Racers who competed in the Karl Performance Bracket Racing Series at Heartland Park during the 2017 season are in for a treat at the upcoming banquet where NHRA Top Fuel Dragster driver, Leah Pritchett, will be the host.  The season long bracket racing competition is part of NHRA’s Summit ET Racing Series that culminates with the NHRA Division 5 Bracket Finals and sends competitors to NHRA’s World Finals to compete for national honors in Pomona, California.

IRG Sports + Entertainment (IRGSE), a leading promoter of sports and live entertainment experiences, announced that Mike Dunn has been named senior consultant for the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA).
 
One of the most accomplished figures in drag racing, Dunn served as IHRA President from Feb. 2016 until moving to this new position. The change allows him to pursue other interests outside of the sport, while continuing to serve as a trusted advisor to IHRA management and officials with the sanctioning body recently re-affirming its commitment to grassroots, Sportsman racing.

If things go according to plan, Vincent Nobile will return to competing in NHRA’s Pro Stock class at the 2018 season-opening Winternationals Feb. 8-11 in Pomona, Calif.

“We are definitely coming out in 2018 and more than likely we will be at Pomona,” said John Nobile, who tunes the car driven by his son Vincent Nobile. “We have a brand-new car coming from Jerry Haas. We are going to leave on Dec. 11, so Vincent can get fitted for it. We are hoping Jerry can get it done in time, so we can go testing (at Phoenix before the Winternationals) and then go to Pomona.”

John Nobile said his son will be campaigning a 2018 Chevy Camaro in the upcoming season.

When it comes to creating four-wheeled candy, Jerry Bickel is indeed the Candy Man. His latest creation is a sleek Mustang destined for Top Sportsman/Fast Brackets racer Brian LaFlam. The Blue Oval beauty has a ProCharger underneath the hood. 

Each season, Roger Richards, the original photographer for CompetitionPlus.com since 1999, logs thousands of miles on the CompetitionPlus-themed van covering the world, on and off the track. Likewise, he snaps the button on his trusty Nikons nearly 600,000 times capturing the imagery which many of you have come to know as the Geezer Files. He's compiled a gallery of his favorite images along the way in 2017. THE BEST OF THE GEEZER 2017

Mike Bowman came full circle Sunday evening at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, earning his second-straight Precision Turbo Pro Mod victory at the Nitrous Outlet Street Car Super Nationals 13 Presented by Speed Society in a span that also saw him earn the win at the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod earlier this year.

Tom Bailey in the SKRC Blown Olds 442 all the way from Orion, Mich. earned the class top qualifier with an ET of 5.750 seconds, but Bowman’s speed of 270 mph flat was an incredible benchmark that wouldn’t be topped in Pro Mod. Bowman topped Carl Stevens in the finals with a 5.789 at 260.91 mph over Stevens’ 5.876 at 224.62 mph. The Oak Hill, Calif. resident earned the victory in the same ’69 Chevelle he won with here last year.

The Muscle Car And Corvette Nationals presented its 9th edition of American muscle at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL last weekend. MCACN has earned its reputation as the premier show to feature the finest in rare vintage and faithfully restored muscle cars.
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Factory involvement in racing during that era especially at the drag strip, gave birth to muscle cars. So it makes perfect sense for MCACN to feature historically significant drag machines. As well as some of the people responsible for giving muscle to the masses.

John Force confirms second JFR Top Fuel Dragster in a wide ranging interview with host Joe Castello. Force also discusses JFR's double NHRA Mello Yello Series Championships, his plans for the future of JFR, the controversy around his Vegas centerline cross, and whether or not Brittany will move to Funny Car.

 Just a month after clinching his third Pro Mod world championship, Troy Coughlin has announced his retirement from racing in the professional ranks.
 
A national event winner in three different eliminators -- Pro Mod, Pro Stock and Super Gas, Coughlin has left the door open to racing in the Sportsman ranks in the future but says his primary focus will now be on his family and the continued growth of JEGS Automotive, the high-performance mail order parts giant he co-owns with his three brothers.
  
"I've been thinking about this for a while now and I'm certain I'm making the right choice," Coughlin said. "I remember years ago when my dad (Jeg Coughlin Sr.) told us he was going to quit driving and we begged him not to because we loved racing with him so much. He simply said, 'Some day you'll understand.' Now I do.
 

If you don't want the brutal truth, then don't ask Steve Torrence a question. Furthermore, don't ask his opinion on a sensitive subject when he's just experienced one of the more devastating losses in his racing career. 

“It is what it is,” Torrence said.  “I know why they do it.  I know they want as many teams racing for the championship at the end as possible but, as a racer, I don’t like it.  I never have.  

“They stuck a mic in my face after we lost and asked me how I felt,” he said of his post-race remarks.  “How did they think I felt?  I was thinking about my guys and how hard they worked to get us in a position to win the whole thing.  I was thinking and about all the things we overcame and about all the skeptics who said we couldn’t be competitive at the top level.  

“I was frustrated and pissed off and said what I thought instead of what was politically correct and, because of that, I got beat up on social media.  You don’t like some of the things that are said about you but, in the big picture, it’s not a big deal.  I’m still going to speak my mind.”