Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Greg Hunter Reaches Midpoint of Rookie Season in TAD

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion

JOLIET, Ill. -- Greg Hunter and the ExactAir/Kenny Gilmour Motorsports Top Alcohol Dragster team are in for one of the toughest TAD races in the country, the Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago. The centrally located track and prestigious Jegs Allstars race-within-a-race attract the top cars from around the U.S. and Canada. Greg hopes to be one of the sixteen cars racing on Saturday night.

"We're going to have to run in the 5.3s in order to qualify well here. After running in Denver at the regional, we're confident in our car. Now we have a baseline tune-up that we can use to build on and hopefully go a little quicker," said Hunter.

The former alcohol funny car driver is enjoying his first season in a "long car". Under the watchful eye of team owner and crew chief Kenny Gilmour, Hunter has earned two round wins in just his first few races.

"I'm really happy with the season so far," Hunter says. "Obviously we're trying to take it to the next level by going deeper into eliminations or even winning a race. If we have a good showing in Chicago, I think we might look at adding a few more races. We want to have a really strong finish in national and regional points at the end of the year."
 
Competing with the best cars from every corner of the country can add a lot of pressure to the already stressful job of driving a 260 mph race car. Greg faced off with the heavy hitter Jim Whiteley at his last race in Denver. The pressure got to him that time, turning on the red light. With that experience out of the way, Greg feels ready to take on the big dogs.

"It's such a thrill to be out here competing with these guys. It felt good to get that race with Jim out of the way. So much was going through my mind, knowing who was in the other lane. Hopefully we get to race some of those guys this weekend so I can redeem myself," claimed the ExactAir-supported driver.

Greg Hunter and his team of talented mechanics on the Kenny Gilmour Motorsports team are looking forward to a long weekend of racing. Alcohol cars get two qualifying sessions on Friday, one more on Saturday, with first round of eliminations following on Saturday afternoon. If all goes as Hunter hopes for, they'll still be in on Sunday for second round.

ExactAir Compliance Systems is a company that supplies compliance, maintenance and control systems for the Natural Gas Compression industry. For more information on ExactAir’s state of the art technology, visit them on the web at: http://www.exactairsystems.com

Greg Hunter and Kenny Gilmour Motorsports partner with some of the finest companies in their industries, including ExactAir Compliance Systems, Omega 2000 Cribbing, Goodyear Tire, NGK Spark Plugs, Lucas Oil, Dark Side Racing, Oasis Emission Consultants, Mopac Auto Supply, Rock Bit Industries, GRP Connecting Rods, Winberg Crankshafts, National Transmission, Paron Paint & Body, Mechanix Wear, Berube Custom Tanks, Peter Vaughn Custom Glass, Koolsville Golf Carts & Accessories, VP Fuels USA, and Top Gun Coatings.

For more information on Greg Hunter and the Kenny Gilmour Motorsports team, please visit www.kennygilmourmotorsports.com

Simonton Enters Route 66 Nationals with Confidence and Consistent Car

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion

JOLIET, Ill. -- Popular Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Cassie Simonton enters this weekend's Route 66 NHRA Nationals with the intentions of building on the success she experienced in qualifying at the Lucas Oil Series event held here just a few weeks ago. She earned the first #1 qualifying position for both herself and team owner Spiro Kontos. Now competing against twice the drivers she out-qualified last time, Simonton and the Kon Rodz Racing team are eager to prove that they are a consistent threat in the competitive class.

"Obviously that was a big confidence booster for us, as a team. We're going to try to push for that again. We've always had good luck at Route 66 Raceway. We have good data for this track and the car runs well in the heat, so we should be able to build from that to have a good car throughout qualifying and eliminations," Simonton says.

2012 has been a breakout year for Simonton and the Kon Rodz team. The successes were met with struggles, though.

"I think we've struggled a little bit until now, but things are starting to turn around. We're making consistent passes. We've done a lot this year, breaking our personal records on ET and MPH. Bad luck bit us a few times; things breaking at the worst time, but I think we can get that off our backs and start winning rounds," Cassie says.

Veteran crew chief and former world champion Randy Anderson will be working his magic, putting a tune-up in the Kon Rodz Racing Monte Carlo that will take it from A to B in the shortest time possible. Crew members Cory, Patrick, Londos, Graham, and Steve are back in the Windy City to go to work, turning wrenches and preparing the 3,000 horsepower car for another 260 mph blast down the quarter mile.

Though the team didn't qualify for it this year, the effect of the Jegs Allstars competition within this race will still be felt. Competing against all of the top cars from around the country during regular eliminations will allow the team to prove to themselves, their competitors, and the fans that Kon Rodz Racing is able to do what it takes to take the prize, whether that prize is a #1 qualifier award, a little golden man named Wally, or a championship trophy at the end of the year.

Ahten and Stump Puller Ready to Defend at Salt Lake Nitro Jam

Courtesy of THR5 Communications

Salt Lake City, UT – Johnny Ahten is heading to the Salt Lake Nitro Jam with the mindset of a defending champion. You see, back in 2010, Ahten and his Pro Fuel Dragster not only won the event, he reset the track record at Rocky Mountain Raceways with a blistering elapsed time of 5.56 seconds. Ahten did not compete in the event in 2011, so to Ahten, it’s a title defense.
“The way the Nitro Jam events are set up, it’s unload the car, and swing for the fence,” said Ahten. “We know what it takes to go fast in Salt Lake, and the crew and the Stump Puller are ready to crank out the long ball.”
Tuning a Nitromethane powered dragster is a tricky thing. It’s a good thing that Crew Chief and Johnny’s Dad, Al Ahten has all the numbers from 2010 when they set the track on fire. The Ahten Racing crew of Howard Katano, Bob Ahten, Chuck Costabile, and Todd "Rocky" Rockwell will be proving the needed muscle and technical advice. Making things a bit easier on the team are some new grinding stones and assistance from Goodson Tools & Supplies. Also aboard the Stump Puller is Island Renovations, and promotional Partner Fireman’s Brew. Tools, Hawaiian sunsets, and beer are a winning combination in anyone’s book.
There is one other thing that makes the Salt Lake Nitro Jam special. Utah is the home of sponsor 801 Racing. They offer the precious 70Wt Racing Oil that makes the Stump Puller so deadly. The gang from 801 Racing will be there in person to watch the Johnny Ahten lower his record time and make it feel like 2010.
“We have put a lot of time and effort into this new engine combination,” added Ahten. “I can’t wait to feel how fast the changes will feel. We spent weeks tearing things down to the bone, and building the car into a stronger, meaner, and faster machine. I plan to hold on and enjoy the ride.”
Johnny Ahten and the Stump Puller are also looking to add to their Nitro Jam trophy collection. A 2012 Tucson Nitro Jam Ironman is sitting on Johnny’s shelf, and it’s lonely. This weekend the new and improved Stump Puller will be looking to cure that, with Pro Fuel grand slam.

Island Renovations understands the complexity of Hawaii's homes and their customers’ needs. Whether you are looking to build, remodel, or replace your existing windows and doors, Island Renovations is there to provide outstanding service and products to give your home added value with the satisfaction and peace of mind from a company that puts their customers first. Visit us at www.islandrenovations.net
Fireman's Brew grew out of their vision to create premium ales and lagers that would quench their thirst after an exhausting day on the fire line. Originally created by firefighters for firefighters, Fireman's Brew is now available in both bottles and kegs for retail and on-premise sales. Visit them at www.firemansbrew.com/
We believe true happiness comes from blazing down the blacktop with the pedal to the metal and our hair on fire. The whiter our knuckles get, the better. If it were up to us, cars wouldn't even have brakes, just two gas pedals. It's this never-ending need for speed that drives everything we do. We spend countless hours in the lab and lying awake at night plotting and planning how to get more speed by any means possible. After decades of research and innovation, we've developed a complete line of performance and car care products designed to ensure that your ride lives up to its potential on the street and on the track. We know what you want. We got what you need. We are 801 Racing. For more information on 801 racing, please visit: www.801Racing.com

TAFC Rookie Robertson Headed to First National Event

Courtesy of Kozak Motorsports Marketing

Harrison TWP. MI. … The 2012 season has been a long climb up the TA/FC ladder for Todd Robertson. The switch from doorslammer to flopper has been a long strenuous one for Robertson and his team but, this weekend will mark Robertson’s first time running an NHRA national event in TA/FC and win, lose or draw, this is a moment no one on the Pro Power Motorsports team will forget.

“We’ve all done so much to get to this point and this weekend really means something to everyone on the team,” said Car Chief, Rocco Wilson. “Our crew has been through a great number of growing pains this year but they’ve all lead us to this point and we hope we can make the most of what’s at hand,” added Wilson.

Crew Chief, Dennis Kolomyjec understand the weight of the moment but also realizes he needs to keep his team well grounded this weekend. “Running an NHRA National is just one of the goals we set for ourselves this season. Trust me, there are a lot of smaller ones we checked off the list on our way to this point but, there are many more to come. We need to understand the gravity of what we are doing and what we have in front of us. Staying focused as a team will help us reach our other goals,” said Kolmyjec.

Robertson and his team attended the division 3 event at Route 66 earlier this month but failed to make the tough eight car field; this weekend’s national event is a 16 car field.

Route 66 raceway in Joliet, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, will host the 15th Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals this weekend 6/29 through 7/1. The Lucas Oil Alcohol Funny Cars are scheduled for three Qualifying runs. Two are scheduled for Friday at 11:30 AM and 2:30 PM with another set for Saturday at 2:30 PM.

Final eliminations are scheduled for Sunday beginning at 11 AM.

To follow along this weekend you can check into http://ww.dragracecentral.com

Todd Robertson and his Pro Power Motorsports team would like to thank:


The Eaton Corporation http://www.eaton.com
Aeroquip Performance http://www.aeroquip.com
Simpson Race Products http://simpsonraceproducts.com/
Total Seal Piston Rings http://www.totalseal.com/
Total Flow 

Demke and Maddern Racing Prepare for Route 66 Onslaught

Courtesy of THR5 Communications
Photo courtesy of Cyclops Photography

Joliet, IL - Chris Demke and the Maddern Racing gang roll into Route 66 Raceway this weekend for a second time this month. The world class facility is the same, but this time around it’s going to be a wee bit crazier. It’s a National event combined with the Jegs AllStars competition. A double whammy with twenty-seven Alcohol Dragsters entered. That’s quite a difference from the limited numbers at the Regional event. That was a battle, this is all out war.

 “The best of the best are here, and I expect it to be quite the spectacle,” said Demke. “When you have a National event there is always great competition. Adding the Jegs AllStars race really ramps up the talent. The top cars from around the country are here representing their division. We are very proud to be the last Division 7 representative since the change to the Regional system.”

It will take more than just desire to wade through the heavy field. Crew Chief Jerry Maddern along with Adam Rhoades, Kevin Watson, Mike Demke, and Ronald Mann are primed to accept the challenge. The last time out, the Peen Rite / OSI / 801 Racing Dragster responded to the hot weather and ran off some great numbers. But that was then, this is now.

The attitude that resonates around the Maddern Racing camp is of quiet confidence. The Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls Championship team had a cheer right before tipoff. This weekend Chris Demke will lead the Maddern Racing crew with the same cheer: “What time is it? Game time baby….wooo!”

About Peen Rite - Your source for quality shot peening, glass bead, and abrasive blasting services for over 45 years. We provide low cost solutions, high volume capacity, and a superior level of quality control. Equipped with many specialty machines designed to handle the cleaning and surface preparation for a wide variety of work pieces. PEEN-RITE gives you the ability to stay within your job cost estimation!

Operational Solutions will challenge itself on a daily basis to provide a unique advanced technical service to our customers. Our team will work to identify the problem, procure the necessary parts, and implement the solution. We will accomplish this with an expertise and professionalism unparalleled in the PET bottle industry. Operational Solutions provides products and services for the PET blow molding industry. We are the leading independent service and support organization for SIDEL, SIG, and Krones blow molding. We serve customers around the world from our facilities in Kansas City, Missouri and France. Visit us at: www.operationalsolutions.com
We believe true happiness comes from blazing down the blacktop with the pedal to the metal and our hair on fire. The whiter our knuckles get, the better. If it were up to us, cars wouldn't even have brakes, just two gas pedals. It's this never-ending need for speed that drives everything we do. We spend countless hours in the lab and lying awake at night plotting and planning how to get more speed by any means possible. After decades of research and innovation, we've developed a complete line of performance and car care products designed to ensure that your ride lives up to its potential on the street and on the track. We know what you want. We got what you need. We are 801 Racing. For more information on 801 racing, please visit: www.801Racing.com

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

TAN Chicago

With 27 diggers and 20 flip-tops entered for this race, it's shaping up to be one of the toughest fields all year. The TAD list includes nine of the 2011 Top 10 drivers; TAFC has six of their Top 10 drivers from 2011. Over half of the TAFC entries are capable of running 5.5s. Both classes will have a rookie driver competing; former TAFC driver Greg Hunter in Dragster and former Pro Mod driver Todd Robertson in Funny Car. In this article, we'll look back at past event champions, and preview the drivers who we think have a chance of adding their names to the list.

Previous Final Rounds (Winner first)

TAD
2011 - Reichert/Whiteley
2010 - Guest/Dreher
2009 - Whiteley/B. Lewis
2008 - Reichert/Bayer
2007 - Reichert/ K. Harker
2006 - Datweiler/S. O'Bannon
2005 - Reichert/Wilson
2004 - Wells/Howard
2003 - Lucas/Wells
2002 - Federlin/Perry

TAFC
2011 - Bartone/Lombardo
2010 - Manzo/Ferro
2009 - Manzo/Harker
2008 - Manzo/Bateman
2007 - Ferro/Chesterman
2006 - Newberry/Harker
2005 - Manzo/Snyder
2004 - Snyder/Lee
2003 - Newberry/Gordon
2002 - Payne/Smith

Jegs Allstars Winners (TAD/TAFC)
2011 - Whiteley/Manzo
2010 - Whiteley/Manzo
2009 - Reichert/Manzo
2008 - Bayer/Gordon
2007 - Massey/Manzo
2006 - Thacker/Manzo
2005 - Snow/Manzo
2004 - Howard/Stidham
2003 - Lucas/B. Austin
2002 - Thacker/Payne

Drivers to Watch

TAD

Jim Whiteley - Tied for first place with Chris Demke, Whiteley is having a flawless season on the regional side of things. The head driver at the YNot Racing camp won all three regionals he entered, Las Vegas, Denver, and Tulsa. Jim completed the LV1 sweep by winning the Vegas national event. Another national event win followed in Houston. Can he notch another W in the national event column this weekend? YNot?

Bill Reichert - Five-time world champ Bill Reichert started off his 2012 season with a runner-up finish at the Gatornationals and a win at the 4-Wide Nationals, then experienced a pair of first round losses in his first two regional events. He turned his Rislone A/Fueler back in the right direction, winning his next two regionals at Maple Grove and Joliet. Bill has a good chance of sweeping the Route 66 races.

Meyer and Reichert

Randy Meyer - Past world championship tuner Meyer is due for a win in 2012. Randy tuned Doug Foley to a runner-up finish at the 4-Wide Nationals, the high point of what was supposed to be a run at the 2012 championship with the former Top Fuel driver. Meyer returned to the seat in Houston, lost early, then went to the finals at the Summernationals in Topeka. He fell to Mr. Five-Time in the semifinals here at the regional just a couple weeks ago. A final round appearance at last weekend's Tulsa regional solidifies his status as a Driver to Watch.

Ken Perry - The Iceman returned to competition at the Gatornationals after taking a year off in 2011, reaching the semifinals. He's been spotty after that, with first round losses at the 4-Wide Nationals and Joliet regional. In between those losses, he went to the finals at the Indy and Norwalk regionals, winning the latter.

Duane Shields - The defending world champion had a rough start to his 2012 season. Four first round exits in four races did not back up the #1 on the wing of Shields' Shortline Express A/Fueler. He returned to championship form with a win at the Richmond regional, followed by a runner-up finish at the Houston national. Most recently, Shields followed Reichert across the finish line in the Maple Grove regional final.

TAFC

Mickey Ferro - Ferro has been the most consistent alcohol Funny Car this year, losing no earlier than the semifinals at all five of his races so far. His season started with a runner-up and win at the Gainesville regional and national, respectively. Following success in gator country, Mickey went to the semifinals in his next two national events in Charlotte and Houston. Like Reichert, Ferro has the opportunity to sweep here, as his most recent win was the Joliet regional.

Chris Foster - The combination of driver Foster and tuner Will Hanna has been potent in the past two Midwest regionals. Chris won in Norwalk and Joliet after a pair of second round losses and semifinal exit in Charlotte. The defending Division 3 champions know how to win on hot, Midwestern tracks.

Tony Bartone - Just one point behind Jay Payne in national points, the 2011 national championship runner-up enters Chicago looking for his third national event victory of the year, adding to his wins at Las Vegas and Topeka. Tony reached the semifinals at Pomona and Houston, as well as the finals at the Vegas regional.

Frank Manzo - The undisputed king of the TAFC world enters the midpoint of the 2012 season winless at national events. Manzo was victorious on the regional series, winning at Indy and Maple Grove. He lost in the semifinals at Gainesville and Topeka. The most surprising part of Frank's '12 scorecard? First round losses at the 4-Wide Nationals and right here at the regional. He has the ability to win here; he's done it four times in the past 10 years, plus six Jegs Allstars victories.

Steve Gasparrelli - Just like his ECS-sponsored alcohol funny car, Steve Gasparrelli's season has been picking up speed at every increment. First round exit at Pomona, second round at the Vegas regional, semifinals at the Vegas national, finals at the Houston national, and a win at the Mission regional. Can Gasparrelli keep that streak going and take a national event win?

TAN Driver Blog - Johnny Ahten - TAD

It's Monday night and it's a race week!  I still have a ton of stuff to do but I won't have work again until after the race.  Speaking of work, today we had another brush fire.  I'm typing this in the evening at the fire station.  Today's fire got into a dead orchard of peach trees and threatened a few homes and structures but we were able to get a handle on it without losing anything.  Today is also my last day at this fire station and I will be transferring to another for a brief time and trying to get a little closer to home.

The race car is fairly close to being ready.  I plan on grinding more floaters tomorrow for the Sonoma regional race later in July while I am loading parts and tools into the trailer.  The plan is to load everything in and wash it on Wednesday.  We will leave for Salt Lake early Thursday morning, hopefully arriving there around 5pm.  Should be around a 12 hour tow. Then it's up early to do a news segment with some local media at 6:15am and 6:45 am, so check it out if you can. 

I'm really excited to race with the IHRA in Utah again.  The fans were so awesome last time and we hope to put on a great show for them again.  It was a great time.

As soon as I get back from Utah the family and I are going to camp at the beach with our motor home.  It's going to be a very busy couple of weeks and I hope to have an Ironman lying on the beach with me! Please be sure to check out and click the like button at Johnny Ahten Racing on Facebook to keep updated.
Thanks for reading,
Johnny


Monday, June 25, 2012

TAN Driver Blog - Greg Hunter - TAD

We had a great time in Denver at Bandimere Speedway! It was the first race of the year I was able to have my kids at the track and we also had a nice hospitality area for some Exactair Customers and friends. After the first session we were #1! We didn't have a great run, blowing the burst panels out, but everyone else had trouble too. It felt really cool to be #1 for a day! Saturday morning the weather looked like it turned for the worse but it cleared up and we made our second qualifier. It was better but same result, burst panels out of it just after I put it in high gear. The crew figured out what the problem was and had the car ready for the final qualifier when we had to shut the car off after the burnout because of a fuel leak. It is really tough to shut the car down right when you are getting ready to stage! I am very grateful for my awesome crew who spotted the fuel leak and kept the car safe! So we slipped from 1st to 4th going into Sunday Eliminations. I felt good because I knew that the Kenny Gilmour Motorsports/Exactair Crew had the car ready for 1st round! 

We a good solid run and we got by the DMP Awnings car with a 5.77. After all the wind in Denver, we are looking to buy one of those DMP awnings for our trailer! Going into second round we knew we had our hands full with Jim Whiteley. They are one of the fastest cars in the country and they have a lot of great people working on those cars. I have to admit that I was a little amped up and turned on the red light. I wanted to cut a really good light and get out on him! I was out on him and I started to think something happened to him when I didn't hear him until I saw the win light in his lane. That is when things got exciting! I pulled the chutes and they came out but did not blossom. I got the car slowed down before the sand but I still had to put the car on the beach! We didn't hurt anything but we had a lot of cleaning to do!

Overall the weekend was really good. We made some good clean runs and didn't hurt anything and the crew is really getting a handle on the tune-up! Just in time to go to the great Route 66 Raceway next weekend in Chicago! I can't wait! I am truly blessed to have such a great ride and a great crew! I am also so very grateful to have my wife Staci's support in driving the Exactair/Kenny Gilmour Motorsports Dragster. I couldn't do this without her!


Greg Hunter is the driver of the ExactAir/Kenny Gilmour Motorsports Top Alcohol Dragster.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Why Decide? Thompson Runs Both TAFC and Pro Mod

Courtesy of the Pro Sportsman Association/Todd Veney
Photo courtesy of David Smith

Clint Thompson doesn't know what he likes better – Top Alcohol Funny Car or Pro Mod. So he runs both, fielding an Alcohol Funny Car in NHRA competition and driving Don Carter's MBR-powered '68 Camaro in Pro Extreme on the ADRL tour.
They're about as similar as a hairbrush and a can of soup, and, as Thompson quickly discovered, a Pro Mod car requires a much gentler touch on the wheel than a Funny Car, which sometimes has to be manhandled to keep it in the groove. "You get out of shape in a Funny Car, and when you get off the throttle, usually right you're back under control," Thompson says. "A Pro Mod keeps going for another three- or four-tenths of a second, and the next thing you know, the back end's trying to come around. And you don't get any warning."
So, which does he prefer? "I still love my Funny Car," Thompson says. "It's my first love. Getting back in my car is a relief sometimes because I've probably made close to 2,000 runs in a Funny Car and I don't have to think about what I'm doing every time. In a Pro Mod, I still have to go over the order of things, the process. But driving a Pro Mod is really good for your ego because it's not an easy car to drive. It's a completely different experience, and I really like that torque converter. Push the button, mash the throttle, let your hand go, and the car takes off like a rocket. You get maximum G's immediately, not at the half-second mark like with a Funny Car. Then, it's like riding a marshmallow – it just feels mushy. You don't turn the wheel until you have to, and if you have to, it's probably time to lift."
In Pro Mod, or Pro Extreme as it's called on the ADRL circuit, Thompson just started driving this year. In Top Alcohol Funny Car, he's one of the more successful drivers of this century, with three NHRA national event titles in five final-round appearances, six divisional victories in 14 final-round appearances, and a Top 10 finish in the 2010 national standings. Last year, he just missed, finishing 11th.
Thompson, 46, has been racing some kind of Funny Car for more than 20 years now, starting in the late '80s, when he bought a used Monza. "I put my big-block Chevy with a Tunnel Ram in the car, bracket raced it, and ran it in CIFCA [the California Independent Funny Car Association, which ran off an index]," Thompson says. "The first car I had that was built just for me was in about 1996. I started running divisionals and the Seattle national event every year. Back then, I'd count how many cars were pre-entered to see if I should even bother going. I remember my wife Danette saying one time, 'Why are we even here? You know we're not going to qualify.' But if you leave it in the shop, you don't learn anything. We even ventured down to Pomona once or twice in those early years, but we were almost embarrassed to show up."
Racing in the Pacific Northwest, home to some of the best Alcohol Funny Car racing in the country, Thompson progressed from perennial first-round punching bag to being competitive to being a legitimate contender to becoming a national event champion. "I cut my teeth racing Bucky Austin," he says. "For the longest time, I'd qualify last, race Bucky first round, and lose. Then I'd qualify a little better, run him second round, and lose. Finally, at Mission [in 2006], I beat him in the final, and it was almost better than my first national event win."
Things began to turn around about 10 years ago when Thompson began his association with Bob Miner. "I ran Seattle, qualified 15th or 16th, got beat first round, and blew up the motor in the process," says Thompson, who retired from the car business and is contemplating his next business venture. "The Miner brothers had come on the scene with their engine, and I approached them a couple of times and got nowhere. I was about to give up. When they quit in 2004, I bought their car turn-key and told Danette, 'If I can't do anything with this car, it's time to quit because it's obviously me and my tuning ability that's the problem – not the race car. We won our first race that year at a points meet in Montana and ran the table at Seattle the next year – No. 1 qualifier, low e.t. and won the race – and I owe whatever success I've had to the patience of my wife and the teachings of Bob Miner."
Thompson has since won two more national events, in Sonoma in 2006 and again in Seattle in 2007. In 2010, he just missed what would have been his greatest win ever, dropping a close final to Frank Manzo in Charlotte, 5.57 to 5.58. Right now, he's in the middle of a four-race tour: Richmond for the ADRL race, Chicago and Norwalk for NHRA national events, then Martin, Mich., for another ADRL meet.
"I'm really liking this ADRL deal," Thompson says. "I already loved running my Funny Car, so I don't know which one is better. I love 'em both."

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Part-Time TAFC Driver Mark Billington

Courtesy of the Pro Sportsman Association/Todd Veney
Photos courtesy of David Smith and NHRA


Mark Billington is a top executive for one of the biggest companies in America and looks the part. Clean-cut, well-spoken, the consummate professional, he goes to work each morning in a suit and tie, but unlike other "suits" across the vast spectrum of Corporate America, who golf or go boating on weekends, he gets his hands dirty racing one of the most competitive Top Alcohol Funny Cars in the country.
"I've loved these cars since the first time I ever saw one, at Empire Dragway, when I was a teenager," says Billington, the 2011 Division 2 Top Alcohol Funny Car champ. "My jaw hit the ground the first time one of them fired up. The firesuits, the power, the noise the engines made – I knew I had to have one someday."
Billington, 48, got his first one when he was 30 – not a brand-new, top-of-the-line car built just for him, but a used one he picked up from veteran racer Bobby Baucom. By then, he was several rungs up the corporate ladder in a career that has taken him to Charlotte, Orlando, Atlanta, and, last year, to Dallas. For him, business always comes first.
"I can't run every race that I'd like to because of my job," says Billington, Frito-Lay's Senior Director For Sales Operations. "I can't have a bunch of spare engines under the bench or a full-time crew chief or a professional truck driver to get my rig from race to race. I learned how to build my own engines and I drive my own truck to the track and run the car on about $30,000 a year. Some guys spend $300,000 – some spend more – but even if I had $3 million a year to spend, I'd still want to run this class."
Racing when his schedule allows, Billington has grown increasingly competitive in nearly 20 years of Alcohol Funny Car competition and earned his first win at the 2003 Division 2 event at Darlington, taking out Jay Payne in the final. Billington is a six-time winner on the Lucas Oil Series tour and last year accomplished a lifetime goal when he edged Mickey Ferro and Melinda Green-King for the Division 2 title.
It's been a long climb for Billington, who has always raced out of the South but actually is a native of upstate New York. "Growing up on a dairy farm, I always liked working on tractors, trucks, and cars, and just being outside and working on something is still one of my favorite things about racing," he says. "When I was a teenager, my dad could see what direction my friends and I were headed, and he told me, 'If you're going to race, you're going to do it my way,' and took me to the track. He didn't want any of us getting hurt out on the roads."
Billington ran an old '70 Camaro with a 350 that ran in the 12s, and one day the track brought in a match-race show that featured Alcohol Funny Cars. To say the least, it made an impression on him. "Then, when I was 17, my dad took me to the [1981] Summernationals at Englishtown, and that was the first time I ever saw a national event, nitro cars, all that," he says. "I remember this guy, Frank Manzo, was there…" Naturally, Manzo wasn't just "there." He got to the final that weekend and eventually won the championship that year, the first year after Pro Comp was split up into Top Alcohol Funny Car and Top Alcohol Dragster.
"Sometimes, I'll tell one of my guys, when Manzo's running a lot better than us, 'Hey, he was kicking people's butts way back when I was a teenager,' " Billington says. "I didn't know what I was doing when I started – I just did it. I got a short-block from Bob Newberry, bought a set of heads, and put it all together in my garage. To be honest, I was a little surprised when it started right up the first time. I've just kind of learned as I've gone along. When I first started running my hunk of junk, it seemed like I'd always run Tony Bartone in the first round, and he'd just drill me into the dirt every time. I don't know if I've ever beat him, but I've won my share against Jay Payne, and Jay's about as tough as they come. Sometimes, I think I should have won more races than I have, but I do the best I can with what I have. Every once in a while, I'll reach for a wrench and realize that it's one my dad gave me when I was a kid, and it reminds me of why I started doing this in the first place and how far I've come."

TAN Driver Blog - Brandon Booher - TAD

Well hello, TANation, long time no type. The season is nearly half over and we haven't hurt a single part! We haven't pulled the car out of the shop, actually. I'm learning it's cheaper this way. I've really missed being out there and seeing my racing family but just something we had to do. We are General Contractors by trade; we build custom homes and do high-end remodels. It's no secret the housing market (high end construction especially) is in the toilet. Near the end of last year we had two large contracts dry up on us out of nowhere. These were homes that were ready to build and fund the racing habit. When those weren't there anymore we had to take a step back and evaluate. We've never raced on credit cards so we decided to sit out until we could race like we know we need to. We've learned a lot in the last two years, mainly what parts need to be present. Racing loses quite a bit of the "fun" part when you have to run around and borrow parts. We decided from that point forward if we didn't have both barrels loaded we'd stay home from whatever race.

I was told my presence was inquired upon at the Joliet Divisional, presumably this was because I wasn't running from trailer to trailer with sleeves and pistons!...”where is he?” The sabbatical of sorts has an upside though. In November I proposed to my best friend; you've probably seen her at the races (Shannon Pappas). This is my corporate America girl who can run the bottom end as quick as any guy out there. She keeps me grounded not only in racing, but my personal life as well. The time off has given me time to help her plan our December wedding. I'm not going to lie, wedding planning is pretty fun! A whole day devoted to the bride and groom...mostly the bride...I will be there though! We pretty well have everything wrapped up planning wise. She is organized beyond belief...makes me look good!


 Since the planning is under control, we may actually make an appearance at a race or two this season. The car is pretty well ready to rock, maybe the US Nationals or Maple Grove, we shall see. I will be in Joliet for the national event. Shannon's parents live about 5 minutes away (<--free hotel). It will be great, no work...just drinking all of Thacker's Diet Coke! I'm actually hoping to get in the booth and do some announcing...who do I contact about that? Maybe I can just buy an ESPN shirt off eBay and walk in? Well I wish I had more to tell you all...I was in the heat all day today so I'm ready for bed. Once we get things a little closer to being ready to go I'll be sure to post again. Have a great summer everyone!


Brandon is the driver of the AB Construction Top Alcohol Dragster. Follow him on Twitter at @BooherRacing.

First Round Wins Continue for Hunter

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion

MORRISON, Colo. – Top Alcohol Dragster beginner Greg Hunter’s rookie season in the ExactAir/Kenny Gilmour Motorsports car is going better than those of some of the seasoned veterans in the class. A first round win at his national event debut in Las Vegas, and now another at his second regional event. The Wyoming resident’s trip to Bandimere Speedway’s Thunder on the Mountain ended with a meeting with one of the top cars in the country.

“It was awesome to win first round. I couldn’t hear him (opponent Dean Dubbin) at the finish line, so I knew I won and I was pumped,” said Hunter.

Greg led the qualifying sheet after the first session on Friday, but slipped to fourth by the time qualifying was over on Saturday night. His first round match-up with Dubbin was decided at the starting line, with Hunter unleashing a .039 reaction time and crossing the finish line in 5.78 seconds at just under 250 mph. He met up with Jim Whiteley, one of the Top 5 drivers in the country, in round two. Greg pushed the Tree too hard and left early, giving the automatic win to Whiteley.

“Going up against Jim Whiteley, I made a rookie mistake and red lit. When one of the quickest blown cars in the country is in the other lane, you have to push it. Then once I crossed the finish line, my ‘chutes got a little tangled and the car went into the sand trap. Fortunately it just got a little gravel in the car, no serious damage. The car is ready for Chicago,” Greg said.

The next race for Greg Hunter and the ExactAir Top Alcohol Dragster team is the O’Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Illinois. The challenge of competing with over 25 of the nation’s top cars is one that Hunter says he’s ready for. “I’m really excited to go up against so many solid cars. Route 66 Raceway is a great track and the conditions should be good, so that just adds to the excitement. We’re starting to get our tune-up figured out. We’ll be bringing all we got to run with the best of the best.”

ExactAir Compliance Systems is a company that supplies compliance, maintenance and control systems for the Natural Gas Compression industry. For more information on ExactAir’s state of the art technology, visit them on the web at: http://www.exactairsystems.com/

Greg Hunter and Kenny Gilmour Motorsports partner with some of the finest companies in their industries, including ExactAir Compliance Systems, Omega 2000 Cribbing, Goodyear Tire, NGK Spark Plugs, Lucas Oil, Dark Side Racing, Oasis Emission Consultants, Mopac Auto Supply, Rock Bit Industries, GRP Connecting Rods, Winberg Crankshafts, National Transmission, Paron Paint & Body, Mechanix Wear, Berube Custom Tanks, Peter Vaughn Custom Glass, Koolsville Golf Carts & Accessories, VP Fuels USA, and Top Gun Coatings.

For more information on Greg Hunter and the Kenny Gilmour Motorsports team, please visit http://www.kennygilmourmotorsports.com/

Monday, June 18, 2012

Whiteley Wins 5th in a Row, Williams Back on Top

Courtesy of the Pro Sportsman Association/Todd Veney

Jim Whiteley won Top Alcohol Dragster for the fifth year in a row at the Western Regional event at Bandimere Speedway, and former Division 5 champion Kirk Williams overcame quicker cars with unerring consistency to score in Top Alcohol Funny Car.
With his fourth win in his last five outings, Whiteley has tied early season points leader Chris Demke atop the national Top Alcohol Dragster standings – and he's done it in two fewer starts. The Grand Junction, Colo., driver dominated this one from start to finish, qualifying No. 1 with a 5.47 and running more than a tenth quicker on his slowest run all weekend than any other driver did on his best.
"I tried to make sure I saw a little more of the bulb than usual before I left," said Whiteley, whose only loss in the last five races came on a -.001 red-light in the Topeka semi's. "It's actually kind of hard to slow yourself down just a little bit on the Tree without slowing down a lot. We've had a decent advantage on the field a time or two over the years, especially here, but never this much."
Whiteley qualified No. 1 with a 5.47 – two-tenths ahead of eventual runner-up Edwin Schmeeckle's 5.67. He cruised through eliminations with a 5.52 on his first-round single, a 5.54 against Greg Hunter, who went off the end of the track in the semifinals, and a 5.56 in the final against Edwin Schmeeckle, who did his job with a .051 reaction time but fell back with a 5.77.
"I just tried to not let anything get to me and not do anything wrong," said Whiteley, who also beat Schmeeckle in the final round of this event in 2008 and 2009, the years he finished second in the national standings. "You're not going to have a tenth on the field like this very often, so when you do, you can't afford to let it get away from you."
Williams, who dominated Division 5 in 2010, winning five events for a perfect season, qualified No. 3 this time with a 5.89 – well behind Las Vegas regional winner Annie Whiteley's 5.74 and national points leader Tony Bartone's 5.76. "It really knocks the wind out of your sails when you see people running that much better than you are," Williams said, "but this just goes to show that consistency outweighs everything. You won't always win with consistency, but you can win a lot. The track just couldn't take those 5.70 runs, and eventually, it came to us."
Williams struggled with the conditions just like everyone else at the mile-high facility, where the corrected altitude was just short of 10,000 feet, but his team, led by brother Chris Williams and Justin Jacobsen, made three runs within a hundredth of a second of one another in eliminations, a 5.90, 5.91, and 5.91 – all at 242 mph. Williams took out veteran Lance Van Hauen in the opening round with a 5.90 and ran a 5.91 in the semifinals against Mike Bell, who was making his first start in 15-time Division 5 champion Vern Moats' car.
"It smoked the tires on that one, and I don't mean 'hazed' the tires; I mean smoke was pouring off them at about 60 feet," Williams said. "I don't know why, but it cleared up, and the car took off. I still can't believe it made it."
The final against Gainesville regional winner Kris Hool, who also was running steady 5.90s, ended early when Hool red-lighted with a -.042 reaction time. "I saw his car when the yellows came down and thought, 'Man, I just got Tree'd,' but then I saw my win-light on at the top end and knew he red-lighted," Williams said. "There was a pretty good crowd on hand, and I wanted to give them a good show, so I stayed in it."
           

TAN Driver Blog - Jeff Ashwell - TAFC

School is now out for the approaching summer, which for us means a lot more races coming up. So far this season, we've had 3 test sessions and 2 races. In fact, today, Father's Day, we plan on heading out to Woodburn Dragstrip to try and get in as many laps as we can to test some things. Living in the Northwest, our biggest Devil's Advocate will always be the weather. Both of our earlier planned 2-day test sessions ended prematurely due to rain, as did our Season Opener at Woodburn. The runs that we have made, though, have been very promising to us. We still have our late crew chief Norm Christensen's tune-up in our car and a set-up that he was working on last year before his untimely death.


So far we have made some of our quickest early numbers but now it's all about getting the clutch right to eliminate the nasty tire shake that has plagued us as well. At the Season Opener in Woodburn, we ran a smooth 5.83 @ 241 mph out of the box, but then up in Mission, Canada for the Lucas Oil regional, we couldn't get past 60 feet without feeling like my insides were going to shake out. Our hope is that if we can get that all sorted out that we can go into these next few races being competitive.


We have some tough competition in our division and we figure at the upcoming Lucas Oil regional race in Woodburn that there will be a lot of good cars there. Last year, there were 13 cars that showed and we were fortunate enough to be one of the quickest 8 to qualify. This year I imagine it will be just as tough, if not even more so. We have had a lot of great success at that event in the last few years. We've ran our quickest and fastest pass to date at this event, we've qualified 2nd and reached our first ever final round there in 2010, and in 2011 we qualified into a very tough field. This year's event will mark a major milestone for me as I turn the big 4-0 and there's no place I would rather celebrate being "over the hill" than in the winner's circle, holding a Wally.

Jeff Ashwell is the driver of the Wilson's Napa/Ashwell Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car. Find him on Twitter at @AshwellRacing.

Friday, June 15, 2012

TAD Rookie Hunter Right At Home in Denver-Bound Dragster

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion

MORRISON, Colo. – Top Alcohol Dragster rookie Greg Hunter enters just his second NHRA Lucas Oil Series regional event this weekend at Bandimere Speedway. The former Alcohol Funny Car pilot is adjusting quickly to his position as the driver of the ExactAir/Kenny Gilmour Motorsports Dragster.

“I feel right at home in the car. I absolutely love driving it; it’s a blast. It seems like we’re getting better and better at every race we run at, so hopefully this weekend will bring more positive results,” said Hunter.

The Wyoming resident is expecting to build on recent successful moments in his career, including his first round win at the Las Vegas national event. Crew chief and car owner Kenny Gilmour and his crew have been going over the car, finding any issue that would prevent them from running well.

“We had a couple parts failures in the ignition system at Mission. We also found a problem with the clutch that we thought was cleared up, but showed up again. Those issues were sorted out and the car is ready to qualify well and win rounds. This will be the first time at Bandimere Speedway for this team, but I don’t think it’s anything that they’re not going to be up for,” Hunter claimed.

Hunter and the ExactAir Compliance Systems team will be racing in front of friends and employees of their sponsors, so a solid finish couldn’t come at a better time.

Top Alcohol Dragster qualifying at the Thunder on the Mountain LODRS regional event starts at 4 pm on Friday, followed by two more sessions on Saturday. Pre-race ceremonies begin at 11:30 Sunday morning, with first round of eliminations starting right after.

ExactAir Compliance Systems is a company that supplies compliance, maintenance and control systems for the Natural Gas Compression industry. For more information on ExactAir’s state of the art technology, visit them on the web at: http://www.exactairsystems.com/

Greg Hunter and Kenny Gilmour Motorsports partner with some of the finest companies in their industries, including ExactAir Compliance Systems, Omega 2000 Cribbing, Goodyear Tire, NGK Spark Plugs, Lucas Oil, Dark Side Racing, Oasis Emission Consultants, Mopac Auto Supply, Rock Bit Industries, GRP Connecting Rods, Winberg Crankshafts, National Transmission, Paron Paint & Body, Mechanix Wear, Berube Custom Tanks, Peter Vaughn Custom Glass, Koolsville Golf Carts & Accessories, VP Fuels USA, and Top Gun Coatings.

For more information on Greg Hunter and the Kenny Gilmour Motorsports team, please visit http://www.kennygilmourmotorsports.com/

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Paul Gill is Doing it His Way

Courtesy of the Pro Sportsman Association/Todd Veney
Photo by David Smith

Paul Gill doesn't look around to see how everyone else does things. Doing it his way had made him one of the leading Alcohol Funny Car drivers of the past 15 years, with multiple national event titles and five divisional victories since the late 1990s.

Just don't look for him in the Top 10. Gill doesn't run enough races to contend for championships - doesn't particularly want to. He hasn't finished in the top 15 in years, but nobody else with national rankings like his over the past 10 years - 16th, 29th, 39th, 35th, 49th, 34th, 33rd, 30th, 27th, and 17th - was a legitimate contender to win every race he entered. Gill was.

Just last year, Gill ventured west to the back-to-back-to-back events that close each season - the Big O Tires Nationals at Las Vegas, the divisional race there, and the NHRA Finals at Pomona - and set low e.t. at two of three, just missing the 5.40s at Pomona with a 5.50. The week before that, he had a very tough field that included national event winners Jay Payne, John Lombardo Jr., Clint Thompson, Doug Gordon, and Steve Gasparrelli covered by almost a full tenth of a second.

"When the car runs good and you're somewhere that you don't usually race, that's the kind of thing that really means something to me," says Gill, who runs Gill Metal Fab, a metal-fabrication company, and ModuLine, a modular-aluminum cabinet business, in Brockton Mass. "I can't dedicate my whole life to racing - I have a business to run - so when you feel like you have the respect of other racers, it's pretty nice."

Gill is one of just seven Alcohol Funny Car drivers to have run in the 5.40s, and one of the first - he did it more than five years ago en route to a runner-up finish at the Gatornationals. He just hasn't parlayed that performance into as many wins as he probably should have by now.

Take his most recent outing, at the Maple Grove Raceway regional event over Memorial Day weekend, for example. In brutal conditions, when no driver other than Frank Manzo ran in the 5.60s all weekend, Gill ran .60s in every qualifying session and both preliminary rounds of eliminations only to slow to a 6.07 in the final against Manzo, who considered himself lucky to win with a tire-shaking 5.83.

"I really thought I was going to beat him that time," says Gill, who had taken out Manzo in their two most recent meetings and in 2010 was one of just two drivers all year to beat him. "He's the man. He drives it, he tunes it, he works on it. You always tell yourself you're going to beat him, but deep down, you know you're probably not. But that time, I really thought I would."

It continued a frustrating string of runner-ups for Gill, who has five wins in 16 career divisional/regional finals and two wins in eight national event finals. "I guess I'm a bridesmaid," he jokes. "I've runner-upped about 9,000 times." He's dropped his last three national event finals - all at Gainesville, and all to Mickey Ferro - and each time, he ran more than quick enough to win most races. He did, however, win the biggest one of all, the 2005 Englishtown event, which he dedicated to son Paul Jr., who had passed away of leukemia just two weeks earlier. In the most dominating performance of his career, Gill got quicker and faster in every round, running 5.68, 5.67, 5.60, and a final-round 5.58 - low e.t. of the meet - against Bobby Martin.

Gill has won both national events in his native Division 1, the Keystone Nationals (1999) and Englishtown (2005), and has scored divisional wins at most of the East Coast tracks - Lebanon Valley Dragway (1998), Maple Grove (1999), Cecil County (2000), and Numidia (2003) - and most of them were over either Manzo or Bob Newberry in the final. His most recent win came two years ago at the Division 3 race at National Trail Raceway in Columbus. The most rewarding part was that he did - and continues to do - just about everything himself.

"I like tuning the car, trying to make it run better than it ever has," he says. "I don't care if you're Newberry, Manzo, or [Steve] Boggs - we all can get lost. It's a challenge to come up with things on your own, but that's what keeps me going. It would be difficult to ever give up driving, but sometimes I think I'd rather have my son, Matt, drive the car and I could just tune it and watch from the line. He's getting his license right now, and he's only made four launches and I haven't toned the car down for him yet, but I think he'll be pretty good. I've always liked building a combination and making power more than I liked driving anyway."

That's obvious - just look at his car. "I've got a Brad block, Veney heads, and Newberry pistons," Gill says. "Who else out here runs that? I stay with it even though everybody's always coming by to tell me, 'Why don't you just get what the other guys run?' There are off-the-shelf tune-ups you can buy, and way's a lot easier, but I can run with just about anybody except Manzo doing it this way, and I'm going to keep doing it this way."

TAN Driver Blog - Johnny Ahten - TAD

Well this is my first blog, so I guess I will start by introducing myself. My name is Johnny Ahten and I am fortunate to get to drive an A/Fuel dragster. I am married to Monica and we have two boys, Owen, 7, and Eli, 5. When not working on the car and running around crazy with the kids, I am a Fire Captain with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. I am a second generation racer and L.A. County fireman. I followed in my Dad's footsteps in both aspects of my life. I also get to spend a lot of time with him as he is the Crew Chief and does most of the work in between races. We run the car mostly out of pocket and out of the passion we have for drag racing and injected Nitro.


Summer is in full swing here in Southern California; the kids are out of school and swimming in the pool every day so far. The hot summer means we start going on more fires at work, which is the case right now. I am stationed in Lancaster and we pick up about one fire per day on average this time of year. Sometimes I post some pics on my Facebook page or Instagram, so be sure to check in and like Johnny Ahten Racing and you can see what I'm talking about.

Because we work 24 hour shifts, I live at work 1/3 of my life. I got off work this morning at 8 am and drove home to make pancakes for the kids, then after writing this I am going to head out and chase parts. First stop will be the race shop, which we built behind my Dad's house, then off to DJ Safety to drop off some pilot chutes for repair. Next, I'll head over to NSP (Norm Porter's) to do a little fab work before sitting in traffic on the way back. L.A. is pretty bad on traffic as with most places now a days. Oh yeah, we had an earthquake yesterday, a 4.0 in Yorba Linda (Force country). I hate earthquakes and fortunately I never felt that one.

I hope to make these blogs interesting, so check in and let me know if they're worth reading.


Johnny Ahten is the driver of the Ahten Racing/801 Racing A/Fuel Dragster.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

TAN Driver Blog - Greg Hunter - TAD

It has been an absolute great time driving the Kenny Gilmour Exactair Top Alcohol Dragster! We started out in Phoenix to crossover my TAFC license. Seemed like it should have been pretty straight forward but it did not go as planned. Wow, these cars can really make you scratch your head sometimes! We didn't get crossed over there so we headed over to Las Vegas for the NHRA Regional event, where we ran a 5.54 at 250 mph – my first five second run! It was really smooth and I couldn't believe it when they told me at the end of the run. I have to give all the credit to the crew of Kenny, Cal, Gary, John, Del, Darlene, and my wife Staci!

We then ran the NHRA national event in Vegas the following weekend. We had some clutch issues during qualifying and didn't get a good run in but there were only 15 cars so we ended up 14th and faced James Butler driving for Hugh Ridley first round. Cal and Kenny put a safe tune-up in it and it was just enough to take down James! My first NHRA round win! I didn't know I had won until the guy told me at the top end. I was so pumped I could hardly get my seat belts off! We stepped it up the next round but lost to Garrett Bateman, who made a really great run to put us on the trailer. All in all it was a great weekend aside from the broken pieces!

We just got back from the Mission Regional, where we had some clutch problems again from the clutch that we thought had been fixed. That is how it goes sometimes! We lost first round to our friends from Manitoba, Gord Gingles in the Cliff Baxx A-Fuel dragster. What is up with these A-Fuel Dragsters making their career best runs against me? Haha! We are now on to Denver for the regional race there. I am really looking forward to this race where we have a lot of friends and customers. I anticipate a good showing this weekend!

Greg Hunter is the driver of the ExactAir Compliance Systems/Kenny Gilmour Motorsports Top Alcohol Dragster.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Reichert, Ferro Survive Close Calls for Pivotal Wins

Courtesy of the Pro Sportsman Association/Todd Veney
Photos by David Smith


If Bill Reichert ends up with a record sixth Top Alcohol Dragster championship this year, he can look back on the Midwest Regional at Route 66 Raceway outside Chicago and know that it probably wouldn't have happened if he hadn't won this race. In Top Alcohol Funny Car, Mickey Ferro, who crashed at the Jegs Allstars race in his last appearance here, prevailed over perhaps the best field ever assembled.

"We really, really needed this," said Reichert, who was upset in the first round in his first two regional appearances, in Indianapolis and Norwalk. Under the new format introduced this year, national championships are determined by each driver's best three of five regional events and best seven of 10 nationals - not five of eight divisionals and five of eight nationals, as in years past - so after Reichert's early exits at his first two regionals, he absolutely had to sweep three straight for a perfect regional score.

At Maple Grove Raceway over Memorial Day weekend, Reichert edged the driver who dethroned him in 2011, Duane Shields, in a classic 5.45-to-5.45 final, and his first two rounds at this event were just as tight. "I used to lose all those close ones decided on the Tree, but now it seems like I win them," said Reichert, who nipped longtime rival Marty Thacker in the first round by just four-thousandths of a second, 5.49 to 5.50, and Randy Meyer in the semi's, 5.41 to 5.41.

In the final against "Dyno Dave" Heitzman, Reichert was off the line first and scored easily with his best reaction time and best run of the day, a .059 and a 5.35. Heitzman smoked the tires early and slowed to an 8.65. "I'm not saying we're going to win another championship this year - I'd never say that - but this weekend sure will help," Reichert said.

In the first round, in the biggest upset of the weekend, Heitzman dropped No. 1 qualifier Chris Demke, who had dominated qualifying all weekend and had made the only run in the 5.20s, a 5.26. Heitzman left first and took the biggest win of his career, 5.36 to 5.37, putting a giant dent in Demke's championship plans. In the semifinals against Noah Condo, who made a strong comeback this weekend, Heitzman soloed to an even better 5.35 after Condo had to shut off after the burnout.

Ferro took two of his three round-wins on holeshots, winning the Top Alcohol Funny Car final over Norwalk winner Chris Foster, 5.70 to 5.68, and the semifinals over Ray Drew, 5.74 to 5.70. "I knew I had to concentrate this weekend," Ferro said. "I got beat on a holeshot in Houston, and it's bugged me ever since, and I told myself I wasn't letting that happen again. In a field like this, you really had no choice."

With an unbelievable 5.667 bump, this was the second-quickest field in regional event history, behind only the 2009 Sonoma event, where it took a 5.659 to get in. Ferro didn't even qualify in the top half; he was fifth with a 5.64. Cassie Simonton led the field for the first time in her career with a 5.601, just thousandths of a second ahead of Frank Manzo. Foster was third with a 5.61, Fred Hagen Jr. and Ferro ran 5.64s, and Brian Harvanek, Paul Noakes, and Drew all ran 5.66s.

So competitive was the field that just one driver from the fast half, Foster, made it out of the opening round. Drew took out Simonton, 5.66 to 5.71; Foster advanced when Harvanek, who reached the final round at the Indianapolis regional, crossed the centerline; Ferro beat Hagen, 5.69 to a shutoff 8.11; and Noakes survived a trouble-plagued match with Manzo, 7.67 to 8.41.

Ferro cut a .056 light in the semi's against Drew's .094, which allowed him to get there first by just two-thousandths of a second, 5.742 to 5.709. "It was 90 degrees out, everybody was battling the track, and I knew I had to be ready," Ferro said. "This wasn't a normal race. Look at all the cars that were there. Any one of them could have beaten me."

Foster skated around his lane in the other semifinal match to run down Noakes, who had a .018 light, 5.81 to 5.88. In the final, Foster's 5.68 left him just seven feet short of Ferro's 5.70. "Chris and I have run a few times now, and they're almost always close," said Ferro, who won the 13th regional event of his career. "This is probably the toughest one of them all."

Monday, June 11, 2012

Simonton Qualifies #1 at Chicago Regional

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion

JOLIET, Ill. – Spiro Kontos’ Top Alcohol Funny Car team Kon Rodz Racing has made strides over the past year and half, proving that they have what it takes to compete with the best: talented driver Cassie Simonton, veteran tuner Randy Anderson, top-notch equipment, and a dedicated crew to put it all together. They made another leap this weekend at the Chicago NHRA regional, qualifying in the #1 position, over world champion Frank Manzo and two other Top 10 drivers.

“The number one qualifying run was probably one of the most exciting runs. The car was all over the place and I had to drive it everywhere, so when I got to the end I didn’t really think it ran that fast, to be honest. I didn’t realize it until the safety people told me I was number one,” said Simonton, whose 5.60 pass was the talk of the pits and the grandstands on Saturday night.

The weekend started with a conservative 5.73 pass on Friday, which placed the Minnesota driver in third. The car improved to a 5.71 in the second session on Saturday morning, but was bumped down to sixth. As the team awaited their turn to make their third and final qualifying pass, they were bumped down to the eighth position. “Sassy” Cassie went out and went all the way to the top of the qualifying sheet. When the scoreboard lit up, the crowd erupted into cheer. The team was welcomed back to the pit area by a sea of people, as well as family and friends.

“It was great to celebrate that accomplishment with my team and my family,” Cassie said. “It was good for Spiro and my team, because that was our first number one qualifying position as a group. I really want to thank Spiro and all of the crew members – crew chief Randy, Cory, Pat, Londos, Graham, and Steve – for their part in the weekend. It was a great moment.”

Unfortunately the cheers ended there. As Cassie flew through the finish line beams, the win light did not show up in her lane. She got the starting line advantage, but opponent Ray Drew powered around for the round win. It was still a positive weekend.

“Every weekend we’re getting better and better. We made four solid passes down the track. It was a hot track then and it’s only going to get hotter for the national event here at the end of June. We have a good baseline going into the Route 66 Nationals. I really think we’ll have a good car,” claimed the 25-year old driver.

They’ll need to have a good car. Kon Rodz Racing will be competing with several of the top cars from around the country, flocking to Route 66 Raceway to race in the special Jegs Allstars event. Simonton and Kon Rodz will not be a part of that race, but will instead be racing for the Route 66 Nationals win, June 29-July 1.

Kon Rodz Racing is a NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car team owned by Spiro Kontos, competing in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. 25-year old Cassie Simonton drives the team’s 3,000 horsepower Chevy Monte Carlo funny car. Spiro, Cassie, and the whole Kon Rodz Racing team would like to thank the following sponsors for their continued support: Lucas Oil, NGK Spark Plugs, Goodson, BAE, Goodyear Tire, Clevite, Mac Tools, Artist ButchM, and ithreesixty Music Infused Apparel.

For more information on Kon Rodz Racing, please visit www.konrodzracing.com. Keep up with Cassie and the team on Facebook (www.facebook.com/konrodzracing) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/cassiesimonton and www.twitter.com/konrodzpr ).

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Kon Rodz Racing Going for a Cruise Down Route 66

Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotion

JOLIET, Ill. – This weekend’s Burndown at Sundown race is a big deal for Spiro Kontos’ Kon Rodz Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team. They’ll be racing in front of family and friends, along with a few new members of the Kon Rodz Racing family.

“We have a lot of family members from the Chicago area that plan on joining us at Route 66 Raceway. Our web and media designer, Artist Butch M, is bringing his family to hang out with us for the first time. Since our last race in Norwalk, we also added a few new crew members to our outstanding team; clutch tech Londos D’Arrigo, transport driver Steve Prince, and Graham Rowe on top end. We welcome them to the team and look forward to continuing the season with them,” Kontos said.

The team is ready to lay down great passes and win rounds on Sunday. The Kon Rodz car driven by “Sassy” Cassie Simonton showed promise at the past few races. Crew chief Randy Anderson will be setting the car up to run fast on hot track conditions, as the weather forecast shows high temperatures in the low 90s all weekend.

“Last year, we had one of the better cars on hot tracks, so we’re not really worried about it,” Simonton said. “We’ve struggled a little bit so far this year, but we’re all confident that we can do well in qualifying and go three rounds.”

Racing at the Burndown at Sundown doesn’t just mean on-track activities for Simonton. Last week, Cassie took over the Twitter account at Route 66 Raceway (@Route66Raceway) to answer fan questions and talk about the event. She’ll also be doing a radio interview in the Joliet area, a 7:05 am (CST) appearance on classic rock station WRXQ on Wednesday morning.

“It was really cool to talk to the fans on Twitter and answer their questions about everything from Top Alcohol Funny Cars and our sponsors, to my racing history and the team’s history. I had fun with it. I’m also looking forward to the radio interview; any chance we can get to spread the word about alcohol racing and the Burndown at Sundown this Saturday, we’ll take it,” said the former Jr. Dragster driver.

“Sassy” Cassie Simonton and the Kon Rodz Racing team will get three qualifying shots over the course of Friday and Saturday, before eliminations on Sunday. Show times for Saturday are 5pm and 9pm. The Burndown is the third race on the LODRS North Central Regional schedule. Spiro, Cassie and the entire Kon Rodz team look forward to seeing all of the Chicagoland fans. A special thank-you to Route 66 track manager Charlie and the staff for offering their hospitality this weekend.

Kon Rodz Racing is a NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car team owned by Spiro Kontos, competing in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. 25-year old Cassie Simonton drives the team’s 3,000 horsepower Chevy Monte Carlo funny car. Spiro, Cassie, and the whole Kon Rodz Racing team would like to thank the following sponsors for their continued support: Lucas Oil, NGK Spark Plugs, Goodson, BAE, Goodyear Tire, Clevite, Mac Tools, Dino’s Pizza and Pasta, Artist ButchM, and ithreesixty Music Infused Apparel.

For more information on Kon Rodz Racing, please visit www.konrodzracing.com. Keep up with Cassie and the team on Facebook (www.facebook.com/konrodzracing) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/cassiesimonton and www.twitter.com/konrodzpr ).

Monday, June 4, 2012

Robertson Completes Licensing; Headed for some Kicks at Route 66

Courtesy of Kozak Motorsports Marketing

NW Photography Photo

Harrison TWP, MI. -- Long time doorslammer driver, Todd Robertson, recently completed his NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car licensing procedure at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, during the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division Three event.

"It's been a long road to get here. This isn't about me getting my license it's about the group of people who helped me do this. This took a ton of work by some really talented and dedicated people to make this happen. I may get the notoriety but it's the people that most never see or pay attention to that make this happen. My family, my crew and my sponsors are along with me in every part of this and I couldn't do it without them," said Robertson. "I'd also like to thank the staff at Norwalk, the NHRA Tech department and all the Top Alcohol guys who made this a pretty smooth deal," added Robertson.

Like any kid with a new driver's license Robertson and his team are excited to take the car out as soon as possible. They will get their chance this coming weekend at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. The NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Div. 3 event is touted as "Route 66 Raceway's Most Explosive Night of Drag Racing'.

For more information on the event, including run times for Robertson and the rest of the top Alcohol teams go to: http://sportsman.nhra.com/2012/Flyer/33.jpg

Todd Robertson and his Pro Power Motorsports team would like to thank:

The Eaton Corporation http://www.eaton.com/
Aeroquip Performance http://www.aeroquip.com/
Safety Kleen http://www.safety-kleen.com/
MAHLE Clevite http://www.mahle-aftermarket.com/
Simpson Race Products http://www.simpsonraceproducts.com/
Mickey Thompson Tire http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/
DMPE http://www.dmpeinc.com/
Pac Springs http://www.racingsprings.com/
Ross Pistons http://www.rosspistons.com/
Total Seal Piston Rings http://www.totalseal.com/
Line2Line Coatings http://www.line2linecoatings.com/
Jax Wax http://www.jaxwax.com/
Total Flow