Race Coverage
Baker Wins SOT Pro Mods at Montgomery
Joe Baker was awarded his first victory of the 2012 season after defeating David Reese in the finals of the Southern Outlaw Tour this past weekend at Montgomery Motorsports Park in Alabama.
Baker was out of the gate first and never looked back, posting a 3.999, 185.87-mph pass in the final round.
A previous NHRA Pro Mod Rookie of the Year, Baker used a combination of his reaction time skills and performance to march the “Medicine Man” Studebaker into the winner’s circle. His first three elimination-round reaction times included a .002 , .003 in the semi-finals, and a .010 reaction in the final.
“This was just a good weekend of racing,” Baker said. “We worked hard over the winter to get things going and even tried new things. This victory makes the long hours that everyone has spent on the car worthwhile work pay.
“I want to thank (Steve’s Drugs), foremost, and the team for busting their butt this past weekend. This win is for them.”
Baker will continue to drive the “Medicine Man” at the remaining Southern Outlaw Tour events and various outlaw Pro Mod races across the southeast this year.
Hight, Massey and Anderson Win at NHRA 4-Wide Nationals
Robert Hight (Photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster; Click to enlarge)
The dominant start of the 2012 season continued for Funny Car racer Robert Hight as he scored his fourth win in five races as he won the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway. Spencer Massey in Top Fuel and Greg Anderson in Pro Stock also secured wins at the fifth race of 2012 in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Continue Reading »
Tough Season Continues for Funny Car Champ Hagan
Matt Hagan (Photo courtesy CharlotteMotorSpeedway.com; Click to enlarge)
Matt Hagan, crew chief Tommy DeLago and their Aaron’s Dream Machine Funny Car just knew this would be the weekend when their season would turn around.
They received their championship rings Saturday to commemorate their 2011 NHRA Funny Car world championship.
The last time the team was at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s zMAX Dragway at Concord last fall, they fielded the first and only Funny Car to complete a 1,000-foot run in less than four seconds. In addition to running 3.995 seconds, the team blasted out a 322.27-mph pass. Add to that, a very successful testing session Apr. 2, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that seemed to find the gremlins that led to a 1-4 record in eliminations. Continue Reading »
Hight, Torrence and Line Qualify No. 1 for Four-Wide Nationals
Robert Hight (Photos courtesy National Dragster; Click to enlarge)
Robert Hight continued his hot start of the season Friday (Apr. 14), at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Charlotte, NC, as he recorded his third number-one qualifying position in the first five events of 2012. Friday leaders Jason Line in Pro Stock and Steve Torrence in Top Fuel retained their top qualifying spots through Saturday’s two sessions. Continue Reading »
Laganas Unfazed by Loss of Q1 Data
Dom Lagana (Photo courtesy Lagana Racing; Click to enlarge)
Dom Lagana was amped up and ready for the first session of qualifying at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway in Charlotte, but when no time appeared on the scoreboard at the conclusion of his run and no time slip was generated, there was definitely a sense of deflation for Lagana and his Paul Richards Racing team.
A malfunction with the timing system negated the run, but thankfully, the Tire Kingdom/Service Central-backed team rallied and put together a nice clean pass in the second and much later session. Their 3.956 at 311.63 mph has them on the board in the No. 11 spot heading into Saturday. Continue Reading »
Capps, Torrence and Line Lead Early Four-Wide Qualifying
Ron Capps (Photos courtesy NHRA/National Dragster; Click to enlarge)
A resurgent Ron Capps overcame the disappointment of not qualifying for the last NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event in Las Vegas two weeks ago to race to the qualifying lead in the Funny Car category on the first day of qualifying for the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway on Friday (Apr. 13).
The other pro class top qualifiers after two sessions are Capco Contractors Top Fuel driver Steve Torrence and Summit Racing driver Jason Line in Pro Stock. Continue Reading »
Rowe Snags Provisional Pole in Pro Mod Qualifying at zMax
Closing the performance gap between his own supercharged, methanol-burning ’67 Camaro and that of his turbocharged and nitrous oxide-injected Pro Modified counterparts has been the name of the game for Danny Rowe since leaving the season-opening NHRA Gatornationals in Florida last month.
Judging by the Sterling Bridge Pro Mod’s performance in the opening two rounds of this weekend’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at the luxurious zMax Dragway outside Charlotte, North Carolina, all the hard work and effort of the last month has been worth it. Continue Reading »
NHRA Four-Wide Nationals Guide
(Photo courtesy NHRA/National Dragster; Click to enlarge)
Fans attending the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway this weekend (April 13-15) will experience double the horsepower in all qualifying sessions and eliminations rounds for Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock, which will run four-wide at this unique event in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
Below is a quick reference guide that will help answer any questions regarding the special rules, race procedures and configuration for four-wide drag racing, NHRA style. Continue Reading »
Mustang ‘SuperCar’ Sets New 0-60 MPH Record at ADRL Houston
Bo Butner (Photo courtesy ADRL; Click to enlarge)
By Bret Kepner; Courtesy ADRL.us
The current global horsepower war among production auto manufacturers has led to amazing achievements in acceleration and carmakers rely on often stunning “0-to-60 mph” times to promote their latest offerings. It appears, however, the Ford Motor Company may have produced the quickest-accelerating production vehicle of all time and the numbers gleaned from the debut of American Drag Racing League’s SuperCar Showdown division seem to prove it.
Although several production cars have proven capable of 0-to-60 times under three seconds, the 2012 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport is generally acknowledged to be the quickest in attaining that goal after verified tests prove it can hit sixty mph in a mere 2.57 seconds. Equipped with an eight-liter, sixteen-cylinder engine with four turbochargers which produces 1,180 horsepower, the 4,162-pound All-Wheel-Drive Veyron carries a list price of $2.4 million dollars.
Bo Butner can now dispute the Bugatti’s record. In fact, he downright destroyed it with his new Ford Mustang Cobra Jet during the ADRL’s season-opening CarSafe Automotive Repair Protection Dragpalooza VIII held at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas. Incredibly, Butner was unaware of the Mustang’s 0-to-60 capabilities since he seldom concerns himself with those statistics. Continue Reading »
Stemper Family Team Scores Breakthrough PXM Win
(Casey Stemper and crew in Victory Lane at Royal Purple Raceway (Photo by Roger Richards/CompetitionPlus.com; Click to enlarge)
Casey Stemper may be one of the youngest racers in the ADRL, but he quickly earned his place as a valid contender in the Pro Extreme Motorcycle (PXM) ranks in a short amount of time. At the ADRL season opener Mar. 30-31, in Baytown, Texas, Stemper put any questions as to his abilities to rest with the triumphant capture of his first Minute Man.
“We were really looking forward to the 2012 ADRL season,” Stemper said. “And to start the year off this way just adds to our excitement. We are shooting for the championship, and having the ADRL season-opener win under our belt will certainly help us achieve that goal.” Continue Reading »
