EVENT RESULTS EVENT NOTEBOOK ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS			FRIDAY GALLERY SATURDAY GALLERY SUNDAY GALLERY LIVE VIDEO

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK - A DAY OF CARNAGE STILL YIELDS SPECTACULAR DAY OF RACING

IN LOVING MEMORY -


Joey "Hero" Martin kicked off his 2013 ADRL Pro Extreme championship chase in fine style Mar. 10, capturing the season-opening Dragpalooza IX win at Rockingham Dragway in the unique '55 Chevy "Lowmad" for new team owner David Elsberry. Shortly after beating the defending series champion Mick Snyder in the final round, Martin also confirmed the Lowmad team had secured sufficient funding to run the entire eight-race ADRL schedule this year.

"We weren't going to run ADRL at all this year, but then we got some answered prayers in the way of funding and now we'll be able to attend all of them," said Martin, who in 2010 built the fan-favorite Lowmad II at his Milton, FL, chassis shop for previous team owner Toney Russell, who passed away late the next year. "I can tell you it eases the mind to know we have enough money to go racing now and I can concentrate on making the car go faster instead of worrying about bills."

Martin said his weekend at Rockingham didn't start well as he initially battled electrical problems that led to him qualifying eighth with a 3.693-seconds pass at 203.31 mph. "It ended up being the crank trigger that we figured out after the second round of qualifying and then we blew the tires off in the third round, so I knew for sure it was fixed then."

Martin's first-round opponent on race day was two-time class champ Jason Scruggs, who also had struggled in qualifying, but laid down a solid 3.666 at 209.72 that was negated, however, by Martin's .020 advantage off the starting line to give him a two-thousandths margin of victory after running 3.684 at 205.32 mph.

Next up was number-one qualifier Von Smith, who Martin again treed with a .047 holeshot that allowed his 3.650 at 207.53 to beat the quicker and faster 3.642 at 210.83 by Smith. Martin finally ran away with a round in the semis, though, where he led stripe to stripe against Richard Holt with a 3.677 at 205.98 that gave him lane choice for the final. "Everything was working just like it should; it couldn't have been better," he said.

Snyder, who failed to make even one decent pass with his '63 Corvette through all three rounds of qualifying on Saturday, entered eliminations from a highly uncharacteristic 15th and last position on the list. He rebounded with early round wins over Alex Hossler and Todd Tutterow, however, before making a 3.713-seconds solo pass in the semis after Tim Tindle was unable to make the run.

Martin posted his "worst" reaction time of the day in the final with a .036 light that led to a winning 3.670 at 206.86 mph, while Snyder left just one-thousandth of a second too soon on a 3.677 run at 205.63 mph.

"It felt good and I knew it was on a good pass, but then I saw Mick poke his nose in there beside me and I couldn't tell who was ahead, it was that close. So I'm watching him, but then I look up and see my win light on right before I got to the finish line, so that's when I knew he must've gone red," Martin said.

Russell's widow, Fonda, had made the trip to the famous North Carolina track from her home near Huntsville, AL, and was rewarded not only with Martin's victory, but also by that of her grandson Caleb Russell in the ADRL's new Top Jr. Dragster class.

"We're always racing in memory of Toney. I mean, Toney Russell is the Lowmad in a sense," Martin said. "But it was great to have Fonda here with us and to see Caleb win, too. It'll make for a very happy ride home."

QUICK LEARNER -It's not often a new driver with a new car can come into any class in drag racing--let alone one as competitively cutthroat as ADRL Pro Nitrous--and win, but that's exactly what "Stevie Fast" Jackson managed Mar. 10, after qualifying number one for the season-opening Dragpalooza IX at Rockingham Dragway.

Jackson led start to finish in the Pro Nitrous final against Al-Anabi teammate and former class champion Mike Castellana, setting low E.T. of the meet with a 3.771 at 196.50 to Castellana's 3.813 at 197.48, the highest speed seen in the class all weekend.

"We were just out here having fun. Running my teammate in the final was fun and winning's always fun," said the drag radial veteran, who initially put his Al-Anabi Racing '68 Camaro together as a side project while racing overseas earlier this year with the Arabian Drag Racing League in Qatar. "I never thought when I was coming up that I would ever get to run with guys like Mike and (crew chief) Shannon (Jenkins), so getting to race them in my first ADRL race in an all-Al-Anabi final was pretty awesome."

Jackson stunned his veteran competitors with a stellar 3.782 pass at 196.04 mph on Saturday to take the top spot in qualifying for the eight-car PN field. Once Sunday rolled around, though, he slowed to a 3.913 at 187.08 that still got him past John Hall, then advanced from the semis with a 4.043 at just 179.23 mph after narrowly missing disaster when John DeCerbo crashed heavily behind him. Thankfully, DeCerbo was uninjured, but his immaculate '68 Camaro sustained heavy damage.

"I have great respect for Shannon and Mike and we actually had to borrow some stuff from them just to run in the final," Jackson revealed. "We had a bad batch of nitrous and that was what was plaguing us in E1 and E2, so me and Shannon put our heads together and decided to go with fresh bottles filled up out of their trailer and that cleared everything up, so I can't thank Shannon and Mike enough."

Castellana managed a best of 3.933 at 192.14 over three rounds of qualifying to start from the seventh slot, then caught a lucky break in round one of racing when he ran 4.136 at 166.03 while second-place starter Jim Laurita shut down early with tire shake. Castellana finally caught fire in the semis with a 3.888 at 193.43 to handily defeat Jason Harris and earn lane choice for the final.

Once there, Jackson posted his best reaction of the day (.031), while Castellana had his worst (.098), contributing to a sizable .109 margin of victory. Still, the Martinez, GA-based newcomer was generous in his assessment of the final. "It was a good drag race; I was very aware that his nose was by my door the whole time," Jackson said. "In fact, I was jumping up and down in the seat, just trying to scootch that thing on forward!"

Jackson also pointed out that when he rolled into "The Rock" his plan was only to get qualified and hopefully make it through a round or two.

"This is a new deal and we really weren't completely ready because we only got the car here (in the U.S.) four or five days ago, so it was kind of a thrown-together-at-the-last-minute deal by the blessing of Sheikh Khalid," he explained. "I even told my team when we were coming here, 'Let's go, let's show up and we can at least get some data for the next race.' But with Billy Stocklin pushing the keys on it, we put our heads together and it just makes for an awesome team and an awesome hot rod."

Jackson also had NHRA Top Fuel crew chief and close friend Phil Shuler in his pit.

"Phil always is involved in everything we do, from tuning to mechanicing to anything. He definitely got his hands dirty changing transmissions and converters here," Jackson said. "He tells me all the time not to let his guys on the Top Fuel team see how much I make him work when he's with me!"

THE IMMIGRANT SONG -A classic nitrous versus blower Pro Mod final at the ADRL's season-opening Dragpalooza IX also featured a decided international flair, as Swedish racer and number-one qualifier Adam Flamholc prevailed over Puerto Rico's Raymond Matos, who fouled out with a -.203 red-light start.

But Matos, who in September 2008 won in Pro Nitrous in the ADRL's prestigious Dragstock event on the same Rockingham Dragway eighth mile, later explained a nitrous line came loose inside his '70 Cuda's cockpit just as the starting tree was coming down and it startled him enough to release the transbrake and leave so early, negating a 3.923 pass at 188.81 mph.

Flamholc, of course, saw his rival go red, so he said he backed off a little early to post a winning 3.962 at 189.10 in his roots-blown '67 Camaro. "We'll be racing in the NHRA race next week in Gainesville (FL), so when I saw the red light I thought I should save the parts when I can."

Flamholc placed first in the Pro Mod field with a 3.864 at 193.46 pass, while Matos started from the seventh position after going 4.036 at 186.30 in qualifying trim. With only 15 entries, though, Flamholc enjoyed a first-round bye before beating James Linton Jr. in the quarter-finals, then overcoming a head start by Todd Howard in the semis with a 3.917 run that also gave him lane choice over Matos, who advanced past a redlighting Larry Higgenbotham, took down Rickie Smith with a holeshot in round two, and ran 3.945 at 187.99 to outdistance David Hance in the semi-finals.  

"We've been to four or five finals before, I think, and always came runner-up, but now we finally made it and I'm so happy, so happy for the guys on my team here. It means a lot to us," said Flamholc, who also dedicated the win to his grandmother who passed away just two weeks earlier.

"The plan was for us to ship the car back to Sweden after Gainesville, but with this win and depending on how we do down there, we may change the plan," he added.

GIVE HIM LUCK OVER GOOD - John DeFlorian had been dominating in Extreme Pro Stock (XPS) all weekend long in the ADRL's Dragpalooza IX at Rockingham Dragway, but got lucky when it really counted to take his second career win home to Arnold, MO.

Driving the Black Diamond Motorsports 2012 Camaro he built himself as shop foreman of Jerry Haas Race Cars, DeFlorian started from atop the 13-car XPS field with a 4.025 at a record-setting 180.26 mph, then set low E.T. for each of the three preliminary rounds before meeting close friend and number-two qualifier John Pluchino in the final.

DeFlorian left with a solid .021 light, but quickly lost traction as he watched Pluchino streak to a 4.066 pass at 178.24 mph. Pluchino, from Commack, NY, had left -.047 too soon, though, handing over a free race win to DeFlorian.

"We made a last-minute decision with some RPM stuff right before the final that kind of got us in trouble, I think," DeFlorian said. "If I could go back in time and not make that move I'm sure it would've gone down, probably another .04 or .03 maybe. We weren't trying to rotate the earth, just run good, consistent numbers that should've got the job done."

DeFlorian opened eliminations by exactly matching his qualifying ET in a first-round bye run, then posted low ET for the meet with an outstanding 4.019 run at 179.78 in beating Scott Hintz before earning lane choice for the final with a 4.058 at 178.28 against Trevor Eman, who went red by just one-thousandth off the start.

Pluchino, meanwhile, also was consistently good, going 4.033 at 179.09 to beat Lester Cooper in round one and 4.028 at 178.99 in a second-round bye. He caught a break of his own in the semis, too, when he slowed a little to 4.131 at 174.82, but Elijah Morton left -.004 too soon to cancel out his quicker and faster 4.104 at 177.32-mph pass.

"I felt for John (Pluchino) when I saw he went red against us. I really did, because he did an amazing job all weekend here," DeFlorian insisted in victory lane. "Even though you always want to win yourself, you also want to see your friends do well and I just feel like he deserved that round more than we did. We didn't go A-to-B and you've got to do that in order to feel like you really earned it.

"But we'll take it and I'm still really happy to get the win," he quickly added. "We lost several races last year that we probably should've won with the car we had, but our driver didn't do his job right, so I guess we kind of got one back here."

 THIS MAKES TWO -Consistency was the name of the game in Pro Extreme Motorcycle during the ADRL's Dragpalooza IX at Rockingham Dragway, where the numbers one and two qualifiers turned out to be the best players.

After qualifying just one-thousandth of a second apart and with identical top speeds at the head of the 16-bike field, top starter and defending class champion Eric McKinney (4.071/174.50) and Canadian rider Terry Schweigert (4.072/174.50) faced off in the final, where McKinney unleashed low ET of the meet to settle the score.

McKinney used a trio of 4.05 passes at 174 mph to get past Lamond Payne (4.052/174.08), Travis Davis (4.055/174.46) and Dave Norris (4.050/174.21) in order to reach Schweigert, who ran a series of 4.077 at 174.77 to beat Jack Young, 4.061 at 175.73 to oust 2009 class champ Scott Gray and 4.078 at 172.47 to eliminate McKinney's teammate, tuner and 2011 PXM champion Ashley Owens from the semis.

In the final, McKinney left with a slim .007 advantage off the tree (.031 to Schweigert's .038), but another 4.074 at 174.84 by the Canuck got left behind by McKinney's impressive 4.032 blast at 176.70 mph.

"Terry's a tough racer and those guys stepped it up big time this year, so I knew we had to step it up and I had to be on my game at the light because I knew he would be, too," McKinney said. "I was nervous, I was definitely nervous. It definitely wasn't in the bag; I knew we'd have to race for it."

McKinney said winning again at Rockingham meant a lot to him after scoring his first ADRL race title in 2009 in Dragstock VI.

"Hats off to the ADRL for getting us back here and to Kenny (Nowling) for pulling this off," he said. "This crowd was amazing, the track was awesome and I'm diggin' the vibe. Getting the win here feels every bit as good as winning the championship did last year."

In the Pro Nitrous semi-finals for Dragpalooza IX, Canfield, OH's John DeCerbo became the third ADRL driver to experience a serious accident this weekend at Rockingham Dragway. During second-round qualifying on Saturday, Pro Extreme rookie Monte Grace hit both walls shortly after launching his screw-blown '68 Camaro and nitrous racing legend Shannon Jenkins suffered the first crash of his long and storied career when his 2012 Camaro rolled over at the end of his third and final Pro Mod qualifying attempt. Fortunately, each driver walked away from the wrecks and none were seriously injured.

In DeCerbo's case, his Tim McAmis-built '68 Camaro lost traction and made a hard left from the right lane and got up on its two right-side wheels, narrowly missing eventual Dragpalooza winner Stevie Jackson as it crossed the track. The car struck the left guardwall nearly head-on shortly before the eighth-mile finish line, where a brief, but huge fireball erupted before it slid to a stop near the quarter-mile mark.

"I think the car just hit the transition from the concrete to the asphalt and it just smoked the tires and it was just out of control. It wasn't shaking, it just smoked the tires," DeCerbo said later in his trailer. "It just turned left and there was nothing I could do. I did hit the parachutes hoping they would slow me down, but I knew I was going to hit the wall, I saw it coming. After that I was just along for the ride."

DeCerbo credited the ADRL safety crew for their quick response and McAmis for providing him with a safe ride. Surprisingly, he also said the car may not be as badly damaged as it initially appeared.

"It looks like it's just front-end damage. It'll probably need a new front clip, or at least that's what we're assuming, but we'll figure it out," DeCerbo said. "Up until that our weekend was going pretty good. We were trying out a new combination and we were going rounds; it just didn't turn out as good as it should have. But cars can be replaced and I'm okay, so we're fine."

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK -

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT - In the off season, Von Smith spent nearly two months racing overseas in Qatar with the Arabian Drag Racing League, where he ran a career-best 3.555 at 212.43 mph. He didn't run quite that quick or fast in Pro Extreme qualifying for the American Drag Racing League (ADRL's) Dragpalooza IX, but did make the only run in the 3.50s so far this weekend to secure the number-one start for eliminations on Saturday.

After a tire-shaking first attempt on the Rockingham Dragway eighth mile, Smith posted a 3.598 at 212.09 mph to take the top spot and match the current ADRL speed record. Still, the Oak Ridge, TN-based driver was left somewhat unimpressed by the performance.

"Honestly, and I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way, but after we ran that .55 over in Qatar anything less than that is like I said on my Facebook page, 'Okay, what's for dinner?' But seriously, we're pretty happy because it's a good start. It bodes well of all that testing we did all winter over in Qatar. We made something like 72 passes over there and I guess you could say it all culminates in the number-one pass here."

Smith credited crew chief Howard Moon for giving him a good, smooth ride.

"You know, any of the smooth passes are the best ones, but I did feel the car tremble just a little bit," he said. "But Howard made adjustments for it and it dried up and went on down the track."

Second-round qualifying was marred by the crash of Muscatine, IA's Monty Grace, who bounced his Chris Duncan-built '68 Camaro off both of Rockingham Dragway's walls, narrowly missing the twin-turboed '71 Camaro of Sweden's Stefan Holmberg in the opposite lane. Afterward, Grace conceded he "just stayed in it too long" after the car started spinning its rear tires almost immediately off the launch.

"The tire speed just came up so fast and then when I got out of it they grabbed and sent it flying in whatever direction it was pointed," said Grace, who has been driving Pro Mods for about five years, but was making his ADRL debut after running a career-best 3.83 in testing at Rockingham the day before. "To be honest, I don't remember anything after that. But I'm okay; my whole left side is sore and my right foot hurts, but I'm okay."

Grace added the car "may be a total loss," obviously dealing a setback to his plans to run the entire eight-race ADRL schedule this year, but with a new Duncan car already in the works he hoped to resume racing as soon as possible.

Next on the qualifying list was Smith Al-Anabi Racing teammate, Alex Hossler, at 3.603 and 211.33 mph, followed in the top five by Tommy D'Aprile (3.617/208.55), Bubba Stanton (3.625/211.56) and Tim Tindle (3.681/207.24). With only 14 entries, both Smith and Hossler will have opening-round byes on race day.

ROOKIE PERFECTION - With his first-ever official ADRL pass, Martinez, GA's Steve Jackson declared his arrival to the Pro Nitrous world with a class-leading, 3.828-seconds effort at 193.54 mph at the ADRL's Dragpalooza IX. His elapsed time was more than a tenth quicker than teammate Mike Castellana in second place with a 3.933 in the opening round of qualifying  at Rockingham Dragway.

Driving the same Reher & Morrison 855-powered Al-Anabi Racing '68 Camaro he competed with a month earlier in the Arabian Drag Racing League, the man known as "Stevie Fast" by legions of fans in the drag radial realm failed to improve in round two, though Jim Laurita and Jason Harris both leapfrogged past Castellana into second and third, respectively.

Working alongside noted tuner Billy Stocklin in his third and final qualifying opportunity, Jackson cemented his position atop the leader board with an outstanding 3.782 pass at 196.04, representing the only run made in the 3.70s so far this weekend.

"That was pretty good," Jackson declared. "We went that .82 off the trailer, backed it up with an .84 in the heat, which was good, so we decided to stick some wick in it and it responded really well."

Uncharacteristically, Castellana, who is the ADRL's defending Pro Mod champion, failed to improve again in the third session, allowing Pat Stoken, John DeCerbo and Randy Weatherford to get by, bumping Castellana down to seventh in an eight-car field rounded out by John Hall.

Jackson explained his team nicknamed the five-year-old, Jerry Bickel-built car "the Honey Badger, because it just don't give a s**t!" He said it actually was put together from spare parts in the Al-Anabi garages in Qatar, then was shipped back to the U.S. after Jackson proved it could run low-.70s overseas.

"It's kind of crazy. We put this deal together in such a quick time with the blessing of (Al-Anabi owner) Sheikh Khalid and our goal here was really just to qualify and hope to go a round or two," he admitted. "To have the car come around as quickly as it has and run so well, we're really, really happy with it."

lSWEDISH RULES - Adam Flamholc came a long way to pick up his second career number-one start in an ADRL Pro Mod race.

"We flew in from Sweden on Wednesday and put the motor in the car right away. We're trying some new stuff here; we got the blower updated by Mike Janis and the motor was updated by MMR and it all seems to be working pretty well," Flamholc said after posting a career-best 3.864 at 193.46 in his roots-blown '67 Camaro to lead the 15-car Pro Mod field into eliminations at the ADRL's Dragpalooza IX.

"I'm really, really satisfied with our performance here so far," Flamholc added. "That was close to a perfect run; I don't think we could do much better than that, to be honest."

Despite having a first-round solo due to the short field, Flamholc said he'll "be going after it," in order to retain lane choice for the quarter-finals.

Rickie Smith and his nitrous-boosted 2013 Camaro placed second (3.926/193.82), with Pete Farber and his blown '69 Charger Daytona third, Todd Howard fourth, and T.J. Tindle in his first-ever Pro Mod outing rounding out the top five.

In the final round of qualifying, nitrous racing legend Shannon Jenkins suffered a scary, top-end rollover crash that severely damaged his 2012 Camaro. Running in the right lane, Jenkins car got loose near the eighth-mile finish line, then crossed the track to impact the left guardwall where it was flung airborne and came to rest on its roof before sliding to a stop well into the shutdown area at Rockingham Dragway.

"I just got out of the groove, got the right tire out where it turned loose, spun, turned the car and it was done," Jenkins recalled. "It was probably running 190 (mph), I would say."

Despite the speed and impact, "The Iceman" said he knew he was uninjured as soon as the car came to a stop.

"There was a little fire from the fuel that lit up around the carburetors, but nothing really bad. They got to me pretty quick and put it out," he said. "I'm alright, probably be a little sore in the morning. Just tore up a good race car, that's all."

DEFLORIAN BACK ON TOP OF PS - A 4.025-seconds pass in the opening round of Extreme Pro Stock (XPS) qualifying held up through two more sessions to give John DeFlorian the number-one start for Dragpalooza IX at Rockingham Dragway, but it was his unprecedented 180.26-mph speed that thrilled the Arnold, MO, driver the most.

"I wanted that first 180," the Black Diamond Motorsports driver said. "I felt like it was within our grasp after we made a slight aero change at Norwalk (OH) last year. Going to that last race in Dallas I really thought we could do it there and we almost did, too. We ran 179.95, but then conditions changed and I knew then our opportunity had slipped away. So when I heard we were coming back to Rockingham I was thrilled."

DeFlorian also was pleased to hear his name pulled from a hat by ADRL President Kenny Nowling in Saturday morning's drivers' meeting as part of the second pair to take the track in round one of qualifying.

"I wanted to go out early because I figured there were some other guys here who could go fast here, too," DeFlorian explained. "I wanted to do it first; I'd rather be the chased than do the chasing."

As it turned out, two-time defending class champion Cary Goforth also broke the 180 barrier in the first round with a 4.039 at 180.14, shortly before Richard Penland became the third "180 man" when he ran a 4.048 at 180.02 that eventually qualified him fifth.

Though DeFlorian lost traction in round two, in his third and final attempt he  drove his Sonny's-powered 2012 Camaro to a  4.032 at 179.85 that officially backed up the speed mark within the required one percent.

"We knew for the third pass this afternoon we'd be back in the right lane, which for us was the preferred lane, and judging from what the weather did at the same time yesterday (Friday), we just decided to throw everything we had at it in order to back up that record," DeFlorian said.  "As it happened it moved around on me real hard, so I knew we weren't going to improve our time, but I stuck with it because I felt like if we could just get to the finish line we could still be fast enough to get the record."

Goforth eventually placed third on the qualifying list after improving by one-thousandth to 4.038 at exactly 180 mph that would've also given him the speed record if not for DeFlorian's heroics. John Pluchino's 4.034 at 179.23 sandwiched him between Goforth and DeFlorian, while Pete Berner placed fourth with a 4.039 pass at 178.68 mph, just ahead of Penland.

With 13 cars on the grounds, the ADRL established a 16-car ladder for XPS (12 and under entries results in an eight-car field according to ADRL rules), so DeFlorian, Pluchino and Goforth were scheduled to make bye runs to open eliminations.

STILL ON TOP -  Last year it became quite common for eventual class champ Eric McKinney's name to appear atop the ADRL Pro Extreme Motorcycle (PXM) qualifying lists. At the 2013 season-opening Dragpalooza IX at Rockingham Dragway, McKinney continued the trend, though by the narrowest of margins as his 4.071 at 174.50 edged out Terry Schweigert's 4.072 at exactly the same speed.

"So far, so good," McKinney declared. "Now it's time to go racing."

After winning  the 2011 PXM championship, Ashley Owens became McKinney's tuner for his 2012 championship year, but at Rockingham Owens was back astride a bike, riding a 2013 PMFR-chassied Suzuki and placing it third in the field with a 4.085-seconds pass at 173.01 mph.

"Ashley's riding, I don't know if you want to call it a test bike, but it's a brand-new deal for us. I don't really know yet if he'll be a full-year contender with us, but we want to try some new stuff and just keep moving forward," McKinney said.

Also qualifying on top of their respective classes at Dragpalooza IX were Chuck Mohn (Top Sportsman), Barry Brown (Top Dragster), K.J. Nowling (Pro Jr. Dragster) and Caleb Russell (Top Jr. Dragster). Eliminations were set to begin at 10 a.m. Saturday (Mar. 10), at Rockingham Dragway.

PACKED HOUSE -- Bubba Stanton, the 2006 ADRL Pro Extreme world champion, races past packed grandstands on both sides of the strip at Rockingham Dragway during his second qualifying attempt for Dragpalooza IX.

XPS RECORD RUN -- In the opening round of Extreme Pro Stock qualifying, John Deflorian broke his own class speed record with a 4.025-seconds pass at 180.26 mph. He shook the tires in round two, but in his third and final attempt, DeFlorian drove his Sonny's-powered 2012 Camaro to a 4.032 at 179.85 to officially back up the speed mark within the required one percent.

BREAKING NEW GROUND -- Former ADRL Jr. Dragster driver Kyle Dvorak of McHenry, IL, had the honor of making the first official full-sized dragster pass in ADRL history, as he placed his 632-powered '94 Spitzer second in the new-for-2013 Top Dragster class. Summerville, SC's Gerald Crews was first (4.395/156.70), with Barry Brown third at 4.881 and 154.10 mph after round one of qualifying.

QUITE THE ENTRANCE ... AND EXIT - ADRL opened its 2013 Pro Extreme season was a bang, literally.

 During Saturday's first qualifying session, Monty Grace and Swedish racer Stefan Holmberg, teammates this weekend, both chattered the tires. Holberg lifted. Grace apparently tried to drive through it.

Suddenly Grace car fishtailed and made an abrupt left and into the wall. His car then bounced off the wall and headed directly for Holberg. Barely missing Holberg, Grace impacted the wall. There was a brief fire, but luckily safety crews arrived quickly to extinguish.

Grace emerged from the crash conscious and talking with safety crews. He declined any further medical attention. (Images by Rhonda McCole)

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - A NEW ERA BEGINS ALBEIT WITH FAMILIAR FACES

TRACTION-CHALLENGED CHAMP -- Taking to the same track where in 2007 he became the first doorslammer driver to reach 200 mph in the eighth mile, two-time ADRL Pro Extreme World Champion Jason Scruggs struggled to find traction in testing Friday at Rockingham Dragway.

TWO-WHEELED TEST SESSION -- Among several Pro Extreme Motorcycle riders making test passes on Friday at Rockingham Dragway, before the ADRL Dragpalooza IX officially begins with qualifying on Saturday, was 2009 class champion Scott Gray from Gainesville, FL.
FIRST TIMER -- With new crew chief Quain Stott watching from the background, T.J. Tindle made his first-ever test passes in his father, Tim's, NHRA-legal Pro Mod Mustang in preparation for Dragpalooza IX this weekend at Rockingham Dragway.

OLD FAITHFUL -- Last year, former IHRA and ADRL mountain-motor Pro Stock champ John Montecalvo campaigned a new 2012 Camaro on the full ADRL circuit, but after the Camaro demonstrated some inconsistency during testing in Florida earlier this year, the Long Island, NY-based racer decided to run his 2010 championship-winning Chevy Cobalt at Dragpalooza IX.
PLUGGED PREZ -- ADRL President Kenny Nowling protects his ears as a Pro Extreme car prepares to launch during a Friday test session prior to Dragpalooza IX at North Carolina's historic Rockingham Dragway.
VERSATILE PLATFORM -- With "Pro Turbo" proudly declared on its windows in anticipation of debuting in the XDRL's all-new, all-turbo class next month at the XDRL season opener in Tulsa, OK, Todd Tutterow's slick '68 Mustang is sporting a screw-blown Hemi for a run in Pro Extreme this weekend in Dragpalooza IX at Rockingham Dragway.
REPEAT PERFORMANCE? -- Puerto Rico's Raymond Matos, the surprising Pro Nitrous winner of Dragstock V in 2008 at Rockingham Dragway, is back with his former Dennis Radford-owned '70 Cuda for Dragpalooza IX at the famous North Carolina strip.

FRESH PERSPECTIVE -- Not only does Terry Leggett's Pro Extreme '09 Mustang have a brand-new Snyder Motorsports-built 526 Hemi between the front frame rails, but it has a new tuner for 2013 in Terry Coyle (right), from Stamping Ground, KY.