- NHRA RETURNS TO CHICAGO FOR ACTION-PACKED GERBER COLLISION & GLASS NHRA ROUTE 66 NATIONALS
- DRAG AND DRIVE EXHIBITION WITH ALEX TAYLOR AND TOM BAILEY RETURNS TO NHRA NATIONAL EVENT AT ROUTE 66 RACEWAY
- Record Setters and Race Winners Head to Virginia for PDRA Mid-Atlantic Showdown
- Race Wrap | NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals
- Race Wrap | NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals
- Stewart, Hagan Record Final Round Performances at Las Vegas NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in TSR Dodge//SRT Nitro Machines
- KALITTA, TASCA AND COUGHLIN JR WIN LAS-VEGAS 4-WIDE
Williamson & Gore Motorsports Team inches closer in Sonoma – looks to defend in Boise
Courtesy: Jamie Clerf
Sonoma, CA – The Williamson & Gore Motorsports Team is so close to finding a powerful and consistent tune-up for their mean West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association (WCOPMA) ’53 Studebaker that they can practically taste it. A 
feeling appropriate perhaps considering they spent their last race weekend (July 22-24) in the renowned wine country of Sonoma, CA where the tasty Cabernets, Sparkling Wines, and Chardonnays are tantalizing close, but slightly out of reach from the confines of the track.
“Our car definitely got better in Sonoma and we are getting real close to finding the right tune-up,” said Bret Williamson driver of the fierce ’53 Studebaker Pro Mod. “We’ve kind of been in this one good run, one bad run kind of rut, but at Sonoma we were finally able to put a couple of good laps together”.
The team, which is regarded as one of the real power brokers in the class, returned to the vaunted 5 second performance zone with a stout 5.991 @ 240.38 mph pass that placed them in a solid 4th qualifying position in what turned out to be the quickest field in WCOPMA history.
Perkins and 801 Racing Looking to Heat up Seattle
Courtesy of THR5 Communications
Kent, WA – Cody Perkins and his 801 Racing Top Alcohol Dragster are 
not worried about a heat wave this weekend, in fact, they are counting on it. Hot track temperatures, heated rivals and giving a scorching show for the fans is all part of the plan.
“Hot and slick is our kind of track,” said Perkins. “The hotter it gets – the better. Earlier in the year we ran a 5.38 inTopekaon a 130 degree track, so we are pumped up for this.”
The Top Alcohol Dragster class at Pacific Raceways is also going to be tricky. A smaller entry list means the 801 Racing team will have to be on their game to advance come elimination time.
“It’s a stout field,” said Perkins. “It’s going to be tough to just get out of the first round.”
Forthmann to honcho ADRL Contingency Program
Courtesy of ADRL
O’FALLON, MO – The American Drag Racing League (ADRL) is pleased to announce that it has named Scott Forthmann 
as its Director of Contingency.
Forthmann’s impressive racing background includes a long career in the NHRA, where he served as the NHRA Director of Contingency Programs from 1999 through 2004.
Forthmann will bring that wealth of experience to the world’s premier eighth-mile drag racing league and he is thrilled for the opportunity to have a major impact in the ADRL.
“I am extremely excited to be working with the ADRL,” Forthmann said. “I am looking forward to expanding the current ADRL contingency program and working to transform it into the premier race rewards program in all of motorsports.
“The ADRL presents an excellent platform for sponsors to showcase their products and I can’t wait to work with each of them as the ADRL continues to grow.”
Points Leader Montesano ready for a win in PMRA drag racing
Courtesy of PMRA
MAPLE, ON – Pro Modified Racing Association driver Vito Montesano is hoping he can put it all together for the next 
PMRA race at the Stratford Spectacular Hot August Nationals presented by Ideal Supply & NAPA Auto Parts August 4-7 at the Grand Bend Motorplex.
Montesano presently leads the PMRA Championship Point Award Series presented by Magnum Auto Parts and Patio Passport with 817 points. He has qualified number one at all events so far this year with his supercharged ERD-powered 1969 Camaro Pro Modified, and has set a fast time of 5.889-seconds down the quarter mile.
“What’s my plan for this weekend? It’s to stay at the top,” he said. “I’d like to set a big number and keep it.”
Top Dragsters due for a win in Quick 32 Series
Courtesy of Quick 32
CAYUGA, ON – Going into the next round of Quick 32 Sportsman Series presented by NAPA Auto Parts this weekend at the Stratford Spectacular Hot August Nationals presented by Ideal Supply & NAPA Auto Parts at the Grand Bend
Motorplex, the Top Dragster racers are due for an event win.
Comprised of Top Dragster entries and Top Sportsman entries, the racers compete within their own division, and the top eliminator in each goes up against one another for the event title.
With three races so far in 2011, all event winners have been Top Sportsman teams.
Winning the first race of the season was Top Sportsman driver Phil Sampson and his 2002 Chevy Cavalier, who won the final at the Cayuga Dragway over the Top Dragster of Jamie Bridge of Napanee Ontario. Sampson, from Granton, Ontario, presently leads the Quick 32 Championship Point Award Series Standings with 692 points, while Bridge is second with 651 points.
Demke and Maddern Racing Begin Three Race “Northern Swing” in Seattle
Courtesy of Maddern Racing
Kent, WA – As the Peen Rite/Clean Boost Top Alcohol Dragster Team makes their way north for their first of three races on a Northern Mini 
Tour, they hold close in their hearts the memory of last years Northwest Nationals in Kent, Washington.
As the winners of that event from 2010, which to this day remains secondary, this is also the one year anniversary of fellow competitor Mark Niver’s untimely “perfect storm” fatality. The two teams were to compete against one another in the final round.
“This race has a lot of history for us from only one short year ago” noted Demke, “in Mark’s honor, we hope we can win back to back events.
“We’re running very consistent right now and the weather is supposed to be good. It’s unfortunate that there’s a low car count for the dragsters at this event, neither here nor there, we’re aiming towards valuable points for the National Championship.”
CAPPS, BROWN, ANDERSON, TONGLET, REINHART ON WFORADIO
Courtesy of WFO
HOLLYWOOD, FL – FRAM/Autolite Nationals winners Ron Capps, Antron Brown, Greg Anderson, and L. E. Tonglet all join Joe Castello along with the NHRA’s Alan Reinhart, on WFO Radio NHRA Nitro. To listen now, go to WFORadio.com.
NAPA Funny Car driver, Ron Capps won his first race of the 2011 season with a victory over Tim Wilkerson. Capps discusses the long road back to the Winner’s Circle, working with his new crew chief, Tim Richards, and what the victory means for the team’s championship title hopes.
Matco Tools Top Fuel Dragster driver, Antron Brown, returns to WFO Radio to talk about his final round victory over his teammate Tony Schumacher. Brown details his mindset behind the wheel when running against teammates, the importance of winning on the Western Swing, and previews the weekend at Pacific Raceways.
Consistency the key for Randy Hope’s upcoming PBSS race weekend
Courtesy of PBSS
GRAND BEND, ON – Presently sitting at the top of the Pro Bike & Sled Series Championship Point Award Series Standings presented by Wiseco Performance Products with 677 points, Randy Hope said he will be concentrating on
consistency for round four in the 2011 PBSS tour during the Stratford Spectacular Hot August Nationals presented by Ideal Supply & NAPA Auto Parts August 4-7 at the Grand Bend Motorplex.
“Our strategy is to be consistent,” said the London Ontario Pro Bike rider, who races a 1978 Kawasaki. “We haven’t played with the bike too much other than some minor changes to the aerodynamics of the bike.”
Hope has an event win to his credit, and was the finalist on the Pro Bike side in a second race this season. His also went to the quarter-final in the third event. He has qualified well with a pair of number threes, and a fourth qualifying position to date.
IHRA World Finals to be held October 14-16 at Virginia Motorsports Park
Courtesy of IHRA
NORWALK, OH – Following this past weekend’s Summit Pro-Am and Tournament of Champions qualifier at Richmond Dragway, a grand total of 76 drivers have already clinched a spot in the year-end Summit Racing Equipment
Tournament of Champions to be held at Virginia Motorsports Park in October.
A total of seven Nitro Jam events, three TOC qualifiers, one Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular and a few events from 2010 have contributed to the count, with dozens more to be added to the Tournament of Champions field over the next three months, including two more qualifiers over the next two weekends.
Following this weekend’s Summit Pro-Am and TOC qualifier in Pittsburgh and the Northern Nitro Jam at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park the following week, the rest of the tournament field will be filled via the remaining Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular to be held the day before the World Finals and the Summit Pro-Am Tour as the top three finishers in each IHRA division will move on to the championship showdown in October.
Pro Fuel, Fuel Altered championships still up for grabs
Courtesy of IHRA
MARTIN, MI – While three of the five fulltime Nitro Jam classes have already decided a champion, two others will go down to the wire at the upcoming Northern Nitro Jam at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park the weekend of August 12-13.
The final chapter in Pro Fuel Dragster and the new Nostalgia Fuel Altered class will finally be written later this month when Nitro Jam visits Michigan’s fastest track in Martin for the professional season finale. A total of four drivers are in contention for two Nitro Jam championships highlighted by one of the closest battles in Nitro Jam history taking place in Pro Fuel.
Only three points separate defending Pro Fuel champion Bill Evans from current points leader Michael Manners in yet another great battle in Nitro Jam’s 100-percent nitro-powered dragster class. Last year’s championship battle came down to the final pass of the year and it appears history will repeat itself once again.
