A second evening of heavy pop-up rain storms forced Professional Drag Racers Association officials to push Saturday eliminations for the PDRA Summer Nationals Ignited by Lithium Pros Batteries into Sunday. The series was preparing to go into the first round of eliminations for its professional categories after starting racing in the sportsman classes. Efforts to dry the South Georgia Motorsports Park track were stopped twice.

Despite not qualifying for the eight-car field, Pro Boost driver John Strickland (far lane) picked up the event win with a 3.781/199.79 over Melanie Salemi’s 4.107/139.91 (Roger Richards photo)

Pro Nitrous: Jason Harris, 3.936, 188.70 def. Tommy Franklin, 4.639, 118.04

Extreme Pro Stock: Steven Boone, 4.223, 173.03 def. John Montecalvo, red light

Pro Outlaw 32: Johnny Pluchino, 4.322, 164.27 def. Chris Holdorf, 4.306, 166.68. Pluchino was given a 50-lb. weight penalty for this race.

Pro Nitrous Motorcycle: Eric McKinney (far lane), 4.056, 178.33 def. Travis Davis 4.279, 142.22. McKinney set a new speed record of 179.92 mph. (Roger Richards photo)

Drivers earning event wins in the PDRA’s sportsman classes were Jackie Robison in Top Sportsman, Chris Nyerges in Top Sportsman 32, Phillip Sexton in Elite Top Dragster and Kimberly Messer in Top Dragster 32. Billy Townsend defeated Bill Roberts in the Bracket Bash final round.

In the Jr. Dragster classes, Parrish, Florida-based Lauren Sandrey went a 7.911 in the Pro Jr. Dragster final round to defeat Carlisle, Pennsylvania’s Christopher Powers II, who narrowly broke out on the 7.90 dial-in with a 7.899. The Top Jr. Dragster win went to Alyssa Rabon in a double breakout final round, with Rabon going 9.097 on a 9.10 dial-in and Budd Trammell II running 7.896 on a 7.90 dial-in. [07/01/19]

This year the NMRA Ford Motorsport Nationals, held at the scenic Maple Grove Raceway (Mohnton, PA), was moved to the end of the June and the racers and fans were met with the sun shining and warm weather. The legacy Ford event is the fourth stop on the six-race NMRA Ford Nationals tour.

Street Outlaw: Dom DiDonato, 4.510, 166.95 def. Blake Copson, 4.570, 156.46

Renegade: Chip Provenza, 4.815, 148.12 de3f. Bob Zelenak, 7.344, 102.95

Modified Street: Brad Scherr, 7.842, 175.34 def. Eric Bardekoff, 9.151, 168.28

Limited Street: Michael Ciborowski, 8.725, 155.65 def. Michael Lewandowski, 8.963, 153.68. NOTE: Bill Putnam set a record-setting 8.715 at 153.56 mph, but was out with a broken transmission in the semi.

Coyote Stock: Carlos Sobrino, 10,229, 130.99 def. Clair Stewart II, 10.313, 129.22

Factory Stock: Dan Ryntz, 10.399, 127.64 (holeshot) def. Justin Fogelsonger, 10.348, 128.89

Modular Muscle: Charlie McCulloch, 10.00 index, 11.007 def. Jason Henson 12.06 index, 12.094

Open Comp: Tom Hoffman, 10.42 index, 10.475 def. Jim Johnson Jr., 12.06 index, 12.094

Truck & Lightning: Randy Conway, 10.29 index, 10.406 def. Jon Plummer, 13.15 index, 13.279

Super Stang: Pete Espeut, 11.80 index, 110976 def. Robert Ball, 10,84 index, 11.028

Newcomer Tony DiPietro drove his Fox-body right to the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle when Carole Lissy went red. Both racers competed on a 10.75 index and DiPietro would’ve been tough to beat because he ran a 10.780 and cut a stellar .092 light.

The QA1 True Street field had 45 competitors brave the streets, despite the rainstorm on Saturday. NMRA officials moved the on-track competition to Sunday and Mike Jovanis became an 9-time class winner by topping the field with an 8.047 average. Bill Unkel, who has attended every NMRA event in 2019, captured the Overall Runner-Up with a 10.084 average. Slipping into the 10-second bracket win was Ryan Bittel. Other winners include Corey Cunningham (11-second), Marvin Knack (12-second), Jerry Kratz (13-second), Andy Plummer (14-second), and Brett Zercher (15-second).

Three Bracket categories were contested during the Ford Motorsport Nationals—Fast Ford B1, Quick Ford B2, and Street Ford B3. Tom Terek topped the 1988 Thunderbird of Jack Grater in Fast Ford B1. Longtime NHRA Stock/Super racer Ray Scardelli pushed his Probe to victory over Jat Fitts in the Quick Ford B2 class. Jay Fitts captured the Street Ford B3 category win as he beat Raymond Goelz in the finals.  (photos courtesy NMRA)   [07/01/19]

Frankie Stotz  (XDA photo)

In order to maintain parity in Orient Express Pro Street, the XDA has made a few revisions to the rulebook. The turbocharged liter bikes are now on a table based on rider weight.

The lighter riders (under 149 lbs.) will now have to carry an additional 20 lbs. or lose an inch of wheelbase and stay at the current combo weight. All other riders above 150 lbs. will not have to carry any additional weight than they have already been running per our rules. Also, there is now a 15 lb. deduction for liter bikes with stock seating position.

Big Bore Turbo bikes didn’t see any changes in the rules, other than relaxing the 1-2 auto penalty by only 15 lbs.   [07/01/19]

The team’s Mustang made its debut last fall.  (Chris Haverly photo)

When you’re from a Caribbean island, anything other than warm temperatures can be a bit uncomfortable. Team Aruba will be taking part in their northernmost event this weekend at the NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, NH, as the Mountain Motor Pro Stocks make their first appearance at the track.

Transporting the Mountain Motor Pro Stock car driven by Trevor Eman from the team’s race shop in South Carolina to the event are Hennito and Kohn Peterson, who deserve a special shout-out says team owner Ven Eman.

Temperatures are forecast to be in the high 80’s, so everyone should be comfortable. (But, as seemingly everywhere this year, keep an eye out for weekend scattered showers.)  [07/01/19]

It’s a bit out of the way for sure, and only 15 Top Fuel teams and 13 Funny Car teams have entered the NHRA New England Nationals this week. Eleven TF Harleys will make the tow to the northeast corner of the U.S.

The Agent must ask again, are two days of qualifying really worth the expense the touring teams must pay?    [07/01/19]