It was a once-in-a-career type of season for GALOT Motorsports ’ Pro Boost teams . Between drivers Kevin Rivenbark and John Strickland , each of the nine national event titles to be had this season went home to GALOT Motorsports . The drivers traded trips to the winner ’ s circle with Kevin taking the first and last three , while Strickland ’ s car mastered the hot weather tune-ups , taking home wins during the summer months . Domination to that extent by a single team is almost unheard of in drag racing . Rivenbark , who was runner-up in points the first two season of Pro Boost , credits the team ’ s incredible success to R & D on their lockup transmissions . The hard work was not wasted and produced nine wins and the top two finishers in points . “ It feels wonderful ,” Rivenbark said of clinching the championship . “ After the last two years of being number two , finally being number one kind of feels unreal . It slipped through my fingers last year . To do it this way this year , winning six of them , really is just unbelievable . I can ’ t fathom it sometimes .”
Rivenbark began the year by winning two events in the same weekend when the season opener eliminations were completed at the Spring Nationals at Rockingham Dragway . He did so in fine fashion , resetting the Pro Boost national ET record at each event . He led the points from that point and never looked back .
Strickland performed well right alongside Rivenbark throughout the season , actually surpassing the world champion through the hot weather months . By the time Dragstock XIII rolled around at GALOT Motorsports ’ home event on the tour , Rivenbark had the hot-weather bugs worked out of his setup and once again resumed his winning ways .
Rivenbark beat his teammate in the semi-finals of the Sunshine State Shootout to seal the deal for his first world championship . The eliminations of that event were run in conjunction with the PDRA World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park . Rivenbark capped off his championship in much the same manner he began the season . He went on to win both races that weekend and reset the ET record at each event once again . The record now stands at 3.711 .
“ The very first race at Tulsa , probably about the third run we knew we had something ,” Rivenbark added . “ We ’ d been working on lockups for a couple of years already . End of last year we got it working , found the magic combination for it . It just took [ our competitors ] all year to catch up . Some people went with the EFI and it just
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didn ’ t see the gains compared to what the lockup converter did .
“ I think Mr . Wells is ecstatic . [ Winning every event ] is one thing he wanted to accomplish that nobody ’ s ever done . Jason Harris won almost every one the first year of the PDRA . For a team to win every race of the season , it ’ d be hard to duplicate , for anybody , even ourselves . It was something we were glad to do . It ’ s not great for the class for one team to win all the time , but I think everybody ’ s pretty much caught up with us , or they ’ re at least real close . I think next year it ’ ll be back to equal and it ’ ll be very tough to win one .”
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One of Rivenbark ’ s sons is already behind the wheel and quickly following in his footsteps . In just his first full season , Coolidge Rivenbark finished fifth in MegaCorp Top Junior Dragster national points standings . Like Rivenbark , Strickland , and Todd Tutterow who ran some in both Pro Extreme and Pro Boost this season , Coolidge is sponsored by GALOT Motorsports , as well as MegaCorp Logistics .
“ I always thank Mr . and Mrs . Wells for giving us the opportunity to do this at the level we do it . I also thank our associate sponsors Red Line Oil , Neal Chance Converters , Ross Pistons , Rite Care , VP Fuels , Ty Drive , Trend Performance , House of Payne , Bohr Racing Products and RCD .
“ Of course , without Todd , Jeff Bohr , Brad Schmidt , and Ty Tutterow , this wouldn ’ t be possible . They had to work a lot of hours , especially when we were changing back and forth between PDRA and NHRA . Their hard work and dedication is what makes it happen . I just ride A to B . Without them I couldn ’ t do it .” - LISA COLLIER DI
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PHOTOS : COLE ROKOSKY , NATE VAN WAGNEN |