The ADRL announced today it is departing from providing live Internet streaming video of Friday’s qualifying sessions at its national events in favor of compiling a one-hour highlights show to be Webcast before live streaming of all elimination rounds resumes on Saturday. The new schedule went into effect this weekend from the ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags VII at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI, and fan response was swift and scathing on several Internet message boards.

The ADRL announced today it is departing from providing live Internet streaming video of Friday’s qualifying sessions at its national events in favor of compiling a one-hour highlights show to be Webcast before live streaming of all elimination rounds resumes on Saturday. The new schedule went into effect this weekend from the ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags VII at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI, and fan response was swift and scathing on several Internet message boards.

But ADRL Executive Vice President Jeff Fortune said the change reflected what viewership numbers from previous Webcasts warranted.

“To ask people to sit and watch two 10-hour days of drag racing is an awful lot, too much,” Fortune said. “So we are shooting all day today for an hour-long summary show on Saturday with Bret Kepner hosting, sort of like a Sports Center-like format.”

Fortune said the highlights show will include Saturday’s fourth and final qualifying session. Access can be gained through the official ADRL Web site at www.adrl.us and viewers can use ID# 35806 and Kepner’s e-mail address bret@adrltv.us to gain access.

“The one-hour show will set the ladders for all classes, present all the highlights and include interviews with some of the top qualifiers, and all in a concise package hosted by one of the best broadcasters in the business,” Fortune said. “Then it will lead into live, round-by-round coverage of eliminations that will continue right to the end of the event.”