Castellana One of Five Leaders at ADRL Hardee’s Independence Drags IV

Courtesy of ADRL

TOPEKA, KS — Mike Castellana was simply looking for one good run in Pro Nitrous on Friday at the ADRL Hardee’s Independence Drags IV at Heartland Park Topeka. When that came on his very first run, Castellana delivered in an even bigger way to cap his evening under the lights. Castellana and his ’69 Camaro wowed the energetic crowd with his third qualifying run, staying in first after three sessions with a pass of 3.89 at 192.28 miles per hour.
It was significant that Castellana had two in a class where most drivers struggled to get one on a day where track conditions proved difficult to solve.

“I think we had a better handle on things,” Castellana said. “It was kind of hit-or-miss for a lot of people, but we’ve got a good handle on this car. When you got something good going, you don’t want to change too much.”
Other top qualifiers after Friday’s three sessions include Frankie Taylor in Pro Extreme, Ashley Owens in Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Pete Berner in Extreme Pro Stock and Todd Moyer in Extreme 10.5. Castellana’s solid performance on Friday gives him some breathing room heading into Saturday’s final qualifying session as well.

“(Saturday’s) session won’t be as good with the conditions, so we should be able to stay on top,” Castellana said. “We feel pretty comfortable.” The Al-Anabi Racing driver should after Friday. Shannon Jenkins shot up considerably in his final pass, going a 3.92 to move up to second overall. But he says everyone is trying to keep up with Castellana this weekend. “Mike’s car was good today,” Jenkins said. “He had pretty good control of it. The track conditions cooled off and the thing stayed hooked up.”

Castellana wasn’t the only one who got better under the lights in the cooler conditions.
After shooting to the top on his first qualifying run, Taylor went back up to the top on his final pass on Friday.
The “Wild Man” pushed it hard in the nighttime air, going 3.70 at 202.58 mph. He went 3.73 earlier in the day, giving him a good base for eliminations.

“The .73 earlier today is probably what we’ll baseline tomorrow off of,” Taylor said.
Joshua Hernandez and Jason Scruggs overtook Taylor on the second run, going 3.733 and 3.734, respectively.
They moved back to second and third on Taylor’s final run, with KH Al-Thani sitting in fourth after going 3.74.

Taylor knows where he has to improve on Saturday in what was a 30-car field on Friday. “I’ve got to get on the tree a little bit more,” Taylor said. “It’s been acting a little funny on the two step, but we’ll get it taken care of tonight, we’ll put a few plug wires on it.”

Moyer was another driver who put together two impressive runs on Friday, bolting back to the top with a 4.00 at 195.85 mph run under the lights. “(My crew) told me it was going to be a .99 so I was a little disappointed,” Moyer said. “We were going to smoke the tires or we were going to go real fast.” They clearly went fast, something that was the theme for Moyer and his ’04 Cavalier on Friday.

He was first after the first qualifying run, but moved back to second after Gary White, winner of two straight ADRL races, went from 15th to first with a run of 4.01. That didn’t last long as Moyer went back on top moments later, taking momentum into Saturday. The Seabrook, TX native knows that doesn’t guarantee anything in XTF. “They’re all 4.0 cars or 3.99 cars,” Moyer said. “It is going to be hot and it’s going to be an issue, but I think we know how to do it right now.”

Berner was consistent all day, with his 4.14 from his first run putting him at the top in XPS.
Berner went 173.54 mph in a blistering pass and the Summit Motorsports driver couldn’t be happier with how the day went. “We’re tickled to death. With the conditions we had on the track, this is pretty awesome. We had three great runs and hopefully we’ll keep it going,” Berner said. “The crew is making exceptional calls for these conditions. We’ve got a great car.”

Berner had great reaction times all day, and his car was clearly dialed in despite the hot and sticky conditions.
That’s where this car has thrived, something Berner is banking on heading into final eliminations.
His ’09 GXP had good power coming into the weekend and that was evident throughout the day. Berner, though, has his mind on one thing.

“One of those days we want one of those trophies. Hopefully it’s this weekend,” Berner said. “Consistency is what’s going to win. In this class, you have to be on your game for every run.” John Montecalvo, who won in Michigan last month and was also the No. 1 qualifier, jumped to second in his final run with a pass of 4.160. Bob Bertsch is right behind after a 4.169 in his first pass.

Owens continues to appear untouchable in PXM, needing only two runs to take command. After running a 4.19 in his first run, Owens passed on his second run and then came back at night to put up an impressive run of 4.16. “It’s kind of the pattern we’ve developed and we’ve stuck with it,” Owens said of making only two passes on Friday.
“We’re making less passes and it’s less wear and tear on the bike. I feel good about (Saturday).” There’s plenty of good reason for it as the Fast by Gast team shoots for its fourth straight win. The No. 2 qualifier, Charlie Prophit, is .09 behind Owens in qualifying and the nine-bike field appears a step behind Owens and his ’07 Suzuki in Topeka.

Owens joked he’s under pressure this weekend because owner Paul Gast did not make the trip to Heartland Park Topeka.
“Paul left me with the bike this weekend, so we have to do good,” Owens said with a chuckle. “We can’t do bad. It won’t look good.”

Sporting an incredible .001 reaction time, Cody Jeffs was the top qualifier in Pro Junior Dragster. The fourth and final qualifying session starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Final eliminations are slated to begin at 3 p.m. at Heartland Park Topeka.