Mike Soliven, ACDRM.com Trading Card #8

Mike Soliven is the latest addition to our ACDRM.com Virtual Trading Card collection. Please let us know if you the new layout or the old one.

You can view the back of his card and the rest of the collection by CLICKING HERE.

To get your own ACDRM.com Trading Card send an email to jculley@acdrm.com.

Eric Madson, ACDRM.com Trading Card #7

Eric Madson is the latest addition to our ACDRM.com Virtual Trading Card collection. Please let us know if you the new layout or the old one.

You can view the back of his card and the rest of the collection by CLICKING HERE.

To get your own ACDRM.com Trading Card send an email to jculley@acdrm.com.

NEW FEATURE - Agent Aircooled

We have a new feature/contributor here at Air Cooled Drag Racing Monthy (ACDRM.com), he is Agent Aircooled. Who is the Aircooled Agent you ask? He could be your next door neighbor, the girl next to you on the freeway or the guy behind you in the line at the grocery store. The agent's only job is to bring you the latest rumors and gossip from around the world of aircooled drag racing and he is good at his job!

HAMMER DOWN (1/30/2007)
Rumors have been circling that an old front engine dragster from the past has recently received a make over and will be returning to action with twin turbos attached to the massive power plant . . . Agent Aircooled hasn't quite NAILed down who it is yet but when I do you will be the first to know.

Thank-You Ultra VW

It seems Ultra VW (UK based VW magazine) ran a little blurp on ACDRM.com and I didn't even know about it and I am in the UK right now!!! Brian Watts, ACDRM Photographer/Writer brought it to my attention we were mentioned in the Ultra VW Webwatch.

This is what they had to say, "Jason Culley and Brian Watts bring you all the hot news, gossip and race dates from the world of air-cooled VW drag racing. The nice thing about this site is that it's a worldwide collection of air-cooled VW news, with great images and some excellent articles from just about every major VW drag racing series."

This was a real nice surprise and we want to thank Ultra VW for the kind words and you check them out at http://www.ultravw.com/.

"BusterJohn" Varela, ACDRM.com Trading Card #6

"BusterJohn" Varela is the latest addition to our ACDRM.com Virtual Trading Card collection.

You can view the back of his card and the rest of the collection by CLICKING HERE.

To get your own ACDRM.com Trading Card send an email to jculley@acdrm.com.

The First European Bug-In

On June 29th through July 1st, Chimay Raceway in Belgium will host The First European Bug-In presented by CSP Products.







ACDRM.com is planning on being there so look for a report and photographs from the event. For more information you can visit their website at
www.europeanbugin.com.

Greg Schmidt, ACDRM.com Trading Card #5

Greg Schmidt is the latest edition to our ACDRM.com Virtual Trading Card collection.

You can view the back of his card and the rest of the collection by CLICKING HERE.

VolksCast Radio

VolksCast Radio hosted by Ray Iddings interviewed Carl Nolen of the Texas Volkswagen Drag Racing Association this week.

If you haven't checked out Ray Iddings and VolksCast Radio yet you don't know what you are missing. You can check out the website at http://richchristensen.com/radio/volkscast.php.

2007 NASA Open - Nathan Cole Takes Top Honors

Article by Greg Urrutia

Photos Courtesy of Greg Urrutia
Toughest opponent across the board was the wind. The heartiest of souls that made the trek out to Sacramento Raceway went home with windburn. It was relentless. The track was ready to shut down (rain checks sounded good) but decided to try going with an 1/8 mile contest. The track was never good. There was problems with the timing system and the wind force increased as it got later in the day....but we did get a race in.

Sixteen drivers signed in for the first running of the NASA VW Open. For some the event was over before it ever began. Mechanical failures sidelined a couple of drivers by the end of the first qualifying session. After the second round some drivers decided to save the equipment for another day.

Highlight of the day had to be the drivers meeting. VW Innovator/Racer/Sponsor/Entrepreneur AJ Sims made a special guest appearance showing his ongoing support for the VW scene. He delivered a bounty of rewards for this years top performers renewing his on going generous sponsorship of the NASA Series. AJ stayed busy all day as he made himself available to the racers as they took turns picking at his brain. He openly offered his vast knowledge of all things VW simply for the asking.


Biggest treat had to be surprise announcement of the inaugural ACDRM.com Driver Of The Year Award. Brian Watts writer/photographer representing ACDRM.com made the presentation to a very unexpecting Greg Schmidt. He appeared very puzzled as $100.00 cash and commemorative trophy were handed over to him as he was named the first recipient of the ACDRM.com Driver of the Year. Congratulations Mr. Schmidt!

Although Schmidt captured the number one qualifying position, it was announced during the drivers meeting that Chad Axford was sidelined with mechanical problems (engine), as was Lynn Urrutia (trans),Stephanie Bracy (trans), and Rick DeLeon (trans). Racers found their pairings on the ladder provided by the tower and we went racing. The shortened 1/8 mile program had the drivers studying their time slips for a dial-in number.

Taking into consideration poor track conditions, the gail force winds,and the bitter cold, winner's of the first round included Chris Brown,Gloria DeLeon, Nathan Cole, Greg Urrutia, Patrick Friel, Tony Morag, and John Rocha. The wind played havoc and was blamed for a number ofred lights scored throughout the day.

Mellow Insanity Racing awarded Gloria DeLeon $25.00 cash for best total package (.050) in the first round of eliminations. Best Light of the Day went to Nathan Cole (.041) good for $50.00 cash from Greg's VW Service.

In the final round we found John Rocha, with problems at the starting line fall to Nathan Cole. The two finalist split the Jackpot funds($40.00/$35.00) and each took home the first offering of Sacramento Raceway's 2007 "Racing Wheel" Trophies. Although we battled with the wind, we were able to get the race in.NASA hopes to continue the "NASA Open" to give the VW Drag Racer a chance to check us out, sort of a test ride to see if NASA racing is for them. Special thanks to Brian Watts (ACDRM.com) and AJ Sims (VWTurboKits.com) for making the time to come out to the first VW event of the year and spend some time with us.More information about NASA can be found at www.nasavwdragracing.com.

2006 ACDRM.com Driver of the Year

Article by Jason Culley
Photograph by Brain Watts
Brian Watts, ACDRM.com photographer and writer was on hand for the first race of the 2007 season, the 2007 NASA Open hosted by Greg's VW Service and Bad Dog Racing at Sacramento Raceway (look for a recap and photographs from the event coming soon). Before the racing began Brian awarded NASA Pro-VW Drag Racing Series driver Greg Schmidt with the award for ACDRM.com Driver of the Year. Greg's VW Service stepped up earlier in the year and offered to sponsor the award for the 2006 and 2007 season. Schmidt was awarded with $100.00 cash and a trophy from Greg's VW Service. Many names were in the running and ACDRM.com had a hard time choosing a winner, some of those names included Joe Maestas (PRA), Eric Calabrese (PRA), Warren Skaggs (ECPRA), John Strnad (TxPRA) and Rick Tarter (TVWDRA) just to name a few.

Read below for a press release from Greg Urrutia of the NASA Pro-VW Drag Racing Series and Greg's VW Service.

Schmidt Named Driver Of The Year
Article By Greg Urrutia
Out of a pool of dozens of drivers, 2X NASA Champion Greg Schmidt has been named Driver of the Year by ACDRM.com (Air Cooled Drag Racing Monthly). This coveted honor comes on the heels of Greg's second consecutive championship, a first for NASA's Pro VW Drag Racing Series. Consistency, smart driving, fewer mistakes, and winning the all important double points race were the keys to Schmidt's second Championship. Having won 5 out of the series 7 races in his 11 second Karmann Ghia, Greg comfortably won the championship by a whopping 320 points. Along the way he put together a streak of 20 straight wins in eliminations in the NASA series and also raced competitively in the PRA Series (Greg finished in the top 10) winning the inaugural Drag In After Dark event held at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield.

Greg's winning season was celebrated at the NASA Annual Awards Banquet where he collected a bounty of rewards offered by the many fine series sponsors. Greg would like to thank Jansen Enterprise, Chris and Shannon Brown, Simon's Autowerks for their ongoing support, and of course ACDRM.com for being recognized as the first inductee for the Driver of the Year honor.

ACDRM.com conducted an interview with Greg last year, you can read it by clicking on the following link - GREG SCHMIDT INTERVIEW.

Lance Gregory, ACDRM.com Trading Card #4

Lance Gregory is the latest edition to our ACDRM.com Virtual Trading Card collection.

You can view the back of his card and the rest of the collection by CLICKING HERE.

Drag Racing This Weekend (January 20-21)

On Sunday, January 21, Greg's VW Service and Bad Dog Racing are hosting the Pro-Light VW Bracket Race at Sacramento Raceway Park in Sacramento, California. The event will be held in along side the NHRA/Summit Series ET Drag Racing Series. Gates open at 8 a.m. and racing starts at 10 a.m. and goes until 5 p.m. Cost is $15.00 to get into the gate, $20.00 for your tech card and $5.00 for the jackpot and is open to all VW powered vehicles, aircooled/watercooled and manual/automatic. Qualifying positions will be determined by reaction times posted during your 2 practice runs. Trophies and jackpot cash will be awarded to the winner and the runner-up. Greg's VW Service will award $50.00 cash for the best reaction time during eliminations.

For more information on this event or if you would like to sponsor any part of this event you can contact Greg by email at gregsvw@frontiernet.net or by phone at (916) 952-6568.

ACDRM.com Trading Cards

We have added cards #2 and #3 to our virtual ACDRM.com Trading Card collection. Thanks to Rich Grise and Martin Taylor for their submissions.

Rich Grise (Card #2)








Martin Taylor (Card #3)







These two new cards join the first ACDRM.com Trading Card of Eric Calabrese. You can view the entire collection as it grows by CLICKING HERE.

To submit your own car CLICK HERE.

AIRKEWLD VW Nationals

The AIRKELWD VW Nationals presented by Misbehavin Motorsports is being held on March 25 at Speedworld Raceway Park in Surprise, AZ. There will be five drag racing classes with over $5,000.00 in cash available. The event is being sponsored by Classic V-Dubs, VW Island, Doug's Bugs and Bunnys, LOWLIFEVW.COM, Chirco, T-N-T Auto Service, Dry Heat Panzers (DHPVW) and Wedge Vee-Dub.

For more information on this event you can contact misbehavin_motorsports@hotmail.com.

VolksCast Radio

VolksCast Radio hosted by Ray Iddings interviewed John Plow of the Cal-Look.com website and forums this week.

If you haven't checked out Ray Iddings and VolksCast Radio yet you don't know what you are missing. You can check out the website at http://richchristensen.com/radio/volkscast.php.

Congratulations To All 2006 Champions

Air Cooled Drag Racing Monthly (ACDRM) would like to congratulate the many champions from the various VW drag racing organizations around the world. Without the racers going out every weekend and busting their butts and sometimes their wallets this site wouldn't exist so THANK-YOU!

EAST COAST PRO RACING ASSOCIATION
Warren Skaggs

NASA PRO-VW DRAG RACING SERIES
Greg Schmidt

NORTHWEST IMPORT DRAG RACING ASSOCIATION
Micky Jennings

PRO RACING ASSOCIATION
Eric Calabrese (Pro Mod), Joe Maestos (Super Street), Mike Sheldon (Super Comp), Mike Lawless (Super Gas), Mike Soliven (Super Modified), Clyde Berg (Pro Eliminator)

SOUTH EASTERN VOLKSWAGEN ASSOCIATION
Mike Gagnier (Super Pro), Mel Shealy (Pro), Johnie Walker (Sportsman)

TEXAS VOLKSWAGEN DRAG RACING ASSOCIATION
Rick Tarter

TEXAS PRO RACING ASSOCIATION
John Strnad

VOLKSWAGEN DRAG RACING CLUB
Glynn Morgan (VW Pro), Pauly Herbert (VW Sportsman), Bubba Finney (Alternate Engine)

If your organization or club is not listed and you run a drag racing series please contact me at jculley@acdrm.com and good luck to everybody in '07.

PRA Super Street In the 9's?

A little something to get you excited about the upcoming season. There are rumors on the West Coast that the Pro Racing Association (PRA) Super Street catagory will see its first nine second pass in '07. The current record holder in the Super Street catagory is David Stark with a 10.194 during Bugorama #57 at Sacramento Raceway in May of 2006. The Super Street catagory is a weight per cubic inch Heads-Up class. It is limited to pan based VW bodied cars with normally aspirated engines.

The 2006 PRA Super Street champion was Joe Maestas.

The PRA begins its season on April 15th with the Chapman Volkswagen Bugorama at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, AZ.

If/when somebody dips into the nine second range or the record is broken we will have the story.

SEVWA Announces Quick 8 Point Series

The South Eastern Volkswagen Association (SEVWA) will be running a Quick 8 Point Series in 2007 at selected events. This is in addition to the normal Super Pro, Pro, Sportsman and Pro Stock (at selected events) categories.

The entry fee is $100.00 with the SEVWA adding in an additional $200.00 and all money is being payed out to the racers (65%/35% split). All vehicles must have doors and be + or - one inch of the factory wheelbase. There are no limits on vehicle weight or engine size and it can have a turbo or be normally aspirated and NOS is allowed. This category will use a Pro-Tree. If more then eight cars enter then the remaining that do not qualify will be placed in the Super Pro class at no extra charge. The Quick 8 will be ran at the following events:

- Silver Dollar Showdown #4 - Silver Dollar Raceway, Reynolds, GA (Mar 10-11)
- North vs. South Shootout - Rockingham Dragway, Marston, NC (Apr 15)
- Northern Challenge #2 - Motormile Dragway, Radford, VA (Jun 17)
- Fast Times At Farmington #6 - Farmington Dragway, Winston Salem, NC (Oct 14)

For more information on the South Eastern Volkswagen Association you can visit their website at www.sevwa.com.

ACDRM.com Trading Cards

Do you want to be featured on an ACDRM.com Trading Card like Eric Calabrese (see previous post)? Send me a few pictures (make sure you own the rights or have permission from the photographer to use a picture) and the following information -

Name
Hometown
Year and Type of VW
Engine Size
Sponsors
Favorite Track
Highlights from 2006
Drag Racing Organization (if applicable)

This will take the place of the Readers' Rides section we were planning. You can email jculley@acdrm.com if you are interested.

ACDRM.com Trading Cards

So I was cleaning out some boxes the other day and I came across some of my old baseball cards and had a thought, "How cool would it be to have VW drag racing cards?" So I put this one together for fun of PRA Pro Mod Champion, Eric Calabrese. (You can view a larger size image by clicking on the pictures)


















I will continue to create more over the next few weeks and who knows if they turn out well enough you may see these for sale at your local baseball card shop!

Your comments are always welcome and can be left by clicking the comments link at the bottom of this post.

ACDRM.com Update

We are in the process of validating our extensive Performance Directory and Links section. You can visit the section and see the sites we have and check back often as new sites will be added all the time.

2007 Event Planner

We have posted our 2007 event planner - 2007 Event Planner. We will add to it as we hear of new events or when drag racing organizations release their 2007 final schedules.

If you know of an event that we do not have listed please contact us at jculley@acdrm.com or bwatts@acdrm.com.

Texas Volks Blast - May 6, 2007

A new VW event is coming to Central Texas, the TEXAS VOLKS BLAST presented by O'Reilly Auto Parts is taking place on Sunday, May 6 and will be held at Temple Raceway just south of Temple, Texas. The drag racing action will include TxPRA Pro-Stock, TVWDRA Bracket Racing and Street Classes with payouts of up to $2500.00. The event will also include a car show with plaques awarded to the top 25 entries and a swap meet area. Hot VW's will also be on hand covering the event for a future article in their magazine.

This new event is being sponsored by O'Reilly Auto Parts, Crow Racing Transmissions, Geers Engineering, Oak Hill Automotive, Action Import Motors, Irrational Metalworks and I am sure the Texas Volks Blast team will be announcing more sponsors over the next few months.

For additional information you can visit www.texasvolksblast.com or contact them at texasvolksblast@gmail.com.

Unlimited Street East - It's On The Street Ain't It?

In conjunction with the South Eastern Volkswagen Association's (SEVWA) Northern Challenge #1 being held on June 17, 2007 Rancho Performance Transaxles, VW Paradise, G. Serrano VW Speed Shop, Kawell Racing Engines and the SEVWA bring you the Unlimited Street East 2007. The race will take place at Motor Mile Dragway in Radford, Virginia. Any four cylinder, air cooled, rear-engine VW powered vehicle allowed and must have a minimum weight of 1700 pounds w/driver. The vehicle must have two front seats, have functioning headlights & tail light, muffler and no wheelie bars allowed. All vehicle must have required safety equipment for ET/MPH as per International Hot Rod Association rules. Driver must show proof of registration and insurance and will be required to complete a cruise, approximately 20 miles, prior to the start of the event.

For more information on this event you can visit www.unlimitedstreeteast.com or contact Troy Sellers at (865)932-6509 or InRange97@aol.com.

Air Cooled Drag Racing . . . . . ?

Well if you listened to Volkscast Radio hosted by Ray Iddings today/tonight (Ray interviewed Dominic Luppino and Troy Sellers) you heard him mention the ADCRM.com which I am extremely grateful for, THANKS RAY! Although he accidently called us the Air Cooled Drag Racing Monthly instead of Air Cooled Drag Racing Magazine it was actually a fortunate mishap. When I heard it I thought it flowed nicely and since we aren't technically a magazine we are going to alter the name a bit. We will now be known as Air Cooled Drag Racing Monthly (Blog Dedicated To Air Cooled Drag Racing). The name change does not effect the domain name, we will still be located at www.acdrm.com. So again thanks Ray and to all who have visited the site since our return we really appreciate it.

Pro-Light VW Bracket Race - Sacramento Raceway

GREG'S VW SERVICE and BAD DOG RACING are hosting the first (that I know of?) VW drag race of 2007. The race takes place on January 21, 2007 at SACRAMENTO RACEWAY PARK in Sacramento, Calfornia and will be held in along side the NHRA/Summit Series ET Drag Racing Series. Gates open at 8 a.m. and racing starts at 10 a.m. and goes until 5 p.m. Cost is $15.00 to get into the gate, $20.00 for your tech card and $5.00 for the jackpot and is open to all VW powered vehicles, aircooled/watercooled and manual/automatic. Qualifying positions will be determined by reaction times posted during your 2 practice runs. Trophies and jackpot cash will be awarded to the winner and the runner-up. Greg's VW Service will award $50.00 cash for the best reaction time during eliminations. For more information on this event or if you would like to sponsor any part of this event you can contact Greg by email at gregsvw@frontiernet.net or by phone at (916) 952-6568.

Feature Car Of The Month - January 2007

ARTICLE BY JASON CULLEY
PHOTOS BY ANDREW FOLDHAZI
While perusing the pages of Cal-Look.com last year I came across pictures of Andrew Foldhazi's recently completed Slightly Cal-Look, But Undeniably High Performance 1962 VW Bug. I was awestruck by this car and knew I had to learn more about it. So for our first Feature Car of the Month here at ACDRM.com we will take a look at Andrew's '62 and its story.

To read the rest of the story click here.

Before We Begin

Before we start thinking about the 2007 VW drag racing season I wanted to take the time to thank those who made it possible for me to run this site last year. In no particular order, Brian Watts, Carl Nolen, Eric Ellis, Gregg and Lynn Urrutia, Pat Downs, "BusterJohn" Velara, David Butler, Outlaw Flat Four Drag Racing Club, Texas Volkswagen Drag Racing Club, Texas Pro Racing Association, Stephen Hawes (VRN), those who purchased t-shirts just to name a few. This list is by no means complete so if I left you out I apologize sincerely and know that I do appreciate you.

If you have any questions or comments I can be reached at jculley@acdrm.com.

Site News

WE ARE BACK! The site was originally launched in March of 2006, with just me doing the updates and trying to track down stories and photos. Around May, Brian Watts joined the team and provided some great coverage and awesome photos for ACDRM.com. The site was paused in October 2006 due to some unforeseen circumstances which have since been resolved and the site can now continue on its mission to bring you the most up to date and current happenings in the VW Drag Racing world in 2007 and beyond. Check back with us often during the month for updates as we get ready for the 2007 racing season. THANKS!