Younger drag-racing fans might not know that Pat Dakin, who partnered with Gary Rupp for about 20 years, was a powerful force in the Top Fuel ranks in the 1970s. They might not know he also was runner-up to Shirley Muldowney in 1977 for the series championship or that he won twice in Montreal (1971, 1973) and advanced to four other finals. They might not know that he suffered a skull fracture and shattered hands and wrists in a 1998 blowover accident that knocked him out and knocked him out of racing for 10 years. He underwent a dozen surgeries in the meantime.

And with Pat Dakin’s 70 years has come wisdom. It has come with a few hard knocks, as well, but the no-nonsense Dayton, Ohio, businessman with the “Trump” campaign side on the side of his Commercial Metal Fabricators Dragster has realized a few truths.

Just days after tuning his daughter, Lizzy, to the Pro Nitrous win at PDRA Dragstock XIII, nitrous engine builder Pat Musi announced today that he’s signed a deal to serve as a tuner for Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani’s Al-Anabi Racing team. The championship-winning engine builder will prepare and tune the nitrous-assisted Al-Anabi doorslammers in the Middle East this winter.

“This is a huge opportunity for me to be involved in something like this. Right now, the schedule is five races in Bahrain and five races in Qatar. I have to prep a car over here to send overseas for Mahana Al-Naemi to drive, then I’ll be involved with tuning the cars once I get over there. We’re just excited about it. It’s a big deal for me,” Musi said.

Musi’s 10-race schedule with the Al-Anabi team will begin with the first race of the Bahrain Championship Drag Racing series, Nov. 8-11, at the Bahrain International Circuit. The other five races will be a part of the to-be-announced Arabian Drag Racing League schedule at Qatar Race Club (QRC).

There was a time when very few race teams ran an electronic fuel injection with nitrous combination. Pro Modified racer Harold Martin remembers those days very well because he was one of those select few.

Now, EFI coupled with nitrous oxide is as common as slicks on a race car in the unblown or non-turbo competitors.

"It's a great feeling to know we were one of those pioneers," said former Martin, a former engineer for General Motors. "You know, you want to be a part of change, and part of new direction. I felt that way back when I, many years ago, worked for General Motors, we were part of new innovations and able to see that on vehicles worldwide.

In the final results from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Northeast Division event at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Doug Doll, Jr. captured his fifth divisional win this season and increased his lead in the points race for the national championship in Comp Eliminator.
 
Doll Jr., Lancaster, Pa., faced off against Jay Schonberger, Philadelphia, Pa., and posted a winning run of 7.379 seconds, 159.83 mph.  Schonberger drove to an 8.275 second, 144.46 mph lap for his runner up finish. From start to finish, Doll had a better run over Schonberger. Doll started this season with four straight wins, and has yet to lose when making a final round appearance this season.

Calculating it is simple. Doing it is harder.

 

But Antron Brown, driver of the Matco Tools Dragster and No. 1 Top Fuel seed for the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship, has a numbers-based strategy for the six-race playoff that starts Sept. 16-18 at Charlotte’s zMAX Dragway.

The last word you would think to use when describing a nitro Funny Car is safe.

Of course these 10,000 horsepower machines have years of research and development behind them and of course they are much safer than they were 30, 20, even 10 years ago. But to actually call a car that is capable of speeds in excess of 335 miles per hour and covers the 1,000 foot distance in less than four seconds safe, is a hard sell.

As the years pass by, things change.

In the olden days, it was not uncommon to walk through the pits and see the drivers working right alongside their crews, rebuilding motors, making adjustments and preparing the car prior to each run.

While you can still see that in a modern nitro pit, it is far less often as drivers as ushered from PR appearances to interviews to autograph sessions, all while the task of preparing the car falls solely on the crew. But for some of the smaller teams, that old school, throwback pit atmosphere still exists.

The stars of the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) were shining bright on Saturday night as all five professional class winners at PDRA Dragstock XIII were decided on the starting line. All of the exciting racing played out in front of the largest crowd in PDRA history.

 

The National Mustang Racers Association (NMRA) has announced their schedule for the 2017 season.

Featuring an exciting line-up of all Ford drag racing classes, car shows and special events, the NMRA Keystone Automotive Ford Nationals Series in 2017 includes events in their second decade of existence. The popular NMRA series exhibits steady growth year-after-year due to dedicated Ford fans, racers and solid partner race tracks across the Midwest and East Coast.

A record crowd was on hand at GALOT Motorsports Park Friday night to see the stars of the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) compete at PDRA Dragstock XIII, the seventh of nine races on the PDRA 2016 tour. After three qualifying sessions, Brandon Snider leads the NAS Racing Pro Extreme field with a 3.596-second pass at 215.07 mph. 



Part-time competitor Randy Weatherford jumped to the top of the qualifying order in Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous presented by MoTeC.