Ian Tocher
Harris Hoping to Keep Win Streak Alive as PDRA Hits Halfway Point in Michigan
PITTSBORO, NC – When the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) arrives at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI, this 
weekend (June 27-28), it will reach the halfway point of its inaugural eight-race season and Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous competitor Jason Harris will be attempting to keep his perfect record intact.
After winning the season opener from the number-one starting position in April at Rockingham, NC, Harris duplicated both efforts a month later in Valdosta, GA. He slipped a little with a third-place start at Memphis late in May, but the final result remained the same with Harris taking the trophy home. Still, the Pittsboro, NC-based racer isn’t taking his early season success for granted.
Davis Hoping for Home-State Success with PDRA
SUWANEE, GA — Veteran Top Sportsman racer Ronnie “The King” Davis has enjoyed several wins over the years at South Georgia 
Motorsports Park (SGMP) and hopes that success will continue this weekend with the all-eighth-mile Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA).
“Up the road here at Atlanta Dragway I can’t seem to win anything,” the golf cart dealer from Suwanee, GA, admitted. “But I’ve had a lot of good fortune at South Georgia in NHRA Division 2 races and some eighth-mile events, too. It’s a real good track and one of my personal favorites, so I’m definitely going after the win there this weekend.”
After qualifying number one for the PDRA season opener early in April with a 4.03-seconds pass at 182.92 mph at Rockingham, NC, Davis followed up the next week at the NHRA national event in Charlotte with a career-best 6.21 at 225.82 mph over the quarter mile at zMax Dragway. Since its inception in 2002, Davis has sponsored the NHRA Top Sportsman class through his business, Davis Golf Carts, a full-service dealer of stock and customized carts for home, business and racing use.
IMPACT CUSTOM MOUTHGUARDS HELP PROTECT 320-MPH SMILES
ALPHARETTA, GA — Other than an actual crash, perhaps the most violent occurrence in all of motorsports is the tire shake that 
very high-powered drag racing cars sometimes enter upon launching. For the drivers inside, the harsh forces experienced have been likened to clamping their head in a paint-can shaker and turning it on at the local hardware store.
To help protect their teeth and combat the brain-rattling effects of tire shake, NHRA Nitro Funny Car champions Matt Hagan and Cruz Pedregon have turned to Impact Custom Mouthguards of Alpharetta, Georgia.
“I learned about Impact through Caleb, my assistant here at the shop who’s also an MMA fighter part-time,” says Pedregon, a two-time NHRA world champion and winner of 34 Funny Car national-event titles.
Jeffers and Garret Combine Chassis Shops
Written by Ian Tocher
HOUSE SPRINGS, MO — Two of the most well-known and successful doorslammer chassis-building shops in the country are becoming 
one, as Jeffers Pro Cars joins forces with Garret Race Cars to begin doing business as Larry Jeffers Race Cars. Among Garret’s major clients is two-time ADRL Pro Extreme champion Jason Scruggs, while Jeffers has built cars for ADRL Pro Extreme champs Frankie Taylor and Todd Tutterow, as well as Pro Extreme star Tommy D’Aprile and NHRA Pro Mod racer Tim Tindle.
With a brand-new, 15,000-square-foot facility ready for occupancy early this summer, Jeffers Race Cars founder Larry Jeffers said he almost jokingly told fellow chassis man and longtime friend Garret Livingston that he finally had room for Livingston to move his operation the 80 miles from Marble Hill, Missouri, to Jeffers’ new shop in House Springs. Jeffers remembers Livingston answered, “To be honest, I’m about there,” as he described the frustration associated with having to turn work away due to feeling overwhelmed.
“I knew exactly where he was coming from because it’s something I’ve had to deal with, too, so I told him whenever he felt ready to give me a call,” Jeffers said. “Well, just a few weeks ago Garret asked me if I was really serious and after I said yeah, definitely, we sat down and hashed out everything, including the role he and his team would play here, his future, and the best ways to combine our experience and talents to take things to a higher level for both of us.”
Davis Ready to Race with ADRL in Michigan
Written by Ian Tocher
SUWANEE, GA — Driving his black-and-gold colored, Tommy Mauney-built ’63 Corvette this weekend (June 29-30), at U.S. 131 
Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan, veteran Top Sportsman racer Ronnie “The King” Davis will enter the second half of the eight-race American Drag Racing League (ADRL) schedule determined to make a run up the points list. Though currently 12th, Davis says there’s still time to qualify for the ADRL’s Battle for the Belts, a special event for the top eight in points this September at North Carolina’s historic Rockingham Dragway.
“Basically it comes down to going a few rounds and hopefully winning a couple of events and we’ll be right back in the thick of things,” the Suwanee, Georgia-based golf cart dealer said as he heads for the ADRL Summer Drags IX. “With $10,000 going to the Top Sportsman Battle for the Belts winner, you know I want to be included.”
Davis Determined to Do Well at NHRA Southern Nationals
SUWANEE, GA — It’s always a bonus to race close to home and that’s the case this weekend for veteran Top Sportsman racer Ronnie 
“The King” Davis as the Suwanee, Georgia-based golf cart dealer heads to nearby Atlanta Dragway for the 33rd annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals.
“We always like coming to Atlanta Dragway. I’ve been racing here since the track opened (1976) and won a bunch of races over the years, but not yet in Top Sportsman,” Davis said. “I’ve been in two Top Sportsman finals in Atlanta, but finished runner-up both times, so obviously I’d like to finish one position better this weekend.”
Butcher to Debut New Garret Camaro at X-DRL Bristol
MARBLE HILL, MO — When Glenn Butcher rolls up for round one of Top Sportsman qualifying in the X-treme Drag Racing League’s (X-
DRL’s) Thunder Valley Madness this weekend (Apr. 26-27) at Bristol Dragway, he’ll be driving a brand-new Garret Race Cars-built ’69 Camaro.
“We did go to Bowling Green (KY) last week for a test session, but this will be its first race,” said Butcher, who will be making his X-DRL debut, too, in the series’ second event of the year. “We struggled a little bit with the (torque) converter—it was a little too tight—but the car felt great, it drove great, and I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out.
Davis Returning to Top Sportsman Roots in 2013
Written by Ian Tocher
SUWANEE, GA — Veteran Top Sportsman drag racer Ronnie “The King” Davis is returning home this year. After spending 2012 
pursuing the inaugural ADRL Top Sportsman championship, the Suwanee, Georgia-based golf cart dealer is heading back to NHRA Division 2 competition, where he will mount a full-time campaign to win his third NHRA divisional title to go along with five previous IHRA championships.
“The competition was intense with the fast 16-car fields in the ADRL last year and I enjoyed every moment of the experience,” said Davis, who won two races before finishing third in the final point standings. “But my heart always remained with the Top Sportsman series that I helped develop and bring to NHRA back in 2002 with (retired Div. 2 director) Bill Holt. So I’m really looking forward to getting back out there and making a run for the championship again.”
Garret Race Cars Decide ADRL PX Final in Memphis
Written by Ian Tocher
MARBLE HILL, MO — They were among the quickest and fastest through each round of qualifying and eliminations all weekend long and when it came time to settle the Pro Extreme (PX) final Sep. 8, for the ADRL Memphis Drags III, number-three qualifier Jason 
Scruggs and number-five Brandon Pesz faced off in a pair of Garret Race Cars-built machines.
“It was a great feeling to go to the starting line knowing I couldn’t lose; I felt like (NHRA multi-car team owner) Don Schumacher,” joked Garret Livingston, founder and president of Garret Race Cars in Marble Hill, Missouri. “Seriously, though, it was very cool and very exciting to see two of our customers running so well. I was proud of my guys back at the shop, too, knowing how much work they put into building these cars.”
Unfortunately, the blower belt on Pesz’s ’58 Corvette jumped a pulley at the first flash of green, allowing Scruggs and his ’63 Corvette to streak unopposed to a third win this year in 3.73 seconds at 207.34 mph over the Memphis International Raceway eighth mile. It also marked the ninth PX win of the two-time world champion’s career, making Scruggs the winningest driver in the class and moving him to within just one round of the current points leader.
Adkins to Drive New Garret Entry in ADRL Top Sportsman at Memphis
Written by Ian Tocher
MARBLE HILL, MO — Lee Adkins Jr., a former American Drag Racing League (ADRL) national-event winner in both Pro Nitrous and Pro Modified, will return to the all-eighth-mile series this weekend (Sep. 7-8) in the ADRL Memphis Drags III at Memphis International
Raceway. This time, however, Adkins will get behind the wheel of a new Garret Race Cars-built ’68 Camaro in the Top Sportsman class.
“This is a brand-new car we just finished for Tom Smith in Southhaven, Mississippi, which is basically part of Memphis, so this is a home-town debut for him,” said Garret Livingston, founder and president of Garret Race Cars in Marble Hill, Missouri. “We decided to put Lee in the car first because he’s a great, experienced driver who will be able to help us get it dialed in quickly for Tom.”
The new, light-weight bodied Camaro is motivated by a nitrous-fed Reher & Morrison 665-cubic-inch engine that’s backed up by a Powerglide transmission.
“I’m really looking forward to getting out there again with this new car,” said Adkins, who lives in Linden, Tennessee. “I’ve driven Garret cars before and they’ve always been first-class all the way.”
