EVENT RESULTS EVENT NOTEBOOK			THURSDAY GALLERY FRIDAY GALLERY SATURDAY GALLERY

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK - CHAMPIONSHIP PICTURE GETTING CLEARER WITH NORWALK WINNERS CROWNED

HIS TITLE TO LOSE AT THIS POINT - His fourth win of the year at the ADRL Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags V also means Mike Castellana likely will be the 2011 Pro Nitrous champion when the final points are tallied at the series’ final race next month in Texas.

Castellana’s win over Stan Allen in an incredibly tight Pro Nitrous final round provided him with a 574-point lead over defending class champ Burton Auxier, who failed to qualify at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. In order to win the title, Auxier would now have to win the race and set two new national records. 
 
Castellana, who missed the 16-car qualifying cut at the previous race on the ADRL schedule just two weeks ago at Rockingham (NC) Dragway, admitted to some concern when all of Friday’s scheduled qualifying opportunities in Ohio were lost to rain. But a solid 3.966-seconds effort at 191.78 mph in the first of two sessions on Saturday placed Castellana 12th to begin eliminations.

Castellana enjoyed a distinct performance advantage over Pat Stoken, Jim Halsey and Jeff Naiser along the way to meeting up with Allen, who was going after his second straight race win after prevailing at “The Rock.” Allen sent Castellana’s teammate and 2009 class champ Khalid Al-Balooshi packing with a holeshot win in round one, then took out a third Al-Anabi driver, Mahana Al-Naemi, in round two before defeating John Hall in the semis.

Allen and Castellana posted identical .038 reaction times in the final, but it was Castellana’s ’69 Camaro reaching the eighth-mile finish line first in 3.799 seconds at 197.42 mph, with Allen just four-thousandths of a second and exactly one mile per hour behind at 3.803 and 196.42 mph in a race featuring the two  quickest passes of the event.

Regardless, Castellana insisted his Shannon Jenkins-led crew “didn’t do anything different” for the final.

“The air and the track were getting better, so we just let it come to us,” the Muttontown, New York-based driver said. “We just wanted to win rounds and it worked out.

If Castellana does emerge as the 2011 champ, he will also enter as the number-one seed to the ADRL’s Battle for the Belts featuring the top eight points finishers in a special $25,000-to-win Quick-8 race Sep. 22, at the Motorplex. Also qualifying for the Battle were Balooshi, Al, Naemi, Allen, Auxier, Naiser, John DeCerbo and Bob Rahaim, the number-one qualifier at the Ohio Drags.

FINALLY A BREAK - Al-Anabi Racing’s Alex Hossler earned one of drag racing’s more dubious honors Sep. 24, when he became an event winner without even crossing the finish line.

Racing against Bahrain 1’s Joshua Hernandez in the Pro Extreme final for the ADRL Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags V, the blower belt on Hossler’s ’57 Chevy broke immediately upon the hit and he slowly coasted to a stop not far past half-track at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. The win light still shined brightly over his right-hand lane, though, as Hernandez threw away his chances with a -.015 red-light start.

“I remember W.J. once saying there’s no such thing as an ugly win, but that has to be about as close as you can get to one,” Hossler said. “That had to set some kind of record for the slowest winning pass in ADRL history.”

Hossler reached the final after qualifying ninth by taking down Michael Recchia, Tommy D’Aprile, and points leader Jason Hamstra. On the opposite side of the ladder, number-six starter Hernandez ousted Quain Stott, 2010 class champ Frankie Taylor and Terry Leggett with a huge holeshot win in the semis.

“Even though we weren’t really deserving of a win it feels good to have some good luck for a change,” Hossler said. “We’ll take this and try to ride whatever momentum we have into Dallas and maybe we can go some rounds in the Battle for the Belts.”

The Norwalk race represented the final opportunity for ADRL competitors to earn points toward qualifying for the special-event Battle for the Belts for the season’s top eight finishers in each pro class, to be held Saturday, Oct. 22, within the LenMar Motorsports World Finals VII at the Texas Motorplex, near Dallas.

Qualifying for the Battle for the Belts are Hamstra, Joey Martin, Mick Snyder, Todd Tutterow, Taylor, Hossler, Jason Scruggs and Hernandez. Hamstra heads to Dallas with a nearly insurmountable 476-point lead over Martin for the 2011 Pro Extreme championship.

FIRST TIME IS THE CHARM - A little extra weight, that’s all it took for Grant McCrary to make his twin-turbocharged ’08 Stratus go a little quicker and beat Chuck Ulsch in the Extreme 10.5 final Sep. 24, at the ADRL Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags V in Norwalk, Ohio.

“We were running pretty good, but I kept having to pedal it when it would go into these big power wheelies down track,” McCrary said after going a career-best 3.849 at 200.86 mph to beat Ulsch and his screw-blown ’68 Camaro at 3.887 and 210.08 mph, the fastest speed ever recorded in the class. “So we duct-taped and zip-tied 10 pounds on the nose for that run and that settled it down. It was the first one all day that I was able to go wide-open throttle the whole way.”

In a one-day event after Friday’s three planned qualifying rounds were rained out, McCrary, from Haslet, Texas, opened with a 4.023 shot that had him fourth on the list after one of only two sessions scheduled for Saturday at Summit Motorsports Park. He improved to 3.964 at 197.10 mph, but actually dropped two positions to sixth after the second round was over. Ulsch, meanwhile struggled in both qualifying opportunities, posting a best of 5.112 at just 102.79 mph that placed him dead last of 14 entries heading into eliminations.

In the final pairing of round one, Ulsch had obviously found his game, as he posted a 3.912 at 204.73 to beat Brad Brand, who slowed significantly to 4.008 seconds after securing the number-one start with a 3.875-seconds pass at 201.40 mph in his twin-turboed ’07 Mustang. Ulsch dodged a bullet in a troubled round-two bye run, however, netting just a 6.328 over the Norwalk eighth mile.

McCrary, meanwhile, easily handled Bill Devine before beating nitrous standout Billy Glidden, who ran a career-best 3.910 in qualifying third behind Brand and 2010 champ Dan Millen.

In the semis, it was Ulsch over Frankie Taylor and McCrary over Brian Carpenter.

With only one race left in the season, Millen is positioned to repeat as series champion, leading Taylor in the standings by 358 points, or about 3.5 rounds of racing.

EVEN BETTER SECOND TIME AROUND - The Pro Extreme Motorcycle final at Summit Motorsports Park made news almost as much for who didn’t race in it as for who did, as for the first time since 2009 Ashley Owens did not participate in the final round of an ADRL event he attended.

Instead it was left up to veteran rider Travis Davis and 20-year-old Jeremy Teasley in just his second ADRL appearance to settle the two-wheeled score, with Teasley taking home the Minuteman trophy.

“I thought we could win here (in the ADRL), but never expected it to happen this fast,” Teasley said. “This is pretty cool.”

At the series’ previous event, just two weeks earlier at Rockingham, North Carolina, Teasley came out of nowhere to qualify first and make it to the semis aboard Rob Hunnicutt’s 2010 Hayabusa. In the Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags V at Norwalk, Ohio, he started from the third position behind polesitter Owens and former two-time ADRL champ Billy Vose, but finished first with a stout 4.040-seconds pass at 176.10 mph in the final beating a 4.124 at 173.58 combo by Davis.

After a pair of 4.12 runs got him past Paul Gast and David Norris, Teasley stepped up with a 4.037 against a -.002 red light by Vose in the semis.

“Rob was able to find a tune-up for the semis when we needed it. That was the key to winning this race,” Teasley said, referring to the 4.06 that Vose negated with his early start.

Vose set a new official Pro Extreme Motorcycle speed record of 180.77 mph in qualifying, backed up within the required one percent by a pair of 180.28-mph passes in the first two rounds of eliminations.

Davis beat Keith Dennis, Dave Vantine and Owens in the semis, but Owens became the only ADRL competitor to clinch a world championship with his Norwalk results.

ALMOST THERE - The only thing that eluded Cary Goforth at Summit Motorsports Park was the speed record, as the Holdenville, Oklahoma-based Extreme Pro Stock racer qualified number one, set a new ET record, won his third race of the year and essentially secured the season-long championship.

“This is a great day for us,” the second-generation driver exclaimed after beating Doug Kirk in the XPS final for the ADRL Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags V. “My crew deserves all the credit for this. I know everyone always thanks their crew; well, they really do deserve it. I cannot do any of this without their help.”

Goforth started on top with a 4.045 pass straight off the trailer on Saturday after Friday’s scheduled qualifying rounds were preempted by rain. He then doused the hopes of his father, Dean in round one before beating Trevor Eman in round two and running a record 4.037 pass at 178.24 mph, which was the fastest speed of the meet, against a redlighting Pete Berner in the semis.

Goforth’s ’09 Cobalt led stripe-to-stripe in the final, as he left with a .017 holeshot and ran 4.069 at 177.67 to Kirk’s 4.131 at 174.82 in his 2008 Mustang.

“I’ve got to hand it to ‘Lump’ (crew chief Brian Self), he’s amazing; he just always makes the right calls,” Goforth said. “I’ve known him a long time and consider him a friend first, but he’s turned out to be a heckuva’ crew chief.”

Goforth literally needs only to show up and officially enter the season-ending ADRL LenMar Motorsports World Finals VIII next month at Ennis, Texas, to clinch the 2011 XPS championship. His number-one status also gives him a bye for round one of the special-event Battle for the Belts race for the season’s top eight points earners. Also in the $20K-to-win XPS Battle will be Berner, 2010 class champ John Montecalvo, Dean Goforth, Scott Hintz, Elijah Morton, Brian Gahm and Richie Stevens Jr., who squeaked in by qualifying at Norwalk.

TRUE DOUBLE DUTY - Lee Adkins won the ADRL Pro Nitrous race last summer at Martin, Michigan, with his ’68 Camaro and this year at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, he drove the same car to victory lane in the ADRL’s new legal-trim Pro Mod class.

After qualifying second in an eight-car field, Adkins defeated Dan Stevenson in round one, made a semi-final solo pass when Alex Viscardi couldn’t answer the call in round two, and sent number-one qualifier Pete Farber and his roots-blown ’69 Daytona packing in the final with a 3.903 at 191.59-mph winning pass.

“Man, that was pretty exciting. We fought a lot of gremlins today, so it feels real good to get it done,” the Linden, Tennessee, native declared in victory lane for the ADRL Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags V. “That was all my guys. It wasn’t me; it was those three guys that came up here with me. They busted their butts here to get that win.

“Just to come out here and race with these guys in the ADRL is great,” Adkins continued. “I’m really hoping this class takes off here. I’m hoping to come out with a two-car team for it next year, although after all the work we had to do this time, I’m suddenly not so sure if that’s a good idea!”

XTF GETS BRAND-ED – “Bad Brad” Brand came out swinging with his twin-turboed ’07 Mustang  in the opening round of Extreme 10.5 qualifying at Summit Motorsports Park with this wheelstanding 3.875-seconds pass at 201.40 mph that held up for the number-one start in eliminations. Second in qualifying was reigning XTF champion Dan Millen with a 3.895 in his screw-blown 2011 Mustang and Billy Glidden placed third with a career-best 3.910 at 186.87 in his nitrous-boosted Mickey Thompson 2010 Mustang.

BUT DOES IT HAVE THAT NEW CAR SMELL? – After more than a year’s absence, Tommy D’Aprile made his return to ADRL Pro Extreme racing in a brand-spanking-new Jeffers Race Cars-built 2005 Corvette owned by Mel Bush. Without so much as a pre-race test pass, D’Aprile steered it to a 4.058 at 188.33 in round one of qualifying at Norwalk, which placed him 17th, just over two-hundredths outside of qualifying for the 16-car field. However, when Von Smith was unable to continue following a round one qualifying crash, D’Aprile was inserted as first alternate to face top qualifier Jason Scruggs when eliminations began. Incredibly, Scruggs was late on the tree and D’Aprile scored a holeshot maiden win for his new ride.

BEGINNER’S LUCK? – He’s the sixth driver in Don Carter’s Pro Extreme ’68 Camaro this year and now the quickest, too, as Mission Viejo, CA’s Darren Nicholson qualified the car 13th with a 3.829 at 198.06 mph in round one of qualifying for the ADRL Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags V.

“You’ve heard of butterflies in the stomach? Well, I guarantee that’s nothing compared to what I was feeling up there,” said Nicholson, the 2010 NHRA Div. 1 Top Alcohol Dragster champion who revealed he’d never before driven a door car.

“That was actually the first pass I’d made in any car this year.” Proving it was no fluke, Nicholson ran 3.84 in Saturday’s second and final qualifying session (after Friday’s action was washed out by rain), but lost with a 3.86 in the first round of eliminations against series regular Mick Snyder.

“I had a lot of fun. I like the atmosphere here (ADRL),” said Nicholson. “I’m looking forward to going to Dallas (for the ADRL season ender in October) and maybe doing a little better.”

SHORT WEEKEND FOR SMITH - Von Smith hopes his bad luck is over.

“Man, last year it was like we couldn’t do anything wrong and this year it’s the exact opposite,” said the defending NHRA Pro Mod and Arabian Drag Racing League Pro Extreme champion after crashing in first-round qualifying for the ADRL Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags V in Norwalk, Ohio.

Running alongside Jason Scruggs as the first pair of Pro Extreme entries to hit the track after all of Friday’s action was rained out, Smith had just dropped the laundry after a 4.03-seconds pass at 177.67 mph when his Barwa-backed ’68 Camaro suddenly darted from the left to the right lane and began sashaying wildly back and forth before eventually hooking hard to the right and impacting the wall while up on its two left wheels.

“When we looked at the data we could see something was feeding the slide because the sideways Gs were consistent, it wasn’t grabbing dry pavement until the very end,” Smith explained.  “If it hadn’t hit the wall it probably would’ve gone over. It was a pretty good hit, but fortunately it was a glancing blow so the car isn’t torn up too much.”

Video evidence confirmed liquid began spraying out from under the right side of the car approximately two seconds past the eighth-mile finish line. “It was probably fuel, alcohol, because it was already gone (evaporated) by the time they checked the track,” Smith said.

Smith was uninjured in the wreck, but his weekend behind the wheel was over. Though the car seemed to steer and stop properly after the impact, he said his Howard Moon-led crew determined the front steering was too badly damaged to repair in time for round two of qualifying.

“I have an outstanding team,” Smith stated. “If this had happened on Friday we definitely would’ve fixed it for today. I just hope Khalid (team owner Sheikh Al-Thani) doesn’t say he’s tired of fixing crashed cars. Hopefully we’re done with that now.”

There will now be two rounds of qualifying on Saturday for all classes, with the first scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

The second round of qualifying is slated for 12 p.m., with eliminations set to follow in all classes at its regularly scheduled time of 3:30 p.m.

The inclement weather didn’t allow for any racing on Friday, leading ADRL officials to decide on two qualifying sessions on Saturday before eliminations for what is another impressive turnout of competitors.

“By having two rounds of qualifying before eliminations on Saturday, it will give fans and competitors the best experience possible for this race,” ADRL Director of Competition Tom Grooms said.

The Ohio Drags V is the final ADRL race before October’s LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals VII, giving ADRL competitors one last opportunity to get into the “Battle For The Belts” field.

With strong car counts in every class, the cooler temperatures and ideal track conditions at a notoriously fast track could lead to a memorable day of racing on Saturday.

“With the ideal weather forecast for Saturday, the good news for the fans and competitors is we could see world record times in every class,” ADRL Executive Vice President Jeff Fortune said. “This is an important and highly-anticipated event and there are a number of standout drivers competing for a world championship in every class.

“There is a lot on the line for this race and everyone will be pulling out all the stops to do well, and we want to give everyone the best opportunity to see this world-class racing at a wonderful facility.”

SCHEDULE FOR SATURDAY’S OHIO DRAGS V (all times local)

SATURDAY: Spectator Gates Open at 9 a.m.; Qualifying Round 1 at 9 a.m. (Run order: TS, PM, XPS, PXM, XTF, PN, PX, PJD); Qualifying Round 2 at 12 p.m. (Run order: TS, PM, XPS, PXM, XTF, PN, PX, PJD); Pre-Race Ceremonies 3:15 p.m. Eliminations Round 1 at 3:30 p.m. (Run order: TS, PM, XPS, PXM, XTF, PN, PX, PJD); Jet Car at 9 p.m.; Final Eliminations at 9:30 p.m. (Run order: PJD, TS, PM, XPS, PXM, XTF, PN, PX); Monster Truck run 10 p.m.; ADRL Winner’s Circle Celebration 10:30 p.m.; Secure Track 11 p.m.

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - IT'S A SOGGY ONE, AND IT'S WASH OUT ...

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY – Come again another day—when the ADRL is not in town! ADRL officials including series president Tim McAmis (in black) confer near the starting line at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, trying to come up with a battle plan against the rain that has plagued the Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags V so far.

With the wet stuff waning, drying crews hit the track about 3:15 on Friday, but the rain returned shortly afterward and the equipment was parked again by 3:40 pm. At 3:50 the official announcement came that all of today’s on-track action was cancelled.

Regardless, plans call for two qualifying sessions for all classes to be run Saturday prior to eliminations. It will be a 9 a.m. start with Saturday’s normal rotation of classes beginning with Top Sportsman and ending with Pro Jr. Dragster.

AS GOOD AS IT JETS – ADRL Pro Extreme Motorcycle team owner and rider Paul Gast took advantage of the lengthy rain delay Friday to examine and sort, and organize dozens of jets for the carburetors on his Fast by Gast entries.

AND THEN HE … -- Extreme Pro Stock racer John Pluchino (right) holds court in John Montecalvo’s pit, entertaining (l-r) chassis builder Rick Jones, driver Rickie Jones and driver Tony Gillig with crazy tales of John Nobile, Pluchino’s cousin and father of NHRA Pro Stock rookie sensation Vincent Nobile.

REMEMBERING BERT - After Bert Jackson was killed in a qualifying accident two weeks ago during the ADRL’s previous event at Rockingham, North Carolina, fellow Extreme Pro Stock driver Cale Aronson and his girlfriend Tinzy Smith pledged to do something to keep Jackson’s memory alive while also helping out his family.

After considering several options, 187 Graphix in Frederick, Maryland, produced thousands of the popular cause-oriented, injected-mold silicone wrist bands in purple and lime green, featuring Jackson’s name and his car number: XPS 1320.

The wrist bands will be available to racers and fans attending this weekend’s ADRL Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags V for a small donation made to a fund to benefit Jackson’s wife, Vaness, and their two daughters. There also will be available Bert Jackson memorial decals, with a second, unique design available only to Extreme Pro Stock drivers and team members.

“This is just our small way of recognizing Bert and what he meant to our class,” Aronson said. “We’re a pretty tight-knit group and we’re all going to miss Bert every day, but hopefully these wrist bands and decals will be good ways to keep a little reminder of him with us.”

Fellow Pro Stock racer Doug Kirk made Bert Jackson's memory as his major sponsor this weekend.

NEW MOTOR FOR MATHIS – Pro Nitrous racer Robert Mathis took delivery this morning (Sep. 22) of a brand-new, crated Reher & Morrison 864 c.i. engine and by early afternoon it was already installed in his Jerry Bickel-built ’69 Camaro.

The new bullet replaces an R&M 855 c.i. first-generation 5.3-inch bore space motor that Mathis said was “tired and loose after almost 200 passes.” Being 15 pounds lighter and with a larger camshaft, updated water injection and new carburetors, Mathis said he expects the new engine will shave several hundredths off his previous best ET of 3.93 seconds.

“We’re looking to do mid-3.80s with it this weekend,” he said from his pit at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. Mathis’ Baker, Florida-based team also has a new Bradco torque converter in place as they try to go one round better than their semi-final finish at Norwalk last year.

“Now we’ve got the same stuff as all the other guys have; we’re pretty excited about this weekend,” he said.

HOMETOWN HEMI – Nick Jackson from nearby Cleveland showed up to take his annual shot at ADRL Extreme 10.5 at Summit Motorsports Park, but this time his ’41 Willys has a brand-new Roots-blown 540 c.i. Hemi where a small-block Chevy motor used to reside.

The car and new motor were built by Scott Braskett in Columbus, Ohio, and so far Jackson has made just a couple of short hits in testing with it last weekend at Thompson, Ohio.

“If I can get it into the 4.30s or high-.20s this weekend I’d be really happy with it,” Jackson said. “Really, I just hope to get in the show and we’ll try to get faster from there.”