Several sportsman classes competed at the 39th Annual Arby’s NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Speedway with many first-time winners.

Competition Eliminator: Craig Bourgeois (near lane), Dragster, 6.858, 188.15 def. Brian Browell, Dragster, 7.328, 181.11.

Super Stock: Aaron Stanfield (near lane), Chevy Camaro, 9.858, 134.02 def. Brandon Bakies, Camaro, 9.676, 137.12. Stanfield got the win by about 9 inches for his fifth national event Wally.

Stock Eliminator: Chip Johnson (near lane), Chevy Camaro, 10.721, 96.96 def. Jeff Warren, Camaro, Foul - Red Light. This was Johnson’s first final round.

Super Comp: Trene Cressonie, Dragster, 8.881, 178.57 def. Shannon Brinkley, Dragster, Foul - Red Light. Cressonie collected his first national event win.

Super Gas: Jim Perry, Chevy S-10, 9.894, 167.68 def. Rich Price, Chevy Corvette, 9.893, 165.99.

Top Dragster: Clint Riley (far lane), Dragster, 7.412, 184.37 def. Steve Cohen, Dragster, Foul - Red Light. This was Riley’s first national even win in his first final round.  (Rick Shute/Auto Imagery photos)   [05/08/19]

Sportsman racers will be in the spotlight at the 13th Annual Cavalcade of Stars presented by Budweiser, May 17-19, at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

Among the categories of this NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event are Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny Car, Competition Eliminator, Super Stock, Stock Eliminator, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Top Sportsman, Top Dragster and Pro Stock Snowmobile.   [05/08/19]

Bob Tasca brought out a new Mustang Funny Car this season and he currently is 10th in the point standings, an improvement from this point in 2018. But with just two round wins in the first five races, Tasca is not satisfied.

“I’m not happy with where I’m at and I’m not happy with our performance,” Tasca said. “We haven’t shown consistency and we’re making some really big changes going into Richmond. I’m optimistic that it’s going to change the attitude of the car. We’re hitting the reset button and I’m excited about it. Richmond is a big race for us. We’ll have a different set-up, but we have high expectations of what this team should accomplish. We’re not there yet and we’ll keep working until we get there.

“We need to get better and that’s the bottom line, but I feel confident in the changes and Richmond can be an exciting race for me,” he continued. “We’ve got the new body from Ford, something we spent the last year working on. We’re still fine-tuning some things, but we have very high expectations. We want to win and compete for a championship, and anything less than that is unacceptable. We’re going to continue to make adjustments and I’m looking forward to seeing it come together.”  (Ron Lewis photo) [05/08/19]