CECIL, GA (Apr. 24, 2010) — When Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani of Qatar covered the eighth mile at South Georgia Motorsports Park (SGMP) in just 3.63 seconds at 212.49 miles per hour Apr. 23, he became the quickest and fastest “doorslammer” driver in the world. The record-setting run also secured for him the provisional number-one Pro Extreme starting position for the American Drag Racing League (ADRL) Hardee’s Georgia Drags VI.
Also sitting on top of their respective classes with a fourth and final qualifying session scheduled for Saturday morning are Al-Thani’s Al-Anabi Racing teammate Burton Auxier in Pro Nitrous, Gary White in Extreme 10.5, Pro Extreme Motorcycle star Ashley Owens and Pete Berner in Extreme Pro Stock.
Al-Thani’s crew chief, Frank “Ace” Manzo, gave much of the credit for the Sheikh’s impressive outing to husband-and-wife tuners Tim and Kim Richards, who were added to the Al-Anabi crew just a couple of weeks earlier.
“It’s a real honor to work with this team, especially with such quality people as Tim and Kim Richards and of course, Sheikh Khalid, who did a wonderful job of driving,” Manzo said. “We turned up the wick for that run, knowing the conditions were there for a shot at the records, but it only happened because everyone did their jobs to perfection. Now we can go into race mode and try to get the Sheikh his first ADRL win.”
Just like the Sheikh, Auxier made his top-qualifying 3.87 at 193.10-mph effort in Friday night’s third round of qualifying, as did White with a 3.99 at 182.45 in the turbocharged, six-cylinder Team Titan Scion. The qualifying pass also made White the fourth member of the five-person Mickey Thompson Three-Second Club for Extreme 10.5 entries.
“We knew we had to get it done because that door was going to close soon,” said White, who joins Chuck Ulsch, current class champion Spiro Pappas and Todd Moyer in a club established last spring by Mickey Thompson Performance Tires and Wheels. “It feels good to get that out of the way, but this really belongs to my crew who worked so hard and so long to make it happen.”
Owens also rewrote the Pro Extreme Motorcycle record book with a 4.14 pass at 172.83 mph that came in the third qualifying round, too, while Berner seized the provisional Extreme Pro Stock pole with a 4.09 at 177.67 straight off the trailer in round one.
The day was interrupted, however, by three serious crashes involving Pro Extreme competitors Cody Barklage and Tommy D’Aprile, who were uninjured in separate incidents, and Extreme Pro Stock driver Sylvester Barnes, who was knocked briefly unconscious in a high-speed rollover accident. Barnes had to be extracted by the ADRL trackside safety crew, but was alert and talking to his rescuers before being transported to South Georgia Medical Center in nearby Valdosta for observation.
Qualifying resumes at 9 a.m. Saturday at SGMP, with elimination rounds for the ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags VI to follow.
PHOTOS:
Sheikh Khalid Al-Thani of Doha, Qatar, shattered both ends of the ADRL Pro Extreme records Apr. 23, at South Georgia Motorsports Park with a top-qualifying pass of 3.63 seconds at 212.49 mph in his Tim McAmis-built ’68 Camaro with Reher-Morrison horsepower under the hood.
Port Charlotte, Florida’s Tommy D’Aprile went through a violent explosion, but escaped injury Apr. 23, when his supercharged ’68 Camaro crashed during third-round qualifying for the ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags VI atSouth Georgia Motorsports Park.
