Last week, the issue of parity in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class came to the forefront again.

Blake Gann, the owner and crew chief for his son Shawn Gann, who competes in the Pro Stock Motorcycle ranks on a Buell, believes Harley-Davidson riders Andrew Hines and his teammate Eddie Krawiec have an unfair advantage over their competitors.

Hines, who pilots the Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson, is atop the point chase heading into the 25th annual O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals in Dallas. Hines is 66 points in front of LE Tonglet. Krawiec is third 167 points behind Hines. Shawn Gann is 13th and not in the Countdown.

Blake Gann told Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com last week, “the Harleys do not have a rulebook,” as it pertains to what they can do in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, but that’s something legend Terry Vance says is untrue. Vance is the president of the Vance & Hines Performance shop based in Santa Fe Springs, Calif.

Cruz and Tony Pedregon will serve as grand marshals of the third annual Goodguys Nostalgia Nationals Oct. 15-17 at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky.  The event features a rod & custom car show with over 2,000 1972 & earlier vehicles on display along with a vintage drag race, swap meet and much more.

“Snap-on is a proud sponsor of the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association and we’re also the presenting sponsor of the Goodguys Vintage Drag Racing series so it is only natural that Cruz and Tony would serve as grand marshals of the Nostalgia Nationals,” said Alicia Smales, vice president of marketing for Snap-on Tools.  “Not only are Cruz and Tony two NHRA legends, but they also own their own nostalgia cars.  They plan to bring out their dad’s “Flamin’ Frank” Fiat coupe and fire it up on Sunday. It should be a fun weekend for everyone.”

For the sixth-straight year, racers from all over North America will converge at historic National Trail Raceway in Hebron, Ohio for the annual JEGS NHRA Northern SPORTSnationals. One of thee events designed specifically to showcase racers in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, the Northern SPORTSnationals will crown champions in the following NHRA eliminators, Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street. The event, which is expected to attract more than 400 entries, will also feature the increasingly popular Top Dragster and Top Sportsman classes where it is common to see racers running in the six-second zone at speeds well in excess of 200-mph. The Top Dragster and Top Sportsman classes have grown so rapidly that they are now contested at 13 NHRA national events and all 45 Lucas Oil Series divisional events. The Columbus event will also feature the popular class eliminations for racers in Super Stock and Stock.
 
Last year’s event provided many thrilling moments as Ray Connolly of Elyria, Ohio captured the Super Gas title en route to an eventual world championship and Team JEGS driver Mike Coughlin capped his incredible run to the North Central Division Top Sportsman title with a victory in the Top Sportsman class.

This just might be the trend Detroit has needed for the last two decades.

“Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday” was the sales pitch made famous by the late auto dealer extraordinaire Bob Tasca during the 1960s creating a marketing tie with motorsports when drag racing led the way and NASCAR followed.

Tasca and dealers throughout the United States were selling factory-built packages capable of rolling off the Detroit assembly lines and right onto the drag strip with a classification and horsepower rating waiting on them.

Tasca certainly would have been proud with what has transpired at the most recent events on the NHRA tour.

Photo Courtesy Matt Ilas

Ron Capps loves a good adventure.

Capps exited his Southwestern Virginia hotel on a Thursday morning decked out in his best “farmer” attire. Matt Ilas, with ESPN, along to film the adventure was floored.

“The best part was, I landed on Wednesday night, ran down to a Wal-Mart looking for some overalls. I found these ugly brown farmer looking overalls and a wrangler shirt, which I pictured Matt wearing on his farm, and they actually looked good together. I came bee-bopping down the stairs and the ESPN guy about fell over backwards. I got dressed for the part. I was serious. When I first talked to Matt about it, I said I really wanted to spend a day on the farm. I wanted to get up at the crack of dawn; no bs.”

Any Mountain Motor competitors attending the Shakedown at E-town event now have a little more incentive to go fast. John T. Montecalvo, Inc is providing a Low Qualifier bonus in the amount of $1000. John Montecalvo, who is the reigning Mountain Motor Champion, stated that he wants to support this by racers, for racers organization.

The American Drag Racing League (ADRL) announced that its website, www.ADRL.us, has been named the title sponsor for the eighth annual ADRL.us Shakedown at E’Town, which takes place Oct. 1-3 at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ.

In addition to the ADRL.us title sponsorship, the ADRL’s in-house magazine, Adrenaline, will also sponsor the event’s Adrenaline Pro Extreme Eighth-Mile Challenge.

“When the situation presented itself last week that Al-Anabi would not be able to continue as the title sponsor of this great event as a result of their contact with the ADRL, it became a high priority for both myself and (Al-Anabi owner) KH Al-Thani to help (Shakedown founder and promoter) Dave (Hance) secure a title sponsor,” ADRL President and CEO Kenny Nowling said.

“It was never our intention to hurt the Shakedown event when the clause was put into the Al-Anabi contract, so I wanted to make sure that I did whatever I could do to help resolve the situation. Dave is not only a great friend, but also a competitor in the ADRL, so I wanted to help him in any way possible. As a promoter of national events, I know the value that comes with an event title sponsorship. Dave, his crew and everyone at Englishtown have done a great job building the awareness for this event.

Rodger Brogdon secured the final berth in the Countdown to 1 during the last event of regular season by knocking off the defending world champion Mike Edwards in the first round. Brogdon was pleased with making the playoffs but not in the manner in which it all came together at the last moment. He claimed the tenth and final seed.

Two races into the Countdown to 1, Brogdon intends to prove he belongs there. Headed into the third stop of the playoffs, he has moved up to ninth, just one round out of eighth place.

Brogdon raced his way to a quarter-final finish. The momentum for Brogdon can be attributed to a team which tested and triple-checked every component on the Attitude Apparel-sponsored Pontiac.

The American Drag Racing League (ADRL) and Gabe Reed Productions (GRP) are pleased to announce that rock legend Vince Neil of Motley Crue will perform a free concert during the LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals VI on Oct. 23.

The LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals and the prestigious Speedtech “Battle For The Belts” takes place on October 22-23 at the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, TX, and Neil will be performing a 75-minute set in front of the capacity crowd on that Saturday evening between the semifinal and final rounds of eliminations.

A veteran rocker of more than 30 years, Neil has been the boisterous front man for Motley Crue, one of the most well-known rock bands in history Neil’s latest solo effort, “Tattoos & Tequila,” has received rave reviews and his autobiography of the same title is a best seller.

Motley Crue has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide and Neil has been at the forefront of that extreme lifestyle while performing classic hits like, “Girls, Girls, Girls,” “Kickstart My Heart,” and “Dr. Feelgood.”