SPORTSMAN RACER DIES AT GATEWAY

Phil Burghard, a veteran Super Gas class racer from Worthington, Ohio, died of injuries suffered in an accident during time trials for the April 5 NHRA Spring Sportsman Challenge XI at Gateway International Raceway, outside of St. Louis.

Burghard, 33, was driving a 2003 Corvette and had just made his second qualifying pass before the car drove off the end of the racetrack and crashed at full speed into the sand traps at the end of the shutdown area. [4-7-2003]

TOPEKA GETS NEW OWNER

As the Agent hinted in February, Heartland Park Topeka's new owner is Raymond Irwin. NHRA representatives, including Division 5 Director Rob Park, and representatives from the SCCA racing organization were on hand for the official announcement at Capital Plaza Hotel in Topeka, Kansas.

"I have been involved in the racing community for nearly 30 years," said Irwin, an engineer with an extensive racing background who currently owns Blackhawk Farms Raceway in

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Rockton, Ill. "This is a wonderful facility that has something for everyone. It has a great reputation for being one of the fastest quarter-mile tracks on the NHRA circuit."

Heartland Park Topeka, in operation since 1989, sits on 750 acres just south of Topeka and one hour west of metropolitan Kansas City. The facility offers a 2.5-mile Grand Prix road course, 1.625-mile Club course, 1.75-mile stock-car road course, state-of-the-art quarter-mile dragstrip, nine-tenths-mile off-road dirt course, and three-eighths-mile dirt oval beside numerous test-track configurations and a 600-car-capacity paddock. [4-7-2003]

SPORT COMPACT GOES 200 MPH AT MOROSO

Who would have ever believed that the sport compact industry could make it so far as to have four- or six-cylinder cars running at speeds exceeding 200 mph? Well, believe it. On April 5, George Ioannou, of Clifton, NJ, joined Matt Scranton and Grant Downing in the exclusive Summit Sport Compact 200-mph Club during Moroso Motorsports Park's BFGoodrich NHRA Sport Compact Nationals.

Ioannou drove the Street Glow Pro RWD Toyota Solara to a pass of 6.924 seconds at 201.61 mph to earn the No. 1 qualifying spot in the class. By joining the 200 mph Club, Ioannou earned a $1,000 bonus from Summit Racing. [4-7-2003]

COWIN IMPROVED

Andrew Cowin, who received serious head injuries in an off-track fall from a crane on March 23, has regained consciousness. The driver of the Carrier Boyz Top Fuel dragster, is listed in serious condition at the Johnson City Medical Center in Johnson City, Tenn. [4-7-2003]

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