- 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
Cannister gets first taste of nitro at Pittsburgh Nitro Jam this Friday and Saturday
Courtesy of IHRA
NEW ALEXANDRIA, PA – It will be déjà vu all over again for Laurie Cannister this weekend in Pittsburgh – sort of.
While Cannister will return to the familiar seat of a Funny Car this Friday and Saturday at the Pittsburgh Nitro Jam at Pittsburgh Raceway Park – a ride she piloted to an IHRA World Championship in 2008 – it won’t exactly be the same as the multi-time champion trades in alcohol power for the raw excitement of nitro behind the wheel of the “Bullet Bob” Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car this weekend in Pittsburgh.
Cannister, who won the IHRA Alcohol Funny Car World Championship back in 2008, will get her first taste of nitro racing this weekend at the Pittsburgh Nitro Jam against Nitro Jam veterans Peter Gallen, Mike McIntire and Greg Jacobsmeyer at the famed track in New Alexandria.
Summit to sponsor IHRA’s biggest-ever sportsman races in July and October 2011
Courtesy of IHRA
Norwalk, OH – Summit Racing Equipment and the International Hot Rod Association are proud to announce that Summit Racing will be the title sponsor of IHRA’s Sportsman Spectacular events to be held in July and October.
Created in celebration of IHRA’s 40th anniversary season, the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular events will be the two largest and richest sportsman races ever held in IHRA competition. They are scheduled to take place July 8-10 at Maryland International Raceway and October 14-16 at Virginia Motorsports Park.
Open to all racers, and featuring all seven IHRA touring classes, the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Spectacular events pay $5,000 to win in each class. All IHRA and valid NHRA memberships, licenses and chassis certifications will be accepted. In addition to the big payout, each event will award national event contingency and an IHRA Ironman. IHRA members who win their classes will earn automatic entry into the Summit Racing Tournament of Champions in October.
Did you miss last nights WFO broadcast?
Courtesy of WFO
HOLLYWOOD, FL – Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals winners Jack Beckman, Antron Brown, Jason Line, and L.E. Tonglet join Joe Castello along with the NHRA’s Alan Reinhart, on WFO Radio NHRA
Tuesday. To listen now, go to WFORadio.com.
Jack Beckman, coming off his second victorof the season, discusses his team’s strong performance, the rivalry between himself and John Force being over hyped, and how competing in the NHRA tests a driver’s character.
DSR Top Fuel driver, Antron Brown celebrates his second victory of the season. Brown talks about playful jabs back and forth between himself and event runner-up Tony Schumacher, the level of competition in the Top Fuel eliminator, and the intensity required for success on the NHRA tour.
AATRS MAY 20 – 22 RACE CANCELED DO TO WEATHER
Courtesy of AATRS
Tulsa, OK – Due to the incoming storm system in the midwest region, AATRS is forced to cancel its inaugural event “Race Talk Magazine’s 1st Annual King 1/4 Shootout Presented by: Ricekiller.com. This is a sad and unfortunate
event, but there is nothing that AATRS can do, due to the current weather conditions. Tulsa Raceway Park has been a great host track for our event and we will continue to work with Tulsa Raceway Park and Ginger Martin to find another date in the near future to have our event at Tulsa Raceway Park.
“As much as this sucks, and everybody was looking forward to this great event, I want to say to everybody that we will have this great event at Tulsa Raceway Park this year before our scheduled Winter Nationals in November.” Said Chris Waters, founder of American All Track Racing Series.
Trevor Wiggins Debuts EFI at NHRA Summit Southern Nationals
Courtesy of Trevor Wiggins
Canton, GA – Super Comp driver Trevor Wiggins created quite a buzz among fellow sportsman racers at the NHRA 
Summit Southern Nationals since converting his motor set-up to electronic fuel injection (EFI) after teaming up with Holley Performance Products and Hilborn Fuel Injection.
Wiggins, who runs a 602-Steve Schmidt engine in his silver Undercover dragster, moved away from the traditional carburetor system found on most dragsters thanks to support from Holley Performance Products and Hilborn Fuel Injection.
With the help of Holley EFI expert Doug Flynn, Wiggins put together some great packages in time trials and eliminations during the NHRA national event held in Atlanta, May 13-15.
Among 61 Super Comp racers, Wiggins ousted Ken Griffiths in round one. After ranking fourth on the ladder, Wiggins convincingly beat Jim Nash in round two with a tight 0.007 package. Wiggins went 0.007 on the tree and a perfect 8.900.
In round three, Wiggins met up with Kurt Damron. Wiggins, with a better reaction time, (0.030) 8.894, 175.75 m.p.h., narrowly lost on the break-out to Damron (0.032), 8.908, 167.07 m.p.h., who hit the wall after the finish line.
Toyrific Racing Team expected to miss Quick 32 Sportsman Series opener at Cayuga
Courtesy of Quick 32
ORILLIA, ON – Melanie Simmons and her Toyrific Racing Team have their goals set high for the upcoming Quick 32 Sportsman Series season. 
Simmons has made some serious improvements for this season including stepping into a Mike Bos Chassis Craft built dragster.
After displaying her car at the 2011 Performance World Car Show and taking home numerous awards, Simmons and her father Roger were quite prepared to hit the track for preseason testing.
“We have all worked so hard to be ready for the season and I feel that I have a really safe and competitive car to work with, said Simmons. “The guys at G-Force Race Cars helped with making sure I fit properly in this car, Carl Spiering and his crew at ERD (Engine Research & Development) did a few upgrades to the supercharged powerplant, my Dad spent countless hours pulling everything together and Jon Salemi at Resolution Racing really made this upgrade possible for me.”
Hill Wins Class Eliminations, Lewis Qualifies #1 & Races to Semis in Atlanta
Courtesy of Roy Hill Racing
COMMERCE, GA – Roy Hill and Grant Lewis kept the Phoenix Racing / Roy Hill’s Drag Racing School Super Stock 
team’s hot streak alive at the 31st annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals with yet another top qualifier and semifinal finish. This time it was Lewis in the Phoenix Racing 2010 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet who raced to the semis from the pole, while Hill drove the Coca-Cola / Alsco Cobra Jet to the class eliminations victory over Lewis in Super Stock/A-Automatic.
Lewis, from Jesup, GA, qualified on top with an 8.738 on a 9.70 index while Hill placed 12th in qualifying with a 9.019 before falling in the opening round to Tyler Caheely. Meanwhile, Lewis dispensed of Sal Biondo, Arthur Leong, and Kevin Helms on his way to the semis. There he would lose a close one to James Caro by .0078 seconds, running 8.834 on an 8.76 dial-in for a .074 package compared to Caro’s 10.068 on a 10.04 dial.
Rivalries aplenty at Pittsburgh Nitro Jam
Courtesy of IHRA
NEW ALEXANDRIA, PA – Whether going toe-to-toe at events nearer to their homes in Pennsylvania and Ohio, or traveling thousands of miles across the country to compete against the best in the nation, you can always count on
finding Peter Gallen and Mike McIntire in the final round.
Already in 2011 it has happened four times and you can add another pair of meetings to the count from last year’s tour of duty.
Coincidence? Perhaps not.
“Many times we are simply the two best cars on the track,” McIntire said from his home in Chesterland, Ohio, already hard at work preparing for this weekend’s Pittsburgh Nitro Jam at Pittsburgh Raceway Park. “I have been racing for like 20 years and while Pete is a bit older than me, we have developed quite a friendly little rivalry out there. Our families have gotten close, but on the track it is all business and we are always measuring ourselves against those guys.”
Nl’akapxm Eagle Motorplex gearing up for historic weekend
Courtesy of IHRA
Ashcroft, BC – It has been a long wait, but after nearly a decade as the leading motorsports sanctioning body in all of Canada, the IHRA is finally bringing divisional racing to the north with the debut of the Border Bandits Summit Pro-
Am division this weekend at the Nl’akapxm Eagle Motorplex in British Columbia.
It was nearly two decades ago when the IHRA first came to Canada, making its grand entrance in Toronto back in 1992, and now, nearly 20 years and dozens of Canadian national events later, the IHRA is permanently setting up shop with a brand new Summit Pro-Am division set to kick off this weekend in British Columbia with the first of three events in the newly created Division 6, also known as the Border Bandits Division.
“This is something we have been working toward for a long time. We have been reaching out to racers on the west coast for a long time and with the creation of the new division and with so many great tracks getting involved I think this is the first step in really making some noise in areas of the country we have never touched before,” said Frank Kohutek, IHRA Division Director. “We are excited to get a new era in IHRA drag racing underway this weekend with the newly created Division 6.”
New Grassroots Organization – American All Tracks Racing Series
Los Angeles, CA – A few months ago I was wandering through a few of the numerous drag racing forums when I came across a post about a new drag racing organization, American All Tracks Racing Series. After inquiring about the AATRS, I was contacted by the owner, Chris Waters. Chris spent the next few days and weeks explaining what American All Tracks Racing Series was about and why he has started a new grassroots racing organization. Below are parts of the conversation we’ve had over the last few months.
What is AATRS?
American All Track Racing Series is a brand new racing organization that focuses on the sportsman/grass roots/weekend warriors level of racing. The organization allows the fans/spectators to finally get involved in something they love. We are a racing organization that places the focus on the drivers and not the dollar. We have made it possible for everybody who loves racing that does not have a million dollar budget or sponsors, to get involved and race on the weekends. Just bring your daily driver and you can come out and race. Or if you are the heads up sportsman/grassroots racer that goes to the track several times a year, we have classes that will suit you. We are focusing the spotlight on this class of drivers and spectators to give them a national platform to race on.
