<img src="http://www.nitromater.com/gallery/files/5/ADRL-logo.jpg" alt="New ADRL Logo" align="left"borders="0"/>
NORWALK, Ohio (Aug. 22, 2007) - Racers at this weekend's inaugural ADRL Chevy Drags can be forgiven for doing the drag racing equivalent of scoreboard-watching Friday and Saturday at Summit Motorsports Park. After all, not only are individual event titles on the line in all four ADRL professional classes, but winning a round or two should be enough for some drivers to clinch spots in the AlphaTrade Battle for the Belts competitions in October, which will determine the 2007 ADRL world champions.
The Chevy Drags begin Friday with open testing and one qualifying attempt in the evening. On Saturday, two more qualifying attempts will set the fields for that evening's eliminations. Here's a look at how the Pro Extreme and Pro Nitrous fields shape up entering the event:
Pro Extreme
The previous two ADRL national events (Valdosta and Huntsville) have been a showcase for defending ADRL world champion Bubba Stanton, who was the runner-up at the former and the winner at the latter. Those results have vaulted him to the top spot in the Battle for the Belts points standings, where he leads second-place Joshua Hernandez by more than 200 points. Another strong outing from Stanton would almost assuredly be enough for him to clinch in a spot in the eight-car Belts eliminator without even having to compete in Rockingham in September.
ADRL veteran John Lynam, who has qualified at 16 of the 18 Pro Extreme events in ADRL history, will be looking to return to his season-opening form from Houston, where he was the runner-up. He enters the Chevy Drags in third place, leading a tight grouping of four drivers who are within 104 points of each other.
That group includes sixth-place Jason Scruggs, who won in Huntsville for his first career ADRL national event victory, and who continues to be a threat to crush track records with every run he makes. As he has all season, Scruggs will enter the Chevy Drags as the holder of both ends of the ADRL Pro Extreme record.
Just as in the ADRL's other three professional classes, whichever driver emerges as the Chevy Drags Pro Extreme champion will be the first winner in the event's history and the first winner of an ADRL national event held in the northern part of the country.
Pro Nitrous
Johnny Pilcher hasn't won every ADRL Pro Nitrous event this season, although his fellow bottle-powered drivers might be forgiven for thinking so. Pilcher, though, did score consecutive event wins at Valdosta and Huntsville, reached the semifinals in Houston and Radford, and has opened up a commanding 500-plus-points lead over second-place Terry Housley - basically, the equivalent of an entire event.
For Pilcher, just qualifying or perhaps winning his first-round race could easily be enough for him to sew up a position in the Battle for the Belts competition. And qualifying is something that he does very well: he has reached eliminations in all 17 ADRL Pro Nitrous events ever held.
It was Doug Riesterer, though, who won the most recent ADRL national event, beating defending Battle for the Belts champion Keith Baker in the Radford final. Those two enter this weekend's Ohio stop basically welded together in the points chase in fourth and third place, respectively.
An interesting wild-card in the current Pro Nitrous points situation is Shannon Jenkins, who enters the Chevy Drags in ninth place, but only five points behind eighth-place Jamie Hancock. Beyond the rare chance to win a national-level Pro Modified event outside of the south, Jenkins is no doubt also looking forward to next month's Dragstock IV event, where he is the two-time defending champion and has never lost a round of eliminations.
AlphaTrade Battle for the Belts points standings
PRO EXTREME
1. Bubba Stanton 1,544
2. Josh Hernandez 1,229
3. John Lynam 1,151
4. T. Swearingen 1,140
5. Joe Baker 1,139
6. Jason Scruggs 1,047
7. Mike Bell 868
8. Michael Neal 730
9. Bil Clanton 648
10. Todd Tutterow 630
11. Dwayne Watkins 620
12. Frankie Taylor 599
13. Brian Daniels 591
14. Quain Stott 567
15. Bennie McDonald 521
PRO NITROUS
1. Johnny Pilcher 1,850
2. Terry Housley 1,332
3. Keith Baker 1,142
4. Doug Riesterer 1,114
5. Thomas Myers 1,039
6. Dennis Radford 1,029
7. Charles Carpenter 943
8. Jamie Hancock 913
9. Shannon Jenkins 908
10. Stan Allen 742
11. R. Weatherford 725
12. Harold Martin 699
13. Burton Auxier 635
14. Billy Harper 614
15. Steve Vick 533
(through 5 of 7 events)
The top eight points-earners in each class at the completion of the
ADRL Eastern Race Fuels DRAGSTOCK IV event, Sept. 14-15, qualify for
the AlphaTrade Battle for the Belts championship eliminators, Oct. 12
at the AlphaTrade ADRL World Finals.
ADRL Chevy Drags: Pro Extreme, Pro Nitrous Previews
NORWALK, Ohio (Aug. 22, 2007) - Racers at this weekend's inaugural ADRL Chevy Drags can be forgiven for doing the drag racing equivalent of scoreboard-watching Friday and Saturday at Summit Motorsports Park. After all, not only are individual event titles on the line in all four ADRL professional classes, but winning a round or two should be enough for some drivers to clinch spots in the AlphaTrade Battle for the Belts competitions in October, which will determine the 2007 ADRL world champions.
The Chevy Drags begin Friday with open testing and one qualifying attempt in the evening. On Saturday, two more qualifying attempts will set the fields for that evening's eliminations. Here's a look at how the Pro Extreme and Pro Nitrous fields shape up entering the event:
Pro Extreme
The previous two ADRL national events (Valdosta and Huntsville) have been a showcase for defending ADRL world champion Bubba Stanton, who was the runner-up at the former and the winner at the latter. Those results have vaulted him to the top spot in the Battle for the Belts points standings, where he leads second-place Joshua Hernandez by more than 200 points. Another strong outing from Stanton would almost assuredly be enough for him to clinch in a spot in the eight-car Belts eliminator without even having to compete in Rockingham in September.
ADRL veteran John Lynam, who has qualified at 16 of the 18 Pro Extreme events in ADRL history, will be looking to return to his season-opening form from Houston, where he was the runner-up. He enters the Chevy Drags in third place, leading a tight grouping of four drivers who are within 104 points of each other.
That group includes sixth-place Jason Scruggs, who won in Huntsville for his first career ADRL national event victory, and who continues to be a threat to crush track records with every run he makes. As he has all season, Scruggs will enter the Chevy Drags as the holder of both ends of the ADRL Pro Extreme record.
Just as in the ADRL's other three professional classes, whichever driver emerges as the Chevy Drags Pro Extreme champion will be the first winner in the event's history and the first winner of an ADRL national event held in the northern part of the country.
Pro Nitrous
Johnny Pilcher hasn't won every ADRL Pro Nitrous event this season, although his fellow bottle-powered drivers might be forgiven for thinking so. Pilcher, though, did score consecutive event wins at Valdosta and Huntsville, reached the semifinals in Houston and Radford, and has opened up a commanding 500-plus-points lead over second-place Terry Housley - basically, the equivalent of an entire event.
For Pilcher, just qualifying or perhaps winning his first-round race could easily be enough for him to sew up a position in the Battle for the Belts competition. And qualifying is something that he does very well: he has reached eliminations in all 17 ADRL Pro Nitrous events ever held.
It was Doug Riesterer, though, who won the most recent ADRL national event, beating defending Battle for the Belts champion Keith Baker in the Radford final. Those two enter this weekend's Ohio stop basically welded together in the points chase in fourth and third place, respectively.
An interesting wild-card in the current Pro Nitrous points situation is Shannon Jenkins, who enters the Chevy Drags in ninth place, but only five points behind eighth-place Jamie Hancock. Beyond the rare chance to win a national-level Pro Modified event outside of the south, Jenkins is no doubt also looking forward to next month's Dragstock IV event, where he is the two-time defending champion and has never lost a round of eliminations.
AlphaTrade Battle for the Belts points standings
PRO EXTREME
1. Bubba Stanton 1,544
2. Josh Hernandez 1,229
3. John Lynam 1,151
4. T. Swearingen 1,140
5. Joe Baker 1,139
6. Jason Scruggs 1,047
7. Mike Bell 868
8. Michael Neal 730
9. Bil Clanton 648
10. Todd Tutterow 630
11. Dwayne Watkins 620
12. Frankie Taylor 599
13. Brian Daniels 591
14. Quain Stott 567
15. Bennie McDonald 521
PRO NITROUS
1. Johnny Pilcher 1,850
2. Terry Housley 1,332
3. Keith Baker 1,142
4. Doug Riesterer 1,114
5. Thomas Myers 1,039
6. Dennis Radford 1,029
7. Charles Carpenter 943
8. Jamie Hancock 913
9. Shannon Jenkins 908
10. Stan Allen 742
11. R. Weatherford 725
12. Harold Martin 699
13. Burton Auxier 635
14. Billy Harper 614
15. Steve Vick 533
(through 5 of 7 events)
The top eight points-earners in each class at the completion of the
ADRL Eastern Race Fuels DRAGSTOCK IV event, Sept. 14-15, qualify for
the AlphaTrade Battle for the Belts championship eliminators, Oct. 12
at the AlphaTrade ADRL World Finals.
