STATE OF DRAG ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
PHOTOS: MARK J. REBILAS, JOE MCHUGH were running Alcohol Funny Car and it looked like it was going the other direction. Pro Extreme was the cool thing to do at the time and it more fit our personality. There was a lot of excitement. It was a bunch of cars, running fast and a ton of competition. Qualifying was hard enough and to go
MICK SNYDER rounds was even more impressive. There’ s just something cool about how fun those cars were to drive.
NOWLING: These guys were now racing on the big stage where they really deserved to be racing. Their personalities and hot rods were as cool as anything in motorsports. They were our Top Fuel. They were our marquee class. Pro Nitrous was right there with them, but, man, even the Pro Nitrous guys would come up to make sure they didn’ t miss a Pro Extreme session because you just never knew what was going to happen.
LEGGETT: To me, way back when there were no rules and it was wide open, all of that was just really good. I think it had a lot more crowd appeal than people realize. People came to run Pro Extreme because it was the fastest and most exciting thing there was. But I think time will only let something like that go on for so long.
THE DECLINE
No rules meant an unlimited budget for some, and many believe that’ s where the class started to go downhill. Nowling resigned his position in 2010, the start of a tumultuous three-year stretch for eighth-mile racing in general.
In the midst, names such as Al-Anabi Racing came into the sport, bringing people like Todd, Frank Manzo and even Sheikh KH Al-Thani into the mix. It brought notoriety, but some believe the essence of the class was at stake. By most accounts, the magic was fading.
TUTTEROW: Money got involved and money ruins anything that is unlimited. It pushes out the small guy. We saw that. Bil Clanton and everybody else, they just didn’ t have the money. Some people had unlimited funds. Everybody spent money to run fast. If you didn’ t spend the same, you might as well stay home.
HAMSTRA: They needed to put a reasonable weight limit on it, 2,450- 2,500 pounds. If they had it that
BIG GROWTH, BIG SPENDING Al-Anabi Racing staked a big claim in the Pro Extreme class, bringing a lot of big names and notoriety to the class. They also brought a big checkbook, which had a major impact in the class. While the performances continued to be incredible, some argued that the injection of that kind of money was detrimental to the class.
way, they might still be running.
I said back then,( not having a weight limit) was going to kill the deal. You can’ t have something with no restrictions, no minimum weight. You’ re going to get out of control. What’ s it good for anyway? If they put a minimum weight on it, that would have really helped.
LEGGETT: To me, that was kind of the ultimate downfall, that swath of money to come in there, and buy them cars and a certain few had them. I just think that kind of really got it screwed up.
Not even a huge payout could change the direction of the class. Hamstra won the Pro Extreme title in 2011, earning a $ 75,000 check, which was the largest payout ever for the class. But Hamstra saw the writing on the wall and never raced another Pro Extreme race after that year.
TODD TUTTEROW
HAMSTRA: The class wasn’ t the same as it was at the beginning. We didn’ t have a light car and we would have had to build a light one to keep running. It’ s hard to spend that kind of money on something that’ s going to fall apart. Big power and a lightweight car is not a good match. It’ s too bad because it was such a neat deal at first.
SNYDER: Times change. As stuff progressed, the costs got out of control and you couldn’ t maintain the interest. Is ego and spending this type of money worth the fun you’ re having? Obviously people started thinking no. As the cost went up, it wasn’ t as much fun. Plus, it’ s a hard class to drive. Not everyone can just jump in one, so your driver pool is limited.
NOWLING: Here’ s the thing, and ask yourself this question: Wouldn’ t the Pro Extreme guys rather have a high 3.60, low 3.70 class, $ 10,000 to win and $ 2,000 to qualify and $ 50,000 to the champion, and have 30 guys to compete against rather than ultimately not have a class at all? I would have to think the answer would be yes.
It only got worse after 2012, as the ADRL dissolved, only to resurface the following year with Nowling again at the helm. The ill-fated X-DRL also formed in 2013, adding to the friction. It didn’ t last a season, while the ADRL disappeared at the end of the year after financial controversy. The PDRA picked up the pieces in 2014 and kept the class going, but the mystique was waning. Taylor became the first in the 3.40s, yet the class appeared on a path that couldn’ t be reversed.
In the end, numbers told the story. Interest dropped each season since 2014, and some in the class expected it to be done in 2017 after low participation. In fact, only three drivers raced at all eight events in the class that year. It took another severe dive in 2018, with drivers and teams
August 2018 DragIllustrated. com | Drag Illustrated | 85