In round 2 of the Ignitor at Boise’s Firebird Raceway pitted Bobby Cottrell, current driver of the Bucky Austin AAFC against Kris Krabill, former driver of the car.

Both cars left the line but before Cottrell’s bright green Camaro got to the Christmas Tree, it knocked the tires loose, and Cottrell peddled the throttle a couple of times in an attempt to catch back up, but Krabill was streaking to the finish line. However, at about 1200 feet a main bearing broke and locked up the crankshaft. The resulting engine explosion eviscerated the black Camaro carbon fiber body, sending parts and pieces into sub orbit. Covered in oil and fire, Krabill did a masterful job of keeping the car straight and getting it stopped right in front of the Firebird Safety team stationed at the turn off. “Hollywood” punched out of the car and was none the worse for wear.

We’ll have the rest of the action in tomorrow’s race report. Whew!  (Brian Losness photo)  [05/07/19]

The Mid Atlantic .90 Association kicked off its season at New Jersey’s Atco Dragway. Because of high winds, officials adjusted the distance to an eighth of a mile on Saturday.

In the Super Gas final, Maugansville, MD, resident Derek Clark laid down a .13 thousandths package to make final round opponent Marc Marsico mathematically ineligible for the win. Clark’s .009 light matched with his 6.304 on the 6.30 adjusted index took the win at Race # 1. In Super Comp, Johnny Smith from New York took his Rev-X lubricants dragster to victory when Randy Winfelder Jr. lit the red-bulb at the hit. This was Smith’s first victory since winning the 2016 NHRA New England Nationals also in Super Comp.

North Jersey racer Steve Taxis (far lane) took the 10.90 crown with his Camaro. Taxis took down multi-time Top 5 finisher Kelli Barbato in the finals with an almost dead on 6.901 on the 6.90 dial to Barbato’s break-out 6.895.

On Sunday’s race #2 the series went back to the traditional quarter-mile distance even with Mother Nature throwing another change-up with a rain delay midway through Q1.

In Super Comp, it had been a long three years since Chase Fahnestock visited victory lane. The Elizabethtown, PA, resident earned his first victory over Eric Reiff. In the finals, the 2016 Champion strapped a .009 thousandths package on Reiff and sent the DWM Inc. driver home a winner.

In a repeat of Saturday’s final Marc Marsico was looking for revenge on Derek Clark, but it would be all for naught as Clark led from the hit (.023 to .037) and parlayed that into a 9.935 to 9.925 holeshot victory. Finally, in Super Street, Taxis saw himself in another final, this time against 2018 D1 Super Street Champ Keith Mayers. Mayers lit the red-light and handed the victory to Taxis for his second victory of the weekend.

The series will now take a six-week break before returning to Numidia Dragway the weekend after the Lucas Oil Divisional Series on June 15th & 16th for the North vs. South Shootout.  [05/07/19]

Mike Castellana claimed his second victory in three years at Atlanta Dragway in the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service on Sunday, May 5, winning the 39th annual Arby’s NHRA Southern Nationals, where the series was presented by FuelTech.

Castellana ran 5.825 seconds at 248.29 mph in his supercharged Al-Anabi Performance Chevrolet Camaro, picking up the final-round win when Jose Gonzalez suffered a red-light start.

It marks the ninth career E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod victory for Castellana, who qualified ninth and also earned round wins over Brandon Snider, Jeremy Ray before meeting defending world champion Mike Janis in the semifinals. Castellana’s 5.809/248.48 got the best of the 5.860/240.98 for Janis.

“I knew everything would come together, but I didn’t expect it this quick,” said Castellana, who failed to qualify at the first three races of the season. “Frank (Manzo, crew chief) and my team do a great job. We feel real confident now. We’re making progress with the car and we’ll be ready for Virginia.”

The E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service continues May 17-19 with the Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond, VA.  (Ron Lewis photo)   [05/07/19]