NASCAR Hall of Fame crew chief and team owner Ray Evernham has built a modified retro racer that combines his admiration for old school automotive styling with his knowledge of modern day technology and performance.

Nicknamed the “Ghost”, this car is a 1936 Chevrolet sedan body on a custom designed chassis that was built from the ground up by Evernham and his team without any help from computers. It can be set up to compete on different types of tracks, including ovals, road courses, drag strips, and hill climbs. It is powered by an all-aluminum Chevrolet SB2 by Pro Motor Engineering and delivers 410 c.i. 850 peak horsepower, and 626 ft/lbs of peak torque. The engine will be running on VP Racing Fuels.

Evernham will be taking the car to several vintage races this season and will drive some himself and also have professional drivers behind the wheel to test its limits.

“Ghost” will be at a drag session at zMax Dragway near Charlotte, NC, and will make a Landspeed Trial run at the Bonneville Salt Flats, among other events.   [01/29/18]

After serving as a massive storage facility for tens of thousands of flooded cars for five months in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, Royal Purple Raceway will reopen on Friday, March 2. The facility will have many upgrades including a brand-new race surface.

Construction crews scraped and installed more than three inches of new asphalt from the eighth-mile mark to 200 feet past the quarter-mile finish line. Laser-guided equipment made the entire surface as smooth as possible.

In addition, most of the system of return roads have been widened and resurfaced.

March 2 will be the first of weekly Legal Street Racing on Fridays, and Saturday, March 4, will be the Import Face-Off.   [01/29/18]

Hot Rodders of Tomorrow will be holding their High School Engine Challenge and the very popular Junior Engine Challenge at the Super Summit Car Show at the Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, OH, June 8-9.

“Summit Racing is excited to announce our partnership with Hot Rodders of Tomorrow,” said Jim Greenleaf, Summit Racing’s Motorsports Manager,” As a team sponsor and as host for the regional competition at our Super Summit event, June 8th and 9th at Summit Motorsports Park, we look forward to watching the teams compete to qualify for a spot in the finals. Getting involved with these future automotive enthusiasts builds on our current youth programs including the Summit Racing Car Show Pedal Car Challenge and the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League.”

Hot Rodders of Tomorrow now has 14 High School qualifying events scheduled throughout the nation for the 2018 season, with the season concluding at the Dual Championship in November at the SEMA Show and December at the PRI Show.

The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Engine Challenge is a Program that benefits schools, students and the automotive aftermarket industry. They provide a stage for automotive tech classes to compete and earn college scholarships. Teams of five students tear down and reassemble a 350 c.i. Chevy engine. It is a timed event measuring speed and accuracy.

The Hot Rodders of Tomorrow Junior Engine Challenge was developed for kids between the ages of 5 and 18 years old to “get wrenches in their hands and grease under their finger nails” by taking apart and rebuilding Briggs & Stratton 5 hp single-cylinder engines. A team consists of two members; one teammate must be 5-18 years of age. Each team will have to completely disassemble and reassemble the engine so it is functional and in running condition. Basic hand tools and equipment (supplied by HROT) must be utilized to complete this task. The contest will help develop the youngsters problem-solving and communication skills, as well as increase self-esteem and the understanding of a working internal combustion engine.

To find out how you can help or donate, please contact:

Greg Parker, Phone: 574-315-1938 or gparker@hotroddersoftomorrow.org.   [01/29/18]

Chassis builder Todd Bevis has joined Modern Racing, a new venture formed by Justin Elkes in Mooreville, NC.

Bevis brings more than 35 years’ experience with him after stints at Jerry Haas Race Cars and Cagnazzi Racing, where he worked on cars for Dave Connolly, Erica Enders and Jeg Coughlin Jr.   [01/29/18]

Scruggs at last year’s Darlington, SC, PDRA event.  (Joe McHugh photo)

Jason Scruggs former owner/president of the PDRA who had said he was done racing evidently has had a change of heart. He was in Florida testing Roger Henson’s Camaro last weekend with his own engine between the tubes.

He reportedly has his current car at Rick Jones’s Illinois race car factory for updating. He ran a 3.54 in testing and reportedly said he was going to a few races this year. The Agent wonders if any of them will be PDRA events?   [01/29/18]

Missouri racer and transmission guru Mark Micke re-set the class MPH record this weekend with a 215.56 blast in his second round. elimination of  Lyle Barnett, he  then recorded a 3.744/212 in hia final round win over the screw blown Camaro of Jeff Miller who ran a 3.80 at 199.91 for his effort. Micke uses a turbocharged big block chevy for power while Miller had a screw-blown hemi for power Micke's company is leading the development of the newly legalized "lock-up" converters for these cars.   (file photo by James Siske)   [01/29/18]

Just unveiled by Blower Drive Service, this second coming of the venerable 4-71 is the first all new 4-71 billet supercharger to hit the market since the original GM unit. CNC’d from a single block of billet 6061 aircraft quality aluminum it integrates the same downsized dimensions with contemporary state of the art billet appearance and advances in technology. The BDS 4-71 is constructed using 100% ALL NEW PARTS, no refurbished boneyard parts used here. It is the perfect choice for V6 and small V8 applications and will replace virtually any 4-71 GM blower.

Additionally, the BDS 4-71 features the company’s latest 3-lobe, non-helix, rotor design which allows the blower to push more and cooler air than that produced by its predecessor. This configuration also offers use of a slower overdrive which ultimately produces more horsepower at the flywheel. Stock 4-71 bolt pattern is retained and 4-71 to 6-71 manifold adapter plates and complete drive kits are manufactured NEW and available from BDS.    [01/29/18]