Mike McIntire Sr. isn’t sure about the future of his Pennsylvania-based team. As he told DRO’s Todd Silvey at the Funny Car Chaos last weekend, “I hope something changes in this sport (Nitro Nostalgia Funny Car Racing) or we may sell out the entire operation that we have worked so hard to build and be competitive.”

 

Say it ain’t so, Mike. To see Silvey’s report from the Havana, IL, event, go to here. (Scott Bessee photo)   [08/09/18]

In the final results from Atco Raceway and the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Josh Hart, Ocala, FL, and Phil Burkart, Yorkville, NY, took home the wins in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car respectively.

 

Hart worked his way through the field and ran 5.224 seconds at 273.94 mph in his final round victory over Jackie Fricke, Flemington, NJ, who clocked in at 9.535 seconds, 84.90 mph.

Driver Phil Burkart had the hot hand – and right foot – throughout the entire event. Burkart qualified the Follow A Dream Chevy Camaro No. 1 (5.715 seconds at 227.11 mph), enjoyed unopposed runs in the quarterfinals and semifinals, and then sealed the deal with a triumph (5.563 seconds at 264.91 mph) over always-tough rival Dan Pomponio, who red-lighted in the final round.

 

“The hot rod’s back!” Permatex team owner Jay Blake exuberantly said. “The car did what we wanted to. When we made a change, it responded."

 

“The team has worked well, there’s been drama and frustration, but everyone kept their heads down and did their job.”

 

Northeast Division racers head to New England Dragway, Epping, NH, for the next NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event, September 7-9.

 

COMP: Doug Doll, Douglas, MA, '07 Mckinney, F/DA, 8.751, 108.90 def. Michele Costa, Freehold, NJ, '05 Bantam, G/EA, foul

 

SUPER STOCK: James Antonette, Wantagh, NY, '98 Grand Am, SS/CS, 12.884, 72.57 def. William Kennedy, Wilkes Barre, PA, '85 Firebird, GT/MA, foul

 

STOCK: Anthony Fetch, Colonia, NJ, '69 Camaro, AA/SA, 10.013, 126.23 def. Edward Bednaz, Terryville, CT, '70 Nova, A/S, 10.201, 131.00

 

SUPER COMP: Walter Olt, Medford, NJ, '09 Mullis, 8.915, 170.77 def. Bill Krug, Albany, NY, '05 ABS, 8.895, 164.43

 

SUPER GAS: Stephen Sisko, Williamstown, NJ, '68 Camaro, 9.922, 145.86 def. Ray Sawyer, Acton, MA, '02 Camaro, 9.879, 177.44

 

SUPER STREET: Kyle Robb, Denver, PA, '66 Nova, 10.907, 133.30 def. Jason Lawrence, Hamilton, NJ, '72 Duster, 10.891, 135.00

 

TOP SPORTSMAN: Luc Angers, Laval, Quebec, '07 GTO, 6.780, 205.76 def. Jeff Brooks, Fredericksburg, VA, '51 Henry J, 6.819, 202.94

 

TOP DRAGSTER: Mark Payne, Waynesboro, V, '06 Cavalier, 10.680, 75.71 def. Ken Le Blanc, Dracut, M, '16 Dan Page, broke

 

JUNIOR DRAGSTER 13-17: Jenial Ramos, 08054, dragster, 7.925, 82.29 def. Jonathon Northrop, Perkasie, PA, '15 Halfscale, 8.102, 80.56

 

JUNIOR DRAGSTER 10-12: Garett Sprague, Sellersville, PA, '18 Halfscale, 8.881, 73.50 def. Justin Handwerk, Edison, NJ, '16 Halfscale, foul

 

JUNIOR DRAGSTER 6-9: Joey Torchia, Galloway, NJ. '02 KCS, 13.994, 45.43 def. Jamison Devlin, Mullica Hill, NJ, '17 Strikeforce, foul   [08/09/18]

Brent Jones, driver of the Lawless Funny Car has won three of five DragParts.com Blown Alcohol Thunder events going into the final race of the season in Spokane, August 17-18. Jones of Stevensville, MT, picked up his third win this past weekend at Yellowstone Dragstrip in Billings, Montana. Jones also had wins this year in Boise and Yakima.

 

Jones beat Canadian rival Dave Kroeker in the final. Kroeker, racing a dragster, has one win so far this season at Lost Creek Raceway near Butte, MT, and is second in points behind Jones.

In the Billings B Final, there was a first-time winner as Dave Speace driving an altered upset hometown favorite Dave Newton driving a dragster. Speace also won the Good Vibrations Best Reaction Time Bonus while Jones won the TCS Products #1 Qualifier award.   [08/09/18]

Australian tuner and racer Steve Easton will be making a major role swap this weekend at the Kelly Services Night Under Fire at Summit Raceway Park in Norwalk, OH. The former crewman for NHRA super star Courtney Force is continuing to develop as a driver in the Pro Mod ranks and will be vying for one of the eight available spots in the R&R Auto Body/DeCerbo Construction Rumble Wars Extreme 8. With two qualifying runs on Saturday, Aug. 11, the young racer from Down Under knows he will have his hands full against eighteen other Pro Mod racers.

 

“We took the Patriot Pro Mod to the track last week and made some good shake down runs. I haven’t been full track with the car yet, but we are hoping for some good conditions and good luck at the Night Under Fire this Saturday night,” said Easton.

 

“When I was on Courtney’s Funny Car I was blown away by the size and spectacle of the event and have dreamed of being there driving a Funny Car ever since my first experience at the race. Racing Pro Mod at Night Under Fire is a great first opportunity. Just getting a chance to steer a car at that event is a big deal. We took everything we had to test last weekend at Dragway 42. There isn’t anything left in our garage, it is all in the trailer.”

 

Easton relocated from Indiana to Ohio for the summer and has been working with the team to get the 1963 Chevy Corvette built by Tim McAmis on the race track. After the Night Under Fire Easton will continue to campaign the Patriot Pro Mod at select events in the greater Ohio area.  (Cole Rokosky photo) [08/09/18]

Britain’s resurgent Andy Robinson takes on the European continent’s finest competitors at the FIA/FIM European Finals at Santa Pod Raceway September 6-9.

 

Robinson prefers to concentrate his firepower on the MSA British Drag Racing Championship, of which Pro Mod became the designated class in 2007. Since then, Robinson has won the championship six times. Indeed, he has been a key figure in the class throughout its 30-year history, one of European Pro Mod’s ‘founding fathers’. So, what has spiced up the story this year? The small matter of one-tenth of a second, is the answer.

 

Robinson’s 5.867-second, 246.37-mph blast through the Santa Pod quarter-mile in June placed him in stratospheric company. At that moment, only four other active drivers had ventured into that tenth-of-a-second increment in time. It left Robinson just .034 short of the European record held by Sweden’s Michael Gullqvist.

 

By profession, Robinson is a racing car constructor, proprietor of Andy Robinson Race Cars (ARRC) based near Basingstoke, England. Among its other specialties, the company is a prolific supplier of cars to rival Pro Mod teams. Indeed, a private battle continues within the class to own the quickest ARRC-built Pro Mod entry. Robinson’s 5.867 shot in June at last earned his own machine that accolade, yet for only 24 hours. Next day, ARRC’s Dutch customer, David Vegter, clocked 5.856 seconds in Finland to add his own name to the 5.8-second elite club.

 

Competing against your own customers is a tricky balancing act for car and engine builders, but either way the builder has the winning car. (Ivan Sansom photo)   [08/09/18]