Todd Hoerner
The first round of eliminations is in the books at the ADRL Springs Drags III and it was a memorable one as the ADRL continues to impress in its inaugural appearance at Bristol Dragway.
A brief but heavy rain delayed the action for nearly 90 minutes, but the track was dried quickly and the ADRL returned to rocking Thunder Valley.
In Extreme Pro Stock, both the No. 1 and No. 2 qualifiers fell in stunning fashion. No. 1 qualifier John DeFlorian went 4.088, but a .010 red light negated the run and gave the win to Larry O’Brien. No. 2 qualifier Brian Gahm, meanwhile, was beat on a holeshot by Todd Hoerner. The biggest second round matchup includes Pete Berner meeting up with Cary Goforth in a huge matchup.
The wild events continued in Pro Nitrous, where a pair of top qualifiers went down. Chris Patrick, the No. 13 qualifier, out-pedaled Shannon Jenkins to advance and meet Bob Rahaim, while Burton Auxier squandered a 3.85 run with a .004 red light.
That gave the win to Stan Allen, who meets up with Robert Patrick Jr., who went 3.862 in eliminations of his first race in Pro Nitrous.
Doug Riesterer continued to deliver the goods as well, posting his third run in the 3.70s with a stout 3.798.
Dan Millen provided the biggest surprise in Pro Extreme, though it mostly had to do with Todd Tutterow having a rare red light. That threw away a 3.69, sending Millen into a second-round matchup with Von Smith. Bubba Stanton stayed in the 3.60s and will get Tommy D’Aprile, while other matchups include Jason Scruggs-Alex Hossler, and Mick Snyder-Terry Leggett.
Japel Heard took back the No. 1 qualifying position in the final qualifying round to finish as the official No. 1 qualifier and then went 4.10 in a first-round win to meet up with Kim Morrell. The run of the round, however, belonged to Eric McKinney, who went a blistering 4.08 at 173.16 mph to set up a marquee showdown with Scott Gray.
In Mickey Thompson Extreme 10.5, Brad Brand had his best run of the weekend, going 3.908 to advance to the semifinals of the 8-car field. Alan Pittman, who went 3.88, gets Grant McCrary in the semifinals.
The Aeromotive Fuel Systems semifinals will feature an awesome matchup between Pat Musi and Rickie Smith after each went in the low 3.90s in first-round wins in the eight-car field.
Summit Racing Equipment Top Sportsmen No. 1 qualifier Chuck Mohn went 4.11, while Ronnie Davis and Dylan Stott also advanced to set up an interesting matchup. Other first-round winners included Marco Abruzzi, who won in Houston, Earl Folse, Stacy Hall and Aaron Glaser.
(Photos by ADRL/Richards)
