The third race this year for Groups 1 and 2 of the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series was hosted at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park May 5-6. The weather really tested the mettle and stamina of the racers with temperatures in the triple digits. The track’s starting line crew did a terrific job providing a racing surface that was both fair and safe for the drivers.

In Nostalgia A/Fuel Dragster, Drew Austin and his team made the long tow from Tacoma, WA, worthwhile with their win. (Stephen Justice photo)

Points leader Kin Bates had the performance edge in qualifying, but it was the Walt Austin Racing horsepower that dominated on Sunday. Austin recorded the only 5-second run (5.990) of the weekend in E1 and his 6.050 in the final round was enough to defeat Rick Ewens’ 6.380. Points leader Kin Bates led qualifying with a 6.006 and recorded top speed at 230.49, but came perilously close to the wall in E2 and had to slow to a 6.824 in a loss to Ewens.

Jr. Fuel Dragster turned into a real duel between No. 1 qualifier John Marottek and No. 2 Kevin Carter. In the final, Carter got out first with Marottek in hot pursuit. At the stripe, Kevin’s 6.989/187.68 was just enough to hold off Marottek’s 6.940/159.12 by a MOV of .008. The Wally in 7.0 Pro went to Lake Havasu City’s Richard High. Crew chief Terry Caldwell had the dragster purring on Sunday taking out points leader Brad Denney in E1 and the ever-tough Ed Middlebrook in E2. In the final round against Derrick Moreira, the quick-leaving High’s starting line advantage (.184) was enough to leave Derrick’s late, hard charge and better ET, 7.083 to 7.027, for naught.

In Nostalgia Eliminator 1, John Lawson, Dustin Lee, and Ed Silbermann were the performance leaders in qualifying, going number one, two, and three, respectively. Joined by No. 4 qualifier Kenny Upton in the semi-finals, Silbermann ousted Lawson in one of the best races of the day; 7.600 to 7.601. Similarly, Silbermann used his starting line advantage in the final round to defeat points leader Dustin Lee (7.642 to 7.640). A very consistent Robert Johnson won Nostalgia Eliminator 2. Johnson’s series of 8.617, 8.632, and 8.635 in eliminations possibly could have been a factor in Todd Ferrendes’ breakout 8.588 in the final round. Nostalgia Eliminator 3 came down to 2017 champion Ed DeStaute and 2016 champ Lindsey Lister. DeStaute got out on Lister (.024 to .035), but Lindsey’s 9.651 was enough to overtake Ed’s somewhat off 9.681.

In A/Gas, both number one and two qualifiers, Casey Treur and Ray Padgett, were sent packing in E1 as was number three Tom Fowler in the next round. In the end, it was Frank Merenda driving his 1959 Rambler station wagon (last year Nash produced them) holding the Wally in the winner’s circle. B/G turned out to be a similar story. Both points leader Neal Westbrook and number one qualifier Jim Finn saw their race day end early in E1. On the other side of the ladder, Kevin Riley was wreaking havoc on the rest of the field. In a marvelous display of consistency, Riley ran 8.620/8.602/8.609/8.609 (an average of 8.610) ending with Kevin rolling his ’67 Barracuda into the winner’s circle. In C/G, it was pals Chris Rea and Scott Morgan duking it out in the final round. Rea, always sharp on the light, used his better RT (.050 to .075) to hold off a quicker Morgan with a 9.653 ET to Morgan’s 9.632. D/G went to Bruce Boardman’s high flying (literally) ’55 Chevy over number one qualifier Ed Carey, and Hot Rod saw Tim Vargas (Chandler, Ariz.) win over Tony Cutala (Phoenix) in an all local Arizona affair.   [05/10/18]

The Xtreme Dragbike Association returns to Atco Dragway located in Atco, NJ, with the historic 47th annual Platinum Fleet Repair Motorcycle U.S. Nationals on May 18-20.

There will be over 700 Professional, Sportsman, and Grudge motorcycle drag racers in competition. They will be competing for $34,000 in cash purse at this event, which will also feature a vendor midway full of great deals on motorcycle parts, accessories and apparel.

The following XDA classes will be contested at Atco: Orient Express Pro Street, DME Racing Real Street, HTP Performance Grudge, Vance & Hines 4.60 Index, FBR Shop 5.60 Index, Shinko Tires Crazy 8’s, Mickey Thompson Tires Top Sportsman, MPS Pro E.T. and Brock’s Performance Street E.T. [05/10/18]

Two-wheeler fans will relish seeing Greece’s Fil Papafilippou climb astride the Gulf Oil Top Fuel Bike for the first time. Previously piloted, and still guided, by Cambridgeshire’s Ian King, the 5.8sec/240mph Gulf bike returns to Europe after a year in America. It has also enjoyed starring roles at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. King’s successor as FIM European champion, Sweden’s Rikard Gustafsson, will be eager to rebuff the Graeco-British challenge with his own, 244mph mighty machine. (Dave DJ Jones/Santa Pod)

Two contrasting high-velocity events will cap Santa Pod Raceway’s busy month of May. The big-money Doorslammers race (May 19-20), with its £75,000 prize fund, now shares a weekend with the Volkswagen festival known as ‘Big Bang’, postponed from last month in the search for better weather.

A week later, Santa Pod’s brand new, all-concrete track undergoes its baptism of fire with The Main Event, the opening round of 2018’s FIA and FIM European Drag Racing Championships. Thanks to Easter’s washout, the track remains untested by the most potent cars and motorcycles. Barring another calamitous resurgence of winter, Spring Bank Holiday weekend will deliver that opportunity.   [05/10/18]

Perry Paugh  (Tim Hailey photo)

A massive oil-down delayed the finish of NHDRO’s Liguori Drag Racing May Bike Fest right into a line of advancing thunderstorms that washed out the last few pairs of competition. It was a dramatic ending to an otherwise beautiful weekend of motorcycle drag racing as the Midwest’s largest series made its first stop at historic, newly renovated Dragway 42 in West Salem, OH, on May 4-6.

Some classes were able to complete their ladder, including Pro Open. The Pro Open final pitted the nearly identical team bikes of Perry Paugh and Mike Chongris. The two Cleveland-based, beautifully prepared, turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa funnybikes were the class of the field, with team owner Paugh qualifying number one.

With rain literally on the horizon, Chongris felt a problem in the clutch during his burnout for the final and let Paugh take a solo for his first NHDRO win. “I didn’t want to stop on track and delay the race,” said Chongris. “I didn’t want to be ‘That guy.’”

Jimmy Muntain  (Tim Hailey photo)

Quicktime Motorsports/Lindeman Performance Pro Ultra 4.60 also ran their final, with Jimmy Muntain taking the win—again over Chongris, and again the first NHDRO win for Muntain—who also qualified number one with a 4.602. The final was an excellent race, with Muntain taking the tree with a .006 light and winning with a 4.62 to Chongris’ 4.64. “I had a good time there,” said Muntain, who plans on attending more NHDRO events.

The world’s quickest street-legal bikes—McIntosh/Grayson Machine & Fabrication Pro Street—struggled with a freshly ground and lightly rubbered-in track. This was the first event held on a surface that was ground just three weeks previous, and the turbocharged, 700 horsepower bikes struggled to find the right tune-up to channel that power through their street tires.

Number one qualifier Doug Gall solved the riddle best on Saturday, but it was Luis Hornedo and Quicktime Motorsports’ Brad Christian that reached the final on Sunday. “I went back to a tune-up I ran at Byron in like 2006,” said Hornedo’s bike owner/tuner Ronnie Mitchell.

It’s the first Pro Street final for both riders, but it will have to be run at the next NHDRO race at Gateway Motorsports Park just outside of St. Louis on June 8-10. “I can’t wait!” said Hornedo.  [05/10/18]