Rain Postpones Finish of ADRL Independence Drags IV at Heartland Park Topeka
Courtesy of ADRL
TOPEKA, KS — Inclement weather forced the postponement of the American Drag Racing League (ADRL) Hardee’s Independence Drags IV at Heartland Park Topeka on Saturday.
After several rain delays throughout the day, ADRL President and CEO Kenny Nowling called for a postponement near the end of the first round of final eliminations. “Mother Nature frowned on us and we felt the better option was to get the racers and fans home safely,” Nowling said. “Safety is paramount and unfortunately we can’t complete this event today.”
The event will be completed at the ADRL Hardee’s Gateway Drags III on August 7-8 at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill, just outside of St. Louis.
The completion of final eliminations of the Independence Drags will take place on Friday, with the Gateway Drags to be completed the next day.
Rain halted the action after four classes – Pro Nitrous, Extreme 10.5, Pro Extreme Motorcycle and Extreme Pro Stock had completed their first round of eliminations. Two races were finished in Pro Extreme in the first round before the steady rain ended the event in Topeka. Before that, the final round of qualifications on Saturday and the first round of eliminations featured plenty of highlights.
The biggest surprise may have come from Doug Riesterer in Pro Nitrous. The Victoria, TX native shot to the top spot in qualifying, going 3.894 at 186.69 miles per hour in his final qualifying run on Saturday.
He followed that up by winning his first round matchup, giving him a quarterfinal berth and a top qualifying spot that not many saw coming. “After we went .89, we could have gone home right then,” Riesterer said. “That made our whole year. We’ve been struggling all year and we didn’t expect a run like that. Needless to say, we were on top of the world.”
Riesterer and his ’68 Camaro will try to take that momentum into the next ADRL race, the ADRL Inaugural Texas Drags, which takes place July 23-24 at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, TX. He won’t be alone, either. Joshua Hernandez ran a blistering 3.69 in Pro Extreme, taking the top qualifying spot away from Frankie Taylor, who had nabbed it from Hernandez on the final pass on Friday. Hernandez also won his first-round matchup and will be a likely favorite heading to his hometown track in three weeks.
In Extreme 10.5, Gary White claimed the top qualifying spot for the second straight race, running a 3.98 to slip past Todd Moyer’s 3.99. Both White and Moyer won their first-round matchups, though No. 3 and No. 4 qualifiers Spiro Pappas and Dan Millen were knocked off by Dustin Miller and David Janes, respectively. “This place is awesome. It’s one of my favorites,” White said. “It was great to get that .98; we’ve been chasing Todd all weekend.
“The first two runs, we had some problems with the boost control valve. But we got it fixed and it did good.”
Cary Goforth may have been wondering if the move to switch cars was worth it, but the Extreme Pro Stock driver got his payoff in the final qualifying session on Saturday. Goforth was the No. 15 and last qualifier after Friday, but made up for it in one pass Saturday morning, going 4.13 at 173.49 mph to shoot to the top qualifying spot. With his father, Dean, nursing an injury suffered in Michigan, Cary switched cars, a move he may have debated until that final run. “We felt like dad’s car was better, so we switched,” Goforth said. “Our last run on Friday was too aggressive, but it felt good. We knew we could get a good number if we drove it right. “The number surprised us but we’ll take it. The jump from last to first feels really good.”
Goforth received a bye to the semifinals and the top six qualifiers in XPS won their first-round races.
Ashley Owens didn’t make a final qualifying run, but he stayed the top qualifier and then went a weekend-best 4.15 in PXM to move to the semifinals in the eight-bike field.
The conclusion of the ADRL Universal Technical Institute (UTI) Dragpalooza VI presented by Safety-Kleen will be completed on Friday, July 23 at Houston Raceway Park, with the Inaugural Texas Drags to be completed the next day.
