ADRL Safety-Kleen Dragpalooza V Extreme 10.5

Photos by Gena White ~ Text by Danny White

Billy Glidden won yet another Extreme 10.5 race in his short ADRL career. Glidden has lost only once officially in ADRL competition since joining the tour in the middle of the year in 2008. Billy ran a good 4.128, 177.23 to qualify number two behind Moyer. He ran 4.115, 176.63 to 4.489, 158.37 to begin eliminations. Glidden set a new ADRL Extreme 10.5 record with a 4.100 that almost broke the 4.0 barrier to beat Michelle Wilson’s shutoff 10.237, 78.33. In the semifinals, Glidden beat the heavy Chevy of Ulsch 4.115, 175.46 to 4.235, 182.53. In the finals, Glidden disposed of young Jake Carlton 4.143, 175.23 to 4.194, 175.98, even though Carlton had a perfect .000 reaction time.

Jake Carlton entered his first ever ADRL race and made a heck of an impact. Carlton has raced Automatic Pro Mod and Pro Street around his Florida home in the Nelson Racing Engines powered Grand Am. Jake’s first race on the 10.5W’s was awesome. He ran a great 4.187, 174.80 to qualify number four and proceeded to live in the 4.20’s in eliminations. Jake beat Ray Conover 4.226 to 4.469, 166.13, in the first round. In the second round, Carlton outran Kenny Hubbard 4.231, 175.16 to 4.462, 175.62. Jake lasted until the finals where he fell to Billy Glidden. Carlton’s perfect .000 light and a 4.194, 175.98 were not enough to beat Glidden’s 4.14, 175.23.

Chuck Ulsch tried to equal his preseason testing numbers of 4-teens and 190 MPH at Baytown, but he came up a bit short. Ulsch came into the show as one of the contenders for the Flowmaster $5000 bonus and he came close in the Gil Mosbley heavy Camaro with a good 4.213 at 183.07. That run got Ulsch the sixth spot and the right to run Seth Johnson. Ulsch beat Johnson 4.295, 181.74 to 5.778, 88.27. Chuck then took out the Team Titan Scion driven by Gary White with a 4.259, 182.85 to 4.578, 175.68. In the semifinals, Ulsch fell to the lightweight small block of Glidden 4.115, 175.68 to 4.259, 182.55.

Michael Neal had his best ever weekend in ADRL competition in the wild Glass Doctor Chevy II of Tom Ashley. Neal ran several low 4.30’s en route to a semi final finish. He ran a good 4.322, 175.75 to earn the ninth spot and the right to face Mike Hill in the first round. Michael beat Hill 4.356, 175.41 to a 6.100, 76.70. In the second round, Neal caught a break when Todd Moyer redlighted on a 4.34 pass; that let Neal take the win at a pedaling 5.662, 101.58. Michael’s great day ended in the semis when he lost to fellow Floridian Jake Carlton, 4.206, 175.21 to 4.421, 171.99.

Todd Moyer had a great weekend in Baytown. Moyer won the $5000 bonus for the first official 185 MPH pass in ADRL Extreme 10.5 on Saturday. Todd might have done it on Friday if he had not left before the tree was activated. Moyer ran 187.05 in the second session while running 4.122. The elapsed time was good enough for the first spot. Moyer ran a good 4.186 at a whopping 187.63 on solo run in the first round. Moyer redlighted away a 4.37, 185.92 to his competitor’s winning 5.662, 101.58 in the second round.

Gary White has been the definition of consistency in preseason testing, but it all went awry in Baytown. White was unable to string together a series of consistent runs in the Team Titan Scion owned by Nero Dawila. Gary ran 4.139, 175.84 to qualify number three on his best run. He beat alternate Spiro Pappas 4.156, 175.94 to 6.384, 88.75, but then lost in the second round to Chuck Ulsch with an off pace 4.578, 157.88 to Chuck’s 4.259, 181.25.

Kenny Hubbard ran a great 4.45 in Wayne Long’s River Rat, but unfortunately, it was in testing. The rest of Hubbard’s passes were marred by traction issues, landing him outside the field. Kenny beat Randy Matlock in the first round 5.104, 157.12 to 5.274, 153.82. He got it back together in the second round with a 4.462, 175.62, but it trailed Jake Carlton's 4.231, 175.16.

Michelle Wilson just could not get things going her way this weekend. Wilson suffered issues from carburetor problems to broken rear ends. Husband H.T, Wilson and crew thrashed to get the candy apple red Firebird to run down the track. The team got one good pass when Michelle ran 4.417, 169.40, and it enabled her to run from the number ten spot in the first round. Wilson got around Steve Gorman in the first round in a pedaling 5.661, 143.40 win. The team’s troubles continued in the second round as Michelle’s 10.237, 78.33 fell to Billy Glidden’s 4.100, 177.35.

Former ADRL World Champion Steve Gorman spent the weekend shaking down his new ride, the former Billy Harper Dodge Viper. The team got better which each run in testing and qualifying, finally climaxing with a 4.28 pass in the final round of qualifying. The first round against Michelle Wilson brought on excessive tire spin off the line for Gorman. Steve tried to pedal the green Mopar, but his weekend ended with a big boom down track and a coasting 11.451, 46.42 run. Wilson ran a troubled but winning 5.661, 143.40.

Mike Hill had an up and down weekend at Baytown. The Team VIP ride either ran strong numbers or went up in smoke. Hill ran a good 4.19 in testing and backed it up with a 4.319, 174.73 in qualifying. That run landed Hill in the number eight spot. Mike also ran a series of throwaway runs where he suffered from shake and spin problems. Hill lost in the first round to Mike Neal's 4.356, 175.41 when he went up in smoke on a 6.100, 76.70 run.

Seth Johnson made his ADRL Extreme 10.5 debut a good one in his Outlaw 10.5 Mustang. The Houston-based racer did not make any passes on Friday in testing or in the first qualifying round. Seth got his sleek back Mustang into the show with a solid 4.449, 167.55 to start at number 11. Johnson had to face number six qualifier Chuck Ulsch in the first round, and Ulsch sent the local racer home with a 4.45 to a losing 5.778, 88.27.

Ford racer Ray Conover made his ADRL debut in Baytown in his rainbow striped Mustang. Conover made the long tow from Wyoming to run his Procharger-equipped Ford. Despite struggling to hook up on the skinny 10.5W’s tires, Ray was able to run many 4.40 second passes. Conover's 4.469, 166.13 fell to Jake Carlton's 4.226, 175.41 in the first round.

If the ADRL gave out a cool car award, Randy Matlock would surely be in the running. The sleek Missouri-based 57 Chevy ran many mid-four second passes, culminating in a 4.475, 158.17 best in -qualifying. Matlock raced Kenny Hubbard in the first round of eliminations but lost with a 5.274, 152.52 to Hubbard’s 5.104, 157.12.

Former Pro 5.0 star Wild Bill Devine was running in his first ever ADRL race at Baytown. Bill got his supercharged small block Ford to run 4.40’s, and qualified at 4.510, 156.64. The Florida based racer faced off unsuccessfully against longtime nemesis, Billy Glidden, losing to Glidden’s 4.115, 176.63 with a 4.489, 158.39.

Outlaw 10.5 superstar Spiro Pappas also made his ADRL debut in Baytown. Pappas struggled with engine issues all weekend that kept the Illinois racer outside of the qualified field. The best Spiro could run was a 5.696 at 88.75. Pappas got in the show as an alternate but again engine problems keep him from running his best. In the first round, Spiro fell to Gary White’s 4.156, 175.94 with a 6.384, 81.72. Pappas has plans to build an ADRL Extreme 10.5 car this year.

Jeff Naiser was one of several racers to make his ADRL debut at Baytown. Naiser was at the wheel of the 2002 Pontiac Grand Am that A.J. Ashe raced in Texas Pro Stock Association last year. Jeff ran a good 4.211, 168.22 in the Friday night session, but damaged the engine on the run and was unable to continue racing.

Dustin Miller ran several 4.40’s in Friday testing in his cool nitrous small block Olds Cutlass. The Kansas based racer ran a 4.501, 162.63 Friday night to earn the number fourteen spot. Miller broke on that qualifying run and was unable to continue for the rest of the weekend.

Former Pro 5.0 star Doug Mangrum had a bad weekend at Baytown. The centrifugal supercharged Ford just never sounded right all weekend. Mangrum struggled on every run he made, but made the field with a 4.901, 147.96 run. The run landed the Bells, Texas, racer on the bump, but he was unable to continue racing unfortunately allowing Todd Moyer to take a 4.186, 187.63 solo.

H.T. Wilson had a busy yet frustrating weekend with the family’s Extreme 10.5 cars. H.T. was busy trying to get his wife Michelle’s car to run up to its potential, and tried to get his own Camaro into the field. H.T. failed to get down the track under pull power in his Hans Fuestal powered machine, running a best ET of 6.121 at only 88.99. Wilson did run 131.72 mph on an earlier pass.

One racer who was unable to get a clocking in qualifying was Nick Williams at the wheel of Danny Humphrey’s’ slick BAE Hemi powered, satin black Outlaw 10.5 Corvette. The team did not make a run on Friday, leaving them two tries on Saturday to try to make the field. Nick was shut off in the second session, and left before the tree was activated in third and final session. This left the team with no timed runs all weekend long.