ADRL.us - Agent 660 Notes

June 30, 2008

Swimming With the Sharks: Part II

Your Agent received a call from none other than Wild Bunch member Camp Stanley hisself, who said he and his team had such a great time going to the Pro Extreme semis at the ADRL's national event in Valdosta, GA, earlier this year that they're coming back for more this weekend at Radford, VA. Stanley compared entering Pro Extreme to "swimming in a shark tank,"  but with his son, John, doing such a great job behind the wheel of the Stanley & Weiss '69 Camaro, he's confident they can make a few waves of their own at the 2nd annual Shelor Motor Mile Independence Drags. (ADRL/Tocher photo)

UPDATE July 3: Unfortunately, your Agent received notice this morning of the sudden death of driver John Stanley's grandmother. Understandably, this will prevent the Stanley-Weiss team from racing this weekend at Radford. The ADRL sends sincere condolences to the entire Stanley family. 

June 30, 2008

Filkins Finds Pro Extreme Appealing

Your Agent hears veteran blower racer Scott Filkins will be bringing his sharp-looking and sharp-performing '06 GTO down from Wareham, MA, to enter the Pro Extreme class at this weekend's 2nd annual Shelor Motor Mile Independence Drags in Radford, VA. Great to see the class continuing to grow with high-quality talent and machinery like this. (ADRL/Tocher photo)

June 27, 2008

Carpenter Can’t Wait for Radford

Pro Nitrous legend Charles Carpenter will be in test mode this weekend at Farmington (NC) Dragway, prepping his brand-new, Terry Murphy-built ’55 Chevy for its national-event debut July 4-5, at the ADRL Shelor Motor Mile Independence Drags in Radford, VA.

“The car is ultra-quick in the front half of the track, but we are having trouble keeping traction down-track. We have a few ideas as to what may be causing the problem and we are going to try them all this weekend,” Carpenter said. “This car is so quick off the line. It feels like a Mack truck is hitting me when I let the clutch out compared to my old car. It goes sub-one-second 60-foot times all day long, and even went a 2.57 to the 330-ft. marker."

Despite decades of experience, Carpenter also said, “The car is still so new to me, I’m making rookie mistakes out there. When you do the same thing over and over for 10 years, it’s hard to break some old habits and form new ones. It’s becoming more familiar to me as we get more runs on the car, though.”

With his son and crew chief, Michael, busy with a prior commitment, Carpenter has turned to friends and fellow racers Paul Albino and Rick Moore for help at the track this weekend. Carpenter, a two-time ADRL winner last year, is confident his temporary teammates will get him and the car ready for their first ADRL appearance in '08. "We are going to get this Shoebox ironed out," he stated. "We look to be a major factor when we roll through the gates at Radford next weekend.”

June 26, 2008

First Look: Franklin’s New PN Ride

Your Agent received a message this morning from one of his operatives in Missouri, who just happened to be at Garret Race Cars with camera in hand when former Pro Stock star Tommy Franklin's brand-new '68 Camaro rolled out of the Marble Hill shop with a slick Jeff Hoskins paint job applied to its Cynergy body. A Speedtech Nitrous-boosted Eagle 738 cubic incher set up to accept either a Powerglide or Lenco resides up front and the operative reports liberal use of titanium and carbon fiber throughout. Franklin plans on entering at least a few ADRL Pro Nitrous races after he gets in some testing.

June 26, 2008

ADRL Officials Ready to Embark on IndyCar Series Ride?

No, this isn't the ADRL's latest class for raceday. It's the IndyCar Series entry of 2008 Indy 500 runner-up Vitor Meira, who will be taking ADRL execs Kenny Nowling, Jeff Fortune and Jessica Alcoke for the ride of a lifetime this afternoon in a special, two-seat open-wheeler at Richmond International Raceway.

The National Guard and Panther Racing are hosting the ADRL crew, which also includes Dave "Bones" Koch, drivers Joshua Hernandez and Harold Martin, series co-founders Dave and Gidget Wood, and Houston Raceway Park owner Seth Angel, as they visit RIR for the eighth running of the SunTrust Indy Challenge this weekend.

"I'm a huge, huge fan of open-wheel racing, so this is just unbelievable to me," ADRL President Nowling said. "I'm very excited about meeting Vitor and going for a lap or two with him, but also about seeing up close how the IndyCar Series operates. The ADRL took a lot of inspiration from the IndyCar Series, even down to our logos, so I'm looking forward to sharing some marketing ideas with IndyCar Series officials. With the current resurgence of interest in open-wheel racing in this country, who knows what might come of this down the road?"

On Friday, the ADRL visitors will travel to Washington, D.C. for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Pentagon, courtesy of the National Guard, then it will be back to the racetrack for Saturday night's IndyCar Series main event.

"What an honor and privilege it will be to visit the Pentagon," Nowling said. "I know I speak for everyone in our group when I say we're all just as excited about that as we are about taking a lap around the Richmond oval. That it comes so close to the Fourth of July, too, just makes it that much more special. I can't thank Colonel Day and Sergeant Metzler enough for giving us this rare and very special opportunity." 

June 25, 2008

First Look: Hancock’s New Firebird

Thank goodness for cellphone cams! One of your Agent's operatives managed to grab a couple of quick snaps at Precision Racecraft in Douglasville, GA, where chassis man Mike Johnson has been working on this new '68 Firebird for reigning ADRL Pro Nitrous world champion Jamie Hancock.

The operative didn't hang around long enough to learn too many details, but your Agent hears this car is at least a couple of hundred pounds lighter than the champ's current '04 Corvette. Word also has it there's an outside chance for the car to debut at the Budd's Creek event in July, but more likely we'll have to wait until at least Norwalk in August to see it take the track. 

June 25, 2008

Glidden Going to Radford?

Well, here's one you can toss on the ol' rumor scrap heap. Your Agent heard through the grapevine that after Billy Glidden's ADRL competition debut earlier this month at Martin, MI, an even more famous Glidden might get behind the wheel of his son's Extreme 10.5 GTO at the 2nd annual Shelor Motor Mile Independence Drags July 4-5, at Radford, VA.

Nope. Your Agent checked with the man himself and Billy said although his father, multi-time Pro Stock champion Bob Glidden, still holds a valid competition license, no such plans ever were in the works. In fact, Glidden said, he's still hoping for a last-minute deal to help pay his way to the Radford event himself.

So, anyone interested in backing a proven winner? Let your Agent know and he'll put you in touch. (ADRL/Richards photo)

June 21, 2008

ADRL Statement on Scott Kalitta

"On behalf of everyone at the ADRL, I want to extend our deepest condolences to the entire Kalitta family," ADRL President Kenny Nowling said on the death of NHRA Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta, 46, in an on-track accident this afternoon in Englishtown, NJ.

"We all know Scott was a two-time world champion and a great racer, but I had the pleasure of spending some time with him on a couple of occasions and found him to be a great guy, too. He will truly be missed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Scott's wife, Kathy, sons Corey and Colin, his father and crew chief, Connie, cousin and teammate, Doug, and every member of the Kalitta family and race teams."