America’s fastest growing jerky brand, Cattleman’s Cut, is gearing up for a high-speed partnership in 2019.  Cattleman’s Cut, the wildly popular jerky brand in the Oberto Snacks portfolio, will take the reins of primary sponsorship on the Jim Dunn Racing Funny Car for the 2019 National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Season.  Starting at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Cattleman’s Cut signature branded wood grain graphics will be showcased on the Jim Dunn Racing Funny Car.

Storied small-tire racing promoter Donald "Duck" Long admits he's tried his best to keep his alter-ego in check with an influx of corporate sponsorship rolling into his popular Duck X Promotions events. But when he looks at the 51 Radial vs. The World paid pre-entries for next month's Lights Out 10 event at South Georgia Motorsports Park, located outside of Valdosta, Ga., his brashness gets the best of him.

Long believes unequivocally that the Radial vs. The World division is the best ticket in drag racing.

Better than Top Fuel? Yes.

Better than fuel Funny Car? Absolutely.

Better than Pro Mod? Without a doubt.

Pronto Auto Service Center driver Blake Alexander will return to Funny Car for the 2019 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. The two-time Top Fuel event winner will own and operate his equipment out of Tim Wilkerson Racing in Springfield, Ill., in a working partnership. Alexander will field his team at 12 races with crew chief Daniel Wilkerson.

Closing annual PRO Winter Warm-up to the public was a difficult, but necessary call for officials at Wild Horse Motorsports Park located outside of Phoenix, Az.

Track spokesperson Jeff Wolf confirmed this in a letter delivered to ticket-holders and those on the track's mailing list.  

Veteran Pro Mod driver Bubba Stanton will be sporting a new look for the new year, after Paint by Jeff Hoskins in Hillsboro, MO, applies a fresh coat of yellow to his race car.

"It was black when I got it and that's the way it's been," said Stanton, who purchased the car from NAS Racing two years ago. "But there are so many black '69 Camaros out there, and red ones, that I just wanted something different. I had a yellow car before and really liked it. That yellow always stood out and our fans seemed to like it, too."

Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels is again serving as title sponsor of Lights Out 10 "The Baddest Small Tire Races in the World. 

Leading the small tire category with its ET Street Radial Pro line, Mickey Thompson has supported the annual event since 2009. This year’s races are set for Feb. 14-17 at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Adel, Georgia.

With an eye on outside-the-box and innovative thinking, Steve Matusek and Elite Motorsports’ Pro Mod operation announced a key partnership with Turbosmart, a leading worldwide manufacturer of performance accessories for forced induction vehicles, that will stretch across the entire Elite Motorsports Pro Mod group. 
 
On the heels of the recent announcement utilizing Garrett Advancing Motion turbochargers, this represents another major move for Matusek, Elite Motorsports, crew chief Shane Tecklenburg and Modern Racing’s Justin Elkes as they prepare for the 2019 NHRA Pro Mod season. Tecklenburg’s previous relationship with Turbosmart was instrumental in putting together the deal between the company and Elite Motorsports, and Turbosmart’s creative and forward-thinking designs and applications will be apparent on Matusek’s turbocharged Mustang. It adds up to another exciting incentive for the veteran standout heading into the upcoming year.

The Santo’s Summer Thunder meeting at Sydney Dragway, January 18, 19 will go into the history books as the most bizarre event held at the venue since opening in 2004.

The event was abandoned after the catch fence was destroyed following a high-speed crash in the final of Pro Slammer between Sydney pair Sam Fenech and Paul Mouhayet.

Fenech took the win, then his parachutes failed to deploy properly after crossing the finish line and became entangled in the wheelie bar. His Chevy Camaro careered through the sand trap, penetrated the safety catch fence tearing the support poles out of the ground then mounted the tire wall before coming to rest.

An NHRA spokesperson confirmed on Friday the sanctioning body is planning to go in a different direction with its chief starter personnel. As of now, it appears Mike Gittings, who is the fourth full-time starter (Buster Couch, Rick Stewart, and Mark Lyle) in NHRA, could be the final one.

"NHRA is going in a new direction regarding the structure and role of the starter position," Jessica Hatch, NHRA's spokesperson said in a prepared statement delivered to CompetitionPlus.com.

Sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to CompetitionPlus.com that the NHRA plans to employ regional and divisional starters for 2019.

Like Shawn Reed, Kebin Kinsley, and the Scott Palmer/Tommy Thompson team, Texas drag-boat racer Kim Davidson wants to go quick and fast on land, too. And in a few short months, he has made big strides with the Diesel Tech Services Dragster, which last fall was locked in a garage at Leander, Texas, just north of Austin, surrounded by raging floodwaters.  

Davidson has teamed with 2018 NHRA Rookie of the Year candidate Jim Maroney, who in only six appearances for strategic partner Terry Haddock earned one round-win (against Brittany Force, at Denver) and beat all of his first-round opponents on the Christmas tree.