Pat Stoken picked up his brand-new ‘68 nitrousized Camaro from the Tim McAmis facilities in Hawk’s point MO and took it directly to St. Louis’ Gateway International to compete at the ADRL event this weekend. According to DRO sources at the track nearly sixty Outlaw Pro Mods have been parked and unloaded with the track opening for time trials at about 2:00 PM CST. First round of qualifying is expected to begin at 8:30 tonight.

A couple of hundred St. Louis street rods and Pro Street machines cycled through the parking lot of St. Louis’ famous Chuck-a-Burger drive-in. The ADRL stars brought their cars to the cruise nite and displayed including Troy Critchley who actually drove his AMS Outlaw ‘Vette in to park it and back out to the trailer and the wheelstander Chevy Pick-up that drove in and out of the event. A large crowd came ate burgers, drank malts , listened to two blues bands and bench raced until the wee hours of the morning.

Mike Neal

MADISON, Ill. (April 13, 2006) - The FLOWMASTER American Drag Racing League makes its debut in the St. Louis metropolitan area this weekend with an event that could be pivotal to a number of drivers’ championship plans.

The inaugural ADRL Fatheadz.com Gateway Drags, the third of seven events on the 2006 ADRL schedule, represents the halfway point of the league’s Battle for the Belts competition (which actually began at last year’s season-ending event in Kennedale, Texas). Only the top eight points-earners in both the Pro Extreme and Pro Nitrous classes are guaranteed a spot in the Battle for the Belts eliminators (Oct. 13 in Kennedale), which will determine the 2006 ADRL champions.

For drivers already in the top eight of their respective standings, the Gateway Drags represent a chance to solidify their positions. For those currently on the outside looking in, the event at Gateway Int’l Raceway is a chance to move up in the standings before the pressure really begins to build later in the season.

The Gateway Drags begin Friday with open testing for all entries and, for the first time in the organization’s 10-event history, a Friday night qualifying session. Two more qualifying sessions will follow on Saturday before eliminations in both Pro Extreme and Pro Nitrous get under way at 4 p.m. local time. In addition to the best side-by-side Outlaw Pro Mod racing in the country, the event will also feature a Saturday concert by country artist Jason Aldean and exhibition runs from both jet-powered cars and wheelstanders on Friday and Saturday.

Entering the event, Valdosta winner Mike Neal - the only driver to qualify for every event in ADRL history - leads the Pro Extreme standings with 919 points, nearly 200 more than second-place Joshua Hernandez’s 726 (ADRL drivers receive 100 points for qualifying, plus 100 points per round-win). John Lynam, the 2005 ADRL Pro Extreme champion, holds down the eighth and final spot in the Battle for the Belts competition with 513 points, but he has less than a one-round cushion over pursuers Jason Scruggs and Chip King.

In Pro Nitrous, Johnny Pilcher (731 points), Keith Baker (729), and Ken Thomas (715) are virtually inseparable at the top of the standings. A dogfight for the final two ADRL world championship spots features Randy Weatherford in seventh place (428), Burton Auxier in eighth (426), and James Hancock and Shannon Jenkins tied for ninth at 416.

A number of Midwest-based Pro Mod drivers are expected to compete at Gateway, among them Pro Mod legend Bill Kuhlmann , Travis Swearingen, who will make his ADRL debut, and the two-car Barklage Racing team.

The two ADRL events this season have combined for the maximum possible eight different finalists. Joey Martin (Pro Extreme) and Mike Castellana (Pro Nitrous) were the winners at the most recent ADRL event, March 4-5 in Houston.

For more information on the FLOWMASTER American Drag Racing League or the ADRL Fatheadz.com Gateway Drags, visit the ADRL web-site at www.adrl.us

DRO will be on site at Gateway International Raceway all weekend long bringing you the action as it happens!!!