The International Drag Bike League season opener, the Pingel Spring Nationals, scheduled for Apr. 21-23 at Maryland International Raceway has been canceled due to a rainy weather forecast.

The event will be held May 18-21 in conjunction with the MTC Summer Nationals.

To accommodate the extra racers expected to take part in this huge event, IDBL has extended track availability. On Thursday, May 18, there will be a special test and tune from 6:30 to 11 p.m. Testing will continue Friday, May 19, with gates opening at 9 a.m. and Early Bird Testing open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Shinko Pro ET and Lady Law Street ET competitors will get an official time run at about 5:15 p.m. with eliminations slated for 7 p.m. [04/20/17]

A tip of the Agent’s fedora to Spike and Ralph Gorr for helping our photographer, Tim Marshall, during the drag boat races in Parker, AZ. That’s Spike at the helm of the “My Way” Top Alcohol Flat.

Marshall’s car surprised him with a broken brake caliper. The Gorrs took the part to their nearby shop in Lake Havasu City and repaired it, taking nothing but Marshall’s sincere thanks in payment. To which we add our own. [04/20/17]

Brian Cireddu

For the fifth straight year, co-promoters Pete Biondo and Kyle Seipel brought their Spring Fling brand of races to the west coast at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

First up for the final day on Saturday, April 15, was the Spring Fling Reaction Time Challenge. Twenty randomly selected competitors were given one shot at the ‘tree. Any .00X reaction time gets that person $100. It gets even better for a perfect reaction time, where 1,000 is given. Three people earned the $100: Christopher Northrup, Chris Borges and Kurt Gross. Steve Hayes put up a trip-zip perfect reaction time which got him ten $100 bills.

It was down to two cars in the Pro 32 final and both from Ohio. Brian Cireddu and “Nasty Nick” Hastings are certainly quite familiar with each other and Cireddu wasn’t taking any chances, using a .009 reaction time coupled with a dead-on the dial with a “4” preceded Hastings’ .022 light to win the class and move into the coveted seventh round of the Super Pro field where there remained nine cars left: Cireddu, Sean Shaffer, Greg Duffield, Alan Hoefer, Marco Perivolaris, Steve Casner, Mark Simonian, Thursday race winner Rayce Kidd, and Greg Heaton.

Marco Perivolaris

After that seventh round, the survivors were Cireddu, Duffield, Perivolaris, and Shaffer, with Hoefer earning the bye run due to his .002 reaction time in the previous round. With the bye run based on the best reaction time, it would stand to reason that when Cireddu defeated Duffield with a .002 reaction time, he should have the bye except for the fact that he had already had a bye. However, when Perivolaris defeated Shaffer and Hoefer on a bye, each of the three drivers left had already had a bye run. The bye then reverts back to the best reaction time which meant the Pro 32 winner Cireddu and his door car would be bottom-bulbing his way into the final against either Perivolaris or Hoefer.

The Pro 32 door cars have had quite a bit to say in regards to winning rounds this week as in the four races, the finals has consisted of two bottom bulb racers along with one of them in the semifinals of the Million. In that semi, Perivolaris used a .013 reaction to defeat Hoefer and end the hopes of a final with two door cars.

In the final, while Cireddu left first in part to his handicap advantage, it was the 22-year old Perivolaris who had the reaction time advantage and used it to score the big win.

Next up on the Spring Fling schedule is the K&N Spring Fling presented by Optima Batteries on May 2-6 at Galot Motorsports Park in Dunn, NC.  (John DiBartolomeo photos) [04/20/17]

Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels has expanded its line of ET Street R Bias tires for drag racing applications with the addition of 28x11.59-17. The new D.O.T-approved ET Street R Bias size, like all tires in the line, offers the latest ET Drag technology for ultimate traction, a minimal tread void for ultimate dry traction, and is well suited for high-horsepower applications. [04/20/17]