 ADRL Dragpalozza V Houston Raceway Park Baytown, TX 6-7 March 2009Testing for us began with John DeFlorian, Jr was in the right lane where he barely got out of the box and shook hard causing him to click the motor. On his second test hit he ran the left lane and got out of the box clean just to drift right and out of the groove causing him to get out of it. Testing for Stan Allen this afternoon began with him staging in the left lane where he got out to around 200' and then the car drifted left out of the groove forcing him to abort the run. On his second test Stan again chose the left lane where he staged and had a complete run at 4.065 and 181.74 mph! Tim Savell's first test hit was from the right lane where he left clean and ran into some shake and completed the run with a 5.025 at 97.1 mph. On Tim's second test hit, later in the afternoon, he again chose the right lane where he got a clean run with an ET of 4.107 and 186.12 mph, nice speed at the top end.   With testing under our belts and some data we were ready for the qualifying action to begin with Stan Allen's '68 Tim McAmis, Speedtech Camaro running in the left lane where he left clean but had to shut off in late in the run crossing the line at 4.987 and 109.79mph. Second out was Tim Savell in the '68 Tim McAmis Speedtech Camaro in the right lane. Tim was lined up in the box by his wife, Cindy, and when the light turned green he uncorked Bankston Boyz Racing's first 3 second pass with a 3.994 and a speed of 185.89! John DeFlorian, Jr was last out in qualifying round one and was staged in the left lane where when the light turned green he left hard, carrying the front end off the line a good ways and drifted left and out of the groove causing him to click it off. As John was shut down, Doug Riester who was in the right lane, crossed behind John after in his '68 Camaro scraping the right side wall and hit the left wall hard at nearly 90 degrees destroying his car. Hope all will be well for Doug Riester and his entire team, we wish you luck and look forward to racing with you in the near future. (See the video under videos on this site under the heading of JohnQ1Houston09B.wmv.) After completion of qualifying, Bankston Boyz Racing had two of the three cars in the National Guard ADRL Saftey-Kleen Dragpalooza V Pro-Nitrous class. Tim Savell's run, 3.994 at 185.89 mph, in the first round of qualifying was good enough to place 4th in the order with Johnny Pilcher's run of 3.959 run at 184.07 mph claimed the number one qualifier position. Stan Allen's best qualifying run of 4.114 at 181.59 mph was good enough to get into the field at 13th position, just ahead of John Chester who ran an identical ET in his '68 Camaro, but had a slower speed at 178.78 mph.. John DeFlorian, Jr ended up qualified as second alternate in 18th position. I feel this to be due to a combination of a slick track, lack of testing, and a new powerplant to learn. I am confident that these minor issues will be worked out by the time we roll into Valdosta, GA in April. With the driver's meeting over and the grandstands packed to near capacity and with having our cars prepped we were ready for round one to begin early Saturday evening. Unfortunately, in round one teammates were matched up against one another, with Tim Savell (L) having lane choice over Stan Allen ( R ). I would have much rather seen this matchup in the final, but that's racing! After the cars rolled into the pre-stage lights they staged and were turned loose on the slippery track at Houston Raceway Park. From what I noticed all weekend the starting line was o k out to about 100' and then the track got slippery. When the light turned green, both cars got off the line great just to have Tim Savell's Blue Beast get into tire shake around 150' - 200' out, allowing Stan Allen to progress into the second round. The splits on the first round reflect that Tim Savell left on Stan Allen by .008 seconds; a .024 verses a .032 reaction time. On the top end however, it was Stan Allen crossing the line first with an E T of 4.124 and 181.06 mph as compared to Tim Savell's run that showed an E T of 4.832 at 110.81 mph. At the top end of the track Tim Savell was obviously disappointed according to reports from track officials.  After the run the Mississippi Foundation Repair Specialists '68 Tim McAmis, Reher-Morrison machine of Stan Allen was serviced and due to the diligent efforts of "Clutch Can Man" John Miller, the car was returned to the staging lanes in preparation for the second round. In the second round of eliminations Stan Allen was paired up against Pat Stoken in the '68 Camaro sporting the 833 Fulton. Lane choice in round 2 of the National Guard ADRL Saftey-Kleen Dragpalooza V went to Pat Stoken who had a reaction time of .046, completing his pass in the first round at 4.033 and 187.08 mph! Stoken chose the right lane with Stan Allen running in the left lane. The cars staged and Pat Stoken fouled out due to a red light start. Stan Allen's run on the 660' track at Houston Raceway Park was a 4.049 at a slower mph of 176.58; but it was good enough to advance Stan into the semi-finals. Allen's reaction time against Stoken was .070 much slower than in round one. When asked about this pass Allen stated, "I saw red from Pat and let the car go and hoped for a good run so that we could get the data to tune the car to the track. The car is feeling better and it appears that the track is starting to come to us." It was interesting from the outside looking in to see the teamwork and support offered by everyone. Tim Savell and Billy Banaka and the rest of Savell's crew along with DeFlorian's crew were in Stan's pit offering whatever advice and support they could. The data collected on this run looked better with the clutch lock up coming in with relation to driveshaft speed and engine rpm, it was at this point that crew chief and tuner, Michael Bankston knew he was onto something here and starting making minor adjustments to the car. In the semi-finals Stan Allen lost lane choice to Johnny Pilcher's run of 4.041 at 180.14 mph and was put in the left lane once again. Before the run Mark Niebes, former crew member for ADRL World Champion Billy Harper, noticed an issue with the lane just off the line and told Mike what he had seen and Mike made a minor adjustment prior to the burnout. When the tree dropped Pilcher's 800 ci Sonny powered '63 split window Corvette jumped off the line first on a reaction time of .078 as compared to Stan Allen's R T of .094;Stan gave up almost 2 hundredths to Johnny at the drop. Stan's car might have left a little slower but it ran true right down the groove to beat Johnny Pilcher's Corvette that had just got up on the tire and overpowered the track causing his run to go up in smoke. At the lights Stan Allen wins with a 4.033 at 183.89 mph to Johnny Pilcher's 7.451 run and a speed of 85.93! Back in the pits getting ready for the final was absolutely incredible with all of the commotion between the crew, tuners, and consultants prepping the car, the pit monkeys, media, and most of all the ADRL fans. I was able to take about 30 minutes to spend with U S Army National Guard Specialist James R. Diaz whom I had met back in October at the National Guard Len Mar World Finals in Ennis, TX. As a veteran myself I was proud to have him in our pits because if it weren't for him and the men and women of our armed forces we could not come to events anywhere. After a couple of minutes he informed me that he had been activated and placed on 90 day notice of deployment to Afghanistan with a Military Police Company based in Texas. As a former member of a Military Police unit that was deployed to Desert Storm I totally understand the challenges on obstacles he must overcome to come home in one piece. He told me of the confidence he had in his company, platoon, and squads and that without them, "My odds are considerably less!" It is in this spirit of teamwork that the Bankston Boyz Racing team comes together in preparation for the finals. I got Stan to take a minute or so to spend time with Diaz and we took some pictures of him and Stan with the car. On behalf of Michael Bankston, the entire Bankston family, and Bankston Boyz Racing we wish him the best and God speed.  In the finals Stan Allen had lane choice over Jim Halsey's orange '68 Camaro built by Tim McAmis and powered by an 820 ci Fulton powered car and chose the left lane once again in the Mississippi Foundation Repair Specilists '68 Camaro. After pre-staging they rolled in almost simultaneously and once again Stan Allen gave up .020 on reaction time. Stan got clean off the line and around 150' the Reher-Morrison powered Camaro drifted left toward the wall getting the entire left side out of the groove. In the meantime Jim Halsey's Fulton powered Camaro appeared to have gone up in smoke as did Pilcher in the prior round, giving Stan Allen his first National Guard ADRL national event win! Stan Allen's time of 4.134 at 168.81 gave him the win light over Jim Halsey's slower 4.203 and 149.18 mph.  When interviewed by Ian Torcher of the ADRL Allen said, "We were just trying to find some consistency and not make any mistakes. We knew eventually that if we could get the clutch to work like we wanted it to, the track would come to us." When asked by myself about his run he said, "Well, Mark, the car got left on me and I was hearing gravel and all the trash hitting on the inside of the fenders but I didn't see him so I stayed on it and tried to get the car back to the groove. Then I saw my win light and I was like, cool!"  Summing the weekend up, we accomplished so much as teams, I could not be any prouder of Tim Savell's first run under 4 seconds, and Stan coming in with a Minuteman trophy is GREAT! Coming into this event Stan Allen was 12th in the ADRL points standing, with Tim Savell in 13th spot, and John DeFlorian, Jr in 18th. Upon completion of this event Stan Allen is now 4th in points, Tim Savell moved up to 10th in points and John DeFlorian remains in 18th spot. To everyone involved with the memorable weekend, thank you and we will see you in Valdosta, GA in April! On behalf of Bankston Boyz Racing, Mark Teague |