Since the NHRA Heritage Series added the Holley Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green as a points-earning event, it’s been tough to get many of the West Coast nitro funny cars that regularly compete at Famoso and Firebird Raceways for points.

Qualifying begins today for this weekend’s Reunion, While the competition in the Funny Car class may be light, two teams made the long trek from SoCal to hunt for points.

Don Nelson’s “California Hustler” Firebird driven by Jeff Arend, number one qualifier at the NAPA Ignitor in Boise in May, is there. As owner Nelson put it, “We want to win the Heritage Series Championship this year, so I threw my crew chief (veteran Ronnie Swearingen) in the toter home and hit the road with the racecar and crew.”  (Darr Hawthorne photo)

Another California team there in Kentucky is Dan Horan and his Patriot Camaro nitro funny car, the current record holder for the class at 265.22 MPH with crew chief David Fears. (Brian Losness photo)

Horan, one of the pioneers in the rebirth of the current Heritage-type Funny Car class, has told friends that this is his final season in a flopper. He says that in 2020 he’ll drive his new Bowen Racecars-built, front-motored Top Fuel dragster.

“The dragster is going to run at three races next year, then I’m done,” said the second-generation fuel racer.   [06/13/19]

The Southeast Hot Rod Association raced for the first time at Xtreme Raceway Park in Ferris, TX, on Saturday, June 8, with hot weather pushing track temps over 130 degrees.

With Steve Matthews not attending, points co-leader Chris Graves was hoping to grab the NE1 win and the lead. That was not to be the case as No. 1 qualifier Ricky Marshall and No. 2 qualifier Keith Zimmerer (shown) made it to the final round where Zimmerer’s 4.649/151.16 took the win over Marshall’s 4.671/148.56. Marshall, however, now takes a five-point lead.  (Wes Ramsay photo)

NE2 points leader Andy Voigt was hoping to extend his lead but was eliminated in the first round by Doug Morrison. But Morrison turned on the dreaded red light in the final and Dusty Rose got the win. Voigt maintains a nine-point lead over second-place Morrison.  (Chris Graves photo)

Bob Scoggins was leading the NE3 points and left Ferris in the lead. But he broke out in the final, giving 71-year-old Roy Pigford in a ’48 Anglia his first win in SHRA competition. (Wes Ramsay photo)

Other winners were Michael Rhea (No Electronics), Brent Lancaster (Electronics), and Jacob Starr (Nostalgia Super Stock).

Next event for the nostalgia drag racing group is Saturday, June 22, at Northstar Dragway in Denton, TX.   [06/13/19]

Our own Chicago Jon sat down with fellow Chicagoan TJ Zizzo to get his perspective on racing as one of the smaller teams running part-time on the NHRA circuit. See what he has to say about the cost of racing, track prep, the NHRA television package, and a couple of conversations he had at here.  (Chicago Jon photo)  [06/13/19]

Joe Lucas and Chris Diyco took home the event champions trophies from races three and four of the eight-race K&N 890 Series presented by Blaster held at Auto Club Dragway in Fontana, CA. Lucas won his first Super Comp race on Saturday, and Diyco picked up the win on Sunday, his first in the series.

Quarterfinal racing saw Travis Richardson defeat David Wolf, 8.904 to a losing 8.900, Diyco ran .004 off the index to beat Kevin Motter, Lucas then stopped points leader Brian Fischle, and Ryan Diosdado got a bye.

Lucas broke-out by .003 in the semifinal advancing Diyco, and Richardson went to the final when Diosdado broke-out. The final was decided at the starting line, when Richardson (near lane) fouled by .009, with Diyco getting the win at 8.92, 172.85.

After his semifinal performance on Saturday, Joe Lucas of Corydon, IN, capped the weekend with a final round victory over David Wolf of Tustin, Calif.  Lucas (near lane) had a .007 better light in the final, and took the win with an 8.930, 160.50 to a second-best of 8.942, 162.90 for Wolf. Both drivers race under the Tom Bayer Drag Racing School banner. (Mindy Crandall photos)

In the earlier rounds, Lucas defeated Glenn Kern, ’18 series champ Greg Hicks, and Evan Kowalski. Wolf stopped Lori Warden, Don London, James Warden, and Matt Fischle to get to the final.

The next doubleheader weekend for the K&N 890 Series will be June 22-23 at Auto Club Dragway.  [06/13/19]

John Force has been waiting all season for his 150th national event win and hopes to finally break through at Bristol. A special treat would be to celebrate Father’s Day by sharing the winners’ circle with daughter Brittany.

“To be able to race with my daughters is one of the greatest things in my career,” Force has said. “I wasn’t there to help raise them, their mother did that. I never thought they’d want to race so to be able to spend time with them out here where I’ve lived all my life, it gave me a second chance to be a dad.

Ron Capps has back-to-back wins at “Thunder Valley” and is hoping for number three this weekend. This will be the third race in a grueling four-race stretch. Warmer conditions make staying mentally strong even more important, but Capps has proven to be a top competitor in that regard. He posted back-to-back wins last month in Richmond and Atlanta, currently sitting fourth in points, and Capps likes how his team, led by Rahn Tobler, have performed over the last handful of races.

“We really feel like we’re in the sweet spot of the schedule as a team,” Capps said. “As a crew chief and a team, you want to find your happy spot and what your overall tuneup package is throughout the summer. It can be demanding on a team, but we always look forward to this stretch. You have to pay attention to the parts attrition, but I’ve always been super proud of the way Rahn runs the car. He’s methodical about the decisions he makes, and I never want to be mentally or physically at a disadvantage as a driver. I don’t want to be the weak link when it gets late in the day on Sunday.”  (Ron Lewis photos)    [06/13/19]