[coverattach=1]ENNIS, TX (Oct. 24, 2009) — Todd Tutterow turned on the win light three times over two days at the Texas Motorplex to secure his first National Guard American Drag Racing League’s (ADRL) Pro Extreme world championship.
The Yadkinville, North Carolina-based driver entered the championship-deciding Speedtech Battle for the Belts—a unique eight-car playoff for the top points earners in the class—in fifth place and raced through Mike Janis, two-time defending series champ Jason Scruggs and Joshua Hernandez to take the Belt.
“This is awesome,” the new reigning champ declared as he hoisted the Belt high. “Where else can you race for $50,000 against the very best door cars and drivers in the world? What the ADRL has created here is something really special and something I feel truly honored to win.”
Joining Tutterow as new National Guard ADRL World Champions are Khalid Al-Balooshi, who made 28-hour, round-trip flights from Qatar in the Middle East to compete in each of 10 Pro Nitrous events; Chicago racer Spiro Pappas who prevailed from an eighth-place start in Flowmaster Extreme 10.5; Ocala, Florida’s Scott Gray with a championship run in Pro Extreme Motorcycle from the number-one position; and Matt Hartford from Phoenix, Arizona, who scored the Extreme Pro Stock title in his final appearance in the class.
Al-Balooshi beat his Al-Anabi Racing teammate, Burton Auxier of Dixie, West Virginia, in the final round when Auxier left four-thousandths of a second too soon. He previously beat Stan Allen in the opening round and another Al-Anabi teammate, Mike Castellana, whose car would not start with a faulty battery in the semi-finals.
As the eighth-place starter, Pappas actually had to win four times for his Speedtech Battle for the Belts triumph, since numbers seven and eight initially raced to earn a berth against the second-place qualifier while number one in each class received a first-round bye.
So, Pappas opened with a win over Jake Carlton to reach Gary White, then got past Jeff Naiser before leading stripe-to-stripe over Chuck Ulsch, the quickest and fastest record holder for the class.
“It’s been a long, tough road to get here, but my guys never gave up and it was all worth it,” Pappas said. “This took a real team effort.”
As the top points earner in Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Gray had the free pass from round one to the semis where he edged Travis Davis thanks to taking a starting-line advantage. Gray won the final with another holeshot performance, leaving .022 ahead of Ashley Owens and finishing just eight thousandths ahead.
“Wow, that was a close one, but we’ll take it. Without a doubt, this is a huge, huge win for us,” Gray said.
Hartford, who is leaving the Billy Dingman crew for other racing opportunities next year, started third and took out Dean Goforth in round one before he and Doug Kirk both ran exactly the same times in the semis, but Kirk left a single thousandth too soon to turn on the read light off the start. Hartford narrowly outran number-one Belts qualifier Brian Gahm in the final round.
“What a way to go out,” Hartford said. “I want to thank Billy Dingman and all my crew for giving me a great car all year and hope they get to repeat again next season.”
ENNIS, Texas -- Saturday's final results from the Speedtech Battle for the Belts at Texas Motorplex. The race is the Final of 10 in the National Guard American Drag Racing League:
Pro Extreme -- Todd Tutterow, Chevy Corvette, 3.865, 199.94 def. Joshua Hernandez, Chevy Bel Air, 5.435, 82.66.
Pro Nitrous -- Khalid Al-Balooshi, Chevy Camaro, 3.906, 192.99 def. Burton Auxier, PontiacFirebird, foul.
Extreme 10.5 -- Spiro Pappas, Pontiac GXP, 3.958, 192.55 def. Chuck Ulsch, Chevy Camaro, 3.988, 201.46.
Pro Extreme Motorcycle -- Scott Gray, Suzuki, 4.232, 166.85 def. Ashley Owens, Suzuki, 4.218, 167.51.
Extreme Pro Stock -- Matt Hartford, Chevy Cobalt, 4.102, 176.56 def. Brian Gahm, Ford Mustang, 4.104, 175.50.
The Yadkinville, North Carolina-based driver entered the championship-deciding Speedtech Battle for the Belts—a unique eight-car playoff for the top points earners in the class—in fifth place and raced through Mike Janis, two-time defending series champ Jason Scruggs and Joshua Hernandez to take the Belt.
“This is awesome,” the new reigning champ declared as he hoisted the Belt high. “Where else can you race for $50,000 against the very best door cars and drivers in the world? What the ADRL has created here is something really special and something I feel truly honored to win.”
Joining Tutterow as new National Guard ADRL World Champions are Khalid Al-Balooshi, who made 28-hour, round-trip flights from Qatar in the Middle East to compete in each of 10 Pro Nitrous events; Chicago racer Spiro Pappas who prevailed from an eighth-place start in Flowmaster Extreme 10.5; Ocala, Florida’s Scott Gray with a championship run in Pro Extreme Motorcycle from the number-one position; and Matt Hartford from Phoenix, Arizona, who scored the Extreme Pro Stock title in his final appearance in the class.
Al-Balooshi beat his Al-Anabi Racing teammate, Burton Auxier of Dixie, West Virginia, in the final round when Auxier left four-thousandths of a second too soon. He previously beat Stan Allen in the opening round and another Al-Anabi teammate, Mike Castellana, whose car would not start with a faulty battery in the semi-finals.
As the eighth-place starter, Pappas actually had to win four times for his Speedtech Battle for the Belts triumph, since numbers seven and eight initially raced to earn a berth against the second-place qualifier while number one in each class received a first-round bye.
So, Pappas opened with a win over Jake Carlton to reach Gary White, then got past Jeff Naiser before leading stripe-to-stripe over Chuck Ulsch, the quickest and fastest record holder for the class.
“It’s been a long, tough road to get here, but my guys never gave up and it was all worth it,” Pappas said. “This took a real team effort.”
As the top points earner in Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Gray had the free pass from round one to the semis where he edged Travis Davis thanks to taking a starting-line advantage. Gray won the final with another holeshot performance, leaving .022 ahead of Ashley Owens and finishing just eight thousandths ahead.
“Wow, that was a close one, but we’ll take it. Without a doubt, this is a huge, huge win for us,” Gray said.
Hartford, who is leaving the Billy Dingman crew for other racing opportunities next year, started third and took out Dean Goforth in round one before he and Doug Kirk both ran exactly the same times in the semis, but Kirk left a single thousandth too soon to turn on the read light off the start. Hartford narrowly outran number-one Belts qualifier Brian Gahm in the final round.
“What a way to go out,” Hartford said. “I want to thank Billy Dingman and all my crew for giving me a great car all year and hope they get to repeat again next season.”
ENNIS, Texas -- Saturday's final results from the Speedtech Battle for the Belts at Texas Motorplex. The race is the Final of 10 in the National Guard American Drag Racing League:
Pro Extreme -- Todd Tutterow, Chevy Corvette, 3.865, 199.94 def. Joshua Hernandez, Chevy Bel Air, 5.435, 82.66.
Pro Nitrous -- Khalid Al-Balooshi, Chevy Camaro, 3.906, 192.99 def. Burton Auxier, PontiacFirebird, foul.
Extreme 10.5 -- Spiro Pappas, Pontiac GXP, 3.958, 192.55 def. Chuck Ulsch, Chevy Camaro, 3.988, 201.46.
Pro Extreme Motorcycle -- Scott Gray, Suzuki, 4.232, 166.85 def. Ashley Owens, Suzuki, 4.218, 167.51.
Extreme Pro Stock -- Matt Hartford, Chevy Cobalt, 4.102, 176.56 def. Brian Gahm, Ford Mustang, 4.104, 175.50.
