GDRA Race #5 Presented by Harrison Metals

As we are prepared to reach the mid point of the Gamblers Drag Racing Association racing season, we are preparing ourselves for the best part of the season. Our next event presented by Harrison Metals is getting set to take place July 16^th as part of the Nitrous Street Car Brawl at Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove, WI. So far this season all the drivers are proving they have what it takes to win across all 3 of our classes, 8.60, 7.80, and 6.90. You could say it’s a sure bet the just trying to knock the “King” of his throne is only going to become more and more challenging. This only means one thing for the fans and the racers, closer finishes, harder door to door racing, and the most competitive racing you’re gonna find anywhere on the planet every lap down the strip these racers make. In all three classes, 32 car qualified fields run on a Pro Qualifying ladder using a .400 Heads up Pro-Tree. 100% all cash payouts totaling up to $4250 to win in each class based on that 32 car field!!! That’s HUGE no matter how you stack it.

What makes this all possible? The support of all our great Marketing Partners... Companies like Powermaster Performance, Zimmerman Ford, ARP Racing Products, Device Tech Inc, Undercover Innovations, United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers, and Allied Workers, VFN Fiberglass, Victory Driveline Components, RacingJunk.com, Lawson Products, Automatic Transmission Design, Inc., Harrison Metals, UBS Construction, Angry Beaver Racing, Biltmore Refrigeration, Outlaw Graphic Designs, Suburban Accents, and Gearhead News stand behind one of the greatest racing programs anywhere. Additional media will be provided by MC Photography and Ores Action Photography as well as 10 Wide Racing and ARS Promotions. Be sure to look for articles as found in Gearhead News magazine as well.

Head over to the website to download you entry forms if you think you have what it takes to race with the GDRA. Remember, you must compete in 5 events to be eligible for the season ending “All-in Showdown,” our largest payout race of the season in October. While your checking out our site, be sure to grab your official GDRA appeal for the 2011 racing season. Check us out on Facebook and make sure you click the "Like" tab to keep up to date with all the happenings, news, and race dates. With the season in top gear now, more and more racers are taking their shot at the big prize up for grabs. Wanna give it a shot and see if you can bring home your share of this year’s record payouts? Well log on, sign up, strap in, and hammer down cause you’re going for a wild ass ride. For all our fans, mark your calendar and come on out to watch some top class drag racing action. The best show in the Midwest and you’ll agree, there’s nothing like a ground pounding action that the Gamblers throw on the table while trying to cash in on truckloads of C-notes!!! You want to see the fastest side by side heads up index racing in the country, don’t miss the next GDRA event!!!

Race Recap June 18th, 2011

Ken Kendall - GDRA Race #4 June 18th, 2011 - Winner 8.60

Don Mateicka - GDRA Race #4 June 18th, 2011 - Runner-Up 8.60

Tony Orts - GDRA Race #4 June 18th, 2011 - Semi-Finalist 8.60

Paul Pommerich - GDRA Race #4 June 18th, 2011 - Semi-Finalist 8.60

Gordy Frank - GDRA Race #4 June 18th, 2011 - Winner 7.80

Kevin Deaton - GDRA Race #4 June 18th, 2011 - Runner-Up 7.80

Curt Fredrich - GDRA Race #4 June 18th, 2011 - Winner 6.90

GDRA 8.60 Class Final

After several weeks of nothing but rainy weekend weather, we finally got the break we were looking for. The weather was picture perfect of the fourth GDRA race presented by RacingJunk.com. The skies were blue, the air was warm, and the stands were full. The car turnouts were best yet this season and the crowd turn out was amazing. Qualifying was tight all across the board in each class and really gave the fans something to cheer for. There’s nothing better than a nice tightly qualifying field going into eliminations. You just never know who is going to come out on top at the end of the day and are sure to see some upsets.

Our largest 8.60 field yet provided some great side-by-side action with several competitors posting 8.60X something on the scoreboards, which meant only one thing. You had to be on your game, cut a great light, and run a flawless pass to take the victory. Drivers like Mark Zeirer, CJ Williams, Paul Pommerich, Patrick Shea, Don Mateicka, Tony Orts, Rocket Ron, Steve Peterson had no problems getting very close to perfect runs either in eliminations or qualifying. Small tires vs big tires? Makes no difference here as #2 qualifier, Dan Foriucci put up an 8.604 in his stock suspension small tired Chevrolet Camaro. Taking the top spot would be Mark Zeirer with an 8.603. During eliminations, we saw and couple racers giving up just a little on the starting line to their competitor which ended up giving them a spectator pass for the rest of the evening as sleeping a little on the starting line well only put you behind at the finish line. In the semi-final rounds we would have Tony Orts versus Ken Kendall. Kendall would take the victory over Orts who just couldn’t get it done. On the other end of the semi-final ladder would be Don Mateicka versus Paul Pommerich. Pommerich would end up handing the victory to Matiecka on the starting line going red. The final round would pair Ken Kendall and Don Matiecka against each other and it would be Matiecka this time pushing for the advantage on the tree, going red by .001 and instantly handing the win to Kendall with his stout 8.605 to Matiecka's 8.615. This makes The Kendall Family's second victory of the season.

In our 7.80 class it would be Gordy Frank taking the victory of first time 7.80 competitor, Kevin Deaton. While in our 6.90 class, Curt Fredrich would end up #1 for the second time this season as well. Curt would end up running a GDRA best of 6.843 at 201 mph during competition which is a little to fast but considering he ended up with a bye run in the final, it was what he needed to lay it out on the line.

Congrats to all the racers for putting on one hell of a show and congrats to our class winners:

Ken Kendall - Winner 8.60

Don Matiecka - Runner-Up 8.60

Paul Pommerich - Semi-Finalist 8.60

Tony Orts - Semi-Finalist 8.60

Gordy Frank - Winner 7.80

Kevin Deaton - Runner-Up 7.80

Curt Fredich - Winner 6.90

Mark Zeirer - #1 Qualifier 8.60

Gordy Frank - #1 Qualifier 7.80

Curt Fredrich - #1 Qualifier 6.90

Next race will be July 16^th part of the Nitrous Street Car Brawl at Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove, Wisconsin. Mark your calendars cause this is going to be a BIG race. Hope to see everyone there and thanks for showing your support for the GDRA. The fans and racers are what make us the best place to race in the Midwest. We could not do it without you.

GDRA race #4 presented by RacingJunk.com

Things are really starting to heat up as the Gamblers Drag Racing Association prepares for the fourth race of the 2011 racing season. The next event presented by RacingJunk.com is set for June 18^th at the Legendary Great Lakes Dragaway as part of their Nitrous Street Car Brawl event. Our 8.60, 7.80, and the country's first 6.90 index class will all be on hand ready to tear the roof off the house. 32 car qualified field for all 3 class, .400 pro-tree, and a Pro Qualifying ladder so bring your "A game!!!" All classes, 100% paid out in cash of the racers buy-in. That's $4250 to the winner of each class based on a 32 car field payout!!! So plain and simple, the more racers, the bigger the stack-o-cash you have a chance of bringin home to momma! Detailed payout information can be found on our website and Facebook page.

What makes this all possible? The support of all our great Marketing Partners... Companies like Powermaster Performance, Zimmerman Ford, ARP Racing Products, Device Tech Inc, Undercover Innovations, United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers, and Allied Workers, VFN Fiberglass, Victory Driveline Components, RacingJunk.com, Lawson Products, Automatic Transmission Design, Inc., Harrison Metals, UBS Construction, Angry Beaver Racing, Biltmore Refrigeration, Outlaw Graphic Designs, Suburban Accents, and Gearhead News stand behind one of the greatest racing programs anywhere. Additional media will be provided by MC Photography and Ores Action Photography as well as 10 Wide Racing and ARS Promotions.

Head over to the website to download you entry forms if you think you have what it takes to race with the GDRA. While your there be sure to grab your official GDRA appeal for the 2011 racing season. Check us out on Facebook and make sure you click the "Like" tab to keep up to date with all the happenings, news, and race dates. Things are happening at break neck speed around here now that the season is in full swing. Make sure you stay up to date and on your toes cause you aint gonna wanna miss what's coming up this season... its only gonna get wilder from here on out as the jack goes up!!!

And this just in...

During race #4, the GDRA has placed a $200 price tag on the head of 6.90 racer, John Scali Jr. The Top Dog class racer who puts the 2010 NHRA Divisional Champ on the trailer during round 1 of eliminations, will collect a $200 cash bounty for sending him home with bagged lunch in hand.

Now that makes things a bit more interesting

Get signed up ASAP!

Race Re-Cap May 28th, 2011

Ken Kendall - GDRA Race #3 May 28th, 2011 - Winner 8.60

Mark Zierer - GDRA Race #3 May 28th, 2011 Runner-Up - 8.60

Tony Orts and Rocket Ron Bochenek - GDRA Race #3 May 28th, 2011 Semi-Finalists - 8.60

GDRA 8.60 Final

While its no secret that most of the drag race enthusiast have been met this season with some down right miserable weather, there is always hope that we'll be able to get out and put on a great show for all our fans and that our events will go off without a hitch. Memorial Day Weekend was no exception. Scheduled to run all three classes (8.60, 7.80, and 6.90) with two separate races as part of the Olympics of Drag Racing held at Great Lakes Dragaway, the GDRA drivers started showing up Friday morning. A large number of them looking to get some shake down passes in prior to the following day's event. The drivers that showed up on Friday were blessed with great weather and we saw some really fast times from everyone across the board meaning a lot of the crews would spend some time trying to fine tune their drivers machines to run that magical index number. An evening of heavy rain made the next morning a little damp but the terrific staff at Great Lakes Dragaway got everything dried up quickly and get the track prepped in time for the event to start just a tick later than its planned start time.

The 8.60 class once again had an amazing car count seeing a total of 16 cars for this event. Sadly, there was a significant amount of carnage and mechanical issues that left some on the sidelines for the event. Some teams are still struggling to find and repair the gremlins for the winter season, some are trying to figure out new combinations and equipment, and some picked up where they left off in 2010. There was some amazing racing seen and some upsets as well. Kevin Harrison ran a perfect 8.60 against Mark Zierer's 8.63 in 2^nd round which should have given Harrison the win but Mark cut down the tree on the starting line and to the win with a holeshot victory crossing the stripe ahead of Harrison. There were a number of drivers throughout the day that were able to find the number including Kevin Harrison, Don Mateicka, Ken Kendall, Mark Zierer, and Tony Orts. It would prove to be a very thought and tight field all day and into the night. In the semi final rounds it would be Tony Orts vs Mark Zierer and Ken Kendall vs Rocket Ron Bochenek. Zierer and Kendall would pick up the wins in some very close side by side racing. In the final it would be Ken Kendall picking up his first win of the season over Mark Zierer. Kendall would push Zierer out the back door running an 8.602 to Zierer's break out time of 8.58. A tough loss but one hell of a close race!!!

Congrats to Tony Orts, Rocket Ron Bocheneck - Semi Finalists, Mark Zierer - Runner-Up, and Ken Kendall - Winner. Also a big thank you to Curt Fredich for your help in the 6.90 class who put on a great show for the fans running some exhibition passes against the famed Shake Rattle and Run and running right on the 6.90 index.

Sadly, as a few racers that could not make the Saturday event started to roll into the track, Mother Nature showed us her evil side on Sunday for the next race. It poured most of the morning into the afternoon and the event was eventually called. It's a shame cause we would have seen a really nice field in all three classes with cars representing 8.60, 7.80, and 6.90's respectively. All of the racers where given the option since no qualifying had taken place to either receive a refund for their entry or roll it into the next race. All of them rolled it into the next event so its sure to be a great turn out once again. Hope to see everyone there on June 18^th. We also have put a price on Ms. Mother Nature's head, dead or alive to ensure perfect racing conditions for the rest of the season!!!