The Tampa Bay Times reports that a former employee of Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al Thani has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that he was asked by al Thani to kill two people and was then held against his will when he refused.

Sheikh al Thani, the brother of the Emir of Qatar, has been involved in drag racing in the U.S. and Qatar for several years with the original ADRL and his Al-Anabi Racing teams.  [08/16/19]

This weekend’s second round of an NHRA Heritage double-header at Spokane County Raceway brings some of the best nitro cars and jets for the Summer Nitro Nationals and Jet Car Finals.

After competing at the Boise Nightfire National’s last weekend, many of the fuel cars racing there opted for the eight-hour tow north to Washington. Nightfire Nationals nitro funny car winner Jeff Arend, in Don Nelson’s “California Hustler” leads the field and the Heritage Series points. Already in pits are Bill Windham’s “Shakedown”, Kris Krabill in the “Cascade Auto” Camaro, “Northwest Hitter” driven by Bobby Cottrell, Ryan Hodgson in the family’s “Pacemaker” Camaro, Billy Morris in Eddie Knox’s “Problem Child”, Mike Peck in his “Instigator” Funny Car, Tim Boychuk’s “Happy Hour”, Dan Horan’s “Patriot” and Nathan Sitko in his “Arctic Traveler” Mustang from Canada.

Top Fuel is headed by Nightfire’s winner Mendy Fry in the High Speed Motorsports dragster, Adam Sorokin in the Chevy-powered Champion Speed Shop dragster, Jim Murphy’s WW2 fueler, Mike Fuller’s “Forever Young” dragster, Canadian Phil Ruskowski’s Chevy dragster, the “Circuit Breaker” and Tyler Hilton in “Great Expectations 3”.

As the trend is showing, this Spokane drag race is a Friday/Saturday event, with eliminations under the lights. Track operator Craig Smith recently raised the payouts for all nitro classes. In addition, four Jet cars are expected with a full BB/Funny Car field and Ed “Outlaw” Jones wheelstander.

DRO’s own “Brian Losness will making the trip also, so check out his coverage on the DRO Facebook page.  (Darr Hawthorne photo)   [08/16/19]

Levi Addison may be new to the Australian Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series but that isn’t holding him back – with just two rounds under his belt, he is leading the Modified Bike standings and has already clinched one ANDRA Christmas Tree.

After making his Series debut at Alice Spring Inland Dragway’s Desert Nationals, the Victorian travelled to the Hidden Valley Drag Strip’s NT Nationals in Darwin and clinched the victory (and the championship lead) aboard his 2006 Harley Davidson V Rod Destroyer.

“I have been racing dirt drags and taking my street bike down to my local track for a few years, but this is my first year of doing the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series championship,” Addison said.

With such a good start to the season, it is no surprise the 24-year-old with Competition Bike aspirations is now looking forward to September’s round three of the Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series, the Sunset Strip Nationals in Mildura on Sept. 21-22.  (Craig Radcliffe Action Sport Photography)   [08/16/19]

Alan Reinhart interviews driver Ron Capps earlier this year at Virginia.  (Chris Haverly photo)

At this year’s PRI Show held Dec. 12-14 in Indianapolis, NHRA Announcer Alan Reinhart will lead a roundtable featuring representatives from ARCA, NASA, IMCA, NMCA/NMRA, and other race sanctioning bodies. The discussion will be on a range of topics at the forefront of motorsports today, such as controlling costs, technical specs, and rules enforcement.

Other speakers participating in the PRI Education program include David Vizard, Lake Speed Jr., Darin Morgan of Reher-Morrison Racing Engines, Jason Enders, Gary Crooks, and Jeanette DesJardins. More speakers will be announced in the coming months.   [08/16/19]

Kevin Rivenbark regularly runs in the Pro Boost class with the PDRA.  (Roger Richards file photo)

The NHRA has extended an invitation to North Carolina’s Galot Motorsports and its two ProCharger-boosted, Hemi-powered Camaro’s to take part in the upcoming U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. The cars, driven by Kevin Rivenbark and John Strickland, will make exhibition runs following the four scheduled qualifying rounds of Pro Modified.

The cars will test next week in Virginia in preparation for the Labor Day weekend event. Might ProCharger (basically a belt-driven turbo) cars be added to the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series in 2020?  [08/16/19]

According to a new market report published by Lucintel, the future of the electric bicycle (e-bike) market looks promising with opportunities in the areas of travelling, exercise/fitness, and recreational activities. The electric bicycle market is expected to reach an estimated $21 billion by 2024 with a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 12.5% from 2019 to 2024. The major drivers for this market are increasing health conscious consumers, high traffic congestion, environmental concerns, and increasing government initiatives to promote cycling in order to reduce carbon emissions.

In this market, different types of electric bicycle such as cargo, fat tire, mountain, standard, and others are used as bicycle type. On the basis of its comprehensive research, Lucintel forecasts that cargo e-bikes will remain the largest segment and it is also expected to witness the highest growth over the forecast period due to increasing use in time-critical deliveries, such as parcels, mail and smaller shipments in the industries of food, building, and logistics.

Well, says the Agent, it sure beats pedaling. [08/16/19]