Thursday, Feb. 1, will be the first date for drag racing at Irwindale Speedway under the direction of Tim Huddleston, Bob Bruncati and the Justice Brothers.

“We are excited to keep the amazing events of the past and bring new exciting shows to the families and fans that have joined us over the years," Huddleston said. "Jim Cohan and 211 Entertainment were instrumental in this transition and I'm thankful they kept the track running the last five years."

Gates will open at 4 p.m. on Feb. 1 for the first Thursday Night Thunder. Racing will begin at 5 p.m. The first 500 attendees will receive a special promotional gift to celebrate the new beginning.

Weekly circle track racing on the Speedway will begin on Saturday, March 10.  [01/23/18]

Heidts Hot Rod and Muscle Car Parts has acquired Chassis Engineering Inc. The two companies will continue to operate under their established brands, but Chassis Engineering Inc. will move sales, technical and manufacturing operations to the Heidts facility in Lake Zurich, IL. Chassis Engineering Inc. products will continue to be produced by many of the same employees currently with the company.

“We are very excited to announce that Chassis Engineering Inc. (CEI) is joining our family of companies which includes Heidts Hot Rod & Muscle Car Parts, Alston Racing, and American Performance Shocks. CEI is a great fit for us and brings decades of experience serving the street and hot rod markets with their quality high performance parts,” said Heidts President and CEO Wallace Leyshon.   [01/23/18]

One of DRO’s Florida-based photographers, Steve Gruenwald, had a chance to check out the view from the driver’s seat recently. During the Jan. 6 Full Throttle “Show of Shows” at Sheehan Auto-Plex in Lighthouse Point, FL, Gruenwald was happy to start up Michael Harrigan’s Wildcard Racing “Fool’s Gold” Duster nostalgia nitro Funny Car. (photo by Chuck Foster / video by Michael Harrigan)   [01/23/18]

The Southwest Heritage Racing Association has announced that Mike Chilando’s  Alkydigger.com business will return for the sixth year as title sponsor of the series’ Nostalgia Eliminator classes of NE1 (4.65 index), NE2 (5.00 index) and NE3 (5.50 index).

New for this season will be a “chip draw” for each class at the drivers’ meeting held before qualifying. Each Alkydigger class will have three chips to draw from to determine that event’s actual index. The index options will be the index for the class plus one variance slower and one variance quicker. The chip drawn will determine the index for that event.

The “chip draw” was added by the Board member to give the tuners a bit more of a challenge.

“It certainly will mix things up and should be exciting to see how well teams react,” said SHRA Board Chairman David Graves.

Diamondback Engines has signed on as sponsor of the Nostalgia Super Stock class.  [01/23/18]

Larson Electronics has added a new mounting plate to their magnetic mounting lineup for industrial lighting. The MMP-4XSCM-24X8 is a lightweight suction cup mounting plate with cups constructed from high strength composite and powder coated marine grade aluminum and a plate made from powder coated steel. Designed to work with any flat, non-metallic surface, this sturdy and reliable platform can safely hold a variety of lighting options up to 20 pounds on the magnetic plate. In addition to a durably built platform, this mount also features a windload for highway speeds. The special twist lock function of the four 3.3” diameter suction cups makes it easy to install the mounting plate to the desired location with no drilling required. The mount can be installed on glass, polycarbonate and fiberglass, among other non-ferrous materials. This damage-free mount is a great option for outdoor applications and can also be used for security and any other application where a removable mount is desired.  [01/23/18]