[coverattach=1]Shannon Jenkins takes out Pilcher in rain-delayed Martin final, sweeps Topeka event with No. 1 qualifying effort and the win; K.A. Balooshi earns semi-final round finish.
(7-6-2009) TOPEKA, Kansas – The landscape of Pro Nitrous officially changed Friday afternoon when Shannon “Iceman” Jenkins made his triumphant return to the National Guard American Drag Racing League winner circle not once, but twice over the course of the July 4th holiday weekend in Topeka, Kansas.
In a feat of drag racing brilliance rarely seen in the National Guard ADRL, home of the world’s quickest, fastest and most volatile doorslammers, “Iceman” made a string of seven consecutive 3-second runs in his David Janes Race Cars-built Pro Nitrous ’68 Camaro. The incredible drive to victory included a 3.918-second, 190.43mph blast in the quarterfinal round on Saturday afternoon, followed by a 3.919-second, 190.08mph in the semis before a final round meeting with Pat Stoken, who unfortunately was unable to fire his racecar, awarding Jenkins with a solo-run to the title under the lights in Topeka.
The action, though, actually began a day prior to the elimination rounds of the National Guard ADRL Hardee’s Independence Drags III as the final rounds of the rain shortened Summer Drags from Martin, Michigan were to be completed during Friday’s qualifying.
Having already been 3.880/192.66 in the opening round up in Michigan, Jenkins was an odds-on favorite to take the win, but would have to make his way through Ed Burnley and current Pro Nitrous points leader Jim Halsey to get a spot in the money round.
Considered to be one of the biggest matchups this year, Jenkins and Halsey met in the semifinal round of the Martin rain-out on Friday; the race was somewhat uneventful, though, as Jenkins blasted down the 1/8th mile to the tune of 3.932-seconds at 189.90mph while Halsey was forced to lift early.
Jenkins would then have to meet fellow Alabama-native Johnny Pilcher in the final. Pilcher snagged a thousandth-of-a-second advantage on the starting line, but couldn’t hold off the big SPEEDTECH Nitrous/Reher-Morrison Racing Engines horsepower – powering Jenkins to the win with a 3.926/190.03mph.
“It really doesn’t get any better than this,” said Jenkins, from the winner’s circle at Heartland Park Topeka. “We’ve been working hard for this for a long time, and it’s all paid off here in Topeka – getting two wins in one weekend.”
Jenkins continued, “The car worked perfectly all weekend, the guys did their job and we did exactly what we set out to do with this Al-Anabi/Speedtech team. Having the confidence going into race day that Friday’s race gave us, being able to run within a hundredth of our last run – that makes a lot of difference. I hate that happened to Pat [Stoken]; you always like to race for these things, but sometimes it’s even better to be lucky. This was just one of those times.”
Doha, Qatar’s K.A. Balooshi, driving the Tim McAmis-built Al-Anabi Racing ’68 Camaro also in Pro Nitrous, bowed out in the quarterfinals of the Martin make-up race in a rather unusual race against Pat Stoken. The two cars left almost identically, Balooshi with a two-thousandths-of-a-second advantage, but an error with the timing system prevented any believable numbers from being posted on the scoreboards, only a win-light, unfortunately, in Stoken’s lane.
Balooshi, who qualified second with a 3.942/189.02mph blast for the Independence Drags III, met Ed Burnley in the opening round and quickly dismissed him with an impressive 3.93/189.44mph pass and received a competition single in the quarterfinals before meeting Pat Stoken in the semis. The two cars left together, but Balooshi’s Al-Anabi hot rod got out of shape in the right lane, which had been marginal all weekend, and was forced to lift – sending Stoken on to the final round.
The Al-Anabi Racing Pro Nitrous team couldn’t have asked for much better of a weekend, but will still continue their efforts to stage an all Al-Anabi Racing final at the upcoming ADRL NATIONALGUARD.com U.S. Drags II in Dinwiddie, Virginia at Virginia Motorsports Park.
(7-6-2009) TOPEKA, Kansas – The landscape of Pro Nitrous officially changed Friday afternoon when Shannon “Iceman” Jenkins made his triumphant return to the National Guard American Drag Racing League winner circle not once, but twice over the course of the July 4th holiday weekend in Topeka, Kansas.
In a feat of drag racing brilliance rarely seen in the National Guard ADRL, home of the world’s quickest, fastest and most volatile doorslammers, “Iceman” made a string of seven consecutive 3-second runs in his David Janes Race Cars-built Pro Nitrous ’68 Camaro. The incredible drive to victory included a 3.918-second, 190.43mph blast in the quarterfinal round on Saturday afternoon, followed by a 3.919-second, 190.08mph in the semis before a final round meeting with Pat Stoken, who unfortunately was unable to fire his racecar, awarding Jenkins with a solo-run to the title under the lights in Topeka.
The action, though, actually began a day prior to the elimination rounds of the National Guard ADRL Hardee’s Independence Drags III as the final rounds of the rain shortened Summer Drags from Martin, Michigan were to be completed during Friday’s qualifying.
Having already been 3.880/192.66 in the opening round up in Michigan, Jenkins was an odds-on favorite to take the win, but would have to make his way through Ed Burnley and current Pro Nitrous points leader Jim Halsey to get a spot in the money round.
Considered to be one of the biggest matchups this year, Jenkins and Halsey met in the semifinal round of the Martin rain-out on Friday; the race was somewhat uneventful, though, as Jenkins blasted down the 1/8th mile to the tune of 3.932-seconds at 189.90mph while Halsey was forced to lift early.
Jenkins would then have to meet fellow Alabama-native Johnny Pilcher in the final. Pilcher snagged a thousandth-of-a-second advantage on the starting line, but couldn’t hold off the big SPEEDTECH Nitrous/Reher-Morrison Racing Engines horsepower – powering Jenkins to the win with a 3.926/190.03mph.
“It really doesn’t get any better than this,” said Jenkins, from the winner’s circle at Heartland Park Topeka. “We’ve been working hard for this for a long time, and it’s all paid off here in Topeka – getting two wins in one weekend.”
Jenkins continued, “The car worked perfectly all weekend, the guys did their job and we did exactly what we set out to do with this Al-Anabi/Speedtech team. Having the confidence going into race day that Friday’s race gave us, being able to run within a hundredth of our last run – that makes a lot of difference. I hate that happened to Pat [Stoken]; you always like to race for these things, but sometimes it’s even better to be lucky. This was just one of those times.”
Doha, Qatar’s K.A. Balooshi, driving the Tim McAmis-built Al-Anabi Racing ’68 Camaro also in Pro Nitrous, bowed out in the quarterfinals of the Martin make-up race in a rather unusual race against Pat Stoken. The two cars left almost identically, Balooshi with a two-thousandths-of-a-second advantage, but an error with the timing system prevented any believable numbers from being posted on the scoreboards, only a win-light, unfortunately, in Stoken’s lane.
Balooshi, who qualified second with a 3.942/189.02mph blast for the Independence Drags III, met Ed Burnley in the opening round and quickly dismissed him with an impressive 3.93/189.44mph pass and received a competition single in the quarterfinals before meeting Pat Stoken in the semis. The two cars left together, but Balooshi’s Al-Anabi hot rod got out of shape in the right lane, which had been marginal all weekend, and was forced to lift – sending Stoken on to the final round.
The Al-Anabi Racing Pro Nitrous team couldn’t have asked for much better of a weekend, but will still continue their efforts to stage an all Al-Anabi Racing final at the upcoming ADRL NATIONALGUARD.com U.S. Drags II in Dinwiddie, Virginia at Virginia Motorsports Park.
