- Hagan Captures 50th NHRA Career Win in TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Funny Car at NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte
- Ashley, Hagan, Anderson and Herrera take Wins at Charlotte Four-Wide
- TOUGH FINAL ROUND PUTS DAMPER ON WEEKEND FOR JOHN FORCE IN CHARLOTTE NHRA 4-WIDE NATIONALS
- BO BUTNER WINS JHG MOUNTAIN MOTOR PRO STOCK SEASON OPENER
- AARON STANFIELD RUNNER-UP AT NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS AT ZMAX DRAGWAY
- JUSTIN ASHLEY WINS NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS AT ZMAX DRAGWAY
- Tony Schumacher Out Early After Jam-Packed Four-Wide Weekend in Charlotte
No major changes for PMRA Corvette Pro Modified of Derek Hawker
Courtesy of PMRA
CORBYVILLE, ON – “Right now the car is in 10 million pieces, but we’ll have it back together for opening day.”
Entering his third year of Pro Modified Racing Association competition, Derek Hawker said the Hawker Racing
Corvette Pro Modified will not receive any major changes for the upcoming season.
“We are doing some upgrades to the supercharger,” he noted. “We have to try and run with the Joneses, but other than that, it will be pretty much the same deal.”
Hawker placed sixth in 2011 PMRA Championship Point Award Series, qualifying in the tough field at most events, highlighted with a final round appearance against Kenny Lang in the third race of the six-race season. His 6.316-second pass was close, but Lang, an IHRA Pro Modified champion from Manitoba, nipped Hawker with a 6.035-second run.
Altalab Instrument joins TNT Super Series for 2012
Courtesy of TNT Super Series
RENICK, WEST VIRGINIA (February 16 , 2012) The Joe’s Transmission TNT Super Series is pleased to announce 
Altalab Instrument as the official paging weather station for 2012. In business since 1988, Altalab has supplied pro and sportsman drag racers with top quality reliable, user friendly weatherstations for tuning and performance prediction.
“Index racing is a very competitive form of drag racing,” said Ted Barnes, TNTSS Director. “Having accurate, up-to-the-minute weather information at your fingertips in the staging lanes is key to winning races.”
Tenley Shewmake of Altalab commented “We are pleased to be an Associate Sponsor and Official Weatherstation of the TNT Super Series, and look forward to lots of neck and neck action in 2012. The ‘Official Weatherstation’ is an AltaCom II paging weatherstation–our top of the line model that comes complete with prediction software ready to run out of the box.”
Who’s In This Issue of RPM Magazine – March 2012
Courtesy of RPM Magazine
SOUTHERN PRIDE Three nasty small block powered Chevy Musclecars injected with nitrous oxide and ready to take on the world, with one driver, Ricky Pennington! Ricky, his dad Rick, and Tommy Bills, have created Performance
Specialties Inc., where everything is done in house in a true “busted knuckles” style shop with pride of workmanship.
AFFLICTION Ray Abell’s Chevy II is a doer, not a talker. It looks the part, and plays the part, and does so very well. 815 cubic inches of big block Chevrolet, 4.53 seconds at 158 mph in the 1/8th, 7.06 at 195 mph in the ¼-mile, and you can bet there is more left in the clutch tune-up… and even more power left in the engine to get that coveted 6 second pass.
USE THE FORCE – Unless you have been completely avoiding any discussion of small tire drag racing, you have already heard of the controversial X275 world champion race car “Vader”, and perhaps the driver Pete Harrell and car owner Eric McMillon.
UPRISING – 1986 was a good year for Harry Gerb. That summer he had finally gotten his driver’s license and set out to find his first car. Being a died-in-the-wool hot rodder not just any old car would do for his first, so he scoured the newspapers until he found just what he was looking for… a 1968 Firebird!
Be sure to visit the new RPM Magazine Website at www.rpm-mag.com to catch up on the latest news and press releases and to read Back issues for free.
Nitro Jam announces all-star Funny Car lineup for San Antonio Nitro Jam
Courtesy of IHRA
NORWALK, OH – Fans of nostalgia funny car racing will be in drag racing heaven at the San Antonio Nitro Jam March 30-31 at San Antonio Raceway.
Last year’s San Antonio Nitro Jam attracted record crowds for the much anticipated return of nitro racing to the Alamo City and this week Nitro Jam announced the biggest and most competitive “all-star” lineup of AMSOIL Prostalgia™ Nitro Funny Cars ever assembled in Nitro Jam competition.
2011 Nitro Jam Champion Peter Gallen returns to San Antonio Raceway March 30-31
The San Antonio Nitro Jam will feature eight of the best Funny Cars in the country as 2011 Nitro Jam champion and current world record holder Peter Gallen and the “Poverty Stricken” team will take on 2010 Nitro Jam champion Steve Nichols in the “Mill Road Boys” Camaro, three-time IHRA champion Dale Pulde’s “War Eagle”, Tim Boychuk in “Troy Lee Designs”, Mike Savage in “Candies and Hughes”, Jon Capps in “Jungle Jim”, John Hale in “Nitro Boss” and Mark Sanders in “Mr. Explosive.”
Ahten’s Short Winternationals a Matter of Numbers
Courtesy of Athen Family Racing
Pomona, CA – Johnny Ahten doesn’t need a slide ruler or protractor to know how to tune his Nitromethane Injected Top Alcohol Dragster. He does rely on the people that support him and the Ahten Racing Team. This past weekend, at
the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals, Ahten did get closer to the tune up he is looking for.
“We are inching away at the tune-up,” said Ahten. “We just didn’t compensate enough on Saturday to make past that round.”
Ahten and his Island Renovations/801 Racing dragster qualified in the number seven slot after running a 5.472/261.37 in Friday’s second session. That led to a round one match up with Larry Miersch. Johnny ended up losing that round, and it was more like feet than inches.
“The track was good,” said Ahten. “We just had it set a little too lean. And it may be a motorsports cliché, but we know what it did wrong, and we know how to fix it,” added Ahten.
Chris Demke and 801 Racing Team Up for Winternationals Win
Courtesy of Penn Rite Racing
Photo by Roger Richards
Pomona, CA – Chris Demke, driver of the 801 Racing sponsored dragster, capped off a team effort in winning the 
O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals this past weekend. Demke not only won the trophy, but in the final round, he ran the quickest elapsed time of the race with a stout 5.28 @ 270 mph.
“It was a great win, and having the guys from 801 Racing there made it even better,” said Demke. “I am very happy to be continuing our relationship with 801 Racing and to be running the Revvolution Oil with CleanBoost Technology.”
Demke’s dragster was not the only car there running the Revvolution Oil this past weekend. Half of the cars in competition in the Alcohol Dragster class had 801 Racing’s distinct red oil running through their engines. The company flagship was in attendance with the Cody Perkins entry.
Perkins Winternationals Experience a Battle
Courtesy of 801 Racing
Pomona, CA – Cody Perkins and the 801 Racing Top Alcohol Dragster Team did quite a bit of fighting at the Winternationals. Not fisticuffs mind you, but there were battles a plenty.
Trouble started brewing Monday night before the race, just as the team was set to depart. Perkins found one of their rocker assemblies had broken. The crack wasn’t noticeable until the motor was completely assembled and the valve spring pressure was applied to the push rod cup. The first punch had been thrown. Perkins recovered, and with a right hook, replaced the faulty parts with their last remaining spare stand. So the crew jumped in the truck and headed to Pomona. Once they arrived, parts were awaiting that needed to be installed to get the car race ready. A flurry of rabbit punches followed, which were taken in stride and the work continued.
“We knew it was going to be a short field,” said Perkins. “We had a few new things on the car and didn’t need any carnage as we plan to attend quite a few races this season.”
John Force, Spencer Massey, Greg Anderson, Alan Reinhart on WFO Radio
Courtesy of WFO
HOLLYWOOD, FL – O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals winners John Force, Spencer Massey, and Greg Anderson join Joe Castello along with the NHRA’s Alan Reinhart, on WFO Radio NHRA Nitro. To listen now, go
toWFORadio.com.
15 time NHRA Funny Car Champion, John Force, spoke with WFO Radio just minutes after his season opening final round victory over teammate Mike Neff. Force spoke about his road to victory, his team’s preparation during the off-season, and the strong performance of his daughter, Courtney, in her first race as a rookie.
Don Schumacher Racing, FRAM/Prestone driver, Spencer Massey, won Top Fuel with a final round victory over teammate, Antron Brown. Massey spoke about his team’s readiness for the championship fight in 2012 and his record setting performance at Auto Club Raceway.
Mickey Thompson Renews Partnership with Bill Glidden Racing
Courtesy of Mickey Thompson
STOW, OH – Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels has renewed their long-time partnership with Bill Glidden Racing again this year. Part of the Big Tire Development Program, Bill Glidden Racing will continue to work closely 
with Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels to provide product development staff with evaluation results of tire and wheel products in real-world racing.
Mickey Thompson will provide support to the Bill Glidden Racing team as they compete in the Extreme 10.5 class of the 2012 ADRL drag racing series.
“Bill had another great season in 2011, and we want to continue to support his efforts and help him maintain his momentum,” said Ken Warner, VP Sales and Marketing, Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels. “He is consistently on the list of top performers in the 10.5 class, and a fierce competitor in this drag racing series. We are looking forward to another great year in 2012.”
New Power in Flanigan’s TS Firebird Ready for 2012 Quick 32 Season
Courtesy fo Quick 32
BUFFALO, NY – A new powerplant under the hood of Dan Flanigan’s 2002 Firebird Top Sportsman car should provide some more force for him when he takes to the track for the 2012 Quick 32 Sportsman Series presented by NAPA Auto
Parts season.
“I’m super excited,” said Flanigan about the new aluminum 665-cubic inch engine. “We’re going to have 300 more horsepower. You have to run fast to qualify in this series.”
Flanigan only raced three times last year in Quick 32 Sportsman Series competition, and was a quarter-round finalist in the second event, the Xtreme Mayhem Nationals at Cayuga Dragway. He said that the car never performed as expected last year, and is looking for more success in 2012.
