HARLESS, COTTRELL, AND FRYE RACE IN THE NEW YEAR WITH WALLYS AT WILD HORSE PASS HERITAGE SERIES OPENER

PHOENIX, AZ – NHRA’s 10th year of its Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series got a jump-start to its new season at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park January 14th and 15th. Although it was a somewhat cool and overcast weekend, the racing on the drag strip was hot and harried. The big news coming out of Chandler, Ariz., was the record-breaking performance put on by the Austin family Pro Max A/Fuel dragster driven by Drew Austin. It was just a few months ago that Adams-Bates rattled the Earth’s orbit with a dazzling run of 6.076 at the 25th Annual California Hot Rod Reunion presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California.

The skeptics should no longer need to concern themselves with the validity of that run. On Sunday, Drew Austin, paired once again with his main antagonist Kin Bates, backed up an earlier 6.111 with a thundering run of 6.064/224.85. Meanwhile, lurking behind the scenes was Jon Brooks’ very potent Grand Prix Racing injected nitro dragster capably driven by John Harless. Harless, the number two qualifier at 6.235/227.27, would later pop Drew’s balloon and win the class when Austin’s powerful Randy Parker slingshot developed a leak and had to be shut off. It was the Tulsa, Oklahoma team’s first ever Wally in Nostalgia A/Fuel dragster.

In 7.0 Pro, one of the class’s most dominant drivers in recent years, Bobby Cottrell, was back and looking as tough as ever. The 2013 and 2014 champion had things pretty much his way again, qualifying #1 (7.023) and setting low e.t. before dispatching Dwight Garland and the “Ape Shaker” in the final round. Rounding out the Group 1 classes, Jr. Fuel went to Peoria, Arizona’s Kevin Carter, who ran an excellent 7.10/183.52 to deck number one qualifier, Don Enriquez, in the final round.

Dustin Lee got a special birthday present (January 14) by winning Nostalgia Eliminator 1. Showing up at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park with his new dragster, the former terror in Hot Rod, downed a couple notables, including Sabrina Capps, to advance to the final round. Standing in his way was the 2015 class champion Jason Barta. Unnerved, Lee took the lead off the line and stretched it out down track for a Wally-winning 7.613/176.35 to Barta’s 7.634/172.94. Mariposa, California’s Dave Lawson motored his Tuttle-built FED over number one qualifier Jerry Espeseth to win Nostalgia Eliminator 2, and multi-time champion Roger Turley (2013; 2015) ran a near-perfect 9.605 to oust Lindsey Lister and win Nostalgia Eliminator 3.

Every class in the Heritage Racing Series is loaded with top notch drivers and races cars. But, perhaps the toughest class of all is A/G. Always loaded with many competitors tightly separated by only hundredths of seconds, a win is always a nerve-racking experience. Brendon Frye showed his mettle at Wild Horse Pass by doing the following: qualifying #1 (7.601); cutting an .001 light in the final round; and defeating defending champion Frank Merenda in the process. In B/G, Cliff Boyles displayed similar moxie with a perfect reaction time in the final round against Mark Laeger, the edge needed for the win. Scott Morgan appears determined to pick up where he left off last year. The 2016 runner up by one point in C/G, Morgan qualified #1 (9.603) and was never seriously challenged in eliminations. Mike Rabener won D/G in a riveting double breakout race with Lake Forest, California’s Dan Barrie (10.559 to 10.544), and Bill Comian snatched the Wally in Hot Rod Eliminator with his ’68 Mustang GT.

Story by Steve Justice