The Bickel contingent has staked out its biggest chunk of territory in the Pro Nitrous class this season, with the names of 17 drivers showing up in the points rundown after four of eight races. In the top 10 are Tommy Franklin (2) and his ’69 Camaro, Lizzy Musi (4), who wheels a 2009 Dodge Avenger, John Camp (7) and Travis Harvey (8), both of whom drive ’69 Camaros. Rounding out the top 20 are Bob Rahaim, John Hall, Chris Patrick, Jim Sackuvick, Chris Rini, Mike Castellana and Robert Mathis. Also in the mix are Dewayne Silance, Josh Green, Randy Weatherford, Chuck Mohn, Danny Perry and Jim Laurita. These drivers make up nearly half of the points chasers this season - talk about dominating a class!

Another class-leading Bickel machine is the ’68 Camaro driven by doorslammer standout Todd Tutterow, who is top dog in Pro Boost. He is joined in the top 10 by Jim Bell (9), with Steve Summers, Bill Lutz, Lamar Swindoll Jr., Randy Bryan and Andy Beal also offering stiff competition in the class.

In Top Sportsman, a category that consistently draws large numbers of the best competitors in the game to PDRA events, Arron Glaser sits in the No. 4 spot with his ’69 Camaro, while Canadian competitor Barry Daniluk, who drives a ’68 Camaro, holds down the No. 8 position. Also contending this season behind the wheel of Bickel cars are Rick Corn, Toni Moretto and John Benoit.

Prior to the inaugural PDRA season kick-off, Jerry Bickel had these rather prophetic words to say regarding his company’s involvement with the eighth-mile sanctioning body:

“I think the PDRA is going to be a great place for so many top racers to compete,” Bickel said. “It’s going to be a place where everyone will want to go and for our part I know lots of our customers will be involved. We have had great success with the Pro Nitrous and Pro Extreme categories in particular, and we felt we wanted to help our customers as well as help the sanctioning body out by participating. We’re looking forward to being involved with the PDRA this season.”

And involved they have been, evidenced by the large number of competitors driving Bickel cars and the success they are having.

Now, with four events in the books, Bickel has proof positive that his pre-season assessment was right on the money.

“I think they’re doing a great job,” he said. “They are doing an outstanding job of preparing the tracks, they’re keeping up with the rules, and everybody seems to be focused on the success of the organization, the racers and the sponsors. It’s just a great place to race.”

The PDRA is honored to have Jerry Bickel Race Cars as an integral part of its overall plan for the future of eighth-mile competition in North America. The company is supporting the organization and the racers through substantial primary and contingency sponsorship programs this season.

And there’s even more good news for competitors, as Bickel took this opportunity to announce that an exciting new product will soon be available from JBRC.

“I’m happy to say that the 2014 C7 Corvette is on the horizon, and it will be rolled out shortly,” Bickel said. “This is a car that will work in Pro Extreme, Pro Nitrous, Pro Boost and Top Sportsman. It’s going to be a great piece.”

Knowing the quality and reputation of this outstanding company there’s not much doubt that this will be another in a distinguished line of race and championship-winning cars.

From Pro Stock to Pro Mod and everything else with doors in between, JBRC has designed it, refined it and fabricated it. Top competitors in sanctioning bodies around the world rely on the all-around race winning performance associated with cars and components from JBRC.

In addition to complete cars and chassis, JBRC also offers an extensive line of performance parts, everything from cooling systems to gears, axles, driveshafts, wheels, bellhousings, clutch kits and much more. This truly is a one-stop destination for anyone interested in building or maintaining a performance vehicle.

JBRC utilizes the assembly line method in their race car construction, allowing the fabricators to perform the same specialized job on every chassis. Their facility is state-of-the-art, featuring a temperature controlled manufacturing area and all the tools necessary for the construction and assembly of quality race cars and related components.

“It’s great to have Jerry Bickel Race Cars associated in such a significant way with the PDRA,” said PDRA Race Director Bob Harris. “Jerry and his people have contributed in such a huge way to the sport of drag racing by providing competitors with safe and well-built race cars capable of winning races and championships regardless of the class of competition. They do great work, and provide an extremely valuable service to racers. We are proud to have them as a key part of PDRA.”


Article by: Brian Wood  //  Photo: Gary Rowe (RaceWorks.com) of Jim Sackuvich