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A CHANCE AT A CHAMPIONSHIP
West Champion Bigelow Among Three Drivers with Chance At Flowmaster ET Title
By DHRAonline.com staff
Al Bigelow didn’t enter the 2007 season thinking about national titles.
No matter.
He could end the season by winning one.
Bigelow first heard of the Diesel Hot Rod Association’s expansion earlier this year. He entered the DHRA’s first West Coast race of the season – and it first West Coast event, ever – at Speedworld Dragstrip in Surprise, Arizona, in late April, basically “to see how it would go.”
It went fine. And then some.
Six months later, he’ll race for the national title.
Bigelow, a 49-year old drag racer based out of Phoenix, Arizona, will be among three semifinalists in the DHRA’s DieselPower! Additives Drag Racing Flowmaster ET class when it decides it national champion in a playoff-style format at the Texas Diesel Nationals at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas on October 14-13.
“I probably stand about as good a chance as anybody, but I’m not going to tell anybody I’m going to win, by any means,” Bigelow told DHRAonline.com recently.
Bigelow will race against East Flowmaster ET runner-up K.J. Kitchens in one semfinal on October 13. The winner will race against East champion Earl Talley for the national title.
This is the first season DHRA has decided its national champions in a season-ending, East-West format. The series expanded West this season.
Bigelow, who races in a club in Phoenix, learned about the DHRA’s move West by reading a letter at Speedworld. He had heard of the DHRA’s East-based series the past several seasons, but he rarely travels out of the West to compete.
“I’ll go to California, but I won’t go to Indy or Pennsylvania,” he said.
He went to Speedworld, and won there against a deep, competitive field, then learned about the DHRA’s second West Coast race – the Vegas Diesel Nationals – from the organization’s website, DHRAonline.com.
“When I first heard about the race at Speedworld, I didn’t know if there’d be 10 guys or 100 guys,” Bigelow said. “I didn’t know what to expect. I just went out and won, and said, ‘What the heck, I’ll go to Vegas and see what happens.’ ”
He entered there, and won that, too.
“I won Vegas and said, ‘What the heck – now I’m going to Denver and Houston,’ ” he said, laughing. “I didn’t expect it at all. I race against a lot super, fast guys – real pros. I’m happy to go a few rounds with these guys.”
Bigelow, who finished fifth in Denver in July, said he benefited this season from the competition in Arizona. He typically races at one of three tracks around Phoenix in a “Pro” bracket class, and typically competes against 40-to-50 truck fields.
“The thing that helps me is I race against a lot of really good drivers,” Bigelow said. “We have about 50 guys in my class who race Pro.
“I just go and race every race. You just race one at a time and see if you can get to the next one. That’s what you do every time.”
Which he said is the approach he’ll take in Houston.
“I’m just going to cross my fingers and see how we do,” he said, laughing.
Bigelow, who started racing by drag racing motorcycles at age 16 at Epping Speedway in New Hampshire, began racing diesel trucks two and half years ago, when he bought a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500. He had been out of racing a while, he said, but “when I bought my truck a few years ago, I started hopping it up a little bit.”
When he heard about the DHRA’s move west this season, he said at first, “I didn’t even know if I had a vehicle that would be in a class that could run.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I knew there was drag racing. I showed up and got lucky.”
The DHRA, he said, is still a growing entity in the West, and something he said can continue to grow in the future.
“I tell people about it whenever I can,” he said. “When they see my trophy on the wall, somebody will ask about it. I liked Denver because there were about 70 or 80 people in our class. It was neat to see that many people racing and bring their diesel trucks from all over.
“I’m sure once they race more times, and if they go back to Speedworld – I’m sure there will be a lot more people.”
And no matter what the future holds, after mid-October, there will be an ET Flowmaster champion decided between champions of the East and West.
Bigelow didn’t start the season expecting to be that champion.
No matter. In a few weeks, he could be.
West Champion Bigelow Among Three Drivers with Chance At Flowmaster ET Title
By DHRAonline.com staff
Al Bigelow didn’t enter the 2007 season thinking about national titles.
No matter.
He could end the season by winning one.
Bigelow first heard of the Diesel Hot Rod Association’s expansion earlier this year. He entered the DHRA’s first West Coast race of the season – and it first West Coast event, ever – at Speedworld Dragstrip in Surprise, Arizona, in late April, basically “to see how it would go.”
It went fine. And then some.
Six months later, he’ll race for the national title.
Bigelow, a 49-year old drag racer based out of Phoenix, Arizona, will be among three semifinalists in the DHRA’s DieselPower! Additives Drag Racing Flowmaster ET class when it decides it national champion in a playoff-style format at the Texas Diesel Nationals at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas on October 14-13.
“I probably stand about as good a chance as anybody, but I’m not going to tell anybody I’m going to win, by any means,” Bigelow told DHRAonline.com recently.
Bigelow will race against East Flowmaster ET runner-up K.J. Kitchens in one semfinal on October 13. The winner will race against East champion Earl Talley for the national title.
This is the first season DHRA has decided its national champions in a season-ending, East-West format. The series expanded West this season.
Bigelow, who races in a club in Phoenix, learned about the DHRA’s move West by reading a letter at Speedworld. He had heard of the DHRA’s East-based series the past several seasons, but he rarely travels out of the West to compete.
“I’ll go to California, but I won’t go to Indy or Pennsylvania,” he said.
He went to Speedworld, and won there against a deep, competitive field, then learned about the DHRA’s second West Coast race – the Vegas Diesel Nationals – from the organization’s website, DHRAonline.com.
“When I first heard about the race at Speedworld, I didn’t know if there’d be 10 guys or 100 guys,” Bigelow said. “I didn’t know what to expect. I just went out and won, and said, ‘What the heck, I’ll go to Vegas and see what happens.’ ”
He entered there, and won that, too.
“I won Vegas and said, ‘What the heck – now I’m going to Denver and Houston,’ ” he said, laughing. “I didn’t expect it at all. I race against a lot super, fast guys – real pros. I’m happy to go a few rounds with these guys.”
Bigelow, who finished fifth in Denver in July, said he benefited this season from the competition in Arizona. He typically races at one of three tracks around Phoenix in a “Pro” bracket class, and typically competes against 40-to-50 truck fields.
“The thing that helps me is I race against a lot of really good drivers,” Bigelow said. “We have about 50 guys in my class who race Pro.
“I just go and race every race. You just race one at a time and see if you can get to the next one. That’s what you do every time.”
Which he said is the approach he’ll take in Houston.
“I’m just going to cross my fingers and see how we do,” he said, laughing.
Bigelow, who started racing by drag racing motorcycles at age 16 at Epping Speedway in New Hampshire, began racing diesel trucks two and half years ago, when he bought a 2004 Dodge Ram 2500. He had been out of racing a while, he said, but “when I bought my truck a few years ago, I started hopping it up a little bit.”
When he heard about the DHRA’s move west this season, he said at first, “I didn’t even know if I had a vehicle that would be in a class that could run.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I knew there was drag racing. I showed up and got lucky.”
The DHRA, he said, is still a growing entity in the West, and something he said can continue to grow in the future.
“I tell people about it whenever I can,” he said. “When they see my trophy on the wall, somebody will ask about it. I liked Denver because there were about 70 or 80 people in our class. It was neat to see that many people racing and bring their diesel trucks from all over.
“I’m sure once they race more times, and if they go back to Speedworld – I’m sure there will be a lot more people.”
And no matter what the future holds, after mid-October, there will be an ET Flowmaster champion decided between champions of the East and West.
Bigelow didn’t start the season expecting to be that champion.
No matter. In a few weeks, he could be.