The passing of legendary, record-setting engine builder Sonny Leonard has left some of his high-profile clientele uncertain of their racing future without him.

At the same time, those customers -- all of whom became close friends of the Lynchburg, Va., powermaster -- have a seemingly endless list of stories to share.

“I don’t know what they’re going to do without him, really,” said Dean Goforth, a former IHRA Pro Stock competitor and close friend of Leonard’s. 

After a solid first season in NHRA’s Pro Stock class in 2020, Kyle Koretsky will be back for more in 2021.

“As of right now, we are good to go and committed to a full season as long as NHRA is racing,” Koretsky said. “We will be with KB Racing again and we will be backed by Nitro Fish and KPK Development and a few sponsors we are working on.”

A B-Final win at the Nitro Slam proved enough to leapfrog John Zappia into the lead of the Direct Mining & Industrial Summer Slam Series on Saturday at Perth Motorplex.

Zappia overcame a series of gremlins on a day where his hard-working crew of volunteers was put to the test physically and mentally as they turned the Dananni Hotshots/Tony's Auto Wreckers Monaro Top Doorslammer around.

“On the first run the car had an electrical miss that we chased back to some leads, but the second run was more dramatic when we backfired the supercharger,” he said. “The car left well but when I hit third gear it went pop and we rolled through for a 5.99.”

Necessity may be the mother of invention, but the desire to succeed and then hard work is what makes it come true. That’s what happened when a small, 300 square foot shop called Sonny’s Garage emerged years later to become Sonny’s World Class Racing – and it’s still going on.

Radial-tire legend Dewayne "Big Daddy" Mills is going Pro Mod racing. Teamed up with Pro Mod veteran Keith Haney, Mills will debut an all-new "Golden Gorilla" 2016 Camaro--complete with a screw-blown Hemi up front--Jan. 29-31, during the 17th annual U.S. Street Nationals at Bradenton Motorsports Park in south Florida.

"We were going to build another Radials vs. the World car because at the time we started the deal the rules kind of leaned in favor of the blower deal, but then Keith talked to me about converting his old "Enigma" Camaro from RVW to Pro Mod and it just seemed like the right time to make a change and try something new," explains Mills, who won Pro Drag Radial at the 2016 U.S. Street Nats with his original "Golden Gorilla" '68 Camaro.

Since the debut event in September of 2017 in Texas, Funny Car Chaos has taken the drag racing scene by storm and created a new and unique platform for heads up, run whatcha’ brung funny car competition at a grassroots level. The series attracted 50+ teams from coast to coast to participate in the eight-race tour across the Southwest and Midwestern states in 2020. Big news from Chaos headquarters in Texas from series creator Chris Graves indicates a purse increase for the highly anticipated 2021 season.

“We have been blessed to have very supportive marketing partners, all of whom stuck with us through the pandemic last year, which allowed us to push forward and complete our eight-race tour. During the off-season, the work never ends for us and we’ve been able to secure the necessary support for an exciting payout increase for the 2021 tour,” says Graves.

The drag racing world lost a dear friend today.

Sonny Leonard passed away on Sunday morning, January 16, 2021, after being hospitalized with pneumonia.

Sonny had a penchant for always lifting the spirits around him either by kind words or his classic sense of humor.

"I am beyond heartbroken," said CompetitionPlus.com founder Bobby Bennett. "I cherished my friendship with Sonny, a man who was genuine in every aspect of his life. If you were having a bad day, he could lift your spirits. If you were having the time of your life, he'd lift you even higher. I will forever miss my ol' buddy, as he used to always call me."

The A/Fuel Funny Car concept will not be a part of the NHRA's Top Alcohol Funny Car division in 2021.

The NHRA's Technical Department sought input from the TAFC community regarding the feasibility of running injected nitro Funny Cars with the supercharged alcohol combination.

In addition to the prize money for winning the first Pro Mod exhibition event during 1989 in Atco, NJ, Bill Kuhlmann was rewarded the No. 1 designation for 1990. He later had to change the number to 1000 after the sanctioning body folded under pressure from critics protesting the decision.

There isn’t a mention in the IHRA’s media guide. And in the leading drag racing publications, there were only small blurbs in the news sections.

However, to the most diehard of drag racing fans, October 28 and 29, 1989, represents more than just another IHRA World Championship Series points event in Atco, NJ. This event represented an introduction to Pro Modified with a 16-car exhibition event. There were no points at stake, just the honor of earning the No. 1 designation on the winner’s car for the inaugural season and the $4,000 winner’s purse.

Just days earlier, the IHRA had officially announced the name of the class in an issue of Drag Review as well as the rules for the class and was en route to the printer when the race was being conducted.

It's race day at Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ. Qualifying is complete, now it's time to begin the process of eliminating down for a winner of the second annual VRHRA McLeod Summernationals, Race 5 of 9 in the Virtual Reality Hot Rod Association. 

It's all fun in fantasy land to get away from the troubles of what is happening in the real world. 

For those new to this fantasy world, this is how it works. The race with the most votes advances to the next round. We had two days of voting to seed the eight-car fields. 

First-round ends tonight at 6 PM EST.