- Austin Prock living up to his 'Prock Rocket' nickname in first season in Funny Car
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- Chicago Native Don Schumacher to be Honored During NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Joliet
MICKEY THOMPSON PERFORMANCE TIRES & WHEELS LAUNCHES NEW COMPANY FACEBOOK PAGE
Courtesy of Mickey Thompson
STOW, OH – Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels (Mickey Thompson) is proud to announce the launch of a new company Facebook page featuring all the latest company, product, racing and event news with tons of photos, access to video and YouTube, fan postings, industry news and fun facts. The 
new Facebook page, launched at the end of June, can be found at http://www.facebook.com/MickeyThompsonTires.
“We’ve created our company Facebook page to be a great resource for all of our audiences from employees, dealers, distributors and friends, to competitive racers, race fans and the media,” said Ken Warner, VP Sales & Marketing, Mickey Thompson. “We want it to be something that represents our legendary brand and reflects the incredible spirit of Mickey Thompson, the company founder. It’s a place where people can get all the breaking company, product and event news along with exciting photos and video, in a community that makes up the Mickey Thompson family. We hope everyone will “LIKE” it!”
Watch for breaking news about several incredible new products, coverage of this season’s most exciting drag racing and off-road racing events, updates on the historic Challenger 2.5 Project, preparations for the company’s 50th anniversary celebration and more.
801 Racing’s Gaylord wins big at Salt Lake Nitro Jam
Courtesy of 801 Racing
Salt Lake City, UT – Travis Gaylord is a no frills kind of guy. Take his race car. A 1987 Ford Mustang Notchback in 
simple black, flat black to be more specific. No fancy computer gizmos, no delay boxes or throttle stops. He paints a number on the window and goes out and runs it. In fact, he did just that at Rocky Mountain Raceways to deadly accuracy.
“The car ran really well, and right on the dial in,” said Gaylord. “I also got a bit lucky, which in Drag Racing never hurts. A few bye runs made it easier, but in the end I had to run the number.”
Gaylord’s 801 Racing sponsored Mustang had plenty of people rooting for it due to the fact that it’s his home track, and the home of 801 Racing. Just about the whole gang was out there rooting him on. That can go a long way in the confidence department. In Saturday’s No Box ET final, the crowd went wild as Gaylord’s opponent, Jeff Cornick went red. Then it was time for the big show to start; the run for the contingency.
Coughlin keeps his cool after hot weekend in Memphis
Courtsy of Jegs
MEMPHIS, TN – With temperatures that hovering around 100 degrees, this weekend’s Dixie House Café Ironman $50K was not just a high stakes E.T. bracket race, but a test of survival. 
The special event, which resumed at Memphis International Raceway this weekend after being postponed by rain in March, was shortened to a two-day race and in the $40,000-to-win main event, Troy Coughlin Jr. drove his JEGS.com dragster to a respectable finish, outlasting all but 10 cars.
“I won a few rounds but just couldn’t finish the job,” Coughlin said. “I lost a really tough race. I had a .002-second reaction time but my opponent had a perfect .000 light and ran two-thousandths over his dial so I pretty much would have had to be perfect in order to beat him. In hindsight, there were a few things I might have done differently, but really, it was just a good close race and I came out on the wrong end of it.
“Sassy” Cassie Reaches the Finals…Again
Release Courtesy of Nate Van Wagnen
Photo by Cyclops Photography
NORWALK, OH – In the eyes of Cassie Simonton, team owner Spiro Kontos, and the Kon Rodz Racing team, their luck has finally turned around. An early season filled with rare parts failures and first round losses is in the rearview mirror
as the Canadian Top Alcohol Funny Car team leaves Summit Motorsports Park, the site of their second final round appearance in a row.
“Obviously you need luck in drag racing sometimes. We had some bad luck earlier in the year, but that’s behind us. We were lucky first round. Randy and the team saved me in the second round, but we came back and had a good run in the semi-finals. I think our luck is finally changing for the better,” Simonton said.
The weekend started off with “Sassy” Cassie’s best qualifying start at a national event, 3rd with a 5.71. First round was perhaps the race decided most by luck. Simonton was on a great pass before the car just went silent around half-track.
Boychuk among dozens of winners at MOPAR Rocky Mt. Nitro Jam Nationals
Courtesy of IHRA
EDMONTON, AB – Three years, three races, three big wins for Tim Boychuk. With thousands of Canadian fans filling the stands, Edmonton’s own Tim Boychuk proved the man to beat once again at his hometown track with his third victory
in a row at the MOPAR Rocky Mountain Nitro Jam Nationals at Castrol Raceway, giving the driver of the “Troy Lee Designs” ’77 Firebird a natural hat trick at Canada’s premier drag racing event.
“To win here again is just awesome,” an elated Boychuk said in victory lane. “We have been working and working on this car because it hasn’t been running well and we have had some issues over the past few races. That we were able to get it sorted out and win here again in front of these incredible fans is amazing. I feel confident that we have the car back where we want it.”
Boychuk qualified No. 5 on the AMSOIL Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car ladder and went three rounds on Sunday defeating Mission, British Columbia’s Jim Obalek in a wild final. Boychuk got off the line first and kept in the throttle in the Funny Car finale as Obalek kissed the wall and darted across the track behind him, falling in line and tailing Boychuk across the finish line.
Troy Coughlin races to Norwalk final in JEGS.com Camaro
Courtesy of Jegs
NORWALK, OH – For the second time in the last three races, Troy Coughlin raced his twin-turbocharged JEGS.com Camaro to a runner-up finish in the NHRA Pro Mod Series presented by ProCare Rx.
Following a strong, second-place showing in Englishtown, N.J., last month, Coughlin returned to top form in his native Ohio this weekend, qualifying No. 1 and mowing down Mike Knowles, Donald Martin and Roger Burgess before bowing to Donnie Walsh in the money round at the NHRA Nationals in Norwalk.
“We’ve got a good race car,” said Coughlin, a past NMCA world champion. “We started the weekend hoping to move up in the points and win some rounds, and we did that. With some of the issues we had with the car through qualifying, to put it on the pole after the last qualifying attempt in the heat was impressive. Then we turn around and have a great raceday. I couldn’t be happier.”
Coughlin Draws to Within Four Points of Playoff Field
Courtesy of Jegs
Photo Courtesy of Roger Richards
NORWALK, OH – It doesn’t happen often but even world renowned drag racer Jeg Coughlin Jr. leaves the starting line before the green light shines and gets disqualified. That was the unfortunate outcome Sunday in the quarterfinal round
of the sixth annual NHRA Nationals in Norwalk where the four-time Pro Stock champion pushed the Christmas Tree a little too far and fouled out by -.013 seconds, handing the win to reigning series champion Jason Line.
“Every once in awhile this happens and it never feels good,” Coughlin said. “I didn’t think I hit that close to the yellow light so I must have just flat-out anticipated it too much. I knew I needed a good light and after having a .025 in the first round I felt there was some room for improvement but obviously I missed it.”
Adding to the sting of the automatic DQ is the fact he ran a great lap against Line, who had qualified a lofty second on the starting grid. Completing his run despite the red-light start, Coughlin carded a 6.656 at 207.34 mph in his JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger to Line’s 6.650 at 207.43 mph.
PMRA to compete in MOPAR IHRA Nitro Jam Nationals at Grand Bend Motorplex
Courtesy of PMRA
CAYUGA, ON – With three winners in three events so far this season, the competition is tight as the Pro Modified Racing Association gets ready for its next event as part of the MOPAR IHRA Nitro Jam Nationals.
This annual event is held at the Grand Bend Motorplex, and this year will take place July 20-22 as part of the IHRA’s North American national event tour.
Coming off his recent win at the Cayuga Dragway, three-time series champion Bruce Boland of Hamilton, Ontario has taken the lead in the PMRA Championship Point Award Series presented by Global Emissions Systems Inc. with 838 points.
Jeff Roth of New Dundee, Ontario is second with 798 points, and Jack Grainy of North Tonawanda, New York is third with 797 points.
Litton Returns to Winners Circle a Decade Later
Courtesy of IHRA
EDMONTON, AB – It was déjà vu all over again at Castrol Raceway. Exactly 10 years ago Bruce Litton visited victory lane at the inaugural MOPAR Rocky Mountain Nitro Jam Nationals on a beautiful summer weekend in 2003. A decade
later not much has changed.
Driving the exact same car he took to victory lane in 2003 to commemorate the 10th running of the MOPAR Rocky Mountain Nitro Jam Nationals, Litton returned to victory lane in front of a full house Saturday night during the SMS Komatsu Night of Fire with a big win over Bobby Lagana Jr., ending Lagana’s two-year run at the track and giving Litton his first Ironman since June of 2011.
“We really wanted to do something special to remember that first race in Edmonton so we brought the retro car that has been sitting in the shop all this time,” Litton said. “Returning to victory lane with that same car a decade later was definitely a special moment for the team and something we will remember for a very long time.”
Making Progress on Jeg Coughlin Jr.’s Mind as Pro Stock Turns to Eliminations
Courtesy of Jegs
NORWALK, OH – Local favorite Jeg Coughlin Jr. was all smiles at the conclusion of Pro Stock qualifying after earning 
the No. 10 spot in the elimination field for his JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger.
“Q4 was probably our best run of the pack, ET wise,” Coughlin said of the fourth and final qualifying session. “We’ve been running really good speeds all weekend, top-five in Q1 and Q2 and the K&N Horsepower Challenge, which tells us we’ve got other fish to fry than the motor side of things. We’ve got the power.
“Eddie (Guarnaccia, crew chief) and the team went to work on getting the efficiency of the car a little bit better. A day late, a dollar short, as far as the K&N Horsepower Challenge is concerned, as we lost in Round 1 of that deal, unfortunately, but we still found some things to get a little more bite in the car in Q4 there and that will translate to tomorrow.”
