Gateway adds one more ‘Wide Open Wednesday’

A bonus Wide Open Wednesday event has been added to Gateway Motorsports Park’s schedule on Oct. 25.

 

Wide Open Wednesday is just that – grudge racing, Test ‘n’ Tune or just learning how to drag race. Gates open at 4:30 p.m. and the track closes at 10:30 p.m.  [10/17/17]

Most PDRA championships to be decided at Virginia Finals

Cary Goforth has already secured the Extreme Pro Stock championship.  (Joe McHugh photo)

 

The Professional Drag Racers Association will wrap up its fourth season this weekend at the PDRA World Finals at Virginia Motorsports Park, Oct. 19-21.

 

“We had over 360 cars competing at the World Finals last year,” said Bob Harris, PDRA race director. “It’s become our biggest race of the year. I’ve actually taken more phone calls leading up to this year’s race than I did last year, but I think a lot of that is a credit to the forecast. Right now, they’re calling for sunny skies throughout the weekend with temperatures that should make for some record-breaking runs.”

 

While three PDRA world champions have already been decided – Cary Goforth in Extreme Pro Stock, Matt Cooke in Top Dragster, and Amber Franklin in Junior Dragster – there are still several championships on the line. Pro Extreme, Pro Boost, Pro Nitrous, Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Top Sportsman Elite 16 and Quick 32, and Top Junior Dragster will all be decided at this event.

 

Competing for a PDRA world championship for the first time this weekend will be racers in Extreme Outlaw 632, which is joining the series for the fourth time this season.

 

While not competing for championships, the PDRA will also welcome Outlaw 10.5 competitors and Edelbrock Bracket Bash racers. Outlaw 10.5, known for its array of powerplant combinations and 10.5-inch tires, is making its only appearance on the 2017 PDRA tour. Bracket Bash is a yearlong series featuring dozens of local bracket racers.  [10/17/17]

Rampy, Barker lock up NHRA Lucas Oil world championships

David Rampy in action last month at Gateway Motorsports Park. (Ron Lewis photo)

 

David Rampy and Jeffrey Barker each clinched NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series World Championships Oct. 15 at Silver Dollar Raceway in Reynolds, GA.

 

Rampy, Piedmont, AL, outran the Comp Eliminator class taking the win and the championship in knocking out Chuck Haubiel in the final round. It was close at the start but Rampy had the power to out run Haubiel with a 7.248 second, 166.60 mph run to Haubiel’s 8.192, 160.92. The win increased Rampy’s points total to 699 putting him out of reach of all other competitors and giving him the Lucas Oil World Championship.

 

Barker, Kathleen, GA, fell in round two but gained 10 valuable championship points increasing his total to 675 in Top Sportsman, which put him out of reach of Sandy Wilkins who failed to increase his points total this weekend in Reynolds. Wilkins went out to event winner Tracy Barnes in the semifinals, as Barnes went on to beat Shawn Morrow for the Top Sportsman event win. This is Barker’s second NHRA Lucas Oil World Championship having won the title in 2015 as well.

 

In the Top Dragster class it was Corey Ferrell and Lauren Freer going to battle. Ferrell was perfect off the line with a .000-second reaction time and Freer was right there at .001. Then Ferrell went 6.488 on the 6.49 dial to Freer’s 6.857 on the 6.86 with Ferrell taking the win.

 

Southeast Division racers head to Rockingham Dragway for their final NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series race of the 2017 season, October 27-29.

 

SUPER STOCK: Aaron Allison, Macedonia, OH, '90 Cavalier, SS/BM, 9.211, 128.10 def. Ronnie Courtney, Johnston, SC, '05 Cavalier, GT/F, 10.617, 100.82.

 

STOCK: Jeff Hairrington, Kathleen, GA, '14 Ford, FS/F, 10.250, 123.31 def. Lindsey Brand, Hayden, AL, '73 Formula, G/SA, 11.220, 115.95.

 

SUPER COMP: Rusty Cook, Cynthiana, KY, '13 American, 8.899, 169.02 def. Greg Trew, Georgetown, TN, '03 Undercover, 8.893, 169.91.

 

SUPER GAS: Jeremy Mason, Richmond, KY, '66 Nova, 9.916, 148.36 def. Jim Perry, Niota, TN, '00 S-10, 9.952, 155.92.

 

SUPER STREET: Scott Steiner, New York, NY, '55 Chevy, 10.855, 126.00 def. Matt Weston, Wellford, SC, '70 Camaro, 10.850, 146.57.

 

JR DRAGSTER 13-17: Carson Brown, Blountville, TN, dragster, 8.062, 74.29 def. Autumn Greene, Bradenton, FL, dragster, foul.

 

JR DRAGSTER 10-12: Logan Westmoreland, Greenwood, SC, dragster, 9.150, 67.95 def. Corey Kyle, Gay, GA, dragster, 8.923, 72.85.

 

JR DRAGSTER 6-9: Brady Walker, Loganville, GA, dragster, 13.971, 42.03 def. Stephen Sexton, Cleveland, GA, dragster, 12.105, 53.05.   [10/17/17]

English Racing hopes to set new GT-R record at World Cup Finals

Lucas English will bring the Extreme Turbo Systems Nissan GT-R to the Haltech World Cup Finals at Maryland International Dragway on Nov. 1-5.

 

The car recently set the GT-R record at 6.88 at Woodburn Dragstrip and will be competing in the Radial vs. Modified class at Maryland.

 

“Imports always get a bad rap for never being able to go rounds; obviously, we have small motors with big turbos pushing the limits, so it is much harder to go rounds since they are always so high-strung,” said English. “If we can qualify in the top five or six and make it to the semifinals or finals, we will be pretty happy.” (photo courtesy Miller Brothers Productions)  [10/17/17]

New Product of the Day

 

E-Force R2650 Supercharger System from Edelbrock

Edelbrock recently super-sized its E-Ford supercharger lineup with the new R2650 system, which sports an even larger Eaton TVS rotor pack. Other features include: 170-degree twist; optimized length-over-diameter ratio for better sealing; bigger bearing and thicker timing gears for durability; pressure relief ports in bearing plate for reduced input power; and it’s 15 percent larger than the TVS 2300. Available for 2015-2017 Mustang GTs and Ford F-150s powered by the Coyote 5.0-liter V8. [10/17/17]

VOLUME XIX,  NUMBER 10 - OCTOBER  2017

Texas TAFC finals is quickest side-by-side in history

Todd Bruce, Doug Gordon, and Thomas Marlow all scored final round victories Sunday evening, Oct. 15, during the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex.

That’s Todd Bruce. Shades of Brent Fanning and his “Udder Nonsense” vehicles! (Ron Lewis photo)

 

Bruce, of Horace, ND, pulled the upset in Top Alcohol Dragster final round as he got the starting line advantage and powered his dragster to 5.260 seconds, 275.96 mph, upsetting #1 qualifier Megan Meyer, Olathe, KS. Meyer had mechanical issues and coasted to a 7.110 at 141.80 mph.

Megan Meyer set Low ET of 5.167 seconds and Top Speed of 278.58 mph.  (Ron Lewis photo)

 

Former Top Fuel driver Spencer Massey was at the wheel of a TAD in Dallas. He took the first-round win, but lost to Bruce in the second. Pro Stock driver Alex Laughlin also wheeled the Gas Monkey TAD, but didn’t make the field.

The Top Alcohol Funny Car final round produced the quickest side-by-side race in TAFC history. Gordon (far lane), Paso Robles, CA, left the starting line first and Annie Whiteley, Grand Junction, CO, closed the gap but ran out of track. Gordon recorded the second quickest pass in TAFC history to take the national event Wally trophy, running 5.376 seconds at 272.23 mph. Whiteley set a TAFC speed record at 275.00 mph while running 5.382 seconds for fifth quickest pass in TAFC history.  (Ron Lewis photo)

 

COMP: Clint Neff, Roadster, 7.654, 169.74 def. Will Hatcher, Dragster, 6.629, 177.98.

 

SUPER STOCK: Slate Cummings, Chevy Cavalier, 9.344, 139.95 def. Pete Peery, Oldsmobile, 9.653, 136.32.

 

STOCK: Thomas Marlow, Ford Mustang, 10.243, 121.25 def. Jeff Lopez, Chevy Camaro, 9.482, 127.19.

 

SUPER COMP: Craig Anderson, Dragster, 8.922, 176.21 def. Ryan Herem, Dragster, 8.912, 169.91.

 

SUPER GAS: Tommy Phillips, Chevy Corvette, 9.916, 161.96 def. Jerry Debusk, Ford Probe, 9.931, 165.56.

 

TOP DRAGSTER: Shane Eperjesi, Dragster, 6.404, 209.75 def. Wade Pennington, Dragster, 5.965, 213.20.

 

TOP SPORTSMAN: Greg Lair, Chevy Camaro, 6.485, 214.04 def. Aaron Philpot, Chevy Cavalier, 7.014, 197.19.  [10/17/17]

Cottrell and lots more on ‘Nitro Reports’ tonight

It’s time for the October Nitro Reports, Tuesday, Oct. 17, hosted by Donnie Couch and Darr Hawthorne with “Northwest Hitter” nitro Funny Car driver Bobby Cottrell (shown) in studio and NHRA Mello Yello points leader Ron Capps on the phone.

 

Plus Steve Gibbs Nitro Revival Vids. Talking 35 gallon pumps and 44 amp mags with Paul Romine. Who'll grab the Heritage Championships? Mendy, Murphy, Sorokin in Top Fuel ... Hodgson or Rupert in NFC? John Hale calls from the road. Big changes for the 2018 Heritage Series schedule!

 

They'll pick (guess) the winners and odds in the Reunion Nitro classes and talk nitro for 90 minutes at 6 p.m. Pacific time at NitroReports.com and LIVE on the Nitro Reports Facebook page.  [10/17/17]

Furr gets upset win in Top Fuel Challenge; AMRA champs crowned

In a field that included reigning NHRA Top Fuel Harley champion Jay “Bulldog” Turner of Julian, NC, newly-crowned American Motorcycle Racing Association champ Jake Stordeur of Goshen, OH, and international standout Takeshi Shigematsu of Iyo, Ehime, Japan, Armon Furr (above) wasn’t even a blip on the radar entering Sunday’s Ray Price Top Fuel Challenge at Rockingham Dragway, the featured event in the 26th annual AMRA Jim McClure All-Harley World Finals.

 

Nevertheless, at the end of the day, it was the second-generation rider from Orangeburg, SC, the eighth and final qualifier, who hoisted the hardware. Although he has a solid racing pedigree as the son of Nitro Harley legend Bill Furr, the younger Furr has raced only infrequently the past several years which made Sunday’s success all the more gratifying.

 

Other race winners included Dennis Fisher of Dayton, OH, in Nitro Funny Bike, Johnny Vickers of Millers Creek, NC, in Pro Fuel and Billy Doherty of Lake Charles, LA, in Pro Mod. Vickers won Pro Fuel for the third straight year, beating former protégé Janette Thornley of Statesville in the final, which took just a little of the luster off Thornley’s series championship.

 

With 10 riders vying for eight starting spots in the Ray Price challenge, Furr just barely made the show with an almost pedestrian 7.209-second quarter mile. However, in the first round, he stunned No. 1 qualifier Tii Tharpe with a much improved 6.891 at 200.16 mph. That sent him against Stordeur in the semifinals where his 6.745 was good enough to hold off Stordeur’s troubled 10.33.

 

It should have been no contest in the final round against Turner, the five-time former IHRA Nitro Harley champ and multi-time Rockingham winner, but races aren’t run on paper and when Turner had mechanical problems, Furr singled for the win.

 

AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE RACING ASSOCIATION 2017 SERIES CHAMPIONS

 

Top Fuel – Jake Stordeur, Goshen, OH

Nitro Funny Bike – Dennis Fisher, Dayton, OH

Pro Fuel – Janette Thornley, Statesville, NC

Pro Mod – Shane Pendergrast, Murfreesboro, TN

Super Gas – Andy Horn, St. Louis, MO

Pro Eliminator – Kevin Winters, Richmond, IL

Street Eliminator – Kevin Winters, Richmond, IL

Super Pro – David Doremus, Loveland, OH

Top Eliminator – David Doremus, Loveland, OH

Eliminator – Bill Rowe Jr., Hellertown, PA    [10/17/17]

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