ADRL TEXAS DRAGS - EVENT RESULTS

SATURDAY - HOUSTON HOSTS THREE ADRL DOUBLE-UP WINNERS

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Houston Raceway Park hosted three double-up winners this weekend as Rickie Smith, Billy Glidden and John Montecalvo got the job done in Pro Rickie Nitrous, Extreme 10.5 and Extreme Pro Stock, respectively. Joining them in victory lane for the inaugural ADRL Texas Drags were Pro Extreme star Joshua Hernandez and Pro Extreme Motorcycle’s Ashley Owens, who both won in dominating fashion.

An emotional Smith said he savored last night’s win in the postponed-from-March UTI Dragpalooza VI event as much as any in his storied career as he felt it offered proof he remains relevant in the class. He apparently remains intimidating, too, as Johnny Pilcher went red against “Tricky Rickie” by 28-thousandths of a second while Smith duplicated his best-of-class 3.90 pass from the semis at 192.82 mph to take his third career ADRL win and his second in as many nights.

The Texas Drags Extreme 10.5 final was an anti-climactic affair, as Gary White also left too early by a huge margin (.156) and though Glidden got away cleanly, his nitrous-assisted 2010 Mustang nosed over just a hundred feet or so into the run and he coasted to a 5.53-seconds win at less than 88 mph. The weekend’s take represented wins number 10 and 11 on the tour for Glidden, the 2008 class champion in his ADRL rookie season.

In a classic Chevy vs. Ford final, Montecalvo and his ’08 Cobalt also crossed the finish line alone after Gahm’s Mustang faltered shortly after launching, while he set low elapsed time (ET) for the race and the weekend with a string-straight 4.11-seconds effort at 175.80 mph. Not only did “Monte” win both races this weekend, he also beat Gahm at the most recently completed event at Martin, Michigan, in June, giving him three in a row and the fourth of his ADRL career.

The Pro Extreme final represented a replay of the 2008 ADRL season opener at Houston when Hernandez beat Steve Wiley and the result this time was no different. In a lopsided match, top qualifier Hernandez left with an outstanding .009 light, then set low ET of the weekend with a winning 3.72 pass at 204.91 mph while number-15 qualifier Wiley drifted out of the groove and had to shutdown to a 4.49 at just 120 mph. The win on his home track represents a class-leading eighth for the Conroe, Texas-based Hernandez.

Seeking redemption after Dragpalooza winner Travis Davis handed him his first elimination-round loss of 2010 in the opening round on Friday, Owens showed no mercy against Davis in the Pro Extreme Motorcycle final on Saturday. He stepped up with a run of 4.13 seconds at 173.83, again setting low ET for the class this weekend, with Davis trying to replicate yesterday’s success with a game 4.19 run at 171.38 that turned out to be the best final-round pairing of the night. Owens now has four wins after five completed events this year and six overall in the ADRL bike class.

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FRIDAY - TWO-TIME WINNERS DOMINATE DRAGPALOOZA COMPLETION

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px_winner Three of the five pro class winners Friday night at Houston Raceway Park had previously visited only one ADRL winner’s celebration.

Frankie “Mad Man” Taylor earned the postponed-from-March UTI Dragpalooza VI Pro Extreme title for his second ADRL win, “Tricky Rickie” Smith picked up his second Pro Nitrous trophy and Pro Extreme Motorcycle rider Travis Davis also took the hardware home for the second time. Meanwhile, John Montecalvo increased his Extreme Pro Stock win total to three and Billy Glidden, the 2008 Extreme 10.5 champ, added his 10th race title, becoming the first ADRL competitor in any category to reach double digits in the win column.

In the debut of a brand-new ’05 Corvette, Taylor went quicker in each of four elimination rounds, culminating in a 3.76-seconds pass at 200.02 mph over the HRP eighth mile to defeat fellow Texan Gaylen Smith, who left first but soon lost traction and was forced to lift. With all final rounds also serving as qualifying passes for Saturday’s inaugural ADRL Texas Drags, Taylor’s time exactly matched the elapsed time of provisional number-one qualifier Joshua Hernandez, but Hernandez retained the top spot based on going a couple of miles an hour faster.

Smith’s 3.91 at 191.97 mph in the final against a redlighting Terry Murphy did, however, give him sole possession of first place in Pro Nitrous, eclipsing the heroics of Jim Halsey, who earlier vaulted from worst to first among 17 entries with a 3.92 pass. Smith’s ’68 Camaro is using essentially the same revolutionary EFI/nitrous system that recently propelled Pat Musi to an NHRA Pro Mod win and the first 200 mph pass by a doorslammer in the eighth mile.

xtf_winner Glidden improved his own number-one qualifying position in Extreme 10.5 with a 4.03 win at 183.02 mph over Michelle Wilson in her first ADRL national event final. Wilson actually got away first with a sizable .071 holeshot, but she said her 2000 Firebird veered left toward the wall almost immediately and she had to quit the pass.

“The more horsepower we threw at it, the more it started to do that,” she said. “It’s too bad, because we might have been able to make it exciting if it had gone straighter.”

Davis opened his final Pro Extreme Motorcycle pass with a stellar .003 light, then put together a 4.20 run at 171.34 mph to hold off a 4.22 charge at 179.95 by Eric McKinney.

“We’ve been struggling with our 60-foot times,” McKinney explained. “We’re running the big mile an hour, but I wish we could get our ET down a little better.”

Elijah Morton went red by 22 thousandths in the Extreme Pro Stock final, instantly giving Montecalvo his first back-to-back ADRL race titles after winning more than a month ago at Martin, Michigan, in the last completed ADRL event. Regardless, Montecalvo would’ve been tough to beat after putting together a package that included a .008 reaction time followed by a 4.13 at 175.21-mph pass that also secured the provisional pole for Saturday’s eliminations.

“We have one more qualifying round tomorrow morning, but I really think that’ll stand up,” Montecalvo said. “The air stayed pretty much the same as it was all day and how I think it’ll be tomorrow, but the track got a lot better once the sun wasn’t on it anymore.”
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Being a couple of crew members short and battling hot, humid conditions all day made the win all that much sweeter, Montecalvo added.

“We really hadn’t made a great pass until that last one, so it’s been a phenomenal day,” he said. “We fought the car and the track all day long, but it’s really rewarding to come out and do so well after you work so hard. The only thing that could make it better would be if we could double up (in wins) tomorrow. I’ve never done that before, but that would be great.”

No doubt, there are four other racers at HRP this weekend that couldn’t agree more.