With the dawn of a new season upon us, we offer our picks to win the Full Throttle and Get Screened America Pro Mod titles this season. There’s nothing scientific behind our choices, but simply our thoughts on which racers have what it takes to get the job done in 2012.
Editorials & Opinions
With the unveiling of the COPO Camaro Concept at the SEMA Show, the seemingly improbable holy trinity of factory race cars is all but complete. But in order to do these cars any justice, they deserve their own big stage to compete heads-up, my brand versus yours, just like they did 45 years ago.
Mark Gearhart: We Need a Uniform Set of Rules in Heads Up Racing
by
Mark Gearhart
on
December 27, 2011
The problem is that a lot of these racing sanctions have relationships like Iran and Iraq, when they need to be working together. The doorslammer racing world needs standardized rules for these big categories that everyone uses.
It’s amazing how many people you can meet being involved with a hobby. Automotive gatherings are obviously a mecca of hot rodders, gear heads, and casual enthusiasts just wanting to mingle. It’s a great place to make friends and unfortunately… sometimes enemies.
Think back…remember all the gauges? It was like sitting in the cockpit of a commercial airliner. Between the tuning and gauges cost, you were knee deep in a second mortgage on your house. Finally (thank god) technology has caught up, and being a muscle car enthusiasts in the 21st century is the best place to be
When you’re in the automotive publishing business, one of the consequences of the job is that you often get asked, “how do I get sponsorship for my race team?” What I usually find, though, is that the racers have only a vague idea of what a sponsorship really is, or how to go about getting one.
Like anyone involved in the sport of drag racing, I have my own personal bucket list of race tracks and events that I’d like to attend and take in a race at at some point in time, and hovering near the top of the list for much of my life has been the historic Raceway Park in Englishtown.
Wolf’s Word: Can Indy Be Saved From Becoming Just Another Race?
by
Andrew Wolf
on
September 28, 2011
The aura of the once-proud Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis has, sadly, diminished over the years; a fact not lost on racers, fans, and bean counters. But all is not lost, if the NHRA grabs hold of the reigns and aggressively restores this drag race that’s unlike any other.
The answer to your in depth technical questions might be more available to you than you realize. Imagine sitting down with the likes of Doug Yates, Keith Dorton, Dr. Dean Hill, Ron Shaver, or Gary Stanton. Impossible? It might be easier then you think!
Once a heated topic in the sport, 1,000 foot racing is gradually earning acceptance from the drag racing community and considering the alternatives, it just might be the standard of the future for nitro and beyond.
During his years in the sport, few figures have received more consistently negative commentary from the masses than ADRL founder Kenny Nowling. He accomplished what no one else could, he gave the people what they wanted, and then they cheered upon his exit from the stage.
Twenty one years ago, what would quickly become one of the hottest drag racing categories of all time came into being, and from that point forth, the sport would never be the same. But somewhere along the way on it’s two decade journey, a gradual but obvious change occurred in the very DNA of Pro Modified racing.
I got to watch it all happen in slow motion, just a few feet ahead of me. He slipped past at the line, there was smoke, and then the car darted into the wall. After the initial impact, the car bounced back toward the center line and I was as hard on the brakes as I could be without locking them up myself.
With the dawning of a new era in Pro Modified upon us with the addition of several new turbocharged entries, the longtime nitrous racers were all but written off by many keyboard crew chiefs. And then along came Khalid Balooshi and Rickie Smith.
Each year around the latter part of January and into mid-February, racers and race fans of every genre all across the nation begin to develop a little extra hop in their steps as a new racing season that at times felt it would never get here finally begins to awaken from its slumber.
Despite years of reading about, hearing about, and more recently reporting on the closure of far too many racetracks, none has ever really hit close to home until now. The closure of the Gateway International Raceway is a hard pill to swallow for many, but don’t write the place off just yet.
The American Drag Racing League has prided itself on delivering a true “outlaw” series for the last six years, but with spending on the rise, limitations are rumored to be going into effect before the 2011 opener to curb costs and maintain participation. And for that, they should be commended.
There is a pondering question “Is NA Heads-Up Racing Going Extinct?” This means all motor, heads-up, small tire, street car racing. There are 5 or 6 classes for these cars to compete but they all have different rules. I go over some of the rules and formulate a unified set to hopefully revive this class.
In my late 20′s and still the butt of plenty of wet-behind-the-ears jokes from the feisty old timers, I’m part of an entirely new generation of drag racing followers and competitors who look back on a more recent era of our sport much in the same way our baby boomer fathers reminisce about the 1960′s.
Over the course of more than a decade of operation, the NMRA has become the world’s foremost doorslammer Mustang racing sanction, outlasted several prominent competitors, and created countless great moments in drag racing. Here are ten of our favorites…
Do you not understand that Drag Racing had one stark, visual distinction that set it apart from all other motorsports? A FACE and that face was the BREATHER MASK. Don’t you understand how beloved that image is? I see it on everything…T shirts, bumper stickers…even tattoos.
Some will always see the glass as half full…others half empty. But, when it comes to the state of Drag Racing today, it’s becoming more and more obvious that we’ve simply got the wrong size glass.
We present a profile of five of the most feared drivers in Drag Radial today. While a tough call given the sheer number of racers out there, these gentlemen well and truly stand out from the pack and command their opponents’ attention.
One of the big challenges facing racing organizations is how to convert grassroots racers in the local bracket ranks into full fields for their heads-up classes, but it’s no stretch at all to put the better part of $75,000 into your first year of heads-up racing. That’s a lot of discretionary income to pour into one hobby, for sure, and it’s hard to come up with a way to drop the cost below that and still win races.
The U.S. Nationals, most commonly known as “The Big Go” or simply “Indy” is the most prestigious and illustrious drag race in the world. It’s the one everyone wants to win and the one everyone wants to witness at least once. But sadly, and much to the denial of many, the race just isn’t what it used to be.
NMRA Real Street standout Bruce Hemminger walks us through his weekend at the recent NMRA/NMCA All Star Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, NC as he chases a season championship in the category.
There’s no easier way to get out of the stands and onto the track than drag racing. Nobody’s born knowing how to drag race though, and everybody was a newbie once. Going to the track for the first time can be intimidating – nobody wants to look like they don’t know what they’re doing.
Picking the right Carburetor size for your car & engine combination is paramount in being successful – whether you’re a professional racer or just want the right carburetor for you’re Saturday night special. There are 3 main parameters that correctly determine your baseline selection. John Dickey of AED Carburetors shares with us some of his secrets.
The ADRL’s wildly popular Extreme 10.5 category is suffering from the same parity issue that made Pro Modified a tumultuous arena for years, raising questions of whether any semblance of a level playing field can be achieved and what the future holds for the class.
At first read some might think, “You aren’t new around here?” While this is true, things-are-a-changin’ here at powerTV. Instead of a variety of people having their hands in a various areas of all our websites, we have consolidated a bit. I will be taking over as Editor for StangTV and Dragzine, while Kevin Shaw will be handling Street Legal TV and LSX TV. We will assume full editorial responsibility for our sites. With that being said, I would like to educate you a bit about who I am.
So if a beam tripper isn’t cheating, is it really an advantage? In bracket and index racing where robotic precision rather than raw speed wins races, it certainly can be. But in the kinds of heads-up racing so popular in ADRL and elsewhere, the margins of victory simply aren’t usually close enough to make a 6-12 inch extension the deciding factor in who moves on to the next round.
I turn wrenches. That’s my sole purpose in life. I have found my calling, and you can call it what you want; grease monkey, gearhead, shop dawg, or for you fancy guys, ‘automotive technician,’ because apparently with our politically correct society I can’t just be a mechanic anymore.
Stand Down for Safety: Team Member Killed by Nitrous Bottle at ADRL
by
Paul Huizenga
on
April 26, 2010
On April 24, 2010, Mike Walker was critically injured in a pit incident during the ADRL Georgia Drags and subsequently died. In the armed forces, when a serious accident occurs it’s not uncommon to have a “stand-down” in the immediate aftermath, when everyone stops their normal activities to focus on safety. My belief is that the best memorial for those who have lost their lives in the pursuit of the sport we all love is to stand down for a moment and think about what we can do to head off another tragedy before it happens.
