Danny Thompson explains the first dual-engine start and function test.

Danny Thompson, son of legendary drag racer and manufacturer Mickey Thompson, has set the world speed record for piston-engine powered race cars at an average speed of 448.058 Using the “Challenger 2” chassis his late father constructed in 1968, Thompson took the piston-powered twin-engine streamliner to a new record on Sunday, Aug. 12 at Bonneville. His twin nitro-burning Hemi-powered “Challenger 2” streamliner made a 446.605 first lap and a 450.909 for an average speed of 448.508 mph, breaking the 439.562-mph record held by George Poteet’s “Speed Demon” streamliner since 2012.

Poteet and Thompson battled for the Hot Rod Magazine Top Speed trophy all week long. Thompson’s 250.909 blast on the first day held up until Poteet won his seventh straight Top Speed of the meet trophy. Poteet’s mount uses an alky-burning 388 inch turbocharged small block for power while Thompson

s 5000+ lb. beast has a pair of nitro-burning Hemis for power.

“Challenger 2” was resurrected using a pair of Brad Anderson Hemi-type nitromethane-burning Top Alcohol engines mated to two “Hadley boxes” that allow the two engines to be mounted backwards (front engine) and forward, the rear engine using a reverser for synchronization. With the Hemi-style engines wider than the original Fords, adjustments to the chassis had to be made.

It may not be drag racing but any piston engine-powered race cars capable of speeds over 450-mph get the Agent’s attention. And a big tip of the Agent’s fedora to Danny Thompson.  [08/17/18]

The Agent made a mistake yesterday regarding the Australian Nostalgia Funny Car rules. Their rules don’t allow dual mags. They allow a single 44-amp MSD mag, a 34-gal fuel pump and a 6-71 supercharger with 50 percent overdrive.

U.S. rules for the cars ban the 44-amp mag, mandate a 21-gal fuel pump and a 6-71 supercharger limited to only a max of 14.5 percent of overdrive.    [08/17/18]

After being away from competition for several years, Doug Vancil has made his return to the NHRA Top Fuel Harley ranks quite noticeable. Can he wrap up the season at the U.S. Nationals with a win and the championship?

See what DRO’s Motorcycle Editor Tom McCarthy has to say about Vancil and all the other hot motorcycle action this summer in his latest Motorcycle Memos.  (Ron Lewis photo)   [08/16/18]

Hector Arana Sr. will ride his Lucas Oil Buell at his sponsor’s race this weekend. He knows he needs a good performance to secure his spot in the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship.

He is on a rough stretch of five straight first-round losses as not much has gone right as of late, a stark contrast to the success his son, Hector Arana Jr., is having in 2018. He became the first PSM rider to ever reach the 200-mph mark and also won in Denver, currently sitting fourth in points. That lets Arana Sr. know that there’s something there and it’s just a matter of finding it on his bike.

“We’ve been trying different things and it just doesn’t seem to respond,” said Arana, who has seven career wins. “We’ve made some changes and hopefully these changes put us in the right direction. But we will find it and we won’t give up. My son is going 200 mph and I can’t even get close. It’s been frustrating, but we’re working to find out why. The bike doesn’t want to respond. But I’m not a quitter. If I would have been a quitter, I would have quit drag racing a long time ago.”    [08/17/18]

As the 2018 nitro funny car season nears the end, the Stith Printing Legends of Nitro Rookie of the Year program has refined the candidates for the inaugural year. Drivers in the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series, the United Nitro Funny Car Championship Series presented by Good Vibrations Motorsports, and other select independent events in the United States are being considered.

Finalists for Rookie of the Year are Billy Morris, driver of the Eddie Knox Racing “Problem Child” Camaro, Lyle Greenberg in his “Cone Hunter” Corvette and Nancy Matter, driver of the “Guardian” Trans Am, all nitro funny cars.

Morris, who made the transition from a nitro sand dragster, said, “It is an honor to be considered with this crop of new funny car drivers. I was surprised at being included in this new program from Stith, our team is doing its best to compete with some of the toughest nitro racers around.” Morris has been qualifying well and going rounds, ripping off a stout 5.69/2mph pass recently. (Dyan Lover photo)

With a runner-up finish at a recent Funny Car Chaos in Amarillo, Lyle Greenberg has shown his ability to handle a nitro funny car as well.  (Max Cackle photo)

Under the guidance and tuning savvy of legendary driver Dale Pulde, Nancy Matter is also making progress by competing in Funny Car Chaos.  (Scott Bessee photo)

A select group of Legends of Nitro judges will be making the final decision as to which driver will be chosen. The winner will receive a specially designed letterman’s jacket with $250 cash tucked in the pocket. Kevin Stith will announce the Rookie of the Year at the 27th California Hot Rod Reunion at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in October.    [08/17/18]

Quaker City Motorsports Park held their Night of Fire on July 28. In addition to Bob Motz’s Jet Kenworth and six jet dragsters, three members of the Great Lakes Nostalgia Funny Car Circuit were in attendance.

Chris Massarella (shown) driving the “Total Insanity” Monza won the final round of the GLNFCC program with a 7.06 ET to Robin Stambaugh’s 7.66 in the “Generation X” Corvette.  [08/17/18]

A bill proposed this week in the U.S. Senate by Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown aims to give car buyers $3,500 to buy American-made cars, including models from Ford, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, and others.

The temporary program, which would offer a one-time $3,500 subsidy to each person for a new car purchase or five-year lease, would be funded up to $3 billion by revoking a tax break for automakers on profits made overseas. Some automakers may be taxed at a lower rate on profits made overseas after a GOP tax overhaul passed earlier this year.

For cars to qualify under the plan, at least 45 percent of its parts would need to be sourced from the U.S. or Canada -- but not Mexico -- and assembled in the U.S. Brown's office offered a list of more than 100 vehicles that would qualify for the program.

Time to start car shopping?  [08/17/18]

DEI offers a new way to keep your engine’s air intake charge as cold as possible for more horsepower. Because colder air is denser with a greater number of oxygen molecules there is a better burn that results in increased horsepower. DEI’s Cool Cover™ GOLD Air Tube Cover, designed for a universal fit, efficiently reflects direct heat keeping the air intake charge cooler to improve air density and increase power. Manufactured from high temperature metalized polyimide lamination that is bonded to a robust heat-treated glass fiber base material, the Cool Cover GOLD air tube cover is able to reflect direct heat up to 800°F/427°C to keep the air intake at its coolest. The low profile cover is designed to fit over the air intake tube with a simple to install hook and loop closure design with open edges making installation and removal possible in mere seconds. Easy to trim length and with a profile that is only.031” thick, the cover takes up negligible space around the intake tube and is now available for intake tubes up to 28 inches in length and 4 inches in diameter.   [08/17/18]