John Edwin Mason: Racing Photography

ADRL Dragstock VII and Ohio Drags, Final Wrap: Winners, Losers, and Other Interesting Things

If the tens of thousands of fans who attended the American Drag Racing League's (ADRL) Summit Ohio Drags, at Summit Motorsports Park, had been paying for their tickets, they would have gotten a hell of a deal:  Two races for the price of one -- the conclusion of the rained-out Dragstock VII and the regularly scheduled running of the Ohio Drags IV.

Of course, as you probably know by now, admission to ADRL races is free (although peanuts, parking, and beer aren't), so no one actually saved any money.  But they did see some terrific racing.

 

 

Extreme Pro Stock driver Richard Penland makes a qualifying pass, 24 September 2010.  (All photos copyright John Edwin Mason, 2010.  Click directly on any of the images to see larger versions.)

At first, it looked like the weather wasn't going to cooperate.  A few sprinkles on Friday briefly shut down the track.  Fortunately, heavy rains stayed away.

 

 

Extreme Pro Stock runner-up Cale Aronson, doing a burnout just before a pass that served as both a Dragstock elimination round and a qualifying round for the Ohio Drags, 24 September 2010.

 

 

One of the big stories coming out of the Ohio Drags was who didn't make the show.  Bubba Stanton (near lane) failed to qualify, in Pro Extreme, and Jason Scruggs, far lane, qualified a surprisingly low 13th.

 

 

Tommy D'Aprile (above) ran a stout 3.794/199.73, in qualifying, but that was only good for the 15th spot in Pro Extreme.  (By the way, if you're not familiar with drag racing, you'd have a hard time believing how fast and hard cars like D'Aprile's run.  Imagine a very fast street car, far faster than most of use will ever own -- say, a $250,000 Ferrari.  It would accelerate to 60 miles per hour in the time that D'Aprile's car reaches 200 miles per hour.)

 

 

Friday was good to Spiro Pappas, however.  He won the rain-delay Dragstock race in the Extreme 10.5 class.

 

 

Cary Goforth, seen above performing a burnout, also enjoyed his Friday evening.  He was the Dragstock winner in Extreme Pro Stock.

 

 

If you had bet on Doug Riesterer taking home the Dragstock gold in Pro Nitrous, you would have gotten some pretty attractive odds.  A surprise winner, that's him above, spitting flames.

 

 

No surprises here.  That's Todd Tutterow winning the Pro Extreme class, in the rain-delayed Dragstock race, on Friday night, at Summit Motorsports Park.

 

 

The weather on Saturday was just about perfect for fans and racers alike -- sunny and cool for the elimination rounds of the Summit Ohio Drags IV.  John Montecalvo, seen above performing a burnout in front of a standing-room-only crowd, took advantage of the conditions and made it all the way to the final round of Extreme Pro Stock.

 

 

Another surprise winner.  This time it's Jim Laurita, seen here during an early round of eliminations.  He took first place in the Pro Nitrous class of the Ohio Drags.

 

 

Alex Hossler was the number one qualifier and runner-up at the Ohio Drags, in the Pro Extreme class.  He's seen here performing a burnout, just before making a pass during eliminations.

 

 

Chuck Ulsch's Camaro is as fast as it looks.  He won the Ohio Drags, in the Extreme 10.5 class, when his opponent, Dan Millen, went red.

 

 

Toward the end of the day, the light at Summit Motorsports Park, turned absolutely golden.  Here it is, lighting up Isaias Rojas Pro Nitrous Cobalt (and the Puerto Rican flag).

 

 

Terry Housley, the Ohio Drags runner-up in the Pro Nitrous class, performs a burnout during eliminations.

 

 

There's always down-time, as eliminations near their end.  Crews are working on the cars, preparing them for the next round of eliminations.  The ADRL filled some of the time by staging foot races involving spectators.  Here are two of the nearly 50 who took part.

 

 

Two more ways to keep the fans happy during down-time:  a pretty young woman and give-aways.

 

 

It was well after dark, by the time the race concluded.  Here's Ohio Drags Pro Extreme winner Mick Snyder performing a burnout, just before his victory in the final round.

 

 

Nobody enjoyed the weekend more than Cary Goforth.  He doubled up, winning both Dragstock and the Ohio Drags in Extreme Pro Stock.  That him above, defeating runner-up John Montecalvo, in the final round.

You can see more of my photos from Dragstock VII, here and here, and more Ohio Drags photos, here.  They'll also appear in East Coast Drag News.

 

ADRL's Dragstock VII: 10-11 September 2010, Part 2

The ADRL doesn't race on Sundays.  Ask Kenny Nowling, president of the American Drag Racing League, and he'll tell you that the rule's in place because (1) he'd rather go to church on the Lord's Day, and (2) the drivers and crews have jobs to get to on Monday morning  -- on Sundays, they need to be on the road, heading home.

 

 

John Stanley performs a burnout before a near-capacity crowd, on Saturday, 11 September 2010, just before the rain starting falling.  (All photos copyright John Edwin Mason, 2010.  Click directly on any of the images to see larger versions.)

As I mentioned in an earlier report on the ADRL's Simpson Dragstock VII, held last month at Rockingham Dragway, the no-Sundays policy, combined with rain on Saturday, meant that the race had to be postponed.  It was completed two weeks later, at northern Ohio's Summit Motorsports Park.

I'll be posting an account of events in Ohio in a couple of days.  In the meantime, here is some of the action from Rockingham.  (Many more of my photos from the race will appear in East Coast Drag News.)

 

 

Terry Leggett warms the tires, during qualifying on Friday, 10 September 2010.

If Friday's weather had held up, it would have been a terrific weekend for racing.  Sunny, but cool, it was perfect for both the fans and the drivers.

 

 

Pro Nitrous number one qualifier Shannon Jenkins heads down the track during a qualifying run.

 

 

Pro Extreme racer Frankie Taylor made the most of the cool conditions.  Later in the day, he set a new E.T. [elapsed time] record, covering the 1/8th mile in 3.596 seconds, the quickest run ever for a door car.  By the way, in just over three and a half seconds, Taylor had accelerated to 210 miles per hour.  How fast is that?  Let me quote my earlier post:

Unbelievably fast, unless you've seen it done.  Taylor's Vette is arguably the quickest door car on the planet.  Imagine, for instance, that you've just spent $450,000 on a new Ferrari.  With enough practice, you'll be able to accelerate your sparkling red 599 GTO -- one of the most potent road cars in the world -- to 60 miles per hour in the same time that it takes Taylor to reach 210.

 

 

Frankie Taylor wasn't the only driver to set a new class record.  Here Dan Millen, competing the Extreme 10.5 class, heads down the track on a record setting pass.  He posted an E.T. of 3.858 seconds at over 200 miles per hour.  That's a truly astonishing time for a car that runs on the relatively narrow 10.5 inch wide tires that the class uses.

 

 

Not everyone enjoyed the weekend as much as Taylor and Millen.  Charles Carpenter, seen above, one of the best known Pro Mod racers on the East Coast, surprised everyone by failing to make the field in the Pro Nitrous class.

 

 

Chris Patrick had one of the best looking cars at the track, but he also failed to qualify for the race in Pro Nitrous.

 

 

As hard as it was to qualify for the race, some teams turned to prayer.  Here, a member of Jason Scruggs crews pays homage to the god of the supercharger.

 

 

It must have worked.  Scruggs qualified third in Pro Extreme.

 

 

Rickie Smith also qualified third in his class, Pro Nitrous.

 

 

And he looked good doing it.  Smith always has a great looking hot rod.

 

 

Not every cool car qualified, of course.  Ric Fleck and his Batmobile (a turbo-charged '07 Corvette) went home early.

 

 

Bubba Turner also found himself exiting much too soon.  But his wacky orange '68 Firebird turned a lot of heads.

 

 

Night racing is sure to be fun for the fans and photographers.  It probably suits the drivers, too, especially when the chilly temperatures create a tight track.  Here's another shot of Pro Extreme driver Terry Leggett, who qualified 15th.

 

 

Finally, Extreme Pro Stock drivers Bert Jackson, top, and Cale Aronson, bottom, race off into the night, during qualifying, as if they were on their way to Summit Motorsports Park, for the completion of Dragstock VII.

Everybody was frustrated by the rainout and the need to complete the race in Ohio.  But you can't argue with Mother Nature.

In a separate post, from Summit Motorsports Park, I'll show some photos of the Dragstock VII winners.