What a difference a year makes. It is way too early in the season for Vincent Nobile to be thinking about world championships, but after a frustrating 2017 where he sat out the final five races, Nobile has enjoyed every bit of his Pro Stock team’s early-season success heading to this weekend’s Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties at Heartland Motorsports Park.

Nobile won the most recent NHRA national event in Atlanta, becoming the first two-time winner in Pro Stock in 2018 and also taking over the points lead in his Mountain View Tire Chevrolet Camaro. It’s a far cry from the last three seasons when Nobile had just one overall win and for that Nobile is thankful and also hopeful he can keep a strong start going in Topeka.

Nobile has two wins, one runner-up and a semifinal appearance over the past five races, with Elite Motorsports teammates Erica Enders and Matt Hartford also winning in that span. It’s a great feeling for Nobile’s entire team, which is led by crew chief Brian “Lump” Self, and that has translated into consistent performances from the car and from Nobile on the starting line.

“Between the new car and the new engine stuff, it’s been a great combination,” said Nobile, who has 12 career Pro Stock wins. “The car does everything we tell it to, and we’re making the right adjustments and the right calls. You have to pay attention to the fine details. That’s what separates winning and losing in Pro Stock. We just have to keep paying attention to every single little detail. It’s still early in the year, so we can’t focus on where we’re at. We know other teams are going to get better, so we have to keep trying new things, keep trying to get better.”  (Ron Lewis photo)   [05/17/18]

From left: Runner-up Dalton Bruemmer, winner Doug Duell, and Victory NSS administrator Chris Schneider.  (Dennis Mothershed photo)

The Victory Nostalgia Super Stock (www.victorynss.com) Points Series opened their season at Gateway Motorsports Park's Nostalgia Rendezvous this past weekend. After three rounds of qualifying, 45 classic Super Stockers entered eliminations to battle for the Gateway crown on Saturday, May 12. After six hard fought rounds, Doug Duell and his legendary 1964 Plymouth “Drag'n Wagon” took the win.

The Victory cars return to action June 8-9 at Eddyville (Iowa) Raceway's Mid-West Nostalgia Nationals. For a recap of the 2017 season by champion Tom Hoffman, go to here.  [05/17/18]

Lyle Barnett, who's been resetting his own leaf-spring E.T. records from the time he took the wheel of dentist Jason Digby's Holley EFI-powered '69 "Tooth Jerker" Dart, just lowered it again. Barnett, who came back from life-threatening injuries in an October 2015 fire at South Georgia Motorsports Park, ripped off an amazing 4.139 at the Holley EFI Outlaw Street Car Reunion V showdown at Beech Bend Raceway Park.

"When I got back in the car in October 2016, the quickest it had ever gone was a 4.41," said the 27-year-old Limited Drag Radial star from Robbins, NC. "Early last year, we ran a 4.31 at Darlington to unofficially break the record, then a 4.27 at Bradenton to make it official. At Lights Out 8 at South Georgia we ran a 4.24 and won the race, then made the first run in the 'teens,' a 4.19, in qualifying at Memphis and ran a 4.18 in eliminations – that was the record until we got to Bowling Green."

Power for the record-breaking runs comes from a Pete Harrell-built 547 cubic-inch big-block Chrysler with a complete Holley Dominator EFI system and a set of Holley Smart Coils.

At OSCR at Beech Bend, just minutes from Holley headquarters in Bowling Green, KY, Barnett and crew had to rally back from a huge explosion in pre-event testing. The car broke the tires loose off the line, over-revved, and sent more than 50 pounds of boost through the intake. Holley technicians stepped in to help with the machine work, and, believe it or not, .051-inch piano wire from a local piano repair shop was used for O-ring material and sealed the combustion chambers on one side on the barrier-breaking run.

"The guys from Holley really stepped up to help," Barnett said. "I mean, it was all hands on deck. Who would have ever thought that piano wire would actually work? We kept throwing power at it, and it just kept running faster every time – 4.20, 4.17, and then the 4.13 in the first round of eliminations, all right in a row, back to back to back. In the second round, we lost the cam signal and the motor shut itself off and put us out of the race. If that hadn't happened, we would have won the round and maybe the race. A Holley crank trigger and Holley Hall Effect cam sync will be on there the next time this car goes out, and we won't have that problem again. We're really just getting started, as far as I'm concerned. We're nowhere near how fast this car is eventually going to run." [05/17/18]

Lavon Miller captured his third consecutive Ultimate Callout Challenge championship at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.

Miller’s “FirePunk” diesel truck sealed the championship driving 181.69 MPH with an ET of 7.884 seconds on the drag strip on Friday, May 4, 2243.6 HP and 3014.4 ft/lbs of torque on the dyno on Saturday, and on Sunday made a pull of 329.833 feet using Hot Shot’s Secret’s new ADRENALINE R5 Racing Oil, in addition to other Hot Shot’s Secret racing transmission fluid and gear oil products.

The entire weekend Miller bested the competition by coming in first on the drag strip and the tractor pull, and second on the dyno competition for Team FirePunk. (photo by Amy Gilbert of Stainless Diesel)   [05/17/18]

Summit Racing Equipment will be the presenting sponsor of the NHRA Pro Mods this week at Topeka. That is a good thing, but the Agent just had to chuckle while wondering if the complete event name is:  Summit Racing Equipment presents the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service portion of the Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties. This message has been presented by The Burkster.  [05/17/18]