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Johnny Pluchino Scores First Extreme Pro Stock Victory to Start 2020 PDRA Season
OAKDALE, NY – Back-to-back PDRA Pro Outlaw 632 world champion Johnny Pluchino’s quest for an Extreme Pro Stock title kicked off in 
ideal fashion at the PDRA East Coast Nationals at GALOT Motorsports Park over the weekend. The second-generation Mountain Motor Pro Stock driver picked up his first event win in the class, defeating Elijah Morton in the final round.
“We have high goals and high expectations for this year,” Pluchino said. “I had a feeling a win would come this year. I didn’t know it would come at the first race. I should’ve expected it since we’re at GALOT – this place is gold to me. I wish they ran every race here. To do it here, to do it right away, to start off the championship chase here and put this weekend together, it’s awesome.”
Like the rest of the PDRA, Pluchino and his Strutmasters.com team haven’t raced since October, as the COVID-19 crisis postponed the season-opener by two months. The extended offseason gave Pluchino plenty of time to refresh and upgrade his Jon Kaase Racing Engines 825ci engine in the team’s 2013 Mustang.
Sanford Set for TAD Sophomore Season Start
POMONA, CA – SoCal native Ashley Sanford will be making her sophomore season debut this weekend at the NHRA Circle K 
Winternationals in Pomona. The popular A/Fuel Dragster driver is embarking on her first full season in the competitive Top Alcohol Dragster after joining the class last year. The 20-year old driver is eager to build upon her experience, starting this weekend at her home track.
“I’m really excited for this season because I know I’ll be able to progress as a driver. Even in the five short races we competed in last year, I learned a lot. I think the extra seat time I’ll have this year will be valuable. I’m just so excited for the season as a whole, getting to learn so much and hopefully making a final round,” said Sanford, who resides in nearby Fullerton.
Uni-Select to Sponsor Alexander for 12-Race 2013 Schedule
BOYNTON BEACH, FL – Uni-Select’s Auto Service Plus and SAX brands announced today its sponsorship of 24-year-old Funny Car 
driver Blake Alexander. Alexander’s 12-race 2013 schedule will begin at the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series east coast opener, the Gatornationals, March 14-17 at the Auto-Plus® Raceway in Gainesville, Florida.
The Auto Service Plus powered by Auto-Plus® Funny Car will compete at 10 marquee NHRA events as well as the legendary Auto-Plus Night Under Fire match race in Norwalk, Ohio. Longtime supporter of Blake’s racing program Gates Automotive will also provide support at the Houston and Charlotte events in April.
“Auto-Plus is very excited for the 2013 NHRA race program and to be teaming up with Blake Alexander. We know that Blake has worked very hard to get ready for this season and we are looking forward to start the race season at the Auto-Plus® Raceway at the Gatornationals.” says Brent Windom, Uni-Select’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
New Car for Defending Winternationals Champ Demke
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POMONA, CA – Defending Winternationals Top Alcohol Dragster champion Chris Demke returns to the Pomona fairgrounds this 
weekend with a car that most fans won’t recognize. His team isn’t quite familiar with it yet, either. The fan-favorite group recently acquired a lightly used rail similar to the one he drove to the NHRA Finals victory last year.
“It’s not brand new; it’s a 2002 Uyehara that was only campaigned for about half a season by its previous owner. He stored it away and took good care of it until (team owner) Jerry Maddern purchased it last year. We didn’t start working on it until the offseason. My crew guy, Kevin Watson, has poured his heart and soul into doing the work and Jerry really spared no expense in outfitting it. It’s a real beautiful piece. I have to commend those guys for the fabulous job they did assembling the car,” said Demke.
Ashley Sanford to Drive Gelish A/Fuel Dragster
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LAS VEGAS, NV – When the first Top Alcohol Dragster qualifying session of the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series starts at the Winternationals next week, 19 year old Ashley Sanford hopes to be one of the drivers shooting for one of 16 spots on race day. The 
accomplished sand drag racer and her family have spent the last few months making sure everything was in order to make that happen. Now there’s only one thing missing; a license.
Sanford has raced on the sand for ten years, starting with a quad at age 8 and most recently her father’s supercharged Top Alcohol Dragster. She experienced success early, winning her first race in the kids quad class. As she moved up through the ranks, she set female records and won rounds. Ashley’s “Free Bird” TAD covered the 300-foot sand strip in less than 2.5 seconds at 150+ mph.
Maple Grove is a Special Place for Blake Alexander
READING, PA – This weekend Auto Service Plus Funny Car driver Blake Alexander returns to the track where he made his Pro debut 
just one year ago. Now after one full year in NHRA fuel Funny Car competition, the rookie returns to Maple Grove Raceway with experience and renewed enthusiasm.
“I obviously had aspirations to do better than we have done this year, but it also has been eye-opening to be out here with the top-tier competition that the NHRA Funny Car class has to offer. To see how close we are to being on the same level is encouraging to me,” said Alexander, the former Comp and Top Alcohol Dragster pilot.
The Auto-Plus Nationals is a special race for Blake. It’s where his dream was realized; to be driving the Paul Smith Racing Funny Car with legends of the sport. Since the Auto-Plus Nationals is Blake’s primary sponsors’ title race he is more than excited to be at Maple Grove Raceway with a large crowd of supporters on hand.
Alexander Confident in Gates Auto Car at Indy
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CLERMONT, IN – Funny Car rookie Blake Alexander is one of 25 cars entered for this weekend’s prestigious Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. Following promising results at his last race in Norwalk, Blake is confident that his Gates Auto Funny Car will be one of the
16 cars racing on Labor Day Monday. The atmosphere surrounding the legendary event doesn’t affect his game plan for the weekend.
“Indy is obviously a big deal, but I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing all year, doing my best for my sponsors. The things I’ve learned all year will be applied, but the way I’ve tried to do things won’t change,” said the college student/300 mph Funny Car pilot.
Conditions at the Labor Day tradition have been known to go from hot and slick to cool air capable of record performances. This will give tuner Paul Smith the chance to work on his tune-ups for an array of conditions.
Blake Alexander Back in Auto Service Plus Colors at Norwalk
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Photo by Roger Richards
NORWALK, OH – After a few weeks off the NHRA Full Throttle tour, Funny Car driver Blake Alexander is ready to get back in the seat of the Auto Service Plus car. The weather forecast for high temperatures at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals plays well into the plans for crew chief Paul Smith. In a class that prefers perfect conditions, the Smith-tuned car can lay down consistent laps in the heat all day.
“This will be the first race where we can’t complain about it not being hot enough. Every race we’ve been at this year, the track has been relatively cooler on race day. Atlanta was a hot track, but we weren’t able to capitalize on that. We’ll be trying to take advantage of the summer sun this weekend,” said Alexander, who is entering just the seventh race of his Funny Car career.
Though he’s been away from the driving side of being a Funny Car driver, Blake has been busy with the business side of the sport. Smith and the Auto Service Plus team had a productive few weeks away from the track, too.
Simonton Enters Route 66 Nationals with Confidence
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JOLIET, IL – Popular Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Cassie Simonton enters this weekend’s Route 66 NHRA Nationals with the intentions of building on the success she experienced in qualifying at the Lucas Oil Series event held here just
a few weeks ago. She earned the first #1 qualifying position for both herself and team owner Spiro Kontos. Now competing against twice the drivers she out-qualified last time, Simonton and the Kon Rodz Racing team are eager to prove that they are a consistent threat in the competitive class.
“Obviously that was a big confidence booster for us, as a team. We’re going to try to push for that again. We’ve always had good luck at Route 66 Raceway. We have good data for this track and the car runs well in the heat, so we should be able to build from that to have a good car throughout qualifying and eliminations,” Simonton says.
Greg Hunter Reaches Midpoint of Rookie Season in TAD
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JOLIET, IL – Greg Hunter and the ExactAir/Kenny Gilmour Motorsports Top Alcohol Dragster team are in for one of 
the toughest TAD races in the country, the Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago. The centrally located track and prestigious Jegs Allstars race-within-a-race attract the top cars from around the U.S. and Canada. Greg hopes to be one of the sixteen cars racing on Saturday night.
“We’re going to have to run in the 5.3s in order to qualify well here. After running in Denver at the regional, we’re confident in our car. Now we have a baseline tune-up that we can use to build on and hopefully go a little quicker,” said Hunter.
The former alcohol funny car driver is enjoying his first season in a “long car”. Under the watchful eye of team owner and crew chief Kenny Gilmour, Hunter has earned two round wins in just his first few races.
