Hosted by longtime bracket competitors Kyle Seipel and Peter Biondo, the event features what they call, the 1000-ft compromise. While many racers prefer 1/4-mile drag racing, an equally large number of racers prefer to compete on 1/8-mile tracks. Seipel and Biondo split the difference by making the Spring Fling 20’s a race to 1000 feet.

Additionally, the promoters instituted another rule which many racers favor. Until the field is reduced to 16 cars or less, dragsters will run against only dragsters and door cars will compete just against door cars. Once the field is laddered with 16 cars, all competitors will be combined.

During the inaugural event, John Labbous Jr. won more than $50,000 by winning the Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Labbous followed that up with a win on Saturday in 2011, and another $20,000 check. Envious racers from across the country will come to Bristol for a chance to cash in on Labbous’ luck.

This event also is well known for its generous gifts and prizes for competitors. More than $30,000 worth of racer appreciation giveaways from companies like Sparco, Goodyear and Auto Meter will be up for grabs during the weekend. On Friday night, both the winner and runner-up in the 32-car Dragster Shootout will win new 2012 Racetech or American Race Cars Dragsters.

The Sparco Racer Appreciation Barbecue returns on Saturday evening with a live DJ, dancing and karaoke.

Fox Sports will be filming the event for a 30-minute show which will air on Fox Sports Net. Live audio, video and timing also will be available throughout all four days of the event.

For more information about the event, please call Peter Biondo at (856) 296-4447 or Kyle Seipel at (510) 912-4160 or via email at bracketraces@gmail.com.

More information also can be found at www.bracketraces.com.

When he last competed in Topeka, Gray qualified in the No. 7 position and proceeded to dispose of Erica Enders in the first round before delivering a 1-2 punch to the multi-championship KB Racing team led by drivers Jason Line (second-round opponent) and Greg Anderson (semifinals challenger). Both of the KB cars spun the tires, while Gray and his Gray Motorsports-finessed GXP glided to quicker e.t.s and, as a result, win lights.

In the final, Gray took on Greg Stanfield, a driver notorious for leaving the starting line first. As expected, Stanfield took the initial edge in their match – but by just .007-second – and Gray closed the gap, nabbed the lead by half-track, and held on for a rewarding victory that moved him into the top 10 in the Full Throttle Series standings.

“I know my guys worked real hard before we even got to Topeka last year,” said Gray. “It paid off then, and I’d like to think that their hard work will pay off again. We may not have the quickest and fastest car out there right now, but sometimes we seem to figure things out when the other guys have missed it.”

Scoring the title in 2011 ignited a surge of confidence for the Denver, N.C.-based team, and repeat success at the Dollar General Summernationals would guarantee a step back into the top 10. Gray is currently just outside in the No. 11 position.

“We were lucky there last year, but man, my guys did a good job with our Service Central Pontiac,” said Gray. “We have a great car, and if we can dig up a little more of that luck and work just as hard, who knows? It could be our day again.”

John Force (Images courtesy JFR; Click to enlarge)

Legendary Funny Car driver John Force and teammate Robert Hight will honor the legacy of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll June 15-17. during the 12^th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. In conjunction with Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. and Lionel NASCAR Collectables, John Force Racing will once again feature Elvis on their one-of-a-kind 8,000 horsepower Ford Mustang Funny Cars.

Each driver will be competing in a specially-designed Elvis 35^th Anniversary Ford Mustang Funny Car for this one-time special weekend. A number of fan promotions surrounding this event are also in the works.

“I love Elvis and I am honored to be racing with him on the hood of my hound dog in Bristol. I always say I saw Elvis at 1,000 feet in Memphis and I really believe that. Elvis was such an amazing performer and an icon. I remember listening to his music growing up and heading to the race track. I still make sure my girls all know his songs,” said Force, one of the most recent inductees into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Robert Hight

Lionel NASCAR Collectables will offer 1:24 and 1:64 scale die-cast cars of both John Force’s Castrol GTX High Mileage/Elvis 35^th Ford Mustang Funny Car and Robert Hight’s Auto Club/Elvis 35^th Ford Mustang Funny Car. Each die-cast is currently available for pre-order at www.nhradiecast.com – home of the officially licensed die-cast of the NHRA.

This will be the first time Hight has driven an Elvis-themed Funny Car. The importance of representing a legendary figure is not lost on the 2009 NHRA Funny Car champion and current Full Throttle points leader.

“Elvis has fans all over the world and to be associated with a person of that stature is amazing. Music has always been an important part of my life and when you think of rock ‘n’ roll, the first name that pops into your head is Elvis. I won at Bristol last year and it would be amazing to get my Auto Club/Elvis 35^th Ford Mustang back into the winner’s circle this year,” said Hight.

Steve Torrence (Photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster; Click to enlarge)

Steve Torrence delivered a commanding victory two weeks ago at Atlanta Dragway after the 29-year-old Texan basically put together a Top Fuel team from scratch in the span of a year and won a race in the team’s 10th start.

But it really shouldn’t have come as a big surprise since for most of the season, the Torrence team was showing signs that the Capco Contractors dragster was getting ready to make a move. Torrence had qualified in the top two at three straight races, including earning his first No. 1 position at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. At Las Vegas and Houston he lost in the semifinals at both events in extremely close, good old fashioned drag races with Spencer Massey and Antron Brown.

But when he pulled to the Atlanta Dragway starting line two weeks ago in his first career Top Fuel final against seven-time world champion Tony Schumacher, who was the event’s No. 1 qualifier and trying to put an end to a winless drought and earn his first win at that track, Torrence was probably one of the few people at “Georgia’s House of Speed” who thought he had a chance to win.

Steve Torrence

When he powered away from Schumacher’s tire-smoking U.S. Army dragster and crossed the finish line first, Torrence felt like he had finally arrived in the sport that he has been working so hard to gain his footing since embarking on a pro driving career in 2006, one year after he claimed the Top Alcohol Dragster national title in the NHRA Lucas Oil Series.

And with victory in hand, Torrence can approach the Dollar General NHRA Summernationals, May 18-20, at Heartland Park Topeka with more swagger. Spencer Massey (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Shane Gray (Pro Stock) are the defending winners of the NHRA Full Throttle Series event that will be televised on ESPN2HD.

“Anytime you can win a Top Fuel race – or any race – that definitely boosts your confidence and it is just the motivation to go out and try harder,” Torrence said. “You are at the pinnacle of your sport and you are driving a Top Fuel car and racing with the best teams and drivers – Schumacher, Alan Johnson, Morgan Lucas and all of those guys. You can go out and say you won a race, and that’s a huge thing for us, especially.”

Torrence said the win has really pumped up his young crew, who he refers to as more than a team, led by veteran crew chief Richard Hogan, who has mentored under some of the sport’s greats like “Big Daddy” Don Garlits and Alan Johnson, among others.

“We are really pleased to get that first win for the Capco team and Torrence Racing, but we are not satisfied with that,” Torrence said. “We want to keep going.  If anything, it’s made us hungry for another win.”

He says the special circumstances surrounding his first win will always put it at the top of his personal highlight reel.

“Beating Tony in the finals was pretty special because I’ve looked up to that man for quite some time,” Torrence said. “He sets the bar for what a driver should be and do, in the car and the way he conducts himself at the tracks. That sets it apart for me, and it is something I will always remember.”

He also remembers his first NHRA national event victory, which came in 2005 during his TAD title run. He won that race at Heartland Park Topeka, a track that he says has always been good to him. With summer fast approaching, he expects similar weather conditions in Kansas that were present at Atlanta.

“The car performed well in the heat (at Atlanta) and I think it will probably be hot for the race in Topeka,” Torrence said. “So that definitely bolsters our feelings quite a bit, knowing Richard has a good handle on the tune-up in the hot weather conditions and on hot tracks. We are carrying a lot of confidence into Topeka.”

In order for Torrence to start a winning streak, he’ll have to outrun a host of challengers, including a very-hungry Schumacher, defending winner Massey, Antron Brown, Morgan Lucas, Doug Kalitta, Brandon Bernstein, Shawn Langdon, David Grubnic and Clay Millican, among others.

“Our goal is to field a competitive race car,” Torrence said. “It would be awesome if we could win a race or two more and get established as a good team that can run with the Schumacher and Alan Johnson teams. What more could you ask for?

“If you look at the point standings right now, Tony Schumacher is the leader and he hasn’t won in (30) races. Consistency is the key here. You don’t need to win a race here and go five or six races before winning another one. You need to be there every week and going rounds (in eliminations).”

In Funny Car, Hight will try to keep his HPT winning streak alive as the Auto Club Ford Mustang has won at the Kansas track the last two seasons. In order to turn the hat-trick, Hight will need to hold off nine-time HPT winner John Force, as well as four-time Topeka winner Cruz Pedregon. He’ll also have to contend with Atlanta winner Ron Capps, who has advanced to the last three final rounds in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger and is a three-time HPT winner.

Others to watch in Funny Car include defending world champ Matt Hagan, who is trying to climb back into the top 10 after a slow start to the season, Houston winner Mike Neff, Jack Beckman, Bob Tasca III, Jeff Arend, Tony Pedregon and high-profile rookies Courtney Force and Alexis DeJoria.

Greg Anderson has been leading the way in Pro Stock with three victories and holds the series lead over teammate Jason Line, the defending world champ who is also a winner this year. Team Mopar’s Allen Johnson, Mike Edwards, Vincent Nobile, Erica Enders and Larry Morgan are all among the top contenders in the 200 mph category.

Robert Hight (Photo courtesy JFR; Click to enlarge)

Last year at Heartland Park Topeka, Robert Hight was attempting to set a couple of personal records and one giant team record when his Auto Club Ford Mustang rolled up to the starting line beside teammate Mike Neff in the NHRA Dollar General Summer Nationals final round.

On the line for Hight was the possibility of defending his 2010 Summer Nationals win and he was also gunning for his first three-race win streak. The big prize for Hight or Neff was winning the 200th NHRA Funny Car race for John Force Racing. Hight got the win with a 4.284 to Neff’s 4.562 and kept his winning streak alive.

“Getting that win in Topeka last year was pretty amazing. We came in early for the press conference and Don Garlits was there. We got to talk for a few minutes and that really got me fired up for the weekend. I love talking with legends like Garlits, Prudhomme, and Bernstein. I wanted to repeat at Topeka and also keep that winning streak going. I had never won three races in a row so that was really a big deal for me,” Hight said.

Robert Hight (Photo courtesy NHRA/National Dragster; Click to enlarge)

“We also knew that there was the chance to win the 200th Funny Car race for John Force Racing. I really wanted to that honor. I had seen John win so many big races that to be the driver to get the 200th I thought that would be pretty cool. It worked out great because it was me and Neff in the final so there was no pressure. You knew one of us was going to get the win and we just let it all hang out.”

After that win Hight raced to his fourth consecutive final before falling to Matt Hagan in the final round at Chicago. Hight won an impressive fifteen consecutive rounds during his winning streak. Hight used some of that experience this season when he got on a roll winning four races in a row including the tough Four-Wide Nationals.

Ironically, Hight won four races in a row, but only equaled his personal-best round win record at 15 due to the three-round Four-Wide race. Hight set his latest round win record at 17 consecutive rounds when he continued winning and raced to the semi-finals at Houston.

“Last year we got three wins in a row and this year we have won four in a row. I want to get three in a row at Topeka. There are just a handful of Funny Car drivers that have won the same event three years in a row and I would love to join that club,” Hight said.

If Hight wins this weekend he will become the third Funny Car driver to win the Dollar General Summer Nationals three consecutive years. The first to get the three-peat was Funny Car world champion turned Top Fuel crew chief Marc Oswald who won from 1989-91. A decade later Tony Pedregon took three Wally’s in a row at Topeka from 2001-03.

Only five drivers – Don Prudhomme, Kenny Bernstein, Oswald, Pedregon and John Force – have won three consecutive Funny Car titles or more at the same event in NHRA history. The longest event winning streak is held by John Force who won the historic Gatornationals five consecutive years from 1992-96.

Hight has a commanding series lead – 203 points over No. 2 drivers Mike Neff and Ron Capps – racking up 702 points in just seven races. If his stumble – a first round loss to No. 16 qualifier Todd Lesenko – at the season-opening Winternationals is subtracted he is averaging 110 points per race. This is 85 percent of all available points. As it stands, even with the Winternationals included, Hight has garnered an astonishing 77 percent of all available points for Funny Cars over the first seven races.

“Having this points lead is a luxury. (Crew chief) Jimmy Prock and my guys have been giving me a great race car. We got to the final in Atlanta and gave Capps a run for his money. I think if we would not have dropped a cylinder versus Head in the semis we might have had lane choice and then who knows what the outcome could have been,” Hight said.

Prior to the Dollar General Summer Nationals, Hight will be one of many NHRA drivers attending the Speedfest in downtown Topeka. The free event will give fans the chance to meet a number of drivers as well as participate in contests, racing simulators, music, food, prizes and race car displays. The free event is scheduled from 11:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m. on 8th Street and Kansas Avenue.

Ron Capps (Photo by Ian Tocher; Click to enlarge)

As one of the most accomplished students of the great history of NHRA Championship Drag Racing, Ron Capps gets goosebumps just thinking about returning to Kansas to compete in a professional drag race.

Due to the flat landscape and its central proximity to the rest of the country, in 1955 Kansas served as the official host for NHRA’s first “National Event,” on an airstrip near the town of Great Bend. It was simply called “The Nationals,” and with that event, hot-rodding enthusiasts across the U.S. could test their machines against the best of the best.

That race evolved into what is today the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, but Kansas has solidified its place in NHRA drag racing history. Topeka’s Heartland Park has hosted NHRA Full Throttle Series events since 1989 and in some seasons hosted two events per year. Today the track is regarded as one of the fastest on the circuit and every year drivers get to return and pay homage to the sport’s roots.

Ron Capps (Photo courtesy NHRA/National Dragster; Click to enlarge)

“What is so special to me is just going to Kansas to race where it really all started,” Capps said. “I’m a West Coast guy, but the first NHRA national event 57 years ago was held here in Kansas at Great Bend. Now, Heartland Park Topeka is a long way from what it was like at Great Bend, but the spirit of competition is still there.”

Capps’ competitive spirit is at an all-time high right now as the NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger driver is riding a wave of momentum from his first victory of the season two weeks ago at Atlanta Dragway. After Capps failed to qualify for the Las Vegas event in April, team owner Don Schumacher made a change to Capps’ team, reassigning veteran crew chief Rahn Tobler to the job. Since then, the team has produced great results and has advanced to three consecutive finals rounds, ultimately winning at Atlanta.

Capps is ready to keep his hot streak going at the Dollar General NHRA Summernationals, May 18-20 at Heartland Park Topeka. Spencer Massey (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Shane Gray (Pro Stock) are the defending winners of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event that will be televised on ESPN2HD.

“This is such a great team, and right from the get-go in Charlotte, the first run reminded me how fun it can be to race again,” Capps said. “When Don [Schumacher, team owner] made the move and put me with Rahn [Tobler] and John Collins, I’m telling you, it was just unbelievable. It is so much fun to get in the car and know it’s going to be a hot rod.”

With the win, Capps moved into a tie for second place in the point standings with Mike Neff, who failed to qualify for the race in Atlanta after winning in Houston. The series leader, Hight, has won the last two events at HPT and will be trying for a three-peat in his Auto Club Ford Mustang. Earlier this season, Hight won four consecutive races to open up a big lead on the rest of the top 10 drivers in the category.

While Hight has dominated at the Kansas track in recent years, Capps has had quite a bit of success himself at Heartland Park during his career. He’s claimed wins there in 1998, 2006 and 2009. He posted a runner-up finish to John Force there in 2000.

“We won for the first time there in 1998 beating Al Hofmann, but it wasn’t until eight years later when we won again,” Capps said. “We have been able to celebrate there three times, so I like the track.”

Other Funny Car drivers who have had success at Heartland Park include Force, who has won there nine times, and two-time world champ Cruz Pedregon, a four-time winner at HPT. The only other active driver in the 7,000-horsepower category who has won there is Tony Pedregon, a three-time winner.

Others to watch include defending world champ Matt Hagan, who is trying to get into the top 10 in the standings after a slow start to the season, Jack Beckman, Johnny Gray, Bob Tasca III and high-profile rookies Courtney Force and Alexis DeJoria.

In Top Fuel, most of the story centers around seven-time world champ Tony Schumacher, who is in the middle of a 30-race winless drought that dates back to Oct. 2010. He hasn’t won in 11 straight final round appearances, including four this season, but all is not lost as he comes into the event as the series points leader in his famed U.S. Army dragster. Schumacher’s lone win at HPT came in 2010.

The Top Fuel drivers who have been winning all of the races this season include three-time winner Spencer Massey and two-time winner Morgan Lucas. Antron Brown and Steve Torrence have also visited winner’s circle. Several past HPT winners in the field would like to make a repeat performance including two-time winner Brandon Bernstein, David Grubnic, Doug Kalitta, and Hillary Will.

Greg Anderson has been leading the way in Pro Stock with three victories and holds the series lead over teammate Jason Line, the defending world champ who is also a winner this year. Team Mopar’s Allen Johnson, Mike Edwards, Vincent Nobile, Erica Enders and Larry Morgan are all among the top contenders in the 200 mph category.

(Photos by Ian Tocher; Click to enlarge)

Orlando Speed World Dragway operator and race promoter Carl Weisinger announced in mid-May, the richest purse in the history of heads-up Sport Compact drag racing will be offered at the World Challenge on October 26-28, 2012.

One feature that will get much attention is a “Low E.T. Award” of $5,000 in cash.

“The quickest E.T. of the weekend gets a lot of attention from the fans and racers alike and we are going to see the low E.T. winner gets a lot of cash too,” Weisinger explained.

Actually, someone could collect $25,000 for a win and low E.T.

The format will be simple–a quarter mile to the finish line and the 16 quickest cars from qualifying will run heads-up on a pro tree for the $20,000 winners share.  All qualifiers will win cash and each will receive one of the famous Speed World awards jackets, too.  Non-qualifiers up to 10.99 seconds will get a second chance to race in a full tree Super Pro dial in class for $5,000 to win and a good 16-position payback.

“This isn’t part of a annual series” Orlando Speed World’s Sport Compact liaison, David Vidal, said.  “It’s quite simply an Armageddon, the ultimate heads-up event for the wildest Sport Compact cars on earth; there are no plans for a second one like this.  I’m predicting this event will be talked about for many years.”

Weisinger has signaled his sights are set on retirement at the end of the 2012 season.  June 17th will conclude a successful 25-year run for him at the Orlando Speed World Dragway.  Plans for the final special events will be announced soon, but fans can expect a huge “Night of Fire” event in November and a “Last Drag Race” in December.

Carroll Shelby, 1923-2012 (Photo courtesy Ford Motor Company; Click to enlarge)

Legendary race driver and car builder Carroll Shelby died Thursday night (May 10), at age 89 in Dallas, Texas, where he was hospitalized for treatment of  pneumonia.

“We are all deeply saddened, and feel a tremendous sense of loss for Carroll’s family, ourselves and the entire automotive industry,” said Joe Conway, president of Carroll Shelby International, Inc. and board member. “There has been no one like Carroll Shelby and never will be. However, we promised Carroll we would carry on, and he put the team, the products and the vision in place to do just that.”

Shelby was one of the nation’s longest-living heart transplant recipients, having received a heart on June 7, 1990. He also received a kidney transplant in 1996 from his son, Michael.

Born Jan. 11, 1923 in Leesburg, Texas, Shelby became an accomplished open-wheel and sports-car racing driver in the 1950s and was named Sports Illustrated’s Driver of the Year for both 1956 and 1957. His last major race win before retiring from the driver’s seat was the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans  as part of the Aston Martin team. He also was behind the famous 1-2-3 finish for Ford and its revolutionary GT40 in the 1966 Le Mans race that dramatically put an end to Ferrari’s domination of the event.

Carroll Shelby (left) with Don Prudhomme

Shelby came to prominence as a car builder in the mid-1960s after mating a Ford 289 V-8 with a light British-built roadster to create the now-iconic AC Cobra and soon after teamed up with Ford to create the equally revered Shelby Mustang. He also had design relationships with Oldsmobile, Dodge and several European auto manufacturers.

Though not personally involved in drag racing for most of his career, Shelby had a long-standing interest in the sport and even backed  NHRA legend Don Prudhomme’s late-’60s Top Fuel efforts. More recently, Shelby and Prudhomme collaborated on the Don Prudhomme Edition Shelby GT500 Super Snake, a limited-edition, high-performance conversion for ’07 and newer Mustang GT500s that turned them into 750-horsepower-plus street/strip machines.

Shelby is survived by his wife, Cleo Shelby; his three children, Patrick, Michael and Sharon; his sister, Anne Shelby Ellison; six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Funeral services were not immediately announced.

Tony Schumacher (Photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster; Click to enlarge)

Tony Schumacher and Antron Brown will deliver tire-smoking Memorial Day salutes on behalf of Don Schumacher Racing and its sponsors  May 27, prior to the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Cup races usually end with the winner celebrating with smoky donuts but for the first time at a NASCAR race a pair of 8,000-horsepower Top Fuel Dragsters will light up their giant rear slicks as part of the typically exciting pre-race show put on by the track in Concord, NC.

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series nitro-fueled, 300-mph dragsters have performed burnouts before NASCAR races before but it’s believed this will be the first time two have unleashed the power equivalent to 16 Cup stock cars.
“Tony and Antron, along with their crews, wanted to spend Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte to help show appreciation for those of who have served our country and salute what their sacrifices mean to all Americans,” said Don Schumacher, who owns the seven-car DSR operation in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Antron Brown

Tony, the seven-time Top Fuel world champion, echoed his father’s thoughts.

“I look forward to putting on a good show for the NASCAR fans in Charlotte,” he said. “More importantly, given the weekend’s significance, I welcome the opportunity to join so many folks in remembering and honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

“Needless to say, I will also be supporting my U.S. Army NASCAR teammate Ryan Newman and really hope he can win the race – it would be a great gift to all of our Army Strong Soldiers.”

Brown, who also represents the U.S. Army, is equally honored by the opportunity.

“It’s giving back. Tony is my U.S. Army teammate and we’re going out to give a little something back for what all of our soldiers have done for us and give them a little extra show.

“NHRA drag racing is a true, true American born and grown sport. We’re going to use our dragsters to give a special salute to our veterans and all the men and women in the Armed Forces.”

Mick Snyder (Photos by Ian Tocher; Click to enlarge)

Mick Snyder could do no wrong May 5, at the ADRL Northeast Drags II presented by Penske as he left with his second American Drag Racing League (ADRL) Pro Extreme win.

Joining Snyder in the winner’s circle at Maple Grove Raceway were Robert Patrick Jr. (Pro Nitrous), Billy Glidden (Mickey Thompson Extreme 10.5), Eric McKinney (Pro Extreme Motorcycle), Dean Goforth (Extreme Pro Stock), Mike Castellana (Aeromotive Fuel Systems Pro Modified), Chip Forman (Summit Racing Equipment Top Sportsman) and Chris Holbrook (SuperCar Showdown).

Snyder had a race day to remember as he claimed the No. 1 qualifying spot during the final session with a 3.64 and then finished off a terrific day at the historic track, running a 3.648 at 207.46 miles per hour to beat Tommy D’Aprile under the lights.

“To qualify No. 1 and then win at an event like this and at a place like this, it’s just great. My dad (Larry) had this car tuned up like a bracket car today and it was just outstanding,” Snyder said. “There’s not a bad car out here and this has just been awesome.”

Snyder’s win capped off a spectacular day at Maple Grove Raceway, where terrific runs, car counts and fan turnout summed up the ADRL’s second event at Maple Grove and third race in 2012.

Robert Patrick

Snyder and his Powersource Transportation car went as quick as 3.636 – the quickest run in Pro Extreme in 2012 – during eliminations en route to the win against D’Aprile, who made his second straight finals appearance.

“This car is just something else. It truly is an amazing car. I’m just so happy that Jason (Scruggs) let me drive it,” Snyder said.

Patrick’s foray into Pro Nitrous is off to a fine start after a fantastic all-around performance on Saturday.

He beat Burton Auxier with a 4.25 in the finals, but the rest of his day in his 2012 Jerry Bickel Race Cars Mustang was filled with runs in the 3.80s, including a great 3.811 in an outstanding semifinal duel with Jim Laurita.

“I had a lot of faith in my crew. They’ve been working their butt off and I couldn’t be any happier with this Jerry Bickel Race Car,” Patrick said. “I’m just so happy to be racing in the ADRL and to be part of this. This is my roots and this where I love racing.”

Billy Glidden

Glidden delivered what was arguably the best run of his career in the Mickey Thompson Extreme 10.5 finals, beating Chuck Ulsch on a holeshot in an unbelievable side-by-side race.

Ulsch went quicker and faster at 3.855 and 202.82 mph, but Glidden’s .028 reaction time and massive career-best 3.862 was enough for his 13th career ADRL win.

“That was awesome. When I got this thing into third gear and the front tire finally sat down, I figured it was on a good run,” Glidden said. “Going against Chuck, I knew I had to run well, and I had to do everything right.

“This was very satisfying and a very gratifying win for us.”

Mike Castellana remained perfect in Aeromotive Fuel Systems Pro Modified, going 3.847 at 195.42 mph to chase down Mike Janis in an excellent final for his third win in three events.

Mike Castellana

Castellana’s 2012 RJ Race Cars Camaro was remarkably consistent, as the Al-Anabi Racing driver backed up his record pass of 3.845 earlier on Saturday, going 3.854 to reach the finals.

“It just goes to show what a great job the crew does and how they make it work,” Castellana said. “We had a good handle on the car and track and it just all clicked.

“We’ve already surpassed our expectations for this year. There’s not much more you could expect.”

Dean Goforth was dynamite throughout eliminations on the starting line in Extreme Pro Stock, capping it off with an .011 reaction time in the finals to hold off Brian Gahm with a 4.083 at 177.20 mph.

“Honestly, me winning is good for everyone because it shows it doesn’t make any difference how old you are,” Goforth said. “This means a lot to me. I’m just happy to be part of the ADRL and I love the people in this class.”

Dean Goforth

Goforth’s third career XPS win will surely be one he will treasure after battling back from a near-fatal illness this past winter. To win, Goforth won by holeshots in his Jerry Haas Race Cars GXP against No. 1 qualifier John DeFlorian in the semifinals and then Gahm in a memorable finals.

“(The holeshots) are probably cooler than winning the race,” Goforth said. “This was just a huge blessing tonight.”

Eric McKinney went nearly three years without a win in Pro Extreme Motorcycle, but the wait was worth it after going 4.099 at 173.96 mph to beat Ronald Procopio in the finals.

“I’m just on cloud nine right now. This is awesome and I’m just having a blast,” McKinney said. “I’m tickled to death to do this. It’s just some incredible racing in this class.”

McKinney was involved in a wild semifinal race against Scott Gray, who went 4.091 and appeared to win on a holeshot against McKinney’s 4.089. But Gray’s bike hit the center cone to disqualify him, sending McKinney to the finals.

Eric McKinney

“I knew he had beat me but then I heard on the radio that I had won,” McKinney said. “That round win was all luck, but I’ll take it.”

Chip Forman was the latest first-time winner in Summit Racing Equipment in Top Sportsman, running a 4.155 at 174.05 mph to beat Ray Bamond.

Both were making their first appearance in a final round, and Forman was beyond thrilled after tracking down Bamond just before the finish line.

“This is my first national event win anywhere, so this is just amazing,” Forman said. “In Bristol, we broke a crankshaft in qualifying, so we went from an extreme low to an extreme high. The car was dead on, I was good on the tree and everything came together.”

In the SuperCar Showdown finals, Chris Holbrook won for the first time, going 5.881 at 119 mph.

In Pro Junior Dragster, Morgan Benfield knocked off Jackson Core with a 7.94 at 77.21 mph. Benfield had a terrific .006 reaction time to win by a mere six inches.

The fourth stop on the 2012 ADRL Tour takes place on June 1-2 as the ADRL returns to St. Louis for the Gateway Drags IV presented by CarSafe at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Ron Capps (Photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster; Click to enlarge)

Ron Capps raced to his first victory of the season May 6, at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, ending John Force Racing’s season-long stronghold on the winner’s circle in Funny Car. Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Eddie Kraweic (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were winners at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.

Capps, who used a consistent string of 4.16-second runs to take his 34th career victory, outran Robert Hight in the final round, who was trying to give JFR its seventh consecutive win of the season. Capps’ Napa Auto Parts Dodge Charger posted a 4.166 second run at 303.91 mph to take the win, while Hight’s Auto Club Ford Mustang trailed with a 4.399 at 273.44.

Ron Capps

“We love those guys,” Capps said of Hight and his team. “[Crew chief Rahn] Tobler and Prock went to dinner here not too long ago. They’re good friends, and Robert and I are good friends. We had dinner last night and watch the UFC fight. I told them at the other end, ‘You guys bring everything I got out when I have to race you.’

“I got so tired of hearing about Force [Racing] winning every race. I got tired hearing about Robert. I love him but I got tired of hearing about him on this race streak. I tweeted when they gave Will Power the first quarter Driver of the Year thing. That’s a pretty stout group of guys voting for that thing — I mean it’s Mario Andretti, ‘Snake’ [Don Prudhomme] — and it irritated me that they didn’t give him that, but I told him, ‘I’m tired of hearing about you winning.’ I know Tobler’s the same way. We go up there, and it brings everything we’ve got to race those guys, so to beat them was huge.”

Capps also beat Daniel Wilkerson, Matt Hagan and Jeff Arend to advance to the final, the 73rd of his career. It is the third-straight final-round appearance for Capps since Tobler joined his team.

“This is such a great team, and right from the get-go in Charlotte, the first run reminded me how fun it can be to race again,” Capps said.  “I was starting to just get a little frustrated and wondered if maybe I wasn’t as good as I used to be when I was younger. It just got very difficult.

“When Don [Schumacher, team owner] made the move and put me with Rahn [Tobler] and John Collins, I’m telling you it was just unbelievable. I’m having so much fun right now. I’m the luckiest guy in the world to be driving this car.”

Steve Torrence

Torrence earned his first career Top Fuel victory and in the process denied Tony Schumacher from finally getting a victory at Atlanta Dragway, the only track on the circuit where the seven-time world champ has yet to win. Torrence covered the distance in 3.893 at 320.66 in his Capco Contractors dragster while Schumacher’s U.S. Army dragster lost traction early in the race and finished in 4.913 at 169.44.

Torrence, who qualified second, used a bunch of 3.8-second runs to cruise through eliminations, knocking off J.R. Todd, Bob Vandergriff and Brandon Bernstein along the way to his first career final.

“It hasn’t really even set in,” said Torrence, the 2005 Top Alcohol Dragster national champ in the NHRA Lucas Oil Series. “We’ve been working our tails off since last year at this race. This was the last race that I raced with Dexter [Tuttle] and we set out to start our own team. To kind of start the new team and get the first win here, that’s a big deal for us. We’re 10 races into this new team. Richard Hogan [crew chief], I’ve got all the confidence in the world in that guy. I told him from day one that he’s my guy, and I’ve stuck with it. This car has run really, really well. My driving, I’ve been practicing, and the seat time of just making passes in a good car has really helped me a lot. Getting this first win, it’s unbelievable. To do it here at Atlanta is awesome. This is a great racetrack. It just hasn’t caught up to me yet. Hopefully, this is the start of a lot of really good things.”

Greg Anderson (File photo)

Anderson raced to his third Pro Stock win of the season with a reaction time advantage, holding off hard-charging teammate Jason Line at the finish line. Anderson took his 73rd career victory with a performance of 6.649 at 208.26 in his Summit Racing Pontiac to hold off the quicker, but losing Summit Racing Pontiac of Line, which finished in 6.618 at 209.62.

“We’re very happy as a team [about the Summit cars reaching five Pro Stock finals this year],” said Anderson, who beat Greg Stanfield, Steve Kent and Allen Johnson in earlier rounds. “It’s great to have three Summit cars in the semis. That doesn’t happen too often with multi-car teams. It just tells you that everybody is rowing the boat in the same direction and pulling their load. That’s what I’m the most proud of – assembling this team and instilling in them that it doesn’t matter which driver wins.

“It all goes back to what Ken Black does for this team. We just want to dig harder and harder every day because that’s what he is doing, going to rehab and trying to get back to walking, and he’s darn close. When you see that, you don’t want to let the man down. You want to make him proud. And when he gets back to the race track full-time, we want our cars to be running at their best.”

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, defending world champ Krawiec took his second victory of the season, outrunning first-time finalist Michael Ray. Krawiec powered his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a winning run of 6.905 at 195.53 to hold off Ray’s GottSpeed Racing Buell, which finished in 7.036 at 187.94.

Eddie Kraweic (File photo)

Krawiec advanced to the final with early round wins over Michael Phillips, Karen Stoffer and Shawn Gann. It was Krawiec’s 13th career victory and second at Atlanta Dragway.

“We are just trying to get a handle on the motorcycle and working on getting it to leave well, and I think we did that this weekend,” Krawiec said. “It ran awesome and I’ve got a killer motorcycle right now.”

The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series continues May 18-20 with the Dollar General NHRA Summernationals at Heartland Park Topeka, Topeka, Kan.

Robert Hight (Photo by Ron Lewis, courtesy of JFR; Click to enlarge)

Robert Hight will lead John Force Racing’s quest to earn its seventh consecutive victory to open the season in Sunday’s final eliminations at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Sr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also will lead their categories into tomorrow’s eliminations as No. 1 qualifiers at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.

L-R: Kenny Bernstein, Richard Childress and John Force (Photo courtesy JFR; Click to enlarge)

NHRA legends Kenny Bernstein and John Force were formally inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame Thursday evening (May 3), during a black-tie gala event at the Speed Channel Dome adjacent to Talladega Motor Speedway. Bernstein and Force joined famed NASCAR team owner Richard Childress as the only members of the heavyweight class of 2012.

L-R: Kenny Bernstein, Richard Childress and John Force pose with their respective Hall of Fame induction portraits. (Photos courtesy JFR; Click to enlarge)

On the eve of their induction into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, 15-time Funny Car champion John Force and six-time Top Fuel and Funny Car champion Kenny Bernstein enjoyed an evening at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, Alabama.

The NHRA duo were joined May 2, by NASCAR team owner and fellow inductee Richard Childress along with more than 80 Hall of Fame dignitaries for a reception and dinner to recognize their lifetime of motorsports achievement.

“The last time I was in Birmingham and Talladega was 1996 when I was Driver of the Year. To come back as a Hall of Fame inductee with Kenny and Richard Childress is pretty amazing. The museum was unbelievable. They had hundreds of motorcycles on the walls, on the floor and in display cases for five stories. They also had a killer display of Lotuses,” Force said.

“I was really happy to have my wife Laurie and daughter Courtney here. Brittany will be flying in tomorrow. This is a big deal and I am happy to be sharing it with legends like Kenny and Richard.”

The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum is a unique facility, offering motorsport enthusiasts an opportunity to view over 1,200 motorcycles as well as a number of specialty cars. The five floors of displays represent a history of motorsports that is beautifully designed and is an architectural wonder. Guests from all over the world are amazed when they enter the museum by it sheer size and splendor.

“The festivities surrounding the International Motorsports Hall of Fame are fabulous and we couldn’t be any more proud and honored to now be a member of this elite group of motorsports luminaries,” Bernstein said.

“If you had asked me in 1979 where we saw ourselves in 33 years, we never would have guessed our paths would have led us here. John has been a good friend for all these years and we’re pleased to have reached this destination together,” Bernstein added.

“It’s also an honor to share the stage with Richard Childress. We were first introduced in 1980 by R.J. Reynolds motorsports boss Ralph Seagraves when Richard and Dale Earnhardt sewed up a championship at Riverside International Raceway. When we began fielding a NASCAR team several years later, Richard was the man who was always available to help me and give me direction and for that we have been eternally grateful.”

All three inductees will participate in a press conference May 3, at the Wynfrey Hotel at 11 a.m. CT followed by the Hall of Fame banquet and ceremony at 7 p.m. at the Speed Dome.

After claiming the No. 3 qualifying position with a 5.940-second, 245.14mph pass, Rowe mowed through a string of contenders before facing off with Kenny Lang in the final round. Rowe left first with a blistering .018-second reaction time and never looked back, streaking to the win with a 5.969-second, 244.43mph pass.

“This is what we had to do,” says Rowe, who claimed his third victory in the last four events at Royal Purple Raceway, establishing a win-loss record at the track of 14-1 since 2009. “I think the question out there, honestly, was whether or not we could keep this up, and whether or not we could parlay our performance in qualifying to wins on race day.”

Danny Rowe

Rowe and crew chief Jimmy Rector answered those questions decisively in Houston, running low elapsed time of every elimination round en route to the team’s first victory of 2012.

“We’ve had a lot of good luck at Houston over the years, so it’s hard not to feel confident when we race here,” says Rowe. “We really needed this win to sort of get over the hump; to prove to ourselves that we can win out here. Jimmy [Rector] and this Sterling Bridge are working hard, giving me a race car that is hard to beat, and I’m hoping we can keep up this pace headed into the summer months.

“Our goal is to win a championship and if we can keep things tight in the points in Englishtown, Bristol and Norwalk, I think we’re going to be well-positioned to make a run at this deal in the fall.”

Rowe won the 2011 running of the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, the next event on the NHRA Pro Modified Drag Racing Series tour, and followed it up with a pair of final round appearances in Bristol and Norwalk. After three of 10 events scheduled for 2012, Rowe leads the championship point standings by 1 point over second-place Mike Castellana.

OFFICIAL NHRA PRO MOD SERIES POINT STANDINGS:

1.  Danny Rowe, 231
2.  Mike Castellana, 230
3.  Rickie Smith, 206
4.  Leah Pruett, 191
5.  Donald Walsh, 160
6.  Donald Martin, 155
7.  Mike Knowles, 152
8.  Steve Matusek, 149
9.  Kenny Lang, 144
10.  Troy Coughlin, 143
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Check out the brand-new Danny Rowe Racing website at www.dannyroweracing.com

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Visit Danny Rowe Racing supported charities and foundations: http://dwbhshirts.com, http://www.rustyunlimited.com

Greg Anderson (Photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster; Click to enlarge)

For the second time in 2012, teams in the NHRA’s Full Throttle Drag Racing Series will be competing on consecutive weekends, heading directly from Houston, Tex. to Commerce, Ga. for the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals.

Although the timeframe may be compressed, the workload remains the same, and unlike their brethren in other racing series who simply exchange race cars from the fleet at their disposal, the straight-liners must work with the single chassis that they use for the entire season, performing between-race maintenance as well as any necessary repairs or modifications.

In the case of Greg Anderson and the Summit Racing team, the past four days have included nearly 3,000 miles of travel by the team’s twin transporters and Sunday night flights by the remainder of the crew to maximize their time at the shop.  However, the current Pro Stock championship points leader believes the stress of this very hectic week is balanced by the ability to quickly return to competition, whether to extend a run of strong performances or make up for a less than stellar showing.

Greg Anderson

“This was a very busy week for the Summit Racing team, busier than normal” said Anderson.  “The crew flew home on Sunday night after the race, while one of our transporters came straight home with both race cars so we could work on them, getting them as ship shape as we can for this weekend.

“At the same time our other truck went north to RJ Race Cars in Illinois to pick up our first Camaro, getting back on Wednesday with just enough time to unpack and reload for Atlanta. We’re really eager to see our Camaros and start this exciting new chapter.  We’re a little disappointed we couldn’t bring them out here at the Summit race, but there just wasn’t enough time.  Besides, we didn’t want to shake down a brand new car at such an important race.

“It’s certainly been a crazy few days, but if it was up to me I would race every weekend.  When you’re doing well, you naturally want to keep going, while if you have an off race, as we did in Houston, you want to get back to the track as quickly as you can to redeem yourself.  Either way, we’re ready to get back at it in Atlanta.”

With a career elimination-round win percentage of almost 75%, Atlanta Dragway, site of this weekend’s race, understandably ranks high on Anderson’s list of favorite tracks.  Located one hour north of the city in the town of Commerce, it has witnessed much of the growth of his Pro Stock career, starting as a crew chief for a Georgia-based legend to his current status as one of the category’s all-time best racers.

“It has also been a very good track for me personally.  People seem to forget that for many years I came here as a crew member and crew chief on Warren Johnson’s car, and we made a lot of runs down this track with more than our share of success.  That gave me an invaluable amount of experience on how to tune a car here, which I believe has played a role in my doing so well here with the KB Racing team.”

This weekend, Anderson looks to further his reputation and put smiles on the faces of some very important people by scoring his fourth win in the Peach State.

Pro Stock final, Atlanta Dragway 2011 (Photo by Ian Tocher; Click to enlarge)

“Naturally, as a Summit race, this is a big event for our entire team,” he said. “Fortunately, we have historically done well at Atlanta Dragway, including putting both Summit cars in the final there a year ago.  It’s one of the tracks that is very friendly to our team so it’s a perfect one to have our sponsor’s name on and we naturally enjoy going there.

“We’re excited heading into this weekend.  Jason and I will start off by going to the Coca-Cola Full Throttle Champions’ dinner on Wednesday night, which is always a great time, and then we head up to Atlanta Dragway where we’ll get to see many of our friends from Summit.

“We’ve had a very productive week, so I’m confident we’re going to have a good product for this weekend.  I expect us to have a great race with a good chance of winning – after all, our primary goal is to have that Summit Racing executive hand us the Wally at the top end and then join us in the winner’s circle on Sunday night, so we’re going to do everything we can to make it happen.”

Morgan Lucas (Photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster; Click to enlarge)

As the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series heads south to Atlanta Dragway May 4-6, for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals, the competition in Top Fuel is so tight predicting the race winner is nearly impossible.

Morgan Lucas has finished in 10th place in the championship points battle the last two years, but this season the outcome could be a lot different. The GEICO/Lucas Oil driver is coming off his second win and fourth No. 1 qualifying position of the season in Houston, which puts him in third place in the championship standings as the NHRA heads to Atlanta, site of his first career victory in 2009.

“Houston might have been the best race we’ve ever had,” Lucas said. “Not only did we qualify No. 1, but we had low elapsed time of every round on race day. That’s never happened for us before and the reason we’re encouraged as we look forward to Atlanta.”

Spencer Massey

Top Fuel point leader and defending event winner Antron Brown hopes to continue the success he’s had this season. The Matco Tools driver has earned one victory in five final round appearances and has a little extra confidence from three career wins in Atlanta. Needless to say, Brown likes his chances as the team heads south.

“I’ve always considered it to be an East Coast track, an older track where guys like my dad and uncle raced,” Brown said. “It’s a track we visited often from Pro Stock Bike days to now. You get that sense of the great old tracks. It puts me back in my element – what I grew up around – and I feel real comfortable there.”

Brown’s DSR teammate Spencer Massey is in second place in the points thanks to three wins this season in his FRAM/Prestone Top Fuel dragster. As the circuit heads to one of Massey’s favorite tracks, he is out to prove that his second place finish last season was no fluke.

Tony Schumacher

“For whatever reason, Atlanta likes me and I like Atlanta,” Massey said. “Sometimes you shine at some tracks and others you don’t. It’s the luck of the draw in a way. It has nothing do with tune-up or whatever you might think, that’s just how it works.”

Massey’s DSR teammate Tony Schumacher may be experiencing the longest winless drought of his career, currently at 29 races, but thanks to three final round appearances this season “the Sarge” is in fourth place in the points order. Atlanta Dragway is one of the few tracks where the U.S. Army pilot has yet to win, but the way the Top Fuel competition has been, there is no reason why his 68th career victory couldn’t also be his first in Atlanta.

“I’m a positive-minded person and truly believe we will take home a bunch of race trophies this year,” Schumacher said. “And, of course, we want to take home the biggest trophy of them all at the end of the year.”

Steve Torrence

Steve Torrence is making an impact in Top Fuel with his Capco Contractors dragster in his first season as a driver and team owner.  He sits in sixth place thanks to back-to-back semifinal appearances and his first career No. 1 qualifying position. Al-Anabi driver Shawn Langdon is still seeking his first career win and sits in fifth place but with Alan Johnson (team manager) power, that car could end up in the winner’s circle on any given Sunday.

Team Kalitta drivers David Grubnic and Doug Kalitta are also keeping things interesting in the 7,000-horsepower class, as are Bob Vandergriff, Clay Millican, Brandon Bernstein, Terry McMillen and Khalid alBalooshi. The top 10 is anyone’s game this season and with 10 races remaining before the cut off for the Countdown to Championship the racing is expected to get even more exciting.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. (Photos courtesy JEGS; Click to enlarge)

Despite suffering some growing pains during the NHRA tour’s visit to Texas last weekend, the Lone Star State could very well be the place where Pro Stock veteran Jeg Coughlin Jr. turned his season around.

The four-time Pro Stock champion, a winner of 52 national events in the class, isn’t used to dealing with this much adversity, but a pair of DNQs on his early-season ledger has Coughlin and crew searching for answers as the series turns to Atlanta Dragway.

“Having a brand-new team, we expected some adversity, but I’ll admit it’s been tougher than I thought it would be,” Coughlin said. “Everyone on the team has won multiple championships, so we’re used to getting better results. They’ll come; we just need to be patient.”

Jeg Coughlin Jr.

Coughlin and crew kept their JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger in Houston for a Monday test session to get his season back on track as quickly as possible.

“We had a team meeting Saturday night and we all decided to stay and test Monday in Houston,” Coughlin said. “Jerry Haas, who built the car, and Adam Lambert from Penske, stayed with us to help. We basically decided to start the test with a clean sheet of paper and see what we could do.”

The team focused on improving their launches and immediately got to work on the suspension, shocks, springs and weight transfer to insure they could get maximum horsepower through to the track on the green light.

“We started with 1.02-second 60-foot times and progressively got better each run, which was really encouraging,” Coughlin said. “The track was deteriorating a bit from race day but we still learned a bunch that I think we’ll be able to take with us to Atlanta. I’m hoping we will look back at this test at some point in the future and say, ‘That’s where it all started.’”

Perfect timing because the Peach State is a place where Coughlin has had success in the past, racing to victories at Atlanta Dragway in 2000 and 2010.

Because of that success, Coughlin will be on hand Wednesday night – with other POWERade and Full Throttle era drag racing champions – for a private “Champions Dinner” at the Coca-Cola headquarters near Atlanta.

“It’s a special night,” said Coughlin, who has won three championships since Coca-Cola joined the NHRA. “Just to be a part of this dinner is something I cherish. It’s fun to talk with the other drivers that have won championships with Coca-Cola and it’s a nice to talk with the Coca-Cola executives away from the racetrack. Coca-Cola has been doing it right for more than 100 years and it’s neat to see how they built the company into such a global brand.”

Just as he has at two other national events this year, Coughlin will race his JEGS.com HEMI-powered Drag Pak Dodge Challenger in the Stock class this weekend in addition to his duties with the Pro Stock team.

Mike Green (Photo by Ian Tocher; Click to enlarge)

NHRA announced May 1, that it has fined Mike Green, a crew chief for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR), $5,000 for making a derogatory comment to an NHRA official at last weekend’s O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway.

Green was fined for violation of 1.3.1 regarding participant conduct, found on page four of the 2012 NHRA Rulebook.  Green must pay the fine in full prior to being allowed to participate at any future NHRA events.  The fine levied by NHRA is appealable as outlined in section 1, pages 18-25 of the 2012 NHRA Rulebook.

“It was very exciting to see our customers perform so well at one of the country’s premier drag strips,” said Garret Livingston, founder and president of Garret Race Cars, after both Jason Scruggs and Aaron Glaser drove Garret-built cars to victory lane at the ADRL Spring Drags III.

Garret Race Cars entries nailed down the number-one and number-two qualifying positions in the premier Pro Extreme class as former back-to-back class champion Scruggs (2007-08) and 2006 champ Bubba Stanton went at it tooth-and-nail through three qualifying sessions.

Jason Scruggs (Photos by Ian Tocher; Click to enlarge)

Scruggs came out on top by just two-thousandths of a second in his ’63 Corvette, covering the Bristol eighth mile in 3.649 seconds, which also stood up as low ET for the meet.

Stanton, however, set top speed for the weekend with a 206.67-mph qualifying blast in his Garret-built ’69 Camaro, beating Scruggs’ top speed by just .010 mph. Including the 1968 Mustang GT of 12th-place qualifier Todd Martin and Randall Reid with his ’57 Chevy in 15th, Garret Race Cars accounted for one quarter of the 16-car Pro Extreme field at Bristol.

Scruggs, from Saltillo, MS, went on to score his seventh career Pro Extreme event title, running 3.675 at 205.72 in the final round. Also winning with a Garret Race Cars ’67 Camaro at the ADRL Spring Drags III was Glaser with his first ADRL Top Sportsman race title. Glaser qualified seventh and ran 4.235 seconds at 163.33 mph in the final.

Tommy Franklin

Additionally, in its first race outing the 1969 Camaro built by Garret Race Cars for Pro Nitrous racer Tommy Franklin received the Best Appearing award at Bristol, as voted by ADRL officials.

“I’m very proud of all of our customers; their success is our success,” Livingston said. “Our business depends on them, but the relationships and friendships we develop while helping them win is the most important thing of all.”