NHRA Pro Stock racer Allen Johnson knows how to have a good time. This
weekend as the NHRA Full Throttle tour rolls into Bandimere Speedway
for the NHRA Mopar Mile High Nationals there's a general consensus that
the real action doesn't start until Friday.

Johnson disagrees. 

He believes the real action begins on Thursday night at the Mopar Big
Block Party. Johnson says the “Official Starter” of the Mopar
Mile-Highs, is scheduled for Thursday night, July 9, in downtown
Golden, Colo., and it is the place to be.

Drag racing classifications come and go. Then there are those that survive the test of time and generate a following.

Thirty-five years ago the NHRA introduced a new classification in
Competition eliminator known as Econorail Dragster. There were two
econorails divisions, A and B, reserved for single four barrel equipped
dragsters with either automatic or manual transmissions.

A group of drag racers in Southern California love their econorails so
much that it seemed only fitting they create an organization aimed at
preserving this style of drag racing.

The Southern California Econo Dragster Association (SCEDA) was created
by a group of Competition Eliminator racers who raced these econorails
in the 1970s when traveling the full NHRA schedule became prohibitive.

Performance history comes alive this weekend July 10-11th at the York Expo Center, York Fairgrounds as York Traditions Bank and GGS Technical Publication Services present the 8th Annual Musclecar Madness at the York Reunion.

For 14-year-old Sean Serra, last year’s trip to Winner’s Circle at
Bristol Dragway in the NHRA Junior Drag Racing League Eastern
Conference Finals was many years in the making… more than 60 to be
exact. He hopes to repeat the effort during this season’s event,
scheduled for July 6-11.

While the Reinholds, Pa. native only has been on the track for a little
more than five years, his family has been involved in drag racing since
the 1940s.

Sean is a fourth-generation driver, and his pedigree runs strong. His
great-grandfather raced dragsters and stock cars when the sport was
still in its infancy, while his grandfather Charlie, raced front-engine
dragsters against top drivers like “Big Daddy” Don Garlits during the
60s and 70s.

Robert Hight knows what to expect when he pulls alongside fourteen-time NHRA World Champion John Force or decorated Funny Car driver Ron Capps.

But Mike Sutsos Jr., that challenge might require some studying.

That’s because Sutsos doesn’t drive a nitro-burning Funny Car. In fact,
he doesn’t even drag race on the NHRA Full Throttle tour.

Race fans can pencil in July 25 as Super Saturday at the FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway.

For the first time in three years, Infineon Raceway is offering a
general admission ticket to catch the ground-pounding excitement.

Some memories are just too good to forget.

For Top Fuel rookie Shawn Langdon, rekindling the memory of the last
time he raced at Bandimere Speedway seems appropriate with this
weekend’s NHRA Mopar Mile High Nationals.

He first became a champion at Bandimere.

There
are many words used by NHRA drivers and crew chiefs to describe NHRA’s
Western Swing, the trio of mid-summer races that stretch from Denver to
Seattle to Sonoma, Calif. in a span of three weeks.

Grueling. Critical. Demanding.

The one word you won’t hear race team members use to associate the challenge of the Western Swing: Easy.

Teams will travel approximately 2,115 miles during the 21-day
mini-marathon so that their race cars can – if all goes according to
plan – log a maximum of 6 miles (4.5 for Top Fuel and Funny Car)
combined on all three race tracks. In between those 1,000-foot or
quarter-mile runs, the teams will be pushed to the limit to service
those vehicles in 75 minutes or less. Each race will present its own
set of unique circumstances, whether it be extreme altitude,
unpredictable weather conditions or sheer physical exhaustion from the
task at hand.

Ron Capps, a four-time winner in NHRA’s Full Throttle Funny Car series this season, will be Newsmaker of the Week on The Race Reporters radio show, Wednesday, July 8, 7 p.m. EDT, on www.PowerUpChannel.com.
 
Capps began the year by taking the first two events in the NAPA Dodge
Charger fielded by Don Schumacher Racing. He’s currently third in Funny
Car points going into this weekend’s race near Denver, Colo. Capps has
been the championship runner-up three times in his career, but is still
trying for his first title.

The polls are open, now open your wallets and help fight a life
altering disease that often robs a young child of a normalcy we all

Allie Puntel, Ohio, fourth in last year's contest, shown in an
interview with CompetitionPlus.com's Stan Creekmore, was one of five
finalists with her name listed on last season's JDRF Funny Car. (Roger Richards)

expect and deserve.

Starting July 2nd, and running through August 14, the public is invited to visit www.jdrf.org/ford ,
view more than 200 paint scheme designs and vote for their favorite
children’s design by making a monetary donation to JDRF, all as part of
Ford Customer Service Division’s second annual Funny Car Design
Contest.

The top five donation-earning designs will go in front of a panel of
judges and narrowed down to one. The winning design will be featured on
Motorcraft/Quick Lane sponsored Mustang Shelby driven by Bob Tasca III
during the NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, NC, on Sept. 18-20.