When Mel Bush commissioned Dan Page to build his new ride it was just that a ride for Mel himself.
With recent health issues pulling Bush from the driver seat and the off season switch to ADRL
competition Bush made the decision to build the car as a lightweight Pro Extreme machine with hired
gun Tommy D'Aprile at the wheel.
The new Dan Page Race Cars built 70 ? Camaro made its ADRL debut this past weekend at the ADRL
Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags III and showed quickly that this car will be a force to recon
with.
"Dan built us a great car and the guys from Jan-Cen did a heck of a job getting her race ready. We
made some launches in testing prior heading to Columbus so these runs are the cars first full
passes and she's already showing her stuff," said Team Owner Mel Bush.
On the cars first full pass D'Aprile was forced to lift as the car drifted towards the
centerline. The numbers on that run (while incomplete) were a tell tale sign of what this car is
capable of. Running an elapsed time of 4.003 at only 147.18 miles per hour made everyone in the Pro
Extreme pits take notice.
The crew led by crew chief Kevin Peters worked through some minor chassis adjustments in the
remaining qualifying rounds and were able to place the Jan-Cen powered entry of Bush in the number
eight qualifying position with a 3.835 at 197.62.
In round one driver, Tommy D'Aprile of Port Charlotte, Florida squared off with Columbus, North
Carolina's Quain Stott. Stott the cagey veteran used his best run of the weekend to take out
D'Aprile running a 3.787 to D'Aprile's 3.835.
With all things considered crew chief Kevin Peters was pleased with the performance of the newest
Mel Bush Motorsports Team Car.
"I think the car did pretty well. We'll have to get her balanced a little bit better but I think
with a little more testing we should be able to run some very impressive numbers," said Peters.
Next up for the Mel Bush Motorsports team will be a trip to Indianapolis with a legal '62 Bel Air
in tow.
