Monday, December 31, 2007
Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. announced that Dennis “Kilowatt” Berube set a new National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA) electric vehicle world speed record driving an electric dragster powered by Altairnano battery packs. This is the 17th consecutive year that Dennis Berube has held the world record for fastest electric vehicle in a quarter mile.
The 2008 Challenger Super Stock Concept is the sister car to the orange Challenger Concept which has been on the show circuit for 15 months — the car which inspired DaimlerChrysler to actually produce the Challenger as a 2008 model. And the car which has every Mopar geek worth his pushrods foaming at the mouth.
Nearly everyone who knows anything about auto racing knows about Talladega Superspeedway. Fewer may know about the origins of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. But, according to Don Naman – who ran the speedway from 1970-88 before moving over to run the Hall of Fame, where he stayed until 2000 – the Hall, or at least the concept for it, has existed as long as its next-door neighbor.
Racing in the Charlotte area is going straight in 2008. With three major NASCAR weekends plus dozens of other events scheduled once again for Lowe's Motor Speedway -- which, in case you missed it, will be right where it has always been in Concord -- oval-track racing will once again bring thousands of people and millions of dollars to the area in the year ahead. But something new is coming.
The final installment of NHRA.com's year in review points out all the exciting happenings of October, November, and December.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
After 56 years of leading NHRA Championship Drag Racing from its inception into a sporting entity featuring more than 80,000 members worldwide, founder Wally Parks passes away on Sept. 28 at the age of 94. Parks' death is preceded by a scary accident involving John Force and Kenny Bernstein that hospitalizes 14-time champion Force for 23 days at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. NHRA.com is spending the last few days of 2007 revisiting the headlines of the year in quarterly installments.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
The Dakota Drag Racing Association is near to closing a land deal that would make them the owner of the state’s only quarter-mile drag strip.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Prosecutors are dragging their feet on prosecuting the 27 year old who beat 68 year old drag racing legend Nye Frank in an altercation that resulted in a heart attack and death.
George Swansbrough, owner of Skyview Drags in Tioga Center, received the International Hot Rod Association Track of the Year Award.
As a backward way of beginning a review of the 2007 motorsports season, I'd like to say this should be the second “golden era” of IndyCar racing. But that is clearly not the case.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Veteran motorsports journalist Norm Froscher soon will receive yet another well-deserved accolade. The Gainesville, Fla. native will be inducted into the National Hot Rod Association's Southeast Division 2 Hall of Fame on Jan. 5 in Orlando, at the Florida Hotel and Conference Center.
The excitement of the first season of competition under the new Countdown to the Championship was the talk of the preseason one year ago as teams spent the final month of the off-season testing their cars and announcing new sponsorship deals. By the end of March, the season was in full swing, albeit under a cloud sorrow after the untimely death of super-popular Funny Car star Eric Medlen in a testing accident. Part one of four.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Lee County man races ahead
Some people would be happy to sit back and savor a year that produced a world championship and racing records, but Jason Scruggs didn't reach the top of the American Drag Racing League thinking about the past. He is moving forward and thinking about how to go faster in 2008.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Funny Car racer Phil Burkart Jr. isn't sure what to think this off-season. Like every other drag racer and fan, he's hopeful that his idol, John Force, who was severely injured Sept. 23 in Dallas, is back to 100-percent health as soon as possible. On the other hand, after Force and his stable of crew chiefs hand-picked Burkart to fill-in for Force at the last two races of the year, there's that little part of him that wants the dream to continue for just awhile longer.
Not many people can rebuild an automobile clutch in less than 45 minutes. But Steve Cultrera of Eliot, Maine, can, and his knowledge of the clutch and effort helped lead the racing team he works for to a world championship.
This is a great video with not only some great photos but some messages for the NHRA.
When I think of the 'Need for Speed' series, a couple of things come to mind: customization, fun tracks and cops. The newest, 'Need for Speed: ProStreet,' fails on two of those counts.
ANRA 2007 Points Champion Photos
Congratulations to the champions of the 2007 American Nostalgia Racing Association series. Here are 10 photos of the 2007 ANRA champs in action.
Drag Racing List - ANRA 2007 Finals Winners Photos
The final American Nostalgia Racing Association event of the season took place on November 10, 11, and 12, 2007. Here are ten photos of the race winners in action.
ANRA Cool August Nights Winners Photos
ANRA Cool August Nights was rained out in August, but they finished the eliminations at the Finals on Saturday, November 10, 2007. Here are 10 photos of the winners in action at the Cool August Nights event.
Monday, December 24, 2007
You'd better watch out. You'd better not cry. It won’t do you any good to pout, either. What's the line? 'No crying in drag racing.' That goes for whining. Let's see who gets candy canes and who gets lumps of coal in their Christmas stockings this year.
An appreciation of Technical Ecstacy both past and present with a candid pantheistic/futuristic outlook.
Every drag racing fan worth his weight in nitro knows that 'Big Daddy' Don Garlits campaigned the first successful rear-engine dragster, right? Wrong.
Six-Second Santa!
If you weren't good this year, Santa is COMING for you in a big way! Happy Holidays to all from Draglist.com!
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Ending weeks of speculation, Pro Stock Motorcycle team owners Karl and Kim Klement announced that three-time NHRA POWERade champ Angelle Sampey will pilot their Rush Racing Products Buell in 2008.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
The last game in the Need for Speed series, Carbon, featured a variety of control schemes and some fun arcade-style racing, which raises expectations for this latest installment. If you can't sense the impending disappointment yet, don't worry - you will.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Low, loud and meaner than a junkyard dog, this South Australian S15 is going to start kicking heads both here and abroad.
2007 Outlaw Fuel Altered Season Review
It has taken me the better part of an hour to decide how to start off the 2007 re-cap article for the Outlaw Fuel Altered Association, simply because this season was like no other in the circuit’s eleven year history.
The History of Violence
That’s the thing about drag racing… and more specifically, the 1960’s era of the sport… It was dangerous man. More than dangerous, it was absolutely violent. Little to no sophistication behind huge amounts of horsepower. Drivers were passengers. Their right foot controlled whether the game was on or off. Go or no go. Live or risk.
Mythbusters to bust myth electric cars are slow in episode next season
According to the show's producer, they are filming an episode, to air next season, on busting the myth that electric cars are slow. The episode will include races between electric and gas; ATVs, go-carts and cars.
This arcade style game lets you become a drag racing star. Unlike other racing games this one lets you pick actual real life parts to upgrade your car.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Fans of NHRA Drag Racing who have a need for speed during this off-season can quench their thirst for the world's fastest motorsport by tuning into ESPN Classic each weekday at 11 a.m. The popular sports channel continues to offer daily airings of past NHRA POWERade Series events.
Led by defending event runner-up Morgan Lucas, a handful of top drivers from NHRA POWERade Drag Racing will take on a group of NASCAR stars in the third annual Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge, Jan. 3-5 at the Olympic Sports Complex in Lake Placid, N.Y.
The Mittler brothers, Mike and Paul, always had an interest in racing. Perhaps that's why their Mittler Bros. machinery is now in race car garages across the country.
The organization that runs Redding's drag strip must repay the final $5,955.40 in interest it owes the city on a 2003 loan.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Current Eliminator V sets new world speed record for electric vehicles
Got a need for speed? Strap on a battery pack and his the track. That's the idea behind the Current Eliminator V, which set a new electric dragster world speed record in the National Hot Rod Association's (NHRA) Super Pro class of 153.6 mph.
Entries for PINKS All Out at Infineon Raceway are nearly sold out, as racers have acted fast to secure their spots in the two-day drag racing event.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The man often called 'the Thomas Edison of electric drag racing' has shattered his own top speed record by more than half a second, tearing through the quarter mile at 8.10 seconds and soundly spanking more than a few fossil-fueled cars.
Fuller and team visit Caterpillar's home in Peoria
Championship runner-up Rod Fuller and his David Powers Motorsports teammates recently spent four days at the Peoria, Ill., home of their primary sponsor, Caterpillar.
Top Fuel driver Urs Erbacher, one of the latest drivers from across the pond to take on the POWERade Series’ best, has hired veteran tuner Wayne Dupuy to lead his team in 2008 with an eye on an expanded schedule here.
Local developers plan to begin work soon on a $45 million project that will bring a paved race-car track, a motocross dirt track, a drag-racing strip, industrial and RV parks and a 7,500-seat coliseum to Mid-Missouri over the next several years.
West Australian Top Fuel Driver Martin Stamatis will be looking to ‘wind up the wick’ at Willowbank Raceway for the January 4/5 Night Fire Top Fuel Spectacular and round four of the ANDRA Top Fuel Spectacular after a up and down Sydney round three last weekend.
1800-Entertainment: Nothin' But Action. Shane and Eric Boyungs provide great drag racing videos from the heartland.
'I have been racing for a long time and I have seen a lot of crazy things and met plenty of interesting people,' Knoll said. 'There is something special about a guy who wants to race so badly he will carry his dragster on an open bed ramp truck.'
Monday, December 17, 2007
Fazil Khan and his team FRK Racing from Bangalore have come to Coimbatore for the second round of the MRF Racing Challenge with a mission: to put his team of 12 cars to test in the new category of CC to weight ratio in the races this weekend.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Hot Wheels #11 on List of Top Toys
Man, this blog took me back. One of my favorite childhood pastimes and no doubt an early igniter of my love of drag racing.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Historic Track East of
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In 2004 the track was renamed
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Curtis, who has been involved at Thompson for over 18 seasons, left the decision up to his racers. But that does not mean he did not make his opinion known.
Polburn is excited the track where he spent much of his career as a promoter is back in the IHRA fold.
“I have a soft spot for Thompson because I have so many great memories there,” he said. “It’s a great track with hard-core loyal racers in a tremendous market. The future is very bright at Thompson and we look forward to working with Jim Curtis to give his racers what they expect from IHRA…a strong commitment to local drag racing, outstanding special programs and support from a sanctioning body that truly cares about each and every one ऑफ़ its member tracks. 2008 is going to be a great year at Thompson with it’s 50th Anniversary celebration, the Summit SuperSeries and a full schedule of racing action all summer.”
Bishop Wins at
Charles Bishop of
Friday, December 14, 2007
Since this off season is pretty brutal with all the changes and waiting for the schedules and rules, i was really bummed about the future of import drag racing. Sitting back and taking it all in, really got me thinking about how we all got here in the first place.
The 2005 Funny Car world champion, driver of the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T for Don Schumacher Racing, discusses his plans for the off-season, his future goals in NHRA, his status as a soccer dad, and the recently announced Blue Boxes.
Hi everyone. We just hit a cool milestone. Of the 68 thousand draglist entries we have collected, 10,000 of them now have photos! Of course our long term goal is one photo per entry. While that will most likely never happen, Danny and our hundreds of contributors will keep on adding them until we get as many as we can! Thanks to everyone for their support.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
The New Plymouth 21-year-old finished second in her first race, which was in the Super Gas class of this month's New Zealand Drag Racing Association Central Nationals event.
Drag racing's real Deel
When it comes to junior drag racing, Yuba City’s Kevin Deel is the real deal.
Top Fuelers and Funny Cars will be fitted with a Ford Racing "Blue Box" crash sensor to record data during all events of the 2008 NHRA season. The announcement this week came after seven months of testing the devices on the Mustang Funny Cars operated by John Force Racing.
Mills Gives Thanks
Monica Mills of Barbourville, Ky., took her second big check of the season in the Thanksgiving Classic at London Dragway, taking the top prize in the Ultimate 32 shootout. Monica's dragster covered the eighth-mile in 4.8143 seconds, with a top speed of 141.26 mph on a dial-in of 4.79, defeating Jacob Gregory of London, who posted a 5.6058 ET and a speed of 121.68 on a dial-in of 5.57. Monica also had a .5409-.5440 advantage on the starting line for an MOV of 0.0146. Photo by London Dragway. - John Potts
By webmaster@racingnetsource.com(webmaster@racingnetsource.com)
While cruising the isles at the PRI Show the Agent came across a couple of new items for the supercharger set. The first was this new design carbon fiber hat from supercharger guru Darren Mayer at DMPE.
The museums you have to see!
By Ken Levine(Ken Levine)
The Big Daddy Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing The Teddy Bear Museum The International Towing & Recovery Hall of Fame/Museum The Trash Museum The Sewing Machine Museum The Museum to the Creator of Conan the Barbarian.
An Interview with Nora Coon, 19 Year Old Author
By Bluestalking Reader
At least, not without tossing in drag racing, modern-day Malaysian pirates, pyromaniacs, and exotic dancers. Last year's novel, though it didn't quite stick to the original plot, was a little more faithful.
Street racing isn't drag racing - Tracy Press
By Matt
Street racing isn't drag racing However, I hope that you can help us educate your readers in the differences between drag racing, a legal sport, and illegal street racing
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Racing and Romance
And now for something completely different: The Thrill of the Chase is a well-reviewed, attractive new hardcover novel that stars technician and grassroots drag racer Sarah Matell as she tries to work out a functional relationship to both her car and her man.
Ian Tocher from Drag Racing Online provides a really nice review of the 2007 PRI show in Orlando.
Bright and bubbly Amanda Shepherd couldn’t be more excited about returning to the track at which she made her maiden finals appearance during only her second competitive event in September, as she prepares to head to Willowbank Raceway for the January 4/5 Night Fire Top Fuel Spectacular.
Bristol Dragway announced Tuesday that it would not host a bracket racing points series in 2008. Wow, how did this one slip in under the radar?
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The Verbotomy team comes up with some clever names for annoying driver monkeyshines.
During working hours, you’ll find him tuning up the produce department at the College Road Safeway. After working hours, if you’re a drag-racing fan, you might spot Nelson behind the wheel of his ‘69 Dodge Dart.
ESPN2 commentator Mike Dunn, a former star in NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car competition, scored a runner-up finish to two-time Australian series champion Phil Read Sunday at the International Top Fuel Challenge at Western Sydney International Dragway.
Monday, December 10, 2007
When you think of a car that is born tough, incredibly masculine and delivers high-performance, actually you are thinking of a muscle car.
Create your own super charged car, then take it out for a spin in exciting locations, from a drag racing track to a high speed police chase!
Sunday, December 09, 2007
With voting completed for the 2007 All-America Auto Racing Team, five drivers emerge as contenders for the Jerry Titus award.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
NHRA Funny Car driver Ashley Force has been named No. 10 in Yahoo!’s Top Trends in Search for 2007 in the sports news category, it was announced recently by the global Internet site that is among the most trafficked Web destination worldwide.
Friday, December 07, 2007
Time to check in with Bob Bradley and his nostalgia fuel dragster website and blog. Congrats to Bob on new personal bests in the six second, 200 mph zone at Bradenton.
The Toyota Racing Development (TRD) Rally Team - fresh from back-to-back Australian Rally Championship (ARC) titles in 2006 and 07 - will be chasing a three-peat in 2008 with a pair of Super 2000 Corollas.
Kenny Bernstein is retiring -- again. This time, the NHRA legend expects it to stick.
Robert 'Red' Byron, the first driver to win a NASCAR points championship, is among a diverse group to be inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. The six-person Class of 2008, announced Thursday, also includes Art Arfons, Bill 'Grumpy' Jenkins, Frank Kurtis, Everett 'Cotton' Owens and Ralph Seagraves. They will be enshrined on April 24.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
While a lot of folks see the fuel ban as a dark period for the sport, I see it as the pinnacle. The fuel limitation lead to guys trying to figure out how to go faster with less.
DRM Goes Digital
IHRA's official magazine now available in digital form on www.ihra.com/dragreview
DRM, the official magazine of IHRA drag racing and the Knoll Gas Nitro Jam, will now be available online at www.ihra.com/dragreview. Issues #21 through #23, the final three issues of the 2007 season, will be free to all visitors to nitrojam.com while registration with a membership number will be required beginning with Issue #1 of 2008. You will be asked to enter an e-mail address and zip code to view Issues #21 through #23
Each issue in 2008 will be available immediately after its completion for all IHRA members on a protected site. When each new issue is released the previous issue will become free to all nitrojam.com/ihra.com visitors.
"This is an excellent supplement to our print edition of DRM," managing editor Pam Marchyshyn said. "Not only is this a bonus for DRM readers, it is a huge value-added advantage for DRM advertisers. This project has been in the works for awhile but we wanted to do it right. The company we have chosen to work with does a fantastic job of creating clear, high-quality virtual pages which we know our members will enjoy."
IHRA director of Internet and new media Jeff Lee thinks the time has come for DRM to move forward into the "Information Age.
"As technology moves forward, people are getting more and more of their media from the internet in addition to the traditional print, radio and television sources," Lee said. "We figured a great way to serve our members, fans and advertisers was to put DRM online for the masses. Not only will this increase our overall circulation of the magazine, but the advertisers will now have links directly to their websites from their ads. We will also soon have the option of inserting video ads into the online version of the magazine. Users will be able to do things like print and save individual pages or stories, zoom in on the pages, increase font size, and translate text to another language. This is a really slick piece of technology that will improve the user experience of our broadband connected, flash enabled site visitors."
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
JEGS Mail Order, a nationwide leader in sales and distribution of parts and supplies for the aftermarket performance industry, has signed a multi-year agreement with NHRA to sponsor all three NHRA SPORTSnationals events.
Meet The Fastest Diesel Powered Drag Pickup
The engineers at Banks Power believe that diesel is the key to 'guilt free performance' and have decided to back up their words with timeslips.
Akron native and world speed record holder, Art Arfons, died Dec. 3. He was 81.
"A Rotorua boy racer wants to talk to local authorities to try and establish a legal drag strip. James Simmons says boy racers are here to stay and the only way to stop illegal street racing is to have a drag strip where young drivers can race in a controlled environment.
To help preserve NHRA's rich history and tradition while capitalizing on the success of nostalgia drag racing competition, NHRA has formed the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series that will crown year-end points champions in 14 categories.
Monday, December 03, 2007
To help preserve NHRA's rich history and tradition while capitalizing on the success of nostalgia drag racing competition, NHRA has formed the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series that will crown year-end points champions in 14 categories.
Following up on her Rookie of the Year season as driver of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang Funny Car, Ashley Force was showing off an engagement ring Sunday during the annual John Force Holiday Car Show.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
If you’ve never seen drag racing in person, Steve Earwood can’t fully explain what it’s like. You don’t simply watch drag racing. You feel it.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Drag racer Clayton Neuman will enter the Snowmobile Hall Of Fame in St. Germain, Wis. this winter. Neuman and his brothers have been a drag racing force since the early 1970s, and are still involved with ice drag racing.
Chief Pontiac Productions and Virginia Motorsports Park celebrated their fourth year together with another fantastic three-day-long weekend of drag racing, car shows, and Pontiac camaraderie.
NOPI Motorsports has announced the schedule for the 2008 “NOPI Drag Racing Series sanctioned by NHRA.
You all had such strong reactions to our little NASCAR query that we're going to keep it going. So, for those of you who bitched and moaned about, 'turn left, turn left, turn left, turn left,' here's a motorized endeavor that features no turning whatsoever.