So much for a learning curve.

Will Smith and Dave Hirata teamed up and powered the Hirata Motorsports Top Alcohol Dragster to a solid performance at last weekend’s JEGS Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill.

There's another beautiful piece of race machinery rolling out of Jerry Bickel Race Cars. The latest is Keith Raftery's beautiful new C-7 Corvette, destined for Top Sportsman and to run Reher-Morrison horsepower. 

Motorsports marketing company Energize and Michalek Brothers Racing are joining forces for a sponsorship program.

As part of it, Energize graphics will be prominently placed on both sides of Michalek Brothers Racing’s Top Alcohol Dragster at the 12th Annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, June 21-24, 2018, and the 41st Annual Kelly Services Night Under Fire, Aug. 11, 2018. Both of the well-attended events will be at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.  

Former NHRA Pro Stock world champion Larry Lombardo is the 2018 Grand Marshal for the 16th annual Holley National Hot Rod Reunion® presented by AAA Insurance, leading a list of celebrated names that will be honored during the event, which takes place at Beech Bend Raceway Park on June 14-16.

Along with Lombardo, the 2018 honorees at the three-day gathering catered to car culture lovers include Jay Howell, Bo Laws, Ed Miller, Joe Williamson, and Greg Xakellis. The Holley National Hot Rod Reunion® presented by AAA Insurance Honoree Reception takes place at the National Corvette Museum on Friday, June 15. Admission is free.

Tasca Racing is bringing Bob Tasca III and his 10,000-horsepower TascaParts.com Ford Shelby Mustang to Richmond, looking for a major win at the NHRA Virginia Nationals. The event runs June 8–10 as part of the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

TascaParts.com is sponsoring the Tasca Funny Car for the first time this season. “Last year our online parts division picked up the sponsorship for the Englishtown event and when the race became available this year at Richmond we jumped at the chance to do it again. I like to tell people we are the OEM version of Jegs. We sell original factory replacement parts online at an affordable price and with really fast shipping. TascaParts.com offers factory parts for Ford vehicles along with many other brands. TascaParts.com has quickly become one of the largest OEM sellers globally.”

Dave Connolly will return to the driving ranks in NHRA’s Pro Stock ranks – at least for one race.

Connolly, who is the crew chief for the Camaro driven by Tanner Gray, will drive a second Gray Motorsports Camaro at the Virginia Nationals in North Dinwiddie, June 8-10.

Edelbrock confirmed the appointment of Rob Morse to the position of Account Sales Manager at Edelbrock, LLC.

Outlaw Pro Mod racing is alive and well at the famed Texas Motorplex, where 12 entries showed up June 2, attempting to break into the eight-car O’Reilly Auto Parts Outlaw Pro Mod show. After two scheduled rounds of qualifying, veteran nitrous racer Doug Riesterer secured the top spot with 4.01-seconds blast at 187.52 mph, and then went on to score his first Texas Outlaw Pro Modified Association (TOPMA) win of the year.

“We’ve been racing with TOPMA forever and it’s really great to race with them at the Motorplex this year because the track is always in good shape and there’s a lot of room out there,” said Riesterer, a chemical engineer from Victoria, TX. “It makes it a lot easier for us to put on a good show.”

There will be no team orders according to team owner Santo Rapisarda with Rapisarda Autosport International star Damien Harris needing to close a 33 point gap to series leader Kelly Bettes to win the 2017-18, 400 Thunder Championship at the Gulf Western Oil Winternationals on June 7-10. 

For the first time this season Top Fuel will run the traditional three round format with 100 points to the winner, 80 for runner up, 60 to semi-finalists and 40 in first round. Top speed and low ET are worth 5 points.

With only six entries, qualifying will play a critical role in determining whether Harris or Bettes wins the championship. The two leading qualifiers will score a first round bye and that means direct entry to the semi-finals.