Paula Murphy (near lane) racing Don Schumacher at Santa Pod, England. (DRO file photo)

The Agent hears that Paula Murphy, the first woman to get a license to drive a nitromethane-fueled car, will be driving a Funny Car for Walt Fuller at this week’s Funny Car Chaos finals in Denton, TX.

Murphy, best known in drag racing for driving the Miss STP Plymouth, was inducted into the Motorsports Museum and Hall of Fame of America in 2017. Fuller owned the “Wally Works” Funny Car based in Phoenix.

See Cole Coonce’s InnerView with Ms. Murphy back in 2004 Part 1 and Part 2.   [09/20/19]

Hunter Patton was the winner of the $500,000 on Friday, Sept. 20, at the Sparco Fall Fling 500K at Bristol’s Thunder Valley. The final saw Matt Dadas in a door car and Patton in a dragster for the largest payout in Fling history. With the handicap in his favor, Dadas left first but turned on the red light by .010. Patton didn’t bother running all the way down the track, stopping about halfway and backing up to the cheers of the crowd.

Saturday, Sept. 21, was the final day of the 2019 Fall Fling 500K. Brian Martel, who had been telepathic all week, and prior to the final was named as the Todd’s Extreme Paint MVP, turned on the red-light to hand the trophy and $30,000 to Jeremy Hancock.   [09/23/19]

Ohio’s Dragway 42 repeated as champions at the International Hot Rod Association Division 3 Summit Team Finals held at Keystone Raceway Park over the weekend.

Top: Paul Petersen, .028 RT, 4.90 dial, 4.938 ET, 136.03 mph def. Jake Meinert, .047 RT, 4.79 dial, 4.812 ET, 143.08

Mod: Niki Thomas won after final-round opponent Tyler Underwood red-lighted.

Street: Amy Romeo matched a 7.58 elapsed time at 91.54 mph and coupled it with a .072 reaction time. Gordon Stevens had the better start at .026, but went 8.462 seconds at 77.84 mph against an 8.47 dial-in.

Junior Dragster: Allyson Downs had an exceptional start with a .008 reaction time and then raced down the 1/8-mile at 7.902 seconds and 80.70 mph. Zachary Holstion finished runner-up with an 8.087 elapsed time at 78.55 mph with a .033 reaction time.

Bike: Joey Brandgard (near lane) won on a holeshot .026 to .071 over Lucas Salemi. Brandgard had a 5.619-second pass at 123.83 mph against a 5.54 dial-in. Salemi went down the track in 6.597 seconds at 98.88 mph against a 6.60 dial-in.

Beaver Springs Dragway was named the IHRA Division 3 (North Stars) Track of the Year. The track opened in 1971. Wet weather made a challenging season for track owner Mike McCracken and his racers. Justin Badman (Top), Bob Klock (Mod) and Aidan Mackert (Junior) were the Summit SuperSeries World Finals track representatives.    [09/23/19]

Super Street: Michael Jennings (shown) def. Rodney Kerr  (Automotive Event Images)

Round three of the 2019/2020 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series enjoyed a successful conclusion at Mildura’s Sunset Strip on Sunday, Sept. 22, with plenty of spectacular performances on show as 150 racers went to battle for the ANDRA Christmas Tree trophies.

Super Gas: Colin Griffin def. Renee Cockerill

Jr. Dragster: Jake Berias def. Tim Baker

Modified Bike: Gavin Dohnt def. Derryn McGregor

Super Sedan: David Todd def. Alex Gkroidis

Modified: Adam Mundy def. Chris Farrell

Supercharged Outlaws: Christine Steffens def. Warren Leonard

Top Sportsman: Glenn Henley def. Sam Cardinale

Super Comp: Craig Geddes def. Shane Baxter   [09/23/19]

The Australian National Drag Racing Association has added an 11th event to the just-released Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series calendar at the end of 2019. The South Coast Nationals will be held Dec. 14-15 at South Coast Raceway in addition to the Jan. 11-12, 2020, event already announced at the track.   [09/23/19]