ADRL MICHIGAN - SAME DAY COVERAGE
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SATURDAY - HERNANDEZ HEADLINES ADRL MARTIN WINNERS
The added pressure, expectations and attention that comes with landing a new major sponsor seems to have brought out the best in Josh Hernandez.
A race after advancing to the final in Richmond while debuting his new Fight Me MMA sponsorship, Hernandez and his ’57 Chevy took it a step further on Saturday, winning in Pro Extreme at the ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags VI at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI.
“To come out with a new sponsor and within two races have a win, that’s what we’re in it for,” Hernandez said. “To be in that winner’s circle, nothing makes me happier.
“I’m so happy for my guys. This is what we’ve been waiting for.”
It’s the seventh career win for Hernandez, but just the first this year in a loaded division.
Hernandez left his stamp on the weekend in the finals, running a 3.66 at 206 miles per hour to knock off Alex Hossler.
Hernandez wasn’t the only one to entertain the raucous capacity crowd on a thrilling Saturday.
In Pro Nitrous, Lee Adkins picked up his first career win, denying No. 1 qualifier Pat Stoken his first title in the final round.
Gary White picked up his second straight win in Extreme 10.5, beating Billy Glidden in the finals to extend his recent reign in the division.
Ashley Owens made it three straight wins in Pro Extreme Motorcycle, extending his dominance with a holeshot win in the finals against Terry Schweigert.
John Montecalvo was the winner in Extreme Pro Stock, denying Brian Gahm a second straight win by running a 4.09 in the finals. His 178.87 mph pass is the fastest in XPS history, but it did not set the record as it was the final run of the day and he didn’t have a chance to back it up.
Both Montecalvo and White were No. 1 qualifiers who ended up in the winner’s circle. It was also the first chance for Martin fans to celebrate final-round victories after rain ended the two prior races prematurely.
It wiped out the final round of qualifying on Saturday, but it didn’t keep Hernandez and his Fight Me team down for the count.
After struggling through two qualifying sessions on Friday, Hernandez looked strong, knocking off Mike Stawicki, No. 1 qualifier Gaylen Smith and John Stanley to reach the finals, running 3.65, 3.69 and 3.66 in three of those wins.
“You have to keep hacking it and I think we turned every knob on it,” Hernandez said. “I just loved seeing that win light. “The car was just marching all day long.”
Lee Adkins was overcome with emotion after his first career and understandably so.
He was at a loss for words after running a 3.96 at 188 mph to knock off Stoken, hoping to thank everyone that came to mind in his victory speech.
“I’m speechless right now,” Atkins said. “Anybody that has had anything to do with this car or this team, you’re the man.”
Adkins knocked off Steve Vick, Thomas Myers and got a red-light win against Khalid Al-Balooshi to advance to the finals.
Stoken will have to wait for his first win, picking the worst time to have his biggest struggle of the weekend.
“We’re getting there,” Stoken said. “We’ll be there next time. We need one of those (trophies).”
White’s stack is starting to grow as he picked up his third career win in XTF in another wildly successful weekend.
White ran a 3.93 at 190 mph to beat Glidden and that elapsed time is becoming par for the course for White.
“We’re just enjoying this,” White said. “To be the No. 1 qualifier and win, it’s just great. That’s something we missed out on in Richmond. I’m glad we could get it this time and we’re just going to ride this as long as we can.”
White had a first-round bye and then broke the 3-second mark in wins against L.J. Wood and Spiro Pappas.
“The guys are just doing an amazing job right now,” White said. “It’s just so easy for me right now thanks to the work they’re doing.”
It might be a neck-and-neck battle between Owens and White for the most dominant ADRL driver at the moment.
Owens slipped past a stout Schweigert to get his third straight win, running a 4.23 at 174 mph.
“It was a close one,” Owens said. “We’re having a good time and we have to keep working.”
After not making a second qualifying run on Friday, Owens ran a 4.09 in the semifinals to beat Kim Morrell, which was preceded by wins against Casey Stemper and Scott Grey.
“This is a great deal,” Owens said. “We’ve got a great bike. I felt great about the bike today and, after going 4.09, I felt good going into the final.”
Montecalvo was another start-to-finish winner, needing a top-notch performance in the finals to knock off Gahm and his 4.11 time. Montecalvo made a significant change before the final race, but it paid off, going 4.09 at 178 mph.
“We saw the clouds and made the call to change the transmission,” Montecalvo said. “We did it in 15 minutes. We’ve got a fantastic crew and it to go 4.09, it obviously was the right decision.”
Montecalvo was unbeatable all weekend, beating Scott Hinle, Doug Kirk and Pete Berner to reach the final.
“This is as good as it gets for the weekend,” Montecalvo said. “We’ve been close the last couple races, we just needed to finish it.”
Taylor Weatherford was the winner in Pro Junior Dragster, running an 8.14 at 79 mph, slipping past Kyle Dvorak.
The American Drag Racing League returns to action July 2-3 with the ADRL Hardee’s Independence Drags IV at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, KS.
FRIDAY QUALIFYING - RACE GOES ON WITH WHITE LEADING THE PACK
Gary White’s remarkably consistent and impressive runs do not seem to have stopped in Richmond.
After one day at the ADRL’s Ford Drive One Summer Drags VI at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI, the Extreme 10.5 points leader’s hot streak appears to have continued.
His six-cylinder 2007 Scion put together two more strong passes on Friday, with his 3.95-second pass leading the rest of the field by a wide margin after the first of qualifications.
“We want to enjoy it while we can,” White said. “Weekends like Richmond don’t come around often. It makes you feel pretty good. We’ll ride this as long as we can.
“The guys have it super dialed in. The front end doesn’t come up and it makes it easy to hit my shifts. There’s not a lot of drama with this car right now.”
Other top qualifiers after Friday’s two sessions include Pat Stoken in Pro Nitrous, Gaylen Smith in Pro Extreme, Terry Schweigert in Pro Extreme Motorcycle and John Montecalvo in Extreme Pro Stock.
Heavy rain early on Friday cancelled the first round of qualifying, but the two that were completed offered a number of exhilarating performances.
White was overwhelmingly consistent in XTF in Richmond and that carried over in Martin. After running a 4.01 on his first run, White cut an .0097 light en route to a run that pleased the near-overflow crowd.
He was the only XTF driver to break 3 seconds, and his time is .09 quicker than No. 2 qualifier Todd Moyer. Billy Glidden is in third after a 4.20 run.
“We had a really good race in Richmond and we’ve had a string of really good passes. I’m thrilled,” White said. “We went an .01 and a .95 today and there’s probably a .92 or a .93 in it.
“I’m just confident I can run from point A to point B and stand a pretty good chance. But I know those guys sitting there are going to get runs.”
Gaylen Smith provided a major spark at the end of Friday’s second session, running a career-best 3.68 at a career-high 206 miles per hour.
He overshot KH Al-Thani with a run that brought the crowd to its feet.
“That’s a career-best and that’s what ADRL races will do to you,” Smith said. “If the ADRL doesn’t pull the best out of you, you need to find another sport.
“Our run went very well. We were very happy.”
Al-Thani is in second after running 3.71 in his first run. Alex Hossler, who ran 3.73, is currently in third.
Pat Stoken was pleased with his first run on Friday, but he delivered an attention-grabbing performance in Pro Nitrous with his second pass, running a 3.91 at a class-best 196 mph to jump to first after one day.
“I’m real pleased with this,” Stoken said. “We had a pretty good MPH for that air.
“The first run, we just wanted to make sure we got in. We came back and decided to put a little more in it.”
Stoken thinks there’s more potential for an even better performance on Saturday and he may need it.
Khalid Al-Balooshi ran a 3.92 to sit in second, while Charles Carpenter’s 3.95 puts him in third.
“It’s still pretty soft. I think we can get a little more out of it,” said Stoken, who has delivered a 3.87 in his career.
“Hopefully there’s no more rain. We didn’t hurt any part, so we’ll just try to get after it again tomorrow.”
Terry Schweigert knows he will be challenged on Saturday in Pro Extreme Motorcycle, but he seems ready after building on his second-place finish at Richmond.
His 4.21 was just ahead of the charging Kim Morrell, who continues to make considerable improvements.
Still, Schweigert is gunning for his first first-place trophy.
“I would love one of those,” Schweigert said of the first-place trophies. “I think we’re in a really good position. We’re not going for second place; we’re going for first. There’s a lot of races left.”
Points leader Ashley Owens didn’t make a second pass after an engine malfunction, but he still sits in third.
Schweigert expects to be pushed by both Owens and Morrell on Saturday, but he has additional confidence after running a 4.18 during a test run on Thursday in Norwalk, OH.
“I feel like we’re in a good spot,” Schweigert said. “We’re relaxed and I feel good. We’re happy right now.”
John Montecalvo is also in an enviable position in Extreme Pro Stock after running a 4.11, topping Brian Gahm’s 4.14 in what was a thrilling drag race in the second round of qualifying.
“It was a good run and a smooth run,” Montecalvo said. “Trust me, I’m very happy with what we did.”
Montecalvo had the shift light stay on after his burnout and his crew had to reset it. But he quickly gathered himself and delivered a strong – and needed – performance.
“We’re one race behind – we missed the first race of the year – but we’re moving in the right direction,” Montecalvo said.
After Gahm, Trevor Eman is in the third spot with a 4.16.
In the Pro Jr. Dragster class, Rayvan Jenkins was the top qualifier with a .001 reaction time.
The third and final round of qualifications for all classes at the ADRL Ford Drive On Summer Drags VI is scheduled to begin on Saturday (June 12), with eliminations to follow.
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FRIDAY QUALIFYING -
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FRIDAY - RAIN GREETS THE RACERS FOR THE START OF THE EVENT
The ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags VI is under rain delay.
Each time it appears the weather has passed, a new swell of rain dumps a significant amount on the track. There have been several downpours but it appears the worst has passed.
Race officials anticipate a 1 PM, EST start.
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