- 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
Mopar Driver Johnson to Start No. 4, Earns No. 1 Spot in Countdown Playoffs
Courtesy of Mopar
Clermont, IN – Two final qualifying sessions reshuffled the ladders for eliminations as the re-scheduled 58th Annual NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis got back underway under cooler and faster conditions than the previous rain shortened weekend at
Lucas Oil Raceway.
The 16 car field is now set with Mopar Dodge Avenger driver Allen Johnson starting fourth in Pro Stock eliminations on Sunday, and thus locking up the No. 1 spot in the Pro Stock Countdown to the Championship, the six-race playoff that will begin at the next NHRA event in Charlotte.
The Team Mopar veteran was one of four Mopar-powered Dodge drivers to make the prestigious U.S. Nationals field in Pro Stock, along with four Mopar Dodge Chargers in the Funny Car class.
Frigo, Hool Take Rescheduled Topeka Wins in Earlville
Written by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
Earlville, IA – At the rescheduled “WIBW Thunder in the Heartland” Topeka regional, Sidnei Frigo picked up his first Top Alcohol Dragster win this year and Kris Hool his first in Top Alcohol Funny Car since he opened the regional era with a victory at Gainesville in
February.
Completing the last two rounds at Tri State Raceway in Earlville, Iowa, the day before qualifying began for the regularly scheduled regional event there, Frigo topped Randy Meyer in a great final, 5.40 to 5.43, after gaining a slight edge at the Tree, .067 to .078. It was the Brazilian driver’s second career win, including the Division 2 race last year at zMax Dragway in Charlotte.
“We backed it down because we hadn’t made a run in that lane,” said crew chief Tom Conway, who tuned the car to an early shutoff 5.34, 253 on the one time trial allotted all returning drivers. “The groove there is narrow, but if you can keep the car in the middle of it, you can really run hard.”
Frigo shut off to a 5.87 at 185 mph on a semifinal single when Texan James Thompson, who had won the Topeka event in each of the past two years, was unable to make the trip north to Iowa for the rain date. Meyer won the other semifinal over John Finke in a match crucial to Finke’s East Region championship hopes, 5.54 to 5.99.
Black Diamond Motorsports DeFlorian Qualified Number One at Memphis Drags III
Courtesy of Black Diamond Motorsports
Memphis, TN – A track record in Extreme Pro Stock was good enough to send John DeFlorian to the top spot, as he went 4.131 seconds elapsed time (ET) at 175.73 miles per hour (MPH) in the first session of qualifying but that was just a preview of what was ahead. In the
final session of qualifying saw the 2012 Jerry Haas built Sonny Racing powered Camaro resetting the track record again with a 4.105 ET at 176.14 MPH a full .03 of second ahead of the nearest driver .
“The conditions were a little better, but we found a problem after the second run,” DeFlorian said. “The Pro Stock cars were in the pits and we were there thrashing right before we ran. It was kind of a guess, but we went with it and it was hauling. What an awesome day.”
Kevin Bealko in the Jerry Haas built Sonny Racing powered 2011 GXP ran 4.169 ET at181.62 MPH in the second session which held on for the fourteenth qualifying position at the end of the day.
The fourth and final round of qualifying at Memphis International Raceway takes place at 12 p.m. CST on Saturday with eliminations to follow at 3:30 p.m
Pesz’s Track Record In PX Heads Qualifying List At ADRL’s Memphis Drags III
Courtesy of ADRL
MILLINGTON, TN – Sporting a new look on his ’58 Corvette, Pro Extreme driver Brandon Pesz delivered a track record to cap off a thrilling day in the American Drag Racing League’s (ADRL) return to Memphis International Raceway for the Memphis Drags III.
With a bold new wrap, Pesz ran a blistering 3.660 at 206.99 mph in Friday’s third qualifying session to top the run Jason Scruggs made three years ago in Memphis, jumping to the No. 1 qualifying spot in Pro Extreme in the process.
If the standout run holds up, it would be the first No. 1 qualifier for Pesz in the ADRL.
“We’ve got a fast hot rod in the heat and the track was real good today,” Pesz said. “It means a lot to get the record and be in that No. 1 spot. It’s awesome and I knew this car had that in it. I knew it was there and I just want to continue to do my best.”
Other top qualifiers through three sessions on Friday include Burton Auxier (Pro Nitrous), Billy Glidden (Mickey Thompson Extreme 10.5), Eric McKinney (Pro Extreme Motorcycle), John DeFlorian (Extreme Pro Stock), Pat Musi (Aeromotive Fuel Systems Pro Modified) and Ronnie Davis (Summit Racing Equipment Top Sportsman).
Third generation ‘Nanook’ racer Kyle Hough wins Nitro Jam Fuel Altered championship in first year
Courtesy of IHRA
NORWALK, OH – It all came down to one night.
After seven stops, nearly 10,000 miles logged and a ton of racing, the chase for Nitro Jam’s professional championships all came down
to the final day of competition at the CarSafe Northern Nitro Jam at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park.
The other three champions had already sealed their titles. Their drama was over and they were able to breathe easy. Not so for a 19-year-old rookie out of Las Vegas who faced a pressure no teenager should ever have to endure in their very first year of racing – one pass for all the marbles.
After day one was rained out, Nitro Jam’s professional teams had one less day to make up ground in the championship chase making for a frantic – and very exciting – showdown in front of a packed house as a near capacity crowd watched Kyle Hough and Ron Maroney do battle for the Fuel Altered championship in one of the tightest points battles in Nitro Jam history.
Demke and Maddern Racing Have Unfinished Business in Woodburn
Courtesy of Maddern Racing
Woodburn, OR – Just a few short months ago Chris Demke was in the finals at the first Woodburn Dragstrip Regional race. The Maddern Racing driver was leading until an electrical glitch ended his day in defeat. This time around Demke and the Peen Rite / OSI /
801 Racing Team are out to finish what they started.
“I am really looking forward to this race at Woodburn,” said Demke. “We have had a few weeks off to rebuild and repair our racecar. Everyone on the team worked diligently and the vendor support was extraordinary. We raced heavy in June and July and now we are all ready to mount a charge.”
Leading the charge is owner and crew chief Jerry Maddern. Crewmembers Kevin Watson, Michael Demke, Ronald Mann, and tuner/clutchguy Adam Rhoades have their game faces on and are ready to rumble. The motors have been massaged, past runs have been analyzed, and the support parts have been restocked. Woodburn Dragstrip is where they will work in unison to make a run at not only the Regional Championship, but the overall Top Alcohol Dragster title.
Team JEGS racers ready to make some noise at postponed U.S. Nationals
Courtesy of Jegs
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – The yellow-and-black attack of Team JEGS driversJeg CoughlinJr.,Troy CoughlinandTroy CoughlinJr. return to the 58th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals intent on earning some hardware at Lucas Oil Raceway.
All three JEGS-sponsored pros are in great shape heading into the postponed event, but remain cautious about the task ahead.
“The track’s been rained on a bunch,” said Jeg, who is looking to gain on his current 12th-place perch in Pro Stock during Saturday’s final two qualifying sessions. “It will have been completely scrubbed and cleaned. The forecast calls for much cooler temperatures from dawn to dusk. There are just so many variables for the crew chiefs. We did go and test in Martin (Mich.) and we truly feel like we’re picking up thousandths of a second here and there. That will put us closer to the lead pack.
“This is as big a weekend of drag racing as ever. It almost feels like 2007 when they had the two different cut-downs in the Countdown to the Championship. It’s that kind of pressure. I love it. Saturday can’t come soon enough; let’s go!”
Adkins to Drive New Garret Entry in ADRL Top Sportsman at Memphis
Written by Ian Tocher
MARBLE HILL, MO — Lee Adkins Jr., a former American Drag Racing League (ADRL) national-event winner in both Pro Nitrous and Pro Modified, will return to the all-eighth-mile series this weekend (Sep. 7-8) in the ADRL Memphis Drags III at Memphis International
Raceway. This time, however, Adkins will get behind the wheel of a new Garret Race Cars-built ’68 Camaro in the Top Sportsman class.
“This is a brand-new car we just finished for Tom Smith in Southhaven, Mississippi, which is basically part of Memphis, so this is a home-town debut for him,” said Garret Livingston, founder and president of Garret Race Cars in Marble Hill, Missouri. “We decided to put Lee in the car first because he’s a great, experienced driver who will be able to help us get it dialed in quickly for Tom.”
The new, light-weight bodied Camaro is motivated by a nitrous-fed Reher & Morrison 665-cubic-inch engine that’s backed up by a Powerglide transmission.
“I’m really looking forward to getting out there again with this new car,” said Adkins, who lives in Linden, Tennessee. “I’ve driven Garret cars before and they’ve always been first-class all the way.”
Gallen Proves He is still the Best in the Business!
Courtesy of IHRA
NORWALK, OH – Peter Gallen certainly did not have the kind of year anyone expected.
Coming off a season where he ran away with the AMSOIL Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car title, set records and won nearly every round of
competition he entered, Gallen’s 2012 campaign was much rockier and featured a drama that simply did not exist when the team was light years ahead of the field in 2011.
After all most of the other teams had learned to play for second when the familiar purple and gold “Poverty Stricken” machine pulled into the lanes. But this year was different.
Gallen wasn’t as dominant in 2012, but still picked up his second straight PNFC title
Sure he anticipated a few bumps along the way, what with a brand new 1977 Monza machine replacing the championship winning Vega from the year before, but this was different. Some of the change could be blamed on new cars blues, some could certainly be attributed to an increase in competition, but whatever it was, it wasn’t getting Gallen in victory lane.
Barnes and Jablonski win TNT Super Series main events!
Courtesy of TNT
CAYUGA, ON – Cayuga Dragway at Toronto Motorsports Park hosted the Joes Transmission TNT Super Series final Canadian event this past Labour Day weekend. With perfect weather and great track conditions for the Bieda’s Powersports event, it was Ted Barnes on
Saturday and Jon Jablonski on Sunday coming out victors. In the Performance Improvements Race of Champions, Jamie Stoneman came out of retirement and marched through the field to win the prestigious event.
Saturday September 1
After a season filled with bizarre challenges, Caistorville Ontario’s Ted Barnes returned to the winner’s circle in his 1972 Datsun 510 catapulting him into sixth place in TNTSS points chase.
Ted’s charge through the field saw him defeat Roy Lister by overcoming a starting line disadvantage (.033 to .020) in round one. Then he posted a near perfect .001 reaction time against Kirk Parry and advanced to face Paul Young. Ted’s .017 light was no match for the former series champ’s uncharacteristically late .074 and Ted drove through to a 10.920.
