Mike Edwards just wants to be left out of it. In one sense, he can’t be. He can’t be excluded from the NHRA Pro Stock fight for the 2012 championship, not when he has won two races, has a 16-8 elimination record, and has been no worse than fifth place in the standings.
Interviews
That time when the scoreboard malfunctioned and cruelly teased Erica Enders that she had won at zMAX Dragway has been shoved to a dark corner of her history. That time when the car broke in the final round has been banished. Heartbreaks? Forgotten.
Speculation has been rampant in recent weeks regarding the continuation of Don Schumacher Racing and seven-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher’s U.S. Army partnership, but recent developments have shined a positive light on the future of their long-term relationship.
Courtney Force gets it. She — the one Force always has referred to as “my wild child” –always was the one who got it. And now, exactly 20 years later as a 24-year-old rookie driving the Traxxas Ford Mustang, she’s in the middle of her own fight to be in position to win a championship. And she’s counting points.
Top Alcohol Funny Car’s Jay Blake Is A Man On A Mission
by Todd Veney/Pro Sportsman Association
on July 30, 2012
Jay Blake has never let a little thing like not being able to see slow him down. Blinded in an industrial accident in May 1997, he has gone on to accomplish things that he might never have if he was just another mechanic and drag racer, things like inspiring thousands and changing people’s lives.
After stepping away from racing in 2007 as a four-time NMRA Pro 5.0 champion, popular Ford racer Don Walsh Jr. is back with a new Pro Modified effort, and just as he left off five years ago, remains a threat in the championship hunt in the NHRA ranks.
The double victory on the professional level that day at Seattle — one in which Top Fuel winner Steve Torrence said he was more than happy to be an asterisk and the lone male to stand between Enders and Force — bolstered the two women winners.
Little in NHRA Funny Car driver Jack Beckman’s life has gone as predicted, and just as he overcame his battle with lymphoma nearly a decade ago, the popular driver has parlayed an early season crew chief shake-up into another title contending run.
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.
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!
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
