When the factory-built machines of the ADRL’s revolutionary SuperCar Showdown take to the Bristol Dragway this afternoon for the first qualifying session at the ADRL Spring Drags III, it will mark the series debut of one of the most recognized names in the automotive industry.
Ray Skillman, 70, operates 14 automotive dealerships in the Indianapolis area comprising virtually every major auto maker and is deeply involved in every facet of automotive sales, repair, restoration, and performance. And from a racing standpoint, the elder Skillman has seen and done it all – but the ADRL’s new category is just what believes racing should be.
“This new SuperCar class is exactly what drag racing should be,” said Skillman from his Ray Skillman Performance Ford shop in Greenwood, Indiana. “When I first heard about it, I knew the family had to get involved.”
Skillmans’ son Bill and grandson Drew will both join him in competition at ADRL events with a two-car assault on the SuperCar Showdown division with a fleet of three supercharged Ford Mustang Cobra Jets.
Both Bill and Drew only recently caught the racing bug and began their driving careers, while the family patriarch used the opportunity to resurrect his love for the straight line sport.
“I was out of the seat of a drag racing car for 48 years while I built my business and raised a family,” said Ray, “but I always kept up on what was going on because many of our customers raced. The chance to run these new cars all-out with no handicap is what we’ve waited for. That’s real racing.”
Due to a pre-scheduled African safari, Bill will miss the Bristol event, but will compete in future events. Meanwhile, Ray and grandson Drew will tackle what is sure to be an even tougher field this weekend than that seen at the inaugural contest in Houston won by fellow Hoosier Bo Butner and his Cobra Jet.
“I have to spend the next week getting all my shots and preparing for the trip,” said Bill, “but I’ll be attending the SuperCar Showdown races after the trip presuming I come back alive.”
It will be Bill’s 24 year-old son, Drew, already a rising star in production car drag racing, who will be competing alongside “Paw Paw” in Bristol.
“I’m really looking forward to this,” noted Drew. “I’ve only raced on a Pro Start system once so this will be a whole new type of racing but it’s what I really want to do.”
The first round of qualifying in Bristol, featuring the SuperCar Showdown, is scheduled to get underway at noon today.
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