The left lane at Rockingham Dragway looked like it had been fogged for mosquitoes, but it was  actually smoke lingering from the engine Brandon Snider had just used up in beating Alex Hossler in the Pro Extreme final for the 2013 ADRL Dragstock X title.

Snider and his Joey Martin-built '63 Corvette covered the eighth mile at Rockingham Dragway in 3.624 seconds at 207 mph, compared to Hossler's 3.756 at 201.43 effort.

The left lane at Rockingham Dragway looked like it had been fogged for mosquitoes, but it was  actually smoke lingering from the engine Brandon Snider had just used up in beating Alex Hossler in the Pro Extreme final for the 2013 ADRL Dragstock X title.

Snider and his Joey Martin-built '63 Corvette covered the eighth mile at Rockingham Dragway in 3.624 seconds at 207 mph, compared to Hossler's 3.756 at 201.43 effort.

"It actually shook a little bit. I thought I might have to pedal it and my foot got light like I was gonna' lift, but thankfully I just stayed in it and it went right through the shake and hooked up again," Snider said of his career-first ADRL win.

Snider ran a career-best 3.591 seconds at 210.01 mph in qualifying third at "The Rock," behind only Frankie Taylor at 3.575 and 211.46, and Hossler in the number-one slot with a new ADRL record 3.565 seconds at 211.76 mph.

In round one of racing, Snider went 3.715 at 205.63 to make it past a redlighting Michael Neal before improving to 3.657 at 207.53 in round two against NHRA motorcycle star Matt Smith, who made a nice save of Terry Leggett's Mustang when it darted toward the wall off the start. Then came the lucky break that so often has to happen for a win when Snider left .011 too soon, negating the 3.665 at 208.33 pass he made--but Taylor behind him crossed the center line to bring drag racing's "first or worst" rule into play and Snider advanced to his second career final.

"Man, I just drove it too far," Taylor admitted. "I didn't know he redlit or I would've got out of it faster--I think. I hate that it happened, though, because I think we would've had something for ol' Hossler."

Hossler's lucky break came in the opening round when his Al Anabi Racing '69 Camaro refused to go into low gear on the starting line despite the best efforts of him, crew chief Fran Manzo and assistant crew chief Billy Stocklin, but Gene Hector in the opposite lane had even more serious trouble trying to get his '63 Corvette to start, so Hossler made a struggling eight-second solo pass to advance.

With repair made, Hossler regained his form for round two, however, going 3.632 at 210.57 to beat Al Anabi teammate Von Smith, then gained lane choice for the final with a 3.642 at 209.72 win over Tommy D'Aprile in the semis.

Running in the right lane, Hossler got away first with a .028 light in the final compared to Snider's .072, but his Camaro headed for the center line immediately off the launch, forcing the Canton, IL, car dealer to lift just enough to let Snider get around him for the win.

"I had to, it definitely would've crossed the line if I hadn't," a clearly frustrated Hossler said. "It hadn't done anything like that all weekend and it couldn't have come at a worse time.

"You know, that's only the third final I've been in that I lost--ever," he added. "It sucks, because I really wanted to deliver this one to KH (Al Anabi team owner Sheikh Khalid Al Thani).

Snider, meanwhile, was elated to be bringing the Dragstock X win home to Atmore, AL.

"I'm so happy, man. Lord, I'm happy. When I saw the win light come on I just started screaming there inside my helmet. I couldn't wait to get stopped and get out of the car and start celebrating," he said. "We've had a good car here since we unloaded. I knew we had a car that was capable of going to the final; we just had to make sure we got it there."

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