All Images courtesy Red Line Oil

Red Line Oil-backed racers had quite an outing at last weekends O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals at Royal Purple Raceway outside Houston, as four of the premiere categories were won by teams utilizing Red Line’s oils and lubricants.

Del Worsham raced to yet another Top Fuel victory on Sunday, while Jeff Arend (Funny Car), Tony Bartone (Top Alcohol Funny Car), and Mike Castellana (Pro Modified) all visited victory circle carrying the Red Line banner.

Worsham joined Mike Dunn as the only driver to win Houston in both nitro categories as he downed Al-Anabi Racing teammate Larry Dixon to grab his third win of the young season, by a 3.880 at 318.99 to 3.900 at 316.82 count.

“This is surreal,” said Worsham of his 28th career victory. “The way the day unfolded, we had some close races and it was amazing. It was great to race Larry in the final because he’s the champion and we’re all shooting for him. The final was a heck of a race. I’ve got to give all the credit to the Al-Anabi team.”

Meanwhile, Arend drove his DHL/REd Line Oil Funny Car to victory when final round opponent Mike Neff left the red bulb in his wake in his Ford Mustang. Arend blasted on through to a 5.259 at 297.68 to capture his third career win in Funny Car.

Arend qualified 10th and defeated Paul Lee, Tim Wilkerson, and fellow Red Line driver Bob Bode in the semifinals to advance to the money round. Arend’s Kalitta Racing teammates Doug Kalitta and David Grubnic also had strong showings, with Kalitta advancing to the semifinals and Grubnic  bowing out just a round prior.

Mike Castellana, who recently returned to the drivers seat following his bout with cancer, put an end to teammate Khalid Balooshi’s undefeated season in the Get Screened America Pro Modified series as he bounced the points leader in the final round with a 5.920 at 243.15 to Balooshi’s 5.952 at 243.28. This was the first final round of the season for Castellana and his nitrous-fed ’69 Camaro, which is tuned by longtime Red Line Oil racer Shannon Jenkins.

In Top Alcohol Funny Car, veteran racer Tony Bartone added another win to his long resume when he defeated Texan Steve Burck in the final round, running a stellar 5.589 at 261.78. Bartone overcame a recent rule change directed at stopping his success with his ’09 Ford Mustang for his third national event win this season. With Wally’s in Pomona and Las Vegas, Bartone currently leads the NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car points championship.