- JOHN FORCE RACING FEATURED IN TWO OF DRAG RACING'S LEADING PUBLICATIONS
- DANIEL WILKERSON RUNS CAREER BEST FRIDAY AT CHARLOTTE NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS
- VINTAGE JOHN FORCE TAKES PROVISIONAL NO. 1 QUALIFIER AT CHARLOTTE NHRA 4-WIDE NATIONALS
- Jeff Taylor Races Himself in JEGS $50K Final and Eric Aman Captures Silverstate $50K Win on Friday at the Spring Fling
- BO AND RANDI LYN BUTNER KICK OFF JHG NHRA MOUNTAIN MOTOR PRO STOCK SEASON AT ZMAX DRAGWAY
- JOHN FORCE AND RICK HENDRICK: A LONGSTANDING FRIENDSHIP INITIATED BY A MOVIE AND LATER A RED BALL CAP
- Kalitta, Force, Anderson and Smith take the #1 spots at Friday qualifying of the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
Alexander Returning to the Birthplace of his FC Career
Courtesy of Paul Smith Racing
ENNIS, TX – This weekend Funny Car rookie Blake Alexander returns to Texas Motorplex, the place where he earned his fuel Funny 
Car license, to compete in the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals. Tried and true tuning and some experience will come into play for the Auto Service Plus driver.
“There’s something about this that I think is cool, because this is the only track where I have experience making full passes in a Funny Car. I don’t know what that’ll mean, since I was so green when I was here getting my license last year. I’ve learned so much over the course of the season,” Blake said.
The Paul Smith Racing car Blake will be driving experienced success at the Fall Nationals last year, qualifying third and reaching the semifinals. The tune-up that yielded such a finish will be back in the Auto Service Plus car this weekend.
Maddern Racing Anticipates Quick Times and Results in Texas
Courtesy of Maddern Racing
Ennis, TX – The Texas Motorplex‘s all-concrete racing surface is just the kind of place that Chris Demke and the Maddern Racing Team 
has been waiting for. It is here where they can flex their tuning muscles and let it rip. The adjustments and revisions they have made to their Peen Rite/ OSI / 801 Racing Top Alcohol Dragster will make this weekend’s race something to watch.
“I am really looking forward running fast and doing it against some great competition,” said Demke. “Having Jim Whiteley and Bill Reichert there makes this one special. The top three in national points will be battling it out and we want to take advantage of the opportunity.”
Team Peen has been crisscrossing the country this year collecting low elapsed time slips and trophies. Crew Chief Jerry Maddern has the car running on mean and is looking to continue the trend. Crew members Kevin Watson, Michael Demke, Ronald Mann, and clutchguy/tuner Adam Rhoades have their well-rehearsed act down cold and are chomping at the bit. It has been eight years since they have raced at the Motorplex, but they are confident with their game plan.
Shakedown 2012 Pro Mod Battle Taking Shape!
Courtesy of Shakedown
Englishtown, NJ – With a little less than four weeks to the start of the 10th Annual Shakedown Nationals at the famed Old Bridge 
Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ, some of the biggest names and fastest Pro Mods are signing up to be part of this historic event and capture the $20,000 winner’s prize. If you’re a Pro Mod fan, you won’t want to miss this event.
History was made at the Shakedown in 2008 when Jim Halsey, owner and operator of Cecil County Dragway, rang a bell that won’t be un-rung. Halsey is the first man into the five second zone with his big 820 cubic inch Fulton powered Tim McAmis built Camaro with a 5.998 @ 240. Also at the same event, Scott Cannon became the quickest Pro Mod in the world at the time with a blistering 5.73 @ 252 with 7 IHRA Pro Mod Championship winner Scotty Cannon tuning the ’70 Plymouth Superbird by Vanishing Point Race Cars.
Odds favor Coughlin family at JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals
Courtesy of Jegs
HEBRON, OH – With six entries spread out over four different eliminators, the odds are strong that this weekend’s JEGS Northern 
SPORTSnationals at National Trail Raceway will feature something special by a member of the Coughlin family.
Anchoring the yellow and black attack will be the 200-mph Chevy Cobalt of two-time Top Sportsman champion Mike Coughlin. Mike will be joined by his nephew, Troy Jr., who will pull double duty in Super Comp and Super Gas. The remaining three JEGS.com entries will be in the special Jr. Dragster class and will feature Mike’s sons, Jack, 11, and Clay, 8, along with their cousin, Makenna Brown, 12.
“This is going to be a busy weekend in many ways,” Mike said. “National Trail Raceway is our home track and every time we race here it’s a big deal. I’m really excited for our whole team and our whole family. We’re going to have a lot of support at this event and it would be awesome if one or more of us could deliver a win on Sunday.”
Langdon, Capps, Line, Hines, Gray, Nastase and Reinhart on WFO Radio
Courtesy of WFO
HOLLYWOOD, FL – O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries winners, Shawn Langdon, Ron Capps, Jason 
Line, and Andrew Hines, plus, news-makers Shane Gray and Gary Nastase 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/
Shawn Langdon, makes his first appearance on WFO Radio as an NHRA Top Fuel winner. Langdon discusses defeating Tony Schumacher in the final round, the confidence level within his team, and driving for NHRA legend, Alan Johnson.
Ron Capps, returns to WFO Radio after winning race one of the NHRA Countdown. Capps details his weekend at zMax, answers questions from listeners, and describes his final round match up against Mike Neff.
Heading to Texas, Coughlin pushes reset button on his championship charge
Courtesy of Jegs
DALLAS, TX – Billy Meyer’s Texas Motorplex has been a friendly place for five-time world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. in the past and 
the 68-time national event winner is hoping that trend continues when he arrives in the Lone Star State for this weekend’s 27th annual AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals.
“I’m excited about returning to Texas,” Coughlin said. “Our JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger seems to run better in the heat and the forecast is calling for 90-degree days so that should play well for us.”
One of the elite 10 drivers eligible for the 2012 Full Throttle Championship, Coughlin says this second of six playoff races needs to be a good one for his squad if they truly plan on contending for their third title in the NHRA’s playoff era.
Northern Force Team Will Compete in Two Events to Finish Out 2012 Season
Courtesy of Northern Force Racing
Wingham, ON – The inspirational message of Project Track Champion will continue to spread throughout North America in 2013 thanks in large part to the dedication of project founder Denny Snider and his commitment to once again sponsor the Northern Force 
Racing team next season.
This season was a landmark setting affair for both Project Track Champion and Northern Force Racing. The debut of the partnership in Quebec during the month of July marked the first time that a PTC branded vehicle had travelled outside of the province of Ontario, as well as gave the Northern Force team its first win in more than 20 years, and second-generation driver Jory Elliott his first ever victory. The team followed that up just nine days later with a win during the IHRA MOPAR Nitro Jam Nationals, at their home track in Grand Bend, Ontario.
The win in Grand Bend guaranteed the team a spot in the IHRA Summit Racing Equipment Tournament of Champions, which takes place in Memphis, Tennessee and will crown the World Champions for 2012, the middle of October. “We weren’t sure we could even afford to make the trip to Tennessee because of how small of a budget we run on,” said team owner Bob Elliott. “But thanks to Denny and PTC re-signing for next year we’re gonna be able to make that trip, which is a huge honor for us.”
All roads lead to Ohio for JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals
Courtesy of Jegs
HEBRON, OH – For hundreds of racers in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, the Buckeye State will be the place to be this weekend as the eighth annual JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals unfolds at historic National Trail Raceway.
The second of thee annual events designed specifically to showcase NHRA’s grassroots racers, the JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals will crown champions in the following classes — Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Top Dragster and Top Sportsman. There will also be a Jr. Drag Racing League event held on Sunday.
Since its inception in 2005, the Columbus event has become a favorite of racers across the country as it successfully strikes a balance between fierce on-track competition, and friendly off-track camaraderie. There will also be a wide variety of bonus features including traditional class eliminations for drivers in Super Stock and Stock, as well as the JEGS Top Dragster Shootout and the special DRAW/Racer’s for Christ Super Eliminator Shootouts presented by Moser Engineering for the top 16 qualifiers in Super Comp, Super Gas, and Super Street. All of the aforementioned programs are scheduled for Saturday.
Six more drivers heading to Memphis at D5, D7 Team Finals
Courtesy of IHRA
NORWALK, OH – Roughly 2,000 miles apart are two very different tracks in two very different places.
One is U.S. 131 Motorsports Park located in the cool hills of southern Michigan, while the other is Caprock Motorplex sitting in the arid
deserts of west Texas. But despite those differences, those tracks had two things very much in common over the weekend – very happy drivers. That is because both tracks were the location of two of the International Hot Rod Association’s most exciting events as U.S. 131 Motorsports Park hosted the Division 5 Thunder Summit Team Finals and Caprock Motorplex hosted the inaugural Division 7 Gunslingers Summit Team Finals both this past weekend.
From those two events six drivers emerged as representatives of their respective division at the upcoming Summit SuperSeries presented by AMSOIL and Moser Engineering World Championship to be held at Memphis International Raceway in October and two tracks took home team honors from the events. At the inaugural Division 7 Summit Team Finals host track Caprock Motorplex won the team event with 46 points, finishing 20 points ahead of runner-ups Desert Thunder Raceway and Amarillo Dragway. In Division 5 U.S. 131 Motorsports Park led the way on its home turf with 73 points, followed by Grand Bend Motorplex with 38 points and Marion County International Raceway with 29 points.
Brounkowski, Lombardo Win Central Region Closer at Noble
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Noble OK – In Noble, Okla., at the second-to-last regional event anywhere this season, David Brounkowski collected his first Top Alcohol Dragster victory in two years in a thrilling final against Mark Taliaferro, and John Lombardo Jr. earned his second win of the
season in Top Alcohol Funny Car.
With an excellent .038 reaction time, Brounkowski got the jump on Taliaferro, who had a not-bad .062, and won by a few feet, 5.409 to 5.402. “I never saw him the whole way, but then I never look,” said Brounkowski. “The sides of the car are so high that you can’t see anybody unless they’re way out there ahead of you.” He never noticed his win-light, either. “I’m too busy driving the car to look,” he said.
Brounkowski’s semifinal match with Randy Meyer was nearly as close. Meyer was off the mark first in that race, Brounkowski came around him to win by two-hundredths of a second, 5.37 to 5.42, and both drivers got out of their cars not knowing if they’d won or lost. Even Brounkowski’s first-round match was a tight one; he edged two-time 2012 regional event winner and incoming Central Region points leader Gord Gingles, 5.40 to 5.45.
