Page 15 - NM Spring 2018
P. 15
Chris Bates in the The NHRA Heritage Series
“U.S. Mule”, owned by held six events in 2017 in which
crew chief Kin Bates Jr.
the Nostalgia A/Fuel class
participated. The first race was
held on January 14-15 at Wild Horse
Pass Motor Sports Park in Phoenix,
AZ. Five A/Fuelers entered the
event, the Pro-Max Austin Racing
Team out of Tacoma, WA with
Drew Austin driving, the Grand
Prix Auto entry from Tulsa, OK
driven by John Harless, Kin Bates
driving the Bates & Adams FED
out of Redding, CA, Chuck Tanko
from Prescott, AZ and Rick Ewens
from Robles, CA, both driving their
own cars. When the final round
was finished, it was John Harless
in the winner’s circle driving the
Grand-Prix Auto 392 Chrysler style
injected nitro powered dragster
owned by Jon Brook. John’s times
were in the low 6.20s in the mid 220
MPH range.
The second series race took place
at the well known March Meet
in Bakersfield, CA. In addition to
the five cars that ran in Phoenix,
three were added, John Evans
out of Salt Lake City, UT, Dennis
Allen from central CA and Chris
Bates out of Redding, CA. All three
were injected on nitro. It was at
this event that the first A/Fuel five
second passes were recorded. Kin
Bates and Drew Austin qualified
with a 5.97 and 5.99, respectively.
The race was not finished due to
bad weather. The final was run at a
later date with John Harless taking
the win over Kin Bates to become
the points leader.
The third and fourth events were
held at Sacramento Raceway in
early April and mid-June. The April
race was won by Drew Austin over
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Spring 2018 Nitro Madness Magazine 15