The team had a new Jerry Haas-built Mustang at last year’s U.S. Nationals.  (Ron Lewis photo)

Team owner Ven Eman and driver of the Aruba.com Mustang, Trevor Eman, have made their way back stateside, traveling from their home country of Aruba to their race shop base in Union, SC, to prepare for the 2019 race season.

“Last fall was a high point for our team,” said Eman. “We debuted a new car, race at the biggest event in drag racing, and I welcomed my second child into the world. We’ve been itching to get back to the races and see exactly what this Mustang is capable of. We have great confidence in this car and in our team. And now we have the opportunity to share the One Happy Island we call home with a larger audience than ever before. This partnership with NHRA is very exciting. We can’t wait to get to the Four-Wide Nationals.”

Mountain Motor Pro Stock will have a 16-car field in Charlotte. John DeFlorian won the first of the 2019 MMPS exhibition events at Houston. [04/23/19]

Dave Crosswhite won a family feud Saturday, Apr. 20, to claim the Bob Reed Memorial Hemi Shootout title before rain forced cancellation of the final rounds of racing in the 28th annual Griffin Motors Mopars at the Rock all-Chrysler drag race and car show at Rockingham Dragway.

Crosswhite used the 572-inch aluminum hemi in his 1968 Dodge Dart to turn back brother Tank Crosswhite’s 1964 Dodge Coronet in a showdown on The Rock’s eighth-mile course. The winner stopped the timers in 5.520 seconds at 126.42 mph.

Because of the weather, money posted in the other racing categories was split among those still active when the rains came. In the Challenger Shootout that included Eric and Stephanie Wallace of Union Grove. Eric also still was in contention in the Trophy Class when officials were forced to suspend competition.

See all the results at here.   [04/23/19]

The “Little Red Wagon” wheelstander was most famously driven by Bill “Maverick” Golden until 2003. Stunt driver Mike Mantel purchased the original vehicle shortly after Golden passed away in 2015 and has been displaying it at events.

Mantel, who recently brought out a new “Hemi Under Glass” 1968 Barracuda, has finished construction on a new Little Red Wagon truck that will tour with the original, along with the Little Red Fire Truck wheelstander, a Hemi-powered Ram. Mantel is the only person to drive both the “Little Red Wagon” and the “Hemi Under Glass.”   [04/23/19]