Phil Shuler understands you can always come home.

On an off weekend from his usual duties as co-crew chief on Cory McClenathan’s Top Fuel dragster, Shuler was at the ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags located outside of Valdosta, Ga.

Shuler was a guest of current ADRL Pro Extreme champion Todd Tutterow, whom he confirmed is helping him with a fast doorslammer he’s piddling around with in his free time.

Tommy D’Aprile has had a few fender scrapers, caught on fire before and bumped a wall or two in his doorslammer days but on Friday evening at the ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags, he experienced his first official, full-fledged crash.

D’Aprile, driving temporarily for Mel Eaves, slid the nitro-burning Camaro into the wall when oil apparently got under the tires. A day after the fiery wall impact, D’Aprile was making the rounds at the track.

“I’m a little sore on my left side,” said D’Aprile, who is the full-time driver for Mel Bush Motorsports. “The car left, it was on a good run. As evident by the computer and the pictures we’ve seen, it either broke or lost an oil line or what have you, but it sprayed completely under the left side of the car which got the left tire spinning and right hooking and it just drove it left hard. That was it; I was along for the ride after that.”

Saturday was an emotional day for two-time ADRL Pro Extreme champion Jason Scruggs. He fought tooth and nail for the ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags trophy only to give it away.

Scruggs knew Melanie Walker needed the trophy more than he did.

Walker’s husband Mike Walker was critically injured in a pit accident earlier in the day at South Georgia Motorsports Park. Walker was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Memorial Hospital of Adel in nearby Adel, Georgia.

An hour after the ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags were complete, 41-year old Steven Boone was walking around the staging lanes of South Georgia Motorsports Park like a kid opening presents on Christmas morning.

Boone had pulled off a Christmas-like performance as he knocked off one heavily-favored driver after another culminating with a hole shot victory over No. 1 qualifier Pete Berner. He looked like a champion by beating past world champions in three of the four elimination rounds.

Those race fans who knew better know Boone had pulled off a bona fide Miracle on 34th Street.

Boone, from Weaverville, NC, a small town located in western North Carolina, didn’t second-guess the good fortunes which befell him in the second event on the 2010 ADRL tour.

On a day when he didn’t look like the most dominant car, Todd Moyer proved to be the king of the hill when it mattered the most – the Extreme 10.5 final round at the ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags in Valdosta, Ga.

Moyer defeated the No. 1 qualifier and fellow member of the Mickey Thompson Tires 3-Second Club member Gary White to win his first career ADRL Extreme 10.5 tire class.

“We were struggling a little bit but got it all together for the final,” Moyer said.  “The driver drove good … had an .018 light … that’s pretty good and everything went our way.”

Moyer understands there’s no such thing as a bad win but for the Pasadena, Tex.-based driver, he came prepared for the best player in the class as only nine cars showed for the weekend’s event.

Mike Castellana, won the Pro Nitrous class at the ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags Pro Nitrous title in Valdosta, Ga., which moved him into a tie with Jim Halsey for second among winning Pro Nitrous drivers.

The impressive part of Castellana’s fifth career ADRL national event title was his ability to achieve the victory by being the quickest and  fastest driver on the grounds of South Georgia Motorsports Park when it counted most.

Despite racing with heavy hearts after losing one of their own to an early-morning accident, American Drag Racing League (ADRL) competitors still managed to turn in thrilling, record-setting performances for the Apr. 23-24, ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags VI at South Georgia Motorsports Park (SGMP).

Veterans Jason Scruggs and Mike Castellana led the way with wins in Pro Extreme and Pro Nitrous and Ashley Owens absolutely dominated the Pro Extreme Motorcycle class from start to finish all weekend long. Extreme 10.5 and Extreme Pro Stock produced first-time winners in Todd Moyer and Steven Boone, respectively, as did the Pro Jr. Dragster class won by Jordan Arnold in near-perfect fashion.

Raceday sadly opened with an accident in the pit area of Pro Nitrous racer Blake Housley that critically injured team co-owner Mike Walker, who was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Memorial Hospital of Adel at nearby Adel, Georgia.

Mike Walker, a co-owner of Blake Housley’s Pro Nitrous team, was critically injured this morning in the pit area of the ADRL Georgia Drags at South Georgia Motorsports Park. Walker was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Memorial Hospital of Adel in nearby Adel, Georgia.

Jason Scruggs characterizes his relationship with the racing surface at South Georgia Motorsports Park as one of love and hate. The facility outside of Valdosta, Ga., has provided the two-time Pro Extreme champion with some of the best memories of his racing career. On the other hand, it’s also hosted some of his least favorites.

“I love the track, but sometimes it can get tricky,” said Scruggs, who often tests at SGMP on off days. “Just the overall place is really good, it’s flat in the pits. But … we have had a few things go wrong over the years.

“At the end of the day, the good memories outweigh the bad ones.”