Dave DeAngelis believes that some dreams need to be followed up.

The veteran drag racing photographer, who traded in his Nikons for a
Top Alcohol Dragster a decade ago, has embarked on another chapter in
his storied drag racing career. This summer, DeAngelis will make his
Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car driving debut behind the wheel of a 1971
Mustang flopper, a tribute car to the legendary Lou Arrington and his
Brutus entry.

“I have wanted to build a Funny Car since I was ten years old,”
DeAngelis said. “The only reason I didn’t want to do it at five was
that there were only slingshot dragsters.”

Nitro Fish Wear owner Kenny Koretsky will continue his sponsorship
agreement with NHRA Full Throttle Series Funny Car leader Tony

Tony Pedregon beats Ashley Force Hood in the Englishtown Funny Car final.

Pedregon at this weekend’s Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

“I’m going with the hot driver in Funny Car,” Koretsky said Wednesday. 
“I said Tony was a winner before our last race at Englishtown (N.J.,
June 14) and he proved it on the track.  He has all the tools to win,
and he’s a great driver.  His team is consistent, and that’s what it
takes to win the championship.

Very few expected Larry Dixon to sneak up on the competition in 2009.

Instead, it was expected the Alan Johnson Racing/Al Anabi team would
bury the competition in the asphalt from the start. When the wins
didn’t come as quickly as some had predicted, the naysayers began to
write the team off as one that couldn’t live up to the hype.

Just as some were about to count out the prospects of this
championship-caliber team, the team found its groove, starting in
Topeka.

Nestled in the Northwest is one of the best kept secrets in drag racing.

PSCA

Frank Tamez, of Yakima, Wash., has established himself as the quickest
driver in a naturally-aspirated, automatic transmission doorslammer.

"I think it's absolutely awesome to be driving the fastest car with
doors," said Tamez. "I like dragsters, but there's nothing like the
challenge and thrill of going this fast in a door slammer."

This past Saturday, Tamez clocked a record 6.33-second elapsed time at
221 mph down the quarter-mile during the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing
Series Division 6 event at Pacific Raceways in Kent Wash.

Pete Jackson, who started Jackson Fuel Injectors Inc. and later Pete
Jackson Gear Drives, passed away May 19 of complications from heart
surgery with Pauline, his wife of 60 years, at his side.

Jackson was an active participant, designer, and inventor in drag
racing and dry-lakes competition. Jackson’s career in racing started
with his brother, Charles Jackson, going to races at Lions, San
Fernando, and Orange County dragstrips and the Bonneville Salt Flats
and El Mirage dry lake.

This weekend's Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit
Motorsports Park in Norwalk will be contested as planned after an
emergency repaving of the final eighth-mile of the racing surface.

"We're in great shape," said NHRA Senior Vice President-Racing
Operations Graham Light. "The quality of the paving job that the
contractor, Gerken Asphalt, did was excellent; it's a very nice,
smooth, tightly packed surface. They and the track need to be commended
for the job they did over the weekend getting the old asphalt off and
the new asphalt on. They actually went two and a half inches deep
instead of the originally planned inch and a half, but it was all laid
by Sunday night."

When Bob Glidden retired in 1997, he was the most successful driver
in the history of the NHRA with 85 National Event wins. A Ford
campaigner

from the beginning, Glidden's start in Stock and Super Stock
contributed to his huge success in Pro Stock.  Glidden, now involved in
the ’10 Unleashed program, talks about Ford’s involvement with the
sport today.

The NHRA hasn’t raced at National Trail Raceway (Columbus, Ohio) since 2004, yet Pro Stock crewman Jerry Eckman goes to the famed facility in his mind every time he works the wrenches on Roger Brogdon’s entry.

Eckman was once an accomplished driver with five national event victories to his credit and qualified No. 1 more than a handful of times, but one incident in Columbus negated the aforementioned achievements.

Eckman was caught cheating in an incident that literally exploded in his face. A nitrous bottle mounted in the oil tank exploded during a routine warm-up prior to qualifying sending shrapnel throughout the pits at National Trail Raceway.

The West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association heads to Champion Raceway in
Medford, Ore., July 3-4  for the fourth of seven events on their
2009 tour. The third annual Nite of Fire event will feature Outlaw Pro
Mods as well as the West Coast Top Sportsman Association, Sunoco Fuel
ET Championship Series as well as jet cars and a huge fireworks display.