ADRL HOUSTON - EVENT RESULTS | Competition Plus


		EVENT RESULTS EVENT NOTEBOOK LIVE AUDIO			THURSDAY GALLERY FRIDAY GALLERY SATURDAY GALLERY

SATURDAY THIRD SESSION -

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FRIDAY WRAP UP - HERNANDEZ, AUXIER, PAPPAS HEADLINE FRIDAY QUALIFYING

ADRL_Hernandez Joshua Hernandez of nearby Conroe, Texas, leads the Pro Extreme field at Houston Raceway Park (HRP) after three of four scheduled qualifying sessions for the American Drag Racing League’s (ADRL’s) season-opening Universal Technical Institute Dragpalooza VI presented by Safety-Kleen are in the books.

Also on top of their respective classes are Burton Auxier in Pro Nitrous, reigning Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 World Champion Spiro Pappas, Ashley Owens in Pro Extreme Motorcycle and Extreme Pro Stock racer Cary Goforth.

Hernandez steered his supercharged ’57 Chevy to a 3.68-seconds pass at 208.17 miles per hour in his second attempt on the HRP eighth mile. He can secure the official ADRL speed record for the class by running within one percent of his pole-sitting pass this weekend.

“We had tested here with good results a couple of weeks back and just came out trying to make sure the car would repeat. As soon as it did in the first round, (crew chief) Jim Oddy started turning every screw he could to make it go faster,” Hernandez explained. “Plus the car is going so straight that my eight-year-old kid could drive it. It’s a happy race car right now.”

ADRL_Auxier Auxier rolled out of the trailer and ran 3.83 at a record-setting 197.91 mph in the opening round with his ’68 Camaro, then improved his time by four thousandths and went 196.59 mph to officially back up the new Pro Nitrous speed mark with his third qualifying pass.

“The track is good, but it’s tricky, you have to be real careful where you apply the power,” the Dixie, West Virginia-based driver said. “The car actually got a little crazy at the end of that last run and I had to shut it off a little early. If I hadn’t done that it probably would’ve set a new ET (elapsed time) record, too.”

Chicago-based Pappas, who also tested at the Houston track two weeks ago, immediately sent a message to the rest of the Extreme 10.5 field with a 3.92 pass at 195.22 mph in the opening session that was only four thousandths off his own ET record, set last fall at Ennis, Texas.

Another local racer, though, “Turbo Todd” Moyer of Pasadena, Texas, made the biggest news of the day with a 3.96-seconds effort at 196.50 mph that not only placed him second overall, but earned him entry into the exclusive, five-member Mickey Thompson 3-Second Club for Extreme 10.5 competitors, joining Pappas and Chuck Ulsch as the only entrants, so far.
ADRL_Pappas
After crediting Mickey Thompson “for making a great tire,” Moyer turned all attention to his teammates, led by crew chief Chad Rogers. “Without these guys I couldn't do anything,” he said. “They deserve all the credit for this.”

In the ADRL’s two-wheeled class, Owens officially lowered the elapsed time record, with a third-round 4.15 pass backing up the 4.14 at 172.12 mph he ran in the opening session. Owen, from Decatur, Alabama, is riding a brand-new 2010 Suzuki for veteran motorcycle racer Paul Gast.

“I’m just glad to get back to racing and get off to a good start with a new team,” Owens said. “Usually it takes at least two or three races to really start working together as a team, so it feels great to get a start on the season like this.”

Also significant in the Pro Extreme Motorcycle class, which in three years has never had a female rider qualify for a 16-bike field, two women are poised to make reach Dragpalooza VI eliminations. Kimberly Morrell of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, currently sits third and rookie rider Anne Hansen of McDonough, Georgia, is 13th with one more round to go.
ADRL_Goforth
In the first pair down the track as the third and final qualifying session of the day got under way, Holdenville, Oklahoma’s Goforth made both the quickest and fastest pass in Extreme Pro Stock (XPS) history, covering the 660-feet distance in 4.04 seconds at a record 179.04 mph, backed up by the 178.02 he ran in the previous round. Goforth needs to run 4.08 or better this weekend to officially back up his elapsed time for another new record.

“When I saw that 4.04 come up I was a bit shocked because we didn’t really expect that,” he admitted, “but the speed is not as surprising because we knew we had the horsepower to run some good numbers. Sonny (Leonard, engine builder) has been working incredibly hard over the winter with us and this is it paying off.”

Last-chance qualifying for the ADRL Universal Technical Institute Dragpalooza VI presented by Safety-Kleen is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, with elimination rounds to follow. The next race on the ADRL’s 2010 tour is the Hardee’s Georgia Drags VI set for Apr. 23-24, at Valdosta, Georgia.