A/FUEL DOMINANCE

In the Top Alcohol Dragster category the move is on to build and race A/Fuelers, as 10 of the 16 qualifiers were powered by nitro.

The Lucas Oil-sponsored A/Fueler of Darien and Meadows, the perennial Division 7 standout, sat in the #2 slot with the series sponsor's son Morgan (seen here) in the seat. The dragster went out in the second round on a -.002 red light.

Jerry Darien has been characterized by some as a "professor." With his 40 years in drag racing, he has coached the likes of Gary Scelzi, Frank Pedregon, Melanie Troxel, and Brandon Bernstein, all of whom have moved on to the top nitro classes. Darien said of his current pupil, "Morgan's not ready to move up, and he doesn't want to go up yet. He wants to learn more, do more things, have more experiences, do better. And that's fine, I think that's exactly what he needs to do."

When asked about his long-time interest in A/Fuelers, Darien commented, "A/Fuel cars are considerably more economical to run, they're more of a crowd pleaser, they're considerably less work, less physical labor to do all the maintenance, and they go fast. I mean they're cool. At night the flames are up on the wing, and the crowd loves it."

In the TAD final, Alan Bradshaw's A/Fuel Dragster won from the #1 position, defeating Garrett Bateman.

SUMMARY

It is clear that Bruton Smith's $50 million renovation has really paid off here at Infineon Raceway (still Sears Point to the die-hard fans). The dragstrip has returned to producing some of the best numbers on the NHRA circuit and the air is usually great, but with the current glitches in the U.S. economy, ticket prices remain high, preventing the huge attendance on Fridays and Saturdays they used to have.

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