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ADRL ADDS PRO STOCK CHALLENGE

Engine builder Sonny Leonard (left) and ADRL President Kenny Nowling are all smiles after announcing the Inaugural Extreme Pro Stock Challenge presented by Purvis Ford-Lincoln-Mercury to be contested within ADRL national events at Budd’s Creek, MD, and Rockingham, NC, later this year.
RADFORD, VA (July 5, 2008) —The Flowmaster American Drag Racing League (ADRL) presented by the National Guard announced today that it has added mountain-motor Extreme Pro Stock as an experimental class for two of its remaining races in 2008, with the possibility of making it a full-time class in 2009 and beyond.

The two races will make up the inaugural Sonny’s Extreme Pro Stock Challenge presented by Purvis Ford-Lincoln-Mercury. The Challenge will be contested as part of the inaugural ADRL 1-800-Go-Guard.com U.S. Drags at Maryland International Raceway in Budd’s Creek, MD, and Hushpower Dragstock V at Rockingham Dragway in Rockingham, NC.

“I feel good about it because it gives the Pro Stock guys more places to race with basically the same type engines; naturally aspirated 800-cubic-inch motors that make about 1,900 horsepower,” said Pro Stock engine builder Sonny Leonard of Sonny’s. “They can run 4-ohs in the eighth mile, so I think they’ll put on a good show here with the ADRL. I think it will be very exciting for the spectators and sponsors, too.”

ADRL President Kenny Nowling said he also thinks adding Extreme Pro Stock will benefit everyone involved.

“We’ve known for quite some time that several Pro Stock team owners and drivers have been interested in racing with the ADRL, but we just had to wait until the time was right to invite them over,” Nowling said. “Well, that time is now and I think creating this two-race Pro Stock Challenge, thanks to help from Sonny and Robert Patrick over at Purvis Ford, will make the perfect introduction for the class to our fans and sponsors.”

ABOUT FLOWMASTER
Flowmaster, Inc. is housed in two ultra-modern facilities in Santa Rosa and West Sacramento, California, together totaling over 400,000 square feet. Flowmaster employs over 250 workers dedicated to building the highest quality U.S.-made exhaust products available. Flowmaster’s product line includes exhaust products for Performance Street, Muscle Cars, Trucks, Street Rods, RVs, Motorhomes, and all types of race applications. With more than 400 different muffler models, 370-plus exhaust systems and numerous exhaust accessories available, Flowmaster offers the choice to fit your specific vehicle needs, or your sound preference from “wild to mild.”

ABOUT THE NATIONAL GUARD
The National Guard is the oldest component of the Armed Forces of the United States and one of the nation’s longest enduring institutions. The National Guard operates in all 50 states, three territories (Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands) and the District of Columbia.

ABOUT THE ADRL
Based in O’Fallon, Missouri, the American Drag Racing League is the nation’s premier sanctioning body for the sport of eighth-mile drag racing. The professional categories featured in the ADRL are Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Extreme 10.5, Pro Nitrous, and Pro Extreme, the quickest doorslammer class in all of drag racing. The 2008 Flowmaster ADRL series presented by the National Guard consists of nine national events run throughout the United States.

Funny Car midseason review: ‘Wilk’ holds lead and keeps building it

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With three event wins, no DNQs, and only two first-round losses this season, Tim Wilkerson has built a comfortable points lead in Funny Car.

You have to go way back to 2000 to find a time when one of the John Force Racing cars or Ron Capps wasn’t leading the Funny Car points heading into the Western Swing. Back then, Jerry Toliver had the points lead and held it just two more races before Force took over en route to his eighth straight title, and you have to then go way back to Bruce Larson, who led the points wire to wire in 1989, to find another occasion when the Force cars weren’t in the driver’s seat.

Yet halfway through the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, a new hero has emerged from the Midwest in the person of Tim Wilkerson, who not only took over the points lead, the first of his career, with his victory in Madison but also has built on it since. In this second in a series of midseason reviews, we take a look at the Funny Car season to date.

Wilkerson, at the wheel of his Springfield, Ill.-based Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet, has expanded on a slim 24-point edge in the five races since and now owns an impressive 151-point gap on his closest pursuer, former world champ Tony Pedregon, who in 2003 as Force’s second driver led the standings that season entering the Swing and became the champ at season’s end.

After stumbling out of the blocks with back-to-back first-round losses in Pomona and

Phoenix, Wilkerson has made his way forward based on amazing consistency. He has lost in the first round just those two times and has since been the No. 1 qualifier four times, proving that he’s not only steady but quick. He has scored three times this season, adding Wallys in Las Vegas and Englishtown to his Madison trophy and was runner-up in

Topeka to Force.

He’s just one of three drivers – Pedregon and Capps being the others – to qualify at every race this season and owns a 22-9 win-loss record.

“Our Levi, Ray & Shoup Impala is running well,” said Wilkerson. “We’re not hurting parts, I seem to be making pretty good tuning decisions, my driving has helped us a few times, and the crew is doing a super job. So I’d say everything is working in our favor right now.

“You know, when I moved up in points, I started worrying about staying up there, and I got conservative,” added Wilkerson, who qualified just 14th in Topeka, “but I realized that I started the season out by being aggressive, so I need to go back to being aggressive again.”

Former world champ Tony Pedregon also has a perfect qualifying record and three wins this season, including at the most recent event.

He’d better.Pedregon is beginning to breathe down his neck after a big win in

Norwalk, also his third of the season, and only a pair of monumental engine explosions and five first-round losses prevent him from being even closer with his Dickie Venables-tuned Q HorsePower Chevy.

Pedregon, who went wire to wire in

Gainesville, qualifying No. 1 and winning the event just a few weeks after suffering burns in a fire at the season opener, is bad news for his competitors once he reaches the late rounds, having cashed in the last five times he advanced to the final. He has raced from sixth place after the

Madison race to second, blowing past Ashley and John Force and their teammate Robert Hight as well as his brother and teammate, former world champ Cruz Pedregon.

Ashley Force, who earned her first points lead when she was runner-up in Las Vegas and held it for two races before Wilkerson took it, sits third, but just four points behind Pedregon. She has already made history as the first female points leader in the class and as its first event winner when she scored in Atlanta – beating her famous father in the final – and was runner-up in

Houston. The lone blemish on her record is a surprising DNQ in

Phoenix, but she’has qualified in the top half of the field at every race but one since, including a No. 2 berth in Englishtown.

Hight and her dad are right behind her, in fourth and fifth, though, despite each owning a race win – Hight in Pomona, Force in

Topeka — neither has had the kind of success that they’re used to, and both have a DNQ on their books.

Hight’s Auto Club Mustang is just beginning to come around now that crew chief Jimmy Prock has fixed some fuel-system woes, and Hight was the No. 1 qualifier and runner-up in

Norwalk. After holding the points lead through the season’s first three races, he has slid down as far as sixth in

Chicago before mounting a comeback.

Force, in his comeback season after a near-career-ending wreck last September, has been as high as third in points on three occasions and has been tutoring new driver Mike Neff, who sits an impressive ninth in what is shaping up to be a rookie-of-the-year season.

“I am excited that all the Mustangs are in the top 10,” said Force. “I got bumped down a little, but at the end of the day, making the Countdown is what is important. Our cars are starting to race.”

Del Worsham and tuner and father Chuck won in Houston but need more such magic to make it into the top 10 and hang on to a Countdown spot.

Between the senior Force and Neff rest Cruz Pedregon, Gary Densham, and Capps, and another rookie, Bob Tasca III, holds down the final spot in the Countdown field, but it’s not a comfortable spot. Veteran Del Worsham is just nine points behind him, and former world champ Gary Scelzi and teammate

Jack Beckman are less than three rounds behind Tasca.“Considering some of the troubles we’ve had this year, I’m just happy we still have a legitimate shot at getting in this thing,” said Worsham. “Every driver in the class can look back and see places where they let points get away, so I’m not going to look back at all. I’m just looking forward to these next six races, knowing we’re less than a round out of the playoffs, and, if we just keep doing what we’re capable of, we can be a part of it. We seem to be back on our feet a little better now, so maybe we’re getting hot at the right time, and even though it’s Bob Tasca we’re trailing, I’m not thinking in terms of this being an ‘us or them’ thing at all. I think we can both get in this thing, and 10th isn’t the only spot up for grabs right now. It’s going to be nerve-wracking and very tough, but it’s pretty exciting to see what’s on the line over the course of the next six races.”

NHRA shortens race distance for Top Fuel and Funny Car classes to 1,000 feet as an interim safety measure

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7/2/2008
As the investigation continues into the tragic accident that took the life of driver

Scott Kalitta, NHRA has announced that beginning at the Mopar Mile High Nationals in

Denver, Colo., both the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes will race to 1,000 feet instead of the traditional 1,320 feet or one-quarter mile. This is an interim step that is being taken while NHRA continues to analyze and determine whether changes should be made to build upon the sport’s long standing safety record, given the inherent risks and ever-present dangers associated with the sport.

This interim change was made by NHRA in collaboration with professional race teams. NHRA believes that racing the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes to 1,000 feet will allow NHRA and the racing community time to evaluate, analyze and implement potential changes based on the safety initiatives outlined last week.

With the change, fans will still be able to enjoy the sights, sounds and thrill of NHRA nitro racing with speeds around 300 mph and quick elapsed times to 1,000 feet.

Over the years, NHRA has implemented many initiatives to enhance safety including measures to limit speeds from increasing, personal protective gear, vehicle improvements, and track enhancements such as sand traps, catch nets and concrete barriers the entire length of the drag strip.

In the wake of the tragic series of events that took Kalitta’s life, the following technical issues are currently under investigation: 1) what might be done to reduce engine failures; 2) parachute mounting techniques and materials as well as identifying a parachute material that could be more fire resistant; 3) exploring whether there is a way to increase brake efficiency when cars lose downforce due to the loss of the body; 4) analyzing additional methods that might be developed at the top end of the race track to help arrest runaway vehicles; 5) considering whether current speeds should be further limited or reduced to potentially improve safety.

“The board members of the Professional Racers Owners Organization (PRO) wholeheartedly and unanimously support this decision,” said its president Kenny Bernstein. “We want to thank NHRA for listening to our input and suggestions to incorporate these changes. It is not lost on any of us that this constitutes a change in our history of running a quarter-mile, but it’s the most immediate adjustment we can make in the interest of safety which is foremost on everyone’s mind. This may be a temporary change and we recognize it is not the total answer. We will continue to work hand in hand with NHRA to evaluate other methods of making Top Fuel and Funny Car competition safer so that we might return to our quarter-mile racing standard. We also want to thank Connie Kalitta for his invaluable input. He has been a rock through these difficult times.”

This is just a quick fix and could possibly deminish the sport of drag racing.  We are all for something to correct a safety problem that exist but is this the answer?

Ashley sells his interest in Funny Car

team to focus on family and business

MELVILLE, New York - On Thursday, June 26, reigning US Nationals champion Mike Ashley sold his interest in the Gotham City Racing nitro Funny Car team to his partner, ProCare Rx Chairman and CEO Roger Burgess. Citing the exponential growth of Lend America and the desire to spend more time with his family, Ashley said he made the tough decision to do what he thought was best for the team.
 
“Right now, Lend America is growing explosively. We moved into a new location, added hundreds of new employees, and this past month we were approved to issue Ginnie Mae government mortgage-backed securities —  bundles of mortgages sold to investors and backed by the federal government,” Ashley said.
 
In order to become a qualified Ginnie Mae issuer, Lend America went through a rigorous screening process to determine its suitability and must meet strict reporting requirements to maintain the coveted status. Ashley said this development would help continue Lend America’s growth and provide opportunity in the country’s current mortgage crisis.
 
“I’ve got to think about my responsibilities to my family and to the hundreds of employees of lend America, and stay focused on that. I’d already made the decision not to race any more this season, and, after Englishtown, Roger and I discussed his desire to be more involved in the daily operation of the team. I though it was the best solution for both Roger and me, as well as the entire team,” Ashley said.
 
“On Thursday, the agreement was completed, and now I have no responsibility for the Funny Car team at all. I feel that in 2009 things will be much more structured for me, and I’ll return to Pro Mod racing then.
 
“It’s difficult for me,” Ashley continued, “because we accomplished so much together as a team, I really think of it as a ‘Dream Team.’”
 
In the course of Ashley’s short Funny Car career, he ran the fastest ever in a quarter-mile at 334.32 m.p.h., qualified number one five times, including three times in a row, won three events including the prestigious MAC Tools US Nationals, set numerous track speed records, and finished sixth overall in 2007. In addition, Ashley set the standard for sponsorship relationships with programs such as the first-ever live daily Internet broadcast drag racing show, special at-track fan pit-side viewing zones, and several fan-centric national event trip contests.
 
“These guys are like family to me, and I love all of them like brothers. Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald have been making the decisions for quite a while anyway, so really, they will all be in great hands as they move forward. Melanie Troxel is an incredibly talented driver, and I know she has championship potential, so, I’m confident for them they will be successful in the future as they compete,” Ashley said.
 
“In my mind, the only thing that changes between me and the team is who is in charge, and from here on out that’s Roger. He’s proven he is an incredible leader, and I can’t thank him enough for the opportunities he’s given me, and the chance for the team to continue with the dream. I appreciate him and his friendship, and I know that we will always have a great relationship as we move on to the next phase of racing.”