A short statement was released by Kalitta Motorsports this afternoon saying that Jim Oberhofer has been released from his position as crew chief for Doug Kalitta’s Top Fuel team effective immediately.

Toy Fasching will continue as crew chief for the remainder of the season, beginning this weekend at St. Louis.

Oberhofer had been with Kalitta Motorsports for over 30 years and in addition to crew chief was the Vice President of Operations.   [09/18/18]

Troy Coughlin Jr., Delaware, OH, and Sean Bellemeur, Placentia, CA, took home the wins in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car respectively at Maple Grove Raceway.

Coughlin qualified number one and worked his way through the field taking out Brandon Greco and Duane Shields in rounds two and three, then went 5.328 seconds at 272.89 mph in his final round victory over Josh Hart, Ocala. FL, who clocked in at 5.366/273.66. It marked the JEGS.com team’s fourth victory of the season and third in the last four LODRS events. Troy Jr. is the first Coughlin to win in a Top Alcohol class.  (Ron Lewis photo)

Bellemeur faced off against Phil Burkart, Yorkville, NY, and posted a winning run of 5.489 seconds, 268.28 mph in his ‘17 Chevy Camaro. Burkart drove to a 5.745 second, 261.52 mph lap for his runner-up finish. The win is Bellemeur’s third in a row at Maple Grove and the Dodge NHRA Nationals. (Ron Lewis photo)

Shane Oakes, Ottsville, PA, and Anthony Fetch, Colonia NJ, lined up for the Stock Eliminator final round. Oakes was a tick quicker off the starting line and he held on to take the win with a time of 11.144 seconds at 113.83 mph with this being his first national event win on the NHRA tour.

COMP: Tom Martino, Chevy Cobalt, 8.652, 147.13 def. Jay Schonberger, Olds Cutlass, 8.184, 160.94

SUPER STOCK: Anthony Bertozzi, Pontiac Grand Am, 9.062, 135.46 def. Anthony Bongiovanni, Ford Mustang, 8.919, 153.30

SUPER COMP: Mike Robilotto, Dragster, 9.027, 174.96 def. Chris Garretson, Dragster, 8.893, 129.23

SUPER GAS: Ray Sawyer, Chevy Camaro, 9.932, 175.62 def. Dale Koncen, Chevy Corvette, Foul - Red Light    [09/18/18]

New York state racer Melanie Salemi has been trying to win at the Shakedown at the Summit in Norwalk, Ohio, since 2015. After coming in as runner-up in 2016, this year she got to the top.

At this year’s event she and David Norris were set to stage their Pro Mods for the final round. Both drive G-Force Race Cars and share tuners, Melanie’s husband, Jon, and brother-in-law, Jim. Then came the news that Norris’s car was leaking fluid and Salemi would have a single for the win. She drove down the track in 5.72 seconds at 251 mph.  (Moto Lenz Photo)   [09/18/18]

Husband and wife Laeith and Lisa Skinner will travel to Gladstone, Queensland, from their home in Mackay this week to compete in the final round of the 2018 Summit Racing Queensland Championships at Benaraby Raceway (Sept. 22-23).

Laeith took the Modified Bike victory at the Championships’ last round (held at the Skinners’ home track of Palmrya Dragway) while Lisa was the runner-up at Palmyra Dragway’s recent 50th anniversary event.

“We have been doing a lot of work on the bikes earlier this year so we missed round one but it came together in time for us to race four events in four weeks – round two of the Summit Racing Queensland Championships at Palmyra Dragway followed by the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series’ Nitro Up North and Desert Nationals events ahead of Benaraby Raceway’s Round 5 of the CDQRA Championships,” Laeith said.

“I think it is really fantastic that the tracks are working together so that travelling racers can take in a number of events in something of a once in a lifetime trip.”  (Phil Reeve photo)    [09/18/18]

Marc Caruso at the U.S. Nationals.  (Chris Haverly photo)

After qualifying for the Pro Mod field at the NHRA U.S. Nationals and a runner-up finish at the eighth-mile PDRA Drag Wars, Marc Caruso and his team are more confident that their Jerry Bickel-built Camaro can qualify for the tough field at the NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park this weekend.

Caruso is looking forward to putting the Noonan 4.9 Hemi to the test.

“With the car responding so well to Lee White’s quarter-mile tune-up and our recent quality showing at GALOT,” Caruso said, “we are very excited about running the E3 Spark Plugs RPM NHRA quarter mile at St. Louis’ Gateway.”  [09/18/18]

Jim Chase drove the “Wicked Quick” ’57 Chevy at the recent Funny Car Chaos and also runs with the Rocky Mountain Superchargers. He won the Superchargers race in Great Bend, KS, earlier this year.  (Jamie Shores-Fraijo photo)

The Fall Nationals at Kansas International Dragway held on Saturday, Sept. 22, will settle all the races for season championships in the Competition Products Funny Car Rampage, Top Supercharged Thunder, and Pro Supercharged / All Stars divisions of the Rocky Mountain Superchargers. The track will also be open on Friday for testing.   [09/18/18]

Even though there are two more events left to run, Pat Musi Racing Engines has claimed the PDRA Flatout Gaskets Nitrous Wars for a fourth consecutive year. The Flatout Gaskets Nitrous Wars trophy is awarded to the engine builder who claims the most No. 1 qualifiers in the PDRA’s Pro Nitrous class. Musi Engines has powered the No. 1 qualifier at four of the first five PDRA races this year.

“Just because we clinched this trophy with two races to go, it doesn’t mean we’re going to let up,” Musi said. “We’re going to keep the hammer down and continue to push hard these last two events. With the conditions starting to cool down to finish the year, we are looking for some big numbers to finish the year off in style.”

The eighth-mile PDRA runs Sept. 27-29 at Darlington, SC, and Oct. 18-20 at Petersburg, VA.   [09/18/18]