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The American Drag Racing League (ADRL) continues to turn heads, not only with their full grandstands and family-friendly venues, but the on-track performance of the professional racers that make up the series. The ProCharger-equipped team of Mark Micke and Jeff Dickey compete in the Extreme 10.5 class. As the name suggests, racers are challenged with trying to put down nearly 3,000 horsepower to the track with just a 10.5-inch wide tire, resulting in some wild 1/8-mile passes.
At the Topeka ADRL event, the Micke/Dickey team qualified their ProCharger F-3R-139 equipped 1969 Camaro in the number seven spot with a stout 4.21 @ 178 mph. Driver Dickey won in the first round but went out in the second fighting traction issues on the tricky Topeka surface.
ProCharger is the only centrifugal supercharger currently running in ADRL competition and the only one capable of making the 2,800+ horsepower that is required to be competitive in the Extreme 10.5 class. |
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This annual event brings the top performing racers from both the NMCA and NMRA together for a veritable super bowl of drag racing. Once again, ProCharger-equipped racers from both sanctioning bodies were there in force to build on their points and wins totals while also fighting for super bowl bragging rights.
In NMRA action, long-time ProCharger racer AJ Powell qualified 4th in Pro Outlaw 10.5W with a 7.125 @ 193 mph. Another 10.5W competitor, Dwayne James made the switch from a twin turbo combination to a ProCharger after suffering a nasty fire in Bradenton, FL. James is now running a ProCharger F3R-131 with a Liberty 5-speed and a clutch. James and his team will be a force to be reckoned with as the season winds down.
The big story for the event was the fact that ProCharger racer, Doug Sikora, took some time off of his PSCA racing and towed his Mustang all the way from Barstow, CA to Joliet just to see how he his ProCharged Ford would compare with the turbo powered cars of the NMRA heavy hitters. It wasn't even close, as Sikora ripped off an incredible 6.69 @ 209 mph pass. With this single pass, Sikora became the number one qualifier, set a new NMRA record and became the quickest 10.5W centrifugal supercharged car ever! Sikora runs a 420 cid small block Ford with a powerglide and a ProCharger F3R-135. The California-based racer ran the quickest ET for every round of eliminations before losing by less than .04 seconds in the final.
In the NMRA ProCharger SSO class, perennial front-runner John Urist qualified his ProCharger-equipped Mustang in the number two spot with a 7.38 @ 194 mph. Urist advanced all the way to the final round where he finished as the runner-up. Detroit, MI racer, Johnny MacDonald was also there to race hard, qualifying his ProCharged Mustang in the number three slot with a 7.42 @ 190 mph. Mac won first and second rounds of eliminations before losing in the third. The race for the NMRA SSO Championship looks like it will come down to Urist and MacDonald.
ProCharger racers made a lot of noise and fast passes in the NMRA Drag Radial, too. Jason Lee qualified third with an 8.02 @ 174 mph and Enzo Pechinni qualified fourth with an 8.06 @ 177 mph. However, with the current rules, supercharger-equipped cars are faced with a 6-10 mph disadvantage. Fortunately, the ProCharger-equipped racers in this class make every pass count, with Pechinni and Lee climbing over the unlevel playing field and making it to the finals with Pechinni taking the win. Building on their strong, consistent performances, it looks like the NMRA Drag Radial championship will also come down to two ProCharger powered cars and teams, Pechinni and Lee, racing it out to the finish.
Tim Matherly, two-time NMRA Real Street Champion, used his ProCharger power to qualify number two with a 9.54 @ 143 mph, while his teammate Jim Breese qualified number five with a 9.90 @ 133 mph. Relative new-comer Jim Pickel was also on hand and was fighting electrical gremlins all weekend long and qualified in the number seventh position. Matherly and Breese faced off in the first round with Matherly taking the win. Pickel had lady luck on his side thru the two rounds of eliminations with his first round competitor having a poor reaction time and Matherly red-lighting in the second. Pickel's luck ran out in the final round when he could not make the call to the lanes when his electrical gremlin finally caused the car not to start. Matherly left the race with the Real Street points lead.
Defending NMCA Pro Street Champion, Mark Micke, took a break from ADRL racing, bolted the big tires on his Camaro and made the trip up to Joliet. Micke had traction issues all thru qualifying but still managed to make the field. In the first round of eliminations, Micke finally got a handle on the track and reset a ProCharger record by running a 6.24, which is now the quickest quarter mile pass for a centrifugal supercharger! Unfortunately Micke suffered traction problems again in the second round and lost. Congratulations to the Micke Team on setting yet another ProCharger ET record!
Racing for the NMCA Super Street championship, long-time ProCharger racer Jim Blair and his crew made the long haul from Florida for the Super Bowl win and bragging rights. Blair qualified third with a 6.85 @ 202 mph. The model of consistency, Blair and his ProCharged Mustang ran well into sixes thru eliminations, taking the event win and leaving Joliet with the points lead. Blair and his team are on pace to win yet another NMCA Super Street championship.
Over in NMCA X-Treme Street competition, both Chris Singleton and Michael Keenan were in attendance. Singleton qualified thirteenth with an 8.62 @ 147 mph. On that pass Singleton hurt the engine, but instead of calling it a weekend and packing it up, Singleton and his crew pulled the engine out of the car and rebuilt it in the pits! He was then able to make the first round call for eliminations to score additional points. Keenan qualified with an 8.34 @ @ 168 mph which landed him in the eleventh spot on the ladder. Keenan then won his first round match-up but lost in the second round. With the effort that Singleton put forth at this race, he put himself into the points lead and has an excellent chance at winning the championship.
NMCA Street Radial: Brad Schehr brought his 89 Mustang powered by a 306 small block and using an oil fed D-1 blower. Brad qualified with an 8.83 @ 155 mph which was good for the number three spot. Brad ran strong thru eliminations and won the event. This is Brad’s second win for the year and puts him solidly in second place in the points and with an outside chance to win the championship.
In NMCA Street Radial racing, Brad Schehr brought his 89 Mustang powered by a 306 small block and using an oil fed ProCharger D-1 supercharger. Schehr qualified with an 8.83 @ 155 mph which was good for the number three spot. Schehr ran strong thru eliminations and went on to the event win. This was his second win on the year and puts him solidly in second place in the points and with an outside chance to win the championship. |
This year, the Pacific Street Car Association (PSCA) this year takes the months of July and August off. With four races left in the season, ProCharger racer, Doug Sikora is in third place in the Outlaw 10.5W class. But just 55 points out of the lead, Sikora and his team will be making a strong second-half fun at the championship. In PSCA's Wild Street class, ProCharger racer Kevin Young is also in third place in the points and is 60 points out of first. Look for Young to also be in the hunt for a PSCA season championship.
West Coast Hot Rod Association
As if his road trip to Joliet wasn't enough to make a statement about his on-track performance, Doug Sikora is also dominating the West Coast Hot Rod Association (WCHRA) 10.5W class, leading the points by a wide margin and is on a fast track to wrap up this championship, too. |
