Author: Mike Haag

TOPEKA, Kan. — Jack Beckman already has four No. 1 qualifiers through seven events during the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. But what the 2012 Funny Car world champion really wants is his first victory of the season. After a record-breaking season a year ago in his 10,000-horsepower Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T that included seven victories, four national E.T. records and a second place points finish, Beckman has had no problem putting up blistering numbers in qualifying, setting a national record early in the season with a pass of 3.879 seconds in Gainesville. Finishing the…

TOPEKA, Kan. — Richie Crampton got the lift he needed to kick off one of the busiest stretches during the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season. Now returning to the place where he has had prior success, the Top Fuel standout hopes it signals the first breakout performance of the season. Struggling through a patch of four first-round losses in five races, Crampton saw encouraging signs out of his 10,000-horsepower Lucas Oil dragster last weekend in Atlanta. It netted only a first-round win to kick off a span of six races in seven weeks, but Crampton believes his…

FORT WORTH – O’Reilly Auto Parts and Texas Motor Speedway have signed a multi-year agreement for the national automotive aftermarket retailing leader to serve as the race entitlement sponsor for the annual April NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the world-renowned motorsports facility beginning in 2017. O’Reilly Auto Parts will be linking its brand to the state’s best-attended, single-day sporting event and the Sprint Cup Series’ third-highest paying race in the newly named O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 that will be held Sunday, April 9, 2017. The O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 will be the signature race entitlement of the deal, but the…

By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service DOVER, Del. – Matt Kenseth’s luck took a turn for the better, after Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet took a turn that wrecked half the field in Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism at Dover International Speedway. In a thrilling 35-lap run to the finish that featured Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott in hot pursuit of Kenseth – and of each other – Kenseth manhandled a loose race car to the stripe, arriving .187 seconds ahead of Larson to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the season. Elliott came home third,…

COMMERCE, Ga. – Doug Kalitta raced to his second consecutive Top Fuel victory of the season Sunday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also victorious at the seventh event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. Kalitta powered his Mac Tools dragster to a 3.801-second pass at 323.19 mph to defeat Kalitta Motorsports teammate J.R. Todd’s 3.780 at 320.66 in his SealMaster dragster on a holeshot in the final round. Kalitta tallied his 40th career…

COMMERCE, Ga. – Jack Beckman secured the No. 1 qualifier in Funny Car on Saturday in front of a sold out crowd at Atlanta Dragway during the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals. Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the seventh event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. Beckman, a two-time Atlanta winner, used his track record 3.939-second run at 326.32 mph from Friday night in his Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge Charger R/T to secure his…

By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service DOVER, Del. – NASCAR’s new Dash 4 Cash format agrees with Erik Jones – even when his No. 20 Toyota is running on older tires. Despite staying out on used rubber for a restart with five laps left in Saturday’s Ollie’s Bargain Outlet 200 at Dover International Speedway, Jones pulled away to beat runner-up Darrell Wallace Jr. to the finish line by 1.434 seconds. The victory was Jones second of the year, both on concrete tracks (Bristol and Dover). He has now won two of the three NASCAR XFINITY Series races held under the…

INDIANAPOLIS – Simon Pagenaud is turning the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season into his launch pad to stardom. The 31-year-old Frenchman dominated today’s Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, starting on pole and leading 57 of the 82 laps around the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course to collect his third consecutive win this year. CLICK HERE: Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis box score Pagenaud became the first series driver to win three straight races since Scott Dixon won at Pocono and then both ends of the Toronto doubleheader to propel him to the 2013 championship. “What a day,”…

FORT WORTH – Sam Hafertepe Jr. led from start to finish to win Friday’s ASCS Sprint Car championship at the Texas World Dirt Track Championship at Texas Motor Speedway. His victory puts him in some elite company when it comes to racing at the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track. Hafertepe Jr.’s win was his second career at TMS and he now joins Seth Bergman, World of Outlaws drivers Danny Lasoski and Steve Kinser, along with ASCS’ Jason Johnson as the only others with a pair of wins at the .4-mile oval. He took the lead from the inside of row…

COMMERCE, Ga. – Doug Kalitta raced to the qualifying lead in Top Fuel on Friday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway. Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also were qualifying leaders in their respective categories at the seventh event of 24 on the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. Kalitta, riding the momentum from his victory in Houston two weeks ago, powered his Mac Tools dragster to a 3.731-second pass at 328.70 mph to take the qualifying lead. Kalitta, whose time and speed were both…