Smith and Moon Keen to Keep Winning Momentum at ADRL Summer Drags IX
MARTIN, Michigan – The legendary tag team of wheelman Von Smith and crew chief Howard Moon, who have seen tremendous 
success in Pro Mod-style competition all around the world, broke through for – incredibly – their first career ADRL Pro Extreme victory during the recently completed U.S. Drags VI at Virginia Motorsports Park. Though their first ADRL event title was a longtime in the making, Smith hopes the Al-Anabi Racing Pro Extreme team won’t have to wait so long to return to the ADRL winner’s circle.
“Howard [Moon] and I have been doing this for a long time and we’ve been fortunate to have had a lot of success, but this one – winning an ADRL race – has always eluded us,” explains Smith, checking in from his home in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. “We’ve been running with the ADRL since 2004 at the very first Dragstock and to have never won one was pretty hard on all of us. Now that we’ve got the monkey off our back so to speak, I feel like we can head into every one of these events expecting to win, and that’s the kind of confidence you have to have to succeed at this level.”
Smith, a three-time IHRA Alcohol Funny Car champion, two-time Arabian Drag Racing League champion and 2010 NHRA Pro Mod series champ, is eager to maintain his team’s forward momentum with a strong outing in Martin, Michigan this weekend.
“We’re 100-percent focused on putting another one in the win column this weekend,” says Smith. “Howard and this crew are second-to-none. We’ve been through a lot together and I can’t help but feel like the win in Virginia was exactly the kind of reward these guys deserved for staying the course. The same can be said for Sheikh Khalid [bin Hamad Al Thani, team owner], who has never waivered in his support. We’re second in the points standings right now and another weekend like we had in Virginia would surely put us in a good spot heading into the final few races of the season. We’re excited to get after it and try to do the deal again.”
Qualifying for the ADRL Summer Drags IX gets underway at 11:30 AM on Saturday, June 29th, with three rounds of qualifying scheduled for each professional category. Eliminations are slated to begin on Sunday at 11:00 AM with the winner’s circle celebration anticipated to begin at 4:30 PM.
To learn more about Al-Anabi Racing’s ADRL teams and follow their progress, visit www.facebook.com/alanabidoorslammers
