C. FORCE DEFEATS J. FORCE; HALL GETS FIRST NHRA WALLY: Capacity crowds saw history made at New England Dragway for the Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals as Courtney Force faced her legendary father John Force in the finals for the first time in her young career and avenged her loss to him in the first round in Bristol. Courtney ran a 4.301-second pass to her father's losing run of 4.367.
TASCA TO MAKE FIRST FUNNY CAR RUNS AT NEW ENGLAND DRAGWAY: Bob Tasca III has raced every car he has owned down the track at New England Dragway except for one—his 8,000-hp Funny Car. That will change Friday when the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series takes to the Northeast track for the first time for the Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals, June 20–23. The inaugural event will feature competition in all four professional categories: Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle.
FORCE AND SCHUMACHER LOOK FOR SUCCESS AT BRISTOL DRAGWAY: 15-time NHRA Funny Car Champion John Force and seven-time Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher both are looking for continued success at Bristol Dragway during the upcoming Ford Thunder Valley Nationals June 14–16. Force has three wins at the track the most recent coming in 2010. Force is ready to return to the finals on Father's Day.
TOP FUEL AND FUNNY CAR POINT LEADS CHANGE HANDS IN ENGLISHTOWN: The points battles are heating up as the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series heads into the summer months and Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Michael Ray (Pro Stock Motorcycle) all took home wins at the Toyota NHRA Summernationals. Langdon and Hagan also took over the points lead in their respective categories with the victories. Visit NHRA.com for more.
NOBILE READY TO GRAB A HOME-TRACK PRO STOCK VICTORY: The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series races to the East Coast for the Toyota NHRA Summernationals, May 30–June 2, and Pro Stock racer Vincent Nobile is thrilled to once again return to his racing roots. Nobile, in his third full season in Pro Stock, is a resident of Melville, New York, and has long considered Old Bridge Township Raceway Park his home track, which is located a little more than 70 miles from his home.
GRAY RACES TO FUNNY CAR POINTS LEAD: For the first time in his NHRA career, Johnny Gray stands alone atop the Funny Car points standings following his third win of the season at the recently completed event at Heartland Park Topeka. Gray raced to his third win of the season, which is a new record for most wins in a single season for the veteran racer. Gray, who is competing in his final full season in the NHRA, is looking for continued success as the season progresses.
GRUBNIC RETURNS TO SITE OF FIRST NHRA VICTORY: A win at Heartland Park Topeka one year ago ended a nearly six-year winless slump for veteran Top Fuel driver David Grubnic in the 8,000-hp Top Fuel category in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. This season, the driver of the Candlewood Suites Top Fuel dragster will try to claim his third victory at the Kansas multipurpose motorsports complex as the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series pulls into the Midwest facility for the 25th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals, May 17–19. Jack Beckman (Funny Car) and Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) join Grubnic as the defending winners of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event in Topeka, the eighth of 24 events in the 2013 season, which will be televised on ESPN2HD.
NHRA TEAMS RETURN TO ATLANTA DRAGWAY THIS WEEKEND FOR RAIN-DELAYED SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT NHRA SOUTHERN NATIONALS: NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series teams will return to Atlanta Dragway this weekend for the completion of the rain-delayed Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals. The seventh round of the 2013 season was put on hold one week ago after heavy rains forced NHRA officials to postpone the race until this weekend, May 10–11. The two-day race weekend will resume with two qualifying sessions, Friday, May 10, at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Eliminations will begin at 11:00 a.m., Saturday May 11. Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) are the defending winners of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event that will be televised on ESPN2HD. More information can be found on NHRA.com. To purchase tickets, call 800-884-6472 or go to NHRATix.com.
VANDERGRIFF LOOKS TO KEEP MOMENTUM ROLLING AT HOME EVENT: Bob Vandergriff and his C&J Energy Top Fuel dragster team enter the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals on a hot streak after Vandergriff won the most recent event in Houston. Vandergriff continued his tradition of jogging from past the finish line to join his crew at the starting line to celebrate the victory. Atlanta Dragway is merely 60 minutes from Vandergriff’s home in Alpharetta, Georgia, and he will have a full contingency of friends and family cheering him on during the weekend. For more on this story, visit www.nhra.com .For tickets, call 800-884-6472 or visit www.NHRATix.com.
ENDERS-STEVENS IN SEARCH OF HOMETOWN VICTORY IN HOUSTON: Erica Enders-Stevens is easily the most successful woman in NHRA Pro Stock history. After a stellar 2012 season behind the wheel of her GK Motorsports Chevy that produced four wins in seven final rounds and a fourth-place points finish, there is one thing that would make her even more proud: to win a Wally in front of her hometown crowd at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Royal Purple Raceway.