A few weeks back, the team decided to go in search of a good race surface that would provide a stellar Pro Mod race. Enter Farmington Dragway (a.k.a “The Farm”) in Farmington, NC. They have been running Quick 8 Pro Mod races there for many years and they know how to treat the track and the racers. That was very apparent after visiting the track a few weeks ago for one of their races. It is also the home track of one Todd Tutterow, 2009 ADRL Pro Extreme World Champion.

On July 9, 2010, the team headed south, stopping along I-81 (literally) for a few minutes to pick-up the crew chief. After collecting the extra baggage, they progressed down the interstate, ending up in Farmington for the July 10 Quick 8 Pro Mod Race. It was to be the unknowns from West Virginia against the “Big Dogs” of North Carolina.

The day started with the threat of thunderstorms forecast for the entire day, but fortunately the sky was clear and there would be no rain. After joining up with the Quick 8 Racer’s Association, we prepared for our first qualifying pass. With no data at this particular track, we took the best guess that we could at the tune-up for a track that was 138 degrees and baking in the sun. The luck of the draw paired us with Todd Tutterow himself in his blown AJPE small block-powered Mustang for all 3 of our qualifying passes. On the first pass, the car would shake the tires at mid-track, but Dwayne would pedal to go through with a 4.32-second elapsed time. On the 2nd qualifying attempt, the car improved but still shook. This time it would be very late in the run, but the improvement would be small (4.28). The third and final qualifying attempt was rather unsuccessful as the car spun the tires hard about 10 feet into the run and darted for the center line. Dwayne would shut it off and get the car under control. The 4.28 would be enough to qualify us in the number 8 position for the 8 car field.

The Farm uses a sportsman ladder, so that setup a first round matchup with the #4 qualifier Tommy Mauney, esteemed chassis builder, in his nitrous-powered ‘68 Camaro. Mauney ran a 4.08 in qualifying, so we had our work cut out for us. Unfortunately for Mauney, his car was unable to start to come out for the run, giving Dwayne a solo for the first round win. Dwayne would do some driving down track as the car slid around on the slick surface, but he would stay with it to take the car through with a 4.23 at 171 mph. That represented the first full pass of the day for us and would setup yet another run with the #2 qualifier Todd Tutterow (4.04 seconds). In this matchup, Dwayne was off the starting line first and Tutterow spun the tires before the 60 foot mark and shut it off. The team was ecstatic and celebrated the 4.20 second, 171 mph run, before the party crashed. Dwayne had a red-light start by only 0.010 seconds, which handed the win to Tutterow. He would make the best of the second chance and come back to win the final with a 4.07 second, 178 mph pass.

The foul would end our day, but it was a successful outing nonetheless. We were able to attain our first ever sub-1 second 60 foot times (0.994 and 0.987 seconds) and we qualified for our first-ever Pro Mod race in the Carolinas in our first attempt.

We had a great time and we can’t say enough about Don Plemmons and the staff at Farmington Dragway. They are well organized, extremely helpful and just overall know how to put on a race. We would like to thank Don and everyone at The Farm (track officials and fans) for their hospitality in welcoming us with open arms. It was a pleasure for us to run with this group of Pro Mods and we look forward to making the trip again at some point in the future.

On June 18, the Wolfe Racing team set off for a three-day tour of Maryland race tracks with three races in three days. This has never before been attempted by the team, but we were ready to find out if we were up to the challenge.

The first was a Friday night Outlaw Kwik 8 event at Mason Dixon Dragway in Hagerstown, MD. After walking the track once we arrived, we were a bit concerned about the lack of rubber on the surface. That accompanied by 130+ degree track temperatures did not bode well for our high-horsepower, blown Pro Mod. On the first pass of the evening, we crippled our 2002 Firebird in an effort to try to just make it down the racetrack to get a baseline. The car still skated down the length of the track due to constant tire spin, but Dwayne handled it to stop the clock with a 4.78 @ 158 mph.

It turns out that only three cars showed up to qualify for the Kwik 8 event: us, John Powell and Ronnie Proctor. After a crash in qualifying, Powell was uninjured but unable to compete in the event, leaving only Dwayne and Ronnie Proctor. Originally, we agreed to run a best 2 out of 3 to put on a show for the crowd, but circumstances required us to cut that back to a single race to determine a winner.

After making some changes to the tune-up and getting the added benefit of nightfall, we setup for a “final” round against Proctor in his Mustang. At the flash of the green, Dwayne was off with a 0.030 second advantage on the starting line. The car had a bit more grip down the racetrack on this pass, but still skated around on the slick surface. Dwayne went on to take the win with a 4.510 @ 164 mph as Proctor faded to a 5.64.

The next stop on the tour was 75-80 Dragway in Monrovia, MD on Saturday night. This was our first visit to the track this year for entry into their Big Tire Outlaw class. Starting with a baseline from the night before, we made a few small changes and went out for the first qualifier. Unfortunately, one of those small changes caused us to spin the tires about 20 feet off the starting line. Dwayne would pedal the car and then shutoff 3.98 seconds into the run; the car drifted through at a 4.80 @ 140 mph, which placed us third after the first qualifying session. On the second qualifier, the issues were corrected and the car performed fairly well as it went straight down the groove with only a small amount of tire shake. Dwayne would take the #1 qualifier spot away from Proctor on that pass with a 4.41 @ 164 mph.

In the first round of eliminations, Dwayne would face Gary Walker in his red, blown Chevy II Nova. About 80-100 ft into the run, the car spun the tires and headed for the left wall. Dwayne backed out of the throttle, took about 0.3 seconds to get the car pointed in the right direction and then slammed the pedal again. The car hooked up and Dwayne blasted past Walker to take the win with a 4.52 @ 161 mph (with a 0.1 second margin of victory). In the final, Dwayne would once again face Ronnie Proctor in a rematch from the night before. Dwayne would again be out of the gate first by 0.050 seconds, but there would be too much horsepower in the tune-up to allow for a clean pass. Dwayne pedaled the car four times, but the car failed to hook up this time. Proctor’s 4.52-second elapsed time provided a 0.077 second margin of victory for him, relegating us to the runner-up spot.

The last race of the tripleheader was to be the Pro Outlaw Doorslammers race at MIR on Sunday, June 20. Unfortunately, we found a small issue with the engine that couldn't be fixed in the amount of time that we had between races. So, we decided to forego the third race and headed for home. The weekend ended with the team achieving two number one qualifier positions, one win and one runner-up in two races. Even though our first attempt at a tripleheader was not completed, it still wasn't too bad of a weekend at the races.

On May 21, the team set off for Richmond and the ADRL Speedtech U.S. Drags III event in our first attempt to compete in the challenging Extreme 10.5 (XTF) class. Putting 2000 horsepower to the ground is difficult, but coupling that with a 10.5 inch wide tire adds a new set of problems. It had been 6 years since we had run this small of a tire on one of our cars and that car was running over 1 second slower in the eighth-mile than our current ride.

With our attempts to make a couple test passes thwarted over the last few weeks, we traveled to Richmond with a car that had not been on the track this season at all and one that had never been run on 10.5” tires. So, with no data and no baseline, we set off hoping for the best.

In the first qualifying pass, we were met with hot track conditions and a starting tune-up that just had too much horsepower. About 80 feet into the run, the car lost traction and headed for the left side retaining wall. After gathering the car and pointing in the right direction, Dwayne slammed the throttle again, but only managed a 5.43 second elapsed time. That was good enough to be in the field after the first round of qualifying, but we knew we had issues that needed to be resolved quickly.

On the second qualifying attempt, some changes were made to take even more power out to just get the car down the racetrack. Luckily for us, it worked. The car ran fairly straight down the groove, stopping the clocks at a 4.56. Considering that was only the second pass on 10.5W’s for us, we took that as a moral victory knowing that the car was crippled from a horsepower standpoint.

The evening qualifying session allowed us to improve yet again with a 4.38-second effort that caused a few anxious moments as the car left the groove and headed for the wall. Without lifting, Dwayne got the car righted, putting it back in the groove and into 12th place on the grid following the Friday sessions.

For the fourth and final qualifier on Saturday morning, we put some power back in to see what we could put down on a much cooler race track than we had experienced the day before. Unfortunately, it proved to be too much, as the car smoked the tires before the 60-ft mark and only managed a 5.13 as it was pedaled down the track. After that qualifying round, we ended up 15th on the ladder…BUT, we had qualified for the XTF field in our first attempt on 10.5 tires!

What did we get for that? Well, we received a first round pairing with the most recent winner on the ADRL XTF tour, Gary White. White qualified number 2 in the field with a stellar 3.96. We made the best tuning decisions that we could, hoping to improve to the low 4.20’s, knowing that we didn’t have the data or knowledge to run competitive numbers to White’s. However, it wasn’t to be, as the Wolfe Racing Firebird managed only a 4.36 @ 168 mph to White's 3.99, eliminating us from competition. Gary White would go on to win the XTF event at the Speedtech U.S. Drags III.

And so ends our first attempt at racing in an ADRL event. While it wasn't an overwhelming success, we achieved promising results for the future of our 10.5 tire program.

The Wolfe Racing team is proud to welcome Winchester Metals, Inc. as an associate sponsor for the ADRL race in Richmond, VA on May 21-22. Winchester Metals, Inc. offers comprehensive metals processing, distribution and service solutions to a variety of commercial, contracting and residential customers.

Winchester Metals, Inc has locations in the Winchester, VA and Richmond, VA areas, but provides services to customers in 5 states. Visit their website for more information: www.steelsupplier.com.

Well, it has been a long offseason for the Wolfe Racing team and we could not be more ready for it to be over. We are ready to get back to the track and embark on a new journey into the extremely competitive world of the ADRL. Before we get this season started on May 21 in Richmond, VA, we need to pause and acknowledge our sponsors for this season. As the years have passed and performance has increased, it is nearly impossible to continue improving without some help and support from good people. Below is a brief message about each of our sponsors, but please visit our new Sponsors page for more detailed information on these companies.

Thanks to Wolfes Garage, LLC of Moorefield, WV for all of their help and support in getting us the auxiliary equipment that we need to compete at the race track. Wolfes Garage, LLC is a family-owned business that provides all types of auto and truck repair and offers the sale of used 4x4 trucks. They are currently in their 32nd year of providing quality service to their customers.

Thanks to South Fork Auto & Body of Moorefield, WV for the help in getting the new toterhome painted up and looking great. For all of your auto body and paint needs, call Jerry at South Fork Auto & Body.

Thanks to Skyline Oil, Inc of Winchester, VA for their assistance in keeping our 526" Alan Johnson 481X blown powerplant lubricated for the past few seasons.

Thanks to J.R. Hill Construction of Moorefield, WV for their support of the toterhome project and the overall support of the race team over the last few years.

The time has come for the Wolfe Racing team to upgrade their wardrobe for the bigger races that we plan to attend in 2010. To make that happen, we turned to Champion System. Below is a sneak preview at our new look. The shirts are scheduled for delivery just prior to our first ADRL race in Richmond on May 21-22.