Wildgust on Straight & Narrow

By:       Bruce Biegler

Canada’s Scott Wildgust is without doubt one of the most capable drivers anywhere in drag racing.   The Stratford, Ontario based racer, has during his relatively short career, driven pretty much anything that has wheels… (continue reading…)

Cruzin’ Canadian Camaros!

 By:       Bruce Biegler

Canada’s “Bowtie Brigade” certainly left some marks last weekend with some big wins by Ontario-based Chevy Camaro drivers…. (continue reading…)

Canadians Cash In at TNT Cayuga

By: Lewis (The Kid) Robinson 

Dave Surmatchewski and Roy Lister dominated TNT Super Series during last weekend’s Canadian Street Car Nationals and with that  moved  into highly coveted top ten positions with their wins! (continue reading…)

2010 FIA NitrOlympx  Hockenheimring, Germany  13-15^th August 2010.

Weather the Winner at FIA Germany Event

The fourth and penultimate FIA European Drag Racing Championships were run in front of a huge and vocal partisan crowd and had the largest entry of competitors in the events twenty-five years of drag racing. The event however was dealt a cruel blow as rain hampered qualifying and then killed off the last few rounds of eliminations on Sunday, leaving some classes with only finals to be run, others with several rounds to go. At the end of day prize presentation winner’s trophies and prize money were given to the number one qualifier in each class.

Top Fuel —  had Finland’s Anita Mäkelä take the lead in the qualifying after unseating fellow countryman Risto Poutiainen’s 5.307/223 with a 4.852/276 in round one only to be unseated by England’s and defending TF Champion, Andy Carter with a fine 4.851/277 before regaining pole in the last session with a 4.800/299 over the full quarter mile and producing the quickest field in European history. Of the nine fuellers in attendance only Sweden’s Micke Kågered failed to qualify suffering a huge fireball in round three. Only the first round was run before the drizzly rain put paid to the event with Anita Mäkela recording a solo 4.826/286 as opponent Timo Lahtimaki failed to start the motor. Denmark’s Stig Neergaard had better luck than of late when his 4.911/244 beat the 5.539/183 from Finland’s Janne Ahonen the Olympic ski jumper. A holeshot from Andy Carter put on the win lights for him after a close race with Finland’s Jari Halinen, 4.895/273 to a 4.974/292. Finally, Swiss racer Urs Erbacher managed a 4.883/299 to see off Finland’s Risto Poutiainen whose loose 5.081/232 failed to make it.

Anita Makela was declared the TF Winner

Top Methanol Dragster — was initially led by German Timo Habermann with a 5.410/261until it was bettered by Norway’s Fred Hanssen with a great 5.381/266 in the second qualifier. Again only the first round was able to be completed before the rain. Fred Hanssen took his blown car to the win over the A/Fueller of England’s Derek Flynn, 5.378/264 to the losing 5.575/262. In an all A/Fuel battle Sweden’s Krister Johansson’s much better leave coupled with a 5.497/257 beat England’s Dave Wilson whose 5.506/262 charge did not make it. Timo Habermann dealt out the 5.567/252 from Norway’s Paul Ingar Udtian with a 5.440/257. The run-off between German teams Dennis Habermann and Peter Schöfer was disallowed as both cars rolled through the start.

Norweign TAD racer Fred Hanssen

Top Methanol Funny Car — was a 7-car eliminator and was led by Finn Jarmo Kuutniemi on a 6.137/234 before Denmark’s Dan Larsen pushed his Dodge Stratus to a 5.966/238 in round two then out performed himself with a 5.858/245. Only the final was left un-run in this class with the two finalists being Dan Larsen and German Jürgen Nagel. Nagel made his way through the pack with a win over Belgium’s Danny Bellio, 5.945/241 to the 6.215/184 lose then a troubled start produced a lowly 23.19 time as opponent Jarmo Kuutniemi charged ahead, got loose and disqualified himself by hitting the centerline reflectors. Larsen, meanwhile had a round one bye, then, ran a 6.033/232 to defeat the 8.655/105 close to the wall try from Switzerland’s Dezsoe Krivan making a return to racing.

Denmark's Dan Larsen is the FIA points leader in TMFC

Pro Modified — had 22 cars vying for position in a sixteen car eliminator and it was US visitor Melanie Troxel who not surpringly stole the show from the start, a 6.183/239 well over a tenth ahead of nearest rival and teammate Sweden’s Micke Gullqvist. Troxel improved with each round, a 6.099/240, a 6.052/241 and a final shot of 6.045/241. All the major players were in the eliminations that went all the way to the finals before rain stopped play. Troxel driving the Roger Burgess R2B2 Camaro had a first round bye then dispatched Sweden’s Roger Johansson in his nitrous Mustang, 6.082/240 to a 6.509/199 before slaying the 6.363/234 from Sweden’s Urban Johansson with a 6.007/241. Micke Gullqvist was unsurprisingly her opponent in the un-run final having the benefit of an R2B2 team engine and tuning and he made his way through the tough field with a first round win over Germany’s Norbert Kuno, 6.113/234 win to a 6.378/226; a 6.128/234 took out the tyre shaking 8.636/94 from Swede Johan Lindberg’s Firebird. The semi pairing was with fellow Swede Mats Eriksson, Europe’s only five second runner, even the holeshot from Eriksson’s Ford Crown Victoria along with an all over his lane 6.087/235 was not enough as Gullqvist stormed past with a 6.042/236 in his ’57 Bel Air.

Micke Gullqvist vs Melanie Troxel

Pro Stock — saw Sweden’s Jimmy Ålund clinch the top spot with a fine 6.757/204 bettering that in the third stanza with a 6.747/204 almost a tenth better than the rest of the eight-car field. This was another class that managed to get all the way to the final that was then victim to the rain. Ålund saw off German Harald Sturhan in his Mercedes, a 6.780/203 win to a 7.459/192 in round one but then went out himself as he got crossed up leaving Jan Palmqvist a sweet 6.874/202 win and putting Palmqvist’s Pontiac GTO into the money run. On the other side of the ladder was Sweden’s Michael Malmgren who made his way past Jonas Engdahl with a 6.801/202 win to the 7.010/198 lose. A great light from Michael Callin coupled with a 6.895/190 was not quite good enough as Malmgren pushed his Pontiac GTO to a 6.836/203 win to enter the un-run final.

Jimmy Alund set both low ET and top speed in Pro Stock

 Roger Gorringe. www.eurodragster.com –Text and Photos Copyright August 2010.

Houston Raceway Park to become Royal Purple Raceway in 2011

By: Rob Geiger 

 Houston Raceway Park will officially become Royal Purple Raceway in 2011, partnering two successful Houston-area businesses born in the late 1980s….. (continue reading…)

Canadian “Street Smarts”

By:       Bruce Biegler

The 2010 Canadian Street Car Nationals last weekend at Cayuga Dragway played out pretty much to all pre-event expectations.   The event which was originally conceived by and continues to be choreographed by Toronto’s Joe DaSilva (DaSilva Racing), has over the years steadily built itself up quite a reputation….. (continue reading…)

EVENT ESSENTIALS:  Lucas Oil Nationals     Aug. 12-15, 2010  Brainerd MN   

 Regular Season Wraps Up

The regular season for the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle campaign wrapped up at Brainerd Minnesota.  The last event before Countdown playoff round featured a first ever NHRA Funny Car winner with Bob Bode (from Illinois) emerging victorious.

(Pro Racing Summary courtesy of Michael Padian – NHRA Communications)

Three different drivers had a shot at their first career NHRA Full Throttle Series win on Sunday at the 29th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway and Funny Car veteran Bob Bode was the lucky one who struck paydirt.

Bode defeated Cruz Pedregon, Bob Tasca and Tim Wilkerson to reach the final where he proceeded to celebrate a surprisingly easy win when Jack Beckman struck the wheels on his Freightliner Dodge Charger R/T early and slowed to a 8.338 at 86.32. Bode’s official winning run in the Alard Machine Chevy Impala was a 4.248 at 253.66.

“All of this is kind of like a dream I’m afraid I’m gonna wake up from,” Bode said. “I didn’t know if it would ever happen, but now that it did, I can’t believe it happened. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me in my entire life in the racing world. I have a wife and kid, wonderful things there, but the racing world, this is it.”

The other winners at the 17th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Series season – and final race in the Countdown to 10 regular season – were Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Also on Sunday, the final five spots in the Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs were determined as Dave Grubnic (Top Fuel), Tony Pedregon (Funny Car), Rodger Brogdon (Pro Stock) and Karen Stoffer and Craig Treble (Pro Stock Motorcycle) clinched berths.  The final two No. 1 seeds were  also settled  with John Force (Funny Car) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) joining Dixon (Top Fuel) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) as top seeds.

Dixon improved to 9-0 in final rounds in the Al-Anabi dragster and 4-0 vs. second-place Cory McClenathan this season with a blistering 3.786-second pass at 312.28 mph to McClenathan’s 3.810 at 314.17.

“I feel fortunate,” said Dixon, whose engine suffered damage as he crossed the finish line. “When I lifted (off the throttle), it popped … I got heat-treated a little bit … but I saw the win light.”

In Pro Stock, the red-hot Coughlin (6.614 at 208.04) was appearing in his third straight final round in the JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt and he celebrated victory for the second time in that stretch when Auto Club Road to the Future candidate Shane Gray red-lighted in the Tire Kingdom Pontiac GXP to end his bid for his first career win before he got out of first gear.

 “This is as close as we’ve been to the points leader all year,” said Coughlin, who will trail Mike Edwards by 40 points when the points reset for the Countdown to 1. “That’s the way the playoff and the Countdown to 1 works. We’ve had that work to our advantage for a couple of years and had that work against us last year. This year, we were probably no way shape or form going to contend for our sixth world title, but we are.”

It was Coughlin’s 52nd career win, which tied him with Joe Amato for eighth place on the all-time NHRA Full Throttle Series wins list.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Hines (6.941 at 191.00) completed an impressive weekend hat trick aboard the Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson with his win over first-time finalist Jim Underdahl (7.012 at 188.52) – he was the No. 1 qualifier, he won the race, and he moved around season-long points-leader Hector Arana to clinch the No. 1 seed entering the Countdown to 1 playoffs.

“Big win,” Hines said. “I’ve never been No. 1 going into the playoffs so it’s nice to be in this position. Three or four races ago we were looking at the point and Hector had something like a 160-point lead and we just wrote it off that we wouldn’t make it there. Luck turned to our side, the motorcycle started performing better and Hector faltered a little bit and we capitalized on it.”

 The six-race Countdown to 1 playoffs begin in two weeks with the Labor Day weekend running of the world’s most prestigious drag race, the 56th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

Bob Bode was a surprising first time winner in Funny Car eliminator

Photo by:  Jim Kampmann

Additional photos from the Lucas Oil Nationals can be viewed:  HERE

Canada’s Paone & Pontieri Form Pro Stock Partnership

BY:  Lisa Collier

The Paone brothers have long been a figure in Mountain Motor Pro Stock. In recent years, the Paone team has fielded a Rick Jones built 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt with Ohio-based driver and engine builder Ron Miller behind the wheel. Unfortunately, the Paones have been sidelined thus far in 2010, but now the Canadian team has joined forces with driver and fellow Canadian, Tony Pontieri, to get back in the game.

“We’re certainly looking forward to being back,” told Amo Paone. “We plan to run the final two MMPSA races this year and the entire 2011 schedule. We’ll continue using Ron Miller Engines and look forward to working with Tony and all that he has to offer in racing expertise.”

Pontieri  has been a standout in Pro Mod for many years with experience in both nitrous injected and supercharged machines. He won the Canadian Drag Racing Series Championship in ’95 and ’97, then set the world record in 2008 at a 5.90 and finished second in a close points battle with Josh Hernandez in NHRA Pro Mod. Now Pontieri is looking forward to making the change to naturally aspirated machines.

“I’m really excited to go to Pro Stock,” told Pontieri. “I’ve always loved the class. In the early 90’s I drove NHRA Pro Stock, and now it will be really nice to make the switch to Mountain Motors. I was actually contemplating not racing anymore, ending the Pro Mod operation, but the Paone’s talked me into continuing to race and make this switch over to Pro Stock.

“We have a really good group of guys together for this team. It’s going to be a lot of fun. We’ll be doing some testing here soon, then make our debut at Norwalk for the ADRL event and be at Englishtown and Tulsa to finish out the MMPSA season.”

The Paones and Pontieri join the growing group of Canadian racers who have committed to the MMPSA including: Larry O’Brien, John Konigshofer and Mark Martino. The Canadian presence in the MMPSA can certainly not go unnoticed and the possibility of an all-Canadian final in the MMPSA is growing. With Ron Miller power under the hood, and Pontieri in the driver’s seat the Paone brothers are certainly looking to make Canadian history in the MMPSA.

Amo Paone and Tony Pontieri

Here you go Canada — the first photos of a Canadian racer in NHRA Pro Stock in about two decades!

The Ontario-based Martino Motorsports team made their circuit debut during this weekend’s NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway. 

The DeSantis Crane Service sponsored team ran “very well” and just missed qualifying for the Pro Stock program in their class debut — a truly remarkable effort.   Driver Mark Martino ran a best of 6.717 secs at 205.22 mph which was (18th) falling  just short of the 6.692 secs bump spot.

It is now off to Indy and the U.S. Nationals for the team!

Thanks to valued DragRaceCanada contributing photographer Jim Kampmann for the historic images below!

Mark Martino debuted at NHRA Brainerd

Mark Martino ran a very competitive 6.717 secs during his NHRA debut!

CYNERGY BATS .750 IN ADRL — STAWICKI HITS ANOTHER ‘HOMER’  IN PMRA            

Cynergy Composites had a remarkable weekend throughout Doorslammer racing this past weekend…..as 3 of the 4 finalist’s in ADRL’s premier categories (Pro Extreme and Pro Nitrous) were utilizing Cynergy ‘Ultra – Lite’ bodies and then Mike Stawicki ran an amazing career best 5.739 in PMRA.

In the ADRL, which was contested, at Gateway Raceway in Madison, Illinois just south of St. Louis, Alex Hossler, in his 70.5 Cynergy Camaro once again grabbed his reign at staying at the top of the class by winning the Gateway Drags in the Pro Extreme Class and carding his first “60” with a 3.69 @ 203 mph. Hossler’s consistency is attested to his Chris Duncan Race Cars chassis, M.S.R power and Hossler’s solid confidence behind the wheel. Hossler also carded a semi final finish in the rain delayed Topeka, Kansas elimination rounds contested at the Gateway Race. All in all it was a great weekend for the Hossler and Duncan Racing team. 

Alex Hossler

In the Pro Nitrous category at the ADRL Gateway Drags, it was an ‘All Cynergy Bodied’ final…..Shannon “the Ice Man” Jenkins took a well deserved win driving Mike Castellana’s Al-Anabi Racing 69 Camaro. The Cynergy Composites’ bodied, Jerry Bickel built, Pro Nitrous entry ran a 3.88 @ 193 mph in final round to win over Randy Weatherford in his Cynergy bodied 70.5 Camaro also built by Jerry Bickel.  Weatherford was a picture of consistency during eliminations running in the mid 3.90’s all day long.

Last but not least to top of Cynergy’s weekend was Mike Stawicki and his continued slashing dominance of the PMRA series in Ontario, Canada. Stawicki and his G-Force Race Cars built, Cynergy Composites bodied 68 Firebird re-set the PMRA E.T. record to a 5.739 @ 254 mph. Stawicki’s 5.739 just missing the all time ¼ mile doorslammer mark set by Scott Cannon at 5.738. Stawicki has taken his ‘Ultra-Lite’ Cynergy Firebird past the 250 mph mark on the last 13 of 16 runs and the body is standing true and strong.  The Stawicki Racing team reached the final round before the rain halted competition at the Grand Bend Motorplex in Grand Bend, Ontario.

Mike Stawicki

The staff at Cynergy Composites would like to congratulate all of their loyal customers on the their winnings and outstanding performances over this past weekend.Cynergy Composites bodies are fast becoming a successful tool for the elite racer.    LIGHTER…STRONGER…FASTER.

Cynergy Composites Ultra light bodies….. WEIGH YOUR OPTIONS!       Order the best Carbon Fiber racing components for your race team today…   Call toll free today!  1-866-338-0016 www.cynergycomposites.net    info@cynergycomposites.net