Although the car is raced exclusively overseas in the BDRC (Bahrain Drag Racing Championship), its entire construction was done right here in the states. Tuner Shane Tecklenburg along with Eric Luzinski handle the car’s constant engineering needs and improvements. Running in the Outlaw 6 cylinder class, the turbocharged, Methanol fed 2JZ powerplant has now proven to be enough to run at the top, right on into the 6′s.

Picture: SpeedHunters

In round 4 this week, Kanoo himself was piloting his stock suspension Supra, while well known Gary White took the wheel of the quicker car. Although Kanoo managed to nail a 2nd place qualifying time, he would be taken out by a transbrake issue in the first round, leaving White to get them in the winner’s circle. While in Round 3 the team ran their personal best 6.46, White made an even sweeter pass coming in at 6.41 at 211 mph, making it the quickest pass to date in a Toyota Supra-bodied car in the 1/4 mile. Unfortunately, the final elimination round was postponed until the qualifying of round 5. White and the Kanoo racing team will be looking to push this 10.5 machine even further to get under that 6.40 mark in the next event.

Whether they can get there or not is still a story to be told on the 1320, but if anyone is going to find the extreme limits of a 2jz Toyota powerplant, it’d be none other than the import masterminds at Titan Motorsports.

Photos: Randy Westmoreland

Mike Genovese may have been formerly known as a part of the ProCharger club, but in an effort to shave some numbers off that time slip, Genovese is moving on up to a monster set of Pro Mod 94mm Garrett turbochargers. Already having gone 4.81 to the eighth-mile marker with the old set up, Genovese hopes to push his super clean Fox body further into the eliminations rounds. Take a look over at Yellowbullet to see the new work progressing on his ride.

Bringing the ProCharger to twin-turbo conversion from the drawing board to the engine bay is Randy Westmoreland at Sherwood Performance/Leash Electronics in Sherwood, Arkansas. As of today, the car is just awaiting some finishing fiberglass touches to cover where the ProCharger used to reside. Even with two giant turbocharger inlets cut into the nose, they were able to retain the good old blue oval. Matt Parker, who painted the car’s cage, will also mold the turbos.

Genovese has been modifying and racing his mustang since he was 18 (15 short years ago). Undergoing plenty of changes, the car is currently powered by a 598-inch BBF with C460 heads and a custom camshaft backed by a Keith Neal powerglide transmission. Mike Duffy built the car with his own custom 9-inch Ford rear end setup with provisions to run stock suspension or an aftermarket ladder bar setup. Even though it’s been painted seven times, Genovese may have found a setup for the long haul.

If testing goes well, the car will be ready for a strong showing at SGMP in October, along with some local races in Tulsa, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas and elsewhere in the region. Look for this proven runner to put up some good numbers when all 598 cubic inches are let loose on the quarter-mile.

Shooting for a three-peat with his Caprice, Warren has come up with a solid list of to-do’s for this winter, as posted on Yellowbullet.

A lot of little key items are being changed out, including some new Moroso coil springs up front, new 3 1/2″ exhaust and possibly some new wheels, but that isn’t the big news here; Warren’s most significant and wild change to the car is the swap to a 427 C.I. small block from the current 406 incher while still making the most of what he’s already got in his current Dart Pro1 heads.After Warren and Tim Knieriem ponder a few more things, they just might step it up to a 434. With some added power under the hood, Warren is sending out the TH350 transmission to ATF for a refresh and some new planetaries.

Aside from that, a custom 12 point moly cage and a fabbed 12 bolt or 9-inch rear end is also in the works as Warren sets his sights on keeping a reserved parking spot for his Caprice in the NMCA winners circle. Hopefully with these changes and shaving a few necessary pounds wherever possible, some high 9 second passes will be on order for the two time champ. Chevy may not have ever dreamt that their most plush 70′s luxury car would be a dragstrip dominator, but now we’re being made well aware of their potential, despite the curb weight in excess of 4000 pounds. Keep on yankin’ the wheels in that beast, Andy.

Just two examples of this dominance in Aussie-land are Joe Gauci from Profab and Dom Luppino. To read more about their cars and competition, checkout ProlineRacing.net

One of Proline’s many dealers in Australia, Dandy Engines, buys their engine builders packages and turns them into high horsepower quarter mile dominators. Joe Gauci from Profab now has one of Proline’s twin turbo small block Ford’s in his grabber blue Ford Cortina, a big step up from the single turbo straight 6 he’d been running in years previous.

The sixxer was good for mid 8′s in Modified Street trim, but Gauci wasn’t completely satisfied with that. After getting a proper 8 cylinders under the hood, Gauci was able to run out a solid 7.45 at 194 MPH at Calder Park in Melbourne at their most recent event, thus moving Gauci and his Cortina up to the #1 Modified Street slot.

Of course, things get a little quicker when we move on over to the Pro Street class and check out Dom Luppino’s new edge Mustang. As of now, Luppino is running a 440 C.I. SBF with a pair of 80mm turbos with Big Stuff 3 EFI and an AMS 1000 boost controller, which Luppino says is a must for these cars. Just how good is this combo? Earlier in the year Luppino ran a 7.04 at 202 MPH in testing, but in their latest outing he ran a 7.12 at 204 mph, still chasing that high 6 second pass. For now, Luppino and his crew will have to settle for being the #1 Pro Street car, breaking his own records like clockwork.

If any Modified Street or Pro Street competition wants to get a shot at the win in any given event, they’re going to need to get by these Proline Racing and Dandy Engines customer’s mean Ford power.

The original snapshot we discovered back in May

Back in May you may remember we came across a snapshot of a Pro Street style Camaro just laying unattended to down in Panama. While it peaked our interest quite a bit, it’s location, current state and the odds of its survival led us to believe the Camaro had just seen better days, and likely wouldn’t be moving under its own power anytime soon. In other words, we thought it was a goner. Well, a short time after that all the forums blew up with everyone on the hunt for more info on the car. To our surprise, after a few months of rumors and ideas circled around the car, we got word that the car was indeed getting a second chance to make not another, but its first pass down the 1/4 mile.

While dirty, the engine bay and front end is entirely brand new. Photos By: Tom

While it was hard to believe at first, this car was indeed built and then never had so much as the key turned on the 540″ Shafiroff BBC – the front end components such as the A Arms, shocks and other various components were still in the packaging taped up for preservation. Surely a ride like this wouldn’t just be left to sit without a good reason, right? That’d be correct, the original owner had unfortunately passed away, leaving a 90% finished Pro Street Camaro project idle for 11 years. Sure, a little surface rust and corrosion is definitely noticeable in the engine bay and other areas, but the car still has zero passes on it. As per the current owner and current builder’s request, we can’t divulge into who’s bringing the car back to life for privacy reasons, but they were courteous enough to give us some excellent pictures, and some info on where they’re going with the car.

As for the body, it’s not a real Camaro body, merely a 2 piece fiberglass Camaro body that has had the roof cut for some reason (to be repaired). The car’s white “Z” graphic across the sides were noted as shockingly similar to the “Z” Pat Musi displayed on both his green Camaro and Firebird, but as of now it seems to just be an imitation of the graphic. Lexan windows will be going into the car after the roof gets the needed attention, along with the unfinished floor. The cage seems to be incomplete as well, and current efforts are being focused on finding out what kind of spec and/or class the cage was being built for.

Quick view of the 9" Strange rear end and 4 link

As mentioned, the car is to be powered by a Shafiroff 540″ BBC that should just need a good cleansing. The Brodix heads, Jesel belt drive, BG 1150 Dominator and MSD 7AL ignition cued us in that the engine wasn’t just a plain jane combo. Oh yeah, it also has a two stage nitrous system. The engine is mated to a Powerglide transmission, and then sent out back to a Strange Engineering 9″ rear-end (gearing is currently unknown). It’s hard to put an accurate E/T guesstimate on this ride, but 7-second passes should be a cakewalk on a good track.

Work on this car is set to kick into high gear as soon as next week. Bringing this car back from the brink wont be one of the easiest things we’ve ever seen done, but it’s definitely a good foundation. If this car interests you as much as it does me, be sure to check back in the future, as we’ll hopefully be able to bring you the car’s build progress as it happens. Other than what we’ve been told, the car’s complete history and where it was destined to race is still a bit of an unkown even for the current builder, so anyone that may even know so much as where the cage was being constructed, please, by all means, speak up!

Mark Carvalho Ready For Battle

It’s been a “brisk” October to say the least over here in New England. Of course, that isn’t always a bad thing when it comes to picking up a low E/T on raceday. Coming into the last of 3 X275 events at New England Dragway, the racers were not only looking to show the competition who’s the quickest, they were also showing all the ‘higher ups’ at NED that heads-up small tire racing is the next big thing. With a 15 car turnout, event organizer Marco thinks they were successful on that end.

With the 15 cars, Marco decided to form a quick 8 shootout with the top 8 qualifiers, and give the 9-15th place qualifiers their own shootout. Checkout Marco’s very own event recap on Yellowbullet.

Mark Carvalho took the throne early qualifying in the #1 spot, running a 5.35 at 131.9 mph in his Procharged ’79 Mustang – a solid 3 tenths above 2nd place qualifier Kevin Volk. Danny Reis, the eventual 9-15 shootout winner qualified 9th with a 6.27. Carvalho stuck close to his qualifying E/T through eliminations running a nearly identical 5.39 and 5.40, getting him a front row seat to the finals with #7 qualifier Jim Costa. Costa took the tree with a .097 reaction time to Carvalho’s .255, but it wasn’t enough to get to the 1/8 mile stripe before Carvalho, who ran a 5.35 at 131 to Costa’s 5.56.

Danny Reis' Super Clean Notchback

For the 9-15 finals, Danny Reis and his mean Fox body was able to get a close win over Jake Conant, running a personal best 5.96 over Conant’s 6.12 run. Not the fastest pair, but definitely one of the closest races all weekend.

Marco and all the X275 guys are definitely hoping that they’ll be back at NED come spring 2011, but the fine details are still being worked out as of now.  Of course, a big round of applause goes out to everyone at New England Dragway for giving us another X275 venue. Does anyone have what it takes to come out to NED and lay down the first 4 second pass on 275′s at this track? Be sure to follow NED’s website for future 275 race details.

Photos By: 1crzhrs on SVTPerformance.com

Sometimes the old school tricks and modifications are best left to the classic rides, but Fastlane Motorsports have made sure that everyone in sight will take notice of their Pro-Street esque GT500 clone with the addition of a sweet polished 8-71 Blower catching the breeze atop this ‘Stang’s hood. The large diameter Carrol Shelby wheels threw us for a loop at first, but after all, this car was built to turn heads and make a fashion statement, not to become another commonplace S197.

Checkout Fastlane’s video unveiling of this sweet ride along with a little “calm” cruise through a local neighborhood here.

With a staggered stance and old school supercharged power, it would’ve been acceptable and almost expected for the car to be pretty bare bones, but it’s the complete opposite. While there’s many different interpretations to the term “street car” we’re told that that’s what the owner Melvin wanted, so all the creature comforts including power steering, A/C and more were kept on board. Underneath The Blower Shop‘s finest unit is a 5.4L Mod-motor with 4 valve heads, retaining a factory 2007 computer, harness and fuel injection system working in conjunction with the Enderle Fuel Injection hat. Unfortunately due to unforeseen wheel backspacing issues with a Brembo setup, they had to use a smaller set of Aerospace brakes.

It’s not GT500 through and through though, as this show-stopper started off life as a badly burnt up 2007 Mustang GT that Fastlane gave a new lease on life. Be sure to stay tuned for the awesome wide-open-throttle video that’s in the works once the car gets up onto the dyno rollers for a complete dyno tune, aiming to send 800-900 horsepower to the rear hides. Will Fastlane reach their goal of building a 900HP monster that’s also an attention getter? I think they’ve already fulfilled the latter, lets see some numbers outta this ‘Stang boys.

This scorched '07 GT was the basis for this GT500 clone.

Who doesn’t love a little of every piece of the racing world? Be it all out straight-line performance on the drag strip, paved short track racing or even watching cars fly around corners sideways in the dirt, any gearhead can find something awesome within any of these events. Well, what if one wants to find all of these venues in one location? Mark your calenders for spring of 2011, when Lake Havasu City plans to be welcoming the addition of an 1/8 mile drag strip and off-road course to their existing paved oval speedway.

Read more about the track’s (so-far) successful efforts to bring drag racing to Lake Havasu directly from Havasu News and join the discussion regarding the track on Moparts.

While most track proposals usually receive heavy flak for reasons varying from noise, money, or locals that just don’t want it, for whatever reason that may be, but the Havasu City public showed their overwhelming support during a Parks & Recreation Department meeting in the city council chambers at the police facility. All that’s left now in the legal way of things is to bring the proposal in front of the City council, slated to take place sometime this month. In an effort to curb noise complaints, Havasu 95 Speedway owner Bill Rohzon says the track will be positioned in a way that channels the noise toward the lake as to not disturb locals.

Making things a little more feasible, is that Lucas Oil has already vowed to build the track at zero cost to the community, and hopes to have the gates opening on the finished product by February of 2011. It’s not the only drag strip in the Phoenix area, but it’ll certainly become the only facility of its type for miles and miles beyond Phoenix city limits. Follow the facility’s progress as the ball gets rolling even faster at their website, Havasu95speedway.com.

Even though the Drag Pack Challenger is a rare sight compared to say.. an early 90′s Fox Body on the 1320, we’ve seen the wrenches turning on a bunch of them, seeing what each and every race team’s interpretation on the best overall Drag Pack Challenger is, performance-wise and in the cosmetic department. We’ve certainly seen some stellar examples, but when Mack Reeves got his hands on his own Challenger (Drag Pack #43) he wanted to do what he could to make it stand out from the others, so he got in touch with Chris Cruz Artistry for a killer paint job.

While Chris Cruz’s paint-job is what really drew me into this modern Mopar, there’s a whole lot more to this ride, as depicted on Moparts.

Hitting the ground running with Chrysler’s biggest and baddest production motor available today, the 6.1L HEMI stays fairly stock-appearing on the outside at first glance, but as with all teams, they’re doing what little they can on the inside within NHRA AS/A’s tight rule package. When your rule-strapped in the motor department, you’ve got to look elsewhere for any bit of help you can get on hustling down the 1/4 mile – underneath this beauty’s rear clip is a Mopar 8 3/4″ rear end stuffed with Mark Williams Hi-Torque axles. Helping keep the car steady on launch is Afco shocks out back and Afco coil-overs in the front-end.

Keeping consistency in mind, Reeves opted for an automatic trans. in the car. As the build wraps up, Reeves is hoping he’ll have enough time to get this Challenger onto the dyno rollers and also get some crucial testing data in soon, before making an attempt to get the car ready and out for the last Division 2 race of the year in October, before giving the competition a run for their money in 2011.

Chris Cruz made sure to make this one highly-detailed engine bay

Checkout the photos shared with us by ADRL’s Agent 660, and let us know what you think about this flat black beauty.

While there’s no official word from Smith or any associates on whether or not he’ll be making an appearance at ADRL’s nearest event taking place on September 10-11 at Rockingham Dragway, it seems like a perfect chance for Smith to give it a go as it doesn’t conflict with the NHRA Full Throttle schedule (Smith currently sits 5th in PSM well within striking distance of the 2010 title). The Lenmar Motorsports World Finals in Ennis, TX would be the only other ADRL race in 2010 that doesn’t conflict with the NHRA schedule.

Photo: ADRL

Whenever his first ADRL appearance may be, it’ll be thanks to all the efforts that George Bryce’s Star Racing team have put into this champ’s new bike. Engine and other drivetrain details are being left out for now, but should be coming up soon should Smith and Star Racing give us the full rundown on their plans for ADRL competition in 2010 and/or 2011. Regardless, Matt Smith looks to make his presence well-known, hoping to become a serious contender in the unfamiliar Pro Extreme Motorcycle territory. Will he have what it takes, or will the likes of Ashley Owens, Terry Schweigert, and Eric Mckinney stay on top in the PXM ranks?

"No Pressure" Staging Lanes Before The Final Round

While the latest buzz around New England Dragway is its newly announced swap-over to NHRA sanctioning in 2011, some big progress is running down New England’s finest 1/4 mile in the meantime. While at first, a 1000cc engine might not sound menacing – stuff it into a lightweight, streamlined snowmobile with one big track of rubber, and it makes for one hell of a go-getter, outrunning most 4 wheeled foes right on down into the low 8′s.

Well chalk up another sweet event for the NSA (National Speed Association) as their most recent meeting between snowmobiles and asphalt just a week back have brought us this year’s first repeat winner, and even a MPH record set by Kristin Stanley, at 157.14 in qualifying. Checkout NSA’s website for the full story and pictures.

The Bangor Motorsports team pulled into Epping with one goal in mind – staying on top of everyone else in the points. Qualifying second right out of the trailer, Jay Pearl sent Dale Swartwout and Ed Armstrong home in eliminations, getting a bye run in the semi’s to face Scott Marsh, who qualified 4th for the event. Despite running a personal best 8.37 at 154 during early eliminations, Marsh couldn’t trigger the win light in the finals against Pearl, who brought home the $1,750 purse, a new MSD 75301 ignition and most importantly in the big picture, a 79 point lead over Brian Hamel with just one race left on the schedule. Luckily, if you happened to missout on the high-rev action in person, checkout the final round video provided by Kristin Stanley-

Will the cool fall conditions in mid-September bring out yet another record, or will Kristin Stanley’s ET record set in ’08, along with her recently reset MPH record be too tough to grab up? Either way, the NSA and all of its racers are living proof that snowmobiles aren’t limited to only having fun in the blistering cold winter, they love layin’ down some rubber too!

For a real close-up look at what his latest changes have rendered, checkout some of his latest testing video below – the best pass to date is a 5.49 at 132 mph whilst battling front suspension gremlins.

Landeros’ secrets to success lie within an old-school Cal-trac setup with mono leafs and Afco shocks out back. In hopes of reeling in their front end issues Marcus is tightening up the front springs a bit to see if it’ll solve their issues. In the engine department Landeros runs a 360 C.I. SBC with a DART block, Dart PRO 1 heads, Comp custom cam and a CSU blow-thru carburetor. In ideal conditions, rough estimates put this powerplant over the big 1000 horsepower hash-mark. All of this of course, being fed through a 28×10.5″ tire true to the series’ name.

If Landeros can keep a hold on his sweet orange ’69, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with at the next WTTTF race this upcoming August 21st. Marcus would also like to give a shout out to his sponsors, West Texas Race Craft and McIntosh Transmissions for making his continued racing efforts possible. Will Landeros be able to scoop up his second win of 2010, gaining momentum to finish off the ’10 season with a bang? Be sure to join the fun at Desert Thunder Raceway to find out first hand, or check back at Dragzine.com for event recaps and season updates!

It wasn’t quite the performance, like his personal best 9.44 back in May, but Jones’ video of this 9.60 pass was crucial in helping FTI diagnose what was amiss in the converter.  It was later diagnosed to be a few broken fins, and Jones will soon have a fresh and functional converter in his Fox. On top of that, Jones traced down the top-end misfire to an adjustable ignition rotor coming loose and jumping spark, which luckily didn’t cause any serious engine damage.

Father and co-car owner Bill “Pops” Jones and Bam are shooting for the 9.20-9.30 zone with the car’s current setup, and as we know, once you get there, you want a little more. The Jones’ current setup is a 454″ CHI-headed Clevor with top of the line go fast goodies including a World block, CSR water pump, Camshaft Innovations custom camshaft and 2″ primary open headers. You won’t ever see a drop of pump gas anywhere near this ‘Stang, as it’s running nearly 15:1 compression. While it’s not the most radical setup out there, 450″+ small blocks aren’t exactly common, and Jones’ car definitely is impressive in the world of naturally aspirated fury. Me personally, any ‘Stang that can knock off 9-second passes round after round is admirable.

It’s pretty light, has a catchy modern image, but for many of us, it just lacks that V8 rumble under the hood. If the lack of affordable V8 alternatives for a 350Z is what’s been holding you back, one Nissan fanatic has yanked the stock V6 in favor of the ultra-popular GM LS engine platform and in this case, a turbocharged LS2. This Nissan isn’t just some trailer queen either, as Mark drove the car 120 miles to the track (while netting 33 MPG to boot) in a hot summer 103 degree day.

Checkout Mark’s video post over on the LS1GTO forum, or view the video of his Z taking on a Mustang at the track below -

The build, much like other street-friendly LS builds is relatively moderate with a single 88mm Precision turbo, truck exhaust manifolds and a long list of other factory parts, along with the usual supporting modifications in the fueling and tuning department. His initial tune was running a cool 7 PSI on pump gas, but Mark decided to see how far he could go in pump gas form, bumping the boost up to 9 lbs. Luckily, it all held together and he was able to nail off a heck of a clean pass – a 10.8 at 138 MPH.

Obviously this car will near closer to the 9′s with any weather more optimum than sweltering heat, but Mark is pretty happy given the circumstances. Getting ready to sneak up on the tune with 12 PSI and race fuel will be the next step in the saga of this LS2 Nissan. Better yet, Mark is still using the stock 350Z rear suspension and other stock components right down to the axles. Budget-minded, different and cool are just a few adjectives coming to mind when this ride is thought of, more or less, it’s one car that was just done right.

Late 2009 was one of the Pelech Bros. roughest racing tours to date, fighting a car with multiple electronics issues and the absence of traction made their NMCA finals everything but fun. Their only high point of the year was a 7.27 testing pass at Milan, which Ted Pelech is currently accrediting to dumb luck. Not to let the bad news get in the way of progress, Tim and Ted Pelech have been hard at work to step up their program in all directions with less weight, a slightly revised engine program and most importantly – functional electronics.

Checkout PelechBrosRacing.com for the full story on this family-run team.

If you haven’t followed the Pelech Bros. team closely, during last year’s NMCA finals they had issues with the car not moving instantly after releasing the trans-brake like it’s supposed to. When the diagnosis was in, they traced the problem down to a slow processor speed within one of their electronic controllers that wasn’t opening the nitrous solenoids quick enough. After whipping up some substitute relays, suspension troubles still plagued them in their relentless search of traction. Once their final qualifying run came around, they finally were able to get the car to hook, but the car backfires through the exhaust, ending their high hopes of a solid run.

Thanks to one of Ted’s posts on Yellowbullet.com, we’ve gotten a sneak peak into his almost finished engine package for this spotless 3rd Gen Camaro. With a nitrous-assisted 465″ BBC wearing a set of Dart big chief heads, we’re assured that power will not be one of this car’s downfalls. Ted’s confirmed that their primary engine is all ready to go, while their back-up bullet is about 70% of the way there, but should be ready by the end of August.

Hutch’s Transmission Service has whipped up one of their latest and greatest improved powerglide transmission setups and a fresh convertor for the Pelech Bros. team. Trying to shave some weight, they’ve switched to an XS Power Lithium-Ion battery which rids their car of an outstanding 39 pounds! Hopefully with what they’ve learned through trial and error, what they’ve adjusted and parts they’ve swapped out, the Pelech Bros. Team will be able to make a healthy return to NMCA competition this year.

Photos By: Mideastbusa

We’ve seen boatloads of S197 Mustangs make their way into some pretty competitive heads-up classes, but we’ve noticed the lack of GT500 inspired rides. When Competition Auto was in search of a way to make their car really standout, a Shelby GT500 body with a vibrant attention grabbing orange paint scheme was a no-brainer. With Billy Henderson at the wheel, Competition Auto is simply hoping to have a little fun, become competitive and with some luck, take home a few wins in Outlaw Radial or True 10.5.

Checkout the car’s unveiling over on Yellow Bullet.

The Mustang specialists at Competition Auto may be keeping the engine and suspension pics to themselves for now, but they were kind enough to let us know this GT500 is keeping a Modular 5.4L in the spotless engine bay, force-fed with a 106MM Precision turbo in place of the factory blower. All we know about the rear suspension in this Shelby is that there’s nothing stock about it.

Aside from the paintwork, and Tim Bradham doing the chassis-work and constructing the 25.2 spec cage, Competition Auto has performed all the work in-house right down to the tuning and working with the AMS 1000 Boost Controller. As for when we’ll get to see this killer Orange GT500 hustling down the 1320, they hope to have the car out sometime after Mustang Week wraps up at the end of July, or the beginning of August at the latest. With the GT500 front clip, burnt orange paint and stand-out Billet Specialties wheels, this car just plain looks fast standing still, and we can’t wait to see how she looks trapping 180+ on the big end. Hopefully the rather unfavored single turbo setup wont be a hold-up, and these guys can make like Dan Millen or Spiro Pappas to squeeze every ounce of power out of the single turbo combo.

After word rapidly spread online throughout just about every muscle car or drag racing website when Lingenfelter ran a new personal best 10.23. To some, it was pretty impressive and to others, it seemed a little lacking for the engine package this car is packing. As an active participant in the online racing community, Lingenfelter quickly took notice to the skeptics of the car’s potential, and brought this 2010 SS back out to the track to show us that there’s a bunch more left in this car.

All of Lingenfelter’s previous runs with the car can be found on their video page, but checkout the car’s most recent track appearance in Lingenfelter’s video below:

Grabbing gears in the TR6060 manual transmission hard out of the gate, Lingenfelter’s first amped up run was right on into the 9′s with a 9.993 at 140 MPH. We had a feeling it would get there in due time, but on the first pass off the trailer, no one could have predicted things to go that well. 9 Second pass in the books? Check. Consistency? The next two passes were nearly identically clean as the first, running a 9.97 at 142 followed up with a 9.97 at 141.6. Consistency is no worry here, even with a rather difficult 6 speed transmission on board.

Alas, the 1/4 mile times are nearing closer to where they should be with an 855 horsepower supercharged LS9 on board. How much more E/T will Lingenfelter be able to successfully squeeze out of this fifth gen, before amping up their modifications list? It’s too soon to tell, but with a track record like what Lingenfelter has, we’re sure they wont disappoint. This LS9 Camaro’s story just gets better and better with every new page, and we just can’t wait to hear that boosted monster rumbling through the custom Corsa exhaust system again soon.

Thanks to torrential downpours that just wouldn’t let up back in March at Dragpalooza VI, this week will be a whirlwind of madness in the ADRL garage with back to back events being run at Houston Raceway Park. We’re going to miss Frankie Taylor’s extremely vibrant, out of this world and flat-out different paint scheme but, flat black is simple, easy, and well, has the potential to look pretty badass.

Checkout the finished product of Jeffers Pro Cars’ hard work at ADRL.us.

Taylor's Sweet New Ride. Photo By ADRL

Fear not, Taylor is still keeping the wild graphics package-equipped Yellow ‘Vette to run in the TOPMA (Texas Outlaw Pro Mod Assoc.) series hoping for continued success with his ADRL record setter. Just like his ‘other’ ’05 Corvette, Taylor’s new black ride is running a Blown BAE Hemi – going with what he knows works in this class. It’s no record-setting 3.60, but in the car’s testing debut at Kennedale Raceway Park this evening, on just his 3rd pass in the car Taylor was able to run a 3.85 despite fighting ignition issues which ended the car’s night early after the run. A little hurdle here and there is expected with a virgin setup, and Taylor is still certain that he’ll be out in this black beast for the ADRL race this upcoming weekend on July 23-24th.

The body looks nearly identical to the yellow car because well, it is, but Taylor says the biggest improvement in this car is in the weight department – thanks to an innovative cage/chassis design this car is a hair over 100 lbs. lighter than his record-setter. Will the ADRL Pro Extreme competition have anything for Frankie “Mad Man” Taylor when they meet at the tree, or will Taylor’s blown-hemi screaming away be all they get to see? Be sure to check back for updates, and follow Taylor’s racing adventures on his website.

In a class where thousands of dollars are routinely being spent for mere thousandths on the E/T clock, innovation and new developments take place almost every test session. To most of us, shelling out $5,000+ for a set of wheelie bars is unheard of, but since Don Ness has devised a set of carbon fiber wheelie bars for Pro Stock cars, a few in the Pro Stock pits are already giving it a whirl – including veterans Larry Morgan and Warren Johnson.

Not only is it rumored that these particular bars are quite a bit stronger than their Moly or Titanium counterparts, they’re a heck of a lot lighter. Larry Morgan says they’ve taken about 15 lbs. off the rear of the car, while Warren Johnson says they’ve shed more than twice that from the rear. Johnson also went on to say that while they’re fighting the new setup blues with these bars, when they get them figured out they’ll be a huge advantage for them. It might just be a mind game between racers on what the actual amount of weight savings is, but they’re saving weight no doubt. Jerry Bickel Race Cars reports that they’re 20% stronger than 4130, 60% lighter than 4130, 50% stronger than Titanium, and 15% lighter than Titanium. We’re not usually a big fan of the numbers game, but these ones sound pretty sweet.

After Titan Motorsports inquired about a set for their ADRL cars, it was learned that Ness has already sold 25+ sets, and deposits for a set are rolling in left and right, so where else will we see them? In the rules-lacking ADRL, it’s pretty certain that we’ll see a few sets put to good use very soon. If you can get past the significant price, Ness’s carbon bars are already available for sale through most of the popular chassis building shops including Jerry Bickel, Tim McAmis and Jerry Haas. Check ‘em out here for more info. Is this Pro Stock’s newest big innovation?

In its first race of the year during Camaro5Fest in Valdosta,GA back in April, Lingenfelter managed to get the car down the track with a 10.36 at 139mph. Not too shabby for a first time out, but we know there’s plenty of E/T still on the table. After a little more seat-time yanking gears on a TR6060 manual transmission, they most recently brought the car back out to Muncie Drag Strip for some new numbers. The MPH dropped from their first runs down to 137, a new personal best E/T was in order as their best of the day was a 10.23, progress at last. Checkout Lingenfelter’s website for more on the car’s most recent runs.

Lingenfelter has been at the leading edge of building kickass GM rides for a while, but in the words of owner Ken Lingenfelter, “This specially prepared Camaro SS – which boasts the Lingenfelter ZR1 LS9 engine, several Lingenfelter ZR1 supercharger upgrades and a TR6060 manual transmission – is our latest project vehicle to showcase more than 30 years of performance engineering experience.” I’ve got a hunch this is one of his most enjoyable builds in quite some time, and rightfully so. Time to get this beast into the 9′s!

We’ve been tediously following the Kurt Busch drag racing adventures ever since we first caught wind of his ’70 Challenger build. Originally destined for the True Street class.  Busch had a little fun at the Gatornationals in Super Gas, despite being put on the trailer first round. As if high 9′s and a touch over 1100 Horsepower weren’t enough to feed his drag racing craving, a little bit of experimental engine work is being done to not only improve the engine’s reliability, but to inevitably allow for a bit more power.

Checkout Yellowbullet to get a peek at Busch’s sweet new custom Wilson Manifolds intake.

Busch’s new Wilson Manifolds piece makes his 8 injector setup a thing of the past, upgrading to a 16 injector style on his 101mm turbo monster Mopar. While the intake could be a topic of discussion in itself, there’s a few more significant changes going on in the modern Hemi’s engine bay. Thus far, head-lifting, head gasket failures and just general unreliability have plagued the new Hemi block when they start to get up into the 12-1300 Horsepower arena. In hopes of curbing these problems, a few experimental Hemi block packages have been devised recently, in aluminum form no less.

The HEMI currently being put together for Kurt’s Chally has a Dailey Engineering integral dry-sump oil pump setup instead of the wet-sump system that was previously in use. Aside from that, a few hush-hush improvements to the block oiling system have also been done. Once it’s all back together, it’ll be time to crank the boost up to 30 PSI and let her rip. Despite his over-exasperating NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule and other sponsor obligations, Kurt hopes to get the Challenger back out to the 1/4 mile to enjoy his new-found joy – drag racing.

The first rendering featuring an ADRL logo on Tony's car. Photos By: ADRL.us

Other than the fact that they’ve got wheels, an engine, and we love to watch ‘em run down the track, NHRA Funny Cars and the world’s most elite Door-slammers in the ADRL have pretty much nothing in common, that is, until we noticed an ADRL decal adorning Pedregon’s Chevy Impala Funny Car. All in all, it’s just a sticker and could be a mere indication that the ADRL is trying to reach out to a similar fan-base, but ADRL’s Agent 660 is hinting pretty heavily that there’s more news to come from the Pedregon camp in regards to envolvement with ADRL. Read more at ADRL.us

What started off as a rendering nabbed off the photocopier at ADRL headquarters in O’Fallon, MO, has quickly turned into a slew of rumors hinting that the past-NHRA Champ Pedregon is seeking a future in driving door-slammers. With car counts slipping in some ADRL classes, some look at this possibility of a new car in the field as something positive, though there seem to be some mixed emotions around the idea.

Given the NHRA’s grueling schedule that Pedregon has to work with, it’s doubtful we’ll see him in a door car this year when most ADRL events overlap NHRA ones with the exception of the August race at Gateway and the finals at the Texas Motorplex. Could the more affordable door-slammer heads up racing be appealing in hard economic times, or is someone just looking for a change? T. Pedregon and the ADRL have kept their lips sealed thus far, but expect some sort of announcement or development soon. The longer the silence, the more our minds wander..

Photos: ProlineRacing.net

2010 – the year of the Corvette? Despite the craze over the new and old Mustang in most forms of drag racing, the new Corvette body style has quickly been put to use in both Ron Schlessinger/Larry Wood’s Outlaw 10.5 camp, and on Steve Petty/Tim Lynch’s instant success of a new ride. We’re familiar with John Carter from his Outlaw Drag Radial Corvette, but it looks like Carter is going to try his hand in Outlaw 10.5 competition with a new car, another similarly-themed Corvette.

Checkout the spy pics that Proline Racing snapped while checking over the car’s progress at Bell Chassis Works this past week.

Much like the radial ‘Vette, Carter is pushing the envelope again in the cubic inch department. While the radial ride runs a 632 BBC, this new car will get an engine setup nearly identical to what Tim Lynch runs in his Z06 – a fully custom built 670″ with twin Precision Pro-Mod 94mm turbos, built by none other than Proline Racing. Keeping true to his fondness of intricate two tone paint schemes, the car wears a slick maroon on black paintjob.

As seen in the background of some of the pictures, Carter’s drag radial powerhouse is also up on the lift for some regular post-race maintenance and a few pre-race adjustments and updates. While it seems that these newer Corvette’s are beginning to really catch on with builders and become more commonplace, there’s just something about wild 600+ C.I. outlaw rides, they just never get old. Surrounding himself with one of the best tuners and chassis builder/fabricators, Carter’s new ride is in good hands, but will it match the success Tim Lynch and Steve Petty are having with their almost identical setup? Stay tuned for when this new ‘Vette hits the track, as its build nears closer to completion.

OSCA EZ Street seems to be all Noel Borg so far this season, finishing up at Toronto Motorsports Park just as he did in the season opener at Grand Bend, in the winner’s circle for the 2nd event in a row. While he wasn’t able to repeat grabbing the #1 qualifier slot, a #2 spot would have to suffice. As the tech cards were counted, OSCA officials realized this was one of their best car counts in a long time, despite holding the event on Father’s day weekend.

Checkout the full scoop of what went down on race day on ProlineRacing.net.

Running a string of 7.90′s in the spectacular Sunday weather conditions, eliminations proved to be a breeze for Borg and his split bumper ’70 Camaro, who eventually made it right on into the finals against Steve Argiropoulos, who’s 7.988 wasn’t enough to win against Borg’s best of the day – 7.889 at 180 mph. With 2 victories already in the bag and a $1220 purse check in his back pocket, Borg takes an early 11 point lead in the standings over Mark Azevedo. Last year’s champ Sergio Longo is looking to make a comeback, but currently sits second to last in the points.

Photos: Proline Racing

Inside Borg’s ’70 Camaro is a 450 C.I. small block with a F2 Procharger built by Proline Racing. Stay tuned for OSCA’s “Summer Sizzler” at Toronto Motorsports Park on July 17th – will Borg continue to have a stranglehold on the EZ Street class, or will someone else show him who’s boss? If we had to guess, it’s looking like an all too familiar Proline domination building up. Check back later this month to see how Noel Borg and all the other OSCA contenders run as the summer racing season cooks up some awesome competition up north.

When it comes to racing of any form, Mazda’s go-to engine has been the “Wankel engine” more commonly known as the rotor design. From the 24 hours of Lemans, IMSA Grand Touring and even drag racing – the 2, 3 and 4 rotor design has proved to be more than capable against larger and more common designs of engines. For the Pac Performance Mazda 6, a triple rotor 20B engine with a large single Garrett turbo, running on methanol was the lethal weapon of choice.

Checkout Pac Performance’s website, to read more about what goes into the world’s fastest rotary powered cars. Pac Performance also runs 2 other rotary-powered drag cars, a 7 second RX3, and an MX6 driven well into the 6.80′s by Rocky’s brother Rodney and George respectively.

We haven’t heard a lot from Pac Performance over here in the states for a big reason – they’re based out of Australia. Nevertheless, Gary White and the guys from Titan Motorsports have made frequent trips over there to have some fun with the Pac Performance crew, and even give them a few pointers. With such killer times from a rather simple combination, a lot of folks are wishing that Rocky Rehayem and the Pac crew would come over to the states and run ADRL. The guys at Pac Performance aren’t ruling out the possibility of this happening as the thought has crossed their mind, but they’re currently overhauling the car quite a bit in hopes of going a bit faster, and maybe, just maybe getting their 1/8th mile times down to where they’d need to be to be competitive in ADRL competition.

As for the record setting car, it’s actually an ex-NHRA Pro Stock car that Allen Johnson ran back in 2007 – you may note the Mazda 6 body’s close resemblance to the Dodge Stratus that Johnson wheeled back then. Weighing in just hair over 2300 pounds, Rehayem’s best run to date is a 6.752, while 6.80′s have become the norm for the car. For a little more in-depth info about what goes into their runs, along with the backbone (crew) making it all happen, checkout the videos below-

Lets face it, we all wanted to be that guy with the coolest hot rod in the school parking lot, and if you’re anything like me, you even made a couple of horrendous financial decisions to do so. While attending York University and just starting to really follow along with the muscle car and drag racing scene, Matthew picked up a typical grandma car – a ’71 Scamp that had some rough paint, vinyl top, and a slant six engine. It didn’t stay that way for long however, as Tamburro was ready to make the car his own. Tamburro even got some appreciation from his school in their in their newspaper, just a couple weeks after the car made regular appearances there.

He didn’t have a fancy shop, but he did have the tools and plenty of ambition to get it done right at home in his own garage. After making a bunch of headway on some light bodywork, the slant six was sent to the scrap pile to make way for a freshly built 340. When she came back from paint, Tamburro ordered up some Billet Specialties Street Lite wheels front and rear to give it the modern look. Into the guts, it’s a mildly-built 4 barrel 340 with headers, a custom 3″ exhaust, Borla race mufflers and a nice aesthetic touch being the old-school Mickey Thompson valve covers.

Keeping it traditional, this car is a slushbox no more with a T5 5 speed transmission. Juggling tight school schedules with pumping 600+ hours into an old Mopar is no easy feat, but Tamburro has done an excellent job. Just a couple days ago, Tamburro brought his Scamp to a Test N’ Tune at Toronto Motorsports park, where he only managed to get an extremely slippery 13 second pass off, spinning from launch to past the 60 foot. Tamburro might make a couple trips back with the current setup, but is pretty certain it’s these street tires that are holding him back, and is planning to get some drag radials on there soon to make a shoot for the 12′s, perhaps even the 11′s. It might not be setting the world on fire on the strip, but it lets Tamburro have fun, and we’d call that a job well done.

Tom Heatley has undeniably come a long way with his ride. For a few years preceding its 2009 debut, this 4th gen was under the knife for quite some time, but it all paid off once it hit the track, becoming an impressive True Street performer. The twin turbo big block gave him an easy 1800+ Horsepower, and a dead nuts reliable street car that he could go grab a bite to eat at the local burger joint with.

Unfortunately, back in May as the 2010 season was just getting rumbling for Tom, his car went down in flames during a test session at Jackson dragway in TN, prompting a somewhat delayed, yet interesting rebuild for Tom. Follow the build status on Yellowbullet.

First stop for Tom was picking up a newly-designed nose from DMC Racing, then having the motor brought to Bill Malcom for a rebuild with a twist. The 477 will get a fresh set of pistons that’ll bump the compression ratio from 8.2:1 up to 9.5:1, as the team looks to increase their power while still running 18 pounds of boost. Keeping up with the ever-improving competition, Tom looks to also shed a lot of weight from this “pig,” by ditching the rear mount twin turbo’s and going with one large single, he estimates he’ll drop about 60 pounds from the car. Ridding the car of long oil lines, intercooler piping and excessive underbody temps were just a few reasons persuading Heatley to make the turbo change.

As much as we’d like to see the car back out soon, Heatley admits his 2010 season is pretty much over, but will definitely be right back in the hunt come next year. This Camaro just keeps getting better and better. Will Heatley gain the power to muscle into the 4′s in the 1/8th in street legal trim? He wouldn’t have it any other way!

The Long Island Motorsports Association (L.I.M.A.) has been struggling with the Riverhead town officials to reclaim their right to race safely, on the strip. Their biggest nemesis in this whole struggle – Riverhead Resorts, who has been planning to use the land for a 700+ acre theme park, though Riverhead Resorts is having some troubles of their own in acquiring the land, as they’ve breached their payment contract with the town as of June 15th. So it’s a win for L.I.M.A., right? Unfortunately, wrong, as Riverhead officials seem to be adamant about not allowing L.I.M.A. to move forward with their plans of bringing a track back to Long Island.

To read more on how you can make your voice heard, head on over to LIMA’s Discussion Forum.

What exactly does the track offer for the Area? Revenue, publicity, and a decrease in street racing among other things, that many a town seems to be lacking in this day and age. Sure, the Riverhead Resort would bring this to the area as well, but they’ve been backpedaling for the past year when the time to show the money came. So why are Riverhead’s officials still willing to deal with just about anyone other than people inquiring about the drag strip? We wont divulge into a political mess, but we’re definitely disappointed to hear that both racer’s and fan’s plea’s aren’t enough for the town to reconsider.

Ever since the closing of Westhampton Dragway back in 2004 (Now replaced by Westhampton Pines, , Long Island racers either have to make the travel out to Englishtown or Atco in NJ (2+ hours away), or head north to Lebanon Valley Dragway, which is roughly a 4 hour trip. Lets face it, the average Joe just looking to have some fun here and there with his street car isn’t going to make that trip on a regular basis. While the outcome of this project is looking grim, we’re still keeping our fingers crossed that the possibility of bringing drag racing back to Long Island isn’t totally out of the question.

“Street Racing” may be a loosely tossed around term these days, as in some places merely leaning on it hard from a standstill can get you nabbed for street racing, but when it comes down to actual side-by-side all-out action, the dangers a residential environment pose as compared to a drag racing facility are numerous. Rather than sit around using the usual tactics, Blue Line Racing and the Edmonton Police teamed up to set a real example, by whipping up a ’72 Pro Stock-style Duster, along with a 2003 Hyundai Tiburon to hit the race track proudly wearing the Edmonton Police paint scheme and light bar on the roof.

To read more about the Blue Line Racing program, along with these unique rides visit the Edmonton Police Website.

In their old-school ’72, a 410″ small block Mopar is put to use, pushing out roughly 600 hp through the 904 transmission and Dana 60 rear end. The Duster is specifically used for racing other police force’s teams, non-electronics classes and assorted exhibition races where in some cases, anyone that’s daring enough can grab a lane against Edmonton’s finest. In 2009 alone, Castrol Raceway held 20 of these events in which the Edmonton police participated in. Adhering to the Import crowd, Edmonton also houses a 2003 Hyundai Tiburon that’s boasting a 250hp 2.7L with a 50 shot of nitrous . It may not be the fastest car in Edmonton’s stable, but it’s certainly been appealing to a wide group of people from the younger generation.

It doesn’t stop there for Edmonton however, as they’ve most recently added a 2008 Dodge Challenger that’s still awaiting an engine, along with a 550HP, supercharged 2009 Mustang GT. If we had to nominate one police force for being the most fun-loving and thrill-seeking, we’d at least have to give an honorable mention to the guys in Edmonton, doing their best to bring street racing to a halt, and having a little fun in the process.

Photo By: Blue Line Racing Association

With such a success coming from the production of the 2008 and 2010 Cobra Jet, Ford is already looking into how to make the 2011 and beyond Cobra Jet even better. Jesse Kershaw from Ford Racing has held his lips tight for quite some time about what the next Generation Cobra Jet will be composed of, but alas, he’s given us a bit of info in regards to the 2011 and beyond Cobra Jet and body-in-white program that Ford will be offering, over on Classracer.

The 2010′s have already shown they can squeeze their way into the 8′s in the right conditions, but what will the 2011+ do? From what we’ve heard thus far, Kershaw confirms that the 2011+ will be nearly identical to the 2010, but as with any already awesome production car, Ford is intent on adjusting a few little things to make it just a little bit better. If anyone is looking for a Body-In-White to build their 2011 just how they want it, that option will be there too, just visit your nearest Ford Racing distributor for more info. Also partially assembled competition kits will probably be available, and ideas of selling already NHRA-certified caged cars are brewing in Kershaw’s mind.

With an already overflowing amount of interest in their 2008 and 2010 program, Ford just couldn’t turn the other way when the racers were firmly interested in the future of the Cobra Jet program. Also, if you’ve got any ideas for what you think should be included in the future Cobra Jet cars, make your voice heard! Get in touch with Jesse Kershaw or anyone else at Ford Racing. Either way, we know there’s something coming for 2011 and beyond for all the factory drag car fans. How do you like your Cobra Jet’s? Pushrod 352 or 428 powered, or a little mod-motor Whipple-supercharged madness?

Where it all started, back in 2008

The Hemispherical cylinder head package is one that’s been in use as far back as 1912 and right up to today’s econo-boxes, but there’s only one company that can lay claim to the historic HEMI title, and that’d be Chrysler. Being the first to trademark the name and really shout about it in all their 60′s muscle car ad campaigns, it’s become one of the most well-recognized engine names out there. Enter the Plymouth Belvedere – what started as just another 50′s people mover, quickly became a drag strip dominator in the 60′s, after Chrysler rebodied the car and people started stuffing 426 Hemi’s in them.

Starting off with Chrysler’s cream of the crop back in the day, checkout Bob Coomer’s radical transformation of his very own Belvedere on Yellow Bullet.

It might have been nothing much more than a rusty shell when Coomer got his hands on the car, he brought it right back to life with one hell of a Hemi-powered transformation. It all started in 2008, but alas, in the midst of 2010, this car is just about ready to tear up the strip at Mountain Parkway Motorplex. Coomer was shooting for the Nostalgic look, but wanted to let his imagination wander, cramming her with a 572 C.I. Hemi with 13.75:1 compression pumping out roughly 850HP in “Street” trim. Don’t let the clutch and trio of shifting rods fool you, Coomer isn’t running a Lenco transmission setup, though the Hurst Lightning Rod shifter setup looks the part, and gets the job done when mated to a 727 Torqueflite transmission.

Coomer narrowed the 8 3/4″ rear-end himself, along with fabbing his own disc brake setup using GM-style calipers and Jeep Cherokee rotors, for some sweet braking performance without wallet-aching price and scarce availability that goes with using genuine 60′s Mopar stuff. Some old-school Keith Black valve covers, Intense blue pearl (which is a factory Chrysler color) and a Cal-track leaf spring setup under the tail keeps the nostalgia look and feel in this ride. When Bob finishes up the last few pieces to get this Plymouth ready to run, he plans on bringing it out to local car shows, and a few Hemi only races such as the Chrysler Classic and Mopar Southern Nationals.

Photos: SVTPerformance

For Joe “All Go” and his ’04 Cobra, this has been what they’ve been in the hunt for ever since the car’s most recent makeover and engine build, giving Joe a solid 974HP at the wheels to play with come race day, much improved from the car’s previous 804 HP back in ’09. To get the full scoop on what this car has been up to at Cedar Falls Raceway, checkout Jefe’s post on SVTPerformance. Better yet, have a look at the video of Joe’s out of shape, yet personal best 1/4 mile run with the car below -

Despite chasing the car all around the track, Joe still managed to hit the 1/8 mile marker at 5.66, and get down the 1/4 in 8.77 seconds trapping 158 MPH. Besting that, just this past weekend Joe brought the Cobra back out for a True Street event and got himself a somewhat more stable 5.58 in the 1/8th, a slight improvement.

The car had its share of 9-second passes with the old 3.4L Roots-style blower, but Joe’s latest big change is the addition of a YSI Vortech Supercharger huffing out about 30 lbs of boost on his 281 C.I. Modular powerplant. Bear in mind, Bart Toebner runs an identical blower combination on his NMRA Renegade car, that’s been well into the 8.1xx timeslot, though Toebner has a one-up on Joe in the cubic inch department with a 336″ motor. Also, Joe is running a C4 transmission and his Cobra has been tuned by Bob Kurgan at Kurgan Motorsports, though Joe is still hoping for at least some 8.5′s in the future and not ruling out the chance of low 8′s.

As Joe makes progress and awaits a day where the track isn’t 80+ degrees with humidity over 80%, will good weather conditions be enough to let this car into the low 8′s? If you’re asking Joe “All Go,” that answer would be a hell yes.

The heart of this Mod-Motor monster

Photos: Performance Auto

While the cars look pretty darn close to stock through and through, Super Stock class cars have countless little secrets, expenses and trick parts hidden beneath the subtle exteriors. Running well into the 9′s on “factory” components probably made it obvious that there’s some secret squirrel stuff going on here, would you believe that in most cases, these guys are even running $40 a piece titanium lug nuts just to spare some rotating weight from their rides? Among the weight savers, the vast majority of this Savoy’s body is constructed of fiberglass, though it must retain precise factory dimensions to be legal for AA/SA.

The car started off 2010 in Dave Schultz’s hands for Nostalgia Super Stock racing, but as confirmed on Mopar Style, the car was sold to John Woods of Performance Auto, who’s got his own set of plans for this classic Mopar.

Ray Barton HEMI power in Super Stock racing is seemingly unrivaled in this day in age.

John’s original plan was to rid the car of its fiberglass front-end and button up a sheetmetal nose to run in NHRA Stock Eliminator but, John seems to have ideas of selling the car, too. C’mon John, that Performance Auto decal across the doors fits so well. Seeing as they’ve already made a few of their very own tweaks to the car, and they’re just entertaining the idea of possibly selling or trading it for something different, the odds are fair it’ll stay with Performance Auto for some time. If the car doesn’t pass along to a third owner in 2010, just maybe it’ll get its first glimpse of competition since 2009 at the Chrysler Classics event, where it ran a pair of nearly identical 10.0′s. The car’s quickest pass to date however, is a 9.91 at an IHRA event, saddled with a weigh-in of 3620 pounds.

With a Ray Barton-built Hemi, Lightened 8 3/4″ Rear-end and a custom built 727 transmission, it’s easy to say this car is ready to perform, with the cost of replication easily hitting the big $100,000 mark. Whether it be in the hands of John & Performance Auto or yet another new owner, all we can hope for is that someone will do what the Mopar gods intended for this very car to do – RACE its heart out!

FED’s or Front engine dragsters may be a thing of the past for most folks, but there’s quite a following of faithful nostalgia dragster racers, builders, and fans still rolling out to the drag strip on the weekends to enjoy these rolling pieces of history. They still may be known as one of the more not-so-safe drag car options, but hey, they’re cool! Running some pretty stout 8-second passes in his old-school rail, John Stanovich is looking to squeeze quite a bit more power out of his ride, making the switch from a carbureted gas-fed motor to an all-out, injected alcohol setup on his small block Chevy.

So far John has rattled off a best of 8.87 at 152 in his ’67 Jim Davis FED, but checkout his newest tweaks on Nostalgia Alky.

Stanovich’s rail is a host to a bunch of period correct parts with a 360″ small block chevy, with Brodix heads that pumped out roughly 600hp on gas, mated to a shorty power-glide transmission, and a Chrysler 8 3/4″ rear-end with a spool and 4:56 gears. Add a little front axle wing and a Moon fuel tank, and that’s just about as old school as it gets. Sure, there might be a much larger array of parts choices to select nowadays, but back in the 60′s and 70′s, modified production parts were the only commonly available items, so that’s what was widely used.

Who wouldn't love to enjoy that view on a regular basis?

The car was just about ready to go about a month back, but electrical problems ranging from a junk battery and a fried starter have put a delay on the new setup’s debut, along with a weak fuel pump. In the meantime, we’ll peer around at John’s newest pics, or even checkout some runs with the old setup, on his Youtube Channel. Hopefully John will be able to work out the new gremlins that have arisen with the new setup, and he can hit the track within the Month.

Back in the nitrous days.

Is just one solid build ever enough? For some it might be the only option, but for Todd Berry, the answer is an obvious and firm no, as it’s been recognized that Todd has a tough time not changing it up a bit from year to year. With an in-house CNC shop and a heavy backing from Proline Race Engines, we can’t blame him. Way back in 2005, Berry set up his car to run with stock suspension, and a nitrous-breathing Big block Ford, to the tune of 598 C.I. with 3 kits. While that was “good enough” for a little while, eventually Todd wiped that blue paint scheme right off for a sinister black shoot, and in the meantime, switched over to running twin turbos on the 598.

The car quickly became one of the most recognizable rides in the South with it’s turbo’s poking right through the hood. With Eric Dillard behind the wheel, the car was good for high 4′s in the 1/8th and breaking into the 6′s in the quarter on almost any given day but alas, Todd wanted just a little bit more out of his ‘Stang. Really tearing into the motor yet again, the Cubic inch was bumped up to 632, the turbo’s are now 90MM Precision Pro-Mod’s, the C heads were ditched for some Gen II Thor heads, and the most recent change, Todd CNC’d his very own custom billet intake manifold to get a little more air in this monster.

Even with the old cast intake, missing four races Eric Dillard still dominated the ORSCA Limited Street ranks in ’09, grabbing the championship title with ease. While they had plans of showing their strength at the ORTC February race, an intercooler malfunction set them back a few weeks. In order to prevent the same problem from reoccurring, Todd got to work on an all-billet unit, that’s guaranteed to stay rigid. Todd has certainly thought up some innovative ideas and put it all into this car, which is what made it surprising to see a recent for sale posting on RacingJunk. Yep, his very own proven Mustang is up for grabs, at $125,000. Whether it just be the ludicrous cost of racing catching up to him, or the desire to build something new, we don’t know, but as of now, the future for this Mustang is seemingly uncertain.

With such a short lifespan as an automobile company compared to others, it’s easy to see why we don’t see a whole lot of true AMC rides out on the 1320. Luckily, like any other company that’s produced quite a few cool things, there’s a tight-knit following of enthusiasts keeping the name alive. Nearing closer to becoming the fastest stock-bodied AMC out there, Kevin Fontenot is just doing what he can to enjoy his bad to the bone AMC Gremlin.

The Gremlin was far short of anything remotely fast in stock form, but head on over to Yellow Bullet to see what makes Kevin’s car unique. Take a 7 second ride with Kevin in the video below-

Just last year, Kevin was knockin’ on 7′s door for quite some time, consistently running in the low 8′s with his all-out N/A 463″ AMC engine, bangin’ gears with a Liberty 5 speed, but getting so close to the 7′s, Kevin wanted more and decided to get some nitrous on-board. On his 3rd pass with the 225 hit, Kevin got what he was looking for with a cool 7.911. It was barely a 7, but a 7 no less. Before the season was over with, Kevin managed to squeeze out a 7.73 and 7.71 at Milan Dragway, the more seat time with the new setup, the better things got.

Over the off-season, Kevin made a few significant changes to the drivetrain hoping to go as far as he could with this chassis cert, bumping the C.I. up to 498″ with a fresh engine. Growing used to adapting to his frequent setup changes, Kevin muscled out a 7.68 on the car’s first full pass, following it up a few hours later with the car’s best to date – a 7.59 at 178 MPH. Kevin never thought he’d be running to the end of his 7.50 cert, but that looks to be the case if he wants to step things up just a smidgen more. Kevin’s next goal – doing it all on a set of 10.5′s.

Sure, keeping the factory 6 speed boasts a lot of advantages in highway commutes, lightly modded cars or even the Tokyo Drift fan crowd, but what about a serious 9 second turbo Mustang? Most would get their ratchet right to the bellhousing bolts without a second thought.  One fearless man figured what the hell, lets have Liberty build up this T56-6 Speed and see what she’s capable of, hoping to bring home the title of being the fastest man on IRS with a 6 speed.

To read more about what David has in mind for his Bullitt, head on over to SVTPerformance.

While the Independent Rear Suspension is a tough animal to tame in itself, David is also using a Cobra-sourced T56 transmission, faceplated by Liberty’s Gears. The car has already run some high 10′s with an el-cheapo turbo at 10 PSI, but with a newer, more serious GT47-style 80mm Turbo, David is looking to run right on into the 8′s at over 150 miles per hour. For heads, David is running some heavily worked over factory 2V heads. Since he’s planning to switch to E98 fuel soon, the 96 lb. injectors are being dumped for a set of 8 235 LB’ers.

David isn’t quite handing out the whole spec sheet on his drivetrain, but rough estimates would lead us to believe he’s hanging onto about 1000 horsepower. Can David bang gears quick enough to hang with the assisted-shift 2 and 3 speed automatics ? Or will his ‘Stang fall to the wayside when it comes to all-out heads-up races ? His car has already nabbed a runner-up in the NMRA car show, but it’ll take more than sinister looks to tear down the competition. David’s schedule for 2010 is a little on the rocks, but he’ll be bringing his Bullitt out to the NMRA Lone Star Shootout in Houston come November. Some meaty 335 drag radials out back, a 6 speed and stock suspension – Yeah, you better believe this is a street car right down to the bone.

Even though the race season is already well under-way, there’s still a healthy amount of fresh builds just getting started. Nearing the finish-line on his ’65 Nova build, Ryan Jones is hoping to be out and ready to run some high 7′s soon in PSCA Wild Street and WCHRA’s Outlaw 8.5 class, building his car loosely enough that it’s legal for a few different venues.

If an out of this world ’65 Nova sounds like music to your ears, check out the running build thread that Jones has kept going for us, and doesn’t mind sharing a bit of in-depth info about his ride to fellow enthusiasts.

It’s looking to be another sizzlin’ summer in sunny So-Cal where Jones resides, but working through the heat, Fab-Tech in Chatsworth, CA has made some sweet headway on the 25.3 chassis and an AJE Chrome-moly front-end and suspension. Jones’ over-all performance goal is roughly 1700 horsepower, along with some 7.7xx time-slips to back it all up, with ideal trap speeds being in the 180-185 range. Helping him out on the raw horsepower end is a 406″ SBC with a killer set of 72mm turbos, and a Big Stuff 3 EFI giving Jones control of it all. With a Mike’s powerglide and a 9″ rear-end with 40 spline axles, there’s no doubt it’ll all stay together, whether it be a little bit of overkill or not.

Now that the chassis and suspension work is mostly marked off the checklist, Jones still has a few important tidbits left to go from the intercooler piping, to the front fascia as well as some fine paint for this fine Nova. With some luck and a good tune-up, this Nova just might slip into the Outlaw 8.5 ranks competitively. We know the car’s got the power, but it’ll be up to the wheel-man and tuner to squeeze every last bit of success, or in this case E/T out of her.

It all started back in 2002 when this father/son team got their hands on one of Larry Morgan’s ex-pro-stock Dodge Avengers, and set her up to run with a 572″ motor in the Super Gas, Super Comp and Top Sportsman ranks. Fast forward to 2006 when Wes Walker’s son Steven got his competition license at 18 with his first pass being quite impressive – a 7.92, and Steven’s talent was really starting to show. All the way up to 2008 this team was on fire running Mopar-specific events and some Division 5 stuff never going down in the first round and making quite a few finals, but 2009 went to the wayside so the team could rebuild the car with more power for 2010.

We aren’t just talking about a few “little” changes folks, pulling the old drivetrain out to make way for a 588″ Mopar with Predator heads, a Hogan sheet metal intake, Quickfuel carburetors, Tek headers and a NOS 2 stage fogger system that should put roughly 1800+ HP in Walker’s hands come race day. While they were able to click off a best of 7.77 at 175, but they’re shooting for some solid 6.50′s on the spray with this new set-up. With these fresh changes on board, Walker looks to be a top contender at 22 years old in the Midwest Top Sportsman events, along with some Mopar-specific shows and any other Top Sportsman events they can make it to.

The car looks great the way it is, but they’re looking to do away with its current look by getting a new wrap on it and some different wheels. Like a lot of homegrown teams working with a tight budget, Walker Racing is currently actively looking for sponsorship support for their racing efforts. The Walker’s are hoping to get her out soon for some 1/8 mile test hits, then see what Midwest Top Sportsman and other Top Sportsman events they can make it to. Will 6.50′s be a normal Sunday cruise for this Mopar powerhouse? Stay tuned for updates to find out!

For more details on Drag Week and how to get yourself in the show, checkout HotRod.com.

Larry Larson's Chevy II at the 2009 NMCA Finals

After the year’s past examples, we know how hard 1,000+ miles in just 5 days can be on a daily driver, nevermind a 7-second pavement pulverizer. 2006 Overall champion and also the 2008 Pro Street Power adder winner Eddie Miller has got his ’73 Duster all sorted out and ready for this year’s Drag Week with his “Grocery Getter.” With undeniably the quickest Mopar on Drag Week for the past couple years, taking the overall title from Larry Larson is a tall order, but Miller is confident that he can dip into the 7′s if the conditions are in his favor. Miller runs a heavily nitrous’ed big block Mopar.

Eddie Miller's '73 Duster is literally a "Grocery Getter"

In the street race category, Jeff McConnell and his awesome wheel-standing ’80 Chevy Malibu is looking to come back with a vengeance with an N/A small block 427. Let’s not forget that drag racing isn’t all a spectator sport, think you got what it takes to bring home a Drag Week trophy? With 11 different classes for all styles of rides and awards for various achievements, most everyone can find a class to run in.

Not afraid of daily driving the Duster if need be, Miller enjoys a local car show with his Daughter.

Ever since this big-tire Mustang poked its head outside of Proline’s shop doors, we’ve been pretty impressed with what Coby, tuner Steve Petty and everyone else involved with this ride have pulled off – staying competitive anywhere from the PSCA to the ADRL week in and week out is an impressive feat in itself. After a brief encounter with the wall a couple weeks back, the car was brought over to Texas Chassisworks in Tyler,TX for some light chassis repair and perform some minor repairs to the carbon body.

Checkout Ross from Texas Chassisworks’ post on Modded Mustangs to get a look at what they’ve been changin’ up on Rabon’s car. Be sure to follow along with the Proline team on Prolineracing.net.

Aside from the repair-work, the headers were redesigned to allow the team to move the turbo’s back closer to the firewall instead of the traditional turbos peeking out the grille. While the guys at Texas Chassisworks were successful in getting the car out just in time for last weekend’s NHRA Unleashed event in Atlanta, Rabon struggled to get off a clean pass in the Atlanta heat and didn’t come up with the impressive showing they were hoping for, with engine troubles in the first round of qualifying. It wasn’t a total loss however, as they did bust off a solid 4.13 at 187 MPH lifting on the big end, but unfortunately it didn’t count towards their qualifying effort.

Running high 5′s in the quarter and low 4′s in the eighth is a tall order, but with the help of 670 cubic inches and a pair of monstrous 108mm Precision turbos, these guys are getting it done in style. Keep your eyes peeled for this team at the upcoming ADRL event, though don’t rule out these boys to come in and spoil some Pro-Mod races abroad.

Photo By: Ross at Texas Chassisworks

For quite some time Keith Berry has laid claim to driving the world’s fastest independent rear suspension-equipped car in the 1/4 mile, but Silas Oneals and the guys at Late Model Racecraft have been aiming to blow away his records. On their first attempt just a few months back they were able to run an easy-going 8.63 at 145 with only 18 pounds of boost. After re-adjusting a few things to make sure the car would certify for the ET they were shooting for, LMR brought this IRS-equipped terror back to the track.

Well, the news is in from Eric over on SVTPerformance.com, that these guys have just barely eclipsed Keith Berry in the ET department with an 8.37, but bested Berry’s speed record by 13 mph. Berry still has a hold on the 1/8 mile IRS-Corvette record as that’s what his car is primarily set up for, but LMR is right on his tail in that department too. Checkout the Youtube video of their impressive pass below -

While it’s almost a dead tie with Berry’s E/T, LMR says they’ve still got a few more PSI to put into this engine, and tells us that they’re solidly shooting to get this ‘Vette into the 7′s come hell or high water. From their best estimates, they’ve still got about 8 more psi with this particular turbo setup and they’ve got a little more fine tuning to go in the 60 foot department – their 60 ft. time on the 8.37 was a 1.49.

Inside this LMR masterpiece is a 427″ LSX engine with a twin 78mm turbo kit that’s one of LMR’s custom fabricated kits. While we know the factory IRS has quite a bit of tweaking done to it, LMR is keeping those special secrets under wraps for now. Does this Vette have what it takes to run in the 7′s with stock suspension?

After quite a few rather successful racing seasons with the good old twin turbo SBC powerplant in his Chevy II Nova, Onofre Benavidez decided to step it up a bit over the off season. While the SBC had enough oomph to get them down the 1/4 mile with a best of 7.09 at 175, the car went over to NoriBilt Custom Fabrication for the install of some fresh Proline power – a sweet BBC with a set of promod 94mm turbos. Among other things, their unique exhaust routing through the top of the fenders raised a few eyebrows, but after trying out multiple exhaust configurations during last night’s testing, they found the upright setup is working the best for them, keeping the front end down just a tad more. For those that want the advantages of the “Bull horn” exhaust but hate the out of place look, something like this setup might be what you’re after.

Head on over  to LoneStarStangs for this team’s testing updates.

Once the car was ready to go, NoriBilt and Onofre wasted no time getting it to the track for some test hits, starting off with some runs to the 1/8th, they decided to go for a full 1/4 mile blast, and what a blast it was. While they still had to pull a little boost out on the front half, Onofre still got her down to the stripe in a mere 7.08 seconds, trapping 197 mph. Already knocking a smidgen off their previous best E/T and adding 22 mph to their mph, there’s alot more left in this ’67.

Testing is far from done with this monster as the team plans to make a trip back to San Antonio for more testing when their schedule allows, shooting for the elusive 6.xx timeslip. Judging from their instant MPH improvement, high 6′s should be an easily attainable goal for these guys. While their event schedule for the year is still lightly written in pencil, they’re sure to make an impressive showing at the Street Car Super Nationals at the end of November.

After making an attempt to sell the car back in April, and the car sitting idle in the shop for quite some time, Greg over at Racer’s Edge Tuning finally decided this cool Modular ‘Stang was going to stay with the guys at RET, and gave her a good cleanup in prep for some racing, along with a couple small adjustments and changes.

Checkout Greg’s post on SVTPerformance for the cool pictures and updates, or read up on RacersEdgeTuning.net for more on the car.

Every performance shop needs a shop car to show their potential customers and fans what they’re capable of, and for RET this Mustang is that car. With its 281 C.I. 4v Mod-motor, ported heads, Big Stuff 3 EFI and twin Precision 67mm turbos it doesn’t fail to impress, laying down a solid 8.68 at 160 mph in its first 1/4 mile showing, and runs 5.40 to the 1/8th. Since Greg has chosen to keep the car, he’s hoping to get her back to the full quarter mile to greatly improve on that number. After all, it was their one and only 1/4 mile run with the car.

One cool change to the car - a digital voltage display and charging terminal.

From their sweet handiwork on the custom 8.8″ rear end, flawless fuel line and wiring routing to the sweet Ford colors adorning the exterior, this car really shows off the high-end race-car capabilities of RET. RET isn’t just a mod-motor powerhouse, as one of their latest shop cars to go along with this one is going to be 4th generation drag radial Camaro boasting a 454 C.I. LSX power-plant. After building a few 454″ LSX’s for customers this year, Greg needed to get one for himself and his own pride and joy.

Hopefully Greg will report back with some successful 1/4 mile passes on not only the Mustang, but the Camaro when it’s ready for the strip.

From the Southwest to the Northeast and everywhere in between, 275 Drag Radial events are popping up on the maps everywhere with almost instantaneous success in most cases.  As the racers with these cars are always looking for a place to race, one of the biggest reasons for the 275 class’ success is the abundance of these kind of cars. Omahar Berry is just one of the many who believes this is his calling, and changing up the engine combination in his Firebird to finally be able to run with the big boys in the 275 ranks. Head on over to Yellow Bullet to checkout more on this mean purple bird.

Formerly powered by a 383 C.I. LT1-based twin turbo engine, Berry’s new weapon of choice is a 400″ DART-based SBC with a fresh set of Turbonetics 76mm turbochargers. Add in some All-pro 23 degree cylinder heads, and you’ve got C&S Racing Engines’ basic recipe for a heavy hitting 275 class contender. Sure the spec sheet sounds good, but the purple anodized valve covers, intake elbow and fuel rails really finished off the car’s wild purple theme.

While the car is still being wrenched on over at Madman Racing Co., Berry tells us to look out for this wild bird at any and all 275 drag radial events in the Texas, Florida, Alabama and Georgia area. Omahar is taking a break from driving for this season however, and is summoning Sheldon Lewis to man the controls this year. One sweet stylin’ F-body with an awesome drivetrain to mach, we’ll just have to wait and see if its on-track performance will back up its awesome appearance. Enjoy the progress pics in the meantime, and don’t forget to check back for more updates as Berry and crew push to move this car from the shop lift to the finish line!

Just the sound of it is odd, a 2JZ-GTE Toyota power-plant in Ford’s iconic muscle car? It might be labeled a bastard child by just about every common definition of the phrase, but will running some respectable 8′s over the weekend at Famoso be good enough to keep the critics quiet? Whether that’s the case or not, it’s plenty enough to make us want to learn more about this unique ride.

Read more into Jeff Wilson and the Jaw’s Gear crew’s experience at the SCE Summer Nationals on the Titan Motorsports Blog page.

The muscle car roots within a lot of us might start to cringe already, but Wilson told us not only was he tired of conventional blue oval setups becoming commonplace, he felt that a single turbo 2JZ engine would be the most reliable, toughest and cost-efficient over time, provided you don’t mind the ‘unique’ sound it emits. It looks just a wee bit obscure in that Stang’s engine bay, but we can’t argue that it seems to be working well. The event wasn’t an instant success by a longshot, as tuning and new chassis gremlins gave the team trouble all throughout pre-race testing and qualifying, but luckily they were able to just barely squeak into the field with a 9.63 at 145, which slid them into the last qualifying slot.

The Titan Motorsports sponsored pony was facing almost certain elimination first round going after the #1 qualifier, but to the team’s delight the other car redlit. After running a 9.159 in the second round to also flip on the win light, Jeff set himself up for an interesting final against Gary Brandt who was running consistent 8.7′s all evening. While Brandt came out on top, Jeff did manage to get down the 1/4 mile at 8.962 seconds, trapping 159 mph – a far cry from where they started the day. While Jeff, all the Jaw’s Gear guys and Titan would have loved to see a final round win, it’ll be marked up as some solid advancements that this team is in need of.

Rest assured this pony will be back hoping to improve on the already impressive times, planning to hit most of the WCHRA races, along with the PSCA Street Car Super Nat’s in November.

Bob’s Performance Fab shop has become a well-known source A, B & E body Mopar coil-over kits and Chromoly Tubular K-frames for some of the wildest quarter mile rides. Keeping with Bob’s life-long passion, it’s only fitting that his personal toy of choice is one of the meanest Dodge Demon’s patrolling the streets of Ohio. While this car has had a few different drivetrains wedged in between the fenderwells, Bob had a hard time choosing between an ex-pro stock 500″ HEMI or the NASCAR-based R5P7 358″ small block. Given that Bob still wanted to enjoy this Demon on the streets, he made the logical choice to go with the latter. Bob tells us that he will put the ’99 Hemi to good use sooner or later, but probably in a lighter chassis.

For a full round of pictures and info on Bob’s screamin’ Demon, head on over to the Moparts Board. Also be sure to check out Bob’s own website for updates.

The R5 is a stout package right out of the gate from Mopar, but Bob is making a few little adjustments to it in hopes of squeaking out a bit more power. A few of the noteworthy changes are the powder-coated intake, Pro-Billet front mount MSD distributor, CSR electric water pump and a set of custom long tube headers with a polished ceramic finish from QC Coatings. With a stout power-plant comes the need for a stout transmission – Bob will be building up a Torqueflite 904 and has developed his very own A-body R5P7 adapter plates for the install to go smoothly. The rear-end is where the Mopar ties end however, as a Strange 9″ Ford rear-end is sourced for this ride.

Bob hasn’t quite decided where the car will be run regularly, but has built it loosely enough that it’ll be legal for multiple local classes. If or when he gets the idea for an even wilder power-plant, the 25.3 chassis will allow him to shave some E/T and be safe and legal in the process. Will his newest creation allow Bob to keep up with some of the gnarliest N/A cars hitting the 1/4 mile as of late? Stay tuned to find out!

Photo: Firebird Online

Funky, weird, obscure, or even awesome are just a few words to describe Scott Stanger’s unique choice for a 7-second strip warrior. While there aren’t many real Fiat parts on Stanger’s ’48, the look, style, and the drivetrain choice is true to what it would’ve been back in the day, with a few choice improvements that modern race car technology has given us.

Stanger Family racing is home to a bunch of other awesome old school rides. Be sure to check them out on their website.

Back in the 80′s Scott was having boatloads of fun racing his lightly modified ’56 F100, but as time went on, he yearned for something a bit more on the wild side.  He found it when his friend spotted a classified ad for a drag racing-equipped Fiat – he went and purchased it almost instantly. It took a long time to get it figured out and down the 1/4 in the low 11′s, but Scott loved every minute of it. After the 327 had some issues and the car was tucked away for years, an injected 355″ SBC built by Mike Boyd that helped Scott move his way up to a 9.30 at 135 MPH. The car was extremely inconsistent, but Scott still assures us that it was a blast.

Photo by Bob Brown

So the car lays idle for a few more years, then Scott saved up enough money to come back with a vengeance with an all-new 1100+ Horsepower Supercharged 357″ SBC, pushing out enough power that Scott learned quickly the expensive way that a World Motown block was needed. Back in the saddle again for 2010, Scott brought the car out to Firebird Raceway and got a round of applause after his fan-stunning runs – a 7.89 at 173 mph backed up by a 7.86 with the same mph. Even the crew working the Oldies weekend thought this was one of the coolest cars on the grounds and gave it some extra attention in the Firebird Online Racer Spotlight.

Nostalgia racing is just flatout cool, and the “Bad Manners” Fiat is one of the best examples of nostalgia perfection.

Since his first IHRA experience all the way back to 2004, Matt Maxsom has gained almost everything it takes to be at the top of his game every time he gets behind the wheel of the M&M Motorsports ’89 Ford Mustang. After this ‘Stang got the powerplant she needed to be competitive, it was time for Matt to make an IHRA licensing pass at Grand Bend, which went off without a hitch – clicking the 1/4 mile off with a 8.65 at 156 mph while peddling to keep it straight. Starting off as a good day, things went haywire on their last run when the 400″ SBF kicked a rod out at the 1000′ mark, though they still got down with an 8.70, which was good enough to get the license.

Checkout Maxsom.net for more news on the M&M Motorsports team.

A week after the troubles, the motor was yanked and the culprit seems to be oil starvation that caused a spun bearing, which resulted in 1 broken connecting rod, 2 damaged pistons, a bent valve and a cracked crankshaft. While the pictures located here give us an idea of how nasty the damage is, Matt was astonished that the hole in the piston was caused by a connecting rod bolt, that they found embedded into the exhaust valve. It’ll be marked up as a heck of an expensive debut for M&M, but the new parts are on their way and Matt assures us that this team will be back out soon and on the hunt for some wins. As for the rest of the combo, Matt’s 400″ SBF runs with an F2 Procharger, MSD Ignition and a custom ground camshaft.

M&M’s other ride, a ’70 Monte Carlo piloted by Kris Parker in the Semi Pro ranks also had a tough weekend, grenading the TH-400 transmission on just their second pass out. The target E/T the team is shooting for with the Monte is 7.50′s in the eighth mile. Here’s to hoping the team’s next event goes off a bit smoother.

Gary Soulages' Record-Setting 2004 Lightning

Whether you’ve been getting your very own Ford Lightning ready for some on-track heated competition, or you just love seeing some of the world’s fastest door-slammer trucks, this year’s LightningFest is a must see event. After 6 successful years, the National Lightning Owners Club is proud to announce that without a doubt, there will be a 7th round of these festivities coming up this August.

One of the most anticipated classes this year is the “Pro Truck” class that’ll feature the baddest Lightning’s rolling to the lanes. Gary Soulages, who lays claim to the world’s fastest Ford Lightning truck with a best E/T of 6.98 in his red 2004. Gary’s truck runs a 283 C.I. Mod Motor with twin 76mm Turbonetics turbo’s. Looking to knock Gary off that #1 slot is Jason Wilkerson, who’s truck has recently been given a fresh new look. Jason’s rig is leading in the cubic inch department, with a 330 C.I. motor running twin Precision turbos. Jason’s best run to date has been a 7.49 @ 177, but improvements are on the way. If these guys can stay consistent throughout eliminations, it’d make for one hell of a final round. To read up on the rest of the Pro Truck participant list, head on over to NLOC.net.

If you’d like to get your very own truck into this race, or just come out to enjoy the fun, mark your calenders for the 27th-29th of August this year, and come on out to KCIR in Kansas City, MO. The true street cruise along with qualifying for all classes will kick off on Friday, and final qualifying runs and eliminations will run throughout the day Saturday. After the on-track fun winds down, on Sunday morning the truck show is going to be held at the local Hooters restaurant, with various best of show trophies being handed out.

Take a look at Paul McDermott’s wild ’66 Mustang build on Yellow Bullet.

While Paul isn’t looking to go after the heavy-hitting Outlaw 10.5 contenders, he’s looking to build himself one heck of a stylin’ car that’s quick enough to have enough power to enjoy it and go fast. With a 331 C.I. SBF on board, and a Billet 106mm turbocharger, “fast” will be an understatement. For all this new-found power, a Big Stuff 3 EFI was employed to control it all. Better yet, Paul isn’t paying some high-end shop to do all his work for him, he’s doing it all on his own at the age of 22 in his home garage. We can’t think of any better form of the phrase, “do-it-yourselfer.”

Sounds wild, but better yet, Paul plans to let this car enjoy plenty of spirited street-driven miles. Of course, some 1/4 mile runs are in store when she’s all ready to go also. Since the car isn’t being built for any particular class rules the final weigh-in should be right around a mere 2500 pounds. If we had to guess, with this kind of power, such a light weight and a 33×10.5″ tire, mid 7′s should be a fairly attainable goal for Paul and his sweet ’66. Will this homegrown hot-rod have what it takes to lay it down on the strip and be a street-friendly cruiser?

We often speak of the iconic HEMI as “the godfather” of high horsepower Chrysler power, but this Coronet gives us a sturdy reminder to not count out the Hemi’s illegitimate brother – the 440 big block Chrysler. Thanks to high demand for aftermarket 440 parts, all aluminum 500″ strokers like what’s in this tire-terrorizer have gone from a dream on a drawing board to an easily attainable setup.

If you dig this retro-muscle as much as we do and want to see more, checkout a post made by Mayhew Race Cars on Yellow Bullet.

Instead of gutting this car, just about the entire stock interior right down to the rear bench seat, though obviously a few slight adjustments have been made to fit the roll cage, switch panel, gauges and shifter. Out back a minitub was needed to fit these meats and the car gets ‘hooked up’ with the help of the ever-so-popular 4 link type rear suspension with Strange coil-over shocks. All the stock suspension junk up front was trashed also in favor of coil-overs and a Bob Performance K member to shed some weight off the nose and gain some space.

When Mayhew first got this car out to the track converter troubles plagued their one an only run which was a 10.0 letting off early. With a fresh converter on the way, the crew at Mayhew is hoping they can get this Coronet solidly into the 9′s on an all motor pass, and hinted that a little hit of nitrous could be in the works soon. If it’s any indication, the rear of this car is getting a little nip and tuck to install a parachute and work on a lighter bumper. Mayhew certainly paid attention to every little detail in the looks department, but will it run the number they’re looking for? Check back for updates soon to see how well their upcoming test sessions and events go.

Photo: Proline Race Engines

Tim Lynch and Steve Petty have had a stranglehold on the Outlaw 10.5 competition with their big inch twin turbo Mustang over the years, but now they’re bringing an all-new car to the table after selling their old record-setter to the Kasper race team. Thanks to Skinny Kid Race Cars, we got a sneak peak of what they’re new ride will look like as the body-work was being done, but thanks to a quick update and video from Proline, we got to see this sinister Outlaw 10.5 Corvette roar to life for the first time.

Be sure to check back at Proline’s website for updates as they become available.

With a healthy, fresh 670 C.I. engine almost identical to their old Mustang’s engine breathing through a pair of Precision pro-mod 94mm turbo’s, the sound this monster puts out is just flat-out awesome. Beyond the masterpiece of a powerplant, the fresh gloss black is fitting for this Z06, yet reminiscent of his old car once again. Another one of the in-house custom CNC billet intakes crafted by ORSCA’s Todd Berry is in place, and looks spectacular. John Homier from Bell Chassisworks had to put in a few late nights to get the custom wiring for this ride all finished up, but after he got to stick around for the start-up, he says it was worth every second.

Luckily for all us followers we won’t have to wait long to see the car in its first action – this upcoming weekend in Orangeburg, SC for the George Howard Doorslammer series, so if you’re in the area, you don’t want to miss it! This race is only an 1/8 mile, so we wont be seeing any 200mph trap speeds.  Though if these guys can get on top of it and run in the 4.20-4.30 range within a few test/tune passes, they could be very well on their way to resetting their 1/4 mile records, and we wont leave out the possibility of knocking down some 1/8 mile records either.

Read more about the latest buzz on the For A Bodies Only Forum.

After getting a trouble-some torque converter squared away along with replacing a fried two step, the wheels-up 9.53 is in the books for Aquick408. Quite the improvement from running 10′s in the same car just a couple short years ago. The 9.53 was good, but Aquick408 wants more as he says he’s reaching for 9.40′s by summer-time, and hopefully squeeze into the 9.20′s with the current engine package. A few significant changes will be needed if the blast for an 8-second time slip is to be made, but we aren’t ruling out that possibility just yet.

OK, we know it’s N/A, we know it’s a sweet classic Mopar, but what about the real drivetrain specifics? Right here – lying in that smoothly detailed engine bay is a 360-based 408 cubic inch stroker with a set of CNC ported Indy heads, Indy intake and a 1050 Dominator carburetor. While the 30+ year old ladder bar setup worked well when the car was running in the 10′s, it was ditched in favor of a much improved modern 4-link rear suspension with the new engine combination. Stay tuned to see what this awesome A-body accomplishes next.

If you were fortunate enough to make it to the Ocean City, Maryland car show and cruise this weekend you may have been one of the few to already get a glimpse of this nasty notch. Luckily for those of us who missed it, or anyone just looking to see more of this cool ride, BMS Racing Engines is giving us a sneak peak into their first dyno tuning sessions, along with the essential details of the build.

From the rapid acceleration as this Fox channels the power to the rear hides, the sweet sound of the turbo making boost, or just the all-around clean setup – this is one car that couldn’t have been built much more perfectly. Inside that well-finished engine bay lies a 359″ SBF packing a big punch with small cubes. With the help of a trick set of TEA TFS-R Outlaw heads, Jesel drivetrain, Diamond pistons, a custom ground camshaft from Camshaft Innovations and the ‘Big Kahuna’ – a 116 mm Turbonetics turbocharger. We don’t always see such a big turbo on a small cube combination, but if built properly history has proven that the small block Ford can hold its own against the big blocks in a vast amount of arrangements.

As the video indicates in “street trim,” this pony laid down 957 RWHP at just 15 psi. Hopefully that’ll be enough to cruise around town on the weekends. On race day however, they plan to max out the turbo’s potential and run somewhere between 30-40 psi depending on track conditions and setup. As for what kind of racing this ride will partake in, the team plans to make some appearances at various drag radial events along with taking a shot at a few true street events. It’s probably safe to say that most guys would love to call something like this their very own “street car.”

We absolutely love seeing a plan come together and better yet, doing it all on a shoe-string budget. We’d all love to save a buck or two here and there, but what about saving every dollar possible by literally building the entire car in a backyard? Can it even be done or is this just one whacky idea that’s totally out of the realm of possibility?

For this Fox Body owner on Yellow Bullet, this idea is steadily transforming into reality as the days wear on.

We figured the body work, engine assembly and other tidbits would be fairly achievable in this setting, but we never quite imagined building a ground up 25.4 spec chassis this way. With a home-made wooden chassis jig, Northwest Outlaw constructed the entire chassis right there and it looks nothing short of perfect. The engine and drivetrain installation are still a little ways off, but when it’s time, it will be greeted by a sweet little 528 cubic inch BBF with a set of 75mm turbos – gulping a healthy dose of the extremely boost-friendly methanol. If all goes well this combo should be good for 1500+ horsepower with ease.

Underneath the home made chassis and floor pan will be a venerable Powerglide transmission. Once everything is tied together and this car is ready to roll, Northwest Outlaw plans on running it in some bracket classes along with a local Pro Street class. For all us guys and gals that are always looking for the most cost-effective ways to do things, we should all take note of a build like this that really defines the term “budget.”

Ok, enough of the budget talk, who simply can’t wait to see this Pro Street fox-body make some 7-second passes?

Keith Berry and his ’02 Corvette have made some impressive accomplishments over the past couple years racing wherever the rules would let them. From ORSCA Modified Street, to the LSX shootout and even a couple ORTC races, Berry has shown us all that the Corvette’s factory IRS can be manipulated in such a way to provide some awesome 1320 performance.

The cliche “All good things must come to an end,” saying seems to be fitting for Berry and crew chief Ryan Rakestraw, as we recently found his record setting Z06 up for sale on RacingJunk.

The car is currently being sold with everything minus the motor for a sum of $50,000 – though Berry tells us that if someone makes a serious offer for the entire car turn-key they’ll certainly consider it. Holding the world record for an IRS-equipped Corvette in the 1/8th and 1/4 mile at 5.31 and 8.37 respectively, it’s certainly got some sweet selling points. Heck, the car is even setup to run either a carb or fuel injection setup with the ability to change setups per rules on the fly,  as Keith needed to do a couple times.

Keeping true to the “stock suspension” limitations, out back is an ’09 ZR1 rear-end with some QA1 double adjustable coil-over shocks. Berry also assures us that spares are included with the sale. The transmission setup is a TH400 built by RPM with a billet valve body and your choice of either a TCI or Neal Chance torque converter. On the engine side of things, it’s setup for a nitrous’ed 427″ LSX powerplant, and everything needed to plug and play with a similar engine is included from the FAST fuel injection to the custom headers, exhaust and nitrous progressive controllers. Anyone that’s been lucky enough to see this car in action first hand knows the killer unique exhaust note that it puts out thanks to this exhaust setup.

If anyone’s looking to buy Keith’s rad ride, give his crew chief Ryan Rakestraw a ring at 678-758-4275 for more info.

Photo - Fastraces.org

A lot of people are well aware that when it comes to F.A.S.T. (Factory Appearing Stock Tire) competition Dave Dudek has a firm grasp on it as being the winningest FAST racer ever, along with holding the top MPH record at 134 mph (His best E/T to date is a 10.34). After a solid three years of pumping out some awesome horsepower figures, Dave figured it was time to pull this elephant out for a refresh, and see what improvements they could make in the process of the tear-down.

We found Dave’s documentation and info on the rebuild and dyno results over on Moparts.

As the dyno graph tells us, this monster knocked out an impressive 732 Horsepower and 590 ft lbs. of torque – all from an engine restricted to factory heads, induction, block and the entire exhaust from the manifolds to the tailpipes. Thanks to the video supplied by Dave, not only can we see this baby prowl we can hear it -

While the peak numbers were a bit down from its pre-rebuild 770 Horsepower, the average horsepower figures are up nearly 60 HP. When these FAST cars are already over the edge on what the factory red-line tires can do, a smoother, more consistent powerband is crucial. We know it looks darn close to stock on the outside, right down to the factory Hemi orange, but what secrets are inside the monster?

FAST rules are written in a way that permits any internal modifications, which Dave took full advantage of by punching and stroking this Hemi out to 496 C.I. and using some top notch parts from the Diamond pistons yielding a 14:1 compression ratio, to the Callies rods and extensively ported cylinder heads and intake manifold. While a stock fuel tank must be in place, Dave found the best configuration was to stuff a 6 gallon aluminum fuel cell inside of it. Dave already has the top MPH record, will these new components give him what he needs to grab the FAST E/T record currently held by Terry Pennington with a ’69 L88 Corvette ? If Dave can put good use to the new-found power, you betcha!

E98 is a little different than the typical high octane race gas we smell burning at the track. It’s considered an alternative and more eco-friendly fuel as its primary ingredients are grain and corn – making it boatloads cheaper than regular high octane fuel, though it does burn quicker. Another benefit to this racer is that it’s primarily sourced locally in Michigan. Technical jibber jabber aside, it provides an awesome low-cost alternative fuel for racers in a day and age where saving a few bucks here and there is the name of the game. Ken Stone is one racer who’s recently made the adjustment to running E98 fuel in his ’72 Chevy Vega, and the results yielded thus far have been promising despite the tuning difficulties.

Read more about what Stone has accomplished in the past couple weekends at Milan on Yellow Bullet.

The masterpiece powering this Vega - a 416" LS motor

On his first full pass, which was also a licensing pass off the foot brake – Stone got his Vega down the 1320 in 9.28 seconds clicking the markers at 143 MPH which was also his best pass of all the runs. After some starting line tuning gremlins are sorted out, Stone assures us that this car is running 8.90′s on motor within the next month – come hell or high water.

The all motor power-plant is an L92-based 416″ engine built by Billy Briggs of Motor City Speed. It wears a set of LS3 heads and a solid roller cam, Performance Inductions intake with an Accufab 4500 TB, and runs a 14:1 compression ratio that’s optimal for the fuel being used. After some post-race tear down, Stone believes their starting line stumble is mostly to blame on a partially blown head gasket. We’re all rooting for Stone to get it back together, to the track again and take home that 8 second time slip he’s chasing.

When Marty Pearcy rolled his supercharged Duster off the trailer this weekend during the season opener at Desert Thunder Raceway he was looking to conquer this weekend’s event, and he did so quite successfully. Right off the trailer Pearcy knocked off a solid 5.30 @ 138 mph, but he knew there was more in it. Bumping the fuel pressure up by 5 PSI was good enough to run a 5.25 with a 1.31 60 foot time which set them up in the #1 qualifying spot. The first two elimination rounds were a bumpy ride, says Pearcy, since they were trying some different things – though they were still able to make their way through and onto the finals. Going back to the same setup they had in qualifying, Pearcy wheeled this Duster down the 660′ to take the win with a 5.28 @ 138 mph. Without a doubt, the 2008 WTTTF points champion is back in the saddle again showing the competition how it’s done.

Checkout Marty’s post on Moparts for more on what they’re up to for 2010, or visit WestTexasTrueTenFive.com for more on the series.

A truck-load of changes are going to be done in prep for their next race, including a new converter change, bumping the rev-limit up to 9200 from 8800 (they still made 34 lbs. of boost at 8800) and possibly a few other (secret) minor adjustments. Pearcy believes that with these changes the current setup could knock off some solid 4.90′s in the right conditions.

Don’t let the factory 340 stripe and markings fool you, this Duster runs an all aluminum 360″ W8-headed small block Chrysler that’s crammed full of boost via a gear-driven F3-123 Procharger. Pearcy thinks these heads might not be the best out there for his boosted combination, but he’s going to work with ‘em for now. With a few small adjustments and successful weekends like this, lookout for Marty to be a tough guy to beat this year.

The drag racing history books are still being re-written and adjusted nearly every weekend that an event takes place. In all the records, firsts, and cool achievements, there’s one thing that Nellie Goins will always be known for – she was the first African American woman to get behind the wheel in the B/FC, A/FC and AA/FC classes respectively. “Nitro Nellie” got her start in 1969 when the NHRA was still a young organization. After wheeling a ’68 Barracuda bodied funny car as well as a Dodge Challenger bodied A/FC, Otis and Nellie Goins decided it was time for a new ride, which brings us to this 1971 Mach 1 AA/FC (Blown Nitro) car, that originally cost a hefty $18,000 to build in 1970/71. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to build a ground-up funny car for that price today ?

After reading about the car’s new chance at life again on Moparts, the history of this car really drew us in after peering around the new owner’s website dedicated to the car.

Rick Lucas bought the car from Nellie in 2006 after Otis’ passed away, with a Chevrolet Monza body on it (Original Mach 1 Body was destroyed in the mid 70′s). In spirit of bringing this car right back to original form, Lucas had an identical 1971 Mach 1 body built for it. Kenny Hirata built and tuned the original 481 C.I. Chrysler Hemi back in the day, and the same is true for this revamped nitro-methane gulping monster. With today’s technology that goes into engine parts, this one should be a bit less of a ‘time-bomb’ that the older blown Hemi’s became known as. It uses Iron Chrysler heads, but beyond that it’s running a 6-71 blower, along with Venolia pistons, BRC rods, and a Keith Black crankshaft. A Crower-glide clutch inside a 2 speed Lenco transmission shifts the power out back to an Oldsmobile 57-64 type full floater rear end.

Rest assured, Rick Lucas knows what’s up when it comes to drag racing and high horsepower. Having been involved with the sport since the early 80′s, Rick is a crew member for the “Godfather” Top Alcohol Funny Car (TAFC), and he also races his very own 1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda 440-6. Surely this funny car should be a nice addition to his garage and Rick also wanted to mention, “Hey, at least it’s got a little Mopar in it!”

A fresh Mach 1 body ready for paint

Diesel engines have emerged as an excellent drag racing engine package in the past couple years. While they still may be a little out of reach for small-tire racers due to their overabundance of torque, they can still make some killer power in an economical package. A ton of guys will go right for the Cummins or Duramax, but this Ford faithful crowd is using none other than the good old 7.3L Powerstroke. It’s original white color was a pretty sleek look, but the flat black treatment gives it the sinister touch this truck needed.

Check out this sweet diesel Lightning build at the National Lightning Owners Club message board.

Twin Turbo’s are a favorite in the gas engine ranks no doubt, and the same is true with the diesel crowd. This Powerstroke diesel is crammed with an almost unheard of amount of boost – 110-116 PSI on their race-day setup depending on track conditions and how much nitrous they’re squirting in. With all that heat in the combustion chambers you’ve got to keep it cool somehow – in this case a custom water injection system is being used. Underneath the rig is a heavily modified 4R100 transmission that still retains the overdrive option if a little cruise on the highway is in order.

Now that some shakedown licensing passes have been made with the truck, the Wide Open Performance crew can finally go after the low 9-second time-slips they’re seeking. This identical combination in a heavier 4×4 on street tires got them going low 10′s with ease, without a doubt their low 9 second ET should be an easily accomplished goal. The diesel class they plan on running requires a minimum weight of 4500 lbs, so a bit of weight is going to need to be added to it, but either way, 1000 Horsepower/2000 Ft. Lb’s of torque should be a fun ride.

The downright sinister looking rat-rods of the 20′s, 30′s and beyond are real eye catchers. While they bring out some of the wildest and most unique engine combinations and styling cues, I think it’s safe to say we don’t see very many sporting 800+ cubic inch monster motors and a 25.2 chassis. In a world where it seems like everything has been done once, I think it’s safe to say this hasn’t been done.

After lurking through the Yellow Bullet message board for a while, we found what’s likely to become one of the wildest rat-rod customs out there.

If you can peer beyond that insanely gorgeous 820″ Jon Kaase HEMI backed by the venerable Powerglide transmission setup, you might fall in love with the wheel choice, notice how seemingly well the meaty slicks out back and skinnies up front fit the look, or alternatively, you might be saying, “The paint’s just like that for mockup right?” Well, you’d be wrong, as Steve says this 80+ year old paint has done good enough so far, so it’s staying on this old Ford. We couldn’t agree more Steve.

Up front is an aluminum Superbell axle with a Chevy Vega style steering box. It’s a traditional setup as far as the hot rod look goes, though something that hasn’t been seen much in a setup like this. Steve agrees that a rack would have been a better option handling-wise, but didn’t want to lose the look he was shooting for.

It might not look like your typical 6-second door car but that’s exactly what Steve and all the guys at Southeast Hot Rods are shooting for. The rat rod craze is growing bigger as with any style that’s been around and stood the test of time, but could this be one “rat rod” that everyone will appreciate as it screams down the 1320?

Yep, you read that right. In a small country full of mountainous terrain, there aren’t many options for drag racing other than one non-operating run-down airstrip, where the grass is literally growing through the tarmac. Not quite the ideal plateau for all out Pro Street cars. Thus, when we spotted this Pro Street-esque Camaro in its abandoned state via a post on GoneDragRacing.com, in a place where there’s literally nowhere to put this car to good use, it struck us as slightly odd and out of place.

At the only track in commission the usual sight is the ‘import/tuner’ crowd, full of Mitsubishis, Nissans, and Subarus. Though we’ve heard there is rumor of some big tire American muscle breaking into the single digits. Back to the Camaro, resting idle in an abandoned driveway seemingly forgotten about for years. Flat tires, missing windows and paint that seems to have faded a fair bit, despite the not so great image quality, really shows us this car has been sitting for at least a few years. The house it lays outside of has been vacant for years, with no signs of anyone residing there.

If that isn’t strange enough in itself, the engine seems to still be there as indicated by the blue tarp covering what we’re assuming is the intake poking through the hood, where a scoop likely used to be. Judging by the absence of any un-orthodox exhaust or turbo inlets in the fascia, it was likely either a big inch N/A or nitrous motor. The observers are curious as to the car’s origin, asking anyone who might recognize the car to speak up so that any info can be sought after as to the car’s former or current ownership. While we can’t say anything official, it’s extremely likely and possible that the car was stolen from somewhere, as it’s unlikely someone would import such a car just to let it rust away. Will this 4th Gen Camaro get a chance to hit the 1320 again? Or is its fate sealed sitting there to become one with the earth?

Reigning ORSCA Limited Street champ Eric Dillard made his debut of 2010 at the February ORTC race in Georgia, but things didn’t go as well as the team had hoped when their intercooler grenaded leaving a lot of the interior panels, tubs and glass tarnished. While the team surely could’ve slapped in a new intercooler and made some quick fixes here and there to get the car back out quickly, car owner Todd Berry wanted to have a bulletproof intercooler that would never fail them again, and quickly got his CNC shop working on an all-new billet intercooler for their twin turbo ‘Stang.

It’s been a long work in progress, but we finally get our first glimpse of the finished product via Todd’s post on Yellow Bullet.

Unlike normal sheet metal intercoolers, this intercooler is constructed of nearly indestructible .125″ thick billet aluminum. The excessive strength of the intercooler adds a bit of weight to the setup, but Todd says he’s willing to add a couple pounds if it means he’ll never blow an intercooler to pieces again. This intercooler is already mounted up and ready to go installed on their car, and rumor has it that Amanda Long is also using one of Todd’s new intercoolers with their new supercharged combo.

While no official price has been released, Todd says it’ll be comparable in price to other similar units, and will be available for purchase through Proline Race Engines with a few custom personalized options, including a company or team’s name and/or logo. Not only will this intercooler be safer than others, Todd notes that the real downfall of other units is that the sheet metal is constantly expanding and contracting until eventually the welds will fail. Todd has also put a couple of these up as prizes for ORTC’s October event.

Todd's car ready to get back into the game

Everyone loves seeing a wide variety of vehicles at a race. The Fox Body Mustangs and old Camaros are cool but somewhat redundant in the world of drag racing. When this ORSCA contender decided it was his time to come mix it up in the Limited Street ranks, he chose something totally different – a 1993 Toyota Supra. Fear not, there’s no fart-canned 6 cylinder in there, it’s the venerable LSx platform with a set of twin turbos. Unique styling with a proven horsepower building combination, the best of both worlds right?

Checkout what the recent winter overhaul yielded for this killer Twin Turbo Import on Yellow Bullet.

A lot of changes were made to the car over the winter to make it competitive this year – from improving the 10 point roll cage to a 25.3 spec chassis by TYDO Race Cars, to bolting up a larger set of Precision Pro-Mod 91MM turbochargers on this Nelson-Built LSx. A slight upgrade in the converter department was also made with the help of a Neal Chance bolt together. Even with all these additions, the car has shed quite a bit of weight after the changes, which was one of the main goals. On the cosmetic side of things, not only does the body and paint combo work stunningly well, the twin turbos lying just in sight behind the bumper glaring at the competition is just a badass look.

With all that new-found power the team is hustling to get the car in the hunt for the ORSCA title, even though they’re a few races behind now. That isn’t an impossible hurdle to climb however, as you may remember that 2009 Limited Street champ Eric Dillard didn’t attend every race either. A few shakedown passes have already been made at a moderate 15 PSI, and the results were promising as the data flows in. Check out a quick video of the shakedown passes below.

One helluva’ sound to hear roaring out from underneath a Toyota!

For full event results, be sure to visit NHRA.com.

Tony Schumacher, Robert Hight, Warren Johnson, and Michael Phillips collected wins at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals after a wild and wacky day of final eliminations at Gateway Int’l Raceway. It was Johnson’s first Pro Stock win in more than four years.

The seventh stop of the 23-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series was packed with upsets in both Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle and a busy day for Jeg Coughlin, who reached the final in both Pro Stock and Top Dragster. Coughlin was shooting for both his 50th career Pro Stock win and to become the first driver since Pat Austin in 1992 to win in both a Pro and Sportsman class at the same event; Austin accomplished the rare feat in Topeka in 1991 and in Phoenix in 1992, winning both in Top Fuel and Top Alcohol Funny Car.

Coughlin, at the wheel of brother John’s JEGS dragster, completed the first leg of his impressive quest by winning the Top Dragster final. Coughlin left little room for Mallori McCullar-Rodgers, cutting a .010 light and running a 6.600 — dead-on his dial – to force her to break out. It was Coughlin’s second Top Dragster win, on the heels of a win four years ago at the 2006 JEGS Cajun SPORTSnationals, and the 63rd of his career, but his milestone 50th Pro Stock win would have to wait as Coughlin’s Pro Stocker stunningly broke a rocker arm just off the line in the Pro Stock final against Johnson, who collected career win No. 97.

Warren Johnson

Johnson, the winningest driver in Pro Stock history, hadn’t been to a final round in almost three years — since the 2007 event in his Atlanta hometown – and hadn’t been to the winner’s circle in more than four – since the 2006 Phoenix event – and worked his way to the final round, the 151st of his career, in bizarre fashion. Not noted of late as a great starting-line driver, W.J. nonetheless beat Ron Krisher on a 6.68 to 6.66 holeshot in round one then got past trouble-plagued Allen Johnson in round two with a 6.69 to earn a semifinal date with the untouchable points leader, Mike Edwards, who had run 6.62 (low e.t. of the meet at the time) and 6.63 in the first two frames. Edwards’ Penhall Pontiac, however, would not fire for their semifinal duel, and a grateful Johnson soloed to the final round with a 6.66.

“Everybody I raced did something wrong and I was just cruising,” said Johnson who had just one round-win in six previous races this season. “I’ve had a few strokes of luck once in a while before but never three times in a row. That’s phenomenal. I guess I woke up on the right side of the bed this morning.

“I still realize that we’re not where we want to be, performance-wise. We’re down four or five hundredths, but we can fix that. Other racers have stepped up, but sooner or later we’ll get back on top. I had to rely on luck and other people’s mistakes. We’ll still take it. There is no such thing as a bad win.”

Independent of his sizzling five-round winning performance in Top Dragster, Coughlin’s JEGS Cobalt ran a steadily-improving string of runs, beating Erica Enders with a 6.66, Greg Anderson with a 6.63, and Greg Stanfield with a 6.607, low e.t. of the meet, in the semifinals to reach his 79th Pro Stock final and his second of the year following his victory in Houston as the prohibitive favorite against Johnson. Coughlin’s former teammate, Dave Connolly, was the last driver to come close to winning in both divisions, scoring a win in Super Comp and a runner-up in Pro Stock in Seattle in 2004.

The Top Fuel final featured a pair of second-generation drivers in Schumacher and Doug Kalitta who’ve spent their entire great careers in the class, but the win went easily to Schumacher, 3.84 to 4.04, to pull the reigning season champ to within 92 markers of the points lead.

“I was talking with Mike [Green, crew chief] in the lounge today and he said, ‘Every time we back it down, we get in trouble.’ He went for it and made some nice runs,” said Schumacher. “If you look back, a lot of these races are won in the second round and semifinals by putting up a stout run and keeping lane choice in the late rounds.

“We got beat in some really good races this year. It seems like our biggest hurdle is in the second round and we do pretty well after that. This was a great win. We outperformed everybody we raced and got a lucky break against Pat [Dakin, against whom he hazed the tires].”

It was a get-well weekend for defending world champ Schumacher, who entered the event languishing in fifth place with

Tony Schumacher

just one prior final-round appearance – a win in Gainesville – to his credit this season. “The Sarge” got the U.S. Army dragster back to the final – the 97th of his career – by defeating Scott Palmer, Dakin, and arch-rival Larry Dixon. In what was the 62nd meeting between the two world champs, Schumacher won for the 34th time and reached the final on the strength of a 3.86 to 3.93 conquest.

Kalitta reached his fourth final of the season and the 62nd of his career by wheeling the special-edition Rocky Boots dragster to early victories over Steve Torrence and Antron Brown – Brown had upset low qualifier Cory McClenathan in round one – then ending Brandon Bernstein’s second straight semifinal outing in the Copart dragster with a 3.92 that was punctuated by an engine-consuming fireball, making plenty of work for Kalitta Motorsports team prior to the final.

Hight, whose first Funny Car championship defense had gotten off to a tough start with just four round-wins in the first six events, picked a great event – one sponsored by the parent of his sponsor, the Automobile Club, to turn it around. Hight defeated Beckman for the Wally, the 15th of his career, on a 4.14 to 4.20 count and now sits sixth in points.

“It’s been an unbelievable week,” said Hight, who also threw out the first pitch Wednesday night before the Cardinals vs. Braves game at Busch Stadium. “The timing for this was perfect. I wanted to come here and win and give a trophy to the folks at AAA of Missouri. They have supported us all along but I’ve never had much luck here.

“We’re starting to turn it around. We’re not that far off. John [Force] has been killing them and we duplicated his car. Actually he duplicated mine. We just had a lot of little things go wrong. We stayed here real late last night and went back to our old combination from two three years ago and it worked.”

Robert Hight

Hight’s Automobile Club of Southern California Mustang zipped past Dale Creasy Jr., boss John Force, and Ron Capps with a improving sting of 4.23, 4.16, and 4.15 to reach the final, the 27th of his career.

Beckman, a winner earlier this year in Phoenix with the Valvoline/MTS Charger, got back to the final, the 19th of his Funny Car career, by trailering Tony Pedregon, homestate favorite Tim Wilkerson, and Gainesville runner-up Bob Tasca III with a trio of 4.2-second passes. Beckman now sits in third place but could have gone to second with a final-round win.

After a day of upsets, the Pro Stock Motorcycle final pitted Phillips against first-time finalist LE Tonglet, but it was Phillips who collected career win No. 4, using a 6.92 to drive around Tonglet’s clutch .001 reaction time and 7.00 in what was the first all-Suzuki final round since the 2006 Reading event.

“It is my best performance,” said Phillips. “Rodger [Brogdon] bought me a new engine and that’s big. On the first couple of runs I didn’t get a handle on it. Craig Treble sent me a clutch but I wasn’t going to use it but after I made a couple runs in qualifying, I decided to put it in. After a couple of passes I got it tuned.

“LE’s motorcycle is my old bike. That’s the one that Eddie Murphy rode. I told him I can’t let you beat me on my old piece. That kid didn’t cut me any slack. He’s a good rider and he’s gonna be tough. Now that the Suzuki guys have bigger engines, it’s going to be real competitive this year. It’s not just going to be the V-Rods and the Buell’s. Now, we can all make a statement.”

Phillips wheeled his The Racers Edge Suzuki to his 10th career final and his second of the year – he finished third in the Four-Wide Nationals final but, as such, did not receive runner-up status – by racing past David Hope and former world champs Matt Smith and Eddie Krawiec with runs of 6.98, 6.97, and a 6.94 that earned his final-round lane choice against Tonglet.

Tonglet, a 20-year-old second-generation racer from Louisiana following in the footsteps of his father, Gary, and older brother GT, reached his first final aboard the family Suzuki at the same event where GT won his first event, in 2001. Tonglet reached the money round with a trio of stunning upsets, racing past world champ Andrew Hines – former Harley-Davidson teammate of GT Tonglet – who red-lighted with a -.003 in round one, and Tonglet followed with his second straight 7.02 to beat 2009 rookie of the year finalist Doug Horne in round two. Reigning world champ Hector Arana had Tonglet firmly in his sights but even a superlative 6.92 couldn’t compensate for a tardy .103 reaction time and Tonglet scampered in to the final on the strength of his best run of eliminations, a 6.97.

Pro Stock racer Rodger Brogdon emerged uninjured after a spectacular first-round crash in his Kent Services & Trucking/The Racers Edge Pontiac. Brogdon, the No. 2 qualifier, lost the handle on the car, rolled it, and struck the wall at the 1,000-foot mark, igniting a fire. NHRA safety regulations and the quick action of the NHRA Safety Safari presented by AAA were crucial in Brogdon’s safe exit from the car.

Von Smith captured the win in the Get Screened America Pro Mod final round, powering his ’68 Camaro to a 5.93 to beat Dennis Radford’s ‘70 Duster.

Defending event champ Jeff Taylor went back to back to collect career win No. 41 in Super Stock, defeating Jimbo Fields in the final, while Bobby Brannon collected career win No. 2 in Stock with his B/SA ‘69 Camaro on Kevin Cradduck’s foul.

Bob Fuller scored his fourth career win by defeating Tommy Phillips in the Super Comp final, while Super Gas honors went to Jerry Duke in a double-breakout final-round battle with Scott Vandewalker. IHRA hitter Marco Abruzzi defeated Rich Smith in the Top Sportsman final for his first NHRA event win.

by Kevin McKenna, National DRAGSTER Senior Editor

The qualifying lead changed in Top Fuel Saturday at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals in Madison as points leader Cory McClenathan vaulted to the top spot with a 3.815 from his FRAM dragster. The lead also changed hands in Pro Stock Motorcycle as Hector Arana went around Friday’s leader Craig Treble to lead the Pro Stock Motorcycle class. The top spot in Funny Car did not change as John Force’s 4.10-second run from Friday held as low elapsed time while Mike Edwards claimed another pole in Pro Stock, although he needed a strong effort on Saturday afternoon in order to do it.

Following the severe thunderstorms that forced the cancellation of most of Friday’s second Pro qualifying session, Saturday dawned warm and sunny in Madison and the hearty crowd was able to take in a full day of on-track action.

McClenathan was the star of the show during Top Fuel qualifying, posting a 3.815 Saturday morning that nudged his teammate, Tony Schumacher, from the top spot. McClenathan has now qualified in the top spot 36 times in his career, including three this season following his similar efforts in Pomona and Charlotte.

“On our No. 1 run it was on a string,” said McClenathan. “We had good conditions and everything went right. I shut it off at 900 feet so I was surprised it ran that quick. As the day went on, conditions changed and it got tricky. We didn’t see any really good runs in the left lane and had to abort the last run. The hardest thing is that going into tomorrow we’ve only had a few good runs. If it is cool and cloudy, we can run another [3.]81, but if it’s hot and sunny, we need to back off a little. In a day’s time, we have seen it all as far as weather. I’d like to see some clouds tomorrow but we have to adapt to it.

McClenathan’s Don Schumacher Racing teammate Antron Antron Brown struggled in qualifying with his Matco Tools dragster as the defending event champ did not complete a full run and ended up on the bump spot with a 4.48 and will be McClenathan’s first-round opponent,

“It’s tough when you fall on the same side of ladder as Antron but it will be a good drag race either way. It’s kind of tough because we are all trying to chase points and trying to do the best job we can for our sponsors and Don Schumacher Racing. Tomorrow, the exchange of information will end and we’ll go slug it out.”

Schumacher remained in the second spot with his U.S. Army dragster while Larry Dixon and Dave Grubnic are third and fourth with runs of 3.86 and 3.89, respectively. Schumacher will race Scott Palmer in round one while Dixon squares off against Luigi Novelli and Grubnic will face Terry Haddock.

The lone non-qualifier in Top Fuel was legend Chris ‘the Greek” Karamesines, who was celebrating the 50th anniversary of his controversially historic 200-mph pass, which occurred in Alton, Ill., not far from Gateway Int’l Raceway.

Very little changed in the Funny Car class as John Force held on to the top spot with Friday’s 4.10 run although his daughter, Ashley Force-Hood moved to second following a 4.123 run, the best pass of the day. John will face Justin Schriefer in round one while Force-Hood will meet Jeff Diehl.

“My run last night was really good in the cool air,” said Force, who has now qualified in the top spot 134 times and is just four short of Warren Johnson’s NHRA record of 138. “When we put that 4.10 on the board it was good but I think Ashley was more impressive with that 4.12 today. That’s the car to beat. I’m struggling in the heat but I have a good hot rod so I can race.

“They let me keep my job but for the last two years when it looked like I forgot how to race,” Force continued. “Mike Neff [in his role as a crew chief] has got everyone excited. I think a little bit of change don’t hurt. I’m not saying its working for [President] Obama but it works for me. When one gets in trouble we help each other and that’s how it works. The bottom line; I have to win on Sunday but it’s gonna be tricky. It’s supposed to be cooler but we have to watch the conditions.”

“Fast Jack” Beckman is solidly in the third spot with a 4.18 in his Mail Terminal Services/Valvoline Dodge while DSR teammate Ron Capps is fourth with a 4.19 and Al-Anabi’s Del Worsham is fifth quickest with a 4.21. The rest of the top-half qualifiers are Paul Lee, Bob Tasca III, and Dale Creasy, who is starting in the top half of the field for the first time since the 2002 Denver event.

Mike Edwards

Edwards grabbed the lead in Pro Stock for the 15th time in the last 16 events with a demoralizing 6.640 Saturday afternoon that trumped the 6.644 of Rodger Brogdon, who was seeking to lead the field for the first time in his career. Edwards, who currently has a 266-point lead over Allen Johnson, will take his Penhall Pontiac up against the Kendall Dodge of V. Gaines when the first round of eliminations gets underway tomorrow. Edwards has now qualified in the top spot 28 times during his career.

“We had some misfortune this morning so we came back and regrouped,” said Edwards. “We put in a new K&N filter and a fresh Interstate battery and it worked. Seriously, we just didn’t make the right choice on our tune-up this morning but this afternoon’s run was much better.

“Everybody has been saying that I’ve been dominating but if you look at the back half numbers, our performance is not much different than the rest of the field. We’ve just been making good runs and that’s why we’ve been beating them. There are a lot of good cars out here and it’s really really close. That’s what our fans come out to see. [No. 1 at 6 of 7 races] is a good start. My hat is off to my guys, and to K&N Filters for putting up the bonus money. My team has been together for three and a half years, and we’re all pulling the rope from one end.”

Brogdon, who had never been qualified higher than No. 3 in his brief Pro Stock career, but had to settle for second place. Five-time world champ Jeg Coughlin was not qualified heading into the final session but delivered a strong effort with a 6.647 that was good for the No. 3 spot, just ahead of Mopar driver Allen Johnson, who posted a 6.653 for fourth. After much shuffling late Saturday, V. Gaines ended up on the bump spot with a 6.686 best. The entire field Pro Stock is separated by just .046-second, setting up a highly competitive battle during Sunday’s final eliminations.

The biggest shocker of the weekend came in the Pro Stock class as former champion Jason Line missed the field for the first time in 150 previous events. With 27 entries on the grounds, Line wasn’t the only Pro Stock driver who left Gateway Int’l Raceway disappointed Saturday night as Larry Morgan, Vinnie Deceglie, and Phoenix runner-up Bob Yonke also missed the cut.

There are several intriguing match-ups set for Sunday including a pair of father-son races. Warren and Kurt Johnson will race for the 67th time while Johnny Gary will be paired with his son, Shane, for the first time.

Arana, the reigning NHRA Full Throttle champ, captured his 11th career pole after posting the best elapsed time of the weekend with a 6.905 aboard his Lucas Oil Buell. Arana also ran a 6.98 Saturday afternoon and will be paired with Angie Smith’s Coffman Truck Tanks Buell when final eliminations begin tomorrow.

“This track is awesome on the starting line and I had a hard time getting the right combination,” said Arana, who also led the field at the most recent event at Houston Raceway Park. “I knew if I could get it today that we’d be okay. I dropped the clutch and the rpm came up quickly so I knew it was a good run. Then [the track crew] gave me the No. 1 sign and I knew I was the quickest.

“To keep this bike running strong is a dream come true for me,” Arana continued. “I can’t ask for anything more. The only help that I have this weekend is my two boys, Hector Jr. and Adam. One of them reads track and the other helps me [start] the bike. It’s pretty much just the three of us. So far it’s looking good but I know we have to start doing some R&D in order to keep qualifying at the top. I’m waiting for a break so I can devote some time to finding horsepower. I have been to two finals this year but it’s time to get some wins.”

Friday leader Craig Treble slid to second with his earlier 6.90 despite destroying an engine during Saturday’s first session. Treble and his Valvoline team were able to get the bike repaired in time to make the second run, but slowed to a 7.03.

All told, 10 riders qualified in the six-second zone, including former champs Matt Smith and Andrew Hines, who are third and fourth, respectively. Smith posted a 6.932 while Hines, the 2008 Madison champ, made the quickest run during Saturday’s second session with a 6.937 effort.

Current NHRA elapsed time record holder Karen Stoffer is also solidly in the field with a fifth-best 6.94 from her GEICO Powersports Suzuki with Michael Phillips (6.95), Eddie Krawiec (6.96), and Jim Underdahl rounding out the top half of the field.

Top Fuel Dragster:

Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Cory McClenathan     Fram Tough Guard Dragster       3.815  305.63
   2. Tony Schumacher      U.S. Army Dragster              3.829  318.62
   3. Larry Dixon          Al-Anabi Racing Dragster        3.861  314.83
   4. David Grubnic        Kalitta Air Dragster            3.896  310.55
   5. Brandon Bernstein    Copart/Lucas Oil Dragster       3.903  307.09
   6. Morgan Lucas         Geico Powersport/ Lucas Oil Dr  3.918  307.30
   7. Terry McMillen       Amalie Oil Dragster             3.931  300.06
   8. Doug Kalitta         Rocky Boots Dragster            3.939  305.22
   9. Steve Torrence       Simple Mobile Dragster          3.972  292.52
  10. Pat Dakin            Commercial Metal Fabrications   3.994  285.11
  11. Troy Buff            Bill Miller Racing/Okuma Drags  4.005  281.19
  12. Shawn Langdon        Lucas Oil/Speedco Dragster      4.072  295.08
  13. Terry Haddock        Dragster                        4.082  241.50
  14. Luigi Novelli        National Machine Repair Dragst  4.091  290.44
  15. Scott Palmer         Tigerflow Dragster              4.236  264.75
  16. Antron Brown         Matco Tools Dragster            4.688  206.20
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  17. Chris Karamesines    Strange/Impact Dragster         6.114  106.11

Funny Car:

Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. John Force           Castrol GTX Mustang             4.103@ 307.23&
   2. Ashley Force Hood    Castrol GTX Mustang             4.123  298.60
   3. Jack Beckman         Valvoline/MTS Charger           4.182  298.01
   4. Ron Capps            NAPA Auto Parts Charger         4.197  297.02
   5. Del Worsham          Al-Anabi Racing Solara          4.218  293.60
   6. Paul Lee             Jim Dunn/Canidae/Lucas Oil Imp  4.250  292.39
   7. Bob Tasca III        Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang   4.260  281.83
   8. Dale Creasy Jr.      Tek Pak Inc. Impala             4.299  286.44
   9. Robert Hight         AAA of So. Cal Mustang          4.323  282.01
  10. Cruz Pedregon        Snap-On Solara                  4.399  253.28
  11. Tim Wilkerson        Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang       4.415  247.25
  12. Matt Hagan           DieHard Charger                 4.418  267.06
  13. Jeff Arend           DHL Solara                      4.446  213.20
  14. Tony Pedregon        Herzog Impala                   7.405   75.70
  15. Jeff Diehl           Rimz One Monte Carlo            8.180   83.09
  16. Justin Schriefer     Creasy Family Camaro           15.222   74.85

Pro Stock:

Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Mike Edwards         Penhall/K&N/Interstae GXP       6.640  207.82
   2. Rodger Brogdon       Kent Services & Trucking GXP    6.644  208.01
   3. Jeg Coughlin         Jegs.com Cobalt                 6.647  207.75
   4. Allen Johnson        Mopar/J & J Racing Avenger      6.653  208.55
   5. Ron Krisher          Valvoline Cobalt                6.659  207.21
   6. Greg Anderson        Summit Racing Equipment GXP     6.660  207.75
   7. Greg Stanfield       Nitrofish GXP                   6.665  206.89
   8. Rickie Jones         Elite GXP                       6.673  206.39
   9. Johnny Gray          NTB GXP                         6.675  206.48
  10. Shane Gray           Tire Kingdom GXP                6.678  206.73
  11. Kurt Johnson         Mark Christopher Cobalt         6.681  206.48
  12. Warren Johnson       K&N Filters GXP                 6.684  207.27
  13. Ronnie Humphrey      Pro Stock Grills/THM GXP        6.685  207.59
  14. Erica Enders         Mustang                         6.685  206.48
  15. Justin Humphreys     RaceRedi Motorsports GXP        6.685  205.88
  16. V. Gaines            Kendall Oil Avenger             6.686  207.15
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  17. Steve Spiess         Billet Specialties Cobalt       6.688  206.23
  18. Bob Yonke            Adrenaline Motorsports GXP      6.695  206.76
  19. Jason Line           Summit Racing Equipment GXP     6.701  207.34
  20. Larry Morgan         Lucas Oil/Summit Mustang        6.705  206.45
  21. Vinnie Deceglie      Mountain View Tire Avenger      6.706  207.27
  22. Steve Schmidt        Schmidt Competition Engines Co  6.729  205.38
  23. John Nobile          Nobile Racing Mustang           6.744  204.63
  24. Dave River           River Racing Cobalt             6.823  201.97
  25. John Gaydosh Jr      Gaydosh Performance GTO         6.865  200.74
  26. Mark Hogan           EMSI Inc. GTO                   6.930  204.82
  27. Danny Gruninger      Cunnningham Racing Mustang     11.656  204.76

For full event results, be sure to visit NHRA.com.

Rain threatened to interrupt the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals for most of the day but held off long enough to allow the professional fields at Gateway Int’l Raceway to begin to take shape. One full round of qualifying was completed for competitors in all four NHRA Full Throttle Pro classes and rain hit midway through the second Pro Stock session before activities were halted for the evening based on the less-than-favorable forecast for the rest of the evening.

Tony Schumacher

Tony Schumacher, John Force, Mike Edwards, and Craig Treble will head into Saturday as the provisional low qualifiers in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle, respectively. Of the four, only Treble got in two passes on the day. Qualifying resumes Saturday with the final two qualifying sessions at this, the seventh event of the 23-race 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, to set the fields for Sunday’s final eliminations.

Just four Top Fuel dragsters posted three-second runs on Friday but Schumacher was able to put nearly a tenth on No. 2 qualifier Brandon Bernstein with a stout 3.82 from his Mike Green-tuned U.S. Army dragster. If he were to remain in the top spot, it would mark Schumacher’s first low qualifier at Gateway Int’l Raceway.

“That was an outstanding run by the U.S. Army team,” said Schumacher. “The car left great and we shot right through the shake zone. I didn’t know the number, but I felt like it was a pretty good lap.

“It’s only one run, but it looks like the test we had right after the Las Vegas race is producing the kind of results we wanted. We tried a lot of things to try and get the car to run consistently. We need to go some rounds this weekend to try and turn this thing around. Before too long, we’ll start moving up in the standings.”

Bernstein, who celebrated the birth of his daughter, earlier this week, is currently No. 2 with a 3.90 while Morgan Lucas and Doug Kalitta are also solidly in the show with runs of 3.91 and 3.92 respectively.

John Force

Force, who has already qualified in the top spot at two events this season, is on track for a third after a 4.10 in his Castrol Mustang. Force’s run was especially impressive as on other driver in Funny Car ran quicker than 4.26. Like Schumacher, Force has also never qualified No. 1 in Madison.

“We learned how to run on good tracks with cool air and we have learned how to run in the hot air,” said Force. “We are also able to learn from the other two [John Force Racing] Mustangs. I watched Robert [Hight] go out and spin his tires and then saw Ashley [Force-Hood] do almost the same thing.

“[Crew chiefs] Mike Neff, Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly got together and made some adjustments on my Castrol hot rod. Getting everyone in the top half of the ladder when you have weather coming in is important.”

Ron Capps is currently No. 2 with a 4.26 while Del Worsham (4.27), Paul Lee (4.34), Jack Beckman (4.36) and Cruz Pedregon (4.39) are the only other drivers to make anything resembling a competitive run during Friday’s lone session. Bob Tasca III, Tony Pedregon, and Jeff Diehl are currently not among the top 12 qualifiers.

The broken record that has become Pro Stock qualifying did not skip a beat as Edwards once again showed the way with a

Mike Edwards

6.64. Edwards has been the low qualifier at 13 of the last 14 events dating back to the middle of the 2009 season. In Madison, Edwards wheeled his Penhall Pontiac to a 6.64 in the opening round and although he was one of six drivers who did not get to run the second session, he remained in the top spot.

Allen Johnson, who earlier boasted that his Mopar team has closed the gap on Edwards, stated his case with a 6.661 that is currently good for the second spot.

Like Edwards, he did not get to complete his second run before the rains hit. Ron Krisher, Johnny Gray, Shane Gray, V. Gaines, Greg Stanfield and Ronnie Humphrey round out the top eight.

Justin Humphreys currently holds down the No. 12 spot with a 6.709 and the long list of drivers who will have to make the field on Saturday includes former world champions Jeg Coughlin, Jason Line, and Warren Johnson.

Treble, in his first full season aboard Don Schumacher’s Valvoline Suzuki, could grab his first No. 1 qualifier award since the 2003 Auto Club Finals if his 6.90 can hold up through Saturday’s two scheduled qualifying rounds. Treble opened qualifying with a 6.92 and then became one of the few riders to improve his elapsed time under the lights Friday night.

“Conditions are lacking. It’s real wet but have a stout tailwind so that helped,” said Treble. “I can’t say enough about [crew chief] Steve Tartaglia. I don’t want to say we’re flopping around, but we are certainly not on our A-game. We have to get used to a new [engine] combination. We knew this bike would be stout, and Steve has slowly but surely snuck up on it. This bike is a pleasure to ride.

“Actually, I could have ridden better on that [6.90] pass. I short shifted the 1-2. I’m still learning how to ride it the way

Craig Treble

it’s supposed to be ridden. I guess I’m happy because this team got put together in February. I was gonna go work construction in Phoenix when Don Schumacher called me and I wasn’t going to say no to him. At the same time, we got a big increase for the Suzuki engines. We also had to put our rig together, and order parts. We didn’t do any testing until after Houston. Steve is still not concerned about rotating the earth. He’s just trying to get it down the track.”

Former national champ and past Gateway winner Matt Smith piloted his Al-Anabi Buell to a 6.94 for the second spot while reigning champ Hector Arana is third with a 6.96. After two runs, there are eight riders in the six-second zone and the 12-bike bump spot is an impressive 7.03 by Douglas Horne.

Competitors in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series completed both of their scheduled qualifying sessions and Houston champion Danny Rowe is the provisional low qualifier with a 5.955 from his Sterling Bridge/Hottinger Group Camaro. Three other drivers — Jay Payne, Mike Janis, and Brad Personett — are also qualified in the five-second zone. The current bump is held by Houston runner-up Melanie Troxel with a 6.137 from her In-N-Out Burger Corvette. Pro Mod racers are scheduled to receive one additional qualifying run tomorrow morning before moving to eliminations later Saturday afternoon.

Top Fuel Funny Car-
Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Tony Schumacher      U.S. Army Dragster              3.829  318.62
   2. Brandon Bernstein    Copart/Lucas Oil Dragster       3.903  307.09
   3. Morgan Lucas         Geico Powersport/ Lucas Oil Dr  3.918  307.30
   4. Doug Kalitta         Kalitta Air Dragster            3.939  304.53
   5. Luigi Novelli        National Machine Repair Dragst  4.156  288.70
   6. Pat Dakin            Commercial Metal Fabrications   4.643  233.03
   7. Larry Dixon          Al-Anabi Racing Dragster        4.927  148.41
   8. Cory McClenathan     Fram Tough Guard Dragster       5.475  121.27
   9. Shawn Langdon        Lucas Oil/Speedco Dragster      6.729   89.88
  10. David Grubnic        Kalitta Motorsports Dragster    6.750   90.06
  11. Chris Karamesines    Strange/Impact Dragster         6.784   88.97
  12. Antron Brown         Matco Tools Dragster            7.157   88.55
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  13. Terry Haddock        Dragster                        7.465   93.11
  14. Terry McMillen       Amalie Oil Dragster             8.668   74.70
  15. Troy Buff            Bill Miller Racing/Okuma Drags 10.926   77.92 

Top Fuel Funny Car-

Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed

1. John Force           Castrol GTX Mustang             4.103  307.23

2. Ron Capps            NAPA Auto Parts Charger         4.262  297.02

3. Del Worsham          Al-Anabi Racing Solara          4.274  293.60

4. Paul Lee             Jim Dunn/Canidae/Lucas Oil Imp  4.343  274.72

5. Jack Beckman         Valvoline/MTS Charger           4.364  298.01

6. Cruz Pedregon        Snap-On Solara                  4.399  253.28

7. Robert Hight         AAA of So. Cal Mustang          4.581  184.47

8. Ashley Force Hood    Castrol GTX Mustang             4.640  186.36

9. Jeff Arend           DHL Solara                      4.641  186.18

10. Tim Wilkerson        Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang       7.970   85.47

11. Matt Hagan           DieHard Charger                 8.409   79.54

12. Dale Creasy Jr.      Tek Pak Inc. Impala             8.625   77.60

--------- Not Qualified ---------

13. Bob Tasca III        Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang   8.684   75.79

14. Tony Pedregon        Herzog Impala                   9.756   47.22

15. Jeff Diehl           Rimz One Monte Carlo           21.461   52.97

Pro Stock-

Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Mike Edwards         Penhall/K&N/Interstae GXP       6.644  207.75
   2. Allen Johnson        Mopar/J & J Racing Avenger      6.661  208.55
   3. Ron Krisher          Valvoline Cobalt                6.684  206.51
   4. Johnny Gray          NTB GXP                         6.694  206.32
   5. Shane Gray           Tire Kingdom GXP                6.695  206.39
   6. V. Gaines            Kendall Oil Avenger             6.696  206.73
   7. Greg Stanfield       Nitrofish GXP                   6.696  205.79
   8. Ronnie Humphrey      Pro Stock Grills/THM GXP        6.698  206.20
   9. Kurt Johnson         Mark Christopher Cobalt         6.699  206.45
  10. Rodger Brogdon       Kent Services & Trucking GXP    6.701  207.40
  11. Greg Anderson        Summit Racing Equipment GXP     6.705  206.26
  12. Justin Humphreys     RaceRedi Motorsports GXP        6.709  205.26
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  13. Jeg Coughlin         Jegs.com Cobalt                 6.712  207.75
  14. Vinnie Deceglie      Mountain View Tire Avenger      6.712  207.27
  15. Rickie Jones         Elite GXP                       6.712  205.98
  16. Erica Enders         Mustang                         6.715  206.26
  17. Jason Line           Summit Racing Equipment GXP     6.716  206.61
  18. Steve Spiess         Billet Specialties Cobalt       6.717  205.91
  19. Larry Morgan         Lucas Oil/Summit Mustang        6.718  205.47
  20. Bob Yonke            Adrenaline Motorsports GXP      6.735  205.51
  21. Warren Johnson       K&N Filters GXP                 6.736  206.04
  22. Steve Schmidt        Schmidt Competition Engines Co  6.757  204.51
  23. John Nobile          Nobile Racing Mustang           6.762  204.14
  24. Mark Hogan           EMSI Inc. GTO                   6.763  204.82
  25. Danny Gruninger      Cunnningham Racing Mustang      6.763  204.76
  26. John Gaydosh Jr      Gaydosh Performance GTO         6.866  200.53
  27. Dave River           River Racing Cobalt             6.893  198.03

At last, the news that racers and fans in the New England area have been waiting to hear – 275 drag radial events have finally been officially announced to take place at New England Dragway in Epping,NH this year. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that an event like this is branching out across the east coast and becoming bigger, as the car counts at various ORTC and X275 events have been spectacular for a relatively fresh series. As what I’d consider to be a ‘local’ to the area, I find this new event particularly awesome.

To find out how you can get involved, join the discussion over on Yellowbullet and 508Racing.com for more. If you’re seeking more info on New England Dragway itself, check out their website.

After a little bit of schedule shuffling, the official dates are: July 10th, August 21st, and October 17th. As for the rules, it’ll follow X275′s rule layout which can be read here. Overall, the idea is solid so long as the cars show up – the event organizer has hopes of gathering 50 cars to show the folks who run New England Dragway how badass this class really is. As of now, a few racers have already shown their support and commitment to run these races – hopefully the support continues at a steady pace since after all, July isn’t all that far away.

With that being said, if you’re in the local area, why not come out and support this race? Bleachers full of fans, along with a decent car count is what it’s going to take to prove this series is worth keeping. Who’s ready to come on out and show they’re the baddest man on 275′s in all of New England? If you think you’ve got what it takes, come claim that title!

Photos: Gilsbach Racecraft

Whenever the factory rolls out a new body style for a car anywhere near as popular for the Mustang, there’s always that crowd looking to go after the ‘first to do…’ honors. Whether it be the first to bust into the 10′s in street legal trim or be the fastest guy using that particular body, it’s a neat little accomplishment. Now, that may not be the case in this ’10 Mustang build for the Outlaw 10.5 class, it’s certainly one of the first ’10 Mustangs going with a build this extreme.

Via one of Gilsbach Racecraft’s Facebook Photo Albums, we found this sweet pony up on the rack at the Gilsbach shop.

The fine details we’d all love to hear are being kept somewhat under wraps for now, but we do know that when it’s all completed we’ll see Kevin Sievers behind the wheel. Hard to tell from the limited quality photos, but it seems like there’s a F3-sized Procharger under there for mockup. The car sits pretty low the way it is as most of the bodywork is completed, it looks to retain a fairly stock appearance other than the slicks out back and skinnies up front. In cases like this, simple can be good as it really retains the sleek look of the 2010+ Mustang styling.

Out back under the 25.x cage fabbed up by Gilsbach is the 4-link already in place with some Santhuff Coil-over Shocks, and a heavily braced and modified 9″ Ford rear end with some top of the line Strange axles inside. Can this killer newly-built ‘Stang retain the factory looks and pack a punch that’ll put the competition on the trailer? Time will tell – if you’d like to see the updates as they keep rolling in from Gilsbach, check out their website as well as their Facebook Page for more.

Photo: David Eick

As various racing series’ seasons are just starting to really get cooking, David Eick is working hard to get his sweet Mustang back out into the thick of the competition. In an effort to improve their chances of being at the front of the pack in 2010, Eick has made a long list of modifications to his car – the most recent and significant of which being the new 364″ SBF motor from BB&T Racing that’ll give this Mustang the power boost it’s been needing to be competitive in the 275 ranks.

For the full unveiling of the new goods, check out Eick’s recent post on Yellow Bullet.

What went into this new combo? Nothing but the best that the class rules permit – this 364-incher will get a nice little charge of boost from a Vortech YSI blower. Other goodies included in the new package include a set of TEA Trickflow Highport heads with 245cc intake runners, Kooks 2″ primary longtube headers, along with some sweet T&D shaft mount rocker arms aiding in valvetrain stability. Shifting all this power to the rear of the car will be a Powerglide transmission with a JW ultra case.

With various 275 radial events popping up all over the map, you might be wondering which events this killer ‘Stang will be making appearances at? Eick plans to bring it out to any event he possibly can, including but not limited to ORTC, UORS, as well as ODRA in the Ultimate Street class. It’s too soon to tell if the new package will be enough to send the competition packing early, but it’ll undoubtedly be a huge improvement from last year’s performances. It’ll be a bit before we can see this sleek ride in action, but I suppose these teaser pics will have to hold us over for now. Good luck this year David!

With the old 400″ SBF, Campo was able to pickup a personal best of 6.64 last November – you can read about the 6.64 run here. Just last off season however, work commenced to swap in an all-new 632” Big Block, which has recently brought Campo’s car down the quarter mile in a mere 6.49 seconds at 222 mph, besting his previous best by far. Check out the video of the pass from Youtube below-

As stout as these runs on a fairly new combo are, many are believing Australia could get a taste of a 5-second turbo car in the near future if Campo gets the car figured out as well as he has done in the past. The 222mph trap speed may lead you to believe he’s squeezing the last bit out of the combo the way it sits, though he’s running a conservative 25lbs of boost  until Campo and crew feels confident enough to crank it up and let her rip. The engine was built to run at its best somewhere around 45 PSI, rough guesstimates would likely give Campo another 400-500 horsepower to play with once an extra 20 PSI is forced in the big block.

Surely this is one sweet pass from a sweet looking car – undoubtedly we’ll hear more about this one in the future. Are the 5’s a reasonable expectation from this beast?

We first found out about this classic ride through a post by LP Racing over on Yellowbullet.

LP Racing is bringing this all steel Mopar some power levels that were unheard of back in the days of the muscle car wars. Under the hood will be a 440″ Wedge motor with a multitude of parts from Indy, getting a big power boost from a set of twin GT47-88mm Turbos feeding into a CSU Blow-thru carb. We hinted drag radial already – out back will be a set of 315 Mickey Thompson radials.

Best of all, this Coronet won’t just be a trailer queen that sits idle in the shop corner for weeks at a time awaiting its next race venue, it’ll also see action as a cool weekend toy to take out on the street for a cruise. Big Block plus twin turbos usually doesn’t equal a street car, but we’re glad this owner is taking the plunge to make it just that.  Ain’t nothing wrong with an all-steel 2000+ HP monster prowling the streets, in fact, it’s downright sinister – one cool Mopar that all can appreciate.  LP Racing told us they’d keep the updates coming as progress on this Coronet continues.

by Phil Burgess, National DRAGSTER Editor

The Las Vegas oddsmakers certainly got it right as favored Larry Dixon, John Force, and Mike Edwards did the expected, grabbing wins at the 11th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The trio of victors – who also all opened their seasons with wins at the 50th annual Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals – all left Las Vegas with the points lead after the sixth of 23 events on the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule. Dixon was a 5/2 favorite in Top Fuel, John Force was 2/1 in Funny Car, and reigning Pro Stock champ Mike Edwards was rated even by Fred Crespi, oddsmaker for The Palms Resort Casino, and none disappointed despite another challenging day in which race teams had to endure more high air and track temperatures, putting a premium on racecar setup.

Larry Dixon

Dixon, who collected his milestone 50th career win in Top Fuel last weekend in Houston, didn’t wait long to get started on his second 50 as he won again in Las Vegas, defeating Cory McClenathan in a final-round battle with the points lead in the balance. Dixon took the win, his third of the season, and the points lead – by a single marker — easily with a 4.01 after McClenathan smoked the tires. With 51 wins, Dixon now holds pole possession of 13th place on NHRA’s list of all-time winners.

Dixon, winner of the season’s first and its most recent events, in Pomona and Houston, respectively, with the Jason McCulloch-tuned Al-Anabi dragster reached his 95th career final with a series of progressively quicker passes. Dixon, the No. 2 qualifier, wheeled his way through some mid-track tire smoke in round one to beat fireballing Steve Faria with a 4.13 then drove around Shawn Langdon’s holeshot in round two, 3.97 to 4.01. Dixon and company turned up the wick in the semifinals with a 3.91 to defeat Doug Kalitta’s 3.98 to reach their third final of the year.

McClenathan and his Fram dragster reached the final, the 60th of his Top Fuel career by sitting down Terry Haddock, teammate Tony Schumacher, and resurgent Brandon Bernstein with a trio of 3.9-second passes. McClenathan’s 3.90 opening blast against Haddock was the best run of the first three rounds by any driver, and he followed it up with a pair of consistent 3.98s to trailer “the Sarge” and Bernstein.

The sport’s two winningest Funny Car racers faced off in the final round where Force, with 128 wins to his tally, and former hired driver Tony Pedregon, a 43-time winner, went at it for the flopper jackpot. Pedregon, who has had a terrific string of back luck and blowups, including a body-tossing explosion last weekend in Houston, had more of the same in Las Vegas as his 4.41 to 4.61 semifinal victory over traction-hampered low qualifier Del Worsham was punctuated by a nasty top-end fire that severely damaged his Impala body. The team got their ride back together in time to face Force, but went up in smoke. The win is Force’s third of the year, including victories at the season-opening Winternationals and the Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte. He has a 120-point edge over second-place Matt Hagan.

The final-round meeting with Pedregon capped Force’s day of seeing familiar faces in the other lane as he opened

John Force

eliminations by eking out a tight 4.24 to 4.26 win over his top gun teammate, world champ Robert Hight, and, after besting Houston champ Hagan in the second round, squared off against his daughter, Ashley Force Hood in the semifinals. The warm track definitely limited performance in the class as Force’s trio of passes – 4.24, 4.33, and 4.28 – probably would not have won the weekend before in Houston, but the 14-time champ also left on all three of his opponents.

Prior to his fiery semifinal win, Pedregon had beaten former John Force Racing teammate Gary Densham and Phoenix winner Jack Beckman with passes of 4.24 and 4.31 to help him reach his first final of the year and the 76th of his great career.

Edwards expanded on his points lead in his first Professional title defense as the reigning world champ went wire to wire from the No. 1 spot to claim the win, his fourth of the season, capping it with a 6.75 to 6.81 victory over Greg Stanfield for his 24th career Pro Stock victory. Edwards now owns a substantial 216-point edge on second-place Allen Johnson.

Mike Edwards

After having his seasonlong streak of final-round appearances stopped last weekend in Houston, Edwards worked his Penhall/K&N/Interstate Pontiac right back to the money round in Las Vegas, the 44th of his Pro Stock career and his fifth this season. As usual, Edwards, the low qualifier, also had the quickest run of each round, running 6.72 to beat Rickie Jones, 6.74 to trailer Warren Johnson, and 6.73 to defeat the event’s sponsor’s car, the Summit Pontiac of Greg Anderson, which fell with a 6.75.

Stanfield and his NitroFish Pontiac reached their second final of the year – counting the four-wide finale in Charlotte, where he finished third – upset lower-qualified Shane Gray on a first-round holeshot, 6.79 to 6.77, then beat Rodger Brogdon in round two with a steady 6.80. Another 6.79 then ended Ron Krisher’s second straight good outing in the semifinals and pushed Stanfield into his 13th career Pro Stock final and 34th overall.

In Lucas Oil action, a pair of supercharged entries battled for Alcohol Dragster honors with Shawn Cowie scoring an easy win on Joey Severance’s red-light. Jay Payne drove his FireIce Mustang to his 37th career win, taking Top Alcohol Funny Car honors over Sean O’Bannon’s Monte Carlo. The win was significant to Payne as it moved him into the top 25 of all-time NHRA winners, tied with Peter Biondo

Las Vegas resident Justin Lamb used the hometrack advantage to his credit, wheeling his SS/DM ’09 Cobalt to victory against Brad Plourd’s SS/AM ’05 Cavalier by just .005-second. In other action, Larry Gilley was .001 on the Tree in the Stock final with his E/SA ’69 Dart to defeat Mick Alley and his AA/SA ’69 Camaro while Dick Vander Meer edged Thomas Bayer for Super Comp glory, and former world champ and class veteran Mike Ferderer collected again in Super Gas with his ’06 Grand Am, defeating Dennis Paz and ’41 Willys.

Del Worsham raced to his first No. 1 qualifying spot of the season in Funny Car while Friday leaders Antron Brown in Top Fuel and Mike Edwards in Pro Stock remained atop their fields as the ladders were set for Sunday’s final eliminations at the 11th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Another day of air temperatures in the high 80s and season-high track temperatures kept the crew chiefs hopping and, with but a few exceptions, improvements were hard to come by and teams worked instead on improving raceday setups for Sunday’s final eliminations at the event, the sixth of 23 in the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule. The tour also returns to Las Vegas in the fall for the season penultimate event.

Improvements were few and far between in Top Fuel Saturday, so much so that Saturday’s final order looks an awful lot like Friday’s finish with Brown’s Matco Tools dragster pacing the pack with his Friday 3.881. His 3.92 in the first session was second best of the day but the Gainesville qualifying leader still held on for his second pole of the season and the 23rd of his career.

“I thought it was going to be overcast today, so when I got up this morning and I saw the sun coming out, I actually started smiling a little bit,” said Brown. “The track actually held up good even though we had a lot of heat on it. We were running low 3.9s, and somebody could have gone out there, like Cory [McClenathan] or Tony [Schumacher] or [Larry] Dixon or somebody, and could have threw it out there if they really leaned on it. Dixon ran that .91 the first pass today, so it got your attention. It was definitely up in the air.

“We’re happy with the whole effort this weekend. The car ran exactly what we wanted it to, and we’re looking forward to

Antron Brown

tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day. It’s going to be a little hotter. The sun’s going to be out, and we’re going to race in the prime time of the day. It’s definitely going to be a catfight tomorrow down that racetrack. We’re not going to be fighting the other person in the other lane, we’re going to be fighting to get down the racetrack. It’s going to make it really challenging for the crew chiefs, but I like my odds with the guys in my pit area.”

Larry Dixon’s Al-Anabi entry had the day’s best Top Fuel run, a 3.916 in the first session and his 3.93 also was the quickest of the second session, making him a raceday favorite. Dixon, whose run of record in Las Vegas is his Friday 3.894, has qualified in the top three at all six races this season, including a No. 1 last weekend in Houston. Of note, Dixon’s team was running the new Goodyear tire during Saturday’s sessions.

Doug Kalitta, a thee-time runner-up already this season with the Technicoat/Kalitta Motorsports entry, remained third with his earlier 3.909 and two-time season winner Cory McClenathan fourth with the Fram dragster at 3.912. Schumacher (3.942) and Morgan Lucas (3.980) stayed fifth and sixth, respectively, while Lucas teammate, Shawn Langdon, made the most significant move of the day, going from ninth to seventh with a 3.991 after a 4.08 best Friday, knocking Brandon Bernstein’s 4.000 down one spot to eighth.

Rob Passey’s MSP Motorsports ended up on the bump spot with a 4.562, just .002-secodn ahead of Steve Torrence’s 4.564, making Torrence the lone non-qualifier. Only 16 cars ran Friday, but Terry Haddock, on his lone pass of the event after being shut off in the morning session, qualified for the field in the 13th spot with a 4.137 in the last session, bumping Torrence.

In what was the day’s performance improvement highlight, Worsham leaped from sixth to first with a 4.187, a solid half-tenth improvement over his best previous runs. It’s the first No. 1 of the season for the Al Anabi Toyota driver, who earlier this season had qualified second and third, and the fifth of his career. He was last No. 1 at this event in 2004.

Del Worsham

“It’s been a frustrating year,” said Worsham, who like teammate dixon also was on the new Goodyear tire. “When the track’s been above 100 degrees we’ve just had a heck of a time getting down the track. [Crew chief] Dickie Venables, based on past performance, has just been great in those conditions, so he’s been very frustrated, along with [team manager] Alan Johnson and [assistant crew chief] Kurt Elliott. Yesterday’s 4.23 run was actually better than that because it made all the e.t. it made today early, where it’s hard to make e.t., we just ran it so slow through the middle of the track and the top end to make sure we got down there that we kind of left a little on the table, so the 4.18 wasn’t a total shocker.

“I’m still a little worried that we have to go down the track four times tomorrow and we went down the track half the time today, so we really need to work on making sure it’s consistent. That has been our problem when the track’s been above 100, so hopefully after this weekend with the data that they have and all of Dickie’s racing experience will pay off.”

Friday leader Ashley Force Hood could not improve on her Friday 4.195 with the Castrol GTX Mustang and slipped to second and Houston winner Matt Hagan and his DieHard Charger likewise slid one spot, to third, after failing to better their 4.217. Veteran Gary Densham, who opted to sit out the final session, nonetheless qualified a season-high fourth with a 4.220.

The tight top eight is round out by Ron Capps (4.221), Robert Hight (4.223), Bob Bode (4.238), and Bob Tasca III (4.243). There are a couple of intriguing first-round matchups for fans including a rematch of last Sunday’s Funny Car final, pitting Hagan against Jeff Arend, as well as a team shootout between reigning season champ Hight and his boss, points leader John Force.

Veteran Jim Head ended up in the 16th and final spot with a 4.565 and will face Worsham in round one. Jeff Diehl and Paul Lee were left on the outside looking in.

For the 14th time in the last 15 races, points leader Edwards sits atop the pack in Pro Stock and, to add salt to the wounds

Mike Edwards

of the rest of the field, was one of the few to improve on his Friday best. After clocking a field-leading 6.70 Friday, Edwards’ Penhall/K&N/Interstate GXP ran 6.687 in Saturday’s opening session to bolster his position. The No. 1 qualifying berth is his fifth in six races this season and the 27th of his career and his third straight in Las Vegas.

“This morning was definitely better for several teams, and we just made an exceptionally nice run. I’m very proud of my guys,” said Edwards. “We changed some things there this afternoon and tried some things and didn’t like what we seen. We felt like it was going to be a slower session, so we thought it might be time to do it. It’s great to be able to come up here and qualify No. 1 and get some of that great K&N [Horsepower Challenge] money for qualifying No. 1.

“If tomorrow is like it is today, I’d like to stay in that left lane; it seems like we’ve got a better handle on it. If the sun’s out, you’re going to see exactly what we seen today. It will be faster in the morning, and as the day goes on, it will be hotter and greasier, so you’ll just have to make the adjustments. I look for more of the same.”

Engine customer Ron Krisher remained second behind Edwards with his Friday 6.716 from his Valvoline Cobalt, his fourth No. 2 spot of the year (all behind Edwards poles). Rodger Brogdon sits a career-tying-best third with a 6.725 in the Kent Services & Trucking/Racers Edge Pontiac and Allen Johnson’s Dodge fourth with a 6.732; both runs also were recorded Friday.

Greg Anderson, representing event sponsor Summit Racing Equipment, has his GXP ranked fifth with a 6.737, just ahead of the 6.738 of Shane Gray, who will be making his first top-half start with the Tire Kingdom GXP. Phoenix runner-up Bob Yonke (6.745) and veteran Warren Johnson (6.745) round out the top eight.

For the third time this season and the second straight event, Rickie Jones ended up on the bump spot after posting a 6.767. He’ll be Edwards’ first-round opponent Sunday. Kurt Johnson and Larry Morgan were the biggest surprises among the nine non-qualifiers.

Top Fuel-
Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Antron Brown         Matco Tools Dragster            3.881  316.60
   2. Larry Dixon          Al-Anabi Racing Dragster        3.894  314.24
   3. Doug Kalitta         Kalitta Air Dragster            3.909  315.56
   4. Cory McClenathan     Fram Tough Guard Dragster       3.912  312.57
   5. Tony Schumacher      U.S. Army Dragster              3.942  308.07
   6. Morgan Lucas         Geico Powersport/ Lucas Oil Dr  3.980  303.50
   7. Shawn Langdon        Lucas Oil/Speedco Dragster      3.991  308.14
   8. Brandon Bernstein    Copart/Lucas Oil Dragster       4.000  306.19
   9. Terry McMillen       Amalie Oil Dragster             4.031  290.19
  10. Mike Strasburg       B & J Transmissions Dragster    4.039  306.19
  11. Troy Buff            Bill Miller Racing/Okuma Drags  4.094  276.29
  12. David Grubnic        Kalitta Motorsports Dragster    4.105  295.46
  13. Terry Haddock        Dragster                        4.137  283.55
  14. Steven Chrisman      Chrisman Driveline Dragster     4.149  283.61
  15. Steve Faria          System One Filtration Dragster  4.528  185.23
  16. Rob Passey           MSP Motorsports/Mattinson Race  4.562  241.15
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  17. Steve Torrence       Simple Mobile Dragster          4.564  228.34
Funny Car-
Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Del Worsham          Al-Anabi Racing Solara          4.187  297.75
   2. Ashley Force Hood    Castrol GTX Mustang             4.195  295.14
   3. Matt Hagan           DieHard Charger                 4.217  297.16
   4. Gary Densham         NealInvestments/LawsonRock&Oil  4.220  295.92
   5. Ron Capps            NAPA Auto Parts Charger         4.221  291.70
   6. Robert Hight         AAA of So. Cal Mustang          4.223  300.00
   7. Bob Bode             Alard Machine Products Impala   4.238  297.22
   8. Bob Tasca III        Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang   4.243  293.66
   9. Melanie Troxel       In-N-Out Burger Charger         4.250  302.28
  10. Tim Wilkerson        Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang       4.255  292.90
  11. John Force           Castrol GTX Mustang             4.263  297.94
  12. Jack Beckman         Valvoline/MTS Charger           4.289  287.47
  13. Tony Pedregon        Herzog Impala                   4.301  287.78
  14. Jeff Arend           DHL Solara                      4.314  292.58
  15. Cruz Pedregon        Snap-On Solara                  4.532  269.24
  16. Jim Head             Head Racing Solara              4.565  257.73
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  17. Jeff Diehl           Rimz One Monte Carlo            4.809  212.73
  18. Paul Lee             Jim Dunn/Canidae/Lucas Oil Imp  5.064  293.22
Pro Stock-

Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed

1. Mike Edwards         Penhall/K&N/Interstae GXP       6.687  205.88

2. Ron Krisher          Valvoline Cobalt                6.716  205.38

3. Rodger Brogdon       Kent Services & Trucking GXP    6.725  205.16

4. Allen Johnson        Mopar/J & J Racing Avenger      6.732  204.88

5. Greg Anderson        Summit Racing Equipment GXP     6.737  204.73

6. Shane Gray           Tire Kingdom GXP                6.738  204.39

7. Bob Yonke            Adrenaline Motorsports GXP      6.745  204.57

8. Warren Johnson       K&N Filters GXP                 6.745  204.26

9. Jason Line           Summit Racing Equipment GXP     6.748  205.07

10. Jeg Coughlin         Jegs.com Cobalt                 6.751  205.51

11. Greg Stanfield       Nitrofish GXP                   6.754  204.45

12. Vinnie Deceglie      Mountain View Tire Avenger      6.754  204.32

13. Johnny Gray          NTB GXP                         6.761  204.60

14. V. Gaines            Kendall Oil Avenger             6.761  204.57

15. Ronnie Humphrey      Pro Stock Grills/THM GXP        6.766  204.70

16. Rickie Jones         Elite GXP                       6.767  204.14

--------- Not Qualified ---------

17. Steve Spiess         Billet Specialties Cobalt       6.772  203.37

18. Larry Morgan         Lucas Oil/Summit Mustang        6.781  203.34

19. Kurt Johnson         Mark Christopher Cobalt         6.785  203.58

20. Erica Enders         Mustang                         6.793  204.32

21. Danny Gruninger      www.usrecognition.com Stratus   6.816  202.79

22. Gordie Rivera        Gordies Speed Center GXP        6.821  201.70

23. Jim Cunningham       Cunningham Motorsports Mustang  6.921  202.79

24. John Nobile          Nobile Racing Mustang          13.381   62.50

25. Justin Humphreys     RaceRedi Motorsports GXP       18.570  202.85

by Phil Burgess, National DRAGSTER Editor

Antron Brown, Ashley Force Hood, and Mike Edwards are the low qualifiers after the first day of qualifying at the 11th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

With air temperatures pushing 90 degrees and track temperatures during the first nitro session at about 126, a lot of teams struggled. The temperatures for the second session dropped about 10 degrees, and with the track shaded by the grandstands, teams had an easier time getting a handle on things. The event is the sixth of 23 in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule, and race teams had just a few days to hightail it from Houston, site of last weekend’s O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals, to Las Vegas for the second of the season’s back-to-back race weekends. Teams first went back to back at the season opener in Pomona in early February and the next event in Phoenix.

Brown grabbed the top spot on Top Fuel in the middle of the second session with a strong 3.88 from his Matco Tools dragster which held off all other challengers including Houston champ Larry Dixon’s 3.894 on the final pass of the day. Brown was the No. 1 qualifier in Gainesville, No. 3 in Charlotte, and No. 2 last weekend in Las Vegas. Brown has 22 career low qualifiers from his competition in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Doug Kalitta, a three-time runner-up already this season, sits third behind Brown and Dixon’s Al-Anabi dragster while points leader Cory McClenathan’s Fram dragster is fourth at 3.912  312.57. World champ Tony Schumacher’s U.S. Army machine is fifth at 3.942. Morgan Lucas (3.980), Brandon Bernstein (4.000), Mike Strasburg (4.039) round out the day’s top eight.

Steve Chrisman’s 4.149 denotes the No. 12 spot, the final e.t. that will transfer into Saturday’s two final qualifying sessions. Sixteen Top Fuelers made passes Friday.

Force Hood, whose Castrol GTX Mustang led the first session with a 4.236, had been bumped to sixth by the time she ran at the end of the second session, but had no problem regaining the lead with a 4.195. Force Hood, the No. 2 qualifier in Houston, is seeking her first No.1 qualifying position of the season and the 10th of her career.

Force Hood’s pass bumped Houston winner Matt Hagan’s Die Hard Dodge from the top spot, which he had grabbed with a 4.217 that held on for second. Veteran privateer Gary Densham is the surprise No. 3 qualifier with a 4.220 in just his third appearance of the season. Ron Capps and the NAPA Auto Parts Charger sits fourth at 4.221 just ahead of world champion Robert Hight’s Auto Club Mustang sits at 4.223 and Del Worsham and the Al-Anabi Toyota at 4.235. Bob Bode (4.238) and Melanie Troxel (4.250) round out the top eight

Tony Pedregon sits in the No. 12 spot with a 4.301 and with 18 cars on the grounds, there will be a battle for the top 16 spots. Among those not yet qualifier are Cruz Pedregon, Houston runner-up Jeff Arend, and Phoenix champ Jack Beckman.

Edwards, whose streak of 12 consecutive No. 1 qualifying berths was broken two events ago in Charlotte, seems intent on starting another long run of pole positions as last weekend; qualifying ladder in Houston is back atop the pack halfway through qualifying in Las Vegas with his Penhall/K&N/Interstate Pontiac. After a down-low wiggle cost him in the first session, Edwards took advantage of the better conditions and zoomed from fifth to first with a 6.706 in the afternoon session to take the lead.

“We didn’t do a very good job the first run, that’s for sure,” said Edwards. “We did a better job with the adjustments tonight, and it really paid off. We had some issues with the motor — we changed motors between runs — but we didn’t do very good on the starting line either, so hats off to my guys because they really, really did a good job tonight. We didn’t have much to go off of because of the run the first run, but we made a lot of good changes and a lot of good adjustments and made a nice run.

“I’m not sure. We run at, I think, 11:30 in tomorrow morning, so that will probably be our best session. I look for things to change around, so you’re going to have to come out and try to make the best run that you can.”

Edwards engine customer Ron Krisher, whose Valvoline Cobalt led the first session with a 6.716, dropped to second after he wasn’t able to improve on that number while Houston runner-up Allen Johnson made it three different makes atop the pack when he powered his Mopar Dodge to a 6.732, also in the first session. Event sponsor Greg Anderson’s Summit Racing Pontiac is fourth at 6.737 and Rodger Brogdon’s The Racers Edge Pontiac is fifth at 6.746. Johnny Gray (6.761, 204.60), V. Gaines (6.761, 204.11), and Houston champ Jeg Coughlin (6.762) round out the top eight.

Shane Gray’s Tire Kingdom GXP holds down the 12th and final transfer spot to Saturday qualifying with a 6.773. Thirteen drivers – including perennial qualifiers Rickie Jones, Greg Stanfield, Warren Johnson, and Kurt Johnson — will be trying to make the cut in Saturday’s final two sessions.

Top Fuel-
Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Antron Brown         Matco Tools Dragster            3.881  316.60
   2. Larry Dixon          Al-Anabi Racing Dragster        3.894  314.24
   3. Doug Kalitta         Kalitta Air Dragster            3.909  315.56
   4. Cory McClenathan     Fram Tough Guard Dragster       3.912  312.57
   5. Tony Schumacher      U.S. Army Dragster              3.942  308.07
   6. Morgan Lucas         Geico Powersport/ Lucas Oil Dr  3.980  303.50
   7. Brandon Bernstein    Copart/Lucas Oil Dragster       4.000  306.19
   8. Mike Strasburg       B & J Transmissions Dragster    4.039  306.19
   9. Shawn Langdon        Lucas Oil/Speedco Dragster      4.083  297.29
  10. Terry McMillen       Amalie Oil Dragster             4.088  284.03
  11. David Grubnic        Kalitta Motorsports Dragster    4.105  294.24
  12. Steven Chrisman      Chrisman Driveline Dragster     4.149  283.61
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  13. Steve Faria          System One Filtration Dragster  5.090  147.41
  14. Rob Passey           MSP Motorsports/Mattinson Race  7.001   95.92
  15. Troy Buff            Bill Miller Racing/Okuma Drags  8.879   56.53
  16. Steve Torrence       Simple Mobile Dragster          8.960   80.94

Funny Car-

 Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Ashley Force Hood    Castrol GTX Mustang             4.195  295.14
   2. Matt Hagan           DieHard Charger                 4.217  297.16
   3. Gary Densham         NealInvestments/LawsonRock&Oil  4.220  295.92
   4. Ron Capps            NAPA Auto Parts Charger         4.221  291.70
   5. Robert Hight         AAA of So. Cal Mustang          4.223  300.00
   6. Del Worsham          Al-Anabi Racing Solara          4.235  292.90
   7. Bob Bode             Alard Machine Products Impala   4.238  297.22
   8. Melanie Troxel       In-N-Out Burger Charger         4.250  302.28
   9. Tim Wilkerson        Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang       4.255  292.90
  10. John Force           Castrol GTX Mustang             4.263  297.94
  11. Bob Tasca III        Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang   4.290  293.66
  12. Tony Pedregon        Herzog Impala                   4.301  270.86
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  13. Paul Lee             Jim Dunn/Canidae/Lucas Oil Imp  4.302  293.22
  14. Cruz Pedregon        Snap-On Solara                  4.371  235.64
  15. Jeff Arend           DHL Solara                      4.568  248.57
  16. Jeff Diehl           Rimz One Monte Carlo            4.746  186.95
  17. Jim Head             Head Racing Solara              5.289  143.51
  18. Jack Beckman         Valvoline/MTS Charger           7.194   93.98

Pro Stock-

 Psn  Driver               Vehicle                            ET   Speed
   1. Mike Edwards         Penhall/K&N/Interstae GXP       6.706  205.47
   2. Ron Krisher          Valvoline Cobalt                6.716  205.38
   3. Allen Johnson        Mopar/J & J Racing Avenger      6.732  204.88
   4. Greg Anderson        Summit Racing Equipment GXP     6.737  204.51
   5. Rodger Brogdon       Kent Services & Trucking GXP    6.746  205.13
   6. Johnny Gray          NTB GXP                         6.761  204.60
   7. V. Gaines            Kendall Oil Avenger             6.761  204.11
   8. Jeg Coughlin         Jegs.com Cobalt                 6.762  205.38
   9. Vinnie Deceglie      Mountain View Tire Avenger      6.762  204.32
  10. Jason Line           Summit Racing Equipment GXP     6.764  204.82
  11. Ronnie Humphrey      Pro Stock Grills/THM GXP        6.766  204.70
  12. Shane Gray           Tire Kingdom GXP                6.773  204.26
          --------- Not Qualified ---------
  13. Rickie Jones         Elite GXP                       6.790  202.91
  14. Greg Stanfield       Nitrofish GXP                   6.793  204.01
  15. Warren Johnson       K&N Filters GXP                 6.796  203.22
  16. Bob Yonke            Adrenaline Motorsports GXP      6.798  204.11
  17. Steve Spiess         Billet Specialties Cobalt       6.798  203.09
  18. Kurt Johnson         Mark Christopher Cobalt         6.804  203.19
  19. Justin Humphreys     RaceRedi Motorsports GXP        6.810  202.85
  20. Larry Morgan         Lucas Oil/Summit Mustang        6.811  203.03
  21. Erica Enders         Mustang                         6.812  203.49
  22. Danny Gruninger      www.usrecognition.com Stratus   6.815  202.70
  23. Jim Cunningham       Cunningham Motorsports Mustang  6.865  202.79
  24. Gordie Rivera        Gordies Speed Center GXP        6.903  191.27
  25. John Nobile          Nobile Racing Mustang          13.549   62.29

As the Roush/Yates organization expands and makes their move to the sport of drag racing, they’ve got themselves set up with some killer cars and drivers. After their new-found partnership with the Aeromotive team, the work commenced on a new 2010 Mustang package for Steve Matusek after the sale of their old modular ride.

No doubt the first renderings looked killer, but over on Aeromotive’s Facebook Page we found some updated pictures of the work progress on this sleek 2010 body. You can check out the first official build announcement and renderings here.

It might not look like much, but it’s a far cry from where they previously were with just a body sitting on the floor. The bulk of the chassis is completed, as well as the 500 C.I.D. RYE powerplant and the Liberty 5 speed transmission resting in place for mock-up. Once the rear end is all buttoned up, this long awaited project will finally be rolling – but there’s still plenty of work left, though Matusek plans to have the car on track by the time this summer rolls around (Chassis-builder for this car Larry Larson predicts it’ll be ready by late June).

This Mustang’s primary role will be running in the revamped NHRA Pro Mod class, but various trips to the NMCA events to run in the Pro Street class are expected, and the possibility to run a few ADRL events is still lingering. Matusek did a lot with a little with the old 323″ Modular ‘Stang he formerly drove, we can’t wait to see what he can do with an extra 177 Cubic Inches and more turbo – an estimated 800 horsepower increase from their old setup. Another unique tidbit on this car is the use of zoomies on a turbo car, constructed from one piece of metal on each side in hopes of adding the needed down-force on the front-end. It’s a bit of an unconventional idea but it should work if executed properly.

One thing’s for sure, we can’t wait to see Steve out there bangin’ gears in his new ride.

While we surfed through DART’s Facebook Page, we saw something interesting – Larry Morgan alongside Richard Maskin, and DART’s Pro-Stock engine builder Jeff Lake discussing some engine technology along with some hands-on interaction out in the shop.

Morgan has much more on his plate than some other competitors, being that all of his engines are done in house at his award-winning shop in Ohio. Bringing Ford back into the Pro Stock class attempting to be competitive after their absence for years is quite difficult for Morgan and others. Morgan has made several comments about their downfalls thus far, while he noted horsepower wasn’t an issue, he did make note that these engines were wanting something a little different in the tuning department, and that he’d like to put an end to hurting engines so much.

With that in mind, could Morgan’s next step be either gaining a multitude of knowledge that DART obviously has, or possibly even having DART whip him up an engine package? There’s no official word yet, but we’re certain they weren’t having a leisurely talk about last night’s baseball game.

Larry Morgan currently sits 13th in the Pro Stock points standings (A mere 3 points behind Rickie Jones in 12th) as the NHRA rolls into Las Vegas this weekend for the SummitRacing.com Nationals.

Mopars are scarce enough here in the states, never-the-less across the pond over in Ireland, where we saw this cool vintage Dodge Dart taking on a multitude of other cars in their very own drag racing event. Looking at the background of this event, it seems to be taking place at some sort of carnival/town fair-esque event at St. Angelo’s Airport in Enniskillen, but hey, any kind of drag racing is a step in the right direction. For the most part, the cars are fairly stock (there isn’t exactly a speed shop around every corner there, ya know?) but when a set of classic muscle cars line up, even if they aren’t the quickest ones on the planet, it takes us back to what grassroots racing was back in the day.

Check out the video posted up on the For A Bodies Only Forum, as well as some cool pics of other Mopars around Ireland.

The event was organized by ‘Sideways Racing,’ but the American Muscle Cars In Ireland (AMCI) club received a special invitation to participate. Sandie and Paul from AMCI provided us with the cool video. As for the cool ’68 Dart the poster is sporting, it’s a GTS model – packing a 340 Mopar small block backed up by a good ole’ 4 speed transmission. It’s pretty much stock for now, but a 408 stroker is in the works for future modifications once he feels like he’s gotten all he can out of the stock engine package.

Ireland surely isn’t a very big country, but what the hey, who else thinks a couple of mainstream drag strips would be a cool thing to have over there? As of now, legal drag racing in Ireland is almost non-existent, though a group of folks created a website titled DragIreland.com, in hopes of bringing a drag racing facility to the country. The idea is rather fresh and some are still warming up to it, but if participation in events like this continue to grow, we just might get to see a large drag strip over there for all to enjoy.

We showed you some of the initial teardown and mockup, but a post on Yellow Bullet shows us the sweet finished product.

One of the first things that caught my eye was the stunning paint job, it looked unchanged from last year other than a few subtle details, but Ross Customs got this paint all freshened up and standing out even more than before.

Gilsbach Racecraft and Moran Motorsports handled the bulk of the massive modifications, with Moran putting their fine touches on this small block Ford. Gilsbach took care of the new turbo fitment, nose-piece modification and many other items from the pipe routing and the rather neat dual electric fan setup out front that’ll keep this pony cool cruising back to the pits or to the line when airflow is scarce.

The car is just about done, and the fun part is just on the horizon – getting this cool New Edge ‘Stang down the 1320 in a blistering sub-7 second run. Be sure to come on out to Milan to check out this ride’s debut, though the team may travel a bit for some more mainstream events when/if they feel they’re ready. Can the ’09 Milan Dragway Outlaw 10.5 Champ repeat again in 2010 with this new bullet?

Lets face it, sometimes rules can really put a damper on your plans. While we can all agree that certain rules are in the best interest of the racer’s safety, sometimes there’s rules that just really make you wonder what kind of purpose they really serve. Sure, you can always take a trip out to a Test N’ Tune and hope you might get a chance of running someone that’s running close to you ET-wise that’ll put up a good race, but having been there it doesn’t happen on a regular basis. What better solution, than a good ole run what ya brung drag racing event? Better yet, with extremely minimal rules – only specifics being that you need a helmet and the battery be fastened down properly. Easy enough, right?

Where was this? Out at the Inde Motorsports Ranch in Wilcox, Arizona – a private facility, but all it took was some racers getting together and organizing this event. Check out some pictures from the action over on Yellow Bullet. Also, feel free to contact the thread creator on there to see how you can get your very own car in this event in the future.

While the Ranch is more well-known for the impressive road course, there is a massive straight-away, that end-to-end is roughly a mile or so. Most guys were running the traditional 1/4 mile, but racers could also line up and make a run to the half mile if they so choose. Best of all, a mere $50 dollar entry fee, that lets you run as long as the daylight permits.

The car count may not have been as spectacular as say something like the ADRL finals, but many people brought their own hot rods out to give this new racing environment a try. The event is likely to be held again, so long as the cars keep coming -why not come out and support this new wave of heads-up racing? Check out a little taste of what went on at this event in the gallery below

For full results, be sure to visit NHRA.com

Matt Hagan’s first Funny Car win and Larry Dixon’s 50th in Top Fuel highlighted a spectacular and wild race day at the 23rd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil. Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Andrew Hines earned respective wins in Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle.

After a day that began with rain and ended late Saturday, the perfect spring conditions returned to Houston Raceway Park for eliminations in race five of the 23-race 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Series. The sunny skies warmed the track significantly throughout the day, pushing track temps over 100 degrees for most of the time, and that prevented racers from putting up the big numbers as they did the previous two days. That doesn’t mean the action was dull, however. In fact, it was far from it. From the opening round of Top Fuel through the final rounds, the day was filled with intense action, wild races, and upsets aplenty.

Fittingly, the Top Fuel final came down to Dixon and Antron Brown, the Nos. 1 and 2 qualifiers who were at or near the top of the sheets throughout eliminations. Though their runs weren’t side-by-side 3.77s like on Saturday, the final round lived up to the hype and was just as interesting after both struggled downtrack and had to pedal their cars. Dixon’s Al-Anabi Racing dragster lost traction first and, for a while, it appeared he may be out of it. However, Brown’s Matco Tools rail encountered troubles a short while after Dixon’s tire smoke began, opening the door back up. Dixon got back on the throttle, and, despite having his engine burst into a ball of flames, he stayed in it all the way to the finish line, where he just passed Brown to win the battle, 4.541 to 4.638. It is the 50th overall win for Dixon, second this year, and third at Houston Raceway Park.

“I backed off the throttle and rolled back on, and Antron took off,” said Dixon. “I mean, I could see him. He was way, way,

Larry Dixon

too far out there, then all of a sudden, I noticed that he was sideways, and I was like, ‘I can catch him. I’m gonna try.’ So, the thing hooked up enough, and it was probably putting holes out, and it’s revving up, and it blew up before the finish line, but I got enough of a run on him that I was able to coast through and get the win light. That’s probably the first time I’ve won a tire-smoking contest at 1,000 feet. The track is so short it’s hard to win. A quarter-mile you have a better shot just because you have some distance to get the car going. Man, that one, it was cool.

“Man, No. 50. I didn’t even think about it until they started talking about it [at the top end], but, yeah, that’s more than I ever thought I’d do in my lifetime, and I’m not done living yet. It’s real good. Win-wise, I’m dedicating it to my son Darien because he’s in the hospital. He has a bacterial infection. I didn’t even get here until Friday morning because he was in surgery on Thursday night. He’s only 3 years old, and I didn’t even want to leave. He wanted us to win the race for him, and we were able to do it, so this is as good as you can ask for a weekend.”

After nabbing the No. 1 spot Saturday with a 3.772, Dixon’s dragster stayed strong throughout eliminations with a pair of 3.85s and a 3.89 as he worked to his 94th career final. His 3.853 and 3.854 were the best runs of the first two rounds and easily moved him past Del Cox Jr. and Dave Grubnic, respectively. He then ousted Cory McClenathan to earn a spot in his third final of the year.

Though his run to the final wasn’t flawless, Brown had a pretty strong day as he maneuvered through his side of the ladder to advance to his 51st career final. He began with a 3.858 that was second-quickest of the opening round to defeat Spencer Massey. Brown caught somewhat of a lucky break in round two when his dragster experienced troubles on the burnout and continued to struggle as he worked down the 1,000-foot course. Fortunately for him, Shawn Langdon had more troubles in the other lane, and Brown’s 3.96 was more than enough to get by. In the semi’s, Brown returned to form, posting a 3.873 that defeated Morgan Lucas and earned him lane choice for the final.

No matter the outcome, the Funny Car result was going to provide the feel-good moment of the day with Hagan searching for his first win facing Jeff Arend, who was looking to add another win for Kalitta Motorsports at Houston Raceway Park; Scott Kalitta won his only nitro Funny Car race here, in 1989. In the end, Hagan won, out-pedaling Arend, 4.390 to 4.714.

Matt Hagan

“Other than my wife and kids, this is the best feeling in the world,” said Hagan, who now sits second in the standings. “It’s just really cool. The guys work really hard. This was a big weekend for us because everybody in front of us went out first round, so it was huge when we stepped up first round and started to go some rounds to be able to move up in points. I’ve known all along we have a great race car — I even thought last year we were going to win — it’s just a matter of putting four solid runs together and Sunday and having a little bit of luck. It’s one of those things where we had a winning car and a championship car, we just needed everything to fall into place for us. Slowly but surely, it’s happened.

“You don’t understand how frustrating it was coming into the final round, and you’re just ready for that first win to be over, well not over, but you’re ready to have it. It’s one of those things where you can taste it, you can feel it. You know, it’s just there, and you’re ready to just grab it. Thank goodness we did that today because that’s the first little hurdle you have to jump over before you go hunting a championship. I think with John Medlen and Tommy DeLago working so well together and the crew doing such a great job, I think it’s going to happen for us. I’m extremely excited to have the crew we have on our race car because we don’t have any bad problems up there. They’re doing such a good job, and I couldn’t ask for a better crew.”

Hagan’s DieHard Charger has shown promise in qualifying this year, but race day has been a challenge for the team, but that changed in Houston. Though he didn’t have a perfect day, Hagan had moments of brilliance during it. He opened with a 4.217 to defeat Melanie Troxel, then ran low e.t. of the second round, 4.183, to oust Cruz Pedregon. Hagan advanced to his third career final when he defeated Tony Pedregon, 4.632 to 5.838, in the semi’s.

All the pieces came together for Arend in Houston. He earned his best qualifying start of the year, sixth, and collected three round-wins after zero in the first four events. He kicked things off with a 4.140 that was one of the top runs of the opening stanza to beat Jim Head, then got a little lucky when his next two opponents, Robert Hight and Del Worsham, experienced more troubles than him, allowing Arend to advance to his fourth final.

After defeating points leader Mike Edwards in the semifinals, Coughlin and his JEGS.com Cobalt team entered the Pro Stock money round as the favorite, and he quickly proved he was up to the challenge. Coughlin got the jump at the starting line, .024 to .045, and that was the key. Allen Johnson ran a little better, 6.596 to 6.599, but it wasn’t enough to move him around Coughlin, who turned on the win light for the 62nd time in his career and the 49th time in Pro Stock.

“This is a very special place for me to win a race,” said Coughlin. “I won my first Super Stock race here in 1994, and then I won my first Pro Stock race here in 1997. Oddly enough, both wins came in my second starts in each class.

“We’ve showed some brilliance lately, but unfortunately until this weekend, we’ve bowed out early, so we worked together with [team owner] Victor Cagnazzi, [chassis builder] Todd Bevis, and my father on upgrading the program. Our car has been temperamental for the last 12 races, but I think we’ve finally fixed the problems. Our speeds have really picked up a lot lately, and that shows the gains we’ve made in horsepower. Running the big back-half numbers like that is something that we haven’t done too often.”

As he did in Charlotte, where he was No. 1 qualifier, Coughlin got off to a good start in qualifying, ranking fourth in the

Jeg Coughlin

final order, but unlike Charlotte, where he lost first round, he was able to carry it on to race day. His 6.582 in the opening round against Bob Yonke was the second-quickest pass of the round, and he one-upped that the following two rounds, posting the best times of those frames, 6.589 and 6.601, in respective wins against Greg Anderson and Edwards. The win against Edwards both snapped Edwards’ perfect run to finals for the year and earned Coughlin a spot in his 96th overall final and 78th in Pro Stock.

Johnson enjoyed his best outing of the year, capped by the appearance in his 18th career final. Johnson, whose last win and final round was Denver last year, defeated Johnny Gray in the first round, then got past Ronnie Humphrey in a wild 12.13 to 13.53 coasting match. Johnson advanced to his second Houston final when he bettered Ron Krisher in the semi’s.

With two riders who have had their struggles on the starting line in the past facing off in the Pro Stock Motorcycle final, it was no surprise the race was decided at the Tree. This time, Hector Arana went red and did so by a bunch (-.107), handing the victory to Hines, who posted a 6.998. It is the 19th win of Hines’ career and first at Houston Raceway Park.

A. Hines

“It was good to get the first win of the year,” said Hines, who moved from eighth to fourth in the standings with his win. “We were there for the taking, but it worked out in our favor. I had been working more on the racing program lately than my riding, but I returned to the riding and I’ve had all greens since Charlotte. We had never won at this track before, so this one is huge. I was also beginning to question myself with no wins so far this year, but today’s win put that to rest The Harley-Davidson ran great today, and it had to because of all the fast speeds that everyone was running.

“Hector is a great racer, and he always wishes everybody good luck and never has anything bad to say about anybody. But he knows that our motorcycle will always be running right up there at with the top of the pack and maybe it rattles him a bit to see our V-Rod in the other lane.”

Hines’ victory march began with a 6.940 win over Junior Pippin. He then posted low e.t. of the second round, 6.938, to end Karen Stoffer’s hopes. In the semi’s, Hines faced his Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson teammate, Eddie Krawiec, and the pair put on quite a show that went in Hines’ favor, 6.905 to 6.913.

Arana qualified atop the sheets, and for much of Sunday, he appeared to be well on his w