It was midnight on Saturday (well, OK, actually 12 a.m. Sunday) when the final round of the Funny Car Chaos was run at Central Illinois Raceway in Havana, IL. Most of the enthusiastic crowd had gone, but those who hung in there saw Mike McIntire Jr. in “McAttack” (above) win the A field with a 4.30/206 over Steve Timoszyk in “Detroit Tiger”.

In the B field, Rick Wilson’s “UFO” ran a 4.30 to get the win over Joey Haas’s 4.50 in “Nimrod.”

We’ll have the complete story coming later.  (Scott Bessee photos)  [07/30/18]

Kevin Miller launches hard at Cordova with his final-round opponent Shaun Johnston looking on from the water box. (Dennis Mothershed photo)

Thirty-two Victory NSS race teams made the trek to Cordova International Raceway last weekend for their Door Warz event. This was race #3 of the six-race Victory NSS series. With incredible weather and a fantastic track, the large crowd was treated to fast ET's and great wheelies by the Factory Super Stocks of the Victory series.

Kevin Miller and his gorgeous 1965 Dodge took the #1 Qualifying position and rolled on to the win in a close final over Shaun Johnston. We will have a full recap of the race soon.

The Victory Nostalgia Super Stock series returns to action this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park for Race #4 at the Street Car Super Nationals.   [07/30/18]

Frank Malvaso of Rochester, NY, is always a threat to win when he comes to Lancaster National Dragway. Malvaso’s 1933 “Rush” Willy’s has had success in a number of events in recent years, and Friday night, July 27, Malvaso added another Lancaster win to his resume as he conquered the field of Supercharged Bountyhunters as part of Franco’s Pizza IHRA Drag Racing.

Malvaso defeated David Texido in the Supercharged Bountyhunters finals as Texido had to pedal the car down the strip to maintain traction. Malvaso ran 4.328 seconds at 169.15 mph in the eighth-mile to pick up the win.

Dynabrade sponsored Top 8 Eliminator and Top ET on Friday to set up a special night for both classes. Jimmy Mallare of Lancaster defeated the Dynabrae-sponsored Chevrolet S-10 of Pete Maduri, Jr. to win Top 8 Eliminator. Maduri was making his first appearance at his home track since winning his first-ever NHRA national event at the New England Nationals in Epping, NH, on July 8. The final run was nearly a heads-up race with both drivers’ dial-ins separated but only .04 seconds. The slight advantage on the starting tree gave Mallare the margin he needed to pick up the win.

The Maduri family still had found their way to victory lane on Friday night as Pete Maduri, Sr. won Top ET in his Dynabrade Chevrolet Corvette. The elder Maduri defeated Kyle Szalchta in the Top final after Szalchta broke out.

The Buffalo Street Outlaws were also on hand to debut their new X235 class. Former track champion John McGowan of N. Tonawanda, NY, beat Stan Relosky in a battle of 1990s Ford Mustangs to get the inaugural class win.

In McGard Mod ET, Kale Wischman of Williamsville, NY, defeated Keith Banas to get his first win of 2018. Wischman denied Banas his second-straight win in Mod. Rob Brandel of Williamsville, NY, scored his first win of the season in Hebeler’s Sales Bikes & Sleds. Brandel drove past Pete Marston in the finals for the win.

Tim Markle of Hilton, NY, won Tread City Tire Street for the second week in a row. Markle upended Daniel Knab in the finals for the repeat victory.   [07/30/18]

The tool wars expand with CRAFTSMAN® entering the fray alongside Matco and Mac Tools. CRAFTSMAN will be the primary sponsor on Richie Crampton’s Top Fuel dragster starting at the U.S. Nationals and continuing throughout the season.

“CRAFTSMAN is a brand built on pride. We are proud of this new partnership and look forward to seeing Richie behind the wheel of the CRAFTSMAN Top Fuel dragster,” said Allison Nicolaidis, Chief Marketing Officer for Global Tools & Storage at Stanley Black & Decker. “We’re excited to partner with Richie and the Kalitta Motorsports team as we introduce new CRAFTSMAN products that can be relied on by generations to come.”

CRAFTSMAN is a new member of the Stanley Black & Decker family of brands.  [07/30/18]

From a Facebook post seen over the weekend from Melissa Milano at Island Dragway reports that the billing issue with Jersey Central Power & Light is supposedly resolved. Though the revised bill has not reached their mailbox as of now, a representative from JCP&L spoke to Milano over the phone telling her that their "capacity charges" are being adjusted down to their original billing rate and the track will be receiving a revised power bill.

Social media being what it is, the few days that have transpired since the news has been a flurry of everyone from outrage, offers of donation programs and even technical help from race enthusiasts offering their expertise on converting the track "off of the grid."

Milano said it best in her post, "Thank you, everyone, for your support and encouragement, you will never know what it means to me, to us, and to our family. There are days (many, recently) that I wonder what the hell we fight so hard for, but when our community comes together it makes me realize this is bigger than I could ever imagine." [07/30/18]