In what could easily be considered the biggest news to come out of the Arabian Drag Racing League season thus far, Von Smith once again earned a spot in the history books en route to a runner-up finish during Round 5 at the Qatar Race Club with a shot-heard-round-the-world 209.43mph pass eighth-mile lap – the fastest speed ever recorded by a doorslammer. Smith, who fell to teammate Sheikh Khalid Al Thani in the final, maintained the No. 1 spot in the ADRL Pro Extreme points standings with his second-place effort, a mere two rounds ahead of Al Thani.

In what could easily be considered the biggest news to come out of the Arabian Drag Racing League season thus far, Von Smith once again earned a spot in the history books en route to a runner-up finish during Round 5 at the Qatar Race Club with a shot-heard-round-the-world 209.43mph pass eighth-mile lap – the fastest speed ever recorded by a doorslammer. Smith, who fell to teammate Sheikh Khalid Al Thani in the final, maintained the No. 1 spot in the ADRL Pro Extreme points standings with his second-place effort, a mere two rounds ahead of Al Thani.

History wasn’t made only in the right lane, though, as the final round resulted in the quickest and fastest side-by-side race in the history of Pro Modified style drag racing, Von’s aforementioned 209.43mph blast coming in just 3.684-seconds, albeit not enough to best Sheikh Khalid’s stunning 3.679-second, 207.59mph effort.

“I can’t think of too many occasions where it felt okay to be runner-up, but this is definitely one of them,” said Von Smith, driver of the Barwa Racing ’68 Camaro. “To be in another final alongside Sheikh Khalid, to be in the quickest and fastest side-by-side drag race in history – you just can’t ask for anything better.”

In regards to the record-setting effort, Smith didn’t hesitate to give credit where credit is due.

“Howard Moon has this thing making big power – really big power. I can’t say enough about him and this entire Barwa Racing team, and I think all the hard work has been showing through these last few weeks. It’s been a pretty intense stretch, but it’s been a non-stop team effort. The support from Barwa Real Estate, Al-Anabi Racing and Sheikh Khalid has been incredible and we’re just honored to be able to represent them in fine fashion the drag strip.”

Coming into the final stretch of the Arabian Drag Racing League series, two races remaining, it will no doubt be a battle between the two teammates all the way to the very end.

“We know we’ve got our work cut out for us,” said Smith as the team made their way back to the Barwa Racing shop following the event, “but I’ve got all the faith in the world in Howard and the rest of this team, so long as I do my job behind the wheel, I think we’ve got a shot at doubling up. You can’t take anything for granted in heads up drag racing, but we’re going to be working round the clock here in Doha to make sure we bring home a championship for Barwa.”

Advertisement