Ulsch Makes Record Run in Highlight of National Guard ADRL Qualifying
PETERSBURG, VA (July 24, 2009) — In the competition debut of a new, purpose-built ’68 Camaro, Chuck Ulsch of Clarksville, Maryland, overwhelmed the Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 crowd in the opening round of qualifying for the ADRL NATIONALGUARD.com U.S. Drags II with the quickest and fastest pass ever seen in the class. Ulsch tripped the eighth-mile beams at Virginia Motorsports Park (VMP) in 4.01 seconds at 195.73 mph and can set official National Guard ADRL elapsed time and speed records if he can back up his provisional number-one qualifying numbers within one percent.
“Yeah, we were going after a three (-second pass) there, but I don’t know if we’d be able to do that again in the heat tomorrow,” said Ulsch, who thinks his Friday-night effort probably will hold up as the polesitting pass. “Once eliminations start I’ll go into race mode; I want to win one of those Minutemen (trophies).”
Joining Ulsch on top of the qualifying lists was Quain Stott in Pro Extreme, Mike Castellana, also in the debut of a new Pro Nitrous car, Eric McKinney in Pro Extreme Motorcycle and Extreme Pro Stock racer John Montecalvo.
“That actually was a little soft on the leave,” Stott said of his 3.79-seconds pass at 200.02 mph in his Columbus, NC-based ’63 Corvette. “I missed it a bit on the tune-up and I really don’t know if that will hold up (for the top qualifying position), but we should be in good shape tomorrow, no matter what.”
Also making a great run was number-two Pro Extreme qualifier John Stanley in the ’68 Camaro tuned by his legendary racing father, Camp Stanley, as he also went 3.79 at 193.13 mph, both of which are career-best numbers for the Hagerstown, MD, driver.
Earlier in the day, reigning two-time Pro Extreme World Champion Jason Scruggs smacked hard into the left guardwall almost immediately upon launching his ’68 Camaro on a test pass when an oil line broke, spraying oil all over the track and his car’s rear tires.
“It was just one of those things you can’t even check for; the line just pulled loose from the fitting under pressure,” explained Scruggs’ father and crew chief, Mitchell. “I’ve never seen that happen before in 30 years of racing.”
Undaunted, the Scruggs commissioned the help of a friend at home in Saltillo, Mississippi, to haul their 2008 championship-winning Dodge Stratus through the night to Petersburg, Virginia, so they can transplant the Camaro’s engine and still attempt to qualify on Saturday.
Castellana’s new 1970 Camaro ran a near-record 3.87 at 192.17 to lead teammates Shannon Jenkins and Khalid Al-Balooshi in the top-three Pro Nitrous slots after one of three scheduled qualifying sessions.
“Today was my first time in the car, so it feels good to have it run so well for me right off the bat, but I have to give credit to (crew chiefs) Shannon (Jenkins), Rickie (Smith) and the rest of our guys for that,” Castellana said. Like Ulsch, he believes his current top-qualifier status will be safe until race time.
“I really don’t see anyone improving on that, including us,” the Westbury, New York, driver said. “But once it cools off tomorrow night, who knows? You might even see some new records here.”
McKinney, from Hamersville, Ohio, put his ’09 Suzuki on top of the Pro Extreme Motorcycle list with a 4.23 pass at 168.09 mph. Also notable is Kim Morrell, the only female rider in the class, who for the first time in four starts is in a qualifying position, currently sitting 14th of 29 entries attempting to make the 16-bike field.
Montecalvo, fresh off a win at the National Guard ADRL’s most recent event three weeks earlier at Topeka, Kansas, drove his ’08 Chevy Cobalt to a 4.13 lap at 175.16 mph, edging Dean Goforth by just one-thousandth of a second for the provisional top spot, who in turn held his own one-thousandth advantage over Matt Hartford, while Bob Bertsch also went 4.13 in qualifying fourth.
The second round of qualifying for the ADRL NATIONALGUARD.com U.S. Drags II is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. July 25, with the third and final session scheduled for a 1 p.m. start and eliminations to follow at 4 p.m.
PETERSBURG, VA (July 24, 2009) — In the competition debut of a new, purpose-built ’68 Camaro, Chuck Ulsch of Clarksville, Maryland, overwhelmed the Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 crowd in the opening round of qualifying for the ADRL NATIONALGUARD.com U.S. Drags II with the quickest and fastest pass ever seen in the class. Ulsch tripped the eighth-mile beams at Virginia Motorsports Park (VMP) in 4.01 seconds at 195.73 mph and can set official National Guard ADRL elapsed time and speed records if he can back up his provisional number-one qualifying numbers within one percent.
“Yeah, we were going after a three (-second pass) there, but I don’t know if we’d be able to do that again in the heat tomorrow,” said Ulsch, who thinks his Friday-night effort probably will hold up as the polesitting pass. “Once eliminations start I’ll go into race mode; I want to win one of those Minutemen (trophies).”
Joining Ulsch on top of the qualifying lists was Quain Stott in Pro Extreme, Mike Castellana, also in the debut of a new Pro Nitrous car, Eric McKinney in Pro Extreme Motorcycle and Extreme Pro Stock racer John Montecalvo.
“That actually was a little soft on the leave,” Stott said of his 3.79-seconds pass at 200.02 mph in his Columbus, NC-based ’63 Corvette. “I missed it a bit on the tune-up and I really don’t know if that will hold up (for the top qualifying position), but we should be in good shape tomorrow, no matter what.”
Also making a great run was number-two Pro Extreme qualifier John Stanley in the ’68 Camaro tuned by his legendary racing father, Camp Stanley, as he also went 3.79 at 193.13 mph, both of which are career-best numbers for the Hagerstown, MD, driver.
Earlier in the day, reigning two-time Pro Extreme World Champion Jason Scruggs smacked hard into the left guardwall almost immediately upon launching his ’68 Camaro on a test pass when an oil line broke, spraying oil all over the track and his car’s rear tires.
“It was just one of those things you can’t even check for; the line just pulled loose from the fitting under pressure,” explained Scruggs’ father and crew chief, Mitchell. “I’ve never seen that happen before in 30 years of racing.”
Undaunted, the Scruggs commissioned the help of a friend at home in Saltillo, Mississippi, to haul their 2008 championship-winning Dodge Stratus through the night to Petersburg, Virginia, so they can transplant the Camaro’s engine and still attempt to qualify on Saturday.
Castellana’s new 1970 Camaro ran a near-record 3.87 at 192.17 to lead teammates Shannon Jenkins and Khalid Al-Balooshi in the top-three Pro Nitrous slots after one of three scheduled qualifying sessions.
“Today was my first time in the car, so it feels good to have it run so well for me right off the bat, but I have to give credit to (crew chiefs) Shannon (Jenkins), Rickie (Smith) and the rest of our guys for that,” Castellana said. Like Ulsch, he believes his current top-qualifier status will be safe until race time.
“I really don’t see anyone improving on that, including us,” the Westbury, New York, driver said. “But once it cools off tomorrow night, who knows? You might even see some new records here.”
McKinney, from Hamersville, Ohio, put his ’09 Suzuki on top of the Pro Extreme Motorcycle list with a 4.23 pass at 168.09 mph. Also notable is Kim Morrell, the only female rider in the class, who for the first time in four starts is in a qualifying position, currently sitting 14th of 29 entries attempting to make the 16-bike field.
Montecalvo, fresh off a win at the National Guard ADRL’s most recent event three weeks earlier at Topeka, Kansas, drove his ’08 Chevy Cobalt to a 4.13 lap at 175.16 mph, edging Dean Goforth by just one-thousandth of a second for the provisional top spot, who in turn held his own one-thousandth advantage over Matt Hartford, while Bob Bertsch also went 4.13 in qualifying fourth.
The second round of qualifying for the ADRL NATIONALGUARD.com U.S. Drags II is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. July 25, with the third and final session scheduled for a 1 p.m. start and eliminations to follow at 4 p.m.
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