Jack Beckman crashed Friday evening during a nostalgia Funny Car match
race at Sacramento Raceway according to a report on NHRA.com.

At first glimpse his ride may look like a vehicle straight from Orson Wells’ War of the Worlds but that’s not about to deter Pro Modified racer Harold Martin in his quest to make his Martin M-4 a viable Pro Modified race car.

“The car’s progression is coming along well,” Martin said. “The
publicity in the early stages actually caused a problem in that racers
and fans flock to the car. There’s a part of me that will be glad when
the newness wears off so we can get down to racing and figure this
thing out.”

Martin is currently qualified 15th provisionally in the Pro Modified field at the IHRA Spring Nationals in Rockingham, N.C.

Of the obstacles Martin, the former General Motors engineer, has faced
in the past few weeks learning the nuances of the chassis has proven
the toughest challenge.

Bruce Litton straps in his Top Fuel car and he’ll be the first to admit the correspondences between he and tuner Richard Hartman are on a need to know basis.

As Litton describes it, the only thing he needs to know is to keep the
car in the groove. He did just that during the first qualifying session
at the 38th annual IHRA Spring Nationals in Rockingham, N.C., running 
to the provisional No. 1 Top Fuel qualifying position with a 4.721
elapsed time at 290.32 miles per hour.

Rockingham Dragway has Rickie Smith’s number. He has its number, too.

Nearly
thirty years ago, Smith, then a budding mountain motor Pro Stock star
in the IHRA became the first driver to record a seven second run.
Friday night he ran a five second pass on the second stop of the IHRA
tour.

The seven-time IHRA Pro Stock world champion from King, N.C., was the
class of the Pro Modified field at the IHRA Springnationals as he was the first and only
doorslammer driver to dip into the five second zone with a 5.962
elapsed time at 234.37 miles per hour.

In addition to her busy college schedule at Cal State
Fullerton and her blossoming race career behind the wheel of the Sanyo
Supercharged HD Top Alcohol Dragster, Courtney Force has now added
“Agent” for the Fiesta Movement to her expanding resume. As part of the
social media program to launch the Ford Fiesta in the U.S. Ford Motor
Company selected 100 individuals or “Agents” who have extensive social
media networks to drive the Ford Fiesta then talk, blog, photograph,
video, and generally expound upon their experiences across the world
wide web.

The most prestigious Sportsman race in the world will celebrate its
25th anniversary this year on the weekend of June 5-7 when the invitation-only JEGS Allstars race returns to Chicago's Route 66 Raceway.
 
The prestigious JEGS Allstars race features the top points earners from
the NHRA's seven geographic divisions competing against each other for
big money and divisional bragging rights. Although the fields haven't
been set for this year's race as competitors in Top Alcohol Dragster,
Top Alcohol Funny Car, Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas,
and Super Street continue to earn points towards inclusion, organizers
at JEGS High Performance are making sure the 25th anniversary will be
one to remember.

Marc Kinton, an IHRA official and avid CompetitionPlus.com reader, was injured recently at a divisional event. According to the IHRA, Kinton was struck in the face by an errant part from a support vehicle.

Keep up with Marc's situation on CARE PAGES . 

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The West Central Division’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series pulls up to
the starting line this weekend at S.R.C.A. Dragstrip for the first of
six events on tap for the year.  Competitors from eleven categories
will be battling it out during the three day event in hopes of claiming
valuable divisional and national points.

Richard Putz of Earlville, Iowa, claimed the lead position in Top
Alcohol Dragster after Friday’s qualifying pass with a run of 5.607
seconds at 252.52 mph.  The division’s 2007 champ landed just ahead of
Brandon Lewis, Broken Arrow, Okla., sitting in second. Top Alcohol
Funny Car is once again headed by Roger Bateman from Calgary, Manit.,
who is also the reining division champion.  Ontario, Calif., resident
Sean O’Bannon qualifies his ’06 Monte Carlo in the No.2 position of the
four car field.

Frank “The Flying Meatball” Gugliotta (Mt. Airy, Md.) claimed top
honors in Elite Motorsports Pro Stock, taking the provisional “pole”
and Last Man Standing award at the IHRA Spring Nationals at Rockingham Dragway with a pass of 6.328 at 218.23 mph.

“She
was rocking at ‘The Rock’,” Gugliotta said. “We had her locked in and
had a great run. This is only our second race out and we are just
trying to do the best we can out here.”

Point leader Bruce Litton tops Top Fuel charts

IHRA veteran Rickie Smith holds down top spot in Pro Mod; Gugliotta takes top honors in Pro Stock

Bruce
Litton (Indianapolis, Ind.) picked right up where he left off at the
season opener in Baton Rouge with the top run of the night in Top Fuel
during Castrol “Night of Fire” qualifying Friday at the 38th annual
Spring Nationals at Rockingham Dragway.

Litton laid down a 4.721 E.T. at 290.32 mph to top the provisional Top
Fuel qualifying charts, edging out rookie Del Cox Jr. (Downey, Calif.)
in a head-to-head battle. Cox ran a 4.739 at 312.28 mph, the fastest
speed of the night.

“It was good. We kind of adjusted accordingly based on what everyone
else was doing and Richard made a couple of adjustments there toward
the end and it worked out in our favor,” Litton said. “Being that this
is the first lap, it is hard to guesstimate, but you would rather be
safe than sorry.