A full day of racing was contested on Friday at South Georgia Motorsports Park as a generous assortment of Stock and Super Stock racers brought their best to the table. The event on Friday marked the first of three $20,000 races at the inaugural Johnson's Horsepowered Garage Southern Sportsman Showdown, and it was an enthusiastic battle of muscle and wit. In the end, it all came down to a Stock versus Super Stock final round in which Aaron Allison emerged victorious over Marion Stephenson.
 
The margin of victory in their close race was just .008-second. Allison clocked a .024 reaction time to Stephenson's .073 and ran 9.017 (8.95 dial) to a 10.296 (10.27).
 
"This race is who's who of Super Stock," said Allison, the NHRA Division 3 Super Stock champion in 2016. "You look around, everybody is a world champ or national event winner, so this is really big."

SEMA is on track to deliver an exciting in-person SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) November 2-5, 2021. With exhibits included in the LVCC’s newly constructed West Hall, the entire SEMA Show floorplan will be optimized and offers room for new features and enhancements for an improved overall attendee experience.

“The industry is eager to reconnect,” said Chris Kersting, SEMA president and CEO. “The return to an in-person SEMA Show gives resellers a chance to engage with an amazing gathering of suppliers, new products, stunning vehicle builds and networking opportunities. We are excited to provide our industry with a world-class marketplace that will help them grow and expand their businesses.”

Keeping up with the Joneses in a class like the NMCA’s Dart NA 10.5 class takes grit, determination, and in many cases, cubic dollars to fill the 400-plus cubic-inch naturally aspirated engines in the front-running cars. New Jersey’s Rick Riccardi has no grit and determination shortage, but the longtime racer doesn’t have the same pocketbook depth as some of the other racers in the class.

An on-track incident at Atlanta Dragway in 2015 turned his 1980 Mercury Capri onto its lid and pushed him into a chassis rebuild. With the assistance of Matt Wirt Racefab Engineering and many other supporters, Riccardi completed the rebuild and got back into action in 2016 but pulled back not long after, vowing to put together a brand-new engine combination that would be up-to-date with others in the class.

Riccardi is one of those hands-on competitors with a burning desire to understand the function of every component attached to his machine. To satisfy his urges, he’s worked hand-in-hand with longtime engine builder and induction specialist Dave Jack of Dave Jack Cylinder Heads to develop a state-of-the-art small-block Ford that he expects to run at the front of the NA 10.5 pack.

There was plenty of talk and plenty written about the expected changes in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class in NHRA’s Camping World Series in 2021.

There was change at the season-opening AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway March 12-14.

By the weekend’s conclusion, it was more of the same.

World champion Matt Smith was the race winner and his Matt Smith Racing team also had a strong outing as one his teammates – Scotty Pollacheck advanced to the semifinals before losing to Ryan Oehler.

For at least a decade, success seemed to come easily for Funny Car racer John Force. His reputation morphed from leaker to legend almost as fast as his 337.33-mph career-best speed. He seemed untouchable, even sold T-shirts with the word emblazoned on them. As if 2007 (the year the sport lost John Force Racing rising star Eric Medlen and nearly lost Force, as well, in a catastrophic accident at Texas Motorplex) weren’t jarring enough, along came 2020. Coronavirus and all its attending issues had a negative impact on everyone to some degree. But for Force, a man with a staggering $8 million payroll, the pandemic packed an especially powerful punch.

Force planned to come back with his full four-car team as soon as the sanctioning body gave everyone the green light. In the meantime, he tried to keep all of his employees working, even against the adamant advice of his attorneys. He tried to remain loyal to his staff, his sport, and himself. But overwhelming financial dictates made him do something decidedly un-John-Force-ish: throw in the towel for a full year. He said he couldn’t bring himself even to say “coronavirus” or “COVID-19.” He just called it “19.” He dreaded it for its ruinous potential, both medically and financially, and finally had to admit that he had found an enemy tougher and meaner and more unforgiving than he ever thought nemesis Al Hofmann could be.

But just like he did when he was young and lived in his car parked in brother Walker’s driveway and existed daily on a boiled egg and soda pop, John Force survived. Nothing coronavirus threw at him could stop him. Walker Force wasn’t surprised. Years ago, he said of the brother called a daredevil, “You can knock him down, whip him, stomp on him, but the next day he’ll be knocking on your door.”   

A change of scenery to a new team didn’t stop veteran crew chief John Collins from getting results.

Collins, in his first race with owner/driver Cruz Pedregon, guided the former world champion to a semifinal-round finish at the season-opening AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway March 14.

“It was all good,” Collins said. “I was hoping for a little bit more. We still have a little bit of work to do on the car, performance-wise. The parts are a little different, but as far as Cruz and his organization I couldn’t ask for any more than what he has been doing. He has given us everything we’ve needed and everything we’ve asked for.”

Pedregon qualified No. 7 with a 3.971-second run. He then proceeded to defeat Chad Green with a 3.973-second lap at 322.81 mph in round one.

In a major development for Drag Racing in Australia, 400 Thunder has revealed a new television deal in Australia that will provide coverage on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports, for the 400 Thunder Championship Drag Racing events across Australia, and internationally on beIN Sports USA, MAV TV USA and REV TV Canada.

The new deal will see 400 Thunder Championship Drag Racing broadcast in a 2.5 hour, delayed live prime time scheduling on FOX SPORTS and on beIN Sports USA, on the night following the event. 

The international presentation will also be available in 70 million homes across the USA through a number of syndication partnerships. 

 Armed with a new car and a new attitude, she said, Top Fuel threat Leah Pruett has been itching to get on the racetrack when everything counts. In preseason testing, she clocked the class’ best elapsed time on opening day (3.81.41 seconds), was No. 2 last Friday at 3.745, 321.42 mph, and was second Saturday (matching Doug Kalitta’s E.T. of 3.716 seconds but with a slower 320.20 mph to his 325.06). Overall, she posted the third-quickest time. But everyone was testing all kinds of aspects of their programs, and none of the numbers were official. Last weekend in Gainesville, she qualified third and reached the quarter-finals. 

Pruett is ready to make every run a step to her first Top Fuel crown.

Always ambitious, Pruett has a challenging set of goals this season. In addition to her Top Fuel commitment, she is scheduled to compete in the full eight Factory Stock Showdown line-up.

Jim Campbell has brand-new DiPinto Logistics Dodge Charger Funny Car – and a renewed energy for drag racing. Changes to the clutch and fuel systems, he said, “allows us to think that we will be having a more competitive year. With all of [team owner] Big Jim Dunn’s experience and the experience my team brings, how can we go wrong? I mean, Jim Dunn is a legend. All we need is the car to back that up. Along with hard work during the off-season and those years of experience, we expect great things.”

A couple more factors here at the Gatornationals have Campbell excited. “As we get back to the track this year, it is exciting to be doing at least three qualifying sessions again [at most races], and we are all looking forward to having more and more fans back at the track. I have a positive focus on both the team and myself that we are going to do the best we can do this year,” he said.

NHRA officials announced today the postponement of the 61st annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, originally scheduled for April 9-11.

NHRA and track officials will continue to look to state and federal health officials for recommendations to host events in California. A new date for the event is to be determined.