After earning their first Minute Man Trophy at the last ADRL event in Topeka, Kansas the Aeroquip
sponsored team of Mike Janis kept their momentum as they headed into the ADRL NATIONALGUARD.com
U.S. Drags II at Virginia Motorsports Park (VMP) as they grabbed their first ADRL pole setting the
pace for the second quickest Pro Extreme field in ADRL history.
With qualifying limited to just two sessions at this race Janis knew his 3.93 from round one had a
slim chance of holding him in the field so, crew chief, Mike Janis Jr. set up his father's hot rod
for all the VMP surface could handle. In front of a record crowd Janis' Monster Powered Jan-Cen
Racing Engines equipped 67' Firebird launched to a 3.762 at 203.22 snagging Janis' first ADRL
number one qualifier. The run also placed Janis third on the ADRL's Pro Extreme active qualifying
streak list with 6.
The Aeroquip team then turned their focus to eliminations where in round one they defeated
teammate Tommy D'Aprile and then in round two took out Joey Martin and the "LowMad" for the second
time this season.
The victory over Martin was somewhat costly as Janis drove through the clutch pretty hard. The
team was forced to pull the clutch and resurface it between rounds, not a regular between round
maintenance procedure. With time an issue Mel Bush sent over his crew to assist Janis and his
Aeroquip crew.
While the team was getting their ride ready fellow competitor and Janis' opponent in the next
round, Todd Tutterow and his team were feverishly trying to repair their wounded engine. With not
enough parts to get her back together Janis, an engine builder by trade, offered what ever the
Tutterow's WYO team needed to make the next run.
"We may be new to the ADRL, but we're not new to this type of racing and we've been in the same
boat as Todd is right now. I don't want to win a race because he couldn't make it," said Janis. "
As racers go we try our best to help out other racers. This sport can bring out the best and worst
of people, but here at the ADRL I've only seen the best and I'm glad we could help".
Janis' good feelings over his act of philanthropy quickly waned as the two racers turned into
combatants. It was Tutterow out of the gate first but by the 330 Janis had taken the lead, then
Janis' Dan Page built Firebird got uncharacteristically out of shape forcing Janis to lift and hand
the win to Tutterow.
"That's new," said Janis. "She never did that before. She was on a real good run and just took
off. I'm not sure if was the track or what but I'm glad we still have a car and hey.did you notice
Todd ran his best numbers of the weekend (3.793) when he had Jan-Cen parts," laughed Janis.
Next up for the Aeroquip Team is a trip to Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois for
the ADRL Hardee's Gateway Drags II on August 7th and 8th.
