Words by Jeff Burk
Photos by Steve Embling and courtesy ADRL Communications

Mick Snyder (Steve Embling photo)

The last race of the 2010 ADRL regular season went off on schedule at the Bader family’s Norwalk Raceway Park and the race, like the Series, was nothing if not a classic example of extreme door car racing ADRL style.

Mick Snyder has been a stalwart of the NHRA sportsman series, racing record-setting supercharged Alky Funny Cars, but with that class dwindling in popularity and the growth of the ADRL series, Snider must have seen an opportunity. For the 2010 season he added a second car to his team and began his first season in the ADRL Pro Extreme class for door cars that make the 1/8th mile in less than 4 seconds at over 200 mph.

The DeMotte, Indiana, racer and ADRL Rookie-of-the-year candidate got the first door car win of his long drag racing career at Norwalk Raceway Park’ ADRL event wheeling his Lencoglide-equipped, supercharged Pro Extreme ’63 ‘Vette to a win taking out the number 1 and 2 racers in ADRL championship points in the process and doing it decisively.

Snyder’s ‘Vette ran an impressive 3.66 at 207 mph to earn the first round win. During the second round, Snyder secured a spot in the Battle of the Belts for teammate Jason Scruggs when he took out Wes Johnston with a 3.68 at 206 mph. 

According to reports, his opponent in the finals, Alex Hossler, had damaged his engine and tranny in the semifinals and for a fact had a pretty big engine “boomer” in the finals against Snyder and coasted to a five-second pass on the eighth-mile track. Snyder was having his own problems in the other lane and had to step off the gas pedal to keep from crossing the centerline but he maintained to cross the stripe first and earned his first ADRL “Minuteman” trophy.

Snyder had a pedestrian 3.95 ET in the final for the win but couldn’t celebrate his first ADRL win until replays showed he had not crossed the centerline into the right lane.

“I wasn’t sure if I crossed or not. I knew I was close and I was waiting for someone to let me know,” Snyder said. “If you’re going to win, you might as well do it in spectacular fashion.”