April 11 - A perfect overcast Houston day was the setting for the very first Auto Barrel Racing event ever. Produced by Corey Eubanks, Tim Mattfeld and a host of local help the ABR was launched at the Houston Raceway Park. Weeks earlier the ABR had maintained a booth at the NHRA competition held on the dragstrip see pics and had met numerous racing fans in an effort to promote the ABR.

The new official Auto Barrel Racing trailer was unveiled for the first time - and made the long haul from California to Houston maintaining about "100 smiles per hour" along the way as curious onlookers and car lovers had their interest peaked by its graphics and style.

Several ABR girls were on hand from the local area for our first competition wearing the trademark ABR girl attire featured in our promotional video on the home page. Towering above almost everyone there was the lovely Britney - who you may have seen recently appearing as a Rock Star Energy Drink Girl. She did us the honor of running the stop/start lights for some of the competitors - and was quite a distraction (as all the girls were) - but we didn't receive not one single complaint from the guys.

Seeing the entire ABR course set-up for the first time was a unique experience for us as well. Hundreds of water-filled barricades were brought in and our electronic timeclock proved to be the perfect set-up for Auto Barrel Racing competitions.

As with anything else - you have to start somewhere, and the ABR was proud to be a part of the Houston Racing scene on its first outing. As promised, our first place winner (Scott Evans) took home $5000 in cash - and everyone in attendance had a fantastic time. With more events to be announced - go ahead and put the upcoming Washington State event in your iPhone (or on a calender for you old skoolers)! For more on the Washington State event - click here