IHRA River Cree Rocky Mountain Nationals
June 25-27^th, 2010
Edmonton, Alberta

Edmonton Embraces New Event Format 

By:  Bruce Biegler

The IHRA brought its new Nitro Jam event format to Edmonton’s Castrol Raceway for the first time ever and that played out to a jam-packed audience over three days.

While the IHRA Pro class car portion of the program was downscaled compared to previous years, the event was once again supplemented aggressively by Castrol Raceway management and the end result of the combined efforts was a rather entertaining weekend of racing.

Canadian drivers starred at pretty well every front.   The biggest event newsmakers were arguably local Funny Car drivers Tim Boychuk and John Evanchuk who both earned well deserved and hard fought event titles.

Boychuk, driver of the Edmonton-based Troy Lee Designs sponsored ‘77 Pontiac Firebird, dominated the IHRA’s Nitro Jam Prostalgia Nitro FC category from the get-go.  

In fact Tim won both days of competition and set both track and IHRA records with a super swift 5.810 secs and 247.38 mph best.   Tim beat St. Albert’s Todd Lesenko in the Saturday evening finale and topped Sherwood Park’s Andy Beauchemin for Sunday afternoon’s title.

“With the Funny Car we seemed to do everything well this weekend,” said Boychuk.  “Roland and Bob had a great tune-up in it and the car was near perfect to drive.  We tried to run “fives” every time because we felt the track would hold it.  To do that well at my home track is humbling – going into this race it was something I felt I just had to do.”

Hometown Hero - Tim Boychuk

Tim’s busy weekend also included running in Top Fuel as his group leased the Paton Racing dragster for the weekend too.   Driving that, Tim did make the Saturday TF final but lost a close 6.063 to 6.075 decision to Spencer Massey.

John Evanchuk’s win in Alcohol Funny Car was the first IHRA win for the veteran Canadian racer.    Driving his Big Eagle-sponsored Red Wolf Racing Pontiac Firebird, Evanchuk ambushed the pre-race favorites to win the title.

John ran a final round time of 5.846 secs at 243.46 mph to upset defending event champion Roger Bateman, who was driving Brian Friesen’s Y-Not Racing Mustang.  Evanchuk had earlier taken the measure of Scott McVey and Ken Webster after qualifying 3^rd for the 8-car field.

“It’s nice to beat such a great racer as Roger (Bateman),” said Evanchuk.  “We’ve both been at this a long time.  I’ve had a lot of bridesmaid finishes here – so it’s nice to finally emerge the winner.”

John Evanchuk Won in AFC

The event included a myriad of other Canadian drag racing highlights and stories, including strong event efforts by other Alberta-based drivers.

Calgary’s Ashley Bart made IHRA history when she won the Saturday evening Nitro Jam Pro Fuel class – becoming the first female, first Canadian and first supercharged TAD driver to accomplish that.  She almost duplicated the feat on Sunday afternoon.  After building huge starting line advantage she had a mechanical failure which handed the win to her opponent, Minnesota’s Jeff Hamelink.

Calgary’s Ricky Distefano placed runner-up in Pro Modified driving his awesome new 1970 Chevy Camaro.  It was Distefano’s 3^rd career final round appearance at the Rocky Mountain Naitonals.

Dean Branham (from Ardrossan AB) thrilled the overflow crowd by winning the Top Sportsman Elite 8 Shootout driving his ultra-cool turbocharged ’69 Barracuda.   Branham ran a career best ET (6.944 secs) and speed (209.69 mph) while doing that.

Just how cool is Dean Branham's Cuda?

Northern Nitro Jam Summary                                                             (By:  Larry Crum)

It was a great day for Canadian race fans and an even better day for Canadian racers during championship Sunday at the River Cree Resort and Casino Rocky Mountain Nitro Jam Nationals presented by MOPAR and E3 Spark Plugs at Castrol Raceway.

Canadian racers from across the country walked away with IHRA hardware during the final day of Canada’s biggest and most exciting race as nearly two dozen drivers came away winners, 16 of which were from provinces of Canada.

Headlining the list of winners from championship Sunday was Edmonton native Tim Boychuk who took home two Ironman trophies in front of a second straight packed house at Castrol Raceway. Adding to his big win Saturday night Boychuk walked away from his home track with an incredible two victories, two world records and nearly every track record spread over the Top Fuel and Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car categories.

“Two out of three is just wonderful. It was a fun and very cool weekend,” Boychuk said. “It would have been nice to do it with the other car, but we just weren’t able to pull it off. Still, what a weekend and what a year so far for this group.”

Boychuk produced one of the most captivating weekends of racing ever recorded at Edmonton’s crown jewel. In addition to setting numerous track and Nitro Jam records Boychuk was carted from car to car with only minutes between rounds and still came away victorious in two of three finals.

“There are just so many people to thank working on both cars. Two different crews, two different cars, to get to three finals in one weekend is fantastic,” Boychuk added.

In addition to Boychuk’s victory, Jeff Hamelink claimed his first Ironman of the season in the Pro Fuel category over 21-year-old sensation Ashley Bart and Bobby Lagana Jr. doubled up in Top Fuel.

Lagana (Scarsdale, N.Y.) also doubled up over the weekend in Top Fuel, ending Boychuk’s hopes of winning in two separate categories with his third straight victory.

In the final Lagana ran a surprising 4.951 E.T. at 278.81 mph to get around Boychuk who went up in smoke near halftrack. With the win Lagana takes over the Top Fuel championship lead with an impressive three victories in four finals during Nitro Jam’s “Western Swing.”

“There is a lot of luck involved in this sport and the last few races we have been mixing a lot of luck with some incredible tuning,” Lagana said. “What a job my dad, my brother, Bob Z, Wesley and the whole gang have done. It is very cool.”

“For the fans, that last run was for them. That was a little bit better than expected and to run that and make all these fans happy made my day,” Lagana said. “Overall the car is performing awesome and I have to give some of that credit to this awesome paint job, so Brian Olsen you better read this.”

In Pro Fuel Hamelink (Minneapolis, Minn.) brought home a well-deserved Ironman over Saturday night winner Ashley Bart. Hamelink, the only driver to compete in all five Nitro Jam events so far this season, picked up his first win in 10 tries this season.

“This is a really long time coming. This is event number five and it is the last day, so that is 10 races without a win. You would think somewhere in there we would come out on top,” Hamelink said. “And man it feels good to finally get it done. It wasn’t a pretty pass, but we will take it.”

Hamelink ran a 5.811/254.76 in the final to overtake Bart.

“We just can’t seem to hook to any of these tracks. Now we have it figured down to aerodynamics so we are going to make some changes before Grand Bend and see if we can get it to stick,” Hamelink said. “We have all kinds of power, we just haven’t been able to get it to the track.”

Hamelink is one of only two Americans to come away victorious in Edmonton, towing all the way from Minnesota to be a part of Canada’s biggest race.

In the first round Bart ran a session best 5.608 elapsed time at 258.71 miles-per-hour to get around Sereda and make her second straight final while Hamelink (6.101/243.41) defeated Falconer to set up the Canada versus U.S. Pro Fuel final.

Ashley Bart carved out some IHRA history!

Pro Modified returned to Nitro Jam competition in glorious fashion over the weekend and in that return Tommy Johanns will go down as the big winner. Johanns went three rounds on Sunday in the eight car qualified field, eventually meeting up with and eliminating Rick Distefano in the final.

Johanns, who qualified sixth on Saturday, ran a 6.334/222.99 in an easy win over Distefano who ran into trouble and was forced to shut if off early. Johanns also took down Dan Vogt and Yvonne Lucas to claim the Ironman in one of Nitro Jam’s oldest and most prestigious categories.

In Pro Nostalgia, the alcohol burning cousins to Prostalgia, two separate divisions were on hand competing in index racing.

In the Pro Nostalgia A category, running on a 6.90 index, Ron Sekura and his merry band of renegades claimed the victory with a near spot-on 6.994 elapsed time defeating Joey Steckler (6.946) in the final.

In the Pro Nostalgia B category, with a little slower 7.20 index, class veteran Darrell Webb (7.303) took home the Ironman by defeating Cody Anstead (7.243).

Two bike classes were also a part of Sunday’s championship action as Jason Arkinstall won in the nitro-powered Nitro Bike final over Ken Kent and Tony Clizbe defeated Gary Christopher to win the Pro Modified Bike category. Arkinstall ran a 6.672/204.54 in the Nitro Bike win and Clizbe put down a quick 7.364/190.81.

 
Click on photo to view event photo gallery

FORCE REGAINS LEAD WITH RECORD 130^th WIN

(By: NHRA Communications)

Drag racing icon John Force reclaimed the overall NHRA FC points lead with his NHRA-record 130^th career win Sunday at the 10^th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

The other winners at the 12^th race in the 23-race NHRA Full Throttle Series season were Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock).

After qualifying sixth, Force defeated Paul Lee, Matt Hagan and Bob Tasca to reach his 207^th career final round where he easily defeated Tim Wilkerson with a 4.317-second pass at 285.59 mph to Wilkerson’s stumbling 12.365 at 31.80.

“To get this win is really great. I’ll be honest, I was jacked up on so much Full Throttle I thought I was going to explode … oxygen, everything I could take just to keep up with the kids,” said the 61-year old Force, who left Bristol with a 58-point lead over teammate Robert Hight as he seeks to win his NHRA-record 15th championship. “I’m going to stay young and thank the fans who keep screaming and giving me the energy.”

Force, who drives the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, had led the point standings after the first nine races before ceding the lead momentarily to Hight for Races 10 and 11.

Wilkerson, meanwhile, wasn’t able to gain any positions in the point standings – he remained in ninth – but he and the Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford team did move 111 points clear of 11^th-place Jeff Arend with five races left in the Countdown to 10 regular season.

Schumacher and the U.S. Army team also qualified sixth and seemed fated for a second-round match up with rival and points-leader Larry Dixon and the Al-Anabi team in the second round, but No. 14 qualifier Morgan Lucas put that to rest with his upset of Dixon in the first round.

So Schumacher didn’t meet a higher qualified racer until the semis when he dispatched of No. 2 qualifier Cory McClenathan and the FRAM dragster team, and then he secured his fourth win of 2010 and 65^th of his career with a 3.982 at 306.53 in the final-round win over No. 4 qualifier Brandon Bernstein and the Copart/Lucas Oil team (4.054 at 272.56).

This was also Schumacher’s 100^th career final round.

“That was an amazing deal, me, Dixon (98) and (Joe) Amato were all at 99 (final rounds) and only one guy’s getting to 100 first. To be the first to go to 100 finals in Top Fuel is just awesome,” said Schumacher, who became the second Top Fuel driver and third overall to clinch his berth in the Countdown to 1.

In Pro Stock, Mike Edwards captured his NHRA-best eighth win before hitting second gear in his Penhall/Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP as final-round opponent Rickie Jones red-lighted.

“Bristol Dragway is probably my favorite place to come race, just an awesome place. The fans … they’re just race fans, no matter what kind of racing it is, they’re race fans,”

Edwards said. “It is my second time winning here and with so much heritage and tradition around here, this track and that big track over there, it’s just a real honor to come here and run good and win this race.”

SMITH WINS THIRD STRAIGHT NHRA GSA PRO MOD EVENT

Von Smith won his second straight NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series race in his Barwa/Al-Anabi Racing ’68 Camaro to take command of the points lead.

In the finals, Smith gave up 12-hundredths to Jay Payne at the tree, but he tracked him down with a 5.994 at 241.54 to Payne’s 6.039 at 240.36 in his new Ford Mustang. He now leads second-place Danny Rowe by 92 points.

Smith qualified fifth, but because of a series upsets on his half of the ladder he didn’t meet a higher-qualified driver until the final when he was matched up against No. 2 qualifier Payne.

En route to the final, Smith defeated No. 12 qualifier Tony Pontieri, No. 13 Rick Stivers and No. 8 Ray Commisso.

John Force’s FC win was his record 130th NHRA victory
(Bruce Biegler Photo)

41st NHRA Supernationals
June 10-13th, 2010
Englishtown, NJ

NHRA SUPERNATIONALS WRAP UP

Larry Dixon raced to his sixth Top Fuel victory of the season Monday afternoon at the rain-delayed NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

Bob Tasca, Mike Edwards and Michael Phillips also were winners at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.

Dixon posted a performance of 3.824 seconds at 320.05 mph in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster to take his 54th career victory by defeating Antron Brown, who finished runner-up at this event for the second straight time as his Matco Tools dragster lost traction near mid-track.

“Trophies like these – what I call the majors – always shine a little brighter for me,” Dixon said about winning for the sixth time in his career at the historic track. “This race, Indy, Pomona, Gainesville, and even Columbus back then, you want to do well. I feel blessed to be able to race well on tracks like these.”

Low ET of the event was set by Cory McClenathan who while driving the Fram-sponsored dragster, ran an amazing 3.752 secs on Friday night – the quickest run ever within NHRA’s new 1000 foot era.

Tasca claimed his first win of the season and third of his career by defeating Del Worsham in the Funny Car final. Initially the electronic timers showed Worsham’s Al-Anabi Racing Toyota as the winner, but the timing data later revealed Tasca actually crossed the finish line at the 1,000-foot mark first in his special themed Ford Parts.com Shelby Ford Mustang and NHRA officials overturned the outcome.

“It’s hard to put words together right now,” said an emotional Tasca said after winning at his longtime home track. “This is a special place for my family and to win here with all of my family here is just unbelievable. These are the moments you dream about as a kid laying in bed. This is a moment I’ll treasure forever. I know that my grandfather’s not here, but he’s looking on from above.”

Edwards took his seventh Pro Stock win of the season and third in a row by outrunning rookie Shane Gray in the final round. Edwards posted a 6.596 at 209.39 in his Penhall/Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP, while Gray’s Tire Kingdom GXP trailed with a 6.634 at 209.07.

“Last year was a dream season with the championship, but this year is truly a dream come true,” Edwards said. “I’ve done this a long, long time and to experience this kind of success, I just praise the Lord for his blessings. We have a great team and committed ourselves to doing this, and it’s good to see the results.”

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Phillips used a holeshot start on his Suzuki to defeat Steve Johnson for his second victory of the season and fifth of his career. Phillips covered the distance in 6.911 at 194.32 and just edged Johnson’s quicker Suzuki at the finish line, which ran a quicker, but losing, 6.886 at 194.63. With the victory, Phillips moves to second in the point standings.

“It’s been a great weekend to set the track record now that we’ve finally gotten a handle on the clutch, which has always been my biggest problem,” Phillips said. “I can’t thank Craig Treble enough for coming over and showing me some things.”

Smith Scores in Get Screened Pro Mod

Von Smith was able to fight off Mother Nature and a tough field in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park to get his second win of the season and in his career in the series.

In the finals, which were held on Monday due to rain postponing action on Sunday, Smith was paired up with Mike Castellana, who was in his first final round appearance of the year. At the start Smith held an early advantage and never looked back on his way to the end of the quarter mile. Smith posted a winning pass of 5.890 seconds at 247.52 mph to a losing run of 6.182 seconds at 196.87mph.

Smith qualified near the bottom of the ladder in 13th, but was able to string together four solid passes during the event to get the win. He defeated Troy Coughlin, Scott Ray and Raymond Commisso prior to making it to the final round.

Commisso, who is from Toronto, ON, set both top speed and low ET of the event during PM qualifying when he ran the R2B2 Racing Chevy Camaro to a thundering 5.815 secs at 250.64 mph.

Smith’s win came over a history making and first ever all-five seconds field that featured a sparkling quick bump spot of 5.980 secs.

Sport Loses Neil Parker

The Englishtown event also included an ultimate tragedy when TAFC class racer Neal Parker was fatally injured during a crash during the opening of qualifying on Friday.

In an incident eerily similar to that of Scott Kalitta here during 2008, Parker ran off the end of the race track at a high rate of speed.

NHRA and New Jersey State Police officials are continuing their investigation of the accident.

Everyone at DragRaceCanada.com on behalf of all Canadian drag racing fans expresses their sincere condolences to the entire Parker family and racing team.

Funny Car Winner: Bob Tasca III
(Click on image to view event photo gallery)

Route 66 Nationals
June 3-6th, 2010
Joliet, IL

(Pro Racing Summary Courtesy of NHRA Communications)

NHRA’s annual touchdown at fabulous Route 66 Raceway SW of Chicago was a crash and weather marred affair. Matt Hagan rode a national ET record setting performance to victory in Funny Car while Larry Dixon increased his overall Full Throttle points lead in Top Fuel. The event also marked the 26th running of the very prestigious Jegs Allstars Sportsman racing event.

Larry Dixon raced past defending world champion Tony Schumacher to grab the win at the rain-delayed United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway. Matt Hagan, Mike Edwards and LE Tonglet also won in their respective categories at the 10th of 23 events on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Dixon drove his Al-Anabi Racing dragster to a 3.823-second run at 323.12 mph past Schumacher to earn his fifth win of the season and 53rd of his career. It was also the sixth time this season that Dixon and Schumacher met each other during eliminations.

“Obviously this is big,” said Dixon. “Any time you win it is huge. The last couple of times we ran in the final, he has got the best of us. It was a long day, at the same time, not as long as Friday and it was definitely worth the wait. This track is the gold standard when sun is off of it. It is awesome. And a final round under the lights is so cool. This is what I grew up on. My dad raced a bunch of times at Orange County and Lions at night. Our sport is cool at night. I wish we raced through the summer on Saturday nights.”

With his final round appearance, Schumacher was able to move from third to second in the Top Fuel point standings, just behind first-place Dixon.

In Funny Car, Hagan not only stopped runner-up finisher Robert Hight’s current winning streak, but set the national record for time in the process. Hagan drove his DieHard Dodge Charger R/T to a 4.035 at 312.78, which was just enough to back up his semifinal time of 4.022-seconds to set the new national record and pick up those valuable 20 extra points in the process. It was also Hagan’s second career win.

“This was (crew chief) Tommy DeLago and John Medlen’s race,” said Hagan. “In the first race we won in Houston, I had to pedal the car but not here. This weekend, I had a great race car. We tested some stuff recently but they put what they know back in the race car this weekend. I told Tommy ‘That’s the race car I’m used to.’ It’s great to have that confidence and great to set the record and win the race.”

While his three-race winning streak came to an end, runner-up finisher Hight did take the points lead from team owner John Force with his final round appearance.

In Pro Stock, Edwards continued his dominance over the class and followed up his win in Topeka with his sixth win of the season. Edwards drove his Penhall/Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP to a 6.594 at 208.49 and past runner-up Jason Line.

“That’s what Pro Stock is all about,” said Edwards. “The first thing Jason said to me was ‘Man, you were late.’ What a great way to finish the day. We weren’t at our best today but we managed to pull off another win. It just feels great.”

Pro Stock Motorcycle rider LE Tonglet held off Steve Johnson to pick up his first career win in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. In only his 10th start, Tonglet rode his GT Motorsports Suzuki to a 6.935 at 190.38 to pick up his first win in just his second season of racing.

“My emotions are so high right now,” said Tonglet. “I’ve been waiting for this day all my life. GT (Tonglet, brother) won a few times, but to have one of my own is awesome. We’re on a tight budget and this might get us through New Jersey and maybe even Norwalk.”

Manzo leads Division 1 team to JEGS Allstars title (By Scott Woodruff)

With perennial frontrunner Frank Manzo leading the way, the team from the NHRA Northeast Division rallied to claim its fourth JEGS Allstars overall team title in the last five years. Manzo won the Top Alcohol Funny Car title for the eighth time in his career and was joined in the winner’s circle by fellow Northeast Division racers Joe Santangelo and Jason Kenny, who claimed wins in Super Stock and Super Gas, respectively. The wins enabled the Division 1 team to come from behind and win the overall title, and the $20,000 team bonus that goes with it, via a tie breaker over the Division 5 team. The JEGS Allstars is a special invitation only competition that is open to the best drivers in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series based on a year-long points competition within NHRA’s seven geographic regions.

Manzo, the driver of the Al-Anabi Monte Carlo defeated Division 2 racer Mickey Ferro in a close final round, 5.56 to 5.59 to seal the victory. Santangelo also chipped in with the big win over Division 5’s Justin Jenkins and Kenny got the best of Division 6 driver Mark Resen in the final of Super Gas.

The Division 5 team came close to capturing their first overall win, thanks to the efforts of members Michael Miller, who won in Super Comp, and Steve Domingues, who earned the title in Super Street. Heading into the final rounds, the Division 5 team had five members remaining while the Division 1 team had four.

Jim Whiteley claimed a win for the Division 7 team when he stopped Shawn Cowie in the Top Alcohol Dragster final. Defending champ Bruno Massel, who was eligible to return to the event as a blocker, scored a second-straight win in Comp when he defeated Frank Aragona Jr. of the Division 1 team in the final round. Other winners were Mark Faul of Division 6 (Stock Eliminator), Division 4’s Keith Raftery (Top Sportsman), and Ray Miller III of Division 2 (Top Dragster). All told, the champions received a share of the more than $120,000 posted by JEGS Mail Order for the event.

Division 3 racer Ricky Adkins, who was driving Mike Coughlin’s JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt, reached the second round of eliminations in the Top Sportsman class.

The members of the winning team shared in a $20,000 bonus courtesy of Jegs Mail Order.

Route 66 Nationals — Click To Connect to Photo Gallery
(Photos by: Bruce Biegler)

ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Nationals VI –  June 4-5^th, 2010  Martin MI

ADRL Invades Western Michigan (Courtesy of ADRL Communications)

The added pressure, expectations and attention that comes with landing a new major sponsor seems to have brought out the best in Josh Hernandez.

A race after advancing to the final in Richmond while debuting his new Fight Me MMA sponsorship, Hernandez and his ’57 Chevy took it a step further on Saturday, winning in Pro Extreme at the ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags VI at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI.

P/X Winner - Josh Hernandez

“To come out with a new sponsor and within two races have a win, that’s what we’re in it for,” Hernandez said. “To be in that winner’s circle, nothing makes me happier.

Hernandez left his stamp on the weekend in the finals, running a 3.66 at 206 miles per hour to knock off Alex Hossler.

Hernandez wasn’t the only one to entertain the raucous Martin crowd on a thrilling Saturday.

Pro Nitrous Winner: Lee Adkins

In Pro Nitrous, Lee Adkins picked up his first career win, denying No. 1 qualifier Pat Stoken his first title in the final round.

Gary White picked up his second straight win in Extreme 10.5, beating Billy Glidden in the finals to extend his recent reign in the division.

Ashley Owens made it three straight wins in Pro Extreme Motorcycle, extending his dominance with a holeshot win in the finals against Terry Schweigert.

John Montecalvo was the winner in Extreme Pro Stock, denying Brian Gahm a second straight win by running a 4.09 in the finals.

Both Montecalvo and White were No. 1 qualifiers who ended up in the winner’s circle. It was also the first chance for Martin fans to celebrate final-round victories after rain ended the two prior races prematurely.

(Photos by: David Ostaszewski)

PMRA Victoria Day Classic – May 22-23, 2010  Cayuga Ontario

Latino Prevails @ PMRA Opener

Pro Mod Winner: Eric Latino

It was a close race, but Eric Latino won the opening round of the 2010 Pro Modified Racing Association season.

 Held on the Cayuga Dragway of Toronto Motorsports Park in Cayuga, Ontario, Latino, of Port Perry, Ontario, won with a 6.47-second, 206-mph pass over Derek Hawker of Corbyville Ontario with a 6.51-second, 215 mph run.

The win was the first PMRA race for Latino and his 1938 Chevy Coupe.  For Hawker, driving his Atchison powered 1963 Corvette; it was his first race in PMRA competition. 

Latino qualified fifth in the field, and Hawker qualified in sixth spot.

 “We had a good day,” said Latino after the race, which opened the sixth season of PMRA racing. “We played it safe. We were consistent, and the car went down the track every single pass.”

In the semi-finals, Jeff Roth of New Dundee, Ontario, lost the combination with his 1941 Willys, losing traction and the round to Hawker. In the other semi, Dave Kulik Jr of East Aurora, New York with his 1967 Camaro lost to Latino.

Several PMRA regulars failed to qualify for the season opener, including three-time and reigning champion Bruce Boland of Hamilton, Ontario, Mark Nielsen of Brantford, Ontario, and Mike Cusimano of Rochester, New York. 

Boland was having problems getting his new 1963 Corvette set up, Nielsen had difficulties adjusting to the new Bruno automatic transmission in his 1968 Camaro, and the 1994 Corvette of Cusimano was having traction problems.

Last year’s Cayuga event winner, Ike Maier of Tottenham, Ontario, did qualifying number three in the eight-car field, but clipped the wall on his run and could not continue.

A record number of 21 entries were at Cayuga for the event. 

While Roth took out Gary Mater of Petrolia, Ontario with his twin-turbo 1938 Chevy, other first round losers included multi-time PMRA event winner Mike Stawicki of Medina, New York, who led the qualifying, winning the Marydel Homes – Qualifying Bonus with a 6.175-second pass; Dave Earhart of Strathroy, Ontario; and Sam Andreacchi of Toronto, Ontario.

In the Quick 32 Sportsman Series event presented by NAPA Auto Parts of 2010, Paolo Giust bested a large field to win in his Top Dragster over the Top Sportsman car of Steve Corriveau.

(Bruce Biegler Photo)

ADRL Speedtech U.S. Drags III –  May 21-22^nd, 2010  Petersburg, VA

Al-Anabi Cars Dominate ADRL VMP

The American Drag Racing League (ADRL) Speedtech U.S. Drags III marked only the second ADRL race of KH Al-Thani’s career, but in a Pro Extreme class loaded with top talent on a record-breaking weekend, it was the Qatar native who proved to be the quickest learner.

Al-Thani didn’t set any time or speed records with his supercharged 1968 Camaro on the eighth mile at Virginia Motorsports Park (VMP) on Saturday, but he did emerge as the most consistent Pro Extreme competitor, knocking off Joshua Hernandez in the championship round in front of a near-capacity crowd.

Al-Thani’s Al-Anabi Racing teammate Shannon Jenkins also won in Pro Nitrous, Gary White of Titan Motorsports prevailed in the Extreme 10.5 final, Brian Gahm successfully defended his 2009 Extreme Pro Stock event title and Ashley Owens scored his second consecutive Pro Extreme Motorcycle win. 

After qualifying second, Al-Thani knocked off veteran Brian Daniels, rookie Mick Snyder, and former two-time class champion Jason Scruggs to reach Hernandez, the winningest driver in Pro Extreme, in the final round.

Al-Thani turned in a strong 3.65-seconds pass at 210.60 mph to beat the 4.00 at 183.22 mph by Hernandez, who had to pedal his Fight Me MMA (mixed Martial Arts)-backed ’57 Chevy to regain traction.

Al-Thani, the 2009-10 Arabian Drag Racing League Pro Extreme champion, said having teammates like crew chief Frank Manzo and newcomers to the team, Tim and Kim Richards, were critical to his success.

“They’ve made a big difference,” Al-Thani said of the Richards’ tuning contribution. “You wouldn’t believe how many things they’ve changed on the car.”

Pro Extreme qualifying included a surprise pole sitter when Frankie “Mad Man” Taylor made the quickest run in “doorslammer” history to pace the field.

Taylor, an automotive repair shop owner from Dickinson, Texas, covered the VMP eighth mile with his supercharged 2005 Corvette in 3.60 seconds at 208.71 mph to edge the 3.64 at 210.97 combination by His Highness Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar for the top spot.

P/N Final - Smith Vs Jenkins

After celebrating his 56th birthday and the top qualifying spot on Friday, Jenkins followed up with a consistent performance on raceday that included overcoming a holeshot by Steve Vick in round one, winning with his own holeshot over Jim Halsey in round two and outrunning Al-Anabi teammate Burton Auxier in the semi-finals.

That set up an entertaining side-by-side race against “Tricky Rickie” Smith in the final round that began with the Pro Nitrous legends engaging in a short staging duel before Jenkins, known as “The Iceman,” left with the starting-line advantage, then went 3.89 at 194.27 mph in his ’68 Camaro to beat Smith’s 3.95 at 188.83 in a similar ride and earn his first ADRL win in 10 months.

“Rickie’s always going to do what Rickie does,” the Tuscaloosa, Alabama-based driver said of his longtime rival making him wait on the line. “But that’s okay; I just do what I always do, too. It’s fun to race against him.”

In Extreme 10.5, New Market, Alabama’s Gary White emerged as the Speedtech U.S. Drags III champ, having beaten Dwayne Wolfe, David Hance, Jeff Naiser and Todd Moyer, setting low elapsed time (ET) of each round along the way.

In the final, Moyer made his best pass of the day with a game 4.03 at 194.55, but White left with a sizeable holeshot and set low ET of the meet for the class with a 3.95 run at 186.74 mph in his turbocharged, six-cylinder 2007 Scion.

“My guys have the Titan car running so well right now they’ve made it easy for me,” said White, who started from the second qualifying position. “It’s really a pleasure to drive it right now.”

Gahm, from Lucasville, Ohio, qualified his Extreme Pro Stock ’07 Mustang in the seventh position, then led stripe-to-stripe over every one of his opponents, including Cale Aronson, Dean Goforth, John Montecalvo and Cary Goforth in the final.

In a classic Ford vs. Chevy showdown, Gahm left first, then won with a 4.10 pass at 175.07 to Goforth’s 4.12 at 175.57 mph in his ’08 Cobalt.

“That’s fun to do,” Gahm stated. “There are so many great teams out here that it really gets you up on the wheel to race every one of them. This is the best racing of its kind anywhere in the world.”

Owens, of Decatur, Alabama, did almost exactly as he did at the ADRL’s previous race last month in Georgia, only this time he left with not only the race win and a new ET record; he reset the official Pro Extreme Motorcycle speed record, too.

After qualifying his Fast by Gast 2010 Suzuki on top with a then-record 4.06 pass, Owens cruised past Derrick Holloway and Eric McKinney before officially lowering the class elapsed time mark to 4.05 in a semi-final win over Kim Morrell, who earlier in the day had become the ADRL’s quickest and fastest female bike rider.

In the final round, Owens met up with number-two starter Terry Schweigert from British Columbia, Canada, who made a decent 4.16 run at 169.40, but it was no match for another 4.06 at a record 178.21 mph by Owens.

“That felt like a near-perfect run,” Owens said. “I like to think we can always go a little faster, but I’ve done this long enough to know you eventually reach a wall that can be hard to break through. We’ll see how it goes at the next race.”

(Posted by Ian Tocher)

IHRA National Event History

Canadian racers have won a number of IHRA National Event titles.
Legendary Gary Beck was the first – But who will be next?

Between 2011 — 2024 IHRA race formats were designated as exhibition events – not regarded as “Nationals Event” again until 2025. 

NHRA Summit Southern Nationals – Get Screened America Pro Mod Series
May 14-16^th, 2010 Commerce GA

Gullqvist becomes first European racer to win on NHRA tour!  –   (By: Rob Geiger) 

Five days later “Gully” is the toast of drag racing after becoming the first European in the 59-year history of the sport to win an NHRA national event.

“I’m at a loss for words,” Gullqvist said from the winner’s circle at Atlanta Dragway. “This was my third final in a row dating back to the European FIA championship last fall. I lost that one because I made a little mistake and then I had another final here in Gainesville (Fla.) in March driving another one of Roger’s cars and lost that one as well with a red light so I was really anxious to get this win, especially under the circumstances of Raymond’s father passing away.”

Gullqvist was surprised to learn he was the first European racer to win an NHRA event but was pleased to bring attention to the FIA tour.

“I’m heavily involved with European drag racing and we have a good thing going over there,” he said. “I’m not sure people here know how big it is but we have 50, 60, 70,000 people at our races. Pro Mod usually draws 50 or more cars at each event. If this (win) can bring our kind of drag racing to more American fans then I am very happy. 

 “I know lots of people in Sweden and all of Europe were pulling for us this weekend. I see the notes on Facebook and I got many messages on my mobile phone. It’s been very exciting and I’m sure I will have a great reception when I return home.

 “This is a win for Europe, for Sweden, for Canada (Commisso’s native country), and for America. I’m very happy to bring this to Roger and his team.”

 This was the first victory of the year for Burgess’ multi-car race team, which fields the Pro Mod hot rods of Melanie Troxel, Burgess, and Commisso. The team also supports Troxel’s In-N-Out Burger Funny Car.

 “It’s quite a group Roger has put together and it makes it very easy for the driver to be surrounded by so much talent,” Gullqvist said. “Frank Hawley (team consultant) talked to me after Round 1 (Saturday evening) and we found a way to adjust some things in Raymond’s car to make me more comfortable. After that it was just a matter of driving to my best ability.”

 Gullqvist looked very relaxed Sunday, beating Scott Ray, Von Smith, and top qualifier Mike Janis in the final to take the win. His final-round performance was convincing as he left with a huge .057-second advantage (.061 to .118) and rode away for the victory with a 6.006 at 244.03 mph to Janis’ 6.081 at 237.00 mph.

 “Maybe the race with Von Smith was the one I feared the most because he has been running so well,” Gullqvist said. “I saw his car for a bit but when our Al Billes horsepower kicked in that was all I needed. That’s when I started smiling.

“Now, of course, I will be smiling for a long time.”

(Bruce Biegler Photo)

NHRA AAA Insurance Mid West Nationals – Get Screened America Pro Mod Series

Apr. 30-May 2^nd, 2010  Madison IL

Qatar is the Present in Pro Mod!

Pro Mod Winner - Von Smith

Tennessee-based driver Von Smith was able to race his way to victory over a tough class of NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series entrants during the event at Gateway International Raceway.   It was the third race of the year for the Professional category which is a new addition to the NHRA drag racing circuit this season.

Driving for the Qatar-based Barwa Racing Team, Smith got around the No. 1 qualifier Danny Rowe in the second round battle between supercharged Chevy Camaros, and from there made it into the finals where he out powered Dennis Radford for the win.   Smith posted a run at 5.933 secs at 243.81 mph compared to Radford’s 6.088 secs 233.44 mph effort driving his unique nitrous-injected Plymouth Duster.

This was the first win for Smith in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series.

“I hope that is the first of many and it is a blessing to have everything go as good as it did,” said Smith following the race.  “It’s a dream come true for us as we want to get back on track and we’ve had our back against the wall for some time and it’s worked out really well.”

Photo by: David Ostaszewski