Eight competitors will have the opportunity to double up in the win column July 4-5, when the Flowmaster American Drag Racing League (ADRL) presented by the National Guard visits Motor Mile Dragway in Radford, Virginia, for the 2nd annual Shelor Motor Mile Independence Drags.

Heavy rain washed out the ADRL’s national event at Knoll Gas Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan last weekend before the final round for all four professional classes could be completed. A lightning strike also damaged the track’s starting-line tree, prompting ADRL President Kenny Nowling to quite literally take matters into his own hands with arm-drop start signals throughout eliminations from the second round on.

“Sometimes you just have to do whatever it takes,” Nowling said of what one team quickly dubbed the Arm Drop Racing League (ADRL). “We had fans in the stands expecting a race, teams that had towed more than a thousand miles just to get there and a method available—though I’ll admit it was a little unusual—to get the job done. Plus, with the points and purse distributed equally among those racers remaining it took a lot of the pressure off and I think most who took part had a lot of fun. I know I did; it was probably the most fun I’ve ever had at a drag strip.”

Eight competitors will have the opportunity to double up in the win column July 4-5, when the Flowmaster American Drag Racing League (ADRL) presented by the National Guard visits Motor Mile Dragway in Radford, Virginia, for the 2nd annual Shelor Motor Mile Independence Drags.

Heavy rain washed out the ADRL’s national event at Knoll Gas Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan last weekend before the final round for all four professional classes could be completed. A lightning strike also damaged the track’s starting-line tree, prompting ADRL President Kenny Nowling to quite literally take matters into his own hands with arm-drop start signals throughout eliminations from the second round on.

“Sometimes you just have to do whatever it takes,” Nowling said of what one team quickly dubbed the Arm Drop Racing League (ADRL). “We had fans in the stands expecting a race, teams that had towed more than a thousand miles just to get there and a method available—though I’ll admit it was a little unusual—to get the job done. Plus, with the points and purse distributed equally among those racers remaining it took a lot of the pressure off and I think most who took part had a lot of fun. I know I did; it was probably the most fun I’ve ever had at a drag strip.”

The fun will continue at Radford, where despite a fully functioning tree and timing system in place, Nowling said the arm drop start will again be employed to settle all four finals from the Michigan event. Each winner will earn a “Minuteman,” the coveted trophy provided by the National Guard to signify an ADRL national-event victory.

“It’s the only way to remain fair and consistent,” Nowling said. “Besides, I think everyone left in contention is looking forward to earning the bragging rights of winning such a unique title. The fans in Virginia are in for a real treat, too, because these arm-drop starts for a pair of 3,000-horsepower cars have to be seen to be believed.”

All four finals will run consecutively on Friday night to close out round-one qualifying for the Radford race. Points leader Joshua Hernandez will take on Bob Mandell Jr. in the Pro Extreme final, teammates Billy Harper and Dennis Radford will square off for Pro Nitrous honors, Gary White and Brent Rau will stage a battle of the imports in Extreme 10.5, and T.T. Jones will ride against Scott Gray to settle the Pro Extreme Motorcycle final. All final-round passes also will count as official ADRL qualifying attempts toward the Independence Drags, Nowling added.

“And one more thing; when we came up with the arm-drop idea, I promised Steve Gorman, our reigning Extreme 10.5 champion, that he could shave my head on the starting line when it was all over,” he said. “Well, that’s still on. It actually comes at a good time, too, because our next event is the inaugural 1-800-GO-GUARD.com U.S. Drags up in Budd’s Creek, Maryland, so I’ll fit right in with my new military-style haircut.”

PHOTO CUTLINES (Photos courtesy of ADRL Communications)
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ADRL President Kenny Nowling resorted to hand signals for staging and starting elimination rounds after the starting-line tree (behind Nowling) failed at Knoll Gas Motorsports, prompting one team to rename the series the “Arm Drop Racing League.”

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Billy Glidden (near lane) and H.T. Wilson watch for ADRL President Kenny Nowling’s arms to drop, signaling the start of their first-round Extreme 10.5 race.