- SOX & MARTIN® AND MCCANDLESS COLLECTION TO SPONSOR NHRA HEMI® CHALLENGE
- Final Rounds of JEGS $50,000 Race to Conclude On Friday at the Spring Fling
- HendrickCars.com to sponsor Brittany Force’s Top Fuel dragster starting at this weekend’s NHRA 4-Wide Nationals in Charlotte
- DANIEL WILKERSON AND SCAG FORD FUNNY CAR TEAM LOOKING TO TURN THINGS AROUND AT CHARLOTTE FOUR-WIDE
- Dustin Smiley Races to Advanced Product Design $15,000 Wednesday Win at the Spring Fling
- NEOPMA Pro Mod Drivers Ready to Start 2024 Season at MIR’s Door Wars
- JUSTIN ASHLEY AND SCAG TOYOTA TEAM LOOK TO CONTINUE PROMISING START TO NHRA SEASON AT ZMAX DRAGWAY
KENNY LANG HITTING SPONSORS RACE WITH SUCCESS IN TOW
Courtesy of Kenny Lang Racing
Grande Pointe, MB – On the eve of what is arguably his biggest race of the season, Kenny Lang finds himself with a little momentum on his side after a runner-up finish at the Canadian Nitro Nationals two weeks ago. This weekend the
Summit Racing Equipment sponsored driver will compete in the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
To say that it’s a mouthful to squeeze your sponsor into a sentence that many times would be an understatement, but for Lang it means an added incentive to put his Al Billes tuned 1969 Summit Camaro in the winner’s circle this weekend.
A little less than two weeks ago, Lang participated in the Canadian Nitro Nationals at historic Cayuga Dragway in Ontario, Canada, where he was the defending event champion. Lang was once again able to make it to the final round this time around, only to be bested by three-time PMRA series champion Bruce Boland, behind the wheel of his supercharged 1941 Willys entry.
Historic WFO Radio featuring Erica Enders, Antron Brown, Jeff Arend, Andrew Hines and Alan Reinhart
Courtesy of WFO
HOLLYWOOD, FL – O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Route 66 Nationals winners, Erica Enders, Antron Brown, Jeff Arend, 
and Andrew Hines all join Joe Castello, along with the NHRA’s Alan Reinhart, on WFO Radio NHRA Nitro. To listen now, go to http://www.wforadio.com/
Erica Enders,stops by WFO Radio to celebrate her historic first victory in NHRA Pro Stock. Enders discusses the long road to the Winners Circle, defeating Greg Anderson in the final round, her crew chief Dave Connolly, and her future now that she has become the first female to ever win in the factory hot rod class.
Top Fuel winner, Antron Brown, breaks down his final round victory over Steve Torrence, gives his thoughts the level of difficulty between Top Fuel and Funny Car, his appearance on the hit A&E show Storage Wars, and his team’s chances heading into Norwalk.
Four Sportsman All-stars Double-up in Chicago and Earn Cash from JEGS
Courtesy of Jegs
CHICAGO, IL – JEGS took its annual Allstars competition for Sportsman racers to another level in last Saturday’s race at Route 66 Raceway, with four drivers “doubling up” with big cash prizes for scoring both a JEGS Allstars victory and
the national event win.
Frank Manzo in Top Alcohol Funny Car, Bruno Masell in Comp, Sherman Adcock in Super Gas and Ricky Shipp in Super Street not only won the JEGS Allstars race in Chicago, but they also took home the national event Wally form the 15th annual Route 66 NHRA Nationals.
“On behalf of the 350-plus associates of JEGS High Performance, my family and the hundreds of thousands of Sportsman racing enthusiasts around the world, I congratulate Ricky, Bruno, Frank and Sherman on this incredible accomplishment,” said John Coughlin, vice president of JEGS and a decorated drag racer himself.
Knowles Looking for Winner’s Circle Fireworks this Weekend
Courtesy of Kozak Motorsports Marketing
Photo by Roger Richards
Grand Junction, CO – Mike Knowles and his “Blown Money” team are hoping for some fireworks in the winners-circle at this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. Held at Summit Motorsports Park, the event is the sixth
start of the 10-race 2012 season.
“Running at Norwalk is always a good time, said Team Owner/Driver, Mike Knowles. “The fans here love their door slammers, especially Pro Mods. That makes you want to work just that much harder when you know the crowd you’re in front of. Add that to the fact that it’s basically the Fourth of July Weekend and you have the potential for some great on the track fireworks. I mean outside of what the Bader family has planned,” added Knowles.
Knowles’ team is lead in the pits by Red Bluff, California’s Bill Rice of Bill Rice’s Performance Automotive. “Billy does a fantastic job with the car. He’s one of the best mechanic’s I’ve ever worked with. He does so much more than just service the car and make it ready for each round. I’m lucky to have him as my car chief,” said Knowles.
Blake Alexander Back in Auto Service Plus Colors at Norwalk
Courtesy of NVW Motorsports Promotions
Photo by Roger Richards
NORWALK, OH – After a few weeks off the NHRA Full Throttle tour, Funny Car driver Blake Alexander is ready to get back in the seat of the Auto Service Plus car. The weather forecast for high temperatures at the Summit Racing
Equipment NHRA Nationals plays well into the plans for crew chief Paul Smith. In a class that prefers perfect conditions, the Smith-tuned car can lay down consistent laps in the heat all day.
“This will be the first race where we can’t complain about it not being hot enough. Every race we’ve been at this year, the track has been relatively cooler on race day. Atlanta was a hot track, but we weren’t able to capitalize on that. We’ll be trying to take advantage of the summer sun this weekend,” said Alexander, who is entering just the seventh race of his Funny Car career.
Though he’s been away from the driving side of being a Funny Car driver, Blake has been busy with the business side of the sport. Smith and the Auto Service Plus team had a productive few weeks away from the track, too.
Coughlin Knows Perseverance is the Key to Success in Memphis $50K Race
Courtesy of Jegs
MEMPHIS, TN – Perseverance will be key for Troy Coughlin Jr. as he makes his way to Memphis International Raceway for this weekend’s 
Dixie House Café Ironman $50K event.
Coughlin will head to Memphis along with several hundred other top flight E.T. bracket drivers as they compete for a huge $50,000 first-place prize.
“You can’t win it if you’re not in it and we plan to be in this one,” Coughlin said. “Lately, I haven’t been really happy with the way I’ve been driving but I’m not giving up by any means. I’m going to be persistent and keep plugging along until we get results.”
Coughlin will have plenty of chances to strike gold this weekend as he plans to enter his JEGS.com dragster in Saturday’s $50,000 main event and the two $10,000-to-win races held on Friday and Sunday. There are also a pair of 64-car shootout events that feature a complete dragster chassis and a Schmidt Competition Engine as the top prizes.
“The good thing about these big bracket races is that you can make a lot of runs so you can collect a lot of data and hopefully use what you’ve learned to either make your car better or make yourself a better driver,” Coughlin said. “If you’re winning rounds, it’s not uncommon to make 12-15 runs in a day and that’s a lot of data to sort through.”
Two weeks ago at a similar $50,000 event at Mountain Park Dragway in Clay City, Ky., Coughlin posted a respectable quarterfinal finish. This time, he’d like to advance just a few rounds further in final eliminations.
“That race in Clay City did a lot for my confidence,” Coughlin said. “I had been struggling a bit before that but I really feel like we turned the corner there. It certainly didn’t hurt to have Kenny Underwood and our new crew chief, Jay Schroeder, there with me. They’ve been a tremendous help. As I said earlier, I just need to have some perseverance. I need to stay focused and not get frustrated when things don’t go exactly right. I know that if can do that the wins will come.”
EUROPE’S FIRST DRAGSTER LIVES AGAIN
Written by Brian Taylor
Sydney Allard’s 1961 Allard Chrysler dragster is fired up after being silent since 1964. OK historians, log these details in your book of legends; the date – Sunday July 1st; the place – the workshop at Andy Robinson Race Cars in the UK; the
time – 2030 hours local time.
Those present – Andy Robinson, Bob Roberts, Martin Dunks and Brian Taylor, all of the Allard Chrysler Action Group. After a long day’s work and fuelled with methanol Sydney Allard’s 1961 Allard Chrysler dragster, owned by the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, burst into life; the first time since 1964.
This historic occasion was recorded on video and we will release lots more info soon. For now enjoy www.youtube.com/watch?v=zosoe5-b9yo.
Andy Robinson lights the fuse. (Pic taken from Bob Roberts’ video)
Demke Storms to Jegs AllStars Victory at Route 66
Courtesy of THR5 Communications
Photo by John Rogers
Joliet, IL – If facing seven of the best Top Alcohol Dragsters in the country was not hard enough, the Maddern Racing Team and Chris Demke had plenty of other formidable foes thrown at them during the Jegs AllStars competition. The
torrential rains and extreme temperatures made a tough task even more difficult. They also had to make an engine swap in just over an hour in order to make it to the lanes. But rounds they did go, and in the end, came away with the big win and more.
“To win the Jegs AllStars in Top Alcohol Dragster as the last Division 7 representative is really something special,” said Demke. “On top of that, to help win the first ever Jegs AllStars Team Championship for Division 7 really was the topper. As I stood with Division 7 Director Mike Rice and held the Jegs Team Trophy, I realized it was a victory for every Drag Racer in our part of the country.”
In the first round of the Jegs AllStars, Demke faced Karen Stalba. They left the line together and Demke had to pedal through some spin, while Stalba was fighting dropping cylinders. Demke recovered enough to take with win with a 5.468/262.39 to Stalba’s 5.756/232.95. That run advanced them to the next round, but at a cost. The motor had given it’s all and needed to be replaced.
Chris Van Baalen gets first TNT Super Series win, Earns spot in Race of Champions
Courtesy of TNT
LANCASTER, NY – “I wanted to get an entry into that September race and now I got one!” said Wellandport Ontario’s Chris Van Baalen after winning his first event in the Joe’s Transmission TNT Super Series. Dunn Tire Raceway Park
hosted the popular sportsman drag racing series last Friday with 31 cars coming through the gates.
Scott Jahren Paint presented the mid-season event at a track where winning doesn’t come easy and in a season where the average TNTSS car count is exceeding 28 cars.
In the first qualifying session, Chris sat atop the field with a 7.018 but was pushed back to sixth in the second session – even though he ran a better 7.011.
Round one had him up against recent Skyview Pro Am winner Jerry Stoutenberg where he took a .007 margin of victory running 7.004 to Jerry’s 7.005. Then he missed the tree in round two but the car saved him from Jeff Kerl by running dead on 7.007 and a close .011 MOV.
Mission Raceway to host the next event on the West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association schedule
Courtesy of WCOPMA
Mission, BC – For the first time ever the West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association will travel across the border to compete internationally this weekend (July 6-8) in Canada at Mission Raceway Park, located in Mission, British
Columbia.
Many racers are anticipating the event as great weather is projected throughout the weekend in the low 70’s with very little chance of rain, combine that with an actual track elevation of only 25 feet above sea level as well as a killer racing surface and record times are expected.
Mike Maggio is making the long haul from Southern California with his 1970 Camaro which ran in the mid 5.70’s last November at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That team is going up with a big goal, to reset the world record for a doorslammer in the quarter-mile.
