Nitromater

NHRA® Team Report
NHRA® Arizona Nationals
Pre-Race Report

After kicking off the season with the first 3-second Funny Car run of 2019 and a round one race-day win in Pomona, Cruz Pedregon and team are feeling confident as they head back to Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Phoenix.
"This new Dodge Charger is a very strong car that can do 320 mph, and gave us three good runs the first weekend out," Cruz said. "It feels good to get back to tuning, and we like the numbers we're seeing. Our team is coming together and learning to handle the ups and downs of changing weather conditions at the track. That experience will come in handy this weekend, as we’re looking at another race with chances for rain, increased humidity and a cooler track."
Cruz will be hunting down his 529th first-round appearance this weekend. With his round one win in Pomona last weekend, Cruz added to his long history of success at the track, which includes wins in Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny...

After 27 Straight Round Wins, World Champ Loses in Top Fuel Final

POMONA, Calif. – Reigning World Champion Steve Torrence ran his Top Fuel winning streak to 27 straight rounds Monday before running afoul of veteran Doug Kalitta in the final round of the rain-postponed 59th annual Lucas Oil Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Torrence, who won the last six races of the 2018 season, appeared fully capable of extending that streak after driving his Capco Contractors dragster to the No. 1 qualifying position at 3.657 seconds, just .002 of a second off his personal best, and breezing through the first three rounds.

In the final, though, his usually flawless Capco Contractors entry suffered a loss of traction that led to an engine failure that provided an opening for Kalitta, who slip through to win the season-opener for the second straight year. Kalitta won in 4.014 seconds at 269.29 miles per hour. Torrence was a tick better on the track at 4.008 but gave up a...

MELLO YELLO CHAMP TAKES UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF

POMONA, Calif. – Same story, different verse. Reigning Mello Yello Champion Steve Torrence, who won the final six races of the 2018 season, took the first step toward extending that streak Saturday at Auto Club Raceway.

Winner of 19 races over the last two seasons, the talented Texan stopped the 1,000-foot timers in 3.657 seconds at 331.61 miles per hour to claim the No. 1 starting position for Sunday’s 59th annual Lucas Oil Winternationals, opening event in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

Nevertheless, even though he was just .002 off his personal best time, Torrence won’t have much of a performance cushion Sunday. That’s because his dad, Billy Torrence, finished just a couple ticks behind him in the No. 2 position with a personal best time of 3.662 seconds in the second of the Capco Contractors entries.

It will be the champ’s 20th No. 1 start since forming Torrence Racing in 2012 and it will be the second time he’s...

NHRA® Team Report

NHRA® Winternationals

Pre-Race Report



Fresh off a week of testing in the Valley of the Sun, Cruz Pedregon is speeding into the 2019 season with hot 60-foot times, new team members, a new Dodge partnership complete with newly updated paint schemes for the Snap-on Funny Car bodies and haulers, and a new role in taking over tuning duties for the team.
"This new partnership with Dodge is a sentimental move for me," Cruz said. "We've appreciated working with Toyota over the years, but when my dad started driving in the 1960s his engine was a Dodge 392 Hemi – the same engine that’s in this car now. My personal car is a Dodge Chrysler 300, so I’ve been a fan of Dodge power for a long time."
The team has four Dodge® Charger® bodies, an additional chassis and a blazing new silver, black, and Snap-on red paint scheme for the Funny Car and haulers. The team asked fans to name two of the new bodies and chose “El Demonio” (The Demon) and “Los...

MELLO YELLO CHAMP RIDING SIX-RACE WIN STREAK



POMONA, Calif. – Coming off an impressive pre-season test last week at Phoenix, Ariz., reigning Mello Yello Champion Steve Torrence tries to equal the longest winning streak in Top Fuel drag racing history this week when he sends his Capco Contractors dragster after the top prize in the season-opening 59th annual Lucas Oil Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
The talented Texan closed out a monstrous 2018 campaign by becoming the first driver in history, regardless of classification, to sweep the six races comprising the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship.
Now, he’s in position to equal Tony Schumacher’s record seven straight tour victories. All he has to do is what he did last November in winning the Auto Club Finals or what he did in 2016 in winning the Winternationals.

Realistically, who would bet against him? After all, over the last 50 races, the avid outdoorsman has won more often than any other FOUR...

BAYTOWN, Texas – After 22 years of racing Top Alcohol, former NHRA Division 4 Top Alcohol Dragster Champion Lee Callaway will be making the jump to Top Fuel in 2019. Callaway has purchased a complete running car from Scott Palmer Racing and will be competing at five NHRA Mello Yello events with assistance from Palmer.
Callaway, from Baytown, Texas, has competed in the NHRA Top Alcohol categories since 1996, winning the Division 4 Championship in 2002 and most recently won his hometown race, the O’Reilly Spring Nationals in 2016. He is the only driver since the inception of the Top Alcohol categories to win divisional events in a Blown Alcohol Dragster, an Injected Nitro Dragster and a Top Alcohol Funny Car.
“I pretty much grew up racing nitro and alcohol cars,” said Callaway. “My Dad (Dickie) ran with Johnny White’s “Houston Hustler” Nitro Funny Car and built and wrenched on a number of cars over the years. In ’96 I got my first TAD and we have raced as a family since.”...

The top five finishers in the DragParts.com Blown Alcohol Thunder Series were awarded for their great season at the posh Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel in Yakima, Washington. The awards event was held in conjunction with the Renegade Raceway Award Banquet held simultaneously.
Leading the way with his third Championship title was none other than Brent Jones of Stevensville, Montana. Runner up honors went to Canadian Dave Kroeker, the third place recipient was Spokane’s Jeff Cassell, Jim Seivers had a very impressive season by taking fourth place and Dave Newton rounds out the top five. In addition, special awards were also given out in several different categories.
This season, the six race series began in Boise with stops in Spokane, Yakima, Billings, Butte before returning to Spokane. The Blown Alcohol Thunder competitors would like to thank Good Vibrations Motorsports, TCS Torque Converters and Flatline Fabrication for their support of the series in 2018.
Photo: from left to...

KILGORE HONORS DRAG RACING CHAMPION STEVE TORRENCE

KILGORE, Texas – Mayor Ronnie Spradlin and City Manager Josh Selleck will be among the speakers Thursday evening when the City of Kilgore recognizes native son and newly-crowned drag racing world champion Steve Torrence in an open-to-the-public celebration at 5 p.m. at the Texan Theater.

A cancer survivor and graduate of Kilgore College, Torrence drove his 330 mile-an-hour Capco Contractors Top Fuel dragster to the Mello Yello championship by becoming the first driver in history, regardless of category, to win all six races, a total of 24 two-car heats, in the NHRA playoffs.

Before and after he addresses the crowd, the new champion will be available for autographs and pictures with the Mello Yello Championship trophy he was presented by the NHRA and the Coca-Cola Company.

Diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma as a teenager, the 35-year-old Torrence underwent months of radiation and chemotherapy treatment before ultimately...

TORRENCE ACHIEVES THE UNACHIEVABLE
Texan Completes Incredible Sweep with Victory at Auto Club Finals at Pomona

POMONA, Calif. – Perfection! A sizzling Steve Torrence, who two weeks ago celebrated a Mello Yello Top Fuel championship, completed an unlikely sweep of the NHRA playoffs Sunday by beating Tony Schumacher in the final round of the 54th annual Auto Club Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
It was the sixth consecutive victory for the talented Texan who will return here for next February’s season-opener having won 24 consecutive rounds of racing.
“I don’t know how we did it,” marveled the 35-year-old cancer survivor after his .029 reaction time paved the way to a narrow victory over Schumacher, the eight-time world champion who on Veterans Day was making his final appearance in a car sponsored by the U.S. Army.
“But I have to credit the Good Lord, (crew chief) Richard Hogan and (assistant crew chief) Bobby Lagana Jr. and the best crew on the planet. Richard Hogan...

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POMONA, Calif. (November 11, 2018) – J.R. Todd, driver of the DHL Toyota Camry for Kalitta Motorsports, captured his first career Funny Car world championship at Auto Club Raceway earlier this afternoon to become the first African-American Funny Car champion in NHRA history.

Todd entered the final race of the 2018 NHRA season in Pomona, California with a 74-point lead in the standings over the defending world champion, Robert Hight.

Todd officially clinched the championship when Hight was defeated in the first round of eliminations in Pomona, ensuring his points lead could no longer be overcome.

"This is what you live your whole life for when you start racing Junior Dragsters at ten years old. You hope that you can get to this point in your life and your career, but you never really think it is going to happen. There were definitely some tough times when I got my start with Top Fuel, and I didn't know that I would ever be back at this point. I have so many people to...