Funny Car Frenzy at Mission NHRA National Open

Filed by:  Gerry Frechette & Rich Carlson

Canada’s premier “left coast” racing facility Mission Raceway, played host to an amazing event weekend which combined a very significant Funny Car “happening” with an official NHRA Sportsman National Open….. (continue reading…)

EVENT ESSENTIALS:    31^st  NHRA  Mopar Mile-High Nationals – July 23-25^th, 2010  Denver, CO.   

AJ Swings Pro Stock Pendulum

 (By: Bruce Biegler)

Following his truly dominating victory on Sunday at his sponsor’s own race, Team Mopar Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson may have put momentum on his side as the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series nears it’s playoff round.

Driving his Mopar-sponsored 2010 Dodge Avenger, Johnson was clearly on a mission throughout the 31^st Mopar Mile-High Nationals event, Colorado’s top annual drag racing event. 

In a nutshell he qualified low (6.966 secs), reset the track speed record for Pro Stock (198.64 mph) and was the quickest car during each and every round of eliminations to win going away.

In the championship final round, “AJ” delivered a stellar .004 RT and roared to a one-sided win over Jeg Coughlin with a time of 6.974 secs at 198.26 mph.

Pro Stock Winner - Allen Johnson

He had beaten Bob Yonke, Greg Anderson, and Johnny Gray during earlier eliminations.

The victory was Johnson’s first of the 2010 season, but his 3^rd overall at the high altitude  Bandimere Speedway facility, which he basically now owns.  And Johnson’s win was also very timely.  It capped off a terrific event sponsorship effort by Mopar which kicked off (on Thursday) with their annual Block Party (downtown Golden). 

“We made perfect runs every time,” said Johnson.  “I just can’t say enough about our guys. And I was real tickled by how I did my job after the second round. We’ve got to continue this pace, be aggressive and go toward that championship.

“All the folks from Mopar, including the boss, Pietro (Gorlier), and Byron Kearney from Dodge, have been our good luck charms. They’re family to me. It’s not just a sponsor relationship. It’s so special to have them here.”

Johnson’s win was complimented at Denver by Pro wins from Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

(Remainder of report courtesy of NHRA Communications)

Kalitta’s win was also his first of the season in Top Fuel and joined uncle Connie Kalitta and late cousin Scott Kalitta as winners at the high-altitude dragstrip. Kalitta posted a 3.963 at 308.35 in his Kalitta Motorsports dragster to beat Brandon Bernstein, who trailed with a 4.003 at 297.35 in his Copart/Lucas Oil dragster.

Kalitta outran Terry McMillen, Steve Torrence and Rod Fuller in earlier rounds to claim his 32nd career victory.

“Seeing that win light come on down there was real special and a great relief,” Kalitta said of his final round match with Bernstein. “This facility gets better and better. I am so glad to finally get a win here. We’ve been close a bunch of times and finally got it done today.”

Hight earned his fourth victory of the season and 18th of his career in Funny Car as he outran team owner John Force in the final round.  Hight’s Auto Club Ford Mustang finished in 4.215 at 296.05, just ahead of Force’s Castrol GTX High-Mileage Mustang, which ran 4.386 at 284.99.

“It’s a great win for us and we only have one more race to go before the Countdown,” said Hight, who advanced to the final with early round wins over James Day, Ron Capps and top qualifier Matt Hagan. “It is definitely a turnaround from last year when we went into Brainerd and wasn’t even qualified for the Countdown.”

Hight took his second Bandimere win and closed the gap between series leader Force, who is now 28 points ahead.

“This is the best season I’ve ever had,” Hight said. “I’ve never won four races in a season. John and I are only separated by a little over one round and I am sure he’ll be ribbing me about it the next two weeks. You can see how bad John wants to win. He’s definitely on a mission. I am sure he’s happy for us, but you know he wanted to win.”

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Hines claimed his third win of the season and 21st of his career by defeating Karen Stoffer in the final. Hines rode his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a 7.342 at 178.02 to hold off Stoffer’s GEICO Powersports Suzuki, which clocked a 7.402 at 175.94.

“My riding has really come around in the last three or four races,” said Hines, who defeated rookie LE Tonglet, Jim Underdahl and top qualifier Michael Phillips in the first three rounds. “Every round we had to scratch for it. Karen is a tough competitor and she’s got her motorcycle turned around. The Suzuki’s were dominant all weekend, but our V-Rod was able to beat them today all four rounds.” 

Hines, a California native who spent all of his teenage years in Trinidad, Colo., says winning his second race at Bandimere is very special to him.

“I grew up three hours south of here and spent ages 10 to 20 here,” Hines said. “I know this place as my home. To come back here and get a win on the mountain says a lot about my team. We didn’t have the best motorcycle all weekend, but we were able to get the job done.”

To view our event photo gallery click:  HERE

DragRaceCanada was in Denver this weekend and the NHRA Mile-High Nationals is now in the books.  

Congratulations to event sponsor Mopar for a simply terrific race and to their flagship Pro Stocker driven by Allen Johnson – which absolutely dominated from start to finish.

We will be posting the event results and highlites within our National News subsection a bit later — but you can preview some of our photo gallery right:   HERE

Roy & Allen Johnson killed 'em all at Denver..

OSCA Hits Season Midway

By:  Mark Ackert

With round #3 of the Ontario Street Car Association wrapped up, staff will have to carefully tally the points as the races have tightened up as competitors are well into race mode at the midway point of the season.  (continue reading…)

ADRL Inaugural Texas Drags – July 23-24^th, Baytown Texas

 Double Wins Highlight ADRL Weekend

 For three American Drag Racing League (ADRL) drivers, winning once this weekend at Houston Raceway Park (HRP) wasn’t enough.

For Pro Extreme driver Joshua Hernandez, one rousing victory in front of a boisterous hometown crowd proved to be plenty.

After winning the rain-delayed ADRL Universal Technical Institute Dragpalooza VI presented by Safety-Kleen, which was completed at HRP on Friday after being postponed in March, Pro Nitrous driver Rickie Smith, Extreme 10.5 standout Billy Glidden and Extreme Pro Stock’s John Montecalvo all made it a two-win weekend by coming up victorious at Saturday’s ADRL UTI Inaugural Texas Drags.

Hernandez and Ashley Owens (Pro Extreme Motorcycle) pulled out the other two class wins on Saturday, with Hernandez and his ’57 Fight Me MMA Chevy bringing the crowd to its feet on several occasions.

The last came in the final, when the Houston-area native went 3.720 – the low round of the weekend – at 204.91 miles per hour to knock off Steve Wiley that set off a memorable celebration in front of plenty of friends and family.

The victory double-dip proved especially rewarding for Smith, who dedicated both victories to his ill father.

Smith was impressive on Friday in running the best times in the class, but he was dynamite a day later, reaching 3.90 in both the semifinals and finals.  After qualifying in the top spot, Smith went 3.90 to defeat Shannon Jenkins in the semifinals, before knocking off Johnny Pilcher on a red-light win in the finals.

Glidden weaved his own memorable tale at HRP, winning for a second straight night just weeks after a devastating crash in Topeka.

The XTF standout returned quicker than expected to the track and the payoff was his best weekend in more than a year.  Glidden also extracted revenge on Gary White after losing to the Titan Motorsports driver at Michigan in June.

This time, White red-lighted and handed the victory to Glidden, who managed to come up victorious despite plenty of struggles in his 2010 Mustang on Saturday.

Montecalvo shot to the top of XPS after a weekend the New York native will never

Montecalvo was nearly flawless on Saturday, again saving his best for last in the final. After knocking off Elijah Morton – whom he beat in the finals on Friday – to advance, Montecalvo turned in a class-best 4.11 in the finals, knocking off Brian Gahm for the second straight race.
Montecalvo also has three straight wins to his credit, making him the hottest current driver in the ADRL.

After Owens had his streak of dominance snapped on Friday, the thought of it not being his weekend seemed to apply after he also broke two transmissions in three passes.
But Owens and his team kept at it and the payoff proved to be a trophy that the entire Fast by Gast team enjoyed.

His performance on Saturday was also an indication there might not be any chinks in his armor in PXM.
After going 4.13 to advance to the finals, Owens denied Travis Davis a double-win weekend by running another 4.13 that smashed any other elapsed time for any competitor in PXM.  Those times and the win came over the second-fastest PXM field in ADRL history.

Pro Nitrous Winner - Rickie Smith

(Bruce Biegler Photo)

The Return of “Bogus Bob”

By;       Bruce Biegler

“Bogus Bob” Elliott, one of the most famous and versatile names in all of Canadian drag racing is back in the saddle.   The veteran racer who starred driving a number of Funny Cars (nitro, alcohol & jet powered) during his great career returned to action this year – driving something completely different.   Elliott is now behind the wheel of a rather spectacular new Pontiac Sunfire Super Stocker. (continue reading…)

International Motorsports Industry Show Finds Permanent Home in Indy

By: Misha Geiset

Updated Contract with Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association Keeps IMIS in Indianapolis Indefinitely

INDIANAPOLIS (July 20, 2010) – After substantial growth following the inaugural International Motorsports Industry Show (IMIS) last year in Indianapolis, officials from IMIS and the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association (ICVA) have announced an unprecedented agreement to keep the show in Indianapolis indefinitely. 

After an original two-year contract for 2009-2010, officials from IMIS and the ICVA announced a contract extension through 2015 during the event’s welcome reception last December. Today’s updated agreement will keep IMIS in Indianapolis through the life of its convention. IMIS generates more than $15.9 million in direct visitor spending annually for the City of Indianapolis.

The inaugural IMIS (December 2009) drew more than 10,000 attendees from around the globe, in addition to 345 exhibitors and a sold-out trade show. Due to demand, IMIS officials have doubled the space they will lease in the Indiana Convention Center, anticipating more than 20,000 attendees and 575 exhibitors at this year’s show, scheduled for Dec. 1-3. 

“It’s only fitting for the ‘Racing Capital of the World’ to permanently host the premier racing industry trade show – a show that brings together the entire global motorsports business,” said Don Welsh, ICVA president and CEO. “Our entire hospitality community is extremely thankful to the IMIS ownership for their commitment and confidence in Indianapolis. It is extremely rare for a convention this size to make this type of commitment to a city.”

The Indianapolis-based show is owned by Chris Paulsen of C&R Racing, Tom Weisenbach, executive director of the Indiana Motorsports Association (IMA), Jeff Stoops, president of Stoops Freightliner and two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and Indiana resident, Tony Stewart.

 “The entire IMIS team is ecstatic to call Indianapolis our permanent home,” Weisenbach said. “The city’s burgeoning facilities, first-class hospitality community, and racing-minded culture make this a perfect fit. After shattering our projections for our inaugural show in 2009 and overwhelming, positive feedback from attendees, we’re confident in this deliberate decision to keep our show in Indianapolis.”

About the International Motorsports Industry Show

The International Motorsports Industry Show offers individuals and companies from all facets of the racing business the chance to interact, share ideas and products, build relationships and attend seminars to improve motorsports business around the world. The second annual IMIS is set for Dec. 1-3, 2010 at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis.

 For more information, log onto www.imis-indy.com

 About the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association

 The mission of the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association is to advance Indianapolis tourism and economic growth. The ICVA seeks to increase the number of visitors and their financial impact, expand positive perception of Indianapolis, and positively influence the visitor experience. According to a Global Insight report, in partnership with D.K. Shifflet & Associates, 22 million visitors annually provide $3.56 billion in total annual economic impact of tourism on the Indianapolis economy resulting in 66,600 full-time equivalent employment positions in the hospitality industry.  www.VisitIndy.com.

Fram Autolite Nationals
July 16-18^th, 2010  Sonoma CA 

Capps Ends Winless Streak

By:  Michael Padian (NHRA Communications)

Popular Funny Car driver Ron Capps ended a one-year winless streak Sunday with his victory at the 23rd annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway.

The other winners at the 15th race in the 23-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season were Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Michael Phillips (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

The owner of the NAPA Dodge Charger team, Don Schumacher, switched crew chiefs – bringing in John Medlen to replace Ed “Ace” McCulloch – in June and in the three races since the move Capps reached the quarterfinals in Norwalk, the final round in Seattle, and the Winner’s Circle in Sonoma.

“It’s all confidence and confidence is built on success,” said Capps (4.169, 296.44), who defeated teammate Jack Beckman (4.210, 298.93) and the Valvoline/MTS Dodge Charger team in the final round for his first win since the Mopar Mile-High Nationals in July 2009. “It’s really a pleasure working with (John Medlen). His approach to racing is let’s have fun. Let’s win, but let’s have fun, too. I can’t even tell you how exciting that is for me.”

The win was the 31^st career title for Capps, who moved up from seventh to fifth place in the Funny Car standings and clinched a berth in the Countdown to 1 NHRA Playoffs. Also clinching berths in Funny Car were Matt Hagan, Beckman and Tim Wilkerson.

In Top Fuel, Dixon (3.879, 317.12) and the Al-Anabi team defeated arch-rival Tony Schumacher (4.006, 300.73) and the U.S. Army team to remain perfect in final rounds this season, winning for the eighth time in eight trips there including twice against Schumacher.

“You know when you’re racing Tony, he’s won a lot of races and the last six championships so you know he’s going to keep you honest,” Dixon said. “You’ve got to go up there and fire your best shot and hope it’s enough. I enjoy racing him. When you (beat the U.S. Army team), there’s no blower belt coming off, you know he’s going to make you earn it so when you do win it makes it that much more gratifying.”

The win capped off a weekend sweep for Dixon, who qualified No. 1 and was competing in his 100th career final round.

“The car was flawless, unbelievable job by Alan Johnson just pulling everyone on the team. You see those numbers, running 84 a couple of times, to me that humbling. They were on their game. They weren’t leaving anything in their back pocket,” Dixon said.

In Pro Stock, Coughlin delivered a stout 6.590 at 209.52 in the JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to defeat Jason Line (6.502, 209.39) in his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP. Like Dixon, Coughlin was also in his 100th career NHRA Full Throttle Series final round and the win was his 51st, one shy of Joe Amato for eighth place on the all-time NHRA Full Throttle Series wins list.

“It was a good race car and that’s exactly what you need in Pro Stock when you’re separated by literally 10-thousandths of a second. There is no room for error,” Coughlin said.

Coughlin also defeated the other half of the Summit team, Greg Anderson, who had won the previous two races, in the second round.

“They are multi-time world champions so any time you get by them it’s awesome, to get by both of them in the same day, that’s a tough feat,” Coughlin said.

Line did clinch a berth in the Countdown to 1.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Phillips set a national record for speed aboard the Racers Edge Suzuki with his 6.886-second pass at 196.76 mph in the final round and he needed every bit of the power to defeat Andrew Hines’ 6.909 at 194.16.

“We’ve been playing with different carburetors and that’s where we picked up. We’ve been running crazy mile-per-hour,” Phillips said.

Phillips, Matt Smith and Andrew Hines all clinched berths in the Countdown to 1.

None of the three winners from Seattle repeated so there will be no chance for a sweep of the Western Swing, which will conclude next weekend, July 23-25, with the 31st running of the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway outside Denver.

Sonoma Pro Stock Final - Jeg Coughlin Vs. Jason Line (Photo by: Auto Imagery)

 IHRA Mopar Canadian Nitro Jam –  July 16-18th, 2010  Grand Bend, ON

 New Flavor for IHRA Grand Bend

 By:       Bruce Biegler

Following a decade of more traditional “national event” format racing, the IHRA brought it’s new revamped form of drag racing to Grand Bend Motorplex for the first time.   The 2010 Mopar Canadian Nitro Jam was, while not as high impact as in previous years, still a pretty darn entertaining event.

IHRA's "Fan Fest" was very popular

For the three Professional class racing portions of the program winners were determined on both Saturday and Sunday based on what is most commonly known as a “Chicago style” eliminator.  In a nutshell, the two low ET winners from a single round of competition come back for that day’s championship in that class.   That is supplemented by consolation racing for any remaining cars in the class.

While that format does not produce anywhere near the drama or demands associated with more traditional qualifying and elimination ladders, it does make the racing program itself tighter and possibly more palatable for the more casual fan.  It also is far more cost effective for racers during tough economic times like the present. 

Todd Paton with IHRA Ironman

The 2010 event was highlighted by the first ever Top Fuel category win by Canada’s Todd Paton who prevailed over four other entries on Sunday, some record fast speeds within the four car Pro Fuel (nitro-injected) class and some very cool antics by the 8-car Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car category.

As with most IHRA Nitro Jam events this season, the race program was supplemented by local talents and circuits.  This year’s event included round #3 of the PMRA circuit and also a match race between two of Eastern Canada’s top running TAFC’s driven by Larry Dobbs and Robbie Atchison.

While more seasoned drag racing fans may have been frowning, the majority of fans, who packed the place on Saturday in particular, seemed to be well entertained.   The Sunday crowd was much thinner when compared to years gone by at this race.   It’s hard to tell or know if that was any indicator or not.

This year’s litmus test probably came back positive.  But I guess only time will tell if the more exhibition nature of this event was received by the racing public as it was intended to be by IHRA and Grand Bend Motorplex officials.

In general winning an IHRA “Ironman” just doesn’t seem to have the same luster as it did before.  The downscaled level of competition has simply removed some of it’s polish.  Right now the jury is probably still out on what decision fans may or may not make going forward.

To view our event photo gallery click on the photo below:

Bruce Biegler Photos

Litton Breaks Through at Grand Bend

By:  Lisa Collier

Although Bruce Litton and the Lucas team have been in many finals over IHRA’s 11 year span at Grand Bend Motorplex, a Mopar Canadian Nitro Jam Iron Man has eluded them until this weekend. In Saturday’s rain-delayed late night finish, the Lucas Slick Mist Dragster gave its all to take the win over points leader Bobby Lagana Jr. (continue reading…)