EXTREME PRO STOCK
The first leg of the two-event, Sonny’s Extreme Pro Stock Challenge was contested in Maryland with the second leg scheduled for ADRL’s Dragstock even in September at Rockingham, North Carolina. The new class drew rave reviews from fans, ADRL officials and competitors alike.
Robert Patrick started his 2007 Mustang from the sixth position and easily handled Frank Snellings in the opening round before narrowly winning with a holeshot over Pete Berner in round two and edging Troy Henderson in the semis. The Fredericksburg, Virginia ,driver took on Kelly Martin in a 2008 Mustang in the final round and ran 4.14 at 174.08 mph to become the ADRL's first Extreme Pro Stock winner.
“I’ve heard a lot about the ADRL for quite some time now and it’s great to finally experience it for myself,” Patrick said. “I’ve been coming to this track for probably 25 years and I’ve never seen it look like this before. This is very impressive and I hope we can work something out where we can do even more races next year.”
PRO EXTREME MOTORCYCLE
Nikie Corley became the 10th different winner in the 10th Pro Extreme Motorcycle race run since the class joined the ADRL raceday mix early last year. The Jacksonville, Florida-based rider steered his ’07 Suzuki past Eddie Gonder Jr., Jack Young, Scott Gray and finally Matt Prophit to secure the win in his first trip to a final round.
A slim .021 advantage off the starting line against Prophit held up to the finish line 4.25 seconds later at 173.61 mph, which was also the quickest and fastest pass of the weekend.
“This feels good. I couldn’t have done it without the help of Dan Carver at DTM and Walt Timblin at Timblin Chassis. They’re just as important as me in getting this,” Corley said while holding the coveted National Guard Minuteman trophy that signifies an ADRL national-event win.
The ADRL in just its third full year of competition continues to show that its formate of two-day racing, free admission for fans and racers, reasonable prices for food, parking, and souveniers is proving extremely popular with fans, racers and sponsors and much to everyone’s delight standing room only crowds and standing ovations are the rule not the exception. Oh and no one seems to care that they chose to race an 1/8th mile track.