Nick Folk  (John DiBartolomeo photo)

John Labbous  (John DiBartolomeo photo)

The K&N Spring Fling presented by Optima Batteries began on Tuesday, Apr. 30, with the Race Tech/American Race Cars Dragster Shootout. A limited field of 32 racers raced to the final two, both former NHRA world champions: John Labbous and Nick Folk.

Only .003 separated them in reaction time, but it was Labbous running out by .001 while Folk was dead-on with a “6” for the win. And in a humerous moment, both men swapped cars and drove each other’s back to the winner’s circle celebration where Folk chose the American Race Car leaving the Race Tech for Labbous.   [05/01/19]

Coming off the win at the NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock exhibition at zMax Dragway in Charlotte, NC, Chris Powers will return to PDRA Extreme Pro Stock competition this week.  (Chris Haverly photo)

The PDRA will return to Virginia Motorsports Park May 2-4 for the first of two events at the series’ home track.

Competing on the eighth mile the PDRA Mid-Atlantic Showdown presented by Modern Racing will include two back-to-back pro qualifying sessions on Friday night with a third qualifying session on Saturday before eliminations begin.  [05/01/19]

Erica Enders broke the Pro Mod speed record she had set two weeks before in Houston with a pass of 260.41 mph at zMax. (Chris Haverly photo)

See all the Pro Mod results at here.  [05/01/19]

Auto Club Dragway in Fontana, CA, held the opening weekend of the 2019 Southern California Pro Gas Association’s doubleheader April 27-28 along with the rain delayed open races of the K&N 890 Series presented by Blaster.

Greg Martin (far lane) took the title on Saturday when he defeated Val Torres Sr. in the final round of the Russ Harris Memorial Race. Martin had a .017 better light than Torres and took the win with a 9.911, 144.83 to a losing 9.940, 153.53. In the semifinal, Torres defeated Ryan Zermeno in a double-breakout race, while Martin got a bye. (Bob Johnson photo)

In the 41-year history of SoCal Pro Gas, Pete Bothe is the only driver to score four series championships—the last one coming in 2008—and he won Sunday’s Champion Cooling Systems-sponsored race with the same Chevy-powered ’78 Porsche he won the championships with. In the semifinals, Mike Blodgett Jr. defeated Matt Treadway. Bothe got a bye into the final but had a throttle-stop adjustment screw break on the pass, after a short thrash, he found a replacement screw, paired up with Blodgett, and won the race, 9.954, 139.11 (.006 RT) to Blodgett’s losing 9.896, 141.09 (.065 RT).  (Bob Johnson photo)

Brian Fischle finished eighth in the K&N 890 final standings last year but has an early lead by winning the opening race of the season and finishing runner-up in the second event. In the first race of the weekend Fischle defeated Kevin Motter in the semifinal and then used a .010 better reaction time and 8.908 to beat Glenn Kern (near lane), losing with a too quick 8.891. (Bob Johnson photo)

On Sunday, Kevin Motter went to his second semifinal of the weekend, but Ryan Diosdado used a perfect 8.900 to deny him an opportunity in the final.  Diosdado (near lane) was .012 better at the ‘tree against Fischle in the final, and picked up the event win with an 8.912, 172.45 to Fischle’s second best of 8.914, 167.05. (Bob Johnson photo)    [05/01/19]

In the mid-1990s the Mustang community gathered at St. Louis for what was known as the Gateway Rumble. This year, the National Mustang Racers Association is bringing back the street car event at the newly renamed World Wide Technology Raceway. The Stifflers Gateway Rumble will be held May 16-19.

The Gateway Rumble class is a heads-up Quick 16 race that will take place on Sunday, May 10. The True Street competition on Saturday will serve as qualifying for Sunday’s eliminator. The 16 quickest will be placed on a sportsman ladder and will race heads-up on a 4/10 Pro tree.

There also will be two opportunities for racer to qualify for the Performance King of the Street competition (invitation-only) that is held during the NMRA All-Ford World Finals at the end of the year. The next two spots will be awarded to the Overall Winner of True Street on Saturday and the last racer standing on Sunday during the Gateway Rumble competition.   [05/01/19]