O’FALLON, MO (Oct. 23, 2008) — Unlike other racing series that follow NASCAR’s lead and arbitrarily reset their points order after a prescribed number of events, the Flowmaster American Drag Racing League (ADRL) presented by the National Guard employs a unique, end-of-year “playoff” amongst its top racers to determine each season’s world champions.
The top eight points earners in each of four professional ADRL classes will face off in the Battle for the Belts tournament this Friday night (Oct. 24) to open the 4th annual LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals at the Texas Motorplex, just south of Dallas. Only Belts contenders will race each other, eliminating the potential for non-qualifiers to play the role of “spoiler.”
It’s a format guaranteed to create excitement and tension and one that’s prone to upsets, as evidenced last year by 18-year-old Pro Nitrous driver Jamie Hancock rising from the eighth and final position to become the youngest major drag racing series champion in history. But the ADRL’s Battle for the Belts was born more out of necessity than the stroke of competitive genius it’s become, admits president Kenny Nowling.
“That first year (2005), we needed a way to convince the top guys to come all the way out to Texas for the final race,” Nowling explains. “Most of them were used to running these outlaw Quick 8 races wherever they lived, so I came up with the Belts idea for the top eight guys in points to battle it out, but I also needed some kind of incentive for everyone else to show up, too.”
That’s where the decision to apply all points earned by all competitors throughout the World Finals—including Battle for the Belts racers—toward establishing the fields for the next year’s Belts showdown. As added enticement, a 50-point bonus is paid to each driver that competes in all races leading up to the World Finals each year—which of course makes the last race of the season just as important to attend as the first race of the following calendar year.
“It’s a little confusing to describe at first,” Nowling concedes, “but it’s worked out better than I could ever have imagined. Our racers have really embraced the total concept and it’s become a real point of pride for them just to make it into the elite eight that gets to race for a championship on Friday night.”
So, ADRL fans in Texas will get to see world champions crowned Friday night after three rounds of racing each in Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Extreme 10.5, Pro Nitrous and Pro Extreme, the quickest and fastest full-bodied, doorslammer cars in the world. Then they’ll get to see another complete race of 16-car (and bike) fields on Saturday, with all racing all weekend from a standing start over an eighth-mile distance (660 feet).
“The emotion on Friday during the Battle for the Belts is unbelievable,” Nowling says. “You can sense the tension and desire to win in every driver and crewmember you see. It truly is a championship atmosphere.”
ABOUT LENMAR MOTORSPORTS
LenMar Motorsports is a one-stop race shop in Mansfield , Texas , just south of Dallas . It has a dedicated chassis shop, can perform all automotive plumbing and wiring jobs, has an engine shop capable of turning out supercharged, nitrous-assisted or turbocharged powerplants, and even in-house graphics and paint services.
ABOUT FLOWMASTER
Flowmaster, Inc. is housed in two ultra-modern facilities in Santa Rosa and West Sacramento , California , together totaling over 400,000 square feet. Flowmaster employs over 250 workers dedicated to building the highest quality U.S.-made exhaust products available. Flowmaster’s product line includes exhaust products for Performance Street , Muscle Cars, Trucks, Street Rods, RVs, Motorhomes, and all types of race applications. With more than 400 different muffler models, 370-plus exhaust systems and numerous exhaust accessories available, Flowmaster offers the choice to fit your specific vehicle needs, or your sound preference from "wild to mild."
ABOUT THE NATIONAL GUARD
The National Guard is the oldest component of the Armed Forces of the United States and one of the nation’s longest enduring institutions. The National Guard operates in all 50 states, three territories (Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands) and the District of Columbia .
ABOUT THE ADRL
Based in O’Fallon, Mo. , the American Drag Racing League is the nation’s premier sanctioning body for the sport of eighth-mile drag racing. The professional categories featured in the ADRL are Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Extreme 10.5, Pro Nitrous, and the quickest doorslammer class in all of drag racing, Pro Extreme. The 2008 Flowmaster ADRL series presented by the National Guard consists of nine national events run throughout the United States . For more information on the ADRL, visit ADRL.us :: Home.
The top eight points earners in each of four professional ADRL classes will face off in the Battle for the Belts tournament this Friday night (Oct. 24) to open the 4th annual LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals at the Texas Motorplex, just south of Dallas. Only Belts contenders will race each other, eliminating the potential for non-qualifiers to play the role of “spoiler.”
It’s a format guaranteed to create excitement and tension and one that’s prone to upsets, as evidenced last year by 18-year-old Pro Nitrous driver Jamie Hancock rising from the eighth and final position to become the youngest major drag racing series champion in history. But the ADRL’s Battle for the Belts was born more out of necessity than the stroke of competitive genius it’s become, admits president Kenny Nowling.
“That first year (2005), we needed a way to convince the top guys to come all the way out to Texas for the final race,” Nowling explains. “Most of them were used to running these outlaw Quick 8 races wherever they lived, so I came up with the Belts idea for the top eight guys in points to battle it out, but I also needed some kind of incentive for everyone else to show up, too.”
That’s where the decision to apply all points earned by all competitors throughout the World Finals—including Battle for the Belts racers—toward establishing the fields for the next year’s Belts showdown. As added enticement, a 50-point bonus is paid to each driver that competes in all races leading up to the World Finals each year—which of course makes the last race of the season just as important to attend as the first race of the following calendar year.
“It’s a little confusing to describe at first,” Nowling concedes, “but it’s worked out better than I could ever have imagined. Our racers have really embraced the total concept and it’s become a real point of pride for them just to make it into the elite eight that gets to race for a championship on Friday night.”
So, ADRL fans in Texas will get to see world champions crowned Friday night after three rounds of racing each in Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Extreme 10.5, Pro Nitrous and Pro Extreme, the quickest and fastest full-bodied, doorslammer cars in the world. Then they’ll get to see another complete race of 16-car (and bike) fields on Saturday, with all racing all weekend from a standing start over an eighth-mile distance (660 feet).
“The emotion on Friday during the Battle for the Belts is unbelievable,” Nowling says. “You can sense the tension and desire to win in every driver and crewmember you see. It truly is a championship atmosphere.”
ABOUT LENMAR MOTORSPORTS
LenMar Motorsports is a one-stop race shop in Mansfield , Texas , just south of Dallas . It has a dedicated chassis shop, can perform all automotive plumbing and wiring jobs, has an engine shop capable of turning out supercharged, nitrous-assisted or turbocharged powerplants, and even in-house graphics and paint services.
ABOUT FLOWMASTER
Flowmaster, Inc. is housed in two ultra-modern facilities in Santa Rosa and West Sacramento , California , together totaling over 400,000 square feet. Flowmaster employs over 250 workers dedicated to building the highest quality U.S.-made exhaust products available. Flowmaster’s product line includes exhaust products for Performance Street , Muscle Cars, Trucks, Street Rods, RVs, Motorhomes, and all types of race applications. With more than 400 different muffler models, 370-plus exhaust systems and numerous exhaust accessories available, Flowmaster offers the choice to fit your specific vehicle needs, or your sound preference from "wild to mild."
ABOUT THE NATIONAL GUARD
The National Guard is the oldest component of the Armed Forces of the United States and one of the nation’s longest enduring institutions. The National Guard operates in all 50 states, three territories (Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands) and the District of Columbia .
ABOUT THE ADRL
Based in O’Fallon, Mo. , the American Drag Racing League is the nation’s premier sanctioning body for the sport of eighth-mile drag racing. The professional categories featured in the ADRL are Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Extreme 10.5, Pro Nitrous, and the quickest doorslammer class in all of drag racing, Pro Extreme. The 2008 Flowmaster ADRL series presented by the National Guard consists of nine national events run throughout the United States . For more information on the ADRL, visit ADRL.us :: Home.
