring Drags trophy to add to the resume.

Glaser scored an easy victory in the final round at Bristol Dragway when third-gen drag racer Dylan Stott, had problems on the starting line. Stott is the cousin of past Pro Modified champions Quain and Mitch Stott.

Glaser has found a home in ADRL Top Sportsman.

“I love racing the ADRL, it’s just an awesome environment,” said Glaser. “It’s fast door car racing and they treat you right. We have committed to running the entire season.”

Glaser’s Bristol victory was a much better experience than the season-opener in Houston, Texas where he admitted, “dropped a valve in the engine, doing quite a bit of damage.”

Glaser put the older car up for sale after the event and had planned to run a new one. Luckily no one bought it.

“We scrambled to get it all back together and brought it to Bristol,” Glaser said. “We finished it up just before we left to come to the event. It was a bare chassis sitting on the floor.”

Glaser normally races with his father but when situations arose at home, he was forced to bring a makeshift crew.

‘It just all worked out,” Glaser said with a smile.

Glaser qualified No. 7 and beat a field full of seasoned veterans beginning with past winner Glenn Butcher, Stacy Hall and Earle Folse to reach the final round. In the final round, he ran a 4.235 (+.025) to beat Stott, who left the starting line with a .678 reaction time.

Earlier in the day, cool track temps led to a few ill-handling Top Sportsman cars but came around as the day progressed. The temperature fell to below 80 degrees for the final.

“We were concerned about the final round with the track sitting idle before the final round and with the jet car going down ahead of us,” said Glaser. “I was chasing down [Stott] and from the time I released the trans-brake, I never saw him. I ran it close to the finish and dumped it before the finish line, so I wouldn’t break-out.”

LOVING BRISTOL - Tommy Mauney will always believe the drag strip built in the valley set the stage for a career which included two series championships, hundreds of race wins and an appointment in a Hall of Fame.

Mauney has won championship trophies at Bristol Dragway in four different categories, two professional and two sportsman. However, it might be the one time he didn’t win which established the foundation for what would be one of the more storied moments in doorslammer racing.

He was 19, a racer in Stock eliminator and had borrowed a couple of hundred dollars from a finance company just to race a borrowed 1959 Chevrolet in the 1974 Spring Nationals. Mauney drove flawlessly all day, falling short against Roy Johnson in the final round.

Mauney believes he was destined to drag race from that moment, and even if he hadn’t reached the final round, he believes Bristol was the place which set his passion in motion.

“That was the first national event I ever raced in,” said Mauney, of Shelby, NC. “Even if I had gone out in the first round, I would have still pursued racing. Bristol was just the place where I did it first. I will say that Bristol always looked like a magical place and I was fortunate enough, as a kid with a dream, to experience it.”

And the more he raced Thunder Valley, the more he gained favorable results.

“As a racer, you develop a like for certain tracks much like players in other sports like certain arenas,” explained Mauney. “Bristol is one of those tracks I prefer. But then you look at Bristol, and it really doesn’t get any better than this.”

Mauney said seeing the ADRL series coming to Bristol Dragway was a pleasant surprise. He wanted to race the inaugural ADRL event in Bristol badly.

The veteran driver has raced in the ADRL series since its inception in 2004 and was planning to find a way to run his local Quick Eight car at the ADRL Spring Drags when he received a call from the Bahrain-based B1 team asking if he’d like to drive their second car.

“We were planning to run with the local car and sold the engine and drivetrain at the last minute and I figured there went my shot to race at Bristol,” explained Mauney, who has raced the current configuration of the track with the NHRA’s Pro Mod series. “Then when [B1 crew chief] Rick Hickman called, it was a no-brainer.”

Bristol brings out the smile in Mauney. While he was happy to drive for the B1 team he made sure nothing would have stopped him from running.

“I would have brought my pick-up truck and ran if I had to,” Mauney admitted with deep passion.

LEGEND STILL BUILDING RESUME - Pat Musi was running over a second quicker this weekend than he did the last time he raced as a professional at Bristol Dragway. He last raced competitively at Thunder Valley during the 1989 season.

Musi, of Carteret, NJ, was one of the pioneers of the IHRA’s mountain motor Pro Stock division in 1977. This was the first season for unlimited cubic inch racing for the sanctioning body which was once located on the grounds of the drag strip.

Back then IHRA Vice-President Ted Jones implemented a style of racing which would enable the sanctioning body to cultivate their own talent and separate the organization from the much larger NHRA and their established talent.

Musi went on to reach four final rounds in 1977, winning twice. He beams when noting one of those wins came at Bristol. The victory was his second in a row that season.

“There are some memories you never forget, like looking down that track and seeing it run between the mountains,” Musi said. “You never forgot the nuances of this track like the dog leg turn at the shutdown area.”

Musi said just like the characteristics of the famed facility, a driver always remembered winning.

“How can you forget racing at a facility that demanded your best every time you pulled to the line,” said Musi. “The guys we lined up against, Lee Edwards, Roy Hill, Rickie Smith and John Brumley, always came to the line ready to cut your head off. Then you had Ronnie Sox and it was just a style of racing that demanded your best … there were no easy rounds.”

Musi has found a similar level of competition in the ADRL’s Pro Modified division.

“Tough hitters,” Musi said. “This class, just like the mountain motor stuff, brings out the best in the competition. But, racing is much different today. You cannot do this as a one-man band. You have to have a full team, at least four people or so.”

And, Musi understands the inevitable, when is he going to hang up driving for good.

“I get asked that question a lot,” Musi said. “I know I didn’t want to end my career on the crash last year. I knew I had to come back. I guess I am stubborn. I know people have told me I have nothing to prove, but it isn’t about proving anything. I am still having fun. You never want to quit when you’re having fun.”

3:47 - After an incredible track drying effort, which took 1hour and 30 minutes, racing kicked off only 17 minutes behind the original start time of 3:30 PM.

2:40 EST - The weatherman didn’t hold out much hope. The skies said otherwise for at least five hours on Saturday morning.

This was the case for the ADRL Spring Drags in Bristol, Tenn., and it’s Saturday qualifying/eliminations.

Race officials were able to get in the Q-4 sessions for Top Sportsman, Pro Mod, Extreme Pro Stock and Extreme bike before a fast moving thunderstorm dumped several inches of rain in a matter of 30 minutes just about 1:30 EST.

Race officials are planning a 4 PM start of eliminations with the radar showing a clear path of completion before another storm cell is scheduled to arrive.

BRINGIN’ THE HEAT – Imagine this guy staring you down from the mound. Now living in Ft. Worth, TX, with his wife, Lauren, and seven-week-old daughter Adelynn, Matt Steinkamp was a promising closer in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization as a member of the Triple-A Springfield Ducks from 2003-’06 before a serious groin injury ended his pitching career. Since then, Steinkamp has traded in his baseball for a wrench as a member of Todd Martin’s two-car Pro Extreme team working on the ’58 Corvette driven by Brandon Pesz. After rain washed away the fourth and final qualifying session for Pro Extreme at the ADRL Spring Drags III, as the number-12 qualifier Martin will face off against Von Smith in round one of eliminations, while Pesz and Steinkamp will offer support after failing to make the 16-car cut.

MEMORIES OF THE GOOD OLD DAYS - Gene Fulton stood along the pit-side fence line at Bristol Dragway taking in Pro Modified qualifying at the ADRL Spring Drags. The five-time IHRA Modified champion turned Pro Modified engine builder is at peace with his status as spectator.

“I always loved racing at this place because it brought out the best in me,” Fulton admitted.

Fulton, of Spartanburg, SC, lives 140 or so miles from the track formerly known as Thunder Valley. It’s a three hour drive, or one if he’s traveling in his new aerobatics plane which he launches and lands from his backyard strip.

Fulton has replaced his need for speed with an airplane capable of hitting well over 250 miles per hour in flight.

When Fulton was more grounded, his talents shone more at Bristol than anywhere else. Fulton drove his way to seven national event wins in the IHRA’s Modified eliminator from 1974 until 1986.

Times changes, as Fulton points out, reminiscing. The past is a nice place to visit but not to live for him.

“You just had to be here every time the gates were open, back in the days when IHRA was king,” said Fulton.

One of his finest memories was in 1973, just a year returned from Vietnam when Fulton scored his first career national event victory, at the IHRA All-American Nationals.

Fulton’s monumental victory came behind the wheel of a 1964 Chevy II wagon that he flat-towed to the event, and through a torrential downpour. Many of his fellow competitors laughed at him because the wagon rolled to the staging lanes sporting dirt and grimes from the ride.

“Yeah, they were laughing pretty good at me,” Fulton added.

Fulton methodically worked his way through the field and late Sunday took the stripe for the victory.

“They never laughed at me again after that,” Fulton said.

Bristol could be categorized as providing both Fulton’s greatest and worst racing memories. Five years after the first win, Fulton crashed and destroyed the wagon. The accident wasn’t his fault as the driver in the opposite lane came over into Fulton’s lane, collected his race car which then barrel-rolled to a stop leaving Fulton seriously injured.

The determined Fulton returned to Bristol a year later and to the winner’s circle in 1981. Fulton would go on to win the championship in 1981 and 1982. He also won Bristol three more times.

Fulton eventually retired from the tour after the 1986 season and following the 1997 departure of the IHRA from Bristol, hadn’t made the trek to the strip in the valley.

Friday at Bristol was his first time back since the track was rebuilt by Speedway Motorsports in 1998.

“This is a totally different track,” Fulton said as he looked around. “It’s a beautiful place. You can’t help but see all of the money in this place. I never could have envisioned what this place has become. It’s a palace.”

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK:

A DEBUT TO REMEMBER: The vision was overwhelming for John DeFlorian.

DeFlorian had never been to Bristol Dragway before much less raced there before Thursday afternoon, and it showed.

“I saw the NASCAR track and wondered how in the world there could be a drag strip here,” DeFlorian explained. “I was flabbergasted. I was so preoccupied with the beauty of the place that I was paying no attention to driving. The mountains, the tower, the place is spectacular. The officials were trying to park me, and I didn’t want to stop for looking at the beauty of the place.”

The splendor of the track paled in comparison to the Extreme Pro Stock driver’s final qualifying run on Friday during the ADRL Spring Drags.

DeFlorian drove Kevin Bealko’s new Camaro to an impressive 4.091-second pass at 176.05 miles per hour to edge Brian Gahm for the provisional pole position. If the run holds, it will be the first No. 1 qualifier for the 24-year employee of Jerry Haas Race Cars.

“That run was spectacular,” said DeFlorian, who has one session of qualifying left on Saturday. “We are absolutely blessed. I cannot thank Kevin Bealko enough for this opportunity. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be out of here.”

DeFlorian is in his first season of racing Extreme Pro Stock after being on the sidelines for a year and a half following the sale of his Pro Nitrous Corvette. He's driving a car he built and when given the choice of classes to run by Bealko, he chose Extreme Pro Stock.
 
“Just getting the car to Houston was a challenge in itself,” DeFlorian said. “On the Tuesday before Houston we were just throwing parts in the trailer and probably got about half of what we needed. We had some new car bugs to start with, but in the end it all worked just fine. We couldn’t have been any happier with the first race.”

Just qualifying 13th was more than DeFlorian and the team could have imagined from the opening event. Their race ended early with a foul start in the opening round.

“We were so stoked because we got Best Appearing car,” said DeFlorian. “We were so happy you would have thought we had won the race.”

DeFlorian and the team had planned to test between Houston and Bristol. However, the combination of Easter Weekend and rain the next weekend sent them into this weekend untested.

“Once again, we threw it all together and came here,” DeFlorian said. “When we rolled into here, we did so with a car that only had four runs on it.”

DeFlorian, for obvious reasons, hopes the run holds for his first career No. 1 spot.

“It was just a banner day,” said DeFlorian. “I’ve raced for a long time, had success and a lot of fun. We’ve been involved with some good people along the way. This is absolutely the pinnacle.”

YOU'VE COME A LONG WAY: Jason Scruggs has raced in various settings throughout his career. Bristol Dragway provides his finest experience to date.

Scruggs ran 3.649-seconds at 206.57 to lead first day qualifying for the ADRL Spring Drags in Bristol, Tenn. Bubba Stanton was second quickest with a 3.651.

“Today has been a good day,” said Scruggs. “I love this place. I love the tunnels and the mountains. This is the second time I have been here and the first time I’ve raced.”

The first thing he learned was the high altitude of Bristol wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

“The altitude is already 1500 above when we got here and fortunately for us, the air wasn’t too bad. This was like racing on an average summer day. It’s certainly not like going to Denver.”

And it’s certainly not like some of the backwoods, eighth-mile facilities where he cut his racing teeth.

“I never envisioned racing at a complex like Bristol Dragway,” Scruggs said. “We learned how to race at the places where you’d line up to race and weeds were growing through the track. This is a step above where I started. The ADRL has taken us to a new level. Once you race at places like this, it spoils you. You wonder why you even took those chances back in the day.”

Just how impressive was Scruggs’ first-day run? His provisional No. 1 run would have outrun the Don Prudhomme’s famous 266 mph run during the 1985 season in both speed and elapsed time to the eighth-mile.

“Technology pure and simple,” said Scruggs. “When I started racing ADRL we were running 3.80s. It will be continual refining process. Maple Grove will be a quick race.”

RIESTERER REMAINS CLASS OF PN FIELD - From the first to the third qualifying session for Pro Nitrous at the ADRL Spring Drags III, Victoria, TX’s Doug Riesterer has been quickest and getting quicker and faster with each pass down the eighth mile at Bristol Dragway.

He opened with a 3.821 at 194.10 mph in his ’68 Camaro to pace the opening round, then improved to 3.798 at 194.52 in round two before capping the day with a 3.771 effort at 194.94 mph, giving him nearly a five-hundredths advantage over 2010 class champion Burton Auxier in second place. A fourth and final round of qualifying on Saturday will establish the 16-car field before eliminations begin.

“My advantage seems to be in the daytime,” Riesterer said. “When the sun is out I can go 3.81, 3.82 when everyone else is running .84s and .85s, but you watch guys like Shannon (Jenkins) and Burton, when it gets dark and the track cools down they pick it up and go faster.”

Riesterer’s last number-one start with the ADRL came in 2010 at Topeka, KS, with his most recent win the same year in the rain-postponed Dragstock final at Norwalk, OH.

“That’s not nearly enough,” he said. “I want more.”

STILL ON TOP - Fresh off his first ADRL win last month in Houston, Alan Pittman maintained his hot start to the 2012 season with the early lead in Extreme 10.5 (XTF) qualifying Apr. 20, for the ADRL Spring Drags III at Bristol Dragway. Pittman powered his screw-blown ’09 Mustang to a stout 3.841-seconds pass at 199.35 mph with a fourth and final qualifying round scheduled for Saturday.

“Man, I would’ve liked to get that 200 mile an hour, but that was a career-best pass for me,” he said. “I haven’t even gone that fast in a big-tire car.”

Pittman said he had the engine from teammate Terry Leggett’s Pro Extreme Mustang swapped into his car for the Bristol race and could feel the difference.

“I’ve got the engine that was in his car at Houston because mine was tired, needed rods, and when we took it apart we found a crack in the crank. So we put his engine in my car and pulled the new one out from under the bench and put it in Terry’s car,” Pittman explained. “This one (now in Pittman’s car) has a little more head work than the other one did and wants to spin the tires so I’ve got it calmed down a little. It definitely makes more power.”

Still, despite his early success this year, Pittman remains cautious going forward. He recalled being in a similar situation in IHRA Pro Mod years ago, only to lose the championship to Mike Janis in the final event.

“Everybody keeps getting so excited and asking me, ‘Are you going to double up this weekend?’ and my answer is always first I want to qualify and then I want to win first round and then second round and so on,” he said. “I know everybody is out here working hard and it’s so easy for a five-dollar part to take you out at any time, so I don’t want to count any chickens before they hatch.”

Ten XTF entries made qualifying attempts on Friday to fill the eight-car field. Following Pittman on the list were the blown cars of Chuck Ulsch and Dan Myers, with only past champion Billy Glidden and race winner Todd Moyer left outside.

 NO PROBLEM - New motor—no problem.

That obviously was the case for Casey Stemper, who revealed the engine that carried him to a career-first Pro Extreme Motorcycle (PXM) win last month at the ADRL season opener in Texas was damaged on the dyno at his Upper Marlboro, MD, race shop.

“This is our first full week on this motor and it’s supposedly our better one of the two. It’s got all the better parts, bigger head, bigger cams, all that kind of stuff. It seems to be really, really strong, too. I took it out first pass and just tried to take it safe and for the next one where it was a little rich we leaned it out and instantly it ran just as strong as the other one,” Stemper said after going 4.124 seconds at 170.21 mph to take the provisional number-one spot for the ADRL Spring Drags III at Bristol Dragway.

Japel Heard’s 4.133 from the first of three qualifying rounds on Friday held up for second going into Saturday’s final session, with Eric McKinney, Paul Gast and Charlie Prophit rounding out the top five.

“There’s definitely more in it,” Stemper stated. “That was one of our best 60-foot (times) here, but definitely down track we can try really pouring the coals to it.”

No problem.

STILL ON TOP - Mike Castellana continued his domination over the ADRL's Pro Modified division by pacing the field with a 3.880, 188.31 run in first day Spring Drags qualifying.

“We’re happy with that run. It’s pretty much what we felt it should run in these conditions,” Castellana said. “This is one of my favorite tracks. Just the scenery and everything, it’s a beautiful place to come to."

Castellana could have driven two classes this weekend but really wanted Shannon Jenkins to run his Pro Nitrous entry.

“It could have been done, but I told Shannon I’ll run Pro Mod and he can run Pro Nitrous for a few races,” Castellana said. “But that could change after a few races. Nothing is set in stone of who will run what.”

Besides, Castellana is having a lot of fun with his Pro Mod car presently.

“The more I drive this car, the more confident I get and the more I learn about this car,” Castellana said. “Shannon’s testing a lot of stuff in the Pro Nitrous car, too.”

Frankie Taylor warms the engine prior to qualifying. [below] Taylor's piston damage following the first session.TAYLOR TRAINING - Frankie Taylor’s opening comment was priceless.

“I sure hope it starts,” Taylor said, looking at the maze of tubing making up his turbo engine. It’s a turbo engine not exactly popular with his team and surely not conducive with his success rate of season’s past.

As Taylor and his crew prepared to fire the engine, it let out a loud pop. “That’s not good,” Taylor said, with his traditional underdog smile. “But I know what is wrong.”

Minutes later, the car fired and sounded healthy.

Taylor is racing this weekend without his crew chief/brother Paul Taylor adding even more radius to a sharp learning curve. The brothers haven’t seen eye to eye on the decision to scrap the proven championship combination for the turbocharger.

Taylor said he sold the supercharged combination in order to pay bills from the previous season.

“I’m really surprised he isn’t here,” said Taylor. “We had to leave on Tuesday and he runs a towing company and sometimes it’s difficult for him to leave. He’s the boss and manager and sometimes it’s tough for him to get away that early in the week. We went and tested on Wednesday before we came out here. I would have figured he would have come out already.

“Then again, he might just be mad at me and never come back again.”

Taylor said he’s going to go through this weekend’s event and the next stop in Reading, Pa., and then reevaluate the turbocharged engine. He has an option of running a supercharger but says he wants to give the turbo combination a full go before giving up.

“I just want to make it competitive,” admitted Taylor. “It shows some potential, but we just have to get it down the track.”

Taylor isn’t accustomed to racing without Paul.

“I miss him,” Taylor said. “It’s different looking at there and seeing someone else pulling me into the beams. He does things his way and others do it their way.”

Starting line routine aside, Taylor admits he’s still trying to get his driving technique with the turbo under control. A simple procedure of revving the gas can be a complex task with the turbo combination.

“With the blower car, when it acts like a turd, you give it more gas,” Taylor explained. “This car, when it is a turd, you gotta back off and let it lean up some and then go. If I give it too much gas in the burnout, it will actually flood out. When it does clear out and starts banging, it goes from 3,500 rpm to 10,200 in about a tenth of a second. It can get away from you real quick.”

During Friday’s qualifying, Taylor appeared to be on a strong run and ran a personal turbo best of 3.985. The monumental run came at a cost full of top end smoke and silver-dollar sized hole in a piston.

“That one hurt,” admitted Taylor.

The run put him No. 16 provisionally for the first session before getting bumped down to No. 23 to end the day.

WICKED QUICK AND DOWN IN THE BOONDOCKS - Doug Riesterer lived up to the old drag racing cliché of running fast straight off the trailer after arriving at Bristol Dragway Apr. 20, just a half hour before the scheduled high noon start for the ADRL Spring Drags III. Not long after unloading his ’68 Camaro in his pit stall, isolated at the bottom of a hill far from the rest of the ADRL regulars, Riesterer ripped off a 3.821 at 194.10 in round one of qualifying to pace the Pro Nitrous field.

“Yeah, we were really pushing it this morning. I think (ADRL President) Tim (McAmis) was tempted to not let us in,” Riesterer said. “He sent us down here in the penalty box with the Jr. Dragsters, but it’s actually pretty nice; it’s quiet down here. I don’t want to challenge any of my neighbors, though; I think they could butcher me on the tree.”

Riesterer credits his quick start in 2012 to a solid finish in 2011, wrapping up his ADRL season at Ennis, Texas, with a series of 3.70s before a red-light start ended his day in the semis.

“After that we tried a few things at the end of the year and when we came back we struggled at Baytown (TX, in the 2012 ADRL season opener), so we went back to our Ennis tune-up last weekend at Kennedale (TX) and went a 3.83 over there. So we just stuck the same tune-up in it to come here and we’re pretty pleased.”

Known as the “Mad Scientist,” Riesterer goes his own way with his tune-up, most notably with his carburetors, though he called them “just normal, off-the-shelf stuff.”

“They’re based on a four-barrel Holley and built by Pro Systems. I think everybody else runs the split Dominators, the Braswells, and they’re really good carburetors, but ours are probably a couple of thousand dollars cheaper and that’s the main reason we run them,” Riesterer said.

“Plus they work great. On the dyno they run just as well as the other stuff; in fact, the guys at Reher-Morrison say they actually make a little bit more power, but how they work on the dyno compared to with four nitrous systems turned on—who knows?”

Riesterer also has been working with ATI on a lock-up converter after a friend spotted it at the PRI trade show in December 2010. After several months of research and development Riesterer had the converter on his car by mid-summer last year and it also “really started working well for us at Ennis,” he said. “And then I redlit like an idiot. So we’ll get after it a bit today and try to find a good daytime tune-up for tomorrow and get it really fast. That way I won’t have to try and cut the tree down.”

True to his word, Riesterer improved to a 3.798 at 194.52 in the second session, giving him nearly a tenth-of-a-second advantage over Shannon Jenkins in second. Still, he wasn’t feeling overconfident.

“Probably half the field could step up and run that number, but the air isn’t that great here, so I don’t know,” he said. “You never know with these guys. They may have been content running an .83 or .84, but you throw down a .79 and guys like Shannon , Burton Auxier, Bob Rahaim, Rickie Jones, they see that and they’re going to go after it. I know I do that, so why wouldn’t they?”

BACK AGAIN - It’s been nearly four years since Tommy Franklin went through one of the most violent and spectacular accidents in ADRL history when his then-brand-new Pro Nitrous ’68 Camaro climbed the left wall at Maryland International Raceway, launching it into a series of barrel rolls that literally tore the car apart.

Fortunately, however, the Garrett Race Cars-built chassis did its job and protected Franklin from serious injury and he’s finally making his return to competition this weekend in the ADRL Spring Drags III at Bristol Dragway.

“It was June of 2008, just the second weekend out with that car when we crashed,” Franklin recalled. “So it’s been a bit of a slow rebuild, just trying financially to get it together, but the new car is beautiful and working good.

“We got this car in February and we’ve been out testing a few times, but this is its first race. We’ve got the new electronic fuel injection with Big Stuff on it so we’ve just been trying to get that dialed in. It’s all new to us, so we’re really just trying to get on top of that.”

The owner of Franklin Electric and Smart Com Home Technologies in Fredericksburg, VA, Franklin stressed that despite the financial hardship and long wait to return to the track he never considered getting out of racing.

“Right after the accident we ordered a new car from Garrett, but as everyone knows the economy has not been its best, so we just took our time and made sure we didn’t take any chances financially,” Franklin explained.

“This is just something that I’ve always had in me; I’ve always raced, I love doing it, so it was never a question of making a return, just of when we could make it happen. I didn’t want to stop because I crashed; I just wanted to make smart decisions while I built the new car, so the intention right from the time after we crashed was to build a new one.

“But yeah, when you look at it sometimes you say, ‘Wow, this is crazy, I can’t believe how much we spend just for four seconds of fun,’ but we love it. It’s a family thing for us; I have my dad and my wife and my kids out here with me and we love it.”

For Franklin and family, it was worth the wait.

SCARY MOMENT - Top Sportsman racer Lizzie Musi loses control of her Camaro during qualifying at the ADRL Spring Drags in Bristol, Tenn. She was uninjured. Musi is the daughter of doorslammer drag racing legend Pat Musi. Video courtesy of ADRL.

VALVE JOB—After skipping the season opener in Houston, Chuck Ulsch (center) showed up at Bristol for the ADRL Spring Drags III and promptly put Gil Mobley’s screw-blown ’68 Camaro on the Extreme 10.5 pole with a 3.903 pass at 197.42 mph in the opening round of qualifying. It came at a price, however, as a pushrod in the left cylinder head was damaged and jammed its corresponding valve, requiring complete disassembly of the top half of the 526 c.i. engine for repairs.

REMEMBERING BERT: When Extreme Pro Stock (XPS) driver Bert Jackson lost his life in a qualifying accident at Rockingham Dragway last September, the entire ADRL community grieved and rallied around Jackson’s wife, Vaness, and their two daughters. Fellow XPS racer Justin Kirk, a crew man for his father, Doug, took that one step farther Apr. 19, by organizing the inaugural Bert Jackson Memorial Golf Outing at Tri-Cities Golf Club in Blountville, Tennessee, the day before the ADRL’s debut at nearby Bristol Dragway.

“I just wanted to do something to help out Bert’s family in some small way and thought a golf tournament would be a fun way to get a lot of people involved,” Kirk said.

Twenty-six golfers took part in the four-man Team Scramble (best ball) event, including legendary engine builder Sonny Leonard, ADRL Pro Extreme driver Terry Leggett and famed chassis builder and Extreme 10.5 driver Alan Pittman, who won one of two longest-ball awards with a monster 314-yard drive. Also winning a longest-drive honor was Kris Estes with a not-so-monstrous 169 yarder, while Cindy Castle and Kelly Estes each won a closest-to-the-pin challenge.

The overall foursome winner was Team Castle with an impressive 10-under-par effort, with the host’s team not far behind at 8 under.

“I would’ve liked to have seen a few more players, but I really, really appreciate everyone who did make it out and it looked like everyone had a pretty good time,” Kirk said. “I learned a few things, too, that I can use to make next year’s tournament even better. We’ll definitely be doing this again.”

Enoch Love, team owner for Jackson, who also was a very close friend, said he was overwhelmed by the gesture and generosity of those who participated.

“I know Vaness is, too,” he said. “She wishes she could’ve been here today, but I just spoke to her on the phone and she’s just so happy that people are remembering Bert and what a great guy he was. He would’ve loved playing in something like this.”

Anyone interested in contributing to the Bert Jackson Memorial fund can still send a check or money order payable in care of Justin Kirk at P.O. Box 614, Lenore, WV 25676.    

THURSDAY NOTEBOOK:

TAYLOR'S PREDICAMENT - Frankie Taylor is known as the Mad Man in ADRL circles. This weekend during the ADRL Spring Drags he'll be the Lone Man. A team spokesperson confirmed team crew chief and Frankie's brother Paul, of Thursday is not making the trip with the Pro Extreme team. The spokesperson for the team would not divulge the reason for his absence but multiple sources have told CompetitionPlus.com there is a rift between the two, largely over Frankie's decision to sell the championship winning blown engine in favor of a turbo combination.

JENKINS BEHIND THE WHEEL - Shannon Jenkins, the legendary Pro Nitrous racer, confirmed he will race this weekend. Jenkins is credited with winning the last Bristol IHRA Pro Modified event when he beat Quain Stott in the finals of the 1997 Fall Nationals.

FIRST FEMALE DRIVER? - Randilyn Shipp is expected to earn her place in drag racing history during the ADRL Spring Drags in Bristol, Tenn. She will become the first female to compete in the ADRL's SuperCar Showdown. Sources indicate there could be two as Grace Howell, the NHRA Pro Stocker, joins the tour.

RICH IN DOORSLAMMER HISTORY: One of the birthplaces of Pro Modified will finally get its shot to host an event for a race series based on the volatile doorslammer division.

Pro Mod legend Scotty Cannon won his first event as Pro Mod driver at Bristol in 1991. (Bobby Bennett photo)Bristol Dragway, on April 20 – 21, will host the ADRL Spring Drags III, the second event on the ten-race tour for the eighth-mile series.
 
Jerry Caldwell, Executive Vice-President and General Manager of Bristol Motor Speedway and Dragway, said Spring Drags III is the perfect complement for the Thunder Valley season.

“There is no doubt that we have created a schedule of events at Bristol Dragway that would make any drag strip in this country envious,”  said Caldwell. “By adding the ADRL to our calendar, we have only strengthened our position as the ultimate destination for drag racing fans. We expect our debut ADRL event to be a great show with unpredictable racing action.”

Formerly known as Thunder Valley Dragway, the Bristol, Tenn.-based facility hosted the famous four-car NOS Top Sportsman challenge during the 1987 IHRA Fallnationals on a Saturday evening which inevitably led an eight-car shootout in 1988, and eventually the birth of the Pro Modified division.

Bret Kepner, current announcer for the ADRL, announced the historic four-car shootout, in 1987.

“It was a really big deal for us because this kind of racing had been everywhere but on the national event scene,” said Kepner. “This was this style of racing on the big stage. We knew something big was building and this was the first step in that direction.”

The ADRL Pro Extreme cars racing next weekend will hit the speed traps at a little over 210 miles per hour. At the time of the four-car exhibition, the fuel Funny Car track record was only 212 miles per hour.

“This event will bring back memories of that night in 1987,” admitted Kepner. “This event signals this style of racing and Bristol has come full circle since then. The track is completely different, it runs under NHRA sanction and this event is very much like a memorial to the original Bristol.”

Pro Modified isn’t only class steeped in Bristol roots. The ADRL’s Extreme Pro Stock division features a style of racing also developed and nurtured in Bristol. Mountain Motor Pro Stock, essentially a style of naturally-aspirated full-bodied drag racing, was the brainchild of Ted Jones, whose concept was developed on the grounds of Bristol Dragway when he was the executive Vice President of the IHRA.
 
John Montecalvo, who races an 800-plus cubic inch powered 2012 Chevrolet Camaro, raced in the formative years of his career at Bristol. Next week’s event is a homecoming of sorts.

“We’re really excited to go to Bristol,” he said. “The history of Mountain Motor Pro Stock and Pro Modified racing runs deep there. It’s a big Pro Mod and Pro Stock area and this race will be great for both classes there. That’s where it all began. The tradition at that track and in that area is incredible.  

“It’s a real racing town. There’s a terrific fan base in that area.”

Fellow Extreme Pro Stock driver Cary Goforth said the Bristol race had been on his wish list for quite some time.

“It’s going to be incredible,” Goforth acknowledged. “I’m really excited about Bristol. I had been hoping they would get Bristol on the schedule. I’m thrilled to death with that. If the ADRL is going to grow, which I believe we are, we’ve got to get to those bigger places and bigger venues.”

A LEGEND RETURNS: Tommy Mauney hasn't raced at Bristol Dragway in a decade.

Thanks to B1 Racing, that will change this weekend.

The Pro Modified pioneer will race the team's '69 Camaro he ran once last year at the upcoming ADRL Spring Drags III, which take place April 20-21 at historic Bristol Dragway, less than two hours from Mauney's home.

B1 Racing team owner Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa wanted to run a second Pro Extreme car, and crew chief Rick Hickman immediately suggested Mauney to again team up with Joshua Hernandez and his B1 Racing Corvette for the ADRL’s debut in Bristol.

Mauney got the call on Monday and his excitement was apparent even days later.

"I want to thank Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Rick and all the B1 Racing crew for this opportunity. It's a big honor to get to race in Bristol. I love that place. I raced my first national event at Bristol in 1974, finishing as a runner-up to Roy Johnson," Mauney said.

"It's an awesome, awesome track, one of the most beautiful ones out there, and I really do appreciate them asking me to race. It tickles me to death to get to run in Bristol."
Since that race in 1974 in Bristol, Mauney has carved out quite the legacy, winning Pro Stock and Pro Modified world championships in the IHRA, and racking up a number of event wins in the process.

But he hasn't raced in Thunder Valley since the early 2000s, and he's anxious to return to a track he calls home.

Running in the ADRL's highly-competitive Pro Extreme class only adds to the excitement.

"This is the area where a lot of the Pro Modified racing started, and I feel like it's going to be one of the best races for the ADRL. There's a lot of people talking about it," Mauney said. "I love going there and I've always had pretty good luck there. It is close to home and it couldn't be a better place to go, really."

After testing the Pro Extreme Camaro, which was built to be driven by Ali Aryan during the 2011 and 2012 ADRL seasons, Mauney hopes to build on his first performance in the B1 Racing car, which took place last September at the ADRL's Dragstock event in Rockingham.

There, Mauney was literally thrown into the mix, as he had not even been in the driver's seat with the car running. He considered himself lucky just to qualify in what ended up being the third-quickest PX field in ADRL history, running a 3.775 to slip in at the No. 12 position.

Mauney fell in the first round of eliminations to Mick Snyder, but knows there is plenty more in the car. It topped out at only 198 miles per hour at Dragstock, leaving Mauney to believe the car can achieve quicker numbers at Bristol Dragway.

"The car showed a lot of promise in Rockingham and I hope we can ran better than that in Bristol," Mauney said. "I just want to do my job and hopefully do well for the B1 Racing team."

SKILLMAN BRINGS TWO - When it comes to auto manufacturer “horsepower wars”, Ray Skillman has seen it all. More than a half-century ago, he was a soldier in the original battles between automakers at dragstrips near his Owensboro, Kentucky, home. “In the 1950s, we traveled to any racetrack within a hundred miles”, said Skillman, “and that was before interstate highways when a hundred miles was an all-day drive”.

“Most of those tracks were dirt quarter-mile strips”, he remembered, “and we drove our street cars to the track and changed them into race cars, raced them and then put them back to street trim for the long drive home. Racing is a bit different than that today”.

In fact, almost everything is different about Ray Skillman’s life. Now seventy years old, Skillman is acknowledged as one of the giants in the automotive industry. As the head of a massive Indianapolis area conglomerate of fourteen auto dealerships which offer products of every major marque, he is involved in every aspect of automotive sales, repair, restoration and performance.

The only thing which hasn’t changed since the 1950s is Ray Skillman’s desire to race. Beginning with the American Drag Racing League’s Spring Drags III at Bristol (TN) Dragway on April 20-21, Ray Skillman will be back behind the wheel racing a new production car all-out in the ADRL SuperCar Showdown.

“This new SuperCar class is exactly what drag racing should be”, said Skillman from his Ray Skillman Performance Ford shop in Greenwood, Indiana. “When I first heard about it, I knew the family had to get involved”.

When Ray mentions family, he’s not referring a handful of relatives. A father of three, grandfather of thirteen and great-grandfather of two, Skillman’s clan accounts for a sizeable portion of the Indianapolis population. It is his son, Bill, and grandson, Drew, who will be joining him in competition at ADRL events in the radical new SuperCar Showdown in a fleet of three new supercharged Ford Cobra Jet Mustangs.

While Bill and Drew only recently began their drag racing careers, Ray also resurrected his love of the hobby in the last few seasons. “I was out of the seat of a drag racing car for forty-eight years while I built my business and raised a family”, said Ray, “but I always kept up on what was going on because many of our customers raced. The chance to run these new cars all-out with no handicap is what we’ve waited for. That’s real racing”.

Bill won’t be attending the Bristol event due to an already-scheduled African safari. “I have to spend the next week getting all my shots and preparing for the trip”, said Bill, “but I’ll be attending the SuperCar Showdown races after the trip presuming I come back alive”. It will be Bill’s twenty-four year-old son, Drew, already a rising star in production car drag racing, who will be competing alongside “Paw Paw” in Bristol.

“I’m really looking forward to this”, noted Drew. “I’ve only raced on a Pro Start system once so this will be a whole new type of racing but it’s what I really want to do”. In a brief two-year driving career, Drew has already earned tremendous recognition with numerous low qualifier awards, class championships, a semi-final finish at the NHRA U.S. Nationals and a runner-up in national competition in Norwalk, Ohio. The team has also set multiple national elapsed time and speed records with their Mustang Cobra Jets.

Take a video stroll through Skillman's Auto Museum.Ray is known as a man who understands his customers and his market. Therefore, he sees the ADRL’s SuperCar Showdown as a viable promotional tool for his dealerships. Upon hearing a brand new Cobra Jet Mustang was sold from a pit area display of Craig Chaudoin’s Baytown (Texas) Ford dealership at the ADRL’s very first SuperCar Showdown event only weeks ago, Ray explained, “This is the kind of interaction we’ve needed for a long time in drag racing. The factories want this kind of racing and so do the fans. More importantly, the dealers can become involved right at the track and really work with the customers. I fully plan to use the ADRL events to make our dealerships more visible and accessible to the fans and the racers”.

While obviously a racer to the core, Ray Skillman has earned accolades for his philanthropy, as well. In the past two years, Skillman has donated almost two million dollars to Indianapolis area school districts to pay for everything from participation for student athletes to band, choir and drama programs. When Skillman found out financial woes would force his local school district to charge a fee to each student to compete in scholastic sports, he called the superintendent of the eight-school system and said, “Just add it up and we’ll pay for it”. The bill for one year of activities for the 7,800 students in the district’s eight schools came to $210,000. Not only did he cut the check but he committed the same for the next five years. In doing so, Skillman’s philosophy was clear. “Those are my current and future customers in those schools”, he told local media. “I employ over seven hundred people so those are my employees and their families, too. They’re also my future employees. This is our community. More businesses need to get involved with their community for those same reasons”.

The Ray Skillman drag racing team, with father, son and grandson competing in three Ford Mustangs, (of which one is red, one is white and one is blue), may seem like the ultimate family hobby but, in fact, it’s merely the tip of the Skillman dynasty iceberg. While Ray, Bill and Drew will be enjoying the thrill of heads-up production car drag racing, the American Drag Racing League will have the honor of their involvement.

 

A Ray Skillman documentary.