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SUNDAY

VETERANS DOMINATE ADRL SUMMER DRAGS WINNERS LIST - ADRL Pro Extreme star Alex Hossler won for the first time this year at the ADRL Summer Drags IX after starting from the number-one qualified position for the fourth time in five races. Also winning heads-up class titles June 30, at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI, were Steve Jackson (Pro Nitrous), Scott Hintz (Extreme Pro Stock), Rickie Smith (Pro Mod) and Eric McKinney (Pro Extreme Motorcycle).

Additionally, in bracket racing action, Top Sportsman veteran Bruce Thrift won his third-straight Summer Drags title, Craig Sullivan won Top Dragster, Bethany Crick prevailed in Pro Jr. Dragster (7.90 index) and Brad Cole took the Top Jr. Dragster win.

Driving his Al-Anabi Racing '69 Camaro, Hossler won preliminary rounds over Steve George, defending class champ Mick Snyder, Jason Scruggs and Tommy D'Aprile in the final, going 3.596 seconds at 210.48 to defeat D'Aprile's 3.657 at 207.06 mph.

"Tommy and his guys over there are a class act and they've got a very fast car. I love racing against them because I know it'll be a hard, fast competition and I'm just glad we managed to pull off the win," Hossler said. "I knew he left on me a little, but then that Frank Manzo (crew chief) horsepower kicked in and that's all she wrote."

Also in an Al-Anabi Racing '68 Camaro, Jackson started fourth and had a free pass in round one when John DeCerbo was a no-show, then took out Robert Patrick and number-one qualifier Jim Laurita to reach first-time finalist Tommy Franklin. Franklin, who prior to the Summer Drags had not won a single round of eliminations this year, turned 40-years old the day before going 3.909 at 189.64 in a game effort against Jackson's winning 3.834 at 192.58 final-round effort.

"I had no brakes for that final run," Jackson later revealed. "I told Billy (Stocklin, crew chief) to get the fire truck and ambulance ready because I was gonna' go for it. So glad I did, too, for my guys and for Sheikh Khalid; I couldn't do this without any of them."

Hintz, driving his 820 ci 2013 Mustang, defeated an '07 version of the same car steered by second-generation driver Matt Bertsch in the Extreme Pro Stock final. Hintz made it happen after starting seventh in the 14-car field, then beating Doug Kirk, defending two-time XPS champion Cary Goforth and John Montecalvo to reach Bertsch in the final, where Bertsch left just one thousandth too soon.

Hintz ran 4.088 at 177.67--easily his best pass of the weekend--to take his third Extreme Pro Stock win home to Texas.

Hot on the heels of an NHRA Pro Mod win just a couple of weeks earlier at Bristol, TN, longtime Pro Stock and Pro Mod competitor Smith proved he could get it done with the ADRL, too. Smith qualified his IDG-backed 2013 Camaro in the top slot at Martin, then earned the race win by going through 2011 ADRL Pro Extreme champion Jason Hamstra, Puerto Rico's Raymond Matos, Travis Harvey and finally, Jimmy Keen, winner of the previous ADRL event, near Richmond, VA.

"The car's been running pretty flawless all weekend," Smith said after posting a holeshot win after both finalists ran 3.890 seconds over the U.S. 131 eighth mile. "With Chad Hester and Trish Musi helping us and Pat Musi power, we feel pretty confident in our combination."

Just as they did at the Richmond race earlier in June, defending Pro Extreme Motorcycle champion McKinney and teammate/tuner Ashley Owens met again in the Summer Drags final, and just as happened there, something went wrong on the starting line for Owens, handing over a sure, uncontested win to McKinney, who's uninterrupted success streak now dates back more than a year. McKinney made the final-round pass anyway, running low ET for the meet at 4.054 at 174.70 mph.

"This has been a brutal weekend," he said. "We put three motors in this bike and two in Ashley's, including one right before the final round so that we could have two bikes in the final. So it has been non-stop work all weekend, but as long as we keep winning it'll be all worth it in the end."

After qualifying his '07 GTO fourth for the Summer Drags, Thrift beat Tim Molnar, Glenn Butcher, Lizzy Musi and Ronnie Proctor to earn his third-straight event title. As soon as he stepped from his car at the top end after his final run, Thrift declared: "I love Martin, Michigan! I wish we could run all our races here!"

Like Thrift, Sullivan started from fourth place on the Top Dragster qualifying list, and then put the hurt on Jeremy McCormick, Richard Motyoka and Eddie Careccia before reaching number-five qualifier Ashley Tidrick, who suffered traction woes in the final.

HOSSLER SEALS THE DEAL IN PRO EXTREME - Alex Hossler finally got the job done. At all but the first ADRL race of the year (where he qualified second), the Canton, IL-based Pro Extreme star had started from the number-one position, but until the ADRL Summer Drags IX in Martin, MI, he hadn't been able to put a winning effort together on race day.

He met the challenge June 30, at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park, where Hossler again qualified his Al-Anabi Racing '69 Camaro on top of the 16-car Pro Extreme field, then raced to the event win with a 3.596-seconds pass at 210.48 mph in the final round against Tommy D'Aprile, who left with a .024 holeshot before putting together a 3.657 effort at 207.06 mph.

"I saw a little glimpse of red fender off the line and then it gradually went away," Hossler recalled in victory lane. "I never saw him again once we got to 150, maybe 200 feet, but I did glance up at his scoreboard just to make sure I didn't go red and I was pretty much fist pumping from there."

With noted crew chief Frank "Ace" Manzo calling the tune-up with assistance from Billy Stocklin, Hossler made the first-ever, eighth-mile pass in the 3.50s in Michigan, qualifying first with a 3.594 at 209.71 mph, with Brandon Snider going second at 3.612 and 208.53 mph, while D'Aprile started third after going 3.619 seconds at 209.06 mph.

Hossler opened eliminations with another 3.59 at 209.51 mph over Steve George in Larry Jeffers' special Pro Mod-style school bus, then ran 3.614 at 210.45 to defeat reigning class champ Mick Snyder in round two before going 3.602 at 209.78 against former two-time champ Jason Scruggs, who left just one-thousandth of a second too soon off the start.

"It feels like a million things have to go right, but it takes only one to go wrong for you to lose it all--and then there's always somebody like Tommy (D'Aprile) running right there beside you," Hossler said. "Heck, even the school bus made us work for it today when he laid down that 3.94 in the first round. All it would've taken would be a little bobble by me and I'm just not going to be able to run him down."

On the opposite side of the ladder in team owner Mel Bush's 2005 Corvette, D'Aprile opened with a 3.631 solo pass at 208.41 mph after Eric Dillard was unable to make the call, then survived some tire shake to get by 2006 champ Bubba Stanton, who also suffered traction trouble. In the semis, D'Aprile ran 3.695 at 206.02 to down Snider, who went red by -.004 off the start.

Knowing he had to take a shot at the tree to help compensate for the consistent ET disadvantage, D'Aprile cut an excellent .006 light to Hossler's .030, and though crew chief Al Billes gave him a 3.657 tune-up at 207.06, it was no match for Hossler's 3.596 at 210.48-mph blast in the final round.

Hossler was full of praise for his Al-Anabi teammates immediately following the win.

"Not to sound rude, but Helen Keller could've won in this car this weekend; that's how smooth and easy it was to drive. I mean, anybody could've won in this car, that's how good it was. I don't remember really working the steering wheel even once all through qualifying and all through eliminations, it was just a dream to drive," he said.

"Frank (Manzo) and Billy (Stocklin), Mike, John; these guys are so good, they're all flawless and I've said it many times before, I'm the only weak link in our deal. I know it's my name that gets mentioned when this race goes online or in the magazines, but really it should be their names that get all the credit. I'm just the guy that gets to have fun."

The win also came as a relief for Hossler, who blamed himself as much as anything for the team's early disappointments after looking so strong so often in qualification rounds.

"I don't know about deserving a win, but for the most part we've had the best car all year," he stated. "We just had some stupid, little things catch us and I haven't really done a very good job of driving and you know, it's just so hard to put everything together that it takes to win one of these races.

"And to be honest, I didn't know all that before running this series and anybody who hasn't run in something like this doesn't really have a clue of what it takes to compete here. I mean, I know people look at us setting low ET of every round and they think we have the best car, so we should just go out and wax everybody, but it doesn't work like that, it's not that easy. It's so, so hard to win one of these things, but I'm so glad we finally got it done."


'STEVIE FAST' FINISHES FIRST IN PRO NITROUS - "Stevie Fast" Jackson made quite the splash when he won the first ADRL Pro Nitrous race he'd ever entered at Rockingham Dragway back in March and he proved it was no beginner's luck when he repeated the feat June 30, in the ADRL Summer Drags IX at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI.

Jackson, from Martinez, GA, qualified his Al-Anabi Racing '68 Camaro fourth behind polesitter Jim Laurita, teammate Mike Castellana and John Hall with a 3.808-seconds pass at 195.39 mph. Once eliminations began, Castellana made the quickest eighth-mile pass in American Drag Racing League history when 3.726 at 195.95 flashed across the right-lane scoreboard to signify an easy first-round win over Keith Jackson.  His second-place qualifying run of 3.802 at 192.62 was not quick enough to back the run up for an official record, however, and tire shake put Castellana out when he raced Tommy Franklin in round two.

Meanwhile, Jackson opened with a 3.842 solo run at 193.89 mph when John DeCerbo couldn't make the call, then led stripe-to-stripe with a 3.838 at 195.39 against Robert Patrick. Jackson then had to take on top qualifier Laurita, who faded to 3.952 while Jackson took lane choice into the final after going 3.825 at 195.90 for the win.

Waiting for Jackson in the final was an unlikely opponent in Franklin, who prior to the Summer Drags IX, had yet to win a round in eliminations this year. After also opening with a solo pass, then catching a break against Castellana, Franklin took a huge holeshot victory over Hall in the semis when he left with a .013 light to Hall's .091 that allowed his 3.932 at 190.32 to beat a quicker and faster 3.860 at 196.15 by Hall.

"Yeah, man, that was really exciting," said Hall who turned 40 just one day earlier. "Obviously, I knew Mike (Castellana) had us covered, so I just told my guys we'd just put our usual tune-up in it and maybe they'd go out swinging for the fences and it looks like that's exactly what happened. And then against John Hall he was just late and I cut a good light and that's again what we needed."

Franklin got the early jump again in the final as he left with a .031 light to Jackson's .047, but that marked the end of his lead as Jackson's 3.834 at 192.58-mph pass easily outdistanced Franklin's losing, but game 3.909 at 189.64-mph effort. Still, the win was not without its own drama.

"Oh my gosh, I get up there and I go to pre-stage and the thing has no brake pressure, the pedal goes right to the floor; it was rolling and I stopped it with the transbrake!" Jackson declared. "I tell Billy (Stocklin) on the radio, 'Listen, I don't have any brakes,' so he tells me to forget it and don't run, but I said to just tell the fire truck and ambulance to get ready because I'm headed for the other end.

"That's why I poked it in kind of deep and kind of had a bad light, but it went straight down the race track. I got the chutes out a little early 'cause I really didn't think I was going to stop, but it doesn't matter now, I've still got a great hot rod.

"It was a great weekend for my guys," Jackson concluded. "They worked their butts off and I can't tell you how happy I am about getting this win for them and for KH (Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani), who's letting me live the dream."


HINTZ HITS XPS WIN LIGHT IN MARTIN - For the third time in his ADRL Extreme Pro Stock career, Scott Hintz got to visit victory lane June 30, as he defeated first-time finalist Matt Bertsch in the ADRL Summer Drags IX final in Martin, MI.

It looked to be polesitter Elijah Morton's race to win as he set low ET in each of the first two rounds before going red by -.033 in the semis against Bertsch and throwing away a 4.09 that again would've been low for the round and given him lane choice for the final.

Instead, number-10 starter Bertsch, who previously sent John DeFlorian and Pete Berner packing, earned a spot against Hintz, who had risen from 7th place after qualifying with a 4.100 at 176.05 mph.

Hintz, meanwhile, edged out Doug Kirk and two-time defending XPS World Champion Cary Goforth before surviving a rare "worst-or-first" infraction that saw both him and former IHRA and ADRL Pro Stock champ John Montecalvo leave too soon in the semis. Hintz was too eager by just two thousandths of a second, while "Monte" went -.024 red. The final outcome also was determined by a red-light start as Bertsch was just one-thousandth too early, as Hintz took the race title back to Odessa, TX, after going 4.088 at 177.67 mph.

"Matt is a great driver and a great competitor and I was pretty nervous going up there. I really didn't know what was going to happen," Hintz admitted. "I was actually sorry for him that he went red, but that just shows you he's really trying. We all are!"

 

SATURDAY - A NICE SUMMER DAY FOR DRAG RACING IN MARTIN, MICHIGAN

A FIRST FOR US 131 DRAGWAY - Alex Hossler stepped up in round three of Pro Extreme qualifying for the ADRL Summer Drags IX June 29, posting a number-one-qualifying 3.594 seconds at 209.71 mph in his '69 Camaro. Then he and the rest of his Al-Anabi Racing teammates, led by crew chief Frank Manzo, went to dinner, leaving the rest of the Pro Extreme field to take shots at the top spot in an unscheduled fourth and final opportunity on the eighth mile at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI.

"We were actually hoping for a little more, maybe a .57 or .58, but at least we know we'll have lane choice, so that's the most important thing," the Canton, IL-based said by phone. "We've done really well in qualifying this year, but not always so great when eliminations began. I'd really like to turn that around here because we haven't won yet this season and I'd love to see my guys get rewarded with a win for all the hard work they put in at every race."

As it turned out, Brandon Snider came closest to unseating Hossler as he jumped from 10th to second place with a career-best 3.612-seconds blast at 208.53 mph in his Joey Martin-built '63 Corvette.

"We actually struggled all day. The track was super good and we just couldn't get a handle on it until my main man right there, Joey Martin, stepped in. We had to join forces on that one and we expected it to pick up some, but that's actually a little better than I thought we'd do," Snider admitted. "Now I hope we can go some rounds tomorrow and gain a little in the points."

Tommy D'Aprile steadily improved through each round of qualifying in his Mel Bush-owned, Al Billes-tuned '05 Corvette before finally slotting into third with a 3.619 pass at 209.06 mph. Former two-time class champ Jason Scruggs was next in his '63 Vette at 3.633 and 210.67 mph, which represented the top speed seen throughout qualifying, and Hossler's Al-Anabi teammate, Von Smith, who also sat out the final session, rounded out the top five with a 3.634 at 207.90 in his '69 Camaro tuned by Howard Moon.

The 16th and final race-day spot ended up going to Steve George with a 3.952 at 188.71 mph in Larry Jeffers' unique school bus entry.  

MORTON MAKES IT NO. 1 IN XPS AT MARTIN - After leading Extreme Pro Stock qualifying through each of the first three rounds at the ADRL Summer Drags IX, Elijah Morton said he wanted to make a statement with his fourth and final attempt on the U.S. 131 Motorsports Park eighth mile.

That statement came 4.064 seconds later as he crossed the finish line in his 2012 Mustang at 176.93 mph.

"We stood it up a little bit because we wanted to make sure we stayed number one and because there would be no more chances to come and take it away from us," Morton said. "So yeah, we turned the wick up a little and took a chance and it seemed to like it."

Two-time defending class champion Cary Goforth climbed from seventh to second
with a 4.086 at 176.30 in his final qualifying run, while Brad Waddle placed third just one-thousandth of a second back at 4.087 and 176.99 mph.

Morton said he knew he had a good run going Saturday night in his final qualifying run, but it took looking up at the quarter-mile scoreboards to confirm his belief.

"I could tell that was a good pass. It hiked the wheels up and carried them way down the track and it stayed straight while I just kept pulling gears and then I saw that 4.06 pop up there, so I knew we had it covered," he said.

"We've got a good hot rod, the crew is working great together and if we can only get the driver to do his job I think we can go some rounds tomorrow."

With 20 cars entered the decision was reached to conduct a 16-car race for only the second time with the Pro Mod class in ADRL competition and Rickie Smith put his 2013 Camaro on top of the qualifying list with a 3.873 blast at 193.79 mph. In round one of racing he will face 2011 ADRL Pro Extreme champ Jason Hamstra, who was making his return to doorslammer racing at the Summer Drags IX. Steve Matusek from Aeromotive kicked in the extra funding for the extended field. Unfortunately, round four of Pro Mod qualifying was marred by the crash of Dave Roemer's new '68 Camaro, when he lost control in the right lane near half-track and eventually hit nose first into the left guardwall. Roemer was uninjured and clean-up was quick, but the Camaro sustained enough damage to require professional chassis repair.

The two-bike McKinney Motorsports team continued to dominate the Pro Extreme Motorcycle class, as teammates Ashley Owens and Eric McKinney took the top-two starting positions, respectively. Owens, the 2011 ADRL bike champ, finished on top with a 4.088 at 174.96, with McKinney, last year's champion, at 4.093 at 173.58, while Paul Gast was the best of the rest at 4.1113 and 172.02 mph. With only 10 bikes on the grounds, it would be an eight-bike field for race day.
Chuck Mohn was the early leader in Top Sportsman qualifying, but once Ronnie Davis dropped his 4.036 bomb at 183.43 mph in round two it was all over. Davis then came within one-thousandth of a second of backing it up for a potentially official record when he ran 4.077 with his '63 Corvette in round two. Mohn eventually finished in third place with a 4.072 at 175.05, with second-year driver Lizzy Musi between the two at 4.06 8 and 177.11 mph.

Mark McElwee went from worst to first in round three of Top Dragster qualifying, as he didn't get down the track under full power in either of the first two sessions, but blasted through the Martin eighth mile in 3.809 seconds at 196.98 in round three.

COUGHLIN ABSENT AFTER ADRL TESTING - American Drag Racing League (ADRL) President Kenny Nowling admits he was warned. But that still doesn't diminish the disappointment, frustration and even embarrassment of watching the JEGS.com hauler of Pro Mod driver Troy Coughlin pulling out of U.S. 131 Motorsports Park after testing concluded for this weekend's ADRL Summer Drags IX.

It was a similar scene to what happened six weeks earlier at Cordova Dragway Park in Illinois, where Coughlin's team abruptly departed after testing with crewman "Mikey" behind the wheel prior to the ADRL Spring Drags IV. Coughlin told CompetitionPlus.com on Thursday that he didn't participate in Cordova because of a toothache and was looking forward to racing this weekend with the ADRL for just the second time in nine years.

"We were given three different stories as to why they didn't stay in Cordova and race, but I thought, okay, we'll let it go and give them the benefit of the doubt. But pulling in here, when other guys saw the JEGS rig pulling in I had several of them come up to me and ask if we were going to allow them to just come in here and test again. I told them that when they pulled in I told their truck driver--who I want to say is a super guy, a nice young man as polite as he could be, who kind of gets caught in the middle of all this--I told him that he needed to call Troy and get his word that he would be racing and not just testing."

According to Nowling, Coughlin did provide assurance he was not making a test outing only and the JEGS.com Corvette would be part of the Summer Drags IX Pro Mod field through qualifying and eliminations.

"The fact of the matter is, when someone gives me their word, that's it. Everybody's been going up and down here all day asking me how long before the Team JEGS rig leaves, but I said, listen, the guy gave me his word and that's it, that's enough for me. So I cannot express now how disappointed I am in what happened," Nowling said.

"Here's the deal, testing at an ADRL event is for ADRL competitors. We don't allow outside guys to come in; we did it once early in the year at Rockingham as a favor to (track owner) Steve Earwood with Greg Anderson and Jason Line, but we decided at that point it wasn't the right way to go. And look, it's not about the money; it's about the fact that this is a privilege afforded to ADRL competitors. I mean, our track prep guys, Cale and Cody Crispe, are the best in the business at what they do; these tracks are awesome. If you paid to come in and have a track prepped for a test session to national-event standards like this it would cost you several thousands of dollars," he continued.

"It's not just about the guys that are here, too. I had at least 20 teams call me this week wanting to come and test with us on their way to Joliet (Illinois, for the NHRA event this weekend), and I told them all that unfortunately no, you cannot just test, you have to race with us, too."

Compounding the issue, Nowling said he learned of Coughlin leaving second-hand and that no one from the JEGS team contacted him prior to leaving about 7 p.m. on Friday, approximately an hour after open testing concluded.

"One of our team members came to me and said, 'You're not going to be happy about this, but Troy and the JEGS guys are pulling out,' and I actually defended them saying there's no way, that he gave me his word. But he told me, 'Well, unless they're going to race all weekend without their awning and tools, they're packed up.'

"I really couldn't believe it, so I went down there and saw for myself and it's sad; I mean, at least they could've said something to me. The driver was very apologetic, but I told Gerald Kneece, who's in charge of our parking, to escort him from the property and as far as I'm concerned it's all water under the bridge now. I wish Troy all the success in the world; the Coughlin family have done an incredible amount for the sport of drag racing, a greater contribution than I could ever make, but at the end of the day when you give somebody your word I think you should keep it--at all costs--and I just don't think that's what happened here."

Nowling said he received at least five "sarcastic" cell-phone photos of the JEGS trailer rolling out within 10 minutes of its departure.

"To paraphrase the old saying: Screw me once, shame on you; screw me twice, shame on me," he said. "Well, you can consider me shamed and it won't happen a third time."

AEROMOTIVE STEPS UP - With 20 Pro Mods on the grounds for the ADRL Summer Drags IX, the ADRL decided to run a 16-car field for the first time in the class at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park. That meant increasing the purse, too, so Pro Mod competitor Steve Matusek and his Aeromotive Fuel Systems company--already a longtime official ADRL sponsor--stepped up with an extra $2,000 so that all first-round losers can receive $250 each.

ROUGH RIDE - In his third qualifying attempt at the ADRL Summer Drags IX, Kenny Rucker experienced severe tire shake in his '58 Corvette off the launch, leaving him last of 18 Pro Nitrous entries heading into the fourth and final session. Unfortunately, Rucker again had problems in his final attempt and headed home to Pond Gap, VA, with only a DNQ for his efforts. 

DAVIS DOMINATES TS QUALIFYING - In round two of Top Sportsman qualifying, Ronnie Davis of Suwanee, GA, placed number one with a 4.036 at 183.45 mph, then missed backing the ET up within the required one percent for an official record by just one-thousandth of a second after going 4.077 at 180.58 in round three. Regardless, Davis and his '63 Vette held on to the top spot for race day, followed by Lizzy Musi with a 4.068 at 177.11 and Chuck Mohn at 4.072 and 175.05 mph.

BIRTHDAY BOY - Pro Nitrous racer Tommy Franklin celebrated his 40th birthday June 29, by qualifying 10th at the ADRL Summer Drags IX with a career-best 3.887-seconds pass at 192.57 mph in his Garret Race Cars-built '69 Camaro.

SEALED WITH A KISS - It's no secret that chassis builder Jerry Haas has been a strong supporter of the rival X-DRL series, so when ADRL President Kenny Nowling approached him on the starting line at the ADRL Summer Drags IX, onlookers were wary of what was about to go down. But no one was more surprised than Haas (right) when Nowling seized him by the head and planted a big kiss right on the lips. "I told Jerry I wanted to see him back in the ADRL fold and when I did I was going to welcome him back with a big kiss. I know he didn't believe me then, but he knows now that I really am a man of my word," Nowling declared. "Really, I'm just so glad to see Jerry here, it was more than worth whatever ribbing I might take."

FRIDAY

STEVENSON STEPS UP WITH RENEWED RIDE - In a late-March test session at Bradenton, FL, Pro Mod driver Dan Stevenson watched his brand-new 2013 Camaro go up in flames. This weekend at the ADRL Summer Drags IX in Martin, MI, Stevenson hopes the only flames he sees will be pouring from the headers of his nitrous-boosted Reher-Morrison 872 c.i. engine.

Stevenson described the moment he was test firing the third nitrous stage in Bradenton that a sudden backfire blew the top of the intake manifold off, tearing the main fuel line with it and spraying racing fuel all over the hot engine.

"The fire immediately engulfed the entire front of the car. It only took about 34 seconds to put it out, but by that time it had burned it up pretty bad," he recalled.

So the car went back to Jerry Haas Race Cars (JHRC) in Fenton, MO, for extensive repairs before it had even turned a wheel in competition. According to Stevenson and crew chief Charles Carpenter, it came back to them in even better shape. In addition to making necessary repairs, the crew at Haas moved the engine position forward a little and managed to drop about 40 pounds from the car's total weight.  

"If there's a silver lining to this story it's that we were able to do some updates on the car after the fire, just to bring it a little more to our liking with the way the chassis is set up," Carpenter said after watching Stevenson make his first test hit on Thursday at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park, before qualifying for the Summer Drags begins on Saturday. "Just from seeing the car on that first pass it looked like it left straight, so that's a positive. I think it's going to be good.

"We're trying something that's a little bit of a new approach with it," he continued. "It's a single-frame-rail car with Jerry's design, not a double-frame-rail like almost all of the Pro Mod cars are now these days, so we're going to see how that works out for us."

Stevenson pointed out that Extreme Pro Stock star and JHRC shop foreman John DeFlorian took the lead in making repairs after the fire.

"John did all the work on the car as far as fabrication and did just a fantastic job," Stevenson said. "It's light, it looks great and we think it's going to be really fast. That was the first time for me letting the clutch out and it felt great. It left straight, it felt strong, and if I could've steered it a little it would've been even better. We just need to move a little weight around, get it balanced, and I know it's going to be a good hot rod. We honestly couldn't be happier with it."

Driving his '71 Camaro early this year, Stevenson currently sits second in X-DRL Pro Mod points and is ninth overall in the ADRL Pro Mod standings, just outside the top eight that will contest the returning ADRL Battle for the Belts in September at Rockingham (NC) Dragway.

"I think this car is light enough now that we can go back and run in Pro Nitrous again, which is really what I want to do, but I want to move up a little and get into the Battle for the Belts, so it's just too late to change classes this year," Stevenson said.

"I've waited a long time to get this back, since March, and we had some good success with the old car, but it's a wonderful feeling to have this car out here. It's a real high. It's not as good as a win, but maybe before the weekend's over we can take care of that, too."

COUGHLIN MAKING 2ND CAREER ADRL START IN MARTIN - The last time reigning NHRA Pro Mod World Champion Troy Coughlin participated in an ADRL event he was at the series' first official event in the spring of 2005 at Hattiesburg, MS. He tried again last month at Cordova, IL, but a sudden toothache flared up and sent him home to Columbus, OH, before qualifying began.

"It turned out I needed a root canal, first one I'd ever had, but it's all fixed now," Coughlin said. "It wasn't that bad."

The delay just meant he's more than ready to race this weekend (June 29-30), in the ADRL Summer Drags at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI.

"Between work and all the NHRA stuff and the kids riding horses and my son racing his Super Comp and Super Gas cars, there just hasn't been a lot of time for extra stuff," said Coughlin, who with his father Jeg Sr. and brothers Jeg, Mike and John, belongs to one of drag racing's most famous and successful families. "It's been a long time coming, but I'm really looking forward to it."

In testing on Thursday Coughlin opened with a 3.97 pass straight off the trailer in his twin-turbocharged JEGS.com Corvette, then improved to 3.953 at 195.18 mph in his second attempt on the Martin eighth mile.

"Steve (Petty, crew chief) and the guys have been trying some different things to get this thing to accelerate better and we're making some headway," Coughlin said. "There's little bugs that keep popping up and biting us, but they'll figure it out, I'm sure, and hopefully we can go out there and repeat."
Regardless, Coughlin is already enjoying his long-delayed ADRL return.

"It's kind of cool to be here an extra couple of days early; it's relaxing," he said. "And it looks like Kenny (Nowling, ADRL president ) has a good group of cars coming in here and hopefully we'll get a good crowd, too, and have a great event. I really am looking forward to it."

TALL TALES - Tony Christian (left) entertains ADRL Pro Nitrous driver John DeCerbo and NHRA Top Fuel star Khalid Al-Balooshi (right, glasses) with an apparently humorous story Thursday afternoon during an open test session prior to the ADRL Summer Drags IX at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI.

HEAT SIGNATURE - Heat from the headers of Steve Jackson's Al-Anabi Racing '68 Camaro slightly obscures the scoreboard at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Thursday's test session. The budding Pro Nitrous star from Georgia went a little quicker in Friday's test with a 3.85 at nearly 195 mph. Reigning ADRL class champion Bob Rahaim was quickest overall, however, with a 3.84 on Thursday after running a best of 3.89 in Friday's session.

'THE KING' RULES TS TESTING - Recently announced ADRL Director of Sportsman Racing Ronnie "The King" Davis set the pace in Top Sportsman testing prior to the ADRL Summer Drags IX with a 4.09-seconds pass on Friday afternoon at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI.

OUT STANDING IN THEIR FIELD - Apparently this is what happens when you support a rival organization. Pro Nitrous teammates Jim Laurita and Pat Stoken are pitted in no-man's land at the extreme top end of the ADRL Summer Drags IX pit area at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park. Oh well, at least Laurita can take solace at being on the winning end of an impromptu match race against John DeCerbo during Friday's test session. Stoken, meanwhile, had the misfortune of suffering a nitrous explosion that blew the scoop on his '68 Camaro sky high and required the replacement of several pistons in his Reher-Morrison motor--as well as a new hood scoop.

TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE - Fresh off the NHRA Top Fuel win last weekend at Epping, NH, Spencer Massey's crew chief Phil Shuler (right) was at Martin, MI, on Thursday conferring with Billy Stocklin on what to do with "Stevie Fast" Jackson's Pro Nitrous Camaro. Shuler then headed down the road for the NHRA's annual visit to Rte. 66 Raceway this weekend, near Chicago.
 RETURN TO ACTION - Jason Hamstra, the 2011 ADRL Pro Extreme champion, took a break from doorslammer driving in 2012 to race a roots-blown Top Dragster. He said he hasn't raced at all since December last year, however, and is going back to his true drag racing love at the Summer Drags IX in an ex-Mike Janis 2011 Mustang with the complete driveline from the dragster. Hamstra made three test hits at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park on Friday, but none lasted the full eighth mile.