With a new flamed look on his ’63 Vette, Hueytown, AL’s Rex Kelley qualified 7th at Huntsville and made it as far as the semi finals.
Once eliminations began, Housley made short work of the ’41 Willys of Ben Ledford, Lee Adkins and his Garret Race Cars ’57 Chevy, and Rex Kelley, who ousted Jenkins from round two with a .062 holeshot. After thanking Jenkins for help with the electrical system on his ’63 Corvette, Kelley called the win, “one of the highlights of my career.” On his loss to Housley in the semis, Kelley said he’d reset the clutch “and there just wasn’t enough there,” so he shut down early when it became apparent Housley was beyond catching.
When asked if fluid leaked from Hugh Scott’s car during his burnout for a test pass in the right lane just prior to the Pro Nitrous final might have been a factor in his tire-smoking launch, Keith Baker (shown) replied, “Maybe, it’s possible, but I don’t really know.”
On the opposite side of the ladder, Alabama’s Keith Baker drove his 1963 Corvette around defending IHRA Pro Mod champ Mike Castellana in round one, CCT teammate James Hancock III in round two, and the late-model Mustang of North Carolina’s Todd Tutterow in
the semis to set up the final round against Housley.
Once there, Housley left first with his best light of the day, a .030 reaction to Baker’s .060, then streaked to the win in 4.204 seconds at 172.02 mph. Baker, meanwhile, struck the tires immediately off the launch. “I don’t know what happened. We were in the same lane (as the semis) and we kept everything the same, but it just wouldn’t handle it,” Baker said later.
Before the final Housley predicted “whoever doesn’t get too greedy” would probably win. “We made hardly any changes,” the Lenoir City, TN-based driver said. “We were waiting for the weather to come to us because this car, as the weather gets cooler, it really steps up on its own. And it was gradually doing that and we didn’t want to push it a whole lot.”
On top of earning his first ADRL win, Housley jumped from fourth to second in Pro Nitrous points and cemented his position in the Battle for the Belts. “After we had a real bad outing in Memphis that was our main focus here in Huntsville,” he said. “But winning our first ADRL race here, too? Well, I feel great. This was a long, hot weekend for everyone.”
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