VOLUME XX,  NUMBER 5 - MAY,  2018

Easy come, easy go?

Mark Micke with crown and a suitcase containing $101,000 in $20 bills at the Sweet 16 at South Georgia Motorsports Park on Mar. 22-24.  (Drew Amitrano photo)

 

Micke recently posted this on his Facebook page.

 

Mark Micke and car owner Jason Carter have entered a cult-like status since their recent performance numbers and overall win of $101K at March's outlaw super-event at SGMP. Their twin-turbo 1978 Malibu has always been a forerunner in Radial vs. the World competition where incredible turbocharged and supercharged entries funnel all that power through 10.5"-wide radial slicks.

 

Todd Silvey caught up with Micke following his winning weekend. See the feature at here.   [05/09/18]

UNFC to race at two events in Washington state

A note in the mayo jar high atop the Phlegm Building second-story penthouse porch shows the starting line at Spokane County Raceway last weekend, where Raceway owner/manager Craig Smith is showing off his support for the upcoming United Nitro Funny Car Championship race and Fireworks Spectacular on July 4th.

 

Allen is also an owner in Chris Davis’ Old School Nitro Plymouth Arrow nitro funny car that’ll also be competing at the second of the UNFC Championship Series, presented by Good Vibrations Motorsports, after a successful inaugural race at Tucson Dragway last month.

 

Seattle’s Pacific Raceways hosts the third UNFC Championship race July 6–7, making it easier for UNFC members, drivers and crew by grouping two races in the same week as Spokane’s event. [05/09/18]

LODRS winners crowned in Atlanta

Jay Payne earlier this season at Phoenix.  (Brad Baker photo)

 

The Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series competed at the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway on May 6.

 

TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER: Josh Hart, 5.313, 269.40 def. Megan Meyer, 5.318, 269.94.

TOP ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR: Jay Payne, Chevy Camaro, 5.557, 260.81 def. Ulf Leanders, Camaro, 5.645, 263.20.

COMP ELIMINATOR: Van Puckett, Chevy Cavalier, 8.682, 127.19 def. Brian Browell, Dragster, Foul - Red Light.

SUPER STOCK: Kevin Helms, Olds Achieva, 8.869, 148.92 def. Byron Worner, Chevy Camaro, Foul - Red Light.

STOCK ELIMINATOR: Jeff Strickland, Chevy Camaro, 9.280, 141.85 def. Robbie Shaw, Pontiac Firebird, Foul - Red Light.

SUPER COMP: Gene Quinn, Dragster, 8.907, 152.88 def. Lauren Freer, Dragster, 8.926, 181.84.

SUPER GAS: Tommy Turner, Chevy Corvette, 9.922, 172.83 def. Carl Watts, Chevy Cavalier, 9.867, 160.35.

SUPER STREET: Keith Mayers, Porsche, 10.926, 143.58 def. Jesse McKnight, Chevy Camaro, 10.884, 127.17.

TOP SPORTSMAN: Bob Mandell Jr., Chevy Bel Air, 6.856, 191.97 def. Vince Hoda, Chevy Camaro, 6.779, 202.70.

TOP DRAGSTER: Les Feist, Dragster, 6.089, 226.73 def. Larry Roberts, Dragster, 6.202, 225.33.   [05/09/18]

O’Day makes farewell appearance at Spring Extreme Drags

Although traditional side-by-side drag racing will be a major focus of Saturday’s Spring Extreme Drags at Rockingham Dragway, the pre-Mother’s Day event also will showcase the sport’s offbeat side with a heavy dose of jets and a farewell performance by wheelstand legend and Carolina native Danny O’Day.

 

O’Day’s supercharged 1934 Ford coupe is widely regarded as the quickest and fastest wheelstanding vehicle ever to negotiate the standard quarter mile. It has covered the distance on the rear wheels only in 8.50 seconds at a finish line speed of almost 160 mph.

 

Still one of the most popular practitioners on the planet, O’Day is calling it a career primarily because his wife, Donna, no longer is able to travel the circuit with him. He’ll make a pair of farewell trips Saturday in a vehicle that BangShift.com ranked as the fifth greatest of all time behind only such legendary wheelstanders as Bob Riggle’s “Hemi Under Glass” and Bill “Maverick” Golden’s “Little Red Wagon.”

 

The jet car show is equally star-studded beginning with the first appearance by a jet-powered Funny Car since the late Roger Gustin made a series of exhibition runs in 2006. This time, the focal point will be the “Danger Zone” Ford Mustang, essentially a fuel Funny Car into which has been stuffed a J85 jet aircraft engine of the type that once powered U.S. Air Force fighter jets.

 

While the “Danger Zone” Mustang will go solo on the high traction surface, the jet dragsters of Rockingham’s Terry Rosburg (“American Thunder”) and Joe Zaccaro of Opelika, AL, (“Southern Lightning”) will run side-by-side, testing not only the track surface but the stability of the tower which in the past has suffered some incidental window damage during jet car exhibitions.

 

O’Day and the jets will run for the first time at 7 p.m., just ahead of the first round of eliminations in an Extreme Outlaw Pro Modified Series event. Champions also will be crowned in Top Eliminator, Footbrake and Jr. Dragster categories in the third race of the season paying track and NHRA Summit Series points.

Is NASCAR for sale?

New agency Reuters reports that the France family, the majority owners of NASCAR, are exploring options related to the sale of the stock car racing series. The family is said to be working with investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to identify a potential sale of their majority stake in NASCAR.

 

NASCAR President Brent Dewar has released a memo obtained by AP stating that there would be no comment on “industry rumors” and the France family “remains dedicated to the long term growth of our sport.”  [05/09/18]

IRGSE adds three to leadership team

IRG Sports + Entertainment (IRGSE), owner of several drag strips and the IHRA, announced it has expanded its leadership team. From left, Ryan Perezluha, public relations manager for IRGSE; Justin Kamm, director of corporate partnerships for Palm Beach International Raceway; and Lee Lyons, senior manager, corporate partnerships for IRSE. Located at IRGSE’s West Palm Beach, Fla., headquarters, all three will report to IRGSE Senior Director of New Business & Industry Relations Dana Landry.   [05/09/18]

Seven new teams qualify for HROT Engine Challenge

Leading the seven new teams with the quickest time was Team Considine Sales & Marketing - Jacksonville North Pulaski High School #1, Jacksonville, AR. Time – 26 minutes, 41 seconds.

 

The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge started the second half of their schedule at the Summit Atlanta Motorama in Atlanta on April 28-29. At the Motorama a total of eleven schools from Alabama and Georgia participated, fielding 19 teams with seven qualifying for the Dual National Championship.

 

The other six qualified teams were: Team Pertronix – Monticello Occupational Education Center #1, Monticello, AR. Time - 27:50; Team Summit Racing – Peach County High School #1, Fort Valley GA.  Time – 28:41; Team Derale Performance – Maxwell High School of Technology #1, Lawrenceville, GA. Time – 32:03; Team Fel-Pro – Sylvan Hills High School #1, Sherwood, AR. Time 32:22; Team R&R Marketing – Etowah High School #1, Woodstock, GA. Time – 32:26; and Team Champion Spark Plugs - Maxwell High School of Technology #2, Lawrenceville, GA. Time – 32:31.

 

There are now 33 teams that have qualified for the two championship rounds with six more qualifying events left in the season. [05/09/18]

Semifinal finish for Caputo-Armstrong at MCATS

Jennifer Caputo-Armstrong went four rounds to the semifinals in her second drag race competition in her Liquid Glow Racing Magnuson supercharged 426ci Arrington Performance powered 2007 Dodge Magnum. Jennifer won all three of her first rounds in three classes at the annual Muscle Cars at the Strip race in Las Vegas on her way to the semifinals in the Modern Muscle class.

 

Richard Kratz, editor of sister publication www.MoparMax.com, owns and tunes the car known as “Maggi”.

 

“On race day when the car worked right, in only her second competition she put really tough opponents out in the first round of all three of her classes,” Kratz said. “Just terrific driving from the burnout and light to her rapidly developing top end game. But as the day went on and the car heated and cooled it developed an issue that I didn’t get a handle on until it was too late. Jen was cutting lights in the teens and double zeros right off the trailer on Friday and she remained consistent into Saturday. But the car started hesitating at launch, not every time, just sometimes.

 

“We know from the monitoring we do of the car that the slower lights were really the car’s fault, the car’s hesitation perfectly matched Jen’s lights. In other words, when it didn’t hesitate Jen had a good light. When it did hesitate the monitored hesitation perfectly matched the difference in the RT from the non-hesitation lights. But thanks to Jen’s great consistency on the tree, and our partners AEM Electronics and Diablosport, we were able to uncover the root cause of the inconsistency in the car and we will be in much better shape for the next race.”

 

The team made up to some degree for the car’s inconsistent starting line performance with good dial-ins that gave Jen room to use her driving skills at the top end. (Brad Baker photo)  [05/09/18]

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Richard Kratz, editor of sister publication www.MoparMax.com, owns and tunes the car known as “Maggi”.

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Richard Kratz, editor of sister publication www.MoparMax.com, owns and tunes the car known as “Maggi”.