Terry McMillen and his AMALIEⓇ Motor Oil XTERMIGATORⓇ team accomplished what many thought was unobtainable for the Elkhart, Indiana driver. They won the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.

Just three years ago, McMillen was ready to quit racing after a particularly troublesome season, but the fans and his sponsor talked him into staying the course.

Under hot, humid conditions McMillen qualified 13th for the event that made for tricky conditions for the crew chiefs, especially from the bottom half of the ladder that saddled the team with the right lane, which seemed to be the trickier of the two lanes. McMillen got a gift in the first round as Scott Palmer turned off his dragster, then McMillen worked his way past Steve Torrence, Blake Alexander and Doug Kalitta to get the win.

“There are two things that everyone remembers about a season,” McMillen said. “They remember the season champion and who won Indy. I’m very proud of my team for accomplishing that goal. We won Indy and no one can ever take that away from us.”

Other pro winners were: JR. Todd (Funny Car), Tanner Gray (Pro Stock) and LE Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle). We’ll have complete coverage coming tomorrow.  (Chris Haverly photo)   [09/04/18]

Jimmy Daniels got his third Dodge HEMI Challenge win in a row at the U.S. Nationals on Friday, getting past Gary Wolkwitz.

See all of the action at here.  (Chris Haverly photo)   [09/04/18]

In the all-Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak final, Pritchett powered past Mark Pawuk on an 8.108/170.26 pass to claim her first Factory Stock win in her first final-round appearance in the class.  (Chris Haverly photos)

Pawuk believed his chance at a U.S. Nationals win was over after apparently losing to Joe Welch in the opening round, but his opponent was later disqualified by the NHRA, moving Pawuk on to round two.   [09/04/18]

Say, isn’t a big number on the side the way they identify the cars in NASCAR? Hmm…. (Ron Lewis photo)

The NHRA's Pro Stock class and its racers made most of the doorslammer news at the U.S. Nationals last weekend. The Agent has heard from several well connected NHRA Pro Stock sources that perhaps one of the reasons the NHRA brought in Mountain Motor Pro Stocks and floated the rumor that those cars could be part of NHRA's Pro Stock class in 2019 would be the apparent loss of budding Pro Stock superstar and U.S. Nationals winner Tanner Gray.

The Agent’s sources say Gray will most likely leave the NHRA Pro Stock series to drive in the NASCAR truck series in 2019. There are also strong indications that both Drew Skillman and Bo Butner will "ankle" the class.

The Agent suspects that the rumored $45,000 per race fee for a competitive 500-inch Pro Stock motor could be part the problem. On the other hand, if the rumored addition of Mountain Motor Pro Stocks turns out to be true, the Agent thinks there are many ex-IHRA Pro Stock teams and some current Pro Mod teams who would jump at the chance to be part of the NHRA's three official Mello Yello professional classes instead of one of the NHRA's secondary pro classes.   [09/04/18]

A note was dropped in the mayo jar on the Phlegm Building’s porch with the words “Fake News” hastily scribbled at the top. It seems that many news outlets have announced that Rockingham Dragway was sold as part of the recent sale of Rockingham Speedway, located directly across from the ‘strip.

Rockingham Dragway was originally constructed back in the 1960 by Bill Land and L.G. Dewitt, who were heavily involved in the original North Carolina Motor Speedway, now known as Rockingham Speedway, but it has been owned as a separate business by Steve Earwood for the past 27 years.

“That is simply not true,” commented Steve Earwood, owner of Rockingham Dragway. “Though I would entertain good offers, (laughs) we are in business as usual here as we gear up for a big group of 14 fall events like our upcoming 19th annual SmokeOut Rally all-Harley event.”

Earwood describes that there have been many good business ventures regarding the speedway in the past. “In the NASCAR days, we would host over 2,000 cars and 350 motorhomes. The dragstrip is actually closer to the speedway spectator entrance than the speedway owned parking.”

Rockingham Speedway was closed in 2016 after a lengthy ownership “game” took place in an effort to gain NASCAR dates for the superspeedways emerging at the time. The speedway has gone into great disrepair over the recent years.

“I am glad to get the news out that the dragstrip is still under my ownership and the 2018 season is moving along quite well. Earwood explains. “The rumors have our phone ringing quite a bit from concerned drag racers.”   [09/04/18]