CSCN Weekend Ramp Up!

By:       Bruce Biegler

 One of the most anticipated summer weekends in all of Canadian drag racing is almost upon us.  Cayuga Dragway at TMP will host the Canadian Street Car Nationals this weekend….. (continue reading…)

Pro Mod Resume Building

By:       Bruce Biegler

It was not all that long ago that the name Eric Latino was probably a relatively unfamiliar one to most Canadian drag racing fans.   Over the last couple of seasons however that notion has been changing quickly…. (continue reading…)

Inaugural NHRA Unleashed PM Title to Canada’s Rowe

By:  Wes Buck

Danny Rowe (formally of Calgary AB) took top honors in the Pro Mod class at the inaugural NHRA Unleashed presented by Lucas Oil event held at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis on Saturday night…. (continue reading…)

ADRL Hardee’s Gateway Drags III  Madison IL   August 6-7, 2010

Comeback win for Hossler Highlights ADRL St. Louis

Alex Hossler’s first American Drag Racing League (ADRL) win 10 months ago ended with the Pro Extreme driver crossing the finish line with his car on fire in one of more memorable ADRL finishes.   The Canton, IL racer topped himself on Saturday during the Hardee’s Gateway Drags III at Gateway International Raceway (GIR).

ADRL St. Louis P/X Final

Hossler was never better as he cashed in his second career ADRL PX win. His ’71 Camaro went a Saturday-best 3.69 at 203 miles per hour, beating Gaylen Smith in an entertaining final before a massive overflow crowd at GIR.   That it came during a finals victory was simply icing on the cake for the Clarksville, MD native.

Shiek KH Al-Thani set both low ET and Top Speed

Joining Hossler in the winner’s circle was Shannon Jenkins in Pro Nitrous, Chuck Ulsch in Extreme 10.5, Ashley Owens in Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Brian Gahm in Extreme Pro Stock and Alexander Oppen in Pro Junior Dragster.  The capacity crowd soaked in the record-breaking weekend, as track E.T. and speed records were broken in every class over the two-day stretch.

After wrecking in Houston two weeks ago, Jenkins has been driving the car of teammate Mike Castellana in Pro Nitrous.  It was a lethal combination on Saturday, as Jenkins went 3.88 at 193 mph to deny Randy Weatherford of his first ADRL win.  Instead, Jenkins picked up his class-best ninth event victory. 

Ulsch capped his amazing day in XTF racing with one more record, as his 3.99 run in the finals against Billy Glidden came at 206.55 mph, giving him the new world speed record.

Ulsch’s path to the finals was eerily similar to a year ago at the track, as he met Jeff Naiser and Gary White in the second and third rounds, respectively, for the second straight time.

It was the same old dominant story for Ashley Owens, as the Decatur, AL native made it a double-win weekend after also qualifying first.  But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the “Fast by Gast” driver, who went 4.09 at 174 mph to beat Kim Morrell’s 4.16 in the finals.  His ’07 Suzuki went 4.11 in the first round, a weekend-best 4.08 at 175 mph in the quarterfinals and a 4.10 to put him in the finals, where he remains perfect on the season.

Consistent was also what Gahm kept coming back to en route to picking up his second Extreme Pro Stock win of the year.   He didn’t put up monster numbers – though his 4.11 in the finals was strong – but he never went worse than 4.15 on Saturday. Gahm went a 4.13 at 173 mph to beat Cary Goforth in the semifinals, and Cale Aronson, making his first finals appearance, timed out on the starting line in the finals.

The ADRL returns to action on September 10-11 for the ADRL Simpson Dragstock VII from Rockingham Dragway in Rockingham, NC.

(Photos by: Roger Richards)

FIA’s Sweden Round – Washed Out

By:  Roger Gorringe

FIA Veidec Festival Mantorp Park, Sweden — July 28-August 1st, 2010.

The long dry heat-wave that had blanketed much of northern Europe came to a sudden end at a most inopportune time — just as the third round of the 2010 FIA European Drag Racing Championships got under way. 

The Thursday Sportsman qualifying day was totally washed out and Friday was cut down to a single  qualifier for both Pro and Sportsman.  Saturday did dawn dry and bright which allowed for two sessions to be completed.nday started wet and gloomy but tireless efforts by the track crew paid off late afternoon and the first round of Pro Mod was completed. Top Fuel ran one pair before the wet stuff returned.  Ultimately the event was called off due to the volume of rain and lateness in the day. 

FIA organizers tried valiantly...!

Top Fuel saw the re-emergence of Finland’s Anita Mäkelä as the team overcame earlier problems and put to work their large arsenal of parts bought from the Prudhomme stable over the winter. A top qualifier over the one thousand feet of 4.059/262, over a tenth in front of nearest rival, England’s Andy Carter with a 4.182/281.

Finland's Anita Makela qualified #1 in Top Fuel

The Top Methanol Dragster class was led by Germany’s Timo Habermann, the winner of the Finland round who notched up pole position with a 5.445/249 just ahead of fellow countryman Peter Schöfer on a 5.449/258 in the nine car stanza.

Timo Habermann

A bigger entry in Sweden in the Top Methanol Funny Car class from the two entries in Finland and it was led by Denmark’s Dan Larsen in his Dodge Stratus having shaken off some of his earlier mechanical woes, a 5.910/242 put him ahead of the other five runners.

Dan Larsen lead the way in TMFC

The huge thirty vehicle class of the popular Pro Modified racers was led by Sweden’s Urban Johansson in his Corvette having finally found his form again after a year or so in the wilderness. The 6.080/233 was the only car in the 6.0s and was the only class to run a first round before the storm set in, Johansson ran a 6.064/235 beating Lars Olsson’s Firebird in that eliminator.

Sweden's Urban Johansson paced a 30 car field in Pro Mod

Pro Stock saw the return of Jimmy Ålund and his number one car fresh from racing in the US, a 6.779/204 put him where he is normally accustomed. Fellow Swede Jan Palmqvist stepped in to gain second place with a 6.885/201 out of the eleven runners.

Jimmy Alund was quickest in Pro Stock qualifying

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

Martino’s Begin Testing New Pro Stocker

By:  Bruce Biegler

The father and son racing team of Tony and Mark Martino (Stoney Creek, ON) have commenced testing their all new NHRA Pro Stocker.  The team was at Michigan’s US 131 Motorsports Park last weekend where they made their first ever hits with the all new RJ Race Cars built GXP.

Martino M/S GXP

As reported earlier on DragRaceCanada– they will make their competition debut during the upcoming NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd, MN, (Aug. 13-15th).

With a borrowed motor,  the new Canadian team made solid progress and ran a best of 6.77 secs at 203 mph.  They also had a best short time of 1.02 secs to 60 feet.

“We had a motor that Steve Schmidt lent us to dial the car in,” said Mark Martino.  “The car went down every pass and we did gather quite a bit of information on the car.  We will be putting in our “leased” race motor from Elite on Monday and will be back in Martin for more.”                                                    (Photos by: Frank Rebellato)

Canada’s “Ace” Ambassador

By:       Bruce Biegler

Canada needs a few more good men like him.   Alberta’s Harold Parfett, the founder and President of Ace Manufacturing, is doing his part in helping to chart and support and important chapter of Canadian drag racing history…. (continue reading…)

Super Street Gunslingers Return!                                      

By:       Bruce Biegler

Funny Cars and dragsters are cool — but drag racing will get more “real” the weekend of August 13-15th for the 2010 edition of the Canadian Street Car Nationals.   That annual mid-summer classic goes down at Cayuga Dragway (Toronto Motorsports Park) Friday through Sunday…. (continue reading…)

Nobody Does it Better…!

By:  Bruce Biegler

If there is another drag racing sponsor out there that does a better job while presenting a national event — I’d like to know about it…. (continue reading…)