Photos by MSA Staff

ROCKINGHAM, NC (September 12, 2009)—The National Guard American Drag Racing League’s (ADRL’s) Flowmaster Dragstock VI lived up to its promise of a great event Sep. 12, delivering record-setting fields, outstanding individual efforts, massive crowds and exciting on-track action.

Before a standing-room-only crowd that packed historic Rockingham Dragway to capacity, Jason Hamstra (left, near lane) won his second Pro Extreme race of the year, Pro Nitrous veteran Mike Castellana scored his second win of the last three events, Chuck Ulsch doubled his Extreme 10.5 win total in record-setting fashion, Extreme Pro Stock racer Doug Kirk won his second of the year and Pro Extreme Motorcycle rider Eric McKinney became the lone first-time winner.

Hamstra, the number-one qualifier in the quickest 16-car field the National Guard ADRL has ever seen, opened with wins over Travis Swearingen, Gaylen Smith and Joshua Hernandez before defeating Pro Extreme newcomer Ken Walsh with a 3.76-seconds pass at 204.73 mph over the Rockingham eighth mile in the final round.

“Our car was driving really smooth all weekend, it didn’t spin the tires even once,” the 21-year-old from Demotte, Indiana, said of his supercharged 1968 Camaro. “Everything just went perfect for us here.”

Flowmaster Dragstock VI also represented the final points-paying opportunity toward securing a qualifying position for the National Guard ADRL’s unique Speedtech Battle for the Belts, which pits the top eight finishers in each of the series’ five pro classes against each other in winner-take-all, championship-deciding playoffs at the 2009 season ender this October in Dallas, Texas. With his win, Hamstra cemented a seventh-place points finish and a chance at a National Guard ADRL championship.

“That was our first priority when we arrived here,” Hamstra said. “Once we won our second round and knew we’d be in the Battle for the Belts we were able to relax a little and just go racing.”

Westbury, NY’s Castellana (right, near lane) knew going into the race he’d be part of the post-season Belts race and will start as the third seed in Dallas. Like Hamstra, he also qualified for the quickest Pro Nitrous field ever in first place at Rockingham before taking out Fredy Scriba, Charles Carpenter, and his own Al Anabi Racing teammates Shannon Jenkins and Burton Auxier in the semis and final round, respectively.

With team owner His Highness Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani looking on, Auxier got the jump off the start in the final, but Castellana’s 1970 Camaro quickly reeled him in and posted its third 3.90 pass in a row and won with a 193.16-mph blast.

“I saw Burton get out on me and didn’t think I was going to catch him, but then his car went into tire shake and that’s all it took,” Castellana said. “I’m just glad we could win another one for the Sheik. It was great to get three (of four) cars into the semis and racing my teammates, I was more relaxed than usual because I knew he team was going to get the win, no matter what. Now we just have to turn our attention to the Battle for the Belts and bring home the championship.”

Riding on relatively narrow 10.5-inch-wide rear slicks presents its own set of challenges, but since his debut of a new supercharged, Hemi-powered ’68 Camaro three races prior to Dragstock VI, Ulsch (left, far lane) has mastered the Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 class. After starting from the number-two slot with a 4.02 at an incredible 204.01 mph, the Clarksville, Maryland-based driver downed fellow Belts contenders Todd Moyer, Spiro Pappas and Jeff Paulk before facing off against top qualifier Gary White and his turbocharged, six cylinder 2007 Scion.

Ulsch left with a .045 holeshot and never looked back, running another 4.02 and increasing his speed to a whopping 206.39 mph. His qualifying speed becomes the official class record, however, since it’s not within the required one percent to back up the higher speed.

“This Vanishing Point car just continues to impress me. It’s working so perfectly and to see the kind of numbers we’re running now is really kind of unbelievable,” Ulsch said. “I’ve been at this a long time, but it doesn’t seem so long ago when we were running fives (seconds) at 140 miles an hour and to be running over 200 like this is just awesome.”

Following a seventh-place qualifying effort, Kirk (right, far lane), from Lenore, West Virginia, raced through Jason Collins, number-one starter Dean Goforth, and Elijah Morton before reaching his close friend, Brian Gahm, in the final round.

Prior to racing, Kirk and Gahm arranged with National Guard ADRL and Rockingham Dragway officials to stage a unique show for the thousands of fans on hand, swapping lanes while backing up from their burnouts.

“It’s something we’ve talked about doing for at least 10 years, but either no one would let us do it or it just wasn’t the right time to ask. We felt with the ADRL’s willingness to do things a little differently and the atmosphere and reputation of Dragstock as a unique race that this was the perfect opportunity. I hope the fans liked the show because we sure did. I especially liked the ending,” Kirk said after making his best pass of the weekend, a 4.09 at 176.12 mph, in the final round.

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