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Hancock is youngest drag racing champion ever; Scruggs' win caps dominant season

ADRL CHAMPIONS
Pro Extreme
2007:	Jason Scruggs
2006:	Bubba Stanton
2005:	John Lynam
Pro Nitrous
2007:	Jamie Hancock
2006:	Keith Baker
2005:	Dan Parker
Extreme 10.5
2007:	Steve Gorman
Pro Extreme Motorcycle
2007:	Bill Vose

ENNIS, Texas (October 12, 2007) - The Flowmaster American Drag Racing League's 2007 season came to a close Friday night at Texas Motorplex, with Jason Scruggs, Jamie Hancock, Steve Gorman, and Bill Vose claiming ADRL world championships by winning their respective classes in the AlphaTrade Battle for the Belts eliminators.

Scruggs capped a sensational season by beating Joe Baker for the Pro Extreme title, 3.850 to a troubled 7.79. During the 2007 season, Scruggs won his first career national event title (Huntsville), continually lowered the ADRL's Pro Extreme performance records (which now stand at 3.703 and 205.22 mph), and finished third in the AlphaTrade Battle for the Belts points standings. He was dominant during Friday's three-round competition, posting runs of 3.781/203.80 and 3.768/203.65 to win his two preliminary rounds before the final.

Hancock, 17, won the Pro Nitrous title from the eighth and final qualifying position, beating top-seeded Johnny Pilcher and Terry Housley to reach the final. He had his best run of the event in that race, posting a 4.029 to turn back 2006 ADRL world champion Keith Baker's 5-second run and deny Baker consecutive ADRL championships. With the Belts title, Hancock became the youngestever winner of a major drag racing championship. Ironically, Hancock came dangerously close to not qualifying for the Belts field at all, needing a semifinal finish at Dragstock IV in Rockingham to finally clinch his spot.

The ADRL's first-ever Battle for the Belts finals in Extreme 10.5 and Pro Extreme Motorcycle both ended at the starting line. In Extreme 10.5, Steve Gorman, the fifth-place points finisher in 2007, claimed the ADRL championship by taking the Tree after Michelle Wilson's car had troubles at the starting line and was pushed back. Wilson had already become the first female to win a round in AlphaTrade Battle for the Belts history and was attempting to become the series' first female champion in any class.

The Pro Extreme Motorcycle competition came down to the top two riders of the season, No. 1 qualifier Coodee Thomas and No. 2 Vose. In the final, Thomas left before the Tree was activated, although that didn't keep Vose from posting a monster run of 4.278 at 173.38.

Two points leaders from 2007 were eliminated in first-round upsets Friday night. Pilcher, who claimed the top spot in the final Pro Nitrous points standings by a massive 900-plus points, lost on a redlight against Hancock, and Extreme 10.5 points leader Mike Hill was beaten on a holeshot by Dragstock IV winner Brad Personett, 4.32 to 4.31.

The eight world titles in the three full seasons of ADRL competition have now been won by eight different drivers. John Lynam and Bubba Stanton won the first two Pro Extreme championships; Dan Parker and Keith Baker won the fist two Pro Nitrous titles.

Friday night's AlphaTrade Battle for the Belts eliminators marked the end of the 2007 ADRL season; Saturday's two rounds of qualifying and eliminations in all four ADRL professional classes will begin the 2008 campaign. All competitors entered this weekend's AlphaTrade ADRL World Finals with a clean points slate, and any points earned Saturday will carry over into the 2008 ADRL season.

Based in O'Fallon, Mo., the American Drag Racing League is the nation's premier sanctioning body for the sport of eighth-mile drag racing. The professional categories featured in the ADRL are Pro Extreme Motorcycle Extreme 10.5, Pro Nitrous, and the quickest doorslammer class in all of drag racing: Pro Extreme. The 2007 Flowmaster ADRL series will consist of eight events run throughout the United States. For more information on the ADRL, visit www.adrl.us. For more information on Flowmaster, visit www.flowmastermufflers.com.