VOLUME XXI,  NUMBER 8 - AUGUST,  2019

Rainy Tuesday in Indianapolis as racers gather for Big Go

Many of the sportsman racers have been there since Sunday as some ran Bowling Green and came up, while others have been here since last week, photographer Chris Haverly reports from Indianapolis. Two days of rain has made the sportsman pits a little muddy in certain spots. Almost everyone has big rigs now, taking up a lot of space and having a hard time on the soft ground.

 

Keep an eye on the DRO Facebook page to see Haverly’s photos each day. Ron Lewis will be adding his photos starting Friday. And make your prayers to the sun gods to keep the rain away through Monday.  

Todd hopes for history-making threepeat at Indy

If champion J.R. Todd can make it through the grind of the U.S. Nationals to get to the winner’s circle, he would become the first Funny Car driver in NHRA history to win the race three straight years.

 

“I never expected to win this event in Funny Car, and to do it back-to-back is pretty awesome. To try to do it three times and be the only one in the class ever to do would be something.” Todd added, “But I’m not going to try to put a bunch of pressure on myself.”

 

Todd has one win and three final-round appearances in 2019, and currently is eighth in points going into the final event before the Countdown to the Championship begins. Todd will reveal a special wrap on his car for this weekend’s event before Friday qualifying.   

Applied Imaging returns to Kalitta stable for U.S. Nationals

During last year’s U.S. Nationals Team Kalitta hosted a contingent from Applied Imaging showcasing the business-to-business opportunities NHRA drag racing offered. At the Norwalk national event earlier this season Applied Imaging was the primary sponsor on Doug Kalitta’s Top Fuel dragster.

 

Now Applied Imaging returns to Indy branded on all four Team Kalitta nitro entries. The award-winning Michigan based company focuses on managed print and network services as well as hardware and software solutions for companies across the Midwest.

 

Applied Imaging will be featured on the head shield of Doug Kalitta’s Mac Tools dragster and the rear wing of Richie Crampton’s DHL Top Fuel dragster. They will be branded on the spill plates of both J.R. Todd and Shawn Langdon’s Toyota Camry Funny Cars during the race.  

Geoff Turk joins Holley as Chief Operating Officer

Geoff M. Turk has joined Holley’s executive management team as Chief Operating Officer. Turk has extensive senior level experience in operations, R&D and acquisitions with U. S. Steel, Caterpillar as well as General Motors.

 

In addition to his track record in the business world, Turk also has a record of success on the race track with both the NHRA and NMCA drag racing series. Turk has become a perennial winner in the competitive Factory Super Cars class where he became the 2018 NMCA champion in his 2015 Dodge Challenger. He also became the first Stock Eliminator competitor to run a 7-second ET and the first member of the NMCA Holley EFI 7-Second Club. For 2019 Geoff switched to a Ford Cobra Jet where he won NMCA Memphis, the first event he raced in with his new car. His program has gone on to contribute to Cobra Jet teams winning eight of the nine Factory Showdown / Factory Supercar races so far in 2019.

 

He is a 1987 graduate of General Motors Institute (now Kettering Institute), where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He completed additional training at Bradley University as well as the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Paul Lee acquires FTI Performance Converters

Paul Lee, Funny Car driver and president of McLeod Racing, has acquired FTI Performance Converters, manufacturer of manual torque converters and automatic transmission drivetrain components. To celebrate the new acquisition, both FTI Performance and McLeod Racing will be on Lee’s nitro funny car this week at the U.S. nationals.

 

FTI was founded in 1992 by husband and wife, Greg and Phaedra Samuel. Greg will continue at FTI as Chief Technology Officer and FTI will continue to operate out of its Deland, FL, offices and warehouse. 

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