With heavy rains in this weekend’s forecast, the IHRA has rescheduled the event. State Capitol Raceway in Port Allen, LA, now will host the Summit Sportsman National Championship race on Aug. 24-27.
Thursday will be a test-and-tune session with three separate races on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Next on the schedule are double races on Aug. 18-20 at Memphis International Raceway in Millington, TN, and Empire Dragway in Leicester, NY. [08/01/17]
Fiscus/Klugger Racing (FKR) had an event to remember at the 12th Annual Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL, last weekend. When a hurt engine threatened to take driver Josh Klugger out of the competition, fellow racer Mark “Woody” Woodruff saved the day with an incredibly generous gift – his car.
Klugger, who hails from Ocala, Florida, had started the weekend out by running his Racecraft-built, 526 ci Pro Line Racing 481X-powered, twin turbo radial tire FKR ’93 Ford Mustang in NMCA Mickey Thompson Radial Wars. Going into the event, he was positioned second in the championship points standing and hoped to improve to number one.
At first, things seemed to be going well as Klugger clicked off a 4.081 at 192.44 mph hit during the initial qualifying session on Friday afternoon and wound up fourth. During the second session that evening, though, the engine chucked a connecting rod out through its oil pan.
The Missouri-based Woodruff then purposely, voluntarily disqualified himself from the race and gave his twin turbocharged, 522 ci Sonny’s Racing Engines-powered ’10 Corvette ZR1 to Klugger to drive instead.
With just one qualifying session left on Saturday, Klugger still had a shot. He heeded Woodruff’s advice on how to drive the car since had never even sat in it before, and used the third qualifier as a semi-shakedown run to get a handle on what to expect in eliminations.
Admittedly, Klugger was still a little nervous being in a car which wasn’t his and that he wasn’t familiar with, but committed to giving it his best shot. Paired with Ziff Hudson in round one, Klugger unintentionally left the line a fraction of a second before the green light signaled and was suddenly out of the race for real. Nonetheless, he completed the run to get more seat time and gather data, and the numbers that were logged were surprisingly promising. Plus, he maintained his position in points.
“I am eternally grateful to Woody for his selfless act. Letting me drive his car so that I could defend my spot in the championship run was incredible. People like him are once-in-a-lifetime friends,” noted Klugger, whose story quickly became the hot topic at the track. “We’ve got plans in the works and will be back better than ever.” [08/01/17]
MAHLE Aftermarket will host its next Facebook Live event on Tuesday, Aug. 8, at 8 p.m. EDT – the second in a series of events intended to engage with and educate technicians. The event will feature shop owner and television personality Bogi Lateiner, co-host of Velocity channel’s All Girls Garage, as well as MAHLE Original® gasket expert and training manager Bill McKnight.
Following the successful launch of the MAHLE Facebook Live event series in June this next event will focus on gasket issues, including best practices in maintenance and installation tips for engines in European makes and models.
Facebook followers are encouraged to submit questions and topic suggestions in advance of the event. Bogi, along with Bill McKnight, will also address questions from live viewers in real time. Questions may be submitted in advance at the Facebook event page (MAHLE Original Gasket Facebook Live with Bogi European Vehicles) in the discussion section. [08/01/17]
The makeup date for the Southwest Heritage Racing Association at Paris Dragstrip is Saturday, Aug. 5. With dry weather and below average temperatures forecast for the weekend, the track should be in great condition.
Championship points are at stake in all classes with only two events left to earn points for the Alkydigger NE Shootouts.
The Old School Bracket classes only, will have another race to make up a rainout. They will be at Denton, TX, on Saturday, Aug. 19. [08/01/17]
The Nitro Express ’57 Chevy may have been one of the most successful race cars around Australia at Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Car events, but at last year’s Springmount Raceway meeting near Cairns, the result wasn’t what driver Rick Gauci was hoping for. However, this weekend, Gauci and the black beast are looking for redemption.
Gauci comes into the Queensland race on Sunday, Aug. 6, in hot form, with the Nitro Express Chevy taking wins at the last three Aeroflow events.
When asked about the turnaround in recent form, Gauci explained, “It’s been a combination of problem-solving with a great crew chief and the best crew members, combined with making the right calls on race day.”
“I believe we have always had a great race car but we have got better as a team and we have seen that translate into the on-track performance. Hopefully we can show that improvement on the track in Cairns!”
Gauci and Nitro Express will be joined by a full field of Aeroflow Outlaw Nitro Funny Cars as well as two wheelstanding funny cars and a huge list of support racing categories. [08/01/17]
Last year Maple Grove Raceway raised $10,000 for Make-A-Wish during this promotion. Tommy Johnson Jr. and the late Terry Chandler are at left.
Maple Grove Raceway is teaming up with Tommy Johnson, Jr., NHRA driver of the Don Schumacher Racing Make-A-Wish Dodge Funny Car, to make local children’s dreams come true. Every year the organization raises money to grant the wishes of children diagnosed with a life threatening medical condition.
This year between August 16th and September 1st Maple Grove Raceway will donate ten dollars from every adult ticket sold to the Dodge NHRA Nationals, which will be held September 21-24, to Make-A-Wish. All dollars raised during this promotion go to the Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia Make-A-Wish Foundation. [08/01/17]
Nick Davies drove the King, Loaring & Davies “Havoc” altered at England’s Santa Pod Summernationals last year.
In addition to the DragRacingOnline.com AA/FC Challenge presented by DMPE, US 131 Motorsports Park will host six AA Fuel Altereds on Aug. 11-12.
Six of the wild and wooly beasts are scheduled to appear including Nanook, Rat Trap, Bradford's Fiat, Arizona Thunder, Havoc (from England) and Troy Martin. [08/01/17]
The Agent is sad to report that the Norm Wellman/Anthony Bronge “Iowa Punisher” AA/FC crashed during a match race at Cordova Dragway in Illinois last weekend. The Agent hopes that the two men are able to rebuild the car. We'll keep you posted.
The Agent got a note from Richard Hartmann to say his “Runnin’ Wild VI” team would not be able to attend the DRO AA/FC Challenge at the Northern Nationals at U.S. 131 Dragway in Martin, MI, on Aug. 11-12. [08/01/17]
Red River Raceway, which has been managed by former import car racer Nelson Hoyas and his wife ran its last race last Friday. According to the agent' sources the owners of the property and track have decided to turn the dragstrip into a FBO airport for private aircraft. The agent tried to contact the Hoyas for a comment but failed. The track phone had a message from the Hoyas that says there will be an announcement in the near future about a new track to be built near Shreveport. [08/01/17]
Two-time NHRA world champion Del Worsham is hoping that his recent past successes at the NHRA Northwest Nationals will aid him in ending the Western Swing on a high note and propel him into the Top 10.
At the last race, in Sonoma, Worsham beat Matt Hagan in the first round. Unfortunately, he then lost to Jack Beckman in the second round. Worsham is still sitting at thirteenth in points, however he is only 29 points away from breaking into the Top 10, which is less than two rounds of racing. With three races left until the Countdown, the Top 10 is still very much achievable for Worsham.
“We have learned so much this season, and I’m really hoping to approach the Countdown as a strong, serious competitor. This season has meant so much to me and my team, and I really want to clinch a spot in the Countdown for them,” said Worsham.
The 2015 NHRA Mello Yello Funny Car champion continues to be proud of his team and their drive to improve throughout the season. He is optimistic about these last nine races.
“We’ve been working hard this whole season as we build this team from the ground up,” said Worsham. “My guys have really been grinding, especially with these three races in a row, and I couldn’t be prouder of them.” [08/01/17]
VOLUME XIX, NUMBER 7 - JULY 2017
DRAGRACINGOnline will be published on or around the 8th of each month and will be updated throughout the month.
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Nightfire Nationals on DRO Facebook ...
Our Nostalgia Editor, Brian Losness, will be manning the DRO Facebook page ...
[08/10/17]
Forecast won’t stop PDRA at ...
This weekend marks the return of the Professional Drag Racers Association to Osage ...
[08/09/17]
DRO AA/FC Challenge ...
After many of the DRO series teams are unable to make this weekend’s DRO AA/FC ...
[08/08/17]
Quickest side-by-side motorcycle ...
On Saturday evening, APE and Pingel Top Fuel superstars Larry "Spiderman" ...
[08/03/17]
Lang takes 27th LODRS win at ...
Jody Lang grabbed his 27th national event win as he was better at ...
[08/02/17]
Six AA/FA’s join US 131 ...
Nick Davies drove the King, Loaring & Davies “Havoc” altered at England’s ...
[08/01/17]
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