Compiled by SEMA Editors
 Rich Willhoff edged out Austin Barnes and Jordan Priestley for the Late Model Grand Champion title in a hard-fought battle by just an eight-point span between the three podium finishers. |
Holley LS Fest West 2019 Event Recap and Results
Holley’s all-LS Fest West party took place earlier this month at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, featuring 1,000 cars and 17,000 enthusiasts. LS Fest veteran Rich Willhoff edged out Austin Barnes and Jordan Priestley for the Late Model Grand Champion title in a hard-fought battle by just an eight-point span between the three podium finishers. Willhoff came out on top with 399 points and won two of the four categories (Autocross and 3S Challenge), and Barnes won the other two (Road Course and Drag Race).
Mike Dusold won several of the Grand Champion disciplines outright—Autocross, Road Course, 3S Challenge and even Drag Race—where no car was within half a second of his twin-turbocharged ’67 Camaro. Dusold won the Vintage Grand Champion title with a total of 401 points, building quite a margin over second-place Nick Relampagos, who racked up 363 points with his ’70 Camaro. Joining them on the podium was Greg Thurmond, who collected 354 points to edge out Robby Unser and Matt Alcala for third in the final standings.
David Carroll drove to the LS Fest West Truck Grand Champion crown with a strong showing in all four disciplines—Autocross, 3S Challenge, road course and drag racing. He won two of the events, and in the two he didn’t win he placed second over the biggest field of trucks to date. Pat Sheely was relatively close to Carroll in second place (14 points back, 243 to 229) and Rob Phillips took third. All three drove Chevy C10 pickups—Carroll a ’74, Sheely a ’59 and Phillips a ’72.
Visit Holley’s website for full results.
 Steve Torrence walked away with his 30th Top Fuel victory in his Capco Contractors dragster with his run of 3.881 seconds at 319.82 mph to defeat Antron Brown’s 3.899 at 309.49 in the final round. |
Torrence, Capps, Butner and Hines Win at Virginia NHRA Nationals
Defending Top Fuel world champion Steve Torrence secured his second consecutive victory at the Virginia NHRA Nationals and third of the season last Sunday evening at Virginia Motorsports Park. Ron Capps (Funny Car), Bo Butner (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also winners in their respective categories at the eighth of 24 events during the 2019 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. Torrence walked away with his 30th Top Fuel victory in his Capco Contractors dragster with his run of 3.881 seconds at 319.82 mph to defeat Antron Brown’s 3.899 at 309.49 in the final round. Capps secured his second consecutive Funny Car Wally in his NAPA Brakes Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat to defeat the defending world champion J.R. Todd in the finals. Butner locked in his fourth win this season when his pass of 6.599 at 209.01 in his Jim Butner Auto Chevrolet Camaro took down Greg Anderson. Butner also went to the final round of the SAMTech.Edu Factory Stock Showdown where he fell short to Drew Skillman on a holeshot. In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Hines, the No. 1 qualifier, earned his third straight victory after going 6.845 at 195.68 on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson Street Rod to defeat teammate Eddie Krawiec in the final round. The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series continues to Chicago for the Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway, May 30–June 2.
 Despite Vinny Palazzolo running a quicker 4.41 at 161 mph, he couldn’t catch the 4.48 at 160 mph from Phil Hines’ ProCharger-fed ’01 Mustang before the finish line first, giving Hines the win. |
Race Wrap: Inaugural NMRA Gateway Rumble Presented by HPJ Performance
VP Racing Fuels Street Outlaw: Vinny Palazzolo and his turbocharged ’09 GT500 met Phil Hines in the final round, and despite Palazzolo running a quicker 4.41 at 161 mph, he couldn’t catch the 4.48 at 160 mph from Hines’ ProCharger-fed ’01 Mustang before the finish line first, giving Hines the win.
Edelbrock Renegade: Haley James and her boosted Hellion B-Team Fox body Mustang faced off in the final round with the ’03 Cobra of Keith Ciborowski, where James’ performance advantage gave her a sizable lead and her second win of the year thanks to a 4.83 at 147.91 mph, getting the nod over a 5.01 at 141 mph from Ciborowski.
ProCharger Modified Street: Martin Connelley faced Brad Schehr and his ’89 Mustang in the final. What could have been an all-seven-second final-round bout fizzled when Schehr ran into problems, slowing to a 10-second run that fell to the 8.01 at 165 mph from Connelley’s turbocharged ’86 Mustang.
Advanced Fuel Dynamics Limited Street: Michael Lewandowski advanced his ’79 Mustang to face Sondra Leslie’s ’85 model in the title bout, where Leslie’s 7-hundredths better reaction time combined with an 8.80 at 154 mph held off the 8.77 at 154-mph charge of Lewandowski, giving Leslie her first win of the season.
G-Force Racing Transmissions Coyote Stock: Jacob Lamb moved his ’86 Mustang to the final round to face the ’93 Cobra of Darin Hendricks. Both cars rolled deep in the staging beams, and the move turned up a red light for Hendricks, giving Lamb a 10.40 at 129 mph ride to victory and a trip to the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle.
Richmond Gear Factory Stock: Dan Ryntz and his ’89 Mustang advanced to the final to face the blue ’79 Mustang of Bryan Gardner. The final was all Ryntz, getting the holeshot over Gardner and stretching the advantage to the finish line where the scoreboards confirmed the win was his via a 10.38 to 10.49 count over Gardner.
Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle: The final round matched defending class champ Jason Henson and his ’03 Mach 1 Mustang against Susan Roush-McClenaghan. A close double breakout result found Roush-McClenaghan’s ’10 Mustang the victor, as her .006-under 9.444 just edged out the .01-under 12.06 from Henson.
ARP Open Comp: Gordon Harlow advanced to the final round to face off with Dennis Corn. At the green, Harlow’s Mustang left first on the 10.12 to 9.32 index handicap difference, but a .06-under 10.06 breakout pass from Harlow meant the .01-above 9.33 of Corn got his ’88 Thunderbird the win.
Detroit Locker Truck & Lightning: The turbocharged ’01 Lightning of Bob Dill met Mike Roup and his ’70 Ranchero in the final, where Roup emerged victorious when he posted an .08-over 11.32 to best the .12-over 9.56 of Dill.
ROUSH Performance Super Stang: Bobby Barrick met Robert Ball and his ’15 Mustang in the final round, and a big holeshot for Ball paid off in a double breakout finish when Ball was the less offensive with a .06-under 10.74 pass getting the win over Barrick’s .16-under 11.64 run from his ’13 Mustang.
Race Star Wheels Ford Muscle: Bryan Parker in his ’68 Mustang fastback used a holeshot-aided .03-over 11.53 to turn away the closer .02-over 10.52 of Clyde Dunphy for the win.
QA1 True Street: Randy Thomas and his ’10 Shelby Mustang stood atop the field courtesy of an 8.60 average to score the Edelbrock Victor trophy. Troy Eaton was the runner-up thanks to a 9.95 average, Bill Unkel scored the 9-second hardware with a 9.75, a near-perfect 10.001 average meant the 10-second title went to Rick Baun, and Trevor Thome picked up the 11-second hardware. Mike Baker was the 12-second winner, Robert Conwell earned the 13-second plaque, the best of the 14-second group was Eddie Schoenfeld, and Mason Blosser rounded out the winners with the 15-second title.
Randy Thomas made his way to the final round to match up with number-two qualifier Troy Eaton and his turbocharged ’89 Mustang. Thomas crossed the finish line first in his ’10 Shelby, but his 8.43 pass proved too quick for his NHRA safety limit of 8.50, and the resulting disqualification gave the win to Eaton, who clocked a 9.07 at 160 mph blast.
NMRA Bracket One: Greg Rice, piloting a ’15 Profab-built dragster, scored the win last Saturday afternoon over NMRA Modular Muscle-racer Charlie McCulloch. Rice repeated the feat on Sunday, turning back Caileb Beaird in an all-dragster final to earn a pair of Edelbrock Victor trophies for his efforts.
Bracket Two: A -.001 red light from Jeffery Whitaker meant John Westhoff’s ’82 Capri got the win. On Sunday, Whitaker got a win over Bob Westhoff for the accolades.
Bracket Three: Bret Kepner scored a holeshot-aided victory over Ralph Beaver. Sunday pitted Aaron Worstell against Paul Kluesner, and a better reaction time paved the way to victory for Worstell.
The next stop on the 2019 NMRA schedule is Pennsylvania’s-own Maple Grove Raceway, home to the 19thAnnual NMRA Ford Motorsport Nationals, contested June 27–30.
 Falken Tires took home first and second place in the 4500 Class and then did it again in the 4600 Class at the ULTRA4 race held last weekend outside San Felipe, Mexico. |
Falken Tires Takes Home First- and Second-Place Hardware in Two Classes at ULTRA4 Mexico Race
Falken Tires took home first and second place in the 4500 Class and then did it again in the 4600 Class at the ULTRA4 race held last weekend outside San Felipe, Mexico. The “El Rey de Las Bajas” race was the first time the ULTRA4 series competed in Mexico, and featured four laps covering 88 miles. Team Falken veteran Dan Fresh of SAVVY Off-Road took first in the 4500 Class, finishing 16 minutes ahead of second-place Falken driver Shawn Rants of Mudd Nutt Racing, despite breaking a rear brake line. In the 4600 Class, Team Falken’s Josh Atteberry of Kracker Fab took first, running just eight minutes ahead of second-place finisher Falken’s Dawson Allington of Baby Jeep Racing. According to ULTRA4 Racing management, every racer who completed the course in a designated time, regardless of class, earned an invite to the association’s halo event, King of the Hammers 2020. Additionally, winners of each class also received a free entry to Ridgecrest, California, September 13. Next on ULTRA4 Racing’s schedule is an East Coast event June 14 at the Cross Bar Ranch in Davis, Oklahoma.
 Permatex will provide the gasket makers for all vehicles competing in Formula DRIFT’s nine races during the 2019 season. |
Permatex Named the Official Gasket Maker of Formula DRIFT
Permatex has been named the official gasket maker of Formula DRIFT. Permatex will provide the gasket makers for all vehicles competing in Formula DRIFT’s nine races during the 2019 season. The company also served as the presenting sponsor for the first Formula DRIFT race of the season, the O’Reilly Auto Parts RD1: the “Streets of Long Beach,” in Long Beach, California, last month. The 2018 season marked Formula DRIFT’s 15th year of competition, and the 2019 season will see races held in California, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Washington, Missouri and Texas.
For more racing news, visit Performance Racing Industry’s (PRI) website.