Taylor Takes Hometown Race, One of Five Winners at ADRL’s Dragpalooza VI

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BAYTOWN, TX (July 23, 2010) - Frankie Taylor would have taken a win anywhere after waiting far too long for his second career American Drag Racing League (ADRL) victory in Pro Extreme.But to do it at his hometown track in front of a huge following of friends and family meant that much more for the Houston-area native on Friday.The “Mad Man” debuted his new ‘05 jet black Corvette at Houston Raceway Park (HRP) for the completion of the ADRL Universal Technical Institute Dragpalooza VI presented by Safety-Kleen, which was postponed in March, and it made an immediate impact.Taylor beat fellow Texas native Gaylen Smith in the PX finals, running a 3.76 at 200 miles per hour to get his second career win and one he won’t soon forget.“This is a very emotional win. It’s been a great experience,” Taylor said. “To win in our hometown, it’s just crazy. We’ve won a lot of races in Texas, but this is way better. To win here in Houston, it’s great. It’s the best one yet.”Other winners of the completed Dragpalooza event included Rickie Smith in Pro Nitrous, Billy Glidden in Extreme 10.5, Travis Davis in Pro Extreme Motorcycle and John Montecalvo in Extreme Pro Stock.Smith, Glidden and Montecalvo are also the top qualifiers heading into Saturday’s Inaugural Texas Drags. Joshua Hernandez is in the top spot with one qualifying session remaining in Pro Extreme, while Terry Schweigert posted the top time on Friday in PXM.The day, though, belonged to the animated and fun-loving Taylor, who posted wins against Quain Stott, Todd Tutterow and Gene Hector to reach the finals in front of a crowd that included his mother, aunts, uncles, other family and plenty of friends.He stayed consistent in the Corvette built by Larry Jeffers Pro Cars, running a 3.96, 3.88 and a 3.78 before dialing it in even more in the finals.The plan was to push it a little more each round and it left Taylor beaming by the end of the night.“I guess you could say it’s a long time coming. We’ve been working hard and it’s a great team over here,” Taylor said. “We built this car for the ADRL. Jeffers built us a good car and it showed us it could be consistent.”Just as remarkable on Friday was the performance by Glidden in XTF considering where he was just three weeks ago.The Indiana native was involved in a crash in Topeka that left him questioning his next move in racing. But his 2010 Mustang was quickly restored, surprising even Glidden.He followed that by knocking off first-time finalist Michelle Wilson in the final, going a class-best 4.03 at 183 mph under the lights at HRP.“We just persevered,” Glidden said. “I can’t thank Jerry Haas enough. They just got after it. From when they started (rebuilding the car) to when we picked it up, it was nine days.“The combination we’re using is a lot different and we’re just trying to learn it. Mickey Thompson’s support has just been amazing.”Glidden beat Steven Benoit, Jeff Naiser and Spiro Pappas to reach the final, giving him an XTF-best 10 career wins.His 4.03 was also .16 better than No. 2 qualifier Jeff Naiser, making it more than enough to hand Glidden his first win in more than a year.“I guess we just have a never-say-die attitude,” Glidden said. “We haven’t done real well since Topeka last year, but we’re still working at it.”Smith put in the work earlier this week, which helped lead to his win in Pro Nitrous.He tested in extreme heat in Alabama on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the King, NC native credited that to his strong performance.Smith went 3.91 in the finals, which led to a victory against Terry Murphy. But Smith is still thinking big with the Texas Drags lurking on Saturday.“We found a few things that worked and we stayed low the whole day,” Smith said. “It was a good day. Now, I want another one (Saturday).”Smith got better as the day went on, running a 3.97, 3.96 and 3.95, knocking off John DeFlorian, No. 1 qualifier Burton Auxier and Charles Carpenter while posting quicker times each round.“I knew the car was consistent and reacting well,” Smith said. “The main thing was that first pass. That’s always the key.”Davis turned more than a few heads in PXM, in part because of who he beat in round two. The Douglas, GA native ended Ashley Owens’ run of dominance - at least for a day - in the quarterfinals, running a 4.20 to hand Owens his first loss in eliminations in 2010.Davis and his ‘08 Suzuki used that momentum to win for the second time in his ADRL career.“I knew looking at the ladder it was going to be tough,” said Davis, who last raced in the ADRL in Richmond in May. “We tried to put consistent runs together and everything worked out.“This is just rewarding after all this time we all put into this. It’s such a great field and to do this in the ADRL, it’s just so rewarding. It’s a great atmosphere and we love racing here.”Montecalvo got his second straight ADRL win, but this is one the New York native insisted he would savor even more.“In Martin (in June), it was like we dominated, but this one we struggled. I think this one was more rewarding because we struggled,” Montecalvo said. “The track was tough and we had a lot to deal with. This one was good.”Montecalvo went a class-best 4.13 in the finals to beat Elijah Morton, which came on the heels of Montecalvo going 4.15 in the semifinals to slip past Brian Gahm.After struggling early, Montecalvo found his groove, which could bode well for him on Saturday.“There’s no way to describe this,” Montecalvo said. “This was just great. We were right on the tree today. We’ve never doubled up, so I guess that’s our goal for (Saturday).” Houston native Justin Penton won in Pro Junior Dragster, going 7.904 in the finals to slip past No. 1 qualifier Ashely Sewell.The final qualifying round for the Texas Drags takes place at 11 a.m. Saturday. The first round of eliminations are set to begin 3 p.m.Taylor is in the second spot behind Hernandez and Alex Hossler is third in PX.In Pro Nitrous, Jim Halsey (3.92) and Steve Vick (3.94) trail Smith. Glidden’s 4.03 leads Jeff Naiser and Michael Neal, who are second and third, respectively, in XTF.Kim Morrell is second to Schweigert in PXM, while Owens sits in third.In Extreme Pro Stock, Pete Berner (4.14) is currently second and Cary Goforth is in third.Cole Burk is the top qualifier through Friday in Pro Junior Dragster.

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