It was win, win, win for Jason Line at zMax Raceway on Sunday, Oct. 14. He got his 50th career victory while celebrating the 50th year in business for longtime sponsor Summit Racing Equipment. It was also the 300th win for a Chevrolet in the Pro Stock class.

See the pro class results at here. (Chris Haverly photo)   [10/15/18]

New Mexico-based touring pro Doug Vancil, making his first appearance at Rockingham Dragway in almost 20 years, beat the man to whom he lost the 2018 NHRA Harley Davidson Top Fuel Championship Sunday, Oct. 14, en route to an impressive victory in the Ray Price Top Fuel Challenge portion of the 27th annual Jim McClure Memorial All-Harley Nitro World Finals.

Riding a new bike built for Doug Horne and tuned by Mike Romine, the man he beat to win the IHRA Autumn Nationals at Rockingham in 2000, Vancil took out defending event champion Armon Furr of Orangeburg, SC, in the opening round before stopping newly crowned NHRA champ Tii Tharpe of East Bend, NC, in the semifinals and Ashville’s Tracy Kile in the final.

It was the first Rockingham win for the two-time IHRA Nitro Harley World Champion since he prevailed in the 2001 Autumn Nationals. Although he qualified only third, Vancil posted the quickest time in each round of eliminations – 6.226 in the first, a best-of-the-race 6.216 against Tharpe in the semis and 6.251 to cover Kile in the money round.

While he didn’t advance beyond the second round, Julian’s Jay “Bulldog” Turner debuted his new supercharged nitro Harley in spectacular fashion by qualifying No. 1 at 6.407 seconds, but a broken transmission proved to be unrepairable before second round which gave Kile a bye to the final. DRO Motorcycle Editor Tom McCarthy will have a feature on this new bike coming soon.

Other winners included Sam White of Chapin, SC, in Pro Fuel, Rich Vreeland of Bloomsburg, PA, in Nitro Funny Bike, Shane Pendergrast of Murfreesboro, TN, in Pro Mod, Stephane Crete of Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada, in Outlaw Street and Greg Frost of Omaha, NE, in Pro Gas.

Sam White

White missed the Pro Fuel national record by a scant .001 of a second after pushing his Johnny Vickers-tuned bike to 7.197 seconds in a first-round win over David Larson of Topeka, KS. The South Carolina rider ultimately beat Walnut Cove’s Tyler Wilson in the final round to give Vickers his fourth straight Pro Fuel win in the World Finals.

In addition to his Pro Fuel victory, White took a Nitro Funny Bike to the semifinals before losing to No. 1 qualifier Ryan Perry of Milford, OH.   [10/15/18]

D.J. Lender with wife Michele.

The Onawa Racing and Events Complex (Iowa) board of directors announced Darrell J. (DJ) Lender as Manager of the facility effective immediately.

Linder has been involved in racing since 1994, including managing Thunder Valley Raceways in South Dakota.

The Onawa Racing and Events Complex, Onawa, Iowa, completed the inaugural season of operation in 2018 with many successful events and plans are underway for 2019 that include facility improvements, returning and new events. The facility includes an IHRA eighth-mile drag race track.   [10/15/18]

Our own Tom McCarthy has been keeping us up to date on the “Project Bloodhound” land speed record quest and will continue to follow the UK-based team. Please go to here.  (Tom McCarthy photo)

Project Bloodhound was founded in 2007 and aims to hit speeds of 1,000 mph at a specially built, 18 km (11.18 mile) long track at Hakskeen Pan in the deserts of the Northern Cape of South Africa.

The project has already successfully built a viable race car that has gone 200 mph, but the team has announced they are seeking investors to provide around £25 million (about $33M US) to see the project to completion.

“As we now move out of the R&D phase and into the operational phase of the project, we recognize that we need a different approach to funding,” said Mark Chapman, Chief Engineer of Project Bloodhound. “This project is built around the most successful team in the history of Land speed Racing, and with the right support we have not doubt that the project will achieve its aims and could be racing for the record in as little as ten months.”

Interested parties should contact FRO Advisory LLP Bristol, England, office.

Gee…sponsorship for a good NHRA Top Fuel team runs about $3M per year.   [10/15/18]

Featuring Precision's most advanced and innovative technology, the Ecoboost Ford Focus RS turbocharger was designed to be a direct drop in replacement and install without modifications. It is rated to support 600 hp with supporting mods and custom tune. All units come equipped with Precision's dual ceramic ball bearing Center Housing Rotating Assembly (CHRA) for added thrust capacity, divided twin scroll turbine housing for improved throttle response, and a ported shroud compressor housing for enhanced compressor map width. Comes standard with an Investment Cast HK30 Stainless turbine housing designed to withstand high temperatures. All purchases include a 1YR No Fault - No Hassle Warranty as well as a new turbine inlet gasket, hi-flow intake tube, oil & water O-rings and compressor discharge silicone couplers.   [10/15/18]