Pete Ward says the only thing missing from the circus that was the Holley LS Fest West at Las Vegas were the elephants. See this car and plenty more at here.  (Pete Ward photo)   [05/14/19]

Did you miss us? (Ron Lewis photo)

It’s been six weeks and three NHRA national events since the Pro Stock cars were last on track at the Las Vegas Four-Wide Nationals. But the teams haven’t been taking a vacation during that time.

"It's been interesting being away from the track with our Pro Stock cars these past few weeks. It gave us the opportunity to work on things in the engine shop and dyno room, and we're excited about that,” said Jason Line (shown). “It was nice to have the opportunity to be a Sportsman racer again and get back to my roots, and who knows, maybe that will help a little bit when I get back in the silver Summit Racing Chevy this weekend. It's been a long time since we've had the opportunity to see how what we're working on stacks up against everyone else. We're ready."

Bo Butner has kept busy behind the wheel of his Summit Racing-branded Cobra Jet Mustang racing in the SAM Tech Factory Stock Showdown. Butner reached the final round of the shootout in Charlotte two weeks ago. Butner, who leads the Pro Stock points, will race in both Pro Stock and the SAM Tech Factory Stock Showdown this weekend at VMP.

Elite Motorsports teammates Erica Enders and Alex Laughlin have also been driving in the Pro Mod category this season. Enders set the NHRA Pro Mod national record of 260.11 mph.

"It's been a bit odd and some of my buddies in the nitro categories have mentioned how strange it is for them to race with no Pro Stock cars around," Jeg Coughlin Jr. said, "but I've actually had some gaps in my career where I've taken entire seasons off, or the majority of a season off, so I've had a small taste of this before.

"I have kept up with my teammates racing in Pro Mod, and that's been exciting, and I'm also fired up to hear about the progress the guys have made with the Pro Stock engine program during this little break.,” Coughlin continued. “It's certainly been different to be in the middle of the season and then take six weeks off, but we're all getting used to it together."    [05/14/19]

Co-crew chiefs Eric Lane and Jon Schaffer will share tuning duties of Bob Tasca III’s Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Funny Car beginning at the Virginia NHRA Nationals May 17-19.

Just like a player trade in baseball, Schaffer moves from John Force Racing in a trade for Mike Green. At JFR Schaffer was working with Ronnie Thompson as crew chiefs for rookie Austin Prock.

Mike Green was Tony Schumacher’s crew chief before moving to Tasca Racing at the end of last year.  (Ron Lewis photo)

“Part of putting this program together in conjunction with Ford was to win races,” said Tasca. “We committed to that from the beginning and I’ve been working to create the best team I can that’s capable of producing the best results. I have very high expectations for our program. The only thing that is acceptable to me is for this team to win races and compete for a championship this year.

“It may take us a few runs, or a few races to get exactly where we want to be, but these changes are being based on the long-term goal, and that goal is to win races and win the championship with this Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang. I didn’t feel like the set-up that I had was capable of doing that at any point this season, and just like the leader of any company, I wanted to set our team up for success in the near term to meet the long-term goals.”   [05/14/19]

Rain and cold temperatures caused the Nostalgia Rendezvous at St. Louis to be cancelled on Saturday.

The Nostalgia Drag Racing League and Victory Nostalgia Super Stock portion of the event will be considered complete. There is no reschedule date.

Racers entered in the Nostalgia Pro and Nostalgia Sportsman classes will be mailed a credit good to another 2019 World Wide Technology Raceway (formerly Gateway Motorsports Park) event, but NOT for any track rentals such as the NMRA Gateway Rumble to be held May 17-19.    [05/14/19]

DEI’s new 7” Silver Protect-A-Boots™ protects spark plug wires and boots from excessive heat generated from the engine, exhaust manifold and headers that can cause wires and boots to burn, harden or crack resulting in arcing, misfire or event full ignition failure. Designed to withstand direct heat up to 1200°F they are extremely pliable allowing for easy installation for straight or angled boots. Made from high temperature resistant woven glass fiber material with double-wall construction with no restricting steel ring, they are resistant to damage from chemicals, abrasions and contaminants. The new 7” size Silver Protect-A-Boots are now available in three options – 2 pack (#010510), 4 pack (#010509), or 8 pack (#010518), or in bulk (#010520). [05/14/19]