Compiled by SEMA Editors
 Rookie Steve Halprin defeated Dom DiDonato in the final round of competition in VP Racing Madditives Street Outlaw. |
Race Wrap—2020 NMRA World Finals and Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival
The 22nd Annual NMRA World Finals & Holley Intergalactic Ford Festival at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, wrapped up a crazy 2020, and yet a rather successful Holley NMRA Ford Nationals season for racers and enthusiasts alike.
VP Racing Madditives Street Outlaw: Rookie Steve Halprin met Dom DiDonato in the final round of competition. When the race was over, it was Halprin who had turned on the win light at the top end of the track, and grabbed his first NMRA event win and took his first trip to the Aerospace Components Winners Circle.
Edebrock Renegade: Joel Greathouse drove to victory in the final round when Eric Bardekoff’s Mustang failed to start.
JDM Engineering Limited Street: Bill Putnam defeated Chad Wendel in the final round, 8.33 to 8.43.
G-Force Transmissions Coyote Stock: Chester Drake met Drew Lyons in the final round, where Lyons drilled the tree with a .006 light, and shifted what might have been all four gears of his G-Force transmission in the air, but the driving effort cost him time and Drake to stormed past him for the win, 10.02 to 10.48.
Richmond Gear Factory Stock: Leslie Jr. met Justin Fogelsonger in the final round of competition, took the starting line advantage and then took the trip to the Aerospace Components Winners Circle with a 10.15-to-10.17 victory.
Exedy Racing Clutch Modular Muscle: Gary Parker won four elimination rounds to meet Jason Henson in the finals. Once there, Parker was quick to the tree and quick to the win light.
ARP Open Comp: The final round came down to Greg Cole and Chad Scholten. Both drivers did their jobs well off the line in the battle of Fox-Body Mustangs, but it was Cole who was victorious.
Detroit Locker Truck & Lightning: Dave Cole met Fred Wade in the finals, where Wade got the better of him from the start to the finish to take the win.
ROUSH Performance Super Stang: Kevin McKenna drove to the win after defeating Pete Espeut in the final round of competition.
Fastest Street Car Magazine Ford Muscle: Clyde Dunphy in his ’72 Mustang Mach 1 defeated Llyod Mikeska in the final round of competition and celebrated in the Aerospace Components Winners Circle.
Mickey Thompson Cobra/Terminator vs. GT500 Shootout: Ryan Aycock met Dwayne Hickman in the finals, where Hickman ran the slower of the two times with a 7.75 to Aycock’s 7.68, but he grabbed a .223-second starting line advantage that allowed him to take the holeshot win.
Hellion Turbo Battle: Donato Sierchio took the first of two wins at this event after defeating James McCord, 7.28 to 7.44 in the heads-up eliminator.
QA1 True Street: Dan Saitz in his ’11 Mustang GT took runner-up honors with a 9.019 average while Daniel Rosner rocketed to the 9-second win. Bob Myers banged the gears in his Mercury Capri to the 10-second win, Tim Apple took the 11-second award with an 11.043 average, and Gary Johnson went 12.005 for the 12-second prize. Leading the 13-second charge was Clint Plummer with a 13.015 average, Richard Shannon Doyle collected a 14.009 average for the 14-second win, and Brian Flanagan narrowly beat out multi-time 15-second winner Belinda Moore with a 15.026 to her 15.093 average.
GForce Performance Engineering King of the Street: The final round came down to Spring Break Shootout winner Donato Sierchio and St. Louis True Street winner Randy Thomas, with Sierchio rocketing to the win in his turbocharged Fox-Body Mustang.
TREMEC Stick Shift Shootout: In the final round, Tim Casto defeated 2019 Stick Shift Shootout winner Mike Niehaus for the win and the trip to the Aerospace Components Winners Circle.
Capri Club of North America: Chris Rolls took the win over James Meredith after Meredith turned on the red light at the start.
RacePagesDigital.com Bracket 3: In the final round of competition, it was Michael Crass who drilled the tree with a .009 light and then took the win over Danny Towe, who wasn’t far behind with a .019, in the tough final round.
Chrysler Performance West Fall Fling to Be Held at Irwindale Dragstrip, October 24
Chrysler Performance West’s Fall Fling will be held at Irwindale Dragstrip in Irwindale, California, October 24. In previous years, the Fall Fling was held at Woodley Park. For 25 years, the signature all-Mopar event has featured hundreds of Mopars and swappers from the Western States and Canada. Participants are free to show their daily drivers, works in progress, projects, trailer queens, modern Mopars and show queens. Due to COVID-19 regulations, masks must be worn. Register now at www.irwindalespeedway.com.
IndyCar Announces 17-Race Schedule For 2021
IndyCar officials have announced a 17-race schedule for the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series. The 2021 season will begin Sunday, March 7, on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, marking the 10th consecutive year that St. Petersburg will host the launch of a new season. For the first time, the Series will race at Texas Motor Speedway in the month of May during a doubleheader weekend May 1-2, before the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, scheduled for Sunday, May 30. The Detroit doubleheader has moved to June 12-13, while the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course will host INDYCAR during the July 4 holiday weekend. IndyCar will make a debut on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee, for the first Music City Grand Prix on Sunday, August 8, followed by the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, August 14. The three-weekend stretch culminates with a return to the oval at World Wide Technology Raceway, Saturday, Aug. 21. The 2021 season champion will be crowned Sunday, September 19 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. For the complete schedule, including broadcast info, visit the IndyCar website.
 Doug Kalitta earned his second win this season and 49th in his standout career after going 3.690 seconds at 322.58 mph in his 11,000-hp Mac Tools dragster, beating defending world champ Steve Torrence in the final round. |
Doug Kalitta and Tommy Johnson Jr. Pick Up Key Victories at MOPAR Express Lane NHRA Midwest Nationals Presented by Pennzoil
Veteran Doug Kalitta won for the fourth time in St. Louis and pulled within two points of the Top Fuel lead last Sunday, racing to a victory at the ninth annual Mopar Express Lane NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Pennzoil at World Wide Technology Raceway. Tommy Johnson (Funny Car) also won at the eighth race of the 2020 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. Due to a unique combination of cold temperatures and wind direction, NHRA officials postponed the conclusion of racing in Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle on Sunday. The two classes will be completed at an upcoming event. The race was also highlighted by the announcement that Camping World has partnered with NHRA to become the sponsor of the premier professional series, which will be known as the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.
Kalitta earned his second win this season and 49th in his standout career after going 3.690 seconds at 322.58 mph in his 11,000-hp Mac Tools dragster, beating defending world champ Steve Torrence in the final round. It closed the gap between Kalitta and Torrence, who has won two straight world titles, to just two points, setting the stage for a memorable championship battle.
In Funny Car, Johnson picked up a crucial victory to stay in championship contention, going 3.884 at 326.88 in his 11,000-hp MD Anderson Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat in the final round to squeak past Matt Hagan’s 3.886 at 333.00. Hagan jumped past him by advancing to the final round, but Johnson now trails by just 34 points.
In Pro Stock, action was stopped midway through the second round, with Greg Anderson and Matt Hartford both picking up wins. Anderson ran a Sunday-best 6.502 at 211.53 in his Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro in his second-round victory. Erica Enders was set to race Chris McGaha when the call was made to postpone the rest of racing action in the class. Aaron Stanfield and points leader Jason Line were slated to race as well. That winner will meet Hartford and Anderson will race the winner of Enders-McGaha.
Pro Stock Motorcycle completed its second round of eliminations before action was halted on Sunday. Points leader Matt Smith, who won the most recent race in Gainesville, went an eliminations-best 6.767 at 199.49 on his DENSO Auto Parts/Stockseth Racing EBR to move into the semifinals. Joining him was Steve Johnson, teammate and U.S. Nationals winner Scotty Pollacheck and reigning world champ Andrew Hines. Smith and Johnson will square off in the semifinals, while Pollacheck and Hines will race for a spot in the final round. Action in the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Series was also postponed due to the cold temperatures and wind direction. There were no elimination runs made in the class on Sunday.
The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series continues October 14-18, with the AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex in Dallas.
NHRA Releases 22-Race NHRA Camping WOrld Drag-Racing Series Schedule for 2021 Season
NHRA officials have announced a 22-race 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule. Details on Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying days as well as special exhibitions and specialty series that compete at national events will be announced in coming weeks. NHRA enters 2021 with a new sponsor on its premier professional series—Camping World—and an extended partnership with FOX Sports. All 22 events in this extreme sport series will be aired exclusively on FOX Sports with select events on the FOX broadcast network.
In 2021 NHRA will celebrate its 70th anniversary, and for the first time, the NHRA season will kick off on the east coast with the 52nd annual AMALIE Motor Oil Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, March 12-14. The traditional series opener, the 61st annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, will move to April 9-11, in 2021, starting a three-week spring stretch on the West Coast. The Winternationals will be followed by the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas, the first of two four-wide events during the 2021 campaign, and the NHRA Arizona Nationals in Phoenix, April 23-25.
NHRA’s Western Swing includes thrilling events at Bandimere Speedway in Denver, Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., and Pacific Raceways in Seattle over consecutive weeks. The sport’s biggest race, the historic NHRA U.S. Nationals, will stay in its traditional place over Labor Day Weekend, September 1-5, at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship playoff system, with the top 10 racers in each professional category competing for a championship over the final six races, will lead into the 2021 season finale, the 56th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals slated for November 12-14, at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California.
For more racing news, visit Performance Racing Industry’s (PRI) website.