PM Motorsports Target Mission Season Kickoff 
By:  PM Motorsports

After a long off season, the PM Motorsports Inc. team is ready to start the 2010 West Coast Pro Mod Association season this weekend at Mission Raceway Park in Mission, BC, Canada and begin defending their 2009 WCPMA
Championship.

After winning the WCPMA Championship for a third time last season, Joe Delehay and his Calgary based team are looking to run career best numbers  this weekend at Mission Raceway.

“We’ve made some serious improvements over the off season” said Joe, “The track record (6.032) is expected to be broken this weekend, and we want to  be the team who does it”.

 The 2010 Season PM Motorsports Crew will consist of Driver Joe Delehay,  Crew Chief Ken “The Wiz” Eisler, Engine Specialist Jason Delehay, Clutch/Drive train Expert Kyle Barg, and the team’s Official Smoozer Eddie Chabot.

“This is the same crew that has helped win the 2006, 2007, and 2009 West Coast Pro Mod Championships” said Joe, “When you have a proved championship winning team behind you it definitely builds confidence that we will be a
strong contender in the championship race this season”.

Joe Delehay's awesome PM Camaro

www.JoeDelehay.com

41st NHRA Supernationals
June 10-13th, 2010
Englishtown, NJ

NHRA SUPERNATIONALS WRAP UP

Larry Dixon raced to his sixth Top Fuel victory of the season Monday afternoon at the rain-delayed NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

Bob Tasca, Mike Edwards and Michael Phillips also were winners at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.

Dixon posted a performance of 3.824 seconds at 320.05 mph in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster to take his 54th career victory by defeating Antron Brown, who finished runner-up at this event for the second straight time as his Matco Tools dragster lost traction near mid-track.

“Trophies like these – what I call the majors – always shine a little brighter for me,” Dixon said about winning for the sixth time in his career at the historic track. “This race, Indy, Pomona, Gainesville, and even Columbus back then, you want to do well. I feel blessed to be able to race well on tracks like these.”

Low ET of the event was set by Cory McClenathan who while driving the Fram-sponsored dragster, ran an amazing 3.752 secs on Friday night – the quickest run ever within NHRA’s new 1000 foot era.

Tasca claimed his first win of the season and third of his career by defeating Del Worsham in the Funny Car final. Initially the electronic timers showed Worsham’s Al-Anabi Racing Toyota as the winner, but the timing data later revealed Tasca actually crossed the finish line at the 1,000-foot mark first in his special themed Ford Parts.com Shelby Ford Mustang and NHRA officials overturned the outcome.

“It’s hard to put words together right now,” said an emotional Tasca said after winning at his longtime home track. “This is a special place for my family and to win here with all of my family here is just unbelievable. These are the moments you dream about as a kid laying in bed. This is a moment I’ll treasure forever. I know that my grandfather’s not here, but he’s looking on from above.”

Edwards took his seventh Pro Stock win of the season and third in a row by outrunning rookie Shane Gray in the final round. Edwards posted a 6.596 at 209.39 in his Penhall/Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP, while Gray’s Tire Kingdom GXP trailed with a 6.634 at 209.07.

“Last year was a dream season with the championship, but this year is truly a dream come true,” Edwards said. “I’ve done this a long, long time and to experience this kind of success, I just praise the Lord for his blessings. We have a great team and committed ourselves to doing this, and it’s good to see the results.”

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Phillips used a holeshot start on his Suzuki to defeat Steve Johnson for his second victory of the season and fifth of his career. Phillips covered the distance in 6.911 at 194.32 and just edged Johnson’s quicker Suzuki at the finish line, which ran a quicker, but losing, 6.886 at 194.63. With the victory, Phillips moves to second in the point standings.

“It’s been a great weekend to set the track record now that we’ve finally gotten a handle on the clutch, which has always been my biggest problem,” Phillips said. “I can’t thank Craig Treble enough for coming over and showing me some things.”

Smith Scores in Get Screened Pro Mod

Von Smith was able to fight off Mother Nature and a tough field in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park to get his second win of the season and in his career in the series.

In the finals, which were held on Monday due to rain postponing action on Sunday, Smith was paired up with Mike Castellana, who was in his first final round appearance of the year. At the start Smith held an early advantage and never looked back on his way to the end of the quarter mile. Smith posted a winning pass of 5.890 seconds at 247.52 mph to a losing run of 6.182 seconds at 196.87mph.

Smith qualified near the bottom of the ladder in 13th, but was able to string together four solid passes during the event to get the win. He defeated Troy Coughlin, Scott Ray and Raymond Commisso prior to making it to the final round.

Commisso, who is from Toronto, ON, set both top speed and low ET of the event during PM qualifying when he ran the R2B2 Racing Chevy Camaro to a thundering 5.815 secs at 250.64 mph.

Smith’s win came over a history making and first ever all-five seconds field that featured a sparkling quick bump spot of 5.980 secs.

Sport Loses Neil Parker

The Englishtown event also included an ultimate tragedy when TAFC class racer Neal Parker was fatally injured during a crash during the opening of qualifying on Friday.

In an incident eerily similar to that of Scott Kalitta here during 2008, Parker ran off the end of the race track at a high rate of speed.

NHRA and New Jersey State Police officials are continuing their investigation of the accident.

Everyone at DragRaceCanada.com on behalf of all Canadian drag racing fans expresses their sincere condolences to the entire Parker family and racing team.

Funny Car Winner: Bob Tasca III
(Click on image to view event photo gallery)

DRC Hotzone:  Canadian All-Star Accolades!                                       

By:   Bruce Biegler

 Canada had very strong representation during last weekend’s Jegs All-Stars event held in conjunction with the NHRA Route 66 Nationals at Joliet IL.

A total of six Canadian racers participated in the event which showcases the best Sportsman class drag racers in the world within a lucrative and very prestigious feature race.   Top drag racers in ten different categories from each of NHRA’s seven geographical divisions were represented.

 Second generation driver Jason Kenny, from Kingston ON, scored what was arguably his most significant victory to date.  Representing his home Northeast Division 1, Kenny rode his Accelerated Travel-sponsored “topless” Corvette roadster to a huge win in the Super Gas 9.90 category.  In the final round he spotted his opponent Mark Resen a slight starting line advantage, before sticking to his plan which ultimately pushed Resen to a too quick run of 9.875 secs.  Jason’s 9.914 secs at 149.18 mph took the win-light.

Super Gas Winner Jason Kenny

 “I know it’s a cliché – but it really was just an honor to qualify for this race,” said Jason, only son to beaming parents Al and Carol Kenny.  “It’s hard to get here and once you do you have to face the best in the nation in your class.  I was actually missing the tree a bit early – so I added some “box”.  In the final I knew I could catch him — but I let him go and that pushed him out (too quick).  When I saw my win light – the party was on.”

 Kenny, the defending 2009 NHRA Division One Super Gas champion, had defeated Val Torres and Bart Nelson in earlier round competition.

 No less then four Canadian drivers raced within the Top Alcohol class categories during the Jegs All-stars event. 

In Top Alcohol Dragster, Richmond, BC’s Shawn Cowie and Richmond Hill, Ontario’s Ken Perry made the exclusive field.  Cowie beat the very formidable injected nitro cars driven by Bill Reichert and Dwayne Shields to make the final round only to lose out to Jim Whitely.  In that battle, Cowie earned a slight starting line advantage but his 5.429 secs at 260.16 mph could not hold off Whitely’s 5.370 secs at 265.48 mph.

Shawn Cowie placed R/UP in TAD

 Ken Perry qualified his unique Fontana-powered “Iceman” dragster in the #6 TAD slot and beat Malcolm Wahle in round one.  He did however lose out to eventual winner Whitely during the second frame.

 Western Canadian drivers Roger Bateman and Ken Webster were part of the star-studded TAFC program.  Bateman, from Alberta, represented NHRA Division 5 and Webster, also from Alberta, driving for car owner Geoff Goodwin, was the Division 6 rep. 

Both drivers lost in round one of competition.  Bateman, driving Brian Friesen’s Mustang, which is now part of Y-Not Racing, lost out after a good battle versus Mickey Ferro while Webster fell in a very close 5.713 to 5.701 secs decision to Andy Bohl.

 Webster summed up the experience which was very representative of all the Canadian Top Alcohol participants. 

 “It’s probably the most prestigious thing we’ve ever been involved with,” said Webster.  “You are essentially racing against the top 8 cars in your class in the world. That’s a level of competition we all like.”

Ken Webster in the Synoil Fluids TAFC

 Also making the trip to Joliet was Alberta-based Top Sportsman driver Barry Daniluk, whose event winning flurry during recent times qualified him for the event.

 Driving his spectacular ’68 Camaro which is “all throttle – no bottle” Daniluk (from Red Deer) qualified #1 with a swift 6.706 secs at 206.57 mph (low ET/top speed).   Daniluk’s first trip to the All-Stars ended early however when a superior start by Nebraska’s Josh Vettel ended his day in round one.

 (Bruce Biegler Photos)

Route 66 Nationals
June 3-6th, 2010
Joliet, IL

(Pro Racing Summary Courtesy of NHRA Communications)

NHRA’s annual touchdown at fabulous Route 66 Raceway SW of Chicago was a crash and weather marred affair. Matt Hagan rode a national ET record setting performance to victory in Funny Car while Larry Dixon increased his overall Full Throttle points lead in Top Fuel. The event also marked the 26th running of the very prestigious Jegs Allstars Sportsman racing event.

Larry Dixon raced past defending world champion Tony Schumacher to grab the win at the rain-delayed United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway. Matt Hagan, Mike Edwards and LE Tonglet also won in their respective categories at the 10th of 23 events on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Dixon drove his Al-Anabi Racing dragster to a 3.823-second run at 323.12 mph past Schumacher to earn his fifth win of the season and 53rd of his career. It was also the sixth time this season that Dixon and Schumacher met each other during eliminations.

“Obviously this is big,” said Dixon. “Any time you win it is huge. The last couple of times we ran in the final, he has got the best of us. It was a long day, at the same time, not as long as Friday and it was definitely worth the wait. This track is the gold standard when sun is off of it. It is awesome. And a final round under the lights is so cool. This is what I grew up on. My dad raced a bunch of times at Orange County and Lions at night. Our sport is cool at night. I wish we raced through the summer on Saturday nights.”

With his final round appearance, Schumacher was able to move from third to second in the Top Fuel point standings, just behind first-place Dixon.

In Funny Car, Hagan not only stopped runner-up finisher Robert Hight’s current winning streak, but set the national record for time in the process. Hagan drove his DieHard Dodge Charger R/T to a 4.035 at 312.78, which was just enough to back up his semifinal time of 4.022-seconds to set the new national record and pick up those valuable 20 extra points in the process. It was also Hagan’s second career win.

“This was (crew chief) Tommy DeLago and John Medlen’s race,” said Hagan. “In the first race we won in Houston, I had to pedal the car but not here. This weekend, I had a great race car. We tested some stuff recently but they put what they know back in the race car this weekend. I told Tommy ‘That’s the race car I’m used to.’ It’s great to have that confidence and great to set the record and win the race.”

While his three-race winning streak came to an end, runner-up finisher Hight did take the points lead from team owner John Force with his final round appearance.

In Pro Stock, Edwards continued his dominance over the class and followed up his win in Topeka with his sixth win of the season. Edwards drove his Penhall/Interstate Batteries Pontiac GXP to a 6.594 at 208.49 and past runner-up Jason Line.

“That’s what Pro Stock is all about,” said Edwards. “The first thing Jason said to me was ‘Man, you were late.’ What a great way to finish the day. We weren’t at our best today but we managed to pull off another win. It just feels great.”

Pro Stock Motorcycle rider LE Tonglet held off Steve Johnson to pick up his first career win in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. In only his 10th start, Tonglet rode his GT Motorsports Suzuki to a 6.935 at 190.38 to pick up his first win in just his second season of racing.

“My emotions are so high right now,” said Tonglet. “I’ve been waiting for this day all my life. GT (Tonglet, brother) won a few times, but to have one of my own is awesome. We’re on a tight budget and this might get us through New Jersey and maybe even Norwalk.”

Manzo leads Division 1 team to JEGS Allstars title (By Scott Woodruff)

With perennial frontrunner Frank Manzo leading the way, the team from the NHRA Northeast Division rallied to claim its fourth JEGS Allstars overall team title in the last five years. Manzo won the Top Alcohol Funny Car title for the eighth time in his career and was joined in the winner’s circle by fellow Northeast Division racers Joe Santangelo and Jason Kenny, who claimed wins in Super Stock and Super Gas, respectively. The wins enabled the Division 1 team to come from behind and win the overall title, and the $20,000 team bonus that goes with it, via a tie breaker over the Division 5 team. The JEGS Allstars is a special invitation only competition that is open to the best drivers in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series based on a year-long points competition within NHRA’s seven geographic regions.

Manzo, the driver of the Al-Anabi Monte Carlo defeated Division 2 racer Mickey Ferro in a close final round, 5.56 to 5.59 to seal the victory. Santangelo also chipped in with the big win over Division 5’s Justin Jenkins and Kenny got the best of Division 6 driver Mark Resen in the final of Super Gas.

The Division 5 team came close to capturing their first overall win, thanks to the efforts of members Michael Miller, who won in Super Comp, and Steve Domingues, who earned the title in Super Street. Heading into the final rounds, the Division 5 team had five members remaining while the Division 1 team had four.

Jim Whiteley claimed a win for the Division 7 team when he stopped Shawn Cowie in the Top Alcohol Dragster final. Defending champ Bruno Massel, who was eligible to return to the event as a blocker, scored a second-straight win in Comp when he defeated Frank Aragona Jr. of the Division 1 team in the final round. Other winners were Mark Faul of Division 6 (Stock Eliminator), Division 4’s Keith Raftery (Top Sportsman), and Ray Miller III of Division 2 (Top Dragster). All told, the champions received a share of the more than $120,000 posted by JEGS Mail Order for the event.

Division 3 racer Ricky Adkins, who was driving Mike Coughlin’s JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt, reached the second round of eliminations in the Top Sportsman class.

The members of the winning team shared in a $20,000 bonus courtesy of Jegs Mail Order.

Route 66 Nationals — Click To Connect to Photo Gallery
(Photos by: Bruce Biegler)

Career Quick For Sitko Racing Team                                                                           

Posted by:  Sitko Family Racing  

The Sitko Family Racing team has returned from our first race event in Mission, BC.  It was a gloomy weekend on the coast with a lot of rain and delays, but we still managed to get some racing in!

Career Quick!

 The team hopped in the truck and made the 1100 km long journey to Mission Raceway Park early Wednesday morning and arrived at the track at about 6:30pm Wednesday night.  Unfortunately when we arrived, it was raining, and continued to rain through the night.

 The weather Thursday morning didn’t look too promising, but it wasn’t raining so we got the car ready for a couple of test passes.  Nathan’s brother Troy would be making the test laps in the car in an attempt to qualify for his Top Alcohol Funny Car license.  After a few tweaks to the car we hit the track.  Troy’s first run was a planned shut off run at about half-track, which resulted in a 6.59 @ 157mph pass.  The second pass was another early shut off pass 6.30 @ 183mph.  Both runs looked very promising, netting the team it’s best 60-foot times with the car ever!

 For Friday qualifying Nathan was back in the seat.  Our qualifying session was set to start at 3:15 pm, but due to rain delays and a few oil cleanups on the track we got to run just before 5:00pm.  For our first qualifying run we were paired up against Jeff Ashwell’s Napa sponsored funny car.  Unfortunately after the burnout the injector hat on Jeff’s car froze up and killed the engine, so we were on a single pass.  Nathan took the tree and raced down the quarter mile to the team’s career best ET and speed, a 5.815 second blast at 243.37 mph, qualifying the team in the #2 position.

Sitko Racing Firebird

 Saturday’s qualifying sessions were a total rainout, so on to Sunday!  Sunday morning we were able to get in one more qualifying run.  We were very pleased with the position we were sitting in coming into this qualifying round, but things were about to change.  After backing up from the burnout, Nathan pulled into the pre-stage beams and brought up the engine RPMs as usual, but a split second afterwards the engine went silent.  The team pulled the car back to the pit area to find it had broken two connecting rods and threw them out the side of the engine block!  The was not much time in-between the qualifying session and round one eliminations, so we had to hustle to get the spare motor in the car before first round.  Our final qualifying position was #3.

 The crew did an amazing job getting the spare motor ready and in-between the frame rails in just about an hour.  It was nice to hear the motor come to life in the warm-up, as it had been sitting in the shop for over a year wrapped in saran wrap ready to go.  Also a big thanks to our pit neighbours the Hugh Ridley owned Top Alcohol Dragster race team for giving us a hand getting the car ready for first round.

 We were still bolting on a few small parts as we were rolling out of our pit stall towards the staging lanes to meet our first round opponent John Evanchuk.  The car left hard and was on another mid-5.80 second pass when about half-track it sprung an oil leak from the manifold gasket and coated the rear tires with oil, making the car shoot suddenly to the left towards the other lane.  Nathan managed to get the car under control without hitting any timing cones or anything else but did cross the centerline; it sure was a wild ride!  

 A big thanks goes out to all of our sponsors for supporting our team, without them we could never had made it to the track!  Hyperion Laser Rehabilitation & Wellness Center, JET Tools, Pro Stock Performance, Fairmont Electroplating, Noralta Lodge, North West Paving, Commercial Solutions, Gee and Gee Racing & Hoosier Racing Tires, Precision Performance, and George Sitko Racing Components.  Thank you all very much!  We’d also like to welcome our newest sponsor, Generation Electronics!

 The team will now re-group and head to their next event in Medicine Hat, AB.  Hopefully the skies are clear and sunny!

 Sitko Family Racing – www.sitkoracing.com

 (Photos By: Gerry Frechette)

ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Nationals VI –  June 4-5^th, 2010  Martin MI

ADRL Invades Western Michigan (Courtesy of ADRL Communications)

The added pressure, expectations and attention that comes with landing a new major sponsor seems to have brought out the best in Josh Hernandez.

A race after advancing to the final in Richmond while debuting his new Fight Me MMA sponsorship, Hernandez and his ’57 Chevy took it a step further on Saturday, winning in Pro Extreme at the ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags VI at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI.

P/X Winner - Josh Hernandez

“To come out with a new sponsor and within two races have a win, that’s what we’re in it for,” Hernandez said. “To be in that winner’s circle, nothing makes me happier.

Hernandez left his stamp on the weekend in the finals, running a 3.66 at 206 miles per hour to knock off Alex Hossler.

Hernandez wasn’t the only one to entertain the raucous Martin crowd on a thrilling Saturday.

Pro Nitrous Winner: Lee Adkins

In Pro Nitrous, Lee Adkins picked up his first career win, denying No. 1 qualifier Pat Stoken his first title in the final round.

Gary White picked up his second straight win in Extreme 10.5, beating Billy Glidden in the finals to extend his recent reign in the division.

Ashley Owens made it three straight wins in Pro Extreme Motorcycle, extending his dominance with a holeshot win in the finals against Terry Schweigert.

John Montecalvo was the winner in Extreme Pro Stock, denying Brian Gahm a second straight win by running a 4.09 in the finals.

Both Montecalvo and White were No. 1 qualifiers who ended up in the winner’s circle. It was also the first chance for Martin fans to celebrate final-round victories after rain ended the two prior races prematurely.

(Photos by: David Ostaszewski)