VANCIL WORLD CHAMP IN
AHDRA
For the third year
in a row, Doug Vancil and the Vance & Hines / Drag Specialties
Nitro Harley team have won the championship. They are number
1, the best of the best for the third year running. Vancil
dominated the IHRA in 2001 and 2002 and now the AHDRA for
2003.
"It was a
tough, long year of racing in the AHDRA and 3 exhibition runs
with the NHRA, but with the continued support of our sponsors,
we were able to stay consistent and finish on top" said
Doug Vancil. All in all, Doug raced in 18 races in the AHDRA
and NHRA combined, traveling all across the United States.
In the last weeks of the season, he raced six races, going
to the finals in four events and winning two, and a rare-rainout
tie in Oregon. He was consistently the number one qualifier
throughout the year and hit new high speed records in both
the AHDRA 222.66 mph (Rockingham, NC) and NHRA 227.80 mph
(Joliet, IL).
The last weekend
of the year in Vegas, with the championship already in his
pocket, Doug went out and qualified #1. All weekend Doug was
battling not only with his competitors, but a terrible head
cold. "I definitely wasn't feeling myself for Vegas,
but I gave it my all and qualified #1 with a 6.437 et / 213.16
mph run." In fact, it was the quickest time of the weekend,
including the eliminations.
Entering the eliminations,
Doug advanced through the first round with a 6.555 et / 208.23
mph pass. In the second round of eliminations, Doug smoked
the tire and had to come out of the throttle a few times to
run an 8.109 et / 123.55, allowing Steve Heidner to advance.
"It wasn't the way we wanted to end the season, but we
sure had a good year. We'll be ready to go again in 2004",
stated Julie Vancil. But it wasn't all a bad ending in Vegas
- Doug's good friend, Mike Romine was able to go to the finals
against Mark Cox and clinch second place in the AHDRA. Congratulations
to Mike Romine and the entire RMC Racing team.
2001, 2002, and
2003 World Champion Doug Vancil and the Vance & Hines
/ Drag Specialties team will be racing again in February 2004.
The 2004 AHDRA schedule will be posted soon on vanceandhines.com
and ahdra.com. Additional racing updates throughout the winter
will be posted as well.
Special
thanks to all the sponsors for 2003 for making the year such
a success - Vance & Hines, Drag Specialties, Performance
Machine, K&N Filters, & Barnett's Tool & Engineering.
