DeLago had served as crew chief at Kalitta Motorsports since the 2013 season for Alexis DeJoria and Shawn Langdon. He tuned DeJoria to all of her five career wins, including the 60th annual U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis in 2014.  (Jeff Burk photo)

Effective immediately, Tommy DeLago has been released from the role of co-crew chief on the Global Electronic Technology Toyota Camry Funny Car driven by Shawn Langdon. Nicky Boninfante will continue with the Global Electronic Technology team as crew chief for Langdon beginning this weekend at the Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, KS.  [05/15/18]

Jonas Aleshire (above) saved his best for last as he secured the Pro Modified win for the Frankenstein Engine Dynamics Mid-West Pro Mod Series May 12, during the Throw Down in T-Town at Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park. Also visiting the MWPMS winners’ circle were Oklahoma’s own DeWayne Mills in Radial vs. the World and X275 victor Kenny Hubbard.

After 22 cars made qualifying attempts, it was Justin Jones and his supercharged ’69 Camaro leading the way for the 16-car Pro Mod field with a 3.72-second pass at 204.98 mph, which also set low elapsed time for the event. Close behind at 3.76 and 201.22 was the ’67 Mustang of Aaron Wells, with Aleshire just one-thousandth of a second back at 3.766 and 202.27 mph to round out a top three of all-supercharged entries with his 2006 Corvette.

Notably absent from the qualifying list, however, was Keith Haney, who offered up “Notorious,” his nitrous-boosted ’16 Camaro, to veteran racer Jim Sackuvich after Sackuvich suffered an accident during Thursday’s pre-race test session. Fortunately, Sackuvich was uninjured, but his own nitrous-boosted ’69 Camaro wound up on its roof shortly past the Tulsa finish line.

“Jim is a great friend and a great driver—he just ran into a little bad luck—and I still had ‘Enigma,’ my second car for Radial vs. the World, so I just let him and his team run with ‘Notorious’ and keep his points chase alive,” explained Haney, the defending MWPMS Pro Mod champion, MWPMS owner, and co-owner of the Tulsa facility with fellow racer Todd Martin. Regardless, Sackuvich, who was fourth in points heading into the Throw Down, missed the cut in qualifying and was relegated to the MWPMS Slammer class for non-qualifiers and buyback Pro Mod entries, which eventually saw Eddie Rogers prevail after Martin red-lighted against him in the final.

For the main event, Aleshire got past Taylor Lastor, Chad Javers and Wells to reach the Pro Mod final, where he met up with Ron Muenks, who advanced over Joshua Vettel, Robert Costa and Jeff Sitton in the preliminaries. Driving Dave Pierce’s nitrous-huffing ’68 Camaro, Muenks left a little too early against Aleshire, however, negating a 3.75-second pass at 199.67 mph, his best of the weekend, while Aleshire set low E.T. of eliminations with a 3.73 effort at 202.61 to take the winner’s hardware home to Manito, IL.

In Radial vs. the World, Mills ran the table with his twin-turbocharged “Golden Gorilla” ’68 Camaro. The Sand Springs, OK, native set low E.T. for the class in qualifying with a 3.78 at 210.78, then stormed to the final where he led stripe-to-stripe with a 3.81 at 212.59 over fourth-place starter Daniel Pharris, who posted his best run of the event at 3.88 and 209.62 mph in car owner Andrew Alepa’s 2014 Corvette.

Kenny Hubbard  (photos courtesy MWPMS/Nubs Photography)

For the X275 drag radial class, Kalee Mills secured the top spot after four rounds of qualifying with a 4.54 run at 166.07 mph in her ’68 Camaro, followed by Hubbard, who in the final session jumped from sixth to second overall with a 4.62 pass at 155.81 with his second-generation Nova. These two then met in the final round of racing, where Hubbard won with a 4.51 at 158.76 thanks to a sizable .057 holeshot over Mills, the daughter of RvW winner DeWayne Mills, who made a 4.50 pass at 167.14 mph.

The Frankenstein Engine Dynamics Mid-West Pro Mod Series returns to the track May 24-26, at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, IL, just across the Mississippi River from downtown St. Louis. [05/15/18]

Summit Motorsports Park and Lingenfelter Performance Engineering have partnered for a sponsorship program. As part of the program, Lingenfelter Performance Engineering will be the title sponsor for the Blue Suede Cruise, July 13-15, and the Wednesday Fun Night, which begins May 16 and takes place most Wednesdays through Oct. 10.

Additionally, Lingenfelter Performance Engineering will provide trophies made of engine parts to winners of the Lingenfelter Performance Engineering Wednesday Fun Night on the first Wednesday of each month, as well as winners of the Nostalgia Drag Racing League categories at the Lingenfelter Performance Engineering Blue Suede Cruise, winners of Nostalgia Pro Stock at the 41st Annual Kelly Services Night Under Fire, Aug. 11, and winners of Outlaw Nostalgia Pro Stock and Nostalgia Gas at the Summit Racing Equipment Shakedown at the Summit presented by Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels, Sept. 13-16.

Lingenfelter, which specializes in GM products, especially Camaros, Corvettes, Cadillacs, and trucks, will also post contingency for racers.

“The track is state-of-the-art, and in addition to being involved on a sponsorship level there, we’ll test there while we continue to engineer and develop new parts,” said Mark Rapson, chief operating officer and vice-president of operations for Lingenfelter Performance Engineering.   [05/15/18]

If you’re looking for high-fashion design from France combined with comfortable and fire-retardant racing shoes, Stand 21 Racewear may be the answer. With the Air-S Speed ankle boots, the goal is more than reached, as rarely has a racing garment combined lightness, breathability, comfort and feel, to make the driver forget any interference between him and his machine. And yet, the Air-S Speed boots also know how to get noticed from their very high level, "made in Stand 21" customization theme, offering the driver and his sponsors an extended display space. Features include: Exclusive pAIRformance® fabric, stretchable, breathable and fire-retardant; Reinforced stiffer heel; Curved sole around the heel; EVA Micro-cellular material shock-absorbing heel; Ergonomic sole; Anti-vibration ATV hydrocarbon resistant sole; Edge-to-edge assembly avoiding stuck shoes; Firm hold by lacing up to the ankle.  [05/15/18]