ADRL Flowmaster Dragstock VI: A Day (or Two) at the Races

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that Dragstock is a race.  Like its namesake--Woodstock, the legendary 1969 rock festival--it’s a happening.  Tens of thousands of people come to party, to see and be seen, to simply be where the action is.  For many, the music was and the racing is something of an afterthought.

Unlike Woodstock, however, the ADRL's Dragstock is an annual affair, and for the driver and crew members who descend on Rockingham Dragway, in Rockingham, North Carolina each fall, the race is anything but an afterthought.  And, to be fair, those tens of thousands of fans wouldn’t have packed the grandstands, last Friday and Saturday, if it hadn’t been for the absurdly loud, fast, and dangerous cars and motorcycles that were rocketing down the track.

 

Pro Extreme competitor Mike Janis.  (All photos are copyright John Edwin Mason.  Click directly on the photos to see larger versions.)

 

I was at Dragstock to cover the race for East Coast Drag News.  My report will appear in the next issue of the magazine and, a bit sooner, on its website.  I’ve been wanting to do something different from the usual race coverage, and there can be no better time than Dragstock.

 

 

 

Much of the action happens at night, and the visuals can be pretty spectacular.

Doug Winters performs a burnout during qualifying.  Despite a stout run, he didn't make it into the field.

Ashley Owens, left, and Eric McKinney, right, leave the line at the start of the quickest side-by-side pass in the history of Pro Mod motorcycle racing.  Owens covered the 1/8th mile in 4.180 seconds, at 172.43 mph, to McKinney's 4.191, at 171.38.  Despite running slower, McKinney won the race due to a quicker reaction time.  (For the benefit of those of you who are unfamiliar with drag racing, an average road car would have trouble traveling the same distance in 10 seconds and would be running at about 60 mph.)

 

 

Travis Davis, right lane, is on his way to a record elapsed time, in this race against Lance Hines.  Davis ran at 4.16 at 171.23 mph.  In the next round, he lowered his own record to a 4.167.

The bike riders--that is, the Pro Extreme Motorcycle racers--are some of my favorite subjects, on and off their machines.

That's motorcycle racer Pumpatina Gilbert under that helmet.

Pumpatina Gilbert performs a burnout, prior to a qualifying run.  He ended up 17th, one spot out of making the race.

That's Japel Heard leaving the line in qualifying.  (Unfortunately, he qualified 22nd out of 39 and didn't make the race).  The intensity in his eyes is amazing.  Check out the crop, below.  (Click on the photo to see a much larger version.)

 

Faith is important, no doubt about it, but the crews have to turn the wrenches themselves.

 

Red is a popular color for Pro Mod Camaros.

 

As I was saying, Dragstock's crowds are huge.  They're also young and diverse.

 

 

 

 

It’s no accident that National Guard members appear in many of these photos.  The Guard is a major factor in the ADRL’s success.  It’s come out of nowhere to be the fastest growing sanctioning body in drag racing (and probably in any motor sport in the US).  Being the fastest growing sanctioning body might seem like a modest achievement, given that most are shrinking or just barely holding steady.  But it’s a greater feat than it appears.  While drag racing was once a mainstream motor sport (for instance, appearing regularly on ABC’s Wild World of Sports in the ‘60s and ‘70s), over the last 30 years or so, it’s been increasingly marginalized.  Older sanctioning bodies either don’t care or can’t figure out what to do about the slide.

Kenny Nowling, the ADRL’s president and CEO, had the idea that Pro Mods, lightening fast cars that people can relate to (they look like cartoon versions of street cars) and free admission might reverse the trend.  For that he needed sponsors, and the National Guard (and others, such as Flowmaster) stepped up to the plate.  Several years into the experiment, everyone seems to be winning.  The ADRL is attracting huge crowds to its events and generating a buzz that’s beginning to penetrate popular culture; the Guard is getting its message across to tens of thousands of young people; and the fans are getting a heck of a show.

 

National Guard troops prepare to unfurl a giant American flag.

Some of my favorite people are photographers.  Good thing, too.  I spend a heck of a lot of time at every race hanging out with them.

Greg Bunsold.

Earnest Burwell.

Van Abernethy.  See Van's website, here.

Roger Richards, who, when he's awake, is one of the finest motor sports photographers in the country.