The Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Drag Racers Association has announced it’s 2012 race schedule.

Points races are May 6th, Island Dragway; May 20th, Quarter Aces; May 26th & 27th, Beaver Springs Dragway; June 9th, Cecil County Dragway; June 17th, Atco Raceway; June 24th, Island Dragway; July 14th, Numidia Dragway; August 4th, Maple Grove Raceway; August 19th, Quarter Aces; September 1st & 2nd, Beaver Springs; October 6th, Atco Raceway; October 14th, Quarter Aces; and October 20th, Cecil County Dragway.

Non-points races are June 9th, Beaver Springs; June 14th – 16th, Bowling Green, KY; July 13th & 14th, York Reunion; and July 15th, Beaver Springs Reunion.

For more information about MANDRA, visit www.mandraracing.com.

Sometimes I forget that there's drag racing that takes place in venues other than dragstrips. Thanks to new Dragtime News reader Laura Miller for submitting this video and reminding me.

This includes The Big Eliminator Drags, Uphill Drags, and obstacle for EC4WDA Gravelrama 40th Anniversary in 2010. Look at how fast some of these cars accelerate on dirt. This is pretty cool! Go full-screen for a better look.

• Do I need a return regulator?

• Sewn in arm restraints

• Powder coating chassis?

• crank grinding

• Min. allowable tire clearances

• Fuel Injector Size HELP!!

• Plastic side windows

• Engine angle

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.

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The Mid Atlantic Super Gas Association (MASGA) has released its 2012 schedule. The series will start out at Atco Raceway on April 28th & 29th. This event falls the weekend before the NHRA PC Richard Open also being held at Atco on May 4th & 5th. Next is May 19th & 20th at Maple Grove Raceway near Reading, PA for the “3rd annual Sportsman Circuit Shootout”. This event will be held the weekend before the Lucas Oil Division Race also held at the Grove on Memorial Day weekend. The third stop on the schedule is Numidia Dragway on June 30th - July 1st. Track owner Bob DiMino will step up to the plate once again and guarantee the $1,000.00 winner’s purse on both days. If 30 or more cars show up for either event DiMino will up the payout to $1,500.00. Also since this event falls on the July 4th observed weekend, Numidia will be having fireworks and a few other surprises on Saturday night for all the racers and their families. Next, the newly repaved Cecil County Dragway hosts races 7 & 8 on August 11th & 12th. The Cecil County event will feature the annual “Pig Roast” put on by Super Gas Racer George Donhauser and his family. This event falls the weekend before the Lucas Oil event held at Cecil on Aug 17th - 19th. MASGA goes to Atco Raceway on Sept 29th & 30th to crown their season ending champions. This event will provide a great test & tune opportunity for anyone who is entered for the Uni-Select Nationals the following weekend at Maple Grove Raceway.

2012 MASGA Schedule: April 28th & 29th – Atco Raceway; May 19th & 20th – Maple Grove Raceway; June 30th & July 1st – Numidia Dragway ($1,000 Guaranteed both days); August 11th & 12th – Cecil County Dragway; September 29th & 30th – Atco Raceway.

For information on MASGA such as membership forms, becoming a sponsor, etc. please visit www.midatlanticsupergas.com, or e-mail Leanne at leanneluciano@hotmail.com.

Racers won big at the recent Pro Tree Racers Association 2011 season banquet held at the Hilton at University Place in Charlotte, NC on January 7, 2012.

In addition to eleven class champions being crowned, drawings were held in each category for the top ten points earners for prizes. Calico Coatings and Performance Plus Connection offered gift certificates to all categories. The highlight of the drawing landed in the open body division, Pro Tree Dragster. Several companies partnered to give away a $3500 powerglide transmission.

Dragster driver Brad McBride walked away with the ‘glide featuring a Reid Racing case, Sonnax Performance 1.80 straight cut planetary, Transmission Specialties Pro Mod input shaft, Alto PowerBand and clutches, other parts from Performance Torque Converters (PTC), and assembled by Tony Meltvedt at Meltvedts Racing.

For more information about the PTRA and their 2012 season, go to www.protreeracersassociation.com or visit Mooresville Dragway at www.mooresvilledragway.com.

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“RIDE WANTED: No "hired gun" touring professional in drag racing would make the following statement: "If I lose a round of eliminations due to a reaction time worse/higher than .029 or red (minus .001 or worse), I will pay a penalty of $100 for that round loss." They wouldn’t make that statement, because nobody is consistently that good and unforeseeable mechanical and physical circumstances are always present. Al Vanis is looking for a ride in a consistent and well-maintained "foot brake" race car. If I determine that the race car offered is as described, I will pay the owner of it $100 for any round in eliminations that I lose by fouling or from a reaction time of .030 or worse/higher. Judging the "stripe" is an educated guess, and nobody is better at it than a racer who has been doing just that for 45 years. Make me pay!!”

Al Vanis is about as hard-core a bracket racer as there is. He’s dedicated a good portion of his life to our sport, just as many of us have. He’s also raced Stock Eliminator and has notched two national event wins, with one of those being the U.S. Nationals. The times I’ve raced against Al he’s been pretty stellar on the Tree. You never take this guy lightly.

So what does a good racer do if they’re approaching a season without a ride? They get creative like Al has. There are all different ways to get creative, and perhaps reading about Al's approach will spark some ideas of your own. The main thing is to elevate the top-of-mind awareness others have of you. I can almost guarantee that after someone reads Al's ad, they will remember it and him. That's key.

• ATI Performance Products, www.atiracing.com. ATI manufactures a multitude of high performance parts including competition transmissions, Treemaster converters, torsional Super Dampers, Compu-Flow valve bodies, flexplates, and adapter kits as well as a wide variety of performance enhancing internal components.
• Hoffman Performance Products, www.hoffpro.com. Founded by a drag racer, Hoffman Performance participates in and are associated with IHRA/NHRA drag racing, dirt track racing and asphalt racing.
• Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels, www.mickeythompsontires.com. Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels designs, develops and distributes specialty tires and wheels for the street, strip, track, and off-road.
• Moroso Performance Products, www.moroso.com. Moroso manufactures over 3,000 products, from oil pans and oiling systems, to ignition wire, ignition components, valve covers, fuel system equipment, air cleaners, and hard-core racing tools.
• Numidia Dragway, www.numidiadragway.com. A beautiful NHRA ¼ Mile facility in Numidia, PA, and “The Home of The Guaranteed Payout.”
• Performance Racing Industry, www.performanceracing.com. If you are in the business of auto racing, Performance Racing Industry should be an integral part of your life. PRI connects manufacturers of racing products and technology with racing retailers, race engine builders, race car builders and professional race teams.
• Road Runners Performance, www.roadrunnersfx.com. Performance parts retailer that carries many of the top manufacturers.
• S & W Race Cars, www.swracecars.com. S&W Race Cars is known world-wide as the leader in drag race chassis development and innovation. Their custom-built, award winning race cars are used by many of the leading NHRA & IHRA professional and sportsman race teams.
• All the racers who have purchased Dragtime News t-shirts. Thank you for helping to spread the word.

We were on location September 22nd - 25th, 2011 at US-13 Dragway in Delmar, DE for the NHRA Division 1 Bracket Finals. The weather made it one of the most frustrating Bracket Finals in memory. It rained, it stopped, it would rain again, and so on all the way to Sunday. We did the best we could with the photo coverage.

Part III, which includes a special section highlighting the photography of Englishtown Super Pro racer Joe Siebert, is now published HERE, or start at the beginning with Part I HERE,

We were on location at Numidia Dragway on October 8th, 2011 for the middle of three straight big money weekends.

Today's races were $5,000 gambler races each for Electronics and Footbrake classes. The weather was perfect, the track was tight, and the car count was good.

I didn't do too well, having a snoozy light in Round 1, then going .003 red against NHRA Division 1 Pro ET champion James Young Jr. in the buyback. Oh well, that's racing, but I had a great time nonetheless. The coverage is HERE.

The five second barrier has stood all season long in the NMCA Pro Street class until the NMCA World Street Finals in Indianapolis, where ATI’s Chris Rini put down a 5.988 ET at 236.4 MPH to become the 1st person in any NMCA class to break into the fives. That run turned out to be the fastest pass of the day and put Rini #1 in qualifying.

Chris runs an ATI Superglide 4 and an ATI Outlaw Converter, making his '69 Bickel Pro Mod Camaro the fastest nitrous true automatic in the world. See the run on ATI’s video page HERE.

No, it's not an installment of Dragtime News On Location; this time I was at Maple Grove only to race. The Dodge did well, too; I was still in it at the split. If you were there and are looking for photos, Don Carrick has you covered. He was on the scene taking not only starting-line shots, but lots of action down track and scenes from the pits. It's great stuff.

Visit Don's site HERE and look under Featured Galleries on his home page.

If you're thinking of selling a trailer, please let me know by emailing info@dragtimenews.com. Thank you in advance.

We were on location September 10th and 11th, 2011 at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ for the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.

Classes included Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny Car, Stock, Super Stock, Competition Eliminator, Super Comp, Super Gas, and Super Street.

Part III is now published HERE, or you can start at the beginning with Part I HERE or jump directly to Part II HERE).

We were on location August 6th, 2011 at Atco Raceway in Atco, NJ for the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Classes included Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny Car, Comp, Stock, Super Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas and Super Street.

PART III IS NOW PUBLISHED; CLICK HERE to go directly to Part III.

CLICK HERE to go directly to Part II.

CLICK HERE to start at the beginning with Part I.

• Click HERE to go directly to Part IV

• Click HERE to go to Part III

• Click HERE to go to Part II

• Click HERE to start at the beginning with Part I.

I recently took the Dodge to the monthly car show on Main Street in Woodbridge, NJ. I know, it's not bracket racing, so why did I go? To talk to people and spread the word of bracket racing and supporting your local dragstrip, of course!

Click HERE to see the photos.

Saturday, May 28th, 2011 - We made the trip into beautiful north-central Pennsylvania to Numidia Dragway for their Memorial Weekend big money races for Electronics and Footbrake.

GO DIRECTLY TO PART II: Click HERE to visit Part II of our photo-coverage.

START AT THE BEGINNING: Click HERE to visit Part I of our photo-coverage.

As you read below, 1/4-mile oval Riverhead Raceway on Long Island, NY was recently the site of the area's first-ever 100-Foot Drags presented by the HDRA.

One of the region's staunchest supporters of getting safe, organized drag racing back on Long Island is Al Levine. Al was there covering the event; his photos show a strong turnout of Long Island's racers, proving that they would rather race legally for only 100-feet instead of illegally on the street.

Click HERE to see Al's photo-coverage of the event.

On Saturday May 14th I went to Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ for the 25th Annual Mopars @ E-Town.

Click HERE to go to Part II of the coverage, added 5/31/2011.

Click HERE to start with Part I of the coverage.

Racing engine builders looking to tune up their knowledge of electronic fuel injection in racing applications should make plans to arrive early in Orlando the week of the 2011 PRI Trade Show for a special course by EFI University.

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On Sunday May 1st, I took the Dodge to Atco Raceway in Atco NJ for the Philadelphia Modifiers Yesteryear Drags. I actually went to do some testing, as I've alway felt testing during competition can tell you more than just testing on Test & Tune day.

Click HERE to visit the coverage.

(Photo by Performance Racing Industry)

We went on location at The 2010 Performance Racing Industry Show in Orlando, Florida.

CLICK HERE for a report from the show floor.

We were on location September 15th -18th, 2010 at US13 Dragway in Delmar, DE for the NHRA Division 1 Bracket Finals.

CLICK HERE for the coverage.

We visited and raced at Numidia Dragway on Saturday, September 4th, 2010 for their $5,000 Electronics and $5,000 Footbrake races.

CLICK HERE to view the coverage.

We spent four days on location photo-covering the event; all classes from Stock Eliminator to Top Fuel.

Click HERE for photo coverage.

Click HERE for photo coverage of The 35th Annual Snap-On Tools Night Of Thrills held on Saturday, June 19th, 2010 at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ.

We visited and raced at Numidia Dragway on Saturday May 29th, 2010 when the track had their Memorial Day Weekend big-money races. CLICK HERE to view.

If you like what you see, then GET ON THE LIST! Send an email to info@dragtimenews.com and tell me you want to be added to the email list; you'll receive an alert email every time I update the site.