 The dueling ’41 Willys of Joe Baker (far lane) and Travis Swearingen take off for a great side-by-side match in the Pro Extreme final. Baker reached the finish line first with a .042 margin of victory. |
On the other side of the ladder, Swearingen also ran consistently in the threes, going 3.996, 3.995, and 3.991 in taking care of Michael Neal, Bryan Dyar and Mike Bell, respectively, to set up an all-’41 Willys final and guarantee a new winner in the ADRL Pro Extreme ranks.
At the flash of final-round green, Baker left first with a .058 light against the .069 by Swearingen, then hit the finish line 3.951 seconds later compared to the 3.982 by Swearingen in the left lane. Baker said he never saw his rival once the tree came down.
“I knew it would be a close race and it was,” he said. “But I just concentrated on my own lane and it worked out in the end. It was great racing in front of all these people like this and I really appreciate what Kenny (Nowling) and the ADRL has put together here.”
PRO NITROUS
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Westbury, NY’s Mike Castellana put his 2006 Mustang on top of the Pro Nitrous field, with teammate Shannon Jenkins qualifying 14th. Castellana lost traction in round one against Thomas Myers, while Jenkins made it past Burton Auxier before losing to Johnny Pilcher in round two.
With temperatures pushing 90 degrees both days and relatively high humidity, none of the Pro Nitrous racers were able to break into the threes, but Mike Castellana led qualifying with a 4.043 at 184.07 in his 2006 “Raging Bull” Mustang. Steve Vick started second, followed by Burton Auxier, Charles Carpenter, who won the ADRL season opener at Houston earlier this year, and Stan Allen in the Bankston Boys’ ’68 Camaro.
Eventual finalists Pilcher and Rickie Smith qualified 6th and 8th, respectively, while the 16th and last qualifying spot went to Thomas “Tom Slick” Myers, who went 4.114 at 176.97 in his ’63 Corvette. As in Pro Extreme, the last pair of the last qualifying session settled the Pro Nitrous final from Kennedale with Terry Housley going 4.152/176.47 in T.J. Harrill’s ’41 Willys to defeat Harold Martin and his nitrous- and fuel-injected ’06 Grand Am.
 After a seven-month wait, Terry Housley picked up his second ADRL Pro Nitrous win at Valdosta, beating Harold Martin in the final round of a race postponed several times by inclement weather. |
“It was a long time coming, but I’m glad we got the win,” Housley said of his second ADRL event title. “I think he (Martin) spun the tires a little off the start and that allowed me to get away.”
Once eliminations began for the Valdosta event, Pilcher’s deep, black ’63 Corvette improved with each passing round, going 4.120 for a narrow holeshot win over Rod Houck in round one, then following up with a 4.084 to beat Shannon Jenkins and a 4.049 to defeat defending class champ Keith Baker in the semis.
That established a final-round match against Smith, who overcame a holeshot by Greg Godwin to advance from the first round, easily handled Myers in the second, and sent Dennis Radford packing after running 4.072 in the semis against Radford’s crowd-pleasing 1970 AAR Cuda. It created a rematch of the ADRL’s first Pro Nitrous race early in 2005 at Hattiesburg, MS, where Pilcher prevailed over Smith.