Author: Mike Haag

By Reid Spencer NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – The massive wreck in Turn 1 that gobbled up a pack of trucks in overtime at Talladega Superspeedway spared a part-time driver with one win on his career resume and a lower-budget team fighting for the final spot in the Round of 6 of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ Playoff. The part-timer, Parker Kligerman, charged to the front past pole winner, series leader and race runner-up Christopher Bell after the final restart and had the lead in Saturday’s Fred’s 250 when trucks started bouncing off each other in Turn…

ENNIS, Texas – Steve Torrence torched the scoreboard with a strong 3.682 second pass clocked at 327.51 mph to grab the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot after two rounds of qualifying on Friday night at the 32nd annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at the Texas Motorplex. The 34-year old Kilgore, Texas resident and driver of the Capco Contractors / Torrence Racing dragster, enters this weekend’s races with a 42-point lead over Doug Kalitta in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship standings. “We were very confident coming into here,” said Torrence, who started qualifying by recording…

Courtesy of the NHRA ENNIS, Texas — Texas native Steve Torrence piloted his Top Fuel dragster to the top of the leaderboard Friday at the 32nd annual AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals at Texas Motorplex. Ron Capps (Funny Car), Bo Butner (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also provisional No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the fourth of six events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship. Torrence, the Top Fuel points leader, raced a 3.682-second pass at 327.51 mph in the final qualifying session. The Kilgore, Texas resident is chasing…

Courtesy of Cody Poor, Kalitta Motorsports DALLAS, Texas – Kalitta Motorsports announced today that 2013 Top Fuel champion Shawn Langdon will make the move to the Funny Car class for the 2018 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing season. His current primary sponsor, Global Electronic Technology, will make the move with him and back his Toyota Camry Funny Car. “I am definitely excited about this new adventure,” said Langdon. “I am very thankful to Steve & Samantha Bryson and everyone at Global Electronic Technology for standing behind me as a driver and everyone at Team Kalitta for giving me this opportunity.” Langdon…

ENNIS, Texas – If you are a fan of baseball, soccer or drag racing, then you are going to love Bob Wilber’s new book, Bats, Balls & Burnouts: A Life of Sports, Marketing and Mayhem. The 543-page memoir is filled with tales from the drag strips to the baseball parks and soccer fields. It showcases Wilber’s fascinating and incredible journey in life that was influenced and inspired by his dad, Del Wilber, a former Major League catcher and manager and his mom Taffy Wilber, who was a radio personality and owner of a PR firm, along with his own career…

Courtesy of the NHRA ENNIS, Texas – Primed to make a move in the hunt for his first career world championship, Hector Arana Jr. did not have the result he had hoped for during the most recent race of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship. Despite the disappointing finish, the Pro Stock Motorcycle standout insists there is still plenty of fight left on his team with three races remaining. Arana lost in the first round at St. Louis, dropping him 115 points behind category leader Eddie Krawiec. It wasn’t the situation Arana had in mind…

Courtesy of the NHRA ENNIS, Texas – Racing at Texas Motorplex means a great deal to Pro Stock’s Chris McGaha. The Odessa, Texas, native was there the day the track opened in 1986, he watched his dad racing there growing up and got his first career Pro Stock round win at the facility. The only thing missing for McGaha is a Pro Stock event win, something he hopes to accomplish at this weekend’s AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals in his Harlow Sammons of Odessa Chevrolet Camaro. McGaha currently sits ninth in the Pro Stock points standings, meaning a world title is…

Courtesy of the NHRA ENNIS, Texas – Matt Hagan has been on enough hot streaks in his standout career – including one to open the 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season – to know how quickly they can change the complexion of the season. Looking to end the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship with a bang, Hagan hopes there’s one more hot streak waiting for him this year. Hagan opened 2017 with back-to-back wins and he would like nothing more to finish it in similar fashion, starting with this weekend’s AAA Texas NHRA…

Courtesy of Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations FORT WORTH, Texas – Madison McWilliams, a rapidly emerging teenage pop star from Austin, Texas, will sing the National Anthem prior to the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race on Saturday, Nov. 4, at Texas Motor Speedway. The 16-year-old McWilliams has been a whirlwind of activity with the releases of singles, music videos and her debut EP; live performances at major events; and numerous interviews with various media outlets, including several high-profile teen outlets, that are following her meteoric rise in the music industry. McWilliams has performed the National Anthem at…

Courtesy of Rob Geiger, Geiger Media Global DALLAS — Two-time Pro Stock champion Erica Enders scratched a huge entry off her personal bucket list during her 2015 visit to Texas Motorplex when she won the annual AAA Texas NHRA Fallnationals, thereby completing a sweep of the races in her beloved home state of Texas. As is tradition at the event, Enders was outfitted with a cowboy hat in the winner’s circle and she picked a black one for a very specific reason. “We were bad hombres that year and that win in Dallas went a long way to locking…