Chad Langdon and Greg Hicks were the winners of the inaugural K&N 890 Series presented by Casner Racing Enterprises event at Auto Club Dragway in Fontana, CA. The Feb. 3-4 weekend featured the first two of eight races in the K&N-backed season, giving racers from all parts of the west an opportunity to race their cars the weekend before the season-opening NHRA Lucas Oil Winternationals at Pomona.

Chad Langdon  (Bob Johnson photo)

Langdon, driving the Clay Smith Cams Super Comp dragster, defeated James Warden in the final round of the first event of the season. Warden red-lighted with his Lucas Oil/Tom Bayer Racing-sponsored entry. In the semifinals, Warden defeated 2017 NHRA Auto Club Finals Super Comp champion Bobby Dye Jr., while Langdon stopped Val Torres Jr. Torres and Langdon had identical 8.933 times, with Langdon’s .010 better reaction time advancing him to the final.

Greg Hicks (near lane) and Grand Durie in the Super Comp final.  (Bob Johnson photo)

The fifth round of Sunday’s race pitted Las Vegas racer Greg Hicks and Lakeside, California’s Tom McBride, with Hicks using a .008 light and 8.934 to McBride’s .013, and 8.936 losing effort. Vegreville, Alberta, Canada’s Grant Durie made his trip to Pomona --via Fontana -- worthwhile as he advanced to the final on a single. Hicks had a .006 better light against Durie, and held on for the win with an 8.914, 173.29 mph to Durie’s too quick 8.885, 167.63.

The K&N 890 Series will continue on April 28-29 at Auto Club Dragway.   [02/06/18]

The same weekend, the SoCal Pro Gas/SST racers took to the Fontana track. Mike Lang and Paul Wiechmann opened the 40th anniversary of the Southern California Pro Gas Assoc., with class victories, while David Butler won the SoCal Super Street season-opening event with his Chevy Vega.

Mike Lang (near lane) defeated number one qualifier Val Torres Jr. in the Russ Harris Memorial Pro Gas Race final 9.899 to Torres 9.840. Torres was driving the Conroy Brothers ’57 Corvette for the first time.  (Bob Johnson photo)

Sunday’s Champion Cooling Systems Super Sunday Pro Gas Race saw Paul Wiechmann (near lane) cut a perfect reaction time in the final and run 9.913 to beat Kevin McClelland at 9.936 after a .009 reaction.  (Bob Johnson photo)

Hollis Colleasure went to both Pro Gas semifinals over the weekend and will have a narrow point lead over second place Wiechmann going into the next races, scheduled for June 16-17 at Fontana.

David Butler (far lane) finished second in the SoCal Super Street championship in 2017, but he has an early lead in this year’s points battle, as he defeated Paul Giacalone’s ’55 Chevy in the RaceTrans.com-sponsored first race of the year. Butler ran 10.905 for the win, as Giacalone drew a -.005 redlight.  (Bob Johnson photo)    [02/06/18]

Although teammate Robert Hight put the new No. 1 decal on his Funny Car during testing last week at Phoenix, Brittany Force is waiting to put hers on the 2017 Top Fuel championship dragster.

“I want to put that No. 1 on my car in Pomona because that is where it all happened. That is where we clinched the championship,” Force explained. “We want to go back to where it all went down and put that No. 1 on together as a team.”

Force is only the second woman to win a Top Fuel championship, a feat not accomplished since Shirley Muldowney won 35 years ago.

“Testing was not just about getting the car down the track and making those runs but I’ve been out of the seat, the whole team has been away from the race track, so it really was also pulling together and finding our routine again and getting us ready to jump right into Pomona,” Force said.

Qualifying for the Winternationals is Friday and Saturday with final eliminations scheduled to begin Sunday, Feb. 11, at 11 a.m. Live coverage of the finals will begin on FS1 at 5 p.m.  (Ron Lewis photo)   [02/06/18]

A.R.C. Motorpsorts has announced that ecarmover.com will expand its sponsorship of Pro Stock racer Allan Prusiensky as primary sponsor for the 2018 NHRA season.

“eCarMover.com came in at a crucial time last year to help us finish the season strong,” said Prusiensky. “We’re excited to continue this partnership in 2018 and will continue to work hard, both on and off the track, to run at optimal performance and stay competitive at each race.”

eCarMover.com is an OEM new vehicle logistics provider that offers secure, on-time transport services.  (Ron Lewis photo)   [02/06/18]

The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America will induct their 30th class on March 12-13 in Daytona Beach, FL. Events are scheduled for both days, but the Induction Ceremony will be on Monday, March 12. Tickets are available at www.mshf.com or by calling 386-681-6843.

Inductees are John Buttera, Carl Fisher, Jeff Gordon, Howard Hughes, Fred Merkel, Pat Patrick and Bob Tullus.  [02/06/18]

Forever looking for new ways to enrich the fan experience, the staff at Royal Purple Raceway near Houston is adding a first-of-its-kind "Staging Lane Terrace" RV park, where spectators spending the weekend at the NHRA SpringNationals in recreational vehicles or buses can get an up-close and personal view of their favorite drivers and teams as they make final preparations for each qualifying and elimination run. The staging lanes also serve as the winner's circle at the conclusion of each event, further entertaining the "Staging Lane Terrace" crowd.

The track also completely paved and expanded the existing Nitro Village area, providing more top-flight parking spaces for families and groups using RVs or buses at the races. The Nitro Village is located on the west side of the grandstands.

Royal Purple Raceway will reopen on March 2 and will host the NHRA SpringNationals on April 20-22.  [02/06/18]

Holley/MSD has released of Holley EFI Programmable 8 Channel Injector Driver Modules (here), the ultimate solution for methanol-burning engines that require large secondary injectors. With injector test-fire mode, easily programmable injector-current curves, two datalogger outputs, and multiple peak and hold current settings, these innovative modules give you complete control of your fuel-injected engine. Engineered specifically to add a secondary set of high-peak current injectors when used with a Holley EFI Dominator ECU, they can be triggered by either negative or positive trigger to simplify install in all EFI applications with either a stock or aftermarket ECU. They feature eight easily programmable channels for precise injector control, easy-to-wire Tyco Super Seal Connectors, and eight pre-programmed injector current curves. Holley EFI Programmable Injector Driver Modules expand the capabilities of your electronic fuel-injected engines, with peak current settings from 4A to 10A, hold current settings from 1A to 2.5A, and peak hold duration settings from .5 to 1.0ms. There's even a convenient injector test-fire program for quick troubleshooting in the field, eight RGB LEDs to indicate proper operation and faults, two separate outputs (ground and 0-5V) that can be run to an ECU to datalog any injector faults, and a preprogrammed position just for Billet Atomizer 325-800 or Precision 500 LBH injectors. The modules themselves (without harnesses) are also available here.   [02/06/18]