One week ago, Alex Hossler was a first-round loser with a best elapsed time of 3.70 seconds in the initial event of the 2013 Arabian Drag Racing League International Championships at the Qatar Racing Club's facility near the capitol city of Doha. In the past twenty-four hours, the Canton, Illinois, professional driver has clocked the three quickest runs in passenger car drag racing history and, by all indications, has not yet shown the full potential of his team's abilities.

On Monday, January 21, Hossler, crew chief Frank Manzo, consultant Billy Stocklin and chassis tuner Rickie Smith broke through the 3.6-second barrier to become the ninth team to clock a 3.5-second ET with a 3.580 at a career-best 211.46 miles per hour. On Wednesday, January 23, Hossler wheeled the brand new maroon supercharged 1969 Camaro of Qatar's Sheikh Khalid al-Thani to a 3.561/212.39 to become the third quickest driver in the history of Pro Extreme Eliminator. In qualifying for the second event of the series on Friday, Hossler made history by breaking the two year-old 3.558-second ET World Record, (set by Matt Smith in the same Arabian series), with a string of 3.57/211.06, 3.550/212.29 and 3.544/212.36 blasts which stunned the sport.

During eliminations on Friday, January 25, Hossler proved there was more to come. As the quickest qualifier, Hossler was able to remain in his left-hand lane of choice. In conditions featuring a corrected elevation of 490 feet above sea level, Hossler hit 3.555/211.86 to dispatch a 3.60/210.70 from the Garrett Race Cars '69 Camaro of Floridian Joey Martin, (who recorded his second perfect 0.000 Reaction Time of the series!). Equally startling was the career-best 3.581/209.79 posted by last week's other first round runner-up, Von Smith at the helm of Howard Moon's "Rage" '69 Camaro, which outdistanced the winner of the series opener, Frankie Taylor's slowing 3.65/196. While Taylor had clocked a tremendous 3.56/211.53 during qualifying using his "back-up" engine, a shredding supercharger drive belt on the next qualifying run damaged the crank trigger system on the engine and Taylor's mount never again came close to that performance.

In the championship round, Hossler and Von Smith met in conditions of 64 degrees, a track temperature of 82 degrees and "air" of 282 feet above sea level. While Mother Nature supplied her own perfection, the teams of the two Jerry Bickel Race Cars-built Camaros added their own. Smith gained a slight reaction time advantage of four thousandths of a second but the two Chevys remained glued together for the distance. Hossler's Al-Anabi machine crossed the finish line first by seventeen thousandths of a second, (5.34 feet), to produce a mind-boggling 3.534 at 213.27 while Smith became the second-quickest driver in history giving chase at 3.555/212.43!

Hossler's historic blast included his best sixty-feet elapsed time ever, (0.894 seconds), and the quickest ET ever clocked at 330 feet, (2.374). For comparison purposes, Frank Manzo's NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car World Record elapsed time of 5.41 seconds in the quarter-mile came with 0.911 "sixty", a 330-feet time of 2.395 and an eighth-mile performance of 3.567/212.19 mph. When Manzo claimed the NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car World Record quarter-mile speed at 268.09, it came with an eighth-mile speed of 212.96!

For Hossler, past winner of multiple Pro Extreme events in the United States, it was an amazing week which included extraordinary moments beyond the 3.534 record blast. "This Jerry Bickel '69 Camaro was brand new when we arrived", said Hossler after the traditionally extravagant winner's circle festivities at the QRC track. "It's an absolutely beautiful creation. As with any new car, we made the first runs to learn what needed to be 'tweaked'. When (owner) Sheikh Khalid assembles a team of Frank Manzo, Billy Stocklin and Rickie Smith to tune every part of the car to perfection, you get some amazing results. The first event wasn't what we wanted but, even more so, it wasn't what Khalid wanted. When Frankie Taylor went a pair of 3.55s in that first week, we knew we had to get the car sorted out quickly. In one day, (Monday, January 21), we got a brand new car to improve from 3.70/204 to 3.66/208 to 3.63/208 to 3.58 at 211 mph. That was all accomplished in one day! It wasn't until the car ran the 3.580 that we knew it was 'sorted out' enough to begin pushing it".

Incredibly, Hossler insists the car still has not yet been "leaned on" and the current numbers have come without damage of any kind. "We have a really unusual situation", said Hossler, "in that Sheikh Khalid is so passionate about this sport, he really leans on the team. After the 3.56 run, he came into the garage and looked at the bearings and the spark plugs; they looked almost new! Khalid asked why they weren't damaged and Frank (Manzo) told him we really hadn't 'gotten after it' yet. Khalid told us to start leaning on it because Frankie was still running so quick. The same thing came after we set the record with the 3.55 and the 3.54. Tonight, after the 3.53, Khalid said it was time to start burning things up!".

Hossler admits this historic performance race is far from over. "We discussed it in the garage after tonight's event", recounted Hossler, "and we all agree there are at least two other cars here which can run as quick as we have. Joey Martin scares us because he could step up to the mid-fifties in a heartbeat and Von Smith and Frankie Taylor are already there! I can honestly say we haven't leaned on this car yet but, then, neither have any of the other three teams. Nobody has really suffered any serious engine damage. Whoever leaves Qatar with the record will know they're the Pro Extreme record holder. Until this series is over, that title is still totally up for grabs. Nobody here knows how quick this thing is really going to get".

Von Smith was ecstatic even in defeat. "If I had any of the reaction times I had earlier in the week, the 'Rage' car would've won", said the multi-time World Champion from Oak Ridge, Tennesee, who has recorded no less than FOUR "double-oh" reaction times in the past week. "Manzo and Howard (Moon) are really tight; I wish the fans could have heard them in the staging lanes before the final round. Frank (Manzo) would say, 'I'm going to do this!'. Howard would yell back, 'Oh, yeah? Well, I'm going to do THIS!'. Then, Manzo would yell back, 'Fine! Then, I'm going to do THIS!'. It was an absolutely hilarious. Anyway, I am just tickled to death about the performance of these new Jerry Bickel cars! I know anyone can 'lose' a tune-up but I honestly believe these cars will continue to improve in performance!".

For the second week in a row, Mike Castellana drove his maroon Al-Anabi '69 Camaro to the Pro Nitrous Eliminator title while recording runs nearly a tenth of a second quicker then the rest of the eight-car field. After his record-setting 3.721/200.73 performance of last week, Castellana qualified low with a 3.75/199.40. In eliminations the World Champion from New York used his brutal new Reher-Morrison power to beat Bader Khoursheed's Kuwait-based blue-and-white Bickel Camaro, (3.736/200.26 to 3.92/189), Mahana al-Naemi's blue-and-orange SpeedTech Camaro from Qatar, (3.75/198 to a shut-off 4.39), and second qualifier, (at 3.80/196.36), United Arab Emirates star Khalid al-Balooshi's blue-and-silver SpeedTech Camaro in the final round, (3.75/198 to a shut-off 3.86/191). Castellana stayed in his preferred right-hand lane through the race but, in both the semi-finals and final round, the Shannon-Jenkins tuned Camaro got slightly loose at half-track necessitating some impressive driving by Castellana.

The anticipated battle of three-second machines never materialized in the "legal weight" (3000 pounds minimum) Outlaw 10.5 Eliminator. While David Hance's turbocharged Al-Anabi Mustang and Todd Tutterow's supercharged Al-Anabi 2010 Corvette had each clocked 3.99 in testing, only Tutterow ran under 4.10, (a 4.09/189 against the 4.35/169 of Mike Hill's nitrous oxide-injected 2009 Ford Mustang), in the opening round of the six-car field. While Tutterow barely squeaked past Abdulla al-Sauri's nitrous-aided black Kuwaiti '68 Camaro in the semis, (4.44/134 to 4.58/168), Georgia's Tim Lynch prepared to make a solo run to meet Tutterow in the final round for the second consecutive week. Lynch's turbocharged 2002 Al-Anabi Mustang launched well but a puff of smoke at half-track on the 4.39/163 pass indicated damage. Lynch never returned for the final and North Carolinian Tutterow thrilled the fans with a brutal 4.01/191.76 solo for the title.

Although Mohammed al-Baddah led the qualified eight-bike Pro Extreme Motorcycle field, his Suzuki suffered terminal damage on a 4.17/155 single in the opening round. Meshal al-Saber's Kuwait Hayabusa took over from there to clock 4.08/174 in the opening round. In the semi-finals, al-Saber stopped last week's runner-up Mohamed Boushid's 4.11/172 with a 4.09 at a suspicious 182.60 mph, the fastest in PXM history. Interestingly, video replays showed the front tire of al-Saber's black 'Busa glued firmly to the ground through the speed trap. In the final round, unheralded fifth qualifier Ahmed al-Nukhilan staged his gorgeous blue-on-red Saudi Arabian Hayabusa against al-Saber and, despite a series-best 4.31/159, could only watch as al-Saber took the win at 4.07/179.25. Again, replays showed the front wheel solidly on the track across the finish line. In testing earlier in the week, al-Saber had clocked a similar 179.52 and, although a run of over 180 mph was needed to set an official record, al-Saber's speeds certainly caught the attention of PXM racers worldwide.

Stevie Jackson's ProCharger-equipped Mustang was a half-second quicker than any other machine in the Super Street (True 10.5-inch tire) division but the South Carolina class headliner was the recipient of a bizarre twist during eliminations. While Jackson was busy posting runs as quick as 4.38/178.95 in qualifying and 4.37/179.21 in eliminations, Saudi Arabian Majed al-Towelai's silver '98 Mustang staged against Kuwaiti Agil al-Ajeel's orange '86 Mustang in an all-nitrous semi-final match to determine Jackson's final round opponent. Incredibly, both drivers left the starting line before the Christmas Tree was activated and both were disqualified. Jackson soloed in the final round and tried to better the stunning all-time record for the class he set last week at 4.295/180.86 but  just missed with an all-over-the-track 4.34/180.38.

Super Street Bike Eliminator, the popular "no wheelie bars" category, featured the same results as seven days ago but the competition between MRB Racing standout Yaqoub al-Ali and Saudi Arabian Mishari al-Turki is nothing less than remarkable. Although no World Records were set in the second event, Kuwaiti al-Ali and al-Tuki were never more than a few hundredths a second apart in the all-turbo Suzuki Hayabusa field. In the final, low qualifier al-Turki faltered and al-Ali won for the second straight week with a 4.46/170.90 after earlier hitting a 4.40/171.53.

The Arabian series breaks the common Top Sportsman Eliminator into two distinct divisions. The 4.50 Index class and the "heads-up" Top Sportsman category, (both eight-car qualified fields), are populated by a wide variety of nitrous-injected vehicles. For the second week, Khalil al-Ansari's nitrous-injected burgundy '68 Firebird led the field by a quarter-second with a tremendous 3.97/186 but the rest of the qualifiers moved ever closer to the Saudi Arabian during eliminations. Back-to-back 3.97/186 wins put al-Ansari into his second consecutive final but, when Syrian Ali Saleh's maroon Al-Anabi 1990 Grand Am stopped Emad al-Qenaei's black '92 Cavalier from the United Arab Emirates in the semi-finals, the Gradn Am's 4.17/172 win came with a wall of smoke and a shower of sparks. In the final, al-Ansari simply staged his Firebird to take his second victory and save parts for next week.

The 4.50 Index division was extremely competitive but the final round featured the top two qualifiers in a classic all-Bahrain duel. Last week's runner-up, Ali Hussain Haji in his beautiful flamed black '69 Camaro took the win at 4.510/155 when Mohammed Salama's white Team Zain '92 Formula Firebird broke out with a 4.496/156 taking twenty-one thousandths of a second "at the stripe".

Mohammed Mohammed got revenge for last week's runner-up in the Super Street six-cylinder division, driving away from Yusuf al-Zayani's broken Bahrain mount with the quickest and fastest run of the event, a 4.81 at 165.83 mph.

The monstrous heads-up Street Bike Eliminator saw Saudi Arabian Ibrahim al-Joufi, the winner of the first series event, finding a solid 5.4-second pace in eliminations. However, Mesfer al-Mesfer found an even quicker 5.40 slot for his Kuwait-based Suzuki, clocking that number in the third round. In the final, al-Joufi's Suzuki stumbled and al-Mesfer won with another 5.40 at 135 mph.

The Al-Anabi Dragsters category, consisting of Reher-Morrison Chevy-powered Mullis-chassised dragsters competing on a 4.80 Index, produced the weirdest final round of the series to date. Fadi Tammour advanced to the final with an 0.024 "package" to meet Faisal al-Mohd, a driver also capable of hitting both the "Tree" and the "number". In the final round, al-Mohd squeezed it just a tad tight and redlighted by eight thousandths of a second. Chances are good al-Mohd would've never "hit the Tree" quite as hard had he realized Tammour's engine had died just after staging! Seeing his opponent's foul, Tammour cranked and cranked the engine before it finally fired up and the winner left the beams 19.887 seconds after the green light on his way to a 9.91-second lap at 66.00 miles per hour!

Testing will continue on a daily basis at the Qatar Racing Club and Competition Plus will offer updates and complete coverage of each of the three remaining 2013 Arabian Drag Racing League International Championship events.

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