Wednesday, October 31, 2007

NITROJAM.COM ROLLOUT NOVEMBER 2, 2007

NORWALK, Ohio (October 31, 2007) – Live Nation Motor Sports, promoters and producers of the International Hot Rod Association announced today the two-phase rollout of the new series' web sites: NitroJam.com, StreetWarriorz.com, ThunderJam.com, ProAm.ihracom, and SuperSeries.ihracom. The new and improved sites will be fan and competitor friendly sites, with much improved navigation, and they are set to rollout with phase one on November 2, 2007.

Currently IHRA.com features content for the five series sanctioned by IHRA; Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam, O'Reilly Auto Parts Thunder Jam, Kumho Street Warriorz, Mr. Gasket ProAm, and Summit Super Series. The first phase will be the creation of the new Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam series web site, NitroJam.com. The remaining four series will remain on IHRA.com until early January of 2008 when phase two is complete. The transformation and separation of each series into its own series web site will allow for easier fan and competitor navigation. The web sites will be able to dedicate full attention to each series' sponsors, points, results, news, and event specific details that each series properly deserves. Though each series will have its own URL, navigation between each series will be readily available from each site.

"We are extremely excited about the new site(s). The goal is to not only make our sites the information hub for drag racers, fans and sponsors, but to offer an interactive experience as well. With five series under the Norwalk properties umbrella, we have a lot of information to share and stories to tell; it is too much to house all in one site. The individual sites will allow people to navigate more easily and allow us to feature more pertinent news, stories, promotions and sponsors," said Ellen Watts, Marketing Manager for the Nitro Jam series.
How's Bob Motz Doing?
Updates on the Bob's condition after his 2007 fire in the world's fastest jet truck.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Dragster Brasil
The latest drag news from Brazil. Better pull out the Portuguese-English dictionaries!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Bret's a Hall of Famer

Our own Bret Kepner gets inducted into the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame. Congrats, Bret! Photos taken by Marianne.

Monday, October 22, 2007

What turns his crank
At the close of a 40-plus-year career that has included being a Grand Prix racer, designing and building race cars, and setting a speed record in a self-designed motorboat, Ron Tourte's engine may have cooled a bit. But his love for motor sports is merely shifting gears.
Drag racing's most successful female competitor facing time on the sidelines
The personal ad will read something like this: 37-year-old SWF, 5 feet, 100 pounds with athletic build ISO true love on the dragstrip with 190-mph PSM team. I like guys named Wally, win lights, my (national) record collection, earning trophies, making boys cry, and short walks to the winner's circle. Call me anytime. I'm waiting by the phone.
Glick a race winner
A death often brings talk of the person's era. Shav Glick's triggers the plural. Eras.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Volume Alert: Chevy II in Full Song
Don't you love the sound of this high-winging Chevy II Stick car?

http://BENCHSEATRACIN.smugmug.com/photos/192189535-O.mpg
Respected motorsports writer, NHRA supporter Glick dies
Shav Glick gave drag racing legitimate press coverage when few other newspaper writers would.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Goodguys Top 10 of 2007 Headed to Scottsdale

Scottsdale, AZ – For the first time ever, the Top 10 Goodguys 'Of the Year" award cars will be displayed together as a group at the 10th Southwest Nationals, November 16, 17 & 18 at Westworld in Scottsdale, Arizona. The cars will come to the desert from all across the nation.

Seven of the Top 10 awards already have a winner. The remaining three hang in the balance and will be finalized by Friday, November 2nd .  Here's a look at the winners so far:

Street Rod of the Year – Dennis DeCamp, West Covina, CA 1932 Ford Roadster

Street Machine of the Year – Doug Hoppe, Sioux Center, IA 1967 Ford Mustang

Hot Rod of the Year – Larry Brunkala, Mentor, OH, 1932 Ford 5 Window Coupe

America's Most Beautiful Street Rod – Kevin Alstott, Sioux Falls, IA 1935 Ford roadster

Street Rod d'Elegance - Kevin Alstott, Sioux Falls, IA 1935 Ford roadster

Custom Rod of the Year – Wes Rydell, Grand Forks, ND 1954 Chevy Bel Air

Truck of the Year (early – through 1952 vintage) Gary Caton, Harrodsburg, KY 1948 Chevy Pickup

Truck of the Year (late – 1953 through 1972 vintage) – Award winner announced Friday, November 2nd

Kustom of the Year ( kustoms 1936 through 1964 vintage) Award winner announced Friday, November 2nd

Muscle Car of the Year (through 1972 vintage) Award winner announced Friday, November 2nd

The cars will all be displayed together throughout the Southwest Nationals weekend in front of the Goodguys big rig display located on the paved upper paddock at Westworld. "This is a historical event," said Goodguys V.P. of Event Operations Harry Daviess. "We've never had all of our major award-winning cars at the same event. These are ten the world's finest automobiles. The fans will get to see all divisions of cars in one place – from street machines and muscle cars to trick trucks to rods & customs. It will be the cream of the crop.

The Goodguys 10th Southwest Nationals is the final event of the 2007 Goodguys Rod & Custom Association's season. The event features over 2,500 rods, customs & classics through 1972 vintage. Event hours are 8am to 5pm Friday and Saturday and 8am to 3pm Sunday. For more, log on to www.good-guys.com

Monday, October 15, 2007



Nostalgia Nationals at Carolina Dragway
Fred Simmons of Georgia Drag Racing.com offers up 28 shots of the action at Carolina Dragway on October 13, 2007. I was there and it was great.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

National Guard Named ADRL's Presenting Sponsor

ENNIS, Texas (Oct. 13, 2007) - The American Drag Racing League and the Army National Guard announced today that they have signed a sponsorship agreement that will make the National Guard the presenting sponsor for the ADRL's national event series. Beginning with the 2008 season, the series will be officially known as the Flowmaster American Drag Racing League presented by the National Guard.

"The partnership between the Guard and the ADRL is a completely natural one. That's because the future of the Army National Guard, as well as that of the ADRL, rests with the young men and women across our nation, who are well-educated, excited by emerging technologies, and highly motivated to do great things for themselves and for the greater good of our communities," said MAJ Michael Baptista, Chief of Advertising for the Army National Guard. "The men and women who compete in the ADRL are incredibly brave and courageous, which are the same traits that embody a National Guard soldier."

ADRL President Kenny Nowling said that the addition of the Army National Guard to the ADRL family will help the series reach younger generations of fans.

"We're extremely excited that the National Guard has joined us in our effort to present the ADRL to the youth of America. It has been our goal bring a younger generation of fans into drag racing, and this partnership will certainly help with those efforts," Nowling said. "This partnership with the National Guard not only solidifies our position within our industry, it's also exciting for me personally. I have built the ADRL around the same core beliefs that the Army National Guard represents."

The agreement between the ADRL and the Army National Guard includes a number of additional features and programs that will be announced during the off-season. The ADRL's 2007 season concludes with this weekend's AlphaTrade ADRL World Finals at Texas Motorplex.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Wally Parks Tribute Part II: From Oklahoma to California

Wally Parks Tribute Part II: From Oklahoma to California

In the second video clip from our 2001 interview, Wally talks about his amazing trip to California as a kid in a model T and the conditions he found when he arrived. As he points out it was a real Grapes of Wrath story.

http://www.ahrf.com/video.php


I've been havin' some hard travelin', I thought you knowed
I've been havin' some hard travelin', way down the road
I've been havin' some hard travelin', hard ramblin', hard gamblin'
I've been havin' some hard travelin', lord

Hard Travelin' by Woodie Guthrie

Monday, October 08, 2007

Classic Fuel Dragster Updates
Something for everybody... the 2007 Governors Cup Nostalgia Top Fuel and Part 2 of the Hampshire Bros. - Merchants of Speed.

2007 Sacramento Governors Cup

The Hampsire Bros. - Merchants of Speed - Part 2

Sunday, October 07, 2007



1965 Preston Honea Hemi Marlin Pics
Thought you guys might get a kick out of my tribute car to Preston. He's lent me some cool personal stuff and told some cool stories about the original wheelstander. Steve Drucker

Monday, October 01, 2007

Connie Swingle Tribute
Drag racing lost one of its original characters when Connie Swingle passed away on September 29. Don Ewald offers this tribute.