Kahea Woods (near lane) took the win over Dave Wheeler.  (Bob Johnson photo)

Kahea Woods of Las Vegas won his second Sportsman Motorcycle Bracket Shootout title in the past three years, defeating top qualifier Dave Wheeler of Murray, Utah, in the final round at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Forty motorcycles entered the annual race that features guaranteed purses and “big money bracket race” bonuses from multiple sponsors and race contributors.  It is traditionally a quarter-mile race, but strong gusty winds prompted officials to run at one-eighth mile.

Fourth round racing began with Woods using a .007 light to beat defending NHRA Pacific Division Sportsman Motorcycle champion Larry Mota; Justin King of nearby Henderson defeated long distance racer Curtis Spracklir of Omaha, NE; and Dave Wheeler got a bye run.

Wheeler advanced to the final round when King drew a -.002 red-light in the semifinal round, and Woods took a bye run into the championship round.  The final was decided at the starting line, as Wheeler was .006 too quick off the line, assuring Woods his second event title with a perfect 5.590, 124.87 on his 5.59 dial.   [10/01/19]

Terry Haddock (near lane) has been a diehard supporter of the NHRA Funny Car and Top Fuel classes as an independent with his entry often meaning the difference between a full 16-car field and a "short" field on raceday.

The Agent was told by several very good sources that the NHRA is responsible for veteran tuner Johnny West coming on board as Haddock’s tuner and the results have been excellent for that team. Kudos to NHRA for stepping up if the rumor is true.   (Scott Bessee photo)  [10/01/19]

The Agent heard from several Top Fuel and Funny Car teams that the NHRA and especially president Glen Cromwell remain serious about some events on the 2020 schedule returning for quarter-mile racing for the nitro classes and developing an engine/drivetrain combination that will keep the top speed at 300mph.

The teams and PRO remain adamantly opposed to any quarter-mile racing mostly because they all believe it will be tremendously expensive for them.  [10/01/19]

Ten years after last competing as a team in NHRA Top Fuel competition, racing partners Doug Foley (shown) and Tim Lewis have announced their return to the NHRA class.

Foley Lewis Racing will make its 2019 debut at the NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals, Oct. 11-13 at zMAX Dragway. The car will be driven by Todd Paton and Foley will renew his Top Fuel license on Monday after the race.

Foley last drove a Top Fuel dragster in 2011 and returned to Top Alcohol Dragster in 2017. Longtime nitro racing tuner Scott Gaddy worked over the summer to convert Foley’s Don Schumacher Racing-built chassis back to a Top Fuel dragster after its short time as a nitro-injected A/Fuel dragster. Richard Hartman of Horton Race Cars made the chassis updates, while Gaddy assembled a stockpile of parts and equipment, including a transporter modified by TechnoCraft to meet the team’s needs.

The Carolina Nationals, held just 15 miles from their Mooresville, NC, shop, is the only race Foley Lewis Racing plans to attend this season. The team will spend the offseason preparing to run a partial schedule in the 2020 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. (Rick Belden photo)  [10/01/19]

Serving as hosts for the racing event, Pine Valley Raceway Team No. 1 (shown) won the IHRA Division 4 Summit Team Finals by a 61-45 margin over runner-up Penwell Knights Dragway. Xtreme Raceway Park No. 1 finished third with 36 points. Little River Dragway, Evadale Raceway and 2018 champion Amarillo Dragway also participated.

MAIN EVENT

Top: Hunter Patton (Penwell Knights) got off to a quick start with a .003 RT and powered down the track in 4.571 seconds against a 4.54 dial-in to best Dale Scates (Pine Valley) who finished in 4.727 seconds on a 4.69 dial-in with a .022 RT.

Mod: David Baugh (Little River) was victorious with a 5.787-second run on a 5.78 dial-in with a .079 RT to runner-up Morris Hopkins (Penwell Knights) who ran 6.520 on a 6.54 dial-in with a .085 RT.

Sportsman: Jackie Hibbard (Evadale) had a winning effort of 7.666 seconds on a 7.57 dial-in with a .058 RT to overcome Kenny Teer (Xtreme) who ran 7.625 on a 7.58 dial-in with a .053 RT.

Junior: Rylie Trumble (Pine Valley) posted a 7.93-second run on a 7.90 dial-in with a .169 RT. Connor Rivers (Evadale) red-lighted before going 13.021 on an 8.00 dial-in.

Track Operators: Fred Garvin (Little River) found the winning combination going 8.961 seconds against an 8.85 dial-in with a .009 RT. Raland Wray was runner up after going 12.025 seconds with a 12.05 dial-in with a .046 RT.

Xtreme Raceway Park near Dallas-Ft. Worth was named the IHRA Division 4 (Renegades) Track of the Year. Track owners Clyde and Amanda Scott, along with track operators Gaylen and Celeste Smith, took suggestions from fans and racers when they built the facility in 2017, making sure they had good food, reasonably priced concessions, a good racing surface and a family-friendly atmosphere. The 2019 track champions were Ronnie Crow (Top), Daryl Hamlin (Mod), Kenny Teer (Sportsman) and Addyson Owen (Jr. Dragster).   [10/01/19]

Jim Halsey leads the Pro Nitrous points.  (Tara Bowker photo)

The championship battles in the Professional Drag Racers Association will tighten up this weekend as the all-eighth-mile series heads to Darlington Dragway for the penultimate race on the 2019 Road to the Finals, the Fall Nationals presented by $hameless Racing, Oct. 3-5.

The PDRA had to cancel their most recent event, PDRA Drag Wars presented by Pro Line Racing at GALOT Motorsports Park, because of Hurricane Dorian, so racers will have four fewer rounds to accumulate points.

“You’re going to see two styles of racing at Darlington: you’re going to see a defensive racer and an offensive racer,” PDRA race director Tyler Crossnoe said. “You’re going to see the guys who are fighting for it and going at it from first round to the finals, then you’ll see the guys like Rivenbark and Halsey playing defense more than offense, trying to stay the course and keep turning on win lights.”

Leading the points going into the event are Kevin Rivenbark (Pro Boost), Jim Halsey (Pro Nitrous), John Montecalvo (Extreme Pro Stock), Johnny Pluchino (Pro Outlaw 632), and Ronnie Smith (Pro Nitrous Motorcycle).   [10/01/19]

A race that was a last-minute decision when his season was supposed to end after the U.S. Nationals turned into a career weekend for TJ Zizzo. The Chicagoland native, who qualified No. 14, laid down a pass of 3.769 seconds at 329.75 mph -- a personal-best speed -- in the first round of eliminations in Sunday's AAA NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Unfortunately, No. 3 qualifier Austin Prock was .02 seconds quicker than the Rust-Oleum Rocket and put Zizzo Racing on the truck.

"If you're going to lose, you should lose that way," said Zizzo after the round. "Tight racing, good drivers, both with good reaction times, both having a good side-by-side run. Even Austin Prock said at the top end 'That'll be the one they'll talk about!' It was close."  (Scott Bessee photo)   [10/01/19]

MAHLE Motorsport introduces the GT-R 4.1L Stroker PowerPak Plus Piston Kit, engineered for high horsepower applications. The new shelf stock GT-R PowerPak Plus kit (part #930285660) features a lightweight thick slipper skirt style forging manufactured from 2618 aluminum alloy for additional high temp strength. MAHLE’s GRAFAL® skirt coating reduces friction and increases scruffing resistance by providing a unique cushioning property that absorbs hard contact between the piston skirt and the cylinder bore. Top and second ring lands are optimized for higher piston speeds and boost pressure. The hard-anodized top ring groove protects against micro-welding ensuring optimum ring performance over the life of the engine. Designed with larger valve pockets to accommodate up to +1.00mm larger valve diameters, as well as wrist pin support strengthened, the pistons are able to handle higher inertia loads of a large output racing engine. The GT-R PowerPak Plus Kit comes complete with a nitride steel 1.2mm top, 1.2mm tapered 2nd and 2.5mm oil ring set for superior ring-to-cylinder sealing with low mass and an extended RPM range without a loss of ring stability. This kit accommodates most aftermarket connecting rods.  [10/01/19]