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ADRL Pro Extreme DNQs at Houston
Text by Danny White ~ Photos by Gena White
The Pro Extreme field was tough at the ADRL Dragapalooza race held at Houston Motorsports Park. There were 16 DNQs at the race, excluding Dan Bandish who crashed in testing with his new 63 Corvette and Bill Kuhlman, who also crashed. These car tried hard to make the final field which had an ungodly 4.00 second bump. For a variety of reasons, each of these cars failed to make the field but they sure pushed the qualifiers to their best efforts and were a huge and enjoyable part of the overall scene.
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| Jerry Hicks struggled all weekend long in the nitro powered 'Texas Outlaw'. The team's best run in the last session was a 4.994, 94.94. That run was good for the number 30 spot in the field. |
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| Bennie McDonald was shut off twice in his green Corvette. On the final qualifying attempt, McDonald had problems. The run was a coasting 5.31, 97.55 pass for the number 31 spot. |
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| Wes Johnston debuted a new 18-71 blower combo and new paint at Houston. The new paint looked good but the blower did not. Johnston banged the blower on his only pass of 7.553, 68.94. |
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| Tom Ashley stepped up the performance in his stock bodied 67 Chevy II this year at the ADRL Dragapalooza. The 4.215, 169.62 was still short of the 4.00 bump set by the Hermanator. The run was good for the number twenty spot. |
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| Kelly Martin made the ADRL P/E field last year at Kennedale with a 4.03. This year's 4.037 at 179.07 in Mickey Pyla's 57 Chevy landed him in the number 18 spot at Houston. |
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| Jeff Balton only made one qualifying run in the 'Signman' Monte Carlo. The car ran a 4.351, 155.82. Parts breakage put the team on the trailer for the rest of the race. |
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| Chip King brought his rebuilt Charger to Houston. It was the one he crashed at Milan last year. King arrived late on Saturday and only got two runs in. A 4.62 at 115.71 fell way short of qualifying. |
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| Quick 8 legend Hugh Scott came to Houston with one of Scotty Cannon's old nitrous Willys. Scott had handling problems and wheelstanding issues too all weekend long. The Willys ran 4.252, 158.23 in qualifying for the number 21 spot. Scott later ran a shut off 4.15 in testing. |
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| Chris Smith was the number one alternate in his family's Camaro. The much updated machine ran its best ever at 4.019 at 175.85. That was better than the 4.06 Smith ran at ADRL race at Kennedale. |
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| A surprise DNQ was Pro Mod legend Tommy Mauney in Terry Leggett's new Mustang. The car has run solid threes in testing, but could only run 4.132 at 178.94 at the ADRL opener at Houston. |
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| Travis Swearingen ran in the threes in time trials, but could not in qualifying. The team suffered through severe tire shake with the 'Junkyard Willys'. A 4.59, 123.56 landed Travis in the number 27 spot. |
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| Don Wootton made his return to Pro mod racing with his new 52 Chevrolet. This is Don's second 52 Chevrolet Pro Modified race car. In his first ADRL race, Wootton ran a 4.42, 129 shut off run for the number 25 spot. Wootton later ran a 4.30 in testing. |
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| Dewayne Watkins had a bad weekend in his 57 Chevrolet. On his only qualifying run, Watkins could only run a 4.47 at 105.98. The primered 57 Chevy broke the rear end on the run, putting it on the trailer for the rest of the weekend. |
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| Steve Wiley is a newcomer to ADRL Pro Extreme racing in the 'Texas Grim Reaper' Camaro. Wiley has run Pro Sreet in the past with a back halfed Camaro. The good looking car showed promise with a 4.26, 157.34 run on Saturday afternoon. |
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| Frankie Taylor could not his the Corvette down the track in qualifying. The team struggled to run a 4.83 at 144.37. Frankie later ran a 4.05 on Saturday night and a 3.99 on Sunday night. |
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| TOPMA president Gaylen Smith debuted his new Willys in Houston. The former Alan Pittman Willys looked good. Smith ran a coasting 4.258 at 159.09 for the number 22 spot. |
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