It’s official. Kenny Nowling is no longer associated with the American Drag Racing League (ADRL).

After creating the country’s preeminent outlaw doorslammer series from what in 2004 was intended only as a one-off showcase for NHRA Pro Mod stars at tiny Carolina Dragway, Nowling’s departure was announced in a Nov. 18 press release from the O’Fallon, Missouri-based sanctioning body and its previously unconfirmed ownership group, Al-Anabi Companies, headed by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al-Thani (KH) of Qatar.

“ADRL Co-Founder Kenny Nowling will step down as President and CEO effective immediately to take an expanded role in the company’s international development,” the release stated. It also said that chassis builder Tim McAmis, already responsible for overseeing Al-Anabi’s United States racing operations, immediately assumes the CEO role and all other current ADRL executives will remain in place.

It’s official. Kenny Nowling is no longer associated with the American Drag Racing League (ADRL).

After creating the country’s preeminent outlaw doorslammer series from what in 2004 was intended only as a one-off showcase for NHRA Pro Mod stars at tiny Carolina Dragway, Nowling’s departure was announced in a Nov. 18 press release from the O’Fallon, Missouri-based sanctioning body and its previously unconfirmed ownership group, Al-Anabi Companies, headed by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al-Thani (KH) of Qatar.

“ADRL Co-Founder Kenny Nowling will step down as President and CEO effective immediately to take an expanded role in the company’s international development,” the release stated. It also said that chassis builder Tim McAmis, already responsible for overseeing Al-Anabi’s United States racing operations, immediately assumes the CEO role and all other current ADRL executives will remain in place.

“In any company it’s best to start with a very strong, strong personality and then there’s a point at which it’s better to turn it over,” ADRL Executive Vice President Jeff Fortune said, alluding to Nowling’s well-known penchant for simultaneous self promotion while building the ADRL to the point where it races only on national-event level tracks and in front of record-setting crowds at most venues.

“It’s gotten too big for one guy and it rises to a level where his skill set is better served somewhere else, so I’m glad they recognized that,” Fortune added as he explained Nowling would depart for Qatar in his new role within the next 10 days. “KH is a huge soccer and F1 fan and always part of the plan was to internationalize drag racing along the lines of Formula 1 and other sports. So that’s kind of the thought process, to take drag racing with the ADRL model and Arabian Drag Racing League model to places like Australia and Europe along with expanding in the Middle East and North America ADRL style.”

Here in America, Fortune said he will spend that time helping McAmis and Nowling make the leadership swap.

“I speak to Kenny three times a day still. Despite what some may say or be thinking, it’s a nice and smooth transition in almost every respect. He’s cooperating where he needs to and we’re keeping him apprised of everything he needs. We’re working jointly on press releases and everything is working well with us,” Fortune claimed. “Obviously, I’m working a great deal with Tim McAmis now. He’s involved in all of the Al-Anabi teams, from Top Fuel to all of the ADRL teams, and really, he wants to have nothing to do with the day-to-day of the ADRL other than helping us to use the same kind of systems and management as the rest of Al-Anabi U.S.

“It’s very important to me to stay in touch with Kenny,” Fortune continued. “I mean, he’s an incredibly dynamic personality and sometimes you bask in the glow of it and sometimes you clean up after it. So there’s a lot of that going on, but the foundation, the reason I’m with the ADRL is because of the whole business model of it. I wasn’t a racing industry executive, nor was that necessarily my goal, but the business side of it and the structure of the ADRL, the opportunities that provides for racers, fans, sponsors; that’s why I’m here and it’s all still very, very valid.

Considering his own future with the series, Fortune allowed he would entertain taking over the helm if called upon, but any decision would have to wait until the current tasks are settled.

“There hasn’t been a lot of discussion on that here. Right now we need to make the transition as smoothly as possible and my position has been if I’m the right one for it I’d be happy to do it, but in the meantime I’m not pushing to get a title,” he said. “Kenny was always the ultimate say, but I also got involved in everything from track negotiations to sponsorships to media and PR and there really wasn’t any area of the company that I wasn’t involved in before at one time or another, so that’s what I’m going to continue to do.”

Looking forward, Fortune expressed a great sense of anticipation for the 2011 ADRL season, tempered with a little caution at losing the drive and enthusiasm of the series’ most visible member.   

“Kenny has done some fantastic things in the industry and has left the ADRL in a very unique position, so yes, it’s exciting. Trepidation? Yeah, there’s probably some because when everything changes you’ve got to get a comfort level,” he said. “I really think it’s going to turn a little bit from being so personality driven. There will be a lot more personalities involved in the ADRL now, which I think will be a pretty good thing; I think needed.”

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