Written by Bret Kepner, Photography by James Sisk

Chrysler fans gained a bit of revenge when Ted Peters wheeled his 1974 Plymouth Duster to a stunning holeshot victory over Chuck Weck at the helm of the “Grumpy’s Toy XVI” 1980 Camaro to secure the second annual Nostalgia Pro Stock Association’s “Black Arrow Cup” at “Dyno Dom” Blasco’s eighth-mile Sikeston Raceway in southeastern Missouri.

One year earlier, Peters carded a brilliant 0.002 Reaction Time only to lose the inaugural title to Mark Pappas in his 1980 Reher-Morrison-Shepherd Camaro by a mere fifty-six thousandths of a second. This time, Peters scored in the event’s second straight all-Chicago final round by producing a 0.007 RT which allowed the Duster’s 5.27-second, 132.00 mph blast to hold off the Chevy’s quicker 5.19/134.32 by only fifty-one thousandths of a second!

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Written by Bret Kepner

Continually expanding its motorsports presence, Watson Racing has joined forces with twenty year-old drag racing sensation Valerie Clements to campaign a new 2014 Ford Mustang in one of the sport’s most popular and competitive arenas. For the first time, Watson will field an entry in the Renegade Eliminator category of the National Mustang Racers Association which will combine the driving talents of veteran Clements with the engineering expertise of the Watson Racing staff.

“We’re elated to add Valerie Clements to the Watson team”, said John Phillips, the Business Development Manager for Watson Racing, “and we’re just as excited to apply some radical ideas to the 2014 Mustang we’re building for her to drive in NMRA competition. Valerie has proven herself to be a champion on a national level but we feel her addition as a team driver will benefit Watson Racing in many more ways. Valerie is an exemplary individual in all aspects of her life and, despite her age, she is already an inspiration to many”.

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One year ago, Watson Racing teamed with veteran Chris Holbrook to produce the quickest and fastest production car in drag racing history. In the team’s first event, Holbrook’s supercharged 2013 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet clocked a record 8.504 seconds at 160.68 miles per hour and, later in the season, emerged victorious at the National Hot Rod Association’s oldest and most prestigious event, the 59th annual U.S. Nationals, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

For 2014, however, Watson and Holbrook will embark on a mission to win even more races while making a bold statement about the team’s capabilities. Using a new 2014 Ford Mustang to compete in the NHRA’s Super Stock Eliminator, the Detroit-area duo will debut a completely new powertrain combination never before seen on a drag strip. The Watson-built Ford will utilize a Holbrook-built supercharged five-liter Ford Coyote engine coupled to a five-speed manual transmission!

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Madison, IL – Chris Garcia was the very definition of the term, “hardcore drag racer”. The news of the 52 year-old’s sudden passing on Christmas Eve rocked the tightknit drag racing community within the greater metropolitan area of St. Louis, Missouri, and his wake on Friday, December 27, was attended by hundreds of members of his drag racing “family”. However, Chris Garcia was no ordinary individual and plans were quickly formulated to give him a send-off like no other.

Considered one of the true “good guys” who seldom missed an event at local tracks, Garcia was the consummate drag racing sportsman who was often the last to leave the pit area after a race. Win, lose or rainout, the man known as “Hoppin’ Julio” always had a smile and plenty of conversation for both friends and opponents. Garcia brought his son, Jesse, and daughter, Kristina, into the sport and molded both into formidable drag racers capable of winning any round. It was Garcia’s children who put into action a plan devised during the wake to honor their father in a most amazing way.

‘More pictures at the end of the article.’

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Written by Bret Kepner

Livonia, MI – It has already been a season of shattered records and stunning achievement for Redford, Michigan, drag racer Chris Holbrook. At the wheel of his Varsity Ford dealership-sponsored 2013 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet, the past World Champion began his 2013 racing campaign by clocking a quarter-mile run of 8.504 seconds at a speed of 160.68 miles per hour at the opening event of National Mustang Racers Association in Bradenton, Florida. The effort was more than a quarter-second quicker than any previous performance by a production automobile in factory trim and Holbrook became the first driver to break 160 mph in a stock drag racing vehicle.

One week later, Holbrook entered the National Hot Rod Association’s Amalie Oil Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida, and won the AAA/SA class championship while producing the quickest elapsed time in the history of the NHRA’s Stock Eliminator division at 8.68 seconds. Then, as owner of Holbrook Racing Engines, Chris beamed with pride when the overall Stock championship found two HRE customers battling for the title. Bo Butner, another previous World Champion, defeated Charley Downing in a race which featured two Ford Mustang Cobra Jets powered by engines personally prepared by Holbrook.

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Written by Bret Kepner

Ennis, TX – Three-time World Champion Kevin Helms, the motorsports manager for Jeff Teuton’s Southland Dodge dealership, earned the first victory for the Chrysler Corporation in the American Drag Racing League’s popular new SuperCar Showdown category during the World Finals VIII presented by CarSafe Automotive Repair Protection. Driving Teuton’s 8.4-liter V-10-powered Dodge Challenger SRT DragPak, Helms took the event title in a thrilling, wheelstanding battle with Fred Henson’s 2013 Ford Mustang Super Cobra Jet which secured the first MoPar win to close the new SuperCar Showdown‘s first season.

Despite problems encountered during the early qualifying rounds, Helms eventually mastered the racing surface at the Texas Motorplex south of Dallas to record the quickest qualifying elapsed time, the quickest elapsed time of eliminations and to accept the champion’s trophy for a team which has been involved in the creation of the sport’s newest class.

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Written by Bret Kepner

Norwalk, OH – Chris Holbrook, already a finalist at four events during the 2012 season, wheeled his familiar silver “Instant Action” 2012 Ford Mustang to its second victory of the year in American Drag Racing League’s popular new SuperCar Showdown category during the Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags VI presented by Mickey Thompson Tire and Wheels.

The Michigan veteran managed a clean sweep of the race after leading the qualified field, clocking the quickest and fastest runs of eliminations and blasting his Mustang Cobra Jet to new World Records for Elapsed Time and Speed. Most important, the amazing performance came at the racing facility at which Holbrook earned his first major title seventeen years earlier, the magnificent Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, at the ADRL event closest to his Redford, Michigan, home.

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Written by Bret Kepner

Norwalk, OH – “Johnny Lightning”, one of the most prolific competitors in the history of Ford Motorsports, will make his debut in the American Drag Racing League’s wild new SuperCar Showdown category at the upcoming Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags VI presented by Mickey Thompson Tires at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, on September 28-29.

Johnny “Lightning“ Wiker gained national prominence by earning no less than a dozen national event titles in competition at National Mustang Racers Association events. However, the Pennsylvania performance shop owner has always competed at the wheel of a Ford pickup truck! His dominance of the NMRA’s Truck division came while racing everything from stock F-series trucks and competition diesel-powered pickups all the way to a turbocharged Ford Lightning which clocked quarter-mile runs of over 170 miles per hour in a mere seven seconds.

With the recent acquisition of a new 2013 Ford Mustang Super Cobra Jet, however, Johnny Lightning has thrown his hat into the SuperCar Showdown ring to wage war against the world’s quickest and fastest production passenger cars. With his wife and crew chief, Susan, at his side, Johnny has already completed testing at several eastern tracks and, based on the numbers, should be more than competitive with the teams already well-versed in SCS racing during the 2012 ADRL season.

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Written by Bret Kepner

Charlotte, NC – Although he was won five of the seven completed events in the inaugural season of the American Drag Racing League’s crowd-pleasing new SuperCar Showdown category, Bo Butner always manages to find a new path to glory. In scoring the first SuperCar Showdown title ever offered at the ADRL’s oldest event, the past World Champion placed the blame for his most recent conquest squarely on the shoulders of the engineers at the Ford Motor Company.

In its debut at Bruton Smith’s magnificent new zMax Dragway in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ADRL’s DragStock event celebrated its ninth edition with the largest field of competitors in the association’s history and the largest spectator attendance of any stop on the 2012 tour. Regarded as “the Bellagio of dragstrips” by nearly anyone who has competed at the lavish facility, Butner reveled in a hard-fought victory over the toughest adversary of every racer at the event, Mother Nature.

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Written by Bret Kepner

Martn, MI – With six events completed in its ten-race 2013 schedule, the American Drag Racing League’s revolutionary new SuperCar Showdown category has attracted fifteen different competitors driving the world’s quickest and fastest accelerating production vehicles. Beyond all other machines, however, it was the newest entrant which stunned fans and even other racers in its debut at the recent ADRL Summer Drags VIII at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan.

When a brand new 2013 Ford Mustang Super Cobra Jet was driven out of the trailer by renowned Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Wes Wells during the event’s technical inspection, it attracted a crowd of onlookers which included everybody from fans to the ADRL’s highest-ranking officials. Even drivers and mechanics from the association’s other categories marveled at the magnificent technology of the black Ford.

Although the car had only been driven from the showroom floor to the transporter at the Indianapolis-based Ray Skillman Ford dealership, few observers were willing to believe the car had been untouched since leaving the Ford Cobra Jet assembly line until they witnessed the plastic being removed from the interior and tags being removed from the engine bay, interior and trunk.

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