RECORDS FALL AT ADRL RACE

Former Kentucky gubernatorial candidate Billy Harper lowered the ADRL Pro Nitrous standard to just 3.93 seconds in his nitrous oxide-injected 2001 Viper. He recorded a .960 60-foot time on the pass.  He also qualified on the pole and won the class, his first “clean sweep” at an ADRL event.

At the same race Steve Kirk Jr. (shown) established a new Extreme 10.5 E.T. record of 4.26 seconds in the debut of his new ’63 Corvette. For more on the ADRL event, see our Race Coverage.  (Mitch Perkins photo) [5/12/2008]

ROWE PURCHASES ASHLEY’S PRO MOD FOR BRISTOL COMPETITION

At the St. Louis edition of the JEGS ProMod Challenge, Danny Rowe wrecked his Camaro, borrowed a body from fellow racer Mike Ashley, thrashed with crew chief Jimmy Rector to set up the new car, and then went out and set Top Speed.
Rowe didn't have a back-up car for his damaged Camaro as he'd sold his old Corvette to Troy Coughlin, who had wrecked a week earlier in Atlanta, and their new ride from Vanishing Point Race Car wasn't going to be completed until late May at the earliest.
Rowe ended up purchasing the car from Ashley and plans to run it in Bristol this weekend.
"We need it because even if we switch to the Vanishing Point car before E-town we'll still need a back-up car we can depend on," Rowe said. "We figured out what happened with the other one and we're working to make sure that doesn't happen again.

"Basically, there was an ignition problem and we lost the No. 3 cylinder at the hit. The car was kind of waddling around when it suddenly picked No. 3 pack up. That got me out of groove and just as I was correcting we hit that bump at the eighth mile. That lifted the car up and the driveshaft speed jumped way up and when it landed I went right around. I spun around so quickly that I hit with the left side first even though I was in the right-hand lane. There was nothing I could do.

"What could have been a really bad weekend ended up pretty darn good,” Rowe said. (Jeff Burk photo) [5/12/2008]