South Central Div. 4 LODRS event changes venue

NHRA officials announced that the fifth of six events scheduled for the 2017 South Central Division Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series will be changing venues. The LODRS event previously scheduled to take place at Thunder Road Raceway in Gilliam, La., on Sept. 15-17 has been relocated to the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas. This event will now be conducted as a two-day (Fri.-Sat.) event on the same weekend of Sept. 15-16.

 

The Texas Motorplex event will feature a track operated Test and Tune on Thursday, Sept. 14. Time trials and qualifying will take place on Friday followed by a single time trial and qualifying run on Saturday along with all rounds of eliminations for all classes.

 

Classes scheduled to run include Comp Eliminator, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Top Sportsman, Top Dragster and Sportsman Motorcycle.  [07/17/17]

Teutul Sr. and ‘Spiderman’ chopper at IDBL Bike Fest

Paul Teutul Sr. and Orange County Choppers take part in what is already the biggest motorcycle drag race of the year, the International Drag Bike League WPGC Bike Fest July 28-30 at Maryland International Raceway.

 

On Sunday, July 30, in Budds Creek, MD, Teutul will bring along his son, Mikey, and the Spiderman custom chopper. The OCC crew will enter the IDBL’s huge motorcycle show, featuring 16 categories of competition.

 

This race also helps raise money for women suffering from Breast Cancer. OCC is helping with the IDBL “Paint the ¼ Pink” Program.

No stranger to drag racing, Teutul will be reunited with 16-time Top Fuel Motorcycle champion Larry "Spiderman" McBride, who was featured on an episode of American Chopper.

 

McBride will be racing an OCC-built, Lawless Industries electric dragbike. In May 2012, Spiderman piloted the electric dragbike to an unprecedented elapsed-time of 6.94 seconds at 201 mph. It marked the first time any electric-powered vehicle had been in the sixes or over 200 mph on a drag strip. Now, Teutul will have a front row seat to watch McBride attempt to break another world record, the coveted 5.70 mark held by Sweden's Peter Svensson.

 

McBride was No. 1 qualifier with a 3.88 at 189 mph at the eighth-mile ManCup MTC Nationals at Galot Motorsports Park over the weekend. He finished runner-up. DRO Motorcycle Editor, Tom McCarthy, will have the complete report coming soon.  [07/17/17]

Lucas Drag Boat Series cancels three events

Mike Chastain, Race Director of the Lucas Oil Drag Boat Racing Series has announced that the Series will eliminate three races from this year's schedule.

"To ensure the continuing viability of the Lucas Oil Drag Boat series the decision has been made to shorten the 2017 Race schedule by three events," said Chastain. "We apologize for the late notice but the economies obtained by the cuts will help us move forward to construct a more robust race series in 2018."

 

Taken off the 2017 schedule:

 

July 21-23: Augusta, GA, Augusta Southern Nationals.

Sept. 30-October 1: San Angelo, TX, Lucas Oil Fall Shootout.

Oct. 13-15: Parker, AZ, Lucas Oil Thunder on the River.

 

Still on the 2017 Schedule:

 

Aug. 11-13: Marble Falls, TX, Marble Falls Lakefest 2017.

Sept. 1-3: Wheatland, MO, 7th Annual Diamond of the Drag Boats Nationals.

Nov. 3-5: Phoenix, AZ, Lucas Oil Drag Boat Finals.

 

Future announcements will follow as the restructuring process evolves.  (Tim Marshall photo) [07/17/17]

Wilwood recalls certain Tandem Master Cylinders

Wilwood Engineering, Inc. of Camarillo, California has notified NHTSA of a defect in certain 7/8” bore Tandem Master Cylinders (with integral reservoir) and its intent to voluntarily rebuild or repair the affected parts. Wilwood® customers will be notified of this recall starting this month.

 

The voluntary recall is limited to the following part numbers:

260-9439; 260-12900; 261-13271 (with proportioning valve); and 261-13272 (with proportioning valve) These aftermarket master cylinders and kits are offered in different finishes indicated by a suffix (plain, black (“BK”) and ball burnished (“P”).

 

The part numbers above were distributed by Wilwood between January 2, 2006 and October 31, 2016. It is critical that affected customers contact Wilwood® if they are using a recalled certain 7/8” bore Tandem Master Cylinders (with integral reservoir) or know of someone who may have one of the recalled parts.

 

Consumer Contact: Wilwood Customer Service or (805) 384-2270 (7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. PST, Mon-Fri)  [07/17/17]

Jesel brothers receive NHRA lifetime achievement awards

Dan Jesel (shown) was presented NHRA’s Lifetime Achievement Award on June 16 during the Holley Hot Rod Reunion at Beach Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

 

Dan started Jesel Valvetrain Innovation as an offshoot of his engine building business in 1980. Early on, Dan realized that the only way to truly improve Chevrolet vavletrains was to install shaft rockers. Dan found the solution was to relocate the rocker’s pivot point with a shaft rocker system, and a thriving business was created.

 

Due to the huge proliferation of new aftermarket cylinder heads and complexity of today’s valvetrains, Dan opened the Jesel Custom Shop to provide machining and setup services for its customers. Now Jesel’s customers can take advantage of the most sophisticated machinery available operated by the Jesel brain trust.

 

Dan’s brother Wayne also received the NHRA Lifetime Achievement Award at the same time. Wayne has worked hand-in-hand with Dan since their early days of NHRA Modified racing and as a liaison to the racing community.  [07/17/17]

Fast times at Cedar Falls DRO AA/FC Challenge: 5.9 for Romine

In Iowa in July you expect high temperatures, but the return of the DRO AA/FC Challenge presented by www.HemiPartsKing.com saw great weather on July 14-15.

 

Temperatures on Friday were in the 80’s and dropped into the 60’s by the time Paul Romine’s “Man O’ War” set Low ET of 5.902 and Top Speed of over 247 mph.

 

Saturday was back into the 90’s and the competition was fierce between the eight cars. Romine won the event. We’ll have the complete story tomorrow after we download all the photos and see to our sunburns.  (Jeff Burk photo)  [07/17/17]

Gardners resign from Heartland Park Topeka

Effective immediately Chris and Stacey Payne will take over the daily management operations of Heartland Park Topeka while supervising the operations at National Trail Raceway in Columbus, OH. They purchased HPT in 2015 and National Trail in early 2017.

 

Scott and Laura Gardner, who previously held management positions, have elected to move on. They are open for another opportunity, but in the interim will work as consultants for the two facilities assuring a smooth management transition.

 

“It was a great opportunity to be a part of the rebuilding process of both facilities with a lot of progress being made in a short period of time,” said Gardner. “We wish Chris and Stacey the best in their endeavors.”

 

“Heartland Park and National Trail Raceway were very fortunate to have Scott and Laura Gardner to help with the rebuilding process of two great racing facilities,” said Chris Payne, “and Stacey and I wish the Gardners the best of luck. We look forward to working with them again someday.”  [07/17/17]

Weekend’s LODRS event postponed at Gateway due to excessive heat

The July 21-22 LODRS All-American Hot Rod Showdown has been rescheduled to Oct. 20-22.

 

The St. Louis area saw temperatures of 100 degrees for several days last week and a major heat wave again is expected by the National Weather Service St. Louis Office from Thursday through Saturday with temps from 97 to 103 and heat index from 105-113. (And it’s NOT dry heat.)

 

The $20-per-car-load coupons and ticket vouchers, originally valid for July, will be honored on the October date.  [07/17/17]

PDRA drivers earn first victories at Indianapolis

Second-generation Pro Mod driver Ty Tutterow (far lane) earned the first Andy McCoy Race Cars Pro Boost win of his young career at the inaugural Professional Drag Racers Association Mid-America Indy Showdown at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. Class standouts Mike Recchia (Pro Extreme), Jay Cox (Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous presented by MoTeC), Cary Goforth (Extreme Pro Stock) and Travis Davis (Drag 965 Pro Extreme Motorcycle) also won in the professional classes.

 

Dewayne Silance earned the MagnaFuel Top Sportsman victory, while the Lucas Oil Top Dragster win went to Kathy Fisher. Amber Franklin, daughter of defending Pro Nitrous world champion Tommy Franklin, earned the Campers Inn RV Pro Junior Dragster win, running 7.902 to Hailey Hawkins’ 7.894, both on a 7.90 dial-in. The MegaCorp Top Junior Dragster win went to Skyler Bee when Brayden Davis turned on the red light. The Edelbrock Bracket Bash prize money was split amongst the four semifinalists, Ryan Pickens, Nathan Smith, Mickey White and Chase Clymer.

 

We’ll have complete results tomorrow in DRO.  (Roger Richards photo)  [07/17/17]

VOLUME XIX,  NUMBER 7 - JULY   2017

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Effective immediately Chris and Stacey Payne will take over the daily management operations of Heartland Park Topeka while supervising the operations at National Trail Raceway in Columbus, OH. They purchased HPT in 2015 and National Trail in early 2017.

 

Scott and Laura Gardner, who previously held management positions, have elected to move on. They are open for another opportunity, but in the interim will work as consultants for the two facilities assuring a smooth management transition.

 

“It was a great opportunity to be a part of the rebuilding process of both facilities with a lot of progress being made in a short period of time,” said Gardner. “We wish Chris and Stacey the best in their endeavors.”

 

“Heartland Park and National Trail Raceway were very fortunate to have Scott and Laura Gardner to help with the rebuilding process of two great racing facilities,” said Chris Payne, “and Stacey and I wish the Gardners the best of luck. We look forward to working with them again someday.”  [07/17/17]

Paul Teutul Sr. and Orange County Choppers take part in what is already the biggest motorcycle drag race of the year, the International Drag Bike League WPGC Bike Fest July 28-30 at Maryland International Raceway.

Dan Jesel (shown) was presented NHRA’s Lifetime Achievement Award on June 16 during the Holley Hot Rod Reunion at Beach Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

fficial ponsors

Paul Teutul Sr. and Orange County Choppers take part in what is already the biggest motorcycle drag race of the year, the International Drag Bike League WPGC Bike Fest July 28-30 at Maryland International Raceway.