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Pro Nitrous Photos from Dragpalooza IV
Text by Danny White~ Photos by Gena White
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| Jim Halsey took the ADRL Minuteman trophy back to Maryland with a win over a tough field of cars. Halsey qualified with a 4.009 and ran 4.004, 4.020, 4.03, and 4.03 in eliminations. The Fulton powered Camaro built by Tim McAmis is set to be replaced by an all-new car built just for ADRL Pro Nitrous. |
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| Randy Weatherford debuted his beautiful new Camaro with a great runner up
finish at Baytown. Weatherford qualified with a 4.040 182.38. Weatherford dodged a huge bullet when Billy Harper crossed the centerline in the first round after Weatherford suffered a huge nitrous backfire down track. Weatherford took out the number one qualifier Pat Stoken in the Semis. The blue
on blue flamed Camaro ran a best of 4.03 this weekend. |
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| Harold Martin made a fine debut for his new sponsor the National Guard this weekend. Martin ran his best ever of 4.005 187.60 for the second spot almost breaking into the fours. Martin took his EFI powered car into the semis
defeating 2007 champion Jamie Hancock in the first round and Shannon Jenkins in
the second round. Martin was defeated in the semis by Jim Halsey when he shut
off early to a 5.114 99.32. |
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| Pat Stoken took the top spot at Baytown with a great 3.986 186.56 in the first
round of qualifying. Stoken then ran the fastest run ever in ADRL Pro Nitrous
history with a 188.67 pass in his sherbet orange Camaro according to Bret
Kepner. Stoken ran a 3.98, 4.01, and 4.01 before falling off to a 4.420 against
Stan Allen. Stoken shut off to a 6.76 73.64 run against Weatherford whose less-troubled 4.37 put the Montana based out for the weekend in the semis. |
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| Shannon Jenkins' new Black Ice Camaro by David Janes was not ready for Baytown
so his raced Mike Castellana's beautiful new Firebird. Castellana had run 3.98 in testing at Orangeburg Dragstrip the week before but Jenkins did not match
those times. Jenkins ran a 4.068 181.67 best in the Brandywine beauty in qualifying to garner the number seven spot. Jenkins made two off pace runs in eliminations, falling to Harold Martin in the second round. |
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| Rickie Smith's return to the ADRL was a good one in his Jerry Bickel built Vette. Smith qualified number six with a 4.06. Smith broke into the three for the first time in the first round when he beat Delon Joseph with a great 3.994
183.82. Halsey beat Smith in the second round by hundredth of a second 4.03 to
4.04. |
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| The legendary grudge racer Stan Allen had a good weekend in the Bankston Boyz Camaro. The Camaro of Allen featured fresh paint following last year accident at Rockingham. Allen qualified number eight with his best pass of the weekend with 4.068 181.67. Allen got a single after Todd Tutterow suffered a fire and he fell to Pat Stoken in the second round. Stoken and Allen both pedaled on the run but Stoken recovered first with a 4.42 to Allen's 4.50. |
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| Dennis Radford looked to start the 2008 season like he ended last year with his
victory at Ennis. Radford had run 4.00 in testing the week before at Baytown.
Radford ran 4.04 to get the fifth spot to face Tim Savell in the first round. Savell and Radford had raced each other at Ennis in the finals last year and this year the results were the same. Radford beat Savell but broke in to the
threes with a 3.991 182.90 while doing it! This was his best ever run for the too cool Cuda. Radford fell off the pace in the second round to a 4.22 that
Randy Weatherford covered with his 4.04. |
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| Billy Harper had an up and down weekend at Ennis. Harper brought two Vipers to race at Baytown, one to race in Pro Nitrous and the new one to test in Pro
Extreme. Harper ran a 5 in the old car in the first round of qualifying and then laid the quickest nitrous run ever with a 3.92 187 run in the new car. Harper removed both cars from their classes and entered the new car in Pro Nitrous. The 3.92 would have stood up for the third spot in PX. Harper luck went south after that with a 4.17 got him the number 13 spot. Harper crossed the centerline in the first round against Randy Weatherford. |
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| Delon Joseph made his ADRL debut in Baytown with his ex Randy Weatherford Corvette. The Chambers Bros. backed car performed well for the veteran racer. Joseph made the field with a 4.155 178.14 using Fulton power. Delon improved in the first round with a 4.144 177.32 but it was not enough to beat Rickie Smith's best ever 3.994. |
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| Jamie Hancock came to Texas to defend his 2007 Pro Nitrous championship but was
racked with troubled runs all Saturday. The Alabama teenager ran 4.441 to get into the field and had to face Harold Martin in the first round. Martin beat Hancock 4.05 to 4.53. |
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| Doug Riesterer had tire shake problems in Baytown. The lightweight Camaro got
into the field with a 4.579 155.06 to gather the lost spot. Pat Stoken did not take Riesterer lightly in the first round. Stoken's 4.01-covered Riesterer's 4.413. |
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| Tim Savell wanted to have another race like Ennis last year where he reached the finals. That was not meant to be this weekend for the Bankston Boyz team. Savell got the car to run a 4.171 166.50 best for the weekend. Savell faced
Ennis final round opponent Dennis Radford again with the same results. Radford
best ever of 3.99 beat Savell's 4.22. |
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| Johnny Pilcher had a tough weekend at Baytown. Pilcher and his crew could not
get the car to run near it 4.00 best ever times he ran last year at Ennis. The best Picher could do was a 4.142 178.90 that was good for the number ten spot. Pilcher had trouble in the first round falling to Jenkins with a coasting 5.372 85.62. |
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| Todd Tutterow's debut was going good until the first round when a fuel line came loose starting a fire in Randy Weatherford's Cavalier. Before that
happened Tutterow qualified number nine with a good 4.118 180.86 in the Fulton
powered Cavalier in his first race in the car. Look for the team to recover from this and win some races this year. |
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| Burton Auxier was another racer who did not have a great weekend at Baytown.
Auxier had run a three at the last ADRL race at Ennis, but could only run a best of 4.20 170.41 here in Baytown. Auxier is planning to have Tommy Mauney to build a new 68 Firebird. |
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| Keith Baker failed to make the Pro Nitrous field in Baytown. The repainted CCT Racing Vette had a run a great 4.02 in testing this year. The best Baker could do was a tire shaking 4.962 121.84, landing him the first alternate
spot. |
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| Kenny Rucker's Blue Smoke Salsa Willys was unable to get down the Baytown track on any of his passes. The best the flamed Willys could do was a 5.254 106.01. Rucker later tried a test run that had equal results for the racer. |
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| Terry Murphy was lucky to be racing in Baytown after a starting line fire
heavily damaged the Punisher Corvette. T.J. Harrill allowed the Murphy team to
borrow the team's Pro Nitrous Willys for the weekend. Murphy had problems on both of his runs in Baytown. The first was tire shaked filled aborted run and the second run he was shut off on the starting line. Murphy ran a best of 10.762 55.21 in the Willys. |
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| Josh Chester had a bad weekend in the Chester Family Camaro. The team made the long tow from the Carolinas only to break on the first pass. The team was unable to fix the problem with the Camaro. |
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| Steve Vick showed up in Baytown with a primer job on his 63 Corvette in place
of the usual American flag design. Vick, like other racers, had tire shake issues all weekend long. The best the little Corvette could do was a 5.261 156.12. |
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