Chuck Shelton's 1969 Z28 Camaro

Canadian National event off 2008 calendar for non-completion of mandatory repair work Following the 2007 IHRA Canadian Nationals, IHRA provided Toronto Motorsports Park, a list of mandatory facility improvements needed to ensure IHRA’s return in 2008. After a recent facility inspection following the deadline for these upgrades/improvements, IHRA has decided not to contest the 2008 Canadian Nationals, originally scheduled for Sept. 19-21, at TMP.

“Our contract with TMP concluded following the 2007 event and we had some facility issues we needed addressed,” IHRA president Aaron Polburn said. “After the visual inspection last week IHRA is not satisfied these stipulations have been met and improvements made, so we’ve chosen to cancel the 2008 event.”

Though inroads were made and minor improvements completed, the major issues IHRA requested were not completed to the satisfaction of the sanctioning body. (PRN Magazine)

Eight competitors will have the opportunity to double up in the win column July 4-5, when the Flowmaster American Drag Racing League (ADRL) presented by the National Guard visits Motor Mile Dragway in Radford, Virginia, for the 2nd annual Shelor Motor Mile Independence Drags.

Heavy rain washed out the ADRL’s national event at Knoll Gas Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan last weekend before the final round for all four professional classes could be completed. A lightning strike also damaged the track’s starting-line tree, prompting ADRL President Kenny Nowling to quite literally take matters into his own hands with arm-drop start signals throughout eliminations from the second round on.

“Sometimes you just have to do whatever it takes,” Nowling said of what one team quickly dubbed the Arm Drop Racing League (ADRL). “We had fans in the stands expecting a race, teams that had towed more than a thousand miles just to get there and a method available—though I’ll admit it was a little unusual—to get the job done. Plus, with the points and purse distributed equally among those racers remaining it took a lot of the pressure off and I think most who took part had a lot of fun. I know I did; it was probably the most fun I’ve ever had at a drag strip.”

The fun will continue at Radford, where despite a fully functioning tree and timing system in place, Nowling said the arm drop start will again be employed to settle all four finals from the Michigan event. Each winner will earn a “Minuteman,” the coveted trophy provided by the National Guard to signify an ADRL national-event victory.

“It’s the only way to remain fair and consistent,” Nowling said. “Besides, I think everyone left in contention is looking forward to earning the bragging rights of winning such a unique title. The fans in Virginia are in for a real treat, too, because these arm-drop starts for a pair of 3,000-horsepower cars have to be seen to be believed.”

All four finals will run consecutively on Friday night to close out round-one qualifying for the Radford race. Points leader Joshua Hernandez will take on Bob Mandell Jr. in the Pro Extreme final, teammates Billy Harper and Dennis Radford will square off for Pro Nitrous honors, Gary White and Brent Rau will stage a battle of the imports in Extreme 10.5, and T.T. Jones will ride against Scott Gray to settle the Pro Extreme Motorcycle final. All final-round passes also will count as official ADRL qualifying attempts toward the Independence Drags, Nowling added.

“And one more thing; when we came up with the arm-drop idea, I promised Steve Gorman, our reigning Extreme 10.5 champion, that he could shave my head on the starting line when it was all over,” he said. “Well, that’s still on. It actually comes at a good time, too, because our next event is the inaugural 1-800-GO-GUARD.com U.S. Drags up in Budd’s Creek, Maryland, so I’ll fit right in with my new military-style haircut.”

New in 2008, the BTE Bolt Together Torque Converters are now available for the summer racing season.

The torque converter's bolt-together design gives users flexible options for maintenance or adjustments and the aluminum front design is 2 pounds lighter than standard weld up versions.

This torque converter features a steel stator, comes with or without Sprag, is available for most non-lockup applications and is great for bracket or high horsepower heads up racing. Rebuild kits containing new o-ring and washers are also available.

Powerglide High Gear Billet Pistons are recently in stock and ready for purchase at BTE/Memphis Performance for the 2008 summer racing season.

The Powerglide High Gear Billet Piston features billet aluminum construction and new spring pocket design. This piston is also designed for higher than OEM clutch counts and this new piece eliminates the inconvenient task of finding old junkyard cores.

ESPN has announced it will provide a special 20-minute repeat airing of final eliminations from Sunday’s weather-plagued Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago.

The special rebroadcast will air Wednesday evening, June 11 at 6:40 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD. The 20-minute program, which will follow ESPN2’s NASCAR Now, will provide highlights of final eliminations in all four professional categories.

Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel); Tony Pedregon (Funny Car); Kurt Johnson (Pro Stock); and Chris Rivas (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were race winners in their respective categories at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event

The race was hampered by unpredictable severe weather throughout the weekend, forcing ESPN officials to juggle its programming schedule.

A two-hour repeat airing of the full telecast of Sunday’s eliminations from the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals is scheduled for 2 a.m. (ET) on June 11 on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD.

DragCoverage.com Photographer Jeffery Dunn headed to Clearwater, FL this past weekend for the HEads Up Madness Race at Sunshine Dragway. Click Here to View Photos

With track temperatures hovering around the 140 degree mark, an exciting field of Super Pro racers contested for over 20 thousand dollars in winner’s dollars in two days of tough racing at the Montgomery Motorsports Park Mullis Super 7 Series event June 6-8. Click Here for Complete Results

(Commerce, GA – June 7) “Finally!” was the unanimous cry of Atlanta Dragway racers this weekend, marking the first Summit points race not interrupted by inclement weather this racing season. Despite the delay in this season’s points race competitions, some Atlanta Dragway regulars found success at other events. Multi-time Pro champ Rob Hogue won last weekend at the Atlanta Dragway Super Chevy Show, with no time trials and a 22 month break from racing. Hogue thanked Computech, who supplied his weather station, for helping give him an edge. Pro class racer Jacob Rutledge placed second in the $50,000 World Footbrake Challenge at Bristol, and his fellow Pro competitor Randall Roop came in just behind with a semi-finalist finish in his Team Ford Thunder Mustang. Despite the hot weather and the soupy atmosphere, conditions allowed for fierce competition, each class represented by a significant amount of entrants, ready to stake their place in the points.

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