• News & Events
• Bracket Racing 101
• Tech, Tests & Installs
• Dragtime News On Location

First time visitor to The Dragtime News? Join the email list and be the first to know about new updates. Send an email to info@dragtimenews.com and request to be added. Visit the Get On The List page for more info.

Please Support Our Advertisers: visit their websites for more info. Clicking an ad will not take you out of The Dragtime News; the advertiser's website will simply open in a new window.

Saturday May 25th is a Summit Series Points Race with bonus payouts: Super Pro (electronics, 7.00 – 11.99) pays $2,500 Win, $800 Runner-Up, and $55 Round beginning 3rd Round loss. Super Pro entry is $65, with a $50 buyback. Pro ET (footbrake, 9.00 – 17.99) pays $1,500 Win, $800 Runner-Up, and $40 Round beginning with 3rd Round loss. Pro ET entry is $50, with a $40 buyback. There’s also a $1,000 Street ET race on Saturday.

Sunday, May 26th and Monday May 27th each feature $5,000 money races for Super Pro (electronics, 6.00 – 14.99) and $3,000 races for Pro ET (footbrake, 9.00 – 19.99). The $5Ks pay $5,000 Win, $2,000 Runner-Up, $800 Semis, $400 Quarters, $75 Round starting 3rd Round loser. Entry is $150, and buybacks are $90. The $3Ks pay $3,000 Win, $1,000 Runner-Up, $400 Semis, $60 Round starting 3rd Round loser. Entry is $90, and buybacks are $60.

Gates open 10:00 am on Saturday with time trials at 3:00 pm, Sunday and Monday gates open at 8:00 am. For more information, visit Numidia Dragway’s website at www.numidiadragway.com.

Montgomery, AL – Montgomery MotorSports Park hosts the Mini Millions on May 30th – June 2nd, 2013. The event features three $20Ks and a $50K. The $20Ks are Thursday, Friday and Sunday; each pays $20,000 Win, $5,000 Runner-Up, $2,000 Semis, $800 6th Round, $600 5th Round, $400 4th Round, $200 3rd Round, and $100 2nd Round. Entry is $250 per day, or enter all three days for $650. 1st round buybacks are $150.

Saturday is the $50K that pays $50,000 Win, $20,000 Runner-Up, $5,000 Semis, $2,500 6th Round, $1,500 5th Round, $1,000 4th Round, $500 3rd Round, and $100 2nd Round. Entry is $1,000, 1st round buybacks are $260.

Gates open Wednesday at 12:00 noon for parking, tech and test & tune. Gates open Friday – Sunday at 8:30 am. Visit www.TheMillionOnline.com for more info.

Mohnton, PA - Racing fans will have their chance take a lap against two of the greats of NHRA and be able to support a good cause. The Slick Willy’s/NAPA Auto Parts Challenge benefiting the Kiss A Pig campaign features Don Schumacher Racing’s Ron Capps and Antron Brown, who will be at Slick Willy’s indoor go-kart racetrack in Wyomissing, PA on May 29th to help raise funds for the Olivet Boys & Girls Club of Reading, Pa. The event helps cap the annual Kiss-A-Pig contest run by the Reading Eagle Company that benefits the Olivet Boys & Girls Club. Also, between May 6-20, Maple Grove Raceway will be donating $10 to Olivet Boys & Girls Club from every Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals ticket sold. The Challenge works like this:

• Racers can come to Slick Willy’s between May 6-20 and attempt to qualify for the May 29 race. For $75, they can run 28 laps – the equivalent of two time sessions. Each entrant will also receive a Slick Willy’s driver’s license. They can make qualifying runs between Monday and Friday during business hours. • Each racer that makes a qualifying run receives a free general admission ticket (a $50 value) to the NHRA Mello Yello Series event at Maple Grove Raceway on Sunday, Oct. 6. • The 60 quickest racers will then be invited to the main event on May 29. • On May 29, the top 60 will compete in eight groups of races, each running 14 laps to try and post the quickest lap time. • The quickest driver in each heat advances to the NAPA Auto Parts Kiss A Pig Championship, while the runner-up advances to the Slick Willy’s B-Main, a 14-lap qualifier. The quickest driver from the latter race then goes to the championship. • Also, one driver from the remaining qualified drivers will be selected in a Maple Grove Raceway Wild Card drawing for a spot in the championship final. • The championship race line will feature Capps, Brown and Reading Eagle Company publisher Peter Barbey. • The driver with the quickest lap during the final will be recognized as Slick Willy’s “Fastest Driver.”

The winner will also receive a custom racing helmet, trophy, two suite tickets for the NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove on Sunday, Oct. 6, Slick Willy’s passes, a Victory Lane photo with Capps and Brown, and more. Second through fifth will receive trophies and other prizes. For more information, contact Maple Grove Raceway at (610) 856-9200 or visit www.maplegroveraceway.com.

We welcome Merle's Southwest International Raceway in Tucson, AZ to the Track Info page.

Check out all the tracks and mini Doppler radars on the Track Info page HERE

Holland, TX - It’s gonna get old fast at Little River Dragway on Saturday June 1st at the Summer Nostalgia Nationals. Nostalgia Eliminator 1 is 4.65 Index for any center-steer front-engine dragster, altered or pre-1979 funny car. Nostalgia Eliminator 2 is 5.00 Index and Nostalgia Eliminator 3 is 5.50 Index. Both are for any center-steer front-engine dragster, altered, pre-1979 funny car or left-hand steer roadster. Entry for each class is $50; Nostalgia 1 pays $450 Win, Nostalgia 2 pays $350 Win, and Nostalgia 3 pays $250 Win. Also on the schedule is Summit Super Series bracket racing.

Gates open 1:00 pm with time trials starting at 3:00 pm. For more info visit www.LittleRiverDragway.com.

• Problems seeing the tree at night

• Generator Covers

• Header coating?

• Do you think this block is repairable

• Crankshaft harmonics?

• Merge collectors,,how big a choke

• Detonation

• What heat range plug??

Atco, NJ - Second generation racer Jimmy Stack Sr. took no prisoners at the inaugural Mid Atlantic Super Street Association races held at Atco Dragway in Atco, NJ. Stack started from the #1 qualifying position in his Garbinski & Livezey ‘71 Challenger on Saturday. He was closely followed by Nick Mayo, Frank Quarino Jr., Ben Saia and Bill Trum.

For qualifying number one, Stack received a bye-run in the 1st round. He then took down John Fedeli, Kevin Tiedemann and Jason Lawrence in the semis. In the final Stack raced Division 1 champion Martin Ganjoin and his 1969 Camaro. Ganjoin took down Mark Kelly in the first, Bernie Staub, Bill Trum and received a bye-run into the final round against Stack. In the final Ganjoin had the 'Tree .028 to .038 but the high mph Challenger caught Ganjoin and forced him under giving the win to Stack 10.908 to 10.884.

On day number two, East Chester, NY resident Kevin Tiedemann took the number one qualifying spot in his 1970 Nova. He was followed by Bob Kodadek, Stack, Greg Kelly and Bernie Staub. Tiedemann took down 2012 .90 Nationals Champion Keith Mayers in the first round to earn a bye-run to the semi-finals. In the semis Tiedemann took down Bill Nycz 10.932 to 10.889 to earn a date with Stack, who took down Dave Harvey Sr, Kodadek and Staub in the semis 10.957 to 10.891. In the final Stack laid down an 8 thousandths package on Tiedemann. Stack took the advantage at the tree (.008 vs. .031) and laid down a perfect 10.900 to Tiedemann’s 10.897.

The Mid Atlantic Super Street Series will run race numbers 3 & 4 on May 18th & 19th at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa. For information on MASSA contact Rob Keister at 856-332-2851 or e-mail him at Rekeister@aol.com.

Race #1, 5/4/13: John Kakalecik (left, 1970 Cuda SS/CA, .057 RT, 9.092 on a 9.09 @ 145.36) defeats Doug Linke (1998 Firebird GT/CA, .036 RT, (9.98) 9.963 on a 9.98 a2 126.95). Nick Reiter was the semi-finalist.

Race #2, 5/5/13: Bubba Linke (right, 1997 Camaro C/SA .000 RT, 10.514 on a 10.49 at 116.27) defeats Frank Ferrucci (1990 Camaro J/SA, .088 RT, 11.413 on an 11.45 @ 110.89. Dave Thomas and Tom Dauber were the semi-finalists

Jennifer Kershner (New Tripoli, Pa., left) and Ron Mellinger (Narvon, Pa. below) won the 11.50 and 10.00 classes respectively at the debut of the new Boninfante Friction B1 Index Series at Maple Grove Raceway. Both racers took home $450 for first place. The runners-up each received $150 and the semifinalists all got $100. In the B1 Index Series, cars competed in a heads-up format. There were no handicaps and both cars left the starting line at the same time. There will be two more index races this season on June 29 and July 7.

Kershner and her 1972 Nova won the 11.50 class, as runner-up Keith Reis (Furlong, Pa.) broke. Both of them earned the right to be part of a special 8-car showcase eliminator at the Toyota NHRA Summernationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in New Jersey, May 30 – June 1.

In the 10.00 class, Mellinger and his ’74 Nova also took advantage of a quicker trigger finger to beat Carl Ungaro (Langhorn, Pa.) in the final. His run of 10.015 at 127.51 was a tad slower and the reaction time of .016 was a big help. (photos: Don Carrick/Studio 413)

Englishtown, NJ - I spent April 28th at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park for the 2nd day of Sunoco Super Challenge Points. I was racing in Pro ET and was able to capture a few randon shots. If you were there, I might have photographed you.

CLICK HERE for the photos.

Article continues HERE...

Article continues HERE...

Article continues HERE...

Continued here...

Shortly before writing this column I was on location at the NHRA Division 1 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ. One of the announcers was Lewis Bloom, with whom you may be familiar from the NHRA broadcasts on ESPN2. I told Lewis how much I enjoyed his insightful analysis and statistics, and it got me to thinking about how I’ve used similar historical analysis in my own racing. This is a great time to have this discussion, now that the past season is behind us and we’ve started planning for the new one.

Article continues HERE...

Burnouts. We love doing them, but do we know how to do them properly? In a recent issue of National Dragster, David Reher had a great column entitled "Are Burnouts Abusing Your Engine?" I thought his article was so important that I referenced it here earlier this year as a must-read.

On a separate occasion, I had a conversation at The PRI Show with Milodon about a new oil pump they came out with because racers were breaking regular oil pumps on the burnout due to excessive shake.

Article continues HERE...

While attending the 2012 Performance Racing Industry Show in Orlando, I was especially intrigued by one company in particular, CoolShirt Systems, manufacturers of personal cooling systems. Being a racer from the hottest place on the planet (central New Jersey in August), ...

Continued here...

As racers, we're always looking to go fast, but slowing safely is actually much more important. Additionally, for the footbrakers among us, it's the braking system that holds the car at the starting line as we're way up on the converter. That's why when I saw this technical piece about brake systems on the website of Mark Williams Enterprises, I knew I had to share it here with you. The article continues at the link below, and discusses Pedal Ratio & Master Cylinder, Master Cylinder Selection, Caliper Alignment Clearance and Position, Proportioning Valves, Brake Lines and Fluid, and Troubleshooting.

Continued here...

I came across an interesting and informative technical piece on the website of Mark Williams Enterprises (www.markwilliams.com) that discusses driveshafts. I thought it was good information so I'm sharing it here with you.

Continued here...

How to get instant effect by shedding 15lb surplus from your rotating assembly
by Sam Logan

The chief advantage of an aluminum high performance flywheel is weight saving...

Continued here...

One of the most important pieces to any winning combination is also one of the most misunderstood. Your torque converter is the biggest variable in the driveline. To better understand a converter, you need to look at how it really works.

Continues HERE...

In every class of motor sport, engine power is increasing in impressive leaps. Even small displacement engines now produce horsepower that only ten years ago was considered the realm of exotic mills hundreds of cubic inches larger.

Cylinder head technology with increased air flow and combustion chamber design has led the charge. Many of these advances have been accomplished by improving the performance of the valve train, achieved largely by state-of-the-art test and development equipment such as the Spintron, and also by the latest computerized machining centers.

Article continues HERE...

I came across a very interesting and informative technical paper on the website of Mark Williams Enterprises (www.markwilliams.com) in which various types of axles are discussed. I thought it would make a good read here for the visitors of The Dragtime News, especially for those of you who are in the process of perhaps building a new rear for the upcoming season.

The paper compares the differences between flange axle , full floater and live axle type, as well as safety aspects of each.

Article continues HERE...

Engine philosopher Jon Kaase (Jon Kaase Racing Engines, Winder, Georgia) had an idea that nagged. For too many years, he’d watched the ubiquitous 302 amass part upon improved part, but observed nary a deviation from the original cylinder head configuration. He thought he could produce cylinder head castings that looked like ordinary Windsor 302/351 parts on the outside but inside would be entirely different from the original blueprint. Article continues HERE...

By JC Beattie, Jr. of ATI Performance Products

Article continues HERE...

Big Money Electronics and Footbrake Races, Numidia Dragway, October 8th, 2011. Click HERE.

NHRA Division 1 Bracket Finals, September 22nd - 25th, 2011 US-13 Dragway. Click HERE.

NHRA LODRS, Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, September 10th and 11th, 2011. Click HERE.