Top Fuel Motorcycle veteran Jay Upton at the Perth Motorplex.  (High Octane Photos)

The Australian National Drag Racing Association has announced that the Top Doorslammer and Top Fuel Motorcycle classes will compete at the Westernationals, held March 2-3 at Perth Motorplex.

This penultimate round of the 2018/19 Summit Racing Equipment Sportsman Series will add the “West Coast Challenge” for the TD and TFM competitors. All winners will compete for the prestigious ANDRA Gold Christmas Tree trophy. [02/01/19]

Auto Club Dragway in Fontana, CA, has postponed the scheduled Southern California association races and test sessions as the forecasts call for 100 percent chance of rain most of Saturday and a 50 percent chance of rain on Sunday, with temperatures in the mid-50s.  The Pro Gas, Super Street, and K&N 890 associations, scheduled to open their seasons with doubleheader races, will work with Fontana track management to reschedule the races.

The good news is that the forecast for Auto Club Raceway at Pomona--about 20 miles west of Fontana--is very favorable at this time for next weekend's NHRA season opening Winternationals.  [02/01/19]

The Agent has taken notice of the large number of NHRA nitro teams, especially in the Top Fuel class, that are announcing they will not race the full NHRA 24-event schedule.

Championship-contending teams and drivers Leah Prichett and Blake Alexander, and NHRA rookie of the year candidate Jordan Vandergriff announced they only had funding to attend 16 and 12 races respectively in 2019. The Agent could list another 6-8 NHRA Top Fuel teams that compete in fewer than half of the NHRA's 24 race schedule. The Agent wonders if the extra cash the NHRA put into the nitro purses for the 2019 season will have any effect on this disturbing trend?   [01/31/19]

Matt Hagan’s Funny Car. (FCA US photo)

Dodge//SRT and Mopar have announced a partnership with Pennzoil to pump up participation in the National Hot Rod Association, doubling their number of event title sponsorships for the 2019 season.

Mopar will claim headline sponsor duties at the NHRA tour stop in Houston (Apr. 12-14), and Dodge//SRT will take title rights for the fall NHRA Las Vegas race (Oct. 31-Nov. 3). The brands will also continue their primary sponsorship roles at NHRA events near Denver (July 19-21) and Reading, PA (Sept. 12-15).

The new event title sponsorships represent multiyear commitments by Dodge//SRT and Mopar. Pennzoil will serve as presenting sponsor at the four events, deepening an already strong on-track relationship between the three brands.

“We’re excited to be building on the strong relationship we have with Dodge//SRT and Mopar both on and off the track,” said Patty Lanning, Vice President of North American Marketing for Shell Lubricants. “Pennzoil has over a hundred years of history as a nationally recognized brand, and has deep roots in motorsports, including many successful years in NHRA. The track provides the perfect high-intensity test environment for our products, and we’re proud of the fact that the oil technology that runs in Top Fuel and Funny Car is the same technology that goes into consumer vehicles on the road every day.”    [02/01/19]

London Dragway, an eighth-mile facility in southeastern Kentucky, has recently signed a multi-year sanctioning agreement with the IHRA.

The IHRA Summit SuperSeries champions for 2018 from the track were Ian Woods (Top), Toby Daniels (Mod), and Trey Hensley (Junior). Daniels went on the become the Summit SuperSeries World Champion at Memphis in October.    [02/01/19]

The Sackman Boyz dragster was on display at the PRI Show.

Hangsterfer’s Laboratories, manufacturers of premium metalworking lubricants, have announced their continued support of brothers Matt and Zach Sackman in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Hangsterfer’s is entering their third season as the primary sponsor on the Sackman Boyz Racing Top Dragster and will also support Matt as he runs two races in Top Alcohol Dragster.

Matt, 25, looks to build on a strong 2018 season that saw him reach the final round at the NHRA Sportsnationals and the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod. He also made his Top Alcohol Dragster debut at his home race, the NHRA Division 3 race at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL. He drove one of Randy Meyer Racing’s A/Fuel cars to the No. 1 spot in qualifying and claimed the event win. He’s scheduled to run two more races in Top Alcohol Dragster this season, beginning at the season-opening NHRA Winternationals.

Zach, 23, will be the primary driver of the Hangsterfer’s Top Dragster. After earning his first NHRA national event Wally in 2017, Zach wheeled the family-owned blown Top Dragster to victories at the Norwalk and Indy Division 3 races in 2018. With late-round finishes at other divisional races and national events, Zach finished sixth in NHRA Top Dragster national points and second in the Division 3 championship chase.     [02/01/19]

The 2020 Ford Shelby GT500 (VIN number 001) sold last month for $1.1 million at the Scottsdale, AZ, Barrett-Jackson auction. Barrett-Jackson CEO Craig Jackson was the winning bidder with all of the proceeds going to help the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

Arriving this fall, the 2020 Mustang Shelby GT500 will be the most powerful street-legal Ford ever, with a supercharged 5.2-liter V8 engine making more than 700 horsepower.   [02/01/19]