Ashley Sanford will race for leading Australian Top Fuel outfit Rapisarda Autosport International for the fifth time this season at the penultimate round of the 400 Thunder Championship at Sydney Dragway on May 4-5.

“I just can’t wait to return to Australia,” said Sanford. “Even though our last race, where we finished fifth, wasn’t the best I’m confident that our Rapisarda Autosport International team and crew are going to get it done this time in Sydney. Santo Junior and Santino Rapisarda have been working hard in the shop and I’ve been doing what I can in the states. We are ready for redemption. I can’t wait for this California girl to be back in the land down under to get after it again and hopefully hand the winner’s trophy to our team owner Santo Rapisarda.”

You won’t find Paul Smith’s name among those who have won drag racing world championships over the last four decades, but the Florida native’s fingerprints are all over the sport in which he has been active for almost 50 years.
 
Working with sons John and Mike on the family Funny Car, Smith returns this week to zMAX Dragway hoping once again to make life miserable for a few of the sport’s biggest names during the ninth renewal of the NGK Spark Plugs Four-Wide Nationals.

Check out this new Mustang for Saud Alzabin, which rolled out of the Jerry Bickel Race Cars shop yesterday. This beauty is now on its way to This one is on the way to Di Somma Racing Engines for EFI wiring and will compete in the PDRA's Pro Boost division.

Bruno Massel Racing and Autogeek.com will be dance partners again.  

Autogeek.com has agreed to sponsor the iconic sportsman racer, who also serves as a FOX Sports drag racing pit reporter.

“I met the folks at Autogeek back in 2011," Massel explained. "I was hosting a show for wounded US Veterans on SPEED Channel and they were a big supporter of the program and our Soldiers.

Drag Illustrated, a leading motorsports publication, officially announced that Nate Van Wagnen has been named the new Editor-In-Chief of the magazine. Wes Buck will continue as Founder and Editorial Director of DRAG ILLUSTRATED.
 
The official announcement furthers Van Wagnen’s role with the magazine, which started in 2014 as a freelance writer. A year later, the 22-year-old Van Wagnen was named the DRAG ILLUSTRATED Web Editor, advancing to the Managing Editor role in 2017 before being named the Editor-In-Chief this year.

Jordan Vandergriff and Krista Baldwin will compete as teammates under the Bob Vandergriff Driver Development program for the Top Alcohol Dragster class at the NGK Spark Plugs 4-Wide Nationals. Anthony Dicero, team owner, will continue the crew chief duties on both cars with the assistance of Top Fuel crew chief, Ron Douglas of Bob Vandergriff Racing. The two drivers will continue their branding of the Southern California manufacturers, the Hedman Performance Group and McLeod Racing. This weekend McLeod Racing will be hosting a Dealer of the Race sale with JEGS Performance.

Jordan Vandergriff, nephew of Top Fuel driver and team owner, Bob Vandergriff Jr., will make his second national event appearance of his rookie year. Coming off a successful debut in Gainesville with a round one win, Vandergriff looks to succeed in Charlotte. 

When NHRA Pro Stock driver Shane gray brought up the rpms and did a dry hop at the 2017 Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals prior to staging his qualifying run, the fans in the stands at Brainerd International Raceway gave a standing ovation.

In the latest ARP Question of the Week poll, a 54-percent majority of the 5,000-plus votes cast said their favorite procedure of the past was the dry-hop. Seating the clutch in the pits, also referred to as whacking the throttle was second at 46-percent.

Racing is certainly about competition, but no one denies the fact that it’s also built on entertainment. The PDRA believes strongly in the entertainment value it offers. This year the organization debuted a unique competition within each race for Pro Stock and Top Sportsman. During the last round of qualifying run on Friday night, Pro Stock and Top Sportsman show off their long, smokey burnouts through a burnout competition.

Race Hard Apparel is sponsoring the Pro Stock Burnout Competition. Classic Graphix has stepped up to sponsor the Top Sportsman Burnout Competition. The winner of each class receives $300 and a trophy. At the season opener at GALOT Motorsports Park Jeff Dobbins won the Pro Stock Burnout Competition.

The Gulf Western Oil Nitro Thunder event will be celebrated through the lenses of some new fans this May, with Team Bray Racing and Rapisarda Autosport International set to host the Canon Collective on day two of the event.

The Canon Collective is a group of passionate photography ambassadors dedicated to helping other photographers through a range of activities, including workshops. Such is the success of the Canon’s social media community, it was recently for the second time nominated in the prestigious ‘The Webby Awards’ – the leading international award honouring excellence on the internet – alongside famous names such as Spotify, Oprah, Netflix, RuPaul, Shonda Rimes, Selena Gomez and more. 

LE Tonglet, the 2010 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champion, will return to White Alligator Racing beginning with this weekend's NKG Spark Plugs Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway.
 
Tonglet, of Metairie, La., will race the KPK/Nitrofish Suzuki as a teammate to WAR team owner and rider Jerry Savoie in all of the remaining NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events. The championship duo combined for eight wins in 2017, with Tonglet winning six races and finishing third in the Pro Stock Motorcycle points standings.