Veteran Funny Car driver Phil Burkart Jr. will return to professional drag racing for the first time since filling in for the injured John Force in the fall of 2007. The 42-year-old, four-time national event winner has signed a one-race deal to compete at the upcoming 26th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in eastern Pennsylvania.

Returning to an event he won in 2006 when driving for Del Worsham, Burkart will be flying the colors of two Keystone State companies -- most notably, Boninfante Performance Clutch Parts of Yeadon, Pa., which will receive title signage for its new VR750 Clutch Grinder on Burkart's Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Sheetz Electrical Contractors of Harrisburg, Pa., will also provide support, as will Midtown Autoworld of Herkimer, N.Y.

"I'm extremely anxious to get back in a Funny Car and race," Burkart said. "It seems like it's been forever. I've been driving a lot of different cars over the past few years, just not at the top level of the sport.

T.J. Coughlin is one of a handful of drivers still mathematically in the running for the 2010 Super Comp championship so the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals champion has loaded his JEGS.com dragster and headed to historic Atco Dragway in Atco, N.J. for this weekend’s Northeast Division Lucas Oil Series event. Coughlin can still claim points at two events and if he were to win this weekend’s event, he could move into second place, within striking distance of current leader and fellow young gun Ray Miller III. Coughlin is also a strong contender for the North Central Division Super Comp title. He is currently ranked fourth and needs only to reach the semifinals to pass current leader Steve Mikus.
 
“As long as they tell me I’ve still got a chance, I think I owe it to myself to go out on the road and give it my best shot,” said the 20-year old third-generation racer. “This division is tough; there are a lot of good racers out here but really, it’s not easy to win anywhere so by now I’m used to it. Realistically, I’ve got a lot better shot at winning the division championship than I do of winning the world championship but it doesn’t matter to me. My goal is just to win the next race. If I can win the race, the points will take care of themselves. That’s where my focus is this weekend.”

The popular Super Chevy Show, which concludes its 30th anniversary season near Phoenix on Oct. 22-24, will be adding some new venues in 2011. The national touring series has confirmed that it will add the Northwest to its schedule for next season. Charlie Allen, track operator of Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix, and now Spokane County Raceway in Airway Heights, Wash., announced this week that Washington facility will host a Super Chevy event in 2011. Spokane County Raceway is a NHRA-sanctioned track which held a divisional event in July.

Racers rejoice.  Mopar is dropping a V-10 into the iconic Dodge Challenger.

The new race-only V-10 powered rear-wheel drive 2011 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak features an 8.4-liter 512 cubic-inch engine with a 2-speed automatic transmission. Mopar will showcase its new drag car this evening at the Dodge Viper Owner’s Invitational in Salt Lake City.  The vehicle will then make its way to the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas from Nov. 2-5, and the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) show in Orlando from Dec. 9-11.

“With the introduction of our new 2011 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak, Mopar will be the only place to get a factory-built V-10-powered race-ready drag car,” said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group’s service, parts and customer-care brand.  “Mopar’s new Challenger Drag Pak is a race rocket that will appeal to racers, collectors, dealers, and Dodge Viper owners.”

Dennis Rollain, 76, of Kenosha, Wi., died early Thursday morning at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa after being struck by a van while legally crossing the street on a three-wheeled motorized scooter on Wednesday afternoon.  Rollain suffered massive head injuries in the accident and was transported to Kenosha Hospital and Medical Center before being transferred to Froedtert.

Sources have confirmed to Attitude's Competitionplus.com the signing of a contract between Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) and Matco Tools to extend their sponsorship of the Antron Brown driven Top Fuel dragster in 2011 and beyond.

Further information will be posted as it becomes available.

With the 1971 event a huge success it was time to expand the format, bring in more cars and really get after it in 1972.

In 1972 Doner stepped up the program from 16 nitro funny cars to the next logical
step at 32 of the fan favorites. Not only did he include 16 alcohol cars-mostly from California, organized by Jerry Malicoat, but also added in some more long-distance nitro stars. They included Dave Beebe driving for Art Whipple in the Fresno-based Mr. Ed Car; Pisano and Matsubara; The Coca Cola Cavalcade of Funny Cars, an 8-car traveling show including Raymond Beadle driving for Don Schumacher; Harry Schmidt’s Blue Max with Richard Tharp aboard; a young Canadian named Gordie Bonin in the Gordon Jenner-tuned Vega and several other teams.

This was a stellar field of nitro cars for this early 70’s event.

Honoring Gold Card member’s privileges would seem like a simple task for the IHRA.

However, the sanctioning body recently has had difficulty delivering the message to its drivers on how it honors the Gold Cards.

As the IHRA prepares for its World Finals Nitro Jam Oct. 15-16 in Richmond, Va., the sanctioning made a point to clarify to current Gold Card members what was taking place.

Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com, learned Skooter Peaco, the vice president of Feld Motorsports, recently sent a letter to current Gold Card members and told them that only the new champions, crowned on Friday of the upcoming World Finals, would be able to use their Gold Cards for the Saturday-Sunday Nitro Jam at Virginia Motorsports Park.

What once was forbidden is about to become a big part of young Rickie Jones’ life.

As the son of professional chassis builder Rick Jones, Jones literally grew up in the Pro Stock arena, most recently competing as a driver in the elite NHRA division. He plans, however, on mounting an ADRL Pro Nitrous effort next season and looks forward to learning all about the properties and mysteries of nitrous oxide, the absolutely verboten power booster to the naturally aspirated Pro Stock crowd.

“I think it’s a really cool class,” the 23-year-old driver says of Pro Nitrous. “I mean the cars are really fast, they’re lightweight and it’s just really fun to watch. It’s got to be fun on the inside, going that fast with all that power. The last couple of ADRL races I got to drive Mark Martino’s mountain-motor Pro Stock car and even though it was only eighth-mile (racing), I could feel that car pulling harder than what I’ve driven before and it showed me a little, I think, about what the Pro Mod car could be like.”

Practical business concerns prompted the switch, too, the elder Jones explained.

A quick look at professional bowler Danny Wiseman's web site, DannyWisemanBowling.com, immediately shows he's a huge fan of fast cars and motorsports, particular NHRA championship drag racing.

The 12-time titlist with 36 career "300" games will soon get a good horsepower fix when he joins five-time world champion drag racer Jeg Coughlin Jr. at NHRA national events in Reading, Pa., and Las Vegas.