One and done? So long, basic black. The black car made its debut at Las Vegas, but didn’t make it out of the first quad. Jeg will return to the yellow paint scheme on a different car at Houston.  (Ron Lewis photo)

Houston has been a lucky location for Jeg Coughlin Jr. as five of his career wins have come at Royal Purple Raceway.

“We've been tripping on our shoelaces lately, trying so hard to find the perfect balance to get back to our winning ways, and I can't think of a better place for everything to come together than Houston," Coughlin said. "I'll admit to being very partial to this track and this event. The memories I have here are some of my all-time favorites.”

His first win came in Super Stock in 1994 and after he moved to Pro Stock, wins came in 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2010. He also logged runner-up results in 2009 and 2017.

For the second race in a row, Coughlin and the JEGS.com/Elite Performance crew will enter a different car into competition. This time it's a Chevrolet Camaro that former Elite Performance customer Larry Morgan drove at the end of last season.

"It's a proven car, one that Larry out-qualified me with a few times last year when he came out to have some fun," Coughlin said. "We feel very confident that when we put the full attention of Rick and Rickie Jones, Mark Ingersoll and Brian Self on getting it up to Elite standards, we'll have a strong racecar.

"We're also back to the brilliant yellow and black JEGS theme, which I'm excited about. I think we're due for some success. It's been awhile since we've savored a victory and we're all ready for that feeling again."  [04/18/18]

While Miller Brothers Construction and Smith Paving and Excavating have been working countless hours to complete a $1.6 million track reconstruction project at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, unfavorable weather has hampered the progress.

As a result, the 37th Annual Spring Warm-Up on April 28-29, which was to be the season-opener at the park, and the Lingenfelter Performance Engineering Wednesday Fun Night on May 2 have been canceled.

Summit Motorsports Park’s project and facilities manager Matt Welsh and Summit Motorsports Park president Bill Bader Jr., who have been working closely with Miller Brothers Construction and Smith Paving and Excavating, will provide an update soon.

When the highly touted project is completed, the staging lanes will be new asphalt and the head of the staging lanes through 100 feet past the finish line will be concrete from barrier wall to barrier wall, with new asphalt from that point through part of the sand trap at the end of the track.  (Sam Lance photo)   [04/18/18]

The outside will look the same, but underneath it will be a new chassis. (Ron Lewis photo)

Cruz Pedregon and team will debut a new Snap-on Toyota chassis in Houston that will run full time after this weekend.

"It's a terrific opportunity for us to have a fresh car on a track that's been good to us in the past," Pedregon said. "We always enjoy the races here in Texas. Since we've won here at Royal Purple three times before, the plan is to make it a nice even four wins."

Crew Chief Aaron Brooks said, "We made a couple of test runs with the new chassis before we left Las Vegas, and we like what we were able to accomplish. We're looking forward to great results this weekend."  [04/18/18]

The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge’s 6th event of the season was held at the York County School of Technology in York, PA. on April 7. A total of four schools from Pennsylvania and Virginia fielding six teams competed.

York County School of Technology fielded three teams. Team Remflex – Franklin County Career & Tech Center #1 came in first place with the time of 21 minutes 28 seconds. In second place came team Mr. Gasket – C D Hylton High school #2 with the time of 27:42 and in third place, Team R&R Marketing from York County School of Technology #1 had a 37:50 time.  [04/18/18]

Danny Rickard (right) receives the trophy from ANDRA General Manager, Brett Stevens.  (Mark Cuffe, DragsSA.com photo)

In only his second full Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series, South Australian Danny Rickard broke through to take the Australian Title honors in the Modified Bike bracket last month.

Racing for a championship in Australia means a lot of miles and a lot of time away from his regular job as a diesel mechanic – plus a hazard that American racers don’t have to deal with: kangaroos.

“We drove around 30,000kms chasing the whole season and had a few major dramas across those kilometers including destroying two axles on the trailer, hitting two Roos, and smashing a few rims and tyres; but we also had a ball and met some really great people,” Rickard explained.

Rickard had stepped up to a new bike for the 2017/2018 season, racing the ‘Raw’ V-Rod previously owned by close friend Niki Zak – who has been called the fastest and quickest woman in the world on two wheels.

“At this stage, our plans for next seasons are a bit up in the air at the moment – it is most likely that I will be going into the Competition Bike bracket, but we will see,” he said. “What I can say for sure is that we will be back next season on a new bike that is bigger, badder and faster!”   [04/18/18]

Eddie and the famous Munster cars will be at Gateway   (photo courtesy Gateway Motorsports Park)

The fifth annual St. Louis Nostalgia Rendezvous will take place on Friday, May 11, and Saturday, May 12, at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, IL, just across the Mississippi River from downtown St. Louis. This hot-roddin’ ‘n’ rockabilly lifestyle event has become a St. Louis tradition and grows each year.

The event features Butch Patrick (TV’s Eddie Munster), nostalgia drag racing, a traditional ’69-and-older hot rod car show presented by Mirror Finish, Las Vegas headliner rockabilly bands (The Royal Hounds, Thee Swank Bastards and Danny Dean & The Homewreckers), DJ Col. Paco Chaos (WRFL-FM, Lexington, KY), a pin-up girl contest, nostalgia vendors, pinstripers and local broadcasting icon Johnny Rabbitt of KMOX-AM in St. Louis.

Nostalgia drag racing will take place on Friday and Saturday. Nostalgia drags include five Funny Cars, dragsters, Gassers, nostalgia Super Stocks and Pro Stocks.

Saturday only: Butch Patrick, ’69-and-older hot rod car show, bands, DJs, pin-up girl contest.   [04/18/18]

Kalitta Motorsports and former NHRA Rookie of the Year Richie Crampton will welcome NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) and ThorSport Racing drivers Matt Crafton and Myatt Snider to the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. The drivers will join Crampton in participating in the SealMaster Track Walk prior to the beginning of the NHRA race action on Sunday, April 29.

“It’s always a great time to get ThorSport and Kalitta Motorsports drivers together at one another’s events,” said SealMaster Communications Director Debbie Petok Hufford. “We’re honored they’re joining us in Charlotte to lead the SealMaster Track Walk with Richie and to enjoy a great day of NHRA racing with us.”

SealMaster, a valued partner with Kalitta Motorsports since 2014, this season is campaigning as an associate partner on both Crampton’s Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster and the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster of Doug Kalitta.   [04/18/18]