SUMMER JOINS GOTHAM CITY RACING
Not
only is Mike Ashley branching out from Pro Mod into Funny
Car, but he has added another driver to his own Gotham City
Racing team. Annette Summer will campaign her turbocharged
'63 Corvette at AMS Pro Mod events in Columbus, Indy, Dallas
and Las Vegas, and the ADRL event in Valdosta, GA.
Summer and her husband Vernon and tuner Darrell Makins
(formerly with Scotty Cannon) will have their work cut out
for them since the car currently weighs a hefty 2,945 pounds.
"It's a pig," Summer admits, "but we're hoping
to get it down to just over 2,800 once we put in the new
turbos and take the extra weight out. Next winter we're
going to lighten it up even more because we're going to
have a new nose built which will cut 40 or more pounds off
the front. We're allowed to run 2,650 in AMS, but I doubt
we'll be able to get it down that far."
The car will market Ashley's new "Gotham Gear for
Ladies" apparel. A former Pro Street champion, "Pink"
joins Danny Rowe and Troy Coughlin in Ashley's Pro Mod stable.
(Ian Tocher photo) [8-8-2005]
CANNON RETURNS TO LIMITED COMPETITION
Six-time Pro Modified
Champion Scotty Cannon will return to a limited schedule
of races in his '53 Studebaker with the backing of Evan
Knoll's eRaceFuels/Torco Eastern Race Fuels brand. (Is the
Agent the only one confused about how many names and products
there are?)
Cannon will compete at this weekend's IHRA Torco Race Fuels
Northern Nationals in Martin, Michigan and at the ADRL's
Dragstock 2 Sept. 30-Oct. 2 in Jackson, SC.
"I'm excited about this," Cannon said. "I've
been around racing for a long time and it takes a lot to
get me excited, but when this opportunity came along I was
tickled at the potential." [8-8-2005]
HEROLD ADDS STUDENTS TO RACE TEAM
AT BRAINERD
Pro Stock racer Pat Herold will add nine new members to
his Bad Rat Racing crew for the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals
this weekend. The nine are members of the Formula SAE Team
from Minnesota State University. Earlier this year the Formula
SAE Team was involved in an accident on their way to Detroit
for a vehicle competition. Three members were killed and
several more injured. Herold's crew chief, Jason Laimonis,
graduated from MSU and knew many of the students on the
team.
"The whole situation was really tragic," Laimonis
said. "The guys lost their team members, their car
and everything they had worked on the entire school year."
With help from NHRA, the track and many race car teams,
the students will receive tickets, pit tours, t-shirts and
many other items for the weekend.
"We have also added the team's decal to our Pro Stock
Chevrolet Cavalier," said Laimonis. "Our car is
their car this weekend." [8-8-2005]
