By the time the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series got to “the mountain” at Bristol, Tenn., Pro Stock racer Mike Edwards already was king of the hill. Staying there will be the challenge.
Interviews
What Khaid alBalooshi is accomplishing in the kitchen he can compare with his learning curve on the National Hot Rod Association dragstrips in the Al-Anabi/Toyota Dragster. To his credit at both endeavors, he doesn’t set things on fire — and he’s seeing progress.
Between attending to the needs of racers and hearing requests from potential sponsors during the Bash On The Bayou at No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, Louisiana in May, X-DRL President, Jeff Mitchell, sat down for a one-on-one interview with Dragzine.
Kurt Urban has been the go-to guy for some of the most prominent LS builds known to mankind. We recently got him to slow down just long enough to give us some insight into where he’s been, and where he’s going next…
Gary Densham always had been the classic under-budget underdog, poster child for perseverance, a man winless for the first 243 races of his NHRA career, the shop teacher at Gahr High School in the Los Angeles suburb of Cerritos whose drag racing education came from the School of Hard Knocks.
IHRA President and General Manager Aaron Polburn and new IHRA Entertainment CEO Jason Rittenberry answer some of the top questions about the longtime drag racing series that was recently acquired by a group of like-minded drag racing enthusiasts and businesspersons.
With “the desire, the drive, and the determination” to excel, as Don Schumacher once put it, Leah Pruett has climbed her way to the top of the drag racing ladder, landing a ride with the Dote Racing Team and their independent Top Fuel operation that could turn some heads in 2013.
Formidable Duo Dixon, Beard Could Give Aussie Owner First U.S. Win
by Susan Wade
on January 28, 2013
Three-time Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon and renowned tuner Lee Beard — himself a three-time champion — teamed with Aussie Santo Rapisarda and his sons in a whirlwind deal this off season, with the ultimate goal of garnering a first U.S. victory for the Rapisarda AutoSport International team.
In this roundtable Q&A session, we’ll take a look at the current state of the traction control debate from the perspective of the racing series that both permit and allow it and the manufacturers that campaign heavily in favor of it.
Although everyone respected Bob Frey, everyone sort of regarded him as a fixture, like the scoreboards or the tower itself. Bob Frey is always there . . . and now he won’t be. After 46 years as one of the voices of drag races, Frey officially called it a career at Pomona in November.
Street Racing Culture in Los Angeles Examined by National Geographic
by Paul Lambert
on January 2, 2013
Street racers are a segment of the hot rodding and automotive cultures that most of the rest of society would like to see disappear. However for those heavily involved in street racing, there’s more to it than a wicked burst of adrenaline…it is a way of life!
The Funny Car side of the Kalitta Motorsports camp has undergone a number of changes this offseason that put sophomore driver Alexis DeJoria and driver-turnedcrew chief-turned-driver Del Worsham in a very visible and contending position in the new year.
Champion Spotlight: Williams Wins Central TAFC Title By One Point
by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
on December 13, 2012
Running on a fraction of some teams’ budgets, Kirk and Chris Williams won the Central Region Top Alcohol Funny Car championship over Kris Hool, 299 to 298.
This fall, first in September at Indianapolis and then in early November at the National Hot Rod Association season finale at Pomona, Calif., Eckman was back behind the wheel, racing for the first time in a decade and a half, enjoying the sensation he had missed while serving an indefinite suspension from racing.
Veteran independent Funny Car driver Jim Head is an entertaining blend of direct and diplomatic, feisty and funny, strong and sentimental. He’s a rebel without a pause.
Reichert Relinquishes National Crown, Claims North Central Title
by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
on October 31, 2012
In what would be a career year for most, Bill Reichert clinched a fourth straight North Central championship and at least third place in the national standings. If he stays second, it will be for a Greg Anderson-like seven years in a row.
Bob Vandergriff has earned two career victories in 15 final rounds. Both times he has climbed from his car, left it sitting on the track, and run back up toward the starting line to meet his C&J Energy Services Dragster team, leaving a flabbergasted phalanx of photographers flatfooted.
The perfect season came to an upsetting end Saturday evening at Atco Raceway in New Jersey for Rich Bruder, but that final run of the season notwithstanding, the Bruders and Mike Modeste combined for a smashing season — smashing records and expectations — and Modeste claimed no small contribution.
Long considered the Old Master of engine builders, Ed Pink has worked on just about every type of engine in motorsports. Did you ever wonder what his most “interesting” engine was? EngineLabs did, and we also wanted to know how he tamed the infamous Ford 427 SOHC engine. Check it out!
When Langdon won the O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals at Charlotte’s zMAX Dragway to kick off the Countdown — from his second straight No. 1 qualifying spot and in his second final-round appearance in the past four races — huge stacks of bricks slid off his shoulders.
