[coverattach=1]ENNIS, TX (Oct. 24, 2009) — Alex Hossler of Canton, Illinois, won his career-first National Guard ADRL Pro Extreme event in memorable fashion, crossing the eighth-mile finish line at the Texas Motorplex with his 1970 Camaro on fire after posting a 3.73-seconds pass at 202.48 miles per hour to beat Quain Stott in the final round of the LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals V.
Also earning National Guard Minuteman trophies at the final event of the National Guard ADRL’s year, but the first points-paying opportunity of the 2010 season were new class champion Khalid Al-Balooshi in Pro Nitrous, Extreme 10.5 racer Chuck Ulsch, Scott Gray, who also won his first Pro Extreme Motorcycle championship earlier in the day, and Cary Goforth with his first official Extreme Pro Stock win. Morgan Benfield of Virginia Beach, Virginia also won her first Junior Minuteman in the exhibition Pro Jr. Dragster class.
“How’s that for a spectacular finish?” Hossler asked upon climbing from his car after stopping on the track where safety crews sprayed the engine with a fire extinguisher. “It banged the blower right when we crossed the line, but it lasted just long enough to get the job done.”
Hossler and Stott left almost simultaneously, but when a 3.75 at 205.57-mph pass flashed across Stott’s scoreboard, it translated to a .021 margin of victory for Hossler, who hails from Canton, Illinois.
The Pro Nitrous final was close, too, but only because Al-Balooshi had an off-the-pace .191 reaction time attached to a record-setting pass of 3.81 seconds at 196.42 mph that easily eclipsed the 3.98/184.88 combination assembled by veteran Charles Carpenter.
It marked Al-Balooshi’s career-first National Guard ADRL event title, though earlier in the day, he also won the National Guard ADRL’s championship-deciding Speedtech Battle for the Belts when Al-Anabi Racing teammate Burton Auxier was disqualified from the final for leaving .004 before the green light flashed.
“It is good for the Al-Anabi team,” said Al-Balooshi, who calls Doha, Qatar, home. “Very exciting to win.”
The World Finals V Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 final offered a measure of payback for Ulsch, who faced off against Spiro Pappas for the second time in one day after Pappas stepped up to win the Pro Nitrous Speedtech Battle for the Belts final. The Clarksville, Maryland-based driver didn’t miss the opportunity, either, taking a holeshot win in his supercharged ’68 Camaro over Pappas’ turbocharged 2009 Pontiac GXP entry.
Leaving with a .021 reaction to a .115 in the opposite lane, Ulsch put together a 3.94 lap at 201.46 mph that beat out the 3.92 at 193.27 that delivered Pappas a new elapsed time record, but a runner-up finish.
“That feels good! I’m glad I was able to do my job and help my teammates get the win,” Ulsch declared. “I owed him that one!”
Like Balooshi, Pro Extreme Motorcycle winner Gray, from Ocala, Florida, doubled up from his earlier Speedtech Battle for the Belts triumph, running 4.21 at 170.67 mph aboard his ’08 Suzuki to down Lance Hines in the World Finals V final.
“It still hasn’t really sunk in that it’s happened,” Gray said of his two-timing win. “After winning the Belt I kind of relaxed because we had accomplished what we came here to do, which was win the championship, but maybe that’s what helped me win tonight, too. I wasn’t too uptight about what was happening.”
The Extreme Pro Stock final came down to a classic Ford versus Chevy match, with Goforth’s 2008 Cobalt coming out on top over the ’09 Mustang of Scott Hintz in his National Guard ADRL debut. Goforth, from Holdenville, Oklahoma, ran low ET of the meet for the class with a 4.06 win at 177.23 mph over 4.151 at 173.65 by Hintz.
“This feels so good,” Goforth said, hoisting the National Guard Minuteman trophy high after his first official Extreme Pro Stock win, though he did win last year at Rockingham, North Carolina, when the class was in its introductory exhibition stage. “This is for my team, for the guys on my team, who worked so hard to put me here today.”
Televised coverage of the Speedtech Battle for the Belts will air Sunday, Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. Eastern on the Versus network, with coverage of the LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals V to follow two weeks later on Sunday, Nov. 22, also at 3 p.m. Eastern on the Versus television network.
Also earning National Guard Minuteman trophies at the final event of the National Guard ADRL’s year, but the first points-paying opportunity of the 2010 season were new class champion Khalid Al-Balooshi in Pro Nitrous, Extreme 10.5 racer Chuck Ulsch, Scott Gray, who also won his first Pro Extreme Motorcycle championship earlier in the day, and Cary Goforth with his first official Extreme Pro Stock win. Morgan Benfield of Virginia Beach, Virginia also won her first Junior Minuteman in the exhibition Pro Jr. Dragster class.
“How’s that for a spectacular finish?” Hossler asked upon climbing from his car after stopping on the track where safety crews sprayed the engine with a fire extinguisher. “It banged the blower right when we crossed the line, but it lasted just long enough to get the job done.”
Hossler and Stott left almost simultaneously, but when a 3.75 at 205.57-mph pass flashed across Stott’s scoreboard, it translated to a .021 margin of victory for Hossler, who hails from Canton, Illinois.
The Pro Nitrous final was close, too, but only because Al-Balooshi had an off-the-pace .191 reaction time attached to a record-setting pass of 3.81 seconds at 196.42 mph that easily eclipsed the 3.98/184.88 combination assembled by veteran Charles Carpenter.
It marked Al-Balooshi’s career-first National Guard ADRL event title, though earlier in the day, he also won the National Guard ADRL’s championship-deciding Speedtech Battle for the Belts when Al-Anabi Racing teammate Burton Auxier was disqualified from the final for leaving .004 before the green light flashed.
“It is good for the Al-Anabi team,” said Al-Balooshi, who calls Doha, Qatar, home. “Very exciting to win.”
The World Finals V Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 final offered a measure of payback for Ulsch, who faced off against Spiro Pappas for the second time in one day after Pappas stepped up to win the Pro Nitrous Speedtech Battle for the Belts final. The Clarksville, Maryland-based driver didn’t miss the opportunity, either, taking a holeshot win in his supercharged ’68 Camaro over Pappas’ turbocharged 2009 Pontiac GXP entry.
Leaving with a .021 reaction to a .115 in the opposite lane, Ulsch put together a 3.94 lap at 201.46 mph that beat out the 3.92 at 193.27 that delivered Pappas a new elapsed time record, but a runner-up finish.
“That feels good! I’m glad I was able to do my job and help my teammates get the win,” Ulsch declared. “I owed him that one!”
Like Balooshi, Pro Extreme Motorcycle winner Gray, from Ocala, Florida, doubled up from his earlier Speedtech Battle for the Belts triumph, running 4.21 at 170.67 mph aboard his ’08 Suzuki to down Lance Hines in the World Finals V final.
“It still hasn’t really sunk in that it’s happened,” Gray said of his two-timing win. “After winning the Belt I kind of relaxed because we had accomplished what we came here to do, which was win the championship, but maybe that’s what helped me win tonight, too. I wasn’t too uptight about what was happening.”
The Extreme Pro Stock final came down to a classic Ford versus Chevy match, with Goforth’s 2008 Cobalt coming out on top over the ’09 Mustang of Scott Hintz in his National Guard ADRL debut. Goforth, from Holdenville, Oklahoma, ran low ET of the meet for the class with a 4.06 win at 177.23 mph over 4.151 at 173.65 by Hintz.
“This feels so good,” Goforth said, hoisting the National Guard Minuteman trophy high after his first official Extreme Pro Stock win, though he did win last year at Rockingham, North Carolina, when the class was in its introductory exhibition stage. “This is for my team, for the guys on my team, who worked so hard to put me here today.”
Televised coverage of the Speedtech Battle for the Belts will air Sunday, Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. Eastern on the Versus network, with coverage of the LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals V to follow two weeks later on Sunday, Nov. 22, also at 3 p.m. Eastern on the Versus television network.
