Author: Mike Haag

POMONA, Calif. – Leah Pritchett, a Redlands, Calif. native, earned the second Top Fuel victory of her career at the 57th annual Circle K NHRA Winternationals on Sunday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, her home track. Matt Hagan (Funny Car) and Jason Line (Pro Stock) also had wins in their respective categories at the first event of 24 on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. Pritchett, who was also the No. 1 qualifier of the event, piloted her Papa John’s Pizza dragster to a 3.711-second pass at 324.98 mph to defeat Doug Kalitta and his Mac Tools…

POMONA, Calif. – Leah Pritchett raced to her second career Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier at her home track Saturday at the 57th annual Circle K Winternationals. Pritchett, a Redlands, Calif. native, took her first pass down a dragstrip at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona when she was eight-years-old in a Jr. Dragster. Matt Hagan (Funny Car) and Jason Line (Pro Stock) were the No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the first of 24 races on the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season schedule. Pritchett piloted her Papa John’s Pizza dragster to a career best elapsed…

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Two days of on-track testing for 21 Verizon IndyCar Series drivers and teams were literally like day and night. Cars carrying Chevrolet engines and aero kits dominated the day sessions of the Phoenix Raceway open test, while those with Honda equipment filled the top of the leaderboard for the night practices. So, following 12 on-track hours and more than 5,000 laps run on the 1.022-mile oval, the competition for the upcoming 17-race season may be as tight as ever. That’s saying something since the last 11 season championships have been decided at the final race. PHOENIX RACEWAY…

POMONA, Calif. – Doug Kalitta ran his career best elapsed time to lead Top Fuel qualifying Friday at the 57th annual NHRA Circle K Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Due to weather, only Pro Stock was able to run both rounds of qualifying. Rain began halfway through the Funny Car second session before NHRA officials concluded racing activities. Matt Hagan (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) were also qualifying leaders in their respective categories at the season opening event of the 24-race 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. In the only Top Fuel qualifying session,…

AVONDALE, Ariz. – The roar of 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 engines filled the air with sweet sounds at Phoenix Raceway, day and night, as 21 Verizon IndyCar Series entries turned laps for the first time together in 2017. The first of a two-day open test for all full-season teams saw Team Penske newcomer Josef Newgarden record the fastest of 2,638 total laps turned on the 1.022-mile oval over the course of two three-hour practice sessions. The second practice came under the lights during the same time period that the Phoenix Grand Prix will take place April 29 on the short oval…

FORT WORTH, Texas – Individual tickets are now on sale for the inaugural Tony Stewart Presents Texas Sprint Car Nationals, set for Friday, April 7, and Saturday, April 8, at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. Single-day general admission tickets are $30 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under for the two-day event, which will be part of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 NASCAR doubleheader weekend set for April 7-9. Stewart, the three-time NASCAR Cup champion who retired from the series at the conclusion of last season, will headline the field as he returns to his racing roots to…

FORT WORTH, Texas – The final stage of Texas Motor Speedway’s major capital improvement project will begin next week with the repaving of the track surface for the 1.5-mile oval configuration at the world-renowned motorsports facility that annually plays host to NASCAR and INDYCAR events. The project began Jan. 9 and construction crews already have completed the installation of the drainage system on the backstretch and frontstretch as well as the grade changes in Turns 1 and 2. The re-profiling of that segment of the track will reduce the banking from 24 to 20 degrees and expand the racing surface from 60…

POMONA, Calif. — J.R. Todd took full advantage of his first opportunity with Kalitta Motorsports, and the new Funny Car driver plans to make the most of his next one with the organization as the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season is set to begin. Shortly after the conclusion of a successful 2016 campaign, Todd moved from Top Fuel to Funny Car after being named the driver of the team’s 10,000-horsepower DHL Toyota Camry, filling the role vacated by former world champion Del Worsham. Todd recognizes the big shoes he has to fill, but the chance to drive…

GLENDORA, Calif. – NHRA officials announced today that the popular Top Fuel Harley motorcycle category will compete at eight events on the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. The first race of the season will take place at the season opening Circle K NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Pomona, Calif. Feb. 9-12. The series will also race at the NHRA Arizona Nationals, the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA Nationals, NHRA SpringNationals, Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties, NHRA New England Nationals, NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, and the NHRA Northwest Nationals. “The nitro powered Top…

News and notes courtesy the Verizon IndyCar Series Kanaan excited for Rolex 24 opportunity: Tony Kanaan finally gets his chance to play with his best Christmas present during this weekend’s Roar Before the 24 test session at Daytona International Speedway. The Verizon IndyCar Series veteran will have his first taste of driving the Ford GT for Chip Ganassi Racing in the GT Le Mans class at the open test session in preparation for the Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance sports car race Jan. 28-29. Driving the supercar is something the 2004 Verizon IndyCar Series champion and 2013 Indy 500 winner…