Amid all the hoopla of the Unfinished Business matchup of former NHRA stars at this year’s 50th Gatornationals, perhaps missed was the fact that legendary racer Chris “The Greek” Karamesines is still racing. The 80-something Chicago native actually qualified for the Top Fuel field in the number 16 spot, beating out Cameron Ferre and Lex Joon. He lost in the first round to Brittany Force. (Steve Gruenwald photo)  [03/21/19]

Okay, we’ll give Lex Joon a pass for not getting into the Gainesville TF field. And this fire on the line in the fourth qualifying session cost him five points for the oil-down.  (Steve Gruenwald photo) [03/21/19]

After sitting out most of 2018, NE1 racer Chris Graves (shown) came back strong at the Southwest Heritage Racing Association season opener on March 16 at North Star Dragway in Denton, TX. (Graves was a little preoccupied as he is also the driving force behind the Funny Car Chaos series that began last year.)

Graves got past 2018 NE1 champion (and his wife) Tera Graves, 2017 champ Tommy Drozd, and 2012 Jr. Fuel champion Ricky Marshall to meet 2013 NE1 champ Steve Matthews in the final. Graves’ 0.0686 RT coupled with a 4.859/123.93 got the better of a 0.0708 RT and 4.970/141.82 for Matthews.

NE2: Andy Voigt, 0.0202 RT, 5.026, 136.12 def. Jeff Cameron, 0.0471 RT, 7.442, 66.48

NE3: Bob Scoggins, 0.0404 RT, 5.655, 121,26 def. Bobby Bates (red light)

Old School No Electronics: Stephen Mathis, 6.20 dial, 6.9408 ET def. Michael Rhea (red light)

Old School Electronics: Billy Key, 5.50 Dial, 5.5144 ET def. Terry Tanner, 5.12 Dial, 5.1398 ET

Nostalgia Super Stock: Ronnie Smith, 6.73 Dial, 6.8155 ET def. Tony Smith (red light)

Next event on the SHRA schedule is the Nostalgia Drags May 18 at Wichita Falls, TX. (Wes Ramsey photo) [03/21/19]

Photographer Ron Lewis spent Sunday (March 17) at the NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Fontana, CA, where he got a good whiff of burnout smoke thanks to winner Kyle Busch. No nitro though, eh? [03/21/19]

Three generations of the Smith family were working at the Gatornationals. Here Mike Smith's son Nate torques the head nuts while grandpa Paul Smith, his son John "Bodie" Smith and his daughter Megan assist.

Bodie drove the family’s Rock Batteries Dodge Charger Funny Car and qualified at No. 14, but he met Tommy Johnson Jr. in the first round where Smith’s car went into tire shake and he had to lift. (Steve Gruenwald photo)  [03/21/19]

Palm Beach International Raceway has just completed improvements to their 2.2-mile road course including extending the hot and cold pit lane. A paved return road will be added next month, and plans are to add shaded areas to the pit lane and paddock areas.

At the quarter-mile drag strip, new scoreboards have been installed. The IHRA Summit SuperSeries races 3 and 4 will be held this weekend for Box (Super Pro), No Box (Pro), Street Bike, Sportsman, and Junior Dragster classes.   [03/21/19]

The Bloodhound Land Speed Record (LSR) team announced they are firmly back on the trail of a world land speed record. Under the new ownership of Ian Warhurst, CEO of Grafton LSR Ltd., the freshly assembled Bloodhound LSR team will focus on completing development of the jet- and rocket-powered car and moving to the next phase of the program – high speed testing – as soon as possible. The goal is to reach 1,000 mph and break the land speed record currently at 763.035 mph.

The new name, Bloodhound LSR, accompanies a complete rebranding of the program. This includes a visual transformation of the car, which was revealed in a new striking red and white livery as she moves into her new home at SGS Berkeley Green University Technical College (UTC) on the Gloucestershire Science and Technology Park in the UK.

"We're excited that Bloodhound is joining us at Berkeley,” SGS Berkeley Green UTS group chief executive and executive principal Kevin Hamblin said. “To have such a groundbreaking engineering project on site which shares our philosophy to enthuse and encourage the next generation of engineers, designers and scientists, will be invaluable for our own students and also for thousands of young people across the region who will have an opportunity to visit the Gloucestershire Science and Technology Park over the next few years and see the car for themselves."  [03/21/19]