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WEATHER FORCES ADRL TO RESCHEDULE MONTGOMERY RACE
With rain expected and evening temperatures dipping below freezing through the weekend, ADRL President Kenny Nowling has decided to pull the plug on the season opening Winter Drags scheduled for Feb. 16-18 at Montgomery (AL) Motorsports Park. The race will be run on April 13-15.
This makes Dragpalooza III at Houston on March 2-3 the first event of the ADRL season.
In other ADRL news, the eighth-mile sanctioning body has added a Pro Extreme Motorcycle class which will compete at six events this season: Montgomery, Valdosta, GA (May 4-5), Huntsville, AL (June 1-2), Norwalk, OH (Aug. 24-260, Rockingham, NC (Sept. 14-15) and the World Finals in Ennis, TX (Oct. 12-13). The Motorcycle class will feature carbureted, nitrous oxide-boosted bikes with one-piece bodies and 11-inch tires. The ADRL rules do not set a minimum requirement for weight or a maximum for allowed cc’s.[2/13/2007]
NEVAREZ CAMARO MAKES DEBUT
Gil Nevarez brought out his new BAE blown 580-inch Camaro at the PSCA race in Las Vegas. Although clutch and other problems kept him from making a full pass, Nevarez plans to run PSCA and some NHRA events. (Rich Carlson photo)[2/13/2007]
McLENNAN PASSES AWAY
Jim McLennan, a pioneer in drag racing in the Bay Area, died at San Francisco General Hospital on Friday, Feb. 9. He was 74.
In 1957, McLennan started Champion Speed Shop and raced the legendary small-block Champion Speed Shop Top Fuel dragster from 1958 to 1963. The car's best year was 1961, when it held the Drag News No. 2 position for more than 10 months.
McLennan was one of the first drivers to wear a fire suit (borrowed from the San Francisco airport) and developed one of the first cars to use a parachute to slow down.
During his career, he was not only a racer but a race track promoter, opening the Half Moon Bay Drag Strip and Cotati Drag Strip. In 1963 he opened Champion Speedway, an oval track across from Candlestick Park. McLennan took over the ownership of Fremont Drag Strip in 1967, which gained national recognition as one of most racer-friendly drag strips in the country.
In 1985, Jim and his sons, Bob and Michael, were instrumental in resurrecting the nostalgia drag racing scene. With the help of Roy Brizio, Jim recreated the two popular Champion Speed Shop cars: the twin-engine Chevrolet car, driven by son Michael, and the Kent Fuller car, driven by Sammy Hale.
I
n 1969, McLennan was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Writers' Hall of Fame. In 1993, he was named to the NHRA Hall of Fame and was scheduled to be inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame this coming March. [2/13/2007]
