DC: Hey Mike, do you have a second?

Mike Hill: Ye, sure. I'm just heading home.

DC: Have you been racing much?

Mike Hill: Uh…No, not really. It’s been kind of slow this year.  Things have been so tight with the fuel prices and all.  We are hitting the ADRL stuff, Macon Memorial Day Race – Automatic Promods and Outlaw 10.5s; just as much as we can. 

Tonya Pruett, Milbrook, AL, is definitely not your ordinary rookie. The lady, who is married to Big Dollar Bracket Race Winner Kevin Pruett, has been on a hot streak for five consecutive weekends, winning the last Mega 10 Series event at Chilton County Dragway, Maplesville, AL. Being a minority is often taken for granted, but the Hot Rod Princess is definitely leaving a mark in this male dominate sport.  Congratulations Tonya Pruett from DragCoverage.com!

Ashley Force put a new face on Funny Car drag racing Sunday by becoming the first woman to win a national race in a category that once was considered the last bastion of male superiority.

The 25-year-old did so with a flair for the dramatic, beating her father, drag racing icon John Force, in the final round of the 28th annual Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals to deny him his 1,000 winning round in his 500th NHRA tour event.

Her first win came in her 27th pro race and in her fourth trip to the final round. Denied in the two most recent events in the POWERade Series, first on March 30 by Del Worsham at Houston, Texas, and then on April 13 by Tim Wilkerson at Las Vegas, Nev., Ashley left no doubt this time.

With her father in a left lane that was the bane of every racer during eliminations, she sprinted down the favored right lane in 4.837 seconds at 320.36 miles per hour. Her dad was never in it, losing traction almost at the hit of the throttle and slowing to 11.223 seconds.

It was her second career win against her father, drag racing’s biggest winner, who lost the first ever meeting between father and daughter in the first round of the 2007 Southern Nationals.

Brandon Wood came from the # 16 qualifying spot to earn a runner-up against Tom"Painter" Stevenson's # 8 qualifying G/SA 1969 Nova at race 4 of the LODRS Division Two Series.

Brandon's familiar red Nova, now owned by Jim Cassels of Cairo , GA has been converted to A/SA after being a small block footbraker for the past three seasons.

photo by Marvin Smith

Photos by Roger Richards

Pro Mod veteran Troy Coughlin was shaken but otherwise uninjured after crashing hard into the retaining wall of Atlanta Dragway during Saturday's first round of eliminations in the JEGS ProMod Challenge.

The accident overshadowed an upset-filled opening round where four drivers from the bottom half of the ladder advanced. Ninth-place qualifier Roger Burgess beat Shelly Payne with a 6.08. Tenth-place Jay Payne avenged his wife's loss by beating Kirk Kuhns, 6.06 to 6.11. Eddie Ware got past a higher-ranked Mike Ashley, who encountered severe tire shake, while Tony Pontieri won when No. 5 qualifier Coughlin impacted the wall.

photo by Mitch Perkins

Agent DC had a chance to talk with Edmund "Mr.5 Speed" Hall to hear his side of the "Grudge Fest" Story.

DC: Hey Edmund, do you have a sec. for a few questions about Grudge Fest 2008?

Edmund Hall: Ye, Sure. Go ahead.

DC: So Edmund, what actually happened at Grudge Fest?

Edmund Hall: Well the race was supposed to be Promod vs 10.5 Car in 10.5 trim, with the 10.5 car getting the “hit.”  The “hit” is usually 3-tenths or better.  Well, Hill decided that he was running the “big” tires, which then put me at a disadvantage; on top of not being able to get down the track. I thought for sure that the track would stand behind the rules, but they didn’t.

For the 4th edition of the prestigious Jeg’s U.S. Open Bracket Championships presented by Racecraft Chassis, LB Trailers, and Steve Schmidt Racing Engines, the event has moved to the ultimate drag racing facility on the planet: O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis! The Jeg’s U.S. Open, which has become one of the largest and most prestigious big dollar bracket events in the country since it’s inception in 2005, can now officially be called the “Big Go” of bracket racing!

The June 12-15th weekend will host a full slate of racing featuring massive payouts, with over $250,000 guaranteed in cash and prizes! Thursday, June 12 the event kicks off with the River Parish RV’s warm-up race, which pays $10,000-to-win, with round money back to the fourth round losers. Friday and Saturday the ante increases, as competitors vie for a $20,000 winners check, with an additional $10,000 up for grabs in Sunday’s finale. All the while, the deep payback that the Jeg’s U.S. Open is known for will be in place.

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Sources tell Agent DC that Rich Christensen, from Pinks, will be arriving in Montgomery, AL on Thursday, April 23. Sources also tell agent DC that Christensen will be making an appearance at the Pre-Past-Time Show Party at "Off the Wagon," a bar located in downtown Montgomery.

26-year old racer Luke Bogacki has had some phenomenal moments in his racing career. The Woodville, Ala. racer, who is obviously no stranger to the winners circle, said he has never had a weekend quite like he did during the Race Tech Gator Cash Championships, held April 11 – 13 at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Fla. There, he drove his familiar CSR Performance Products Dragster and Mickey Thompson Tires Vega to four final rounds, one on Friday and three on Saturday.

Bogacki entered both of his competition vehicles in the $10,000-to-win Super Pro class, and his championship Vega in the Sportsman category. 19 round wins later, he took both winner and runner-up honors in the Super Pro category, and the victory in Sportsman.

Throughout the event, Bogacki was unconscious on the starting line. In Super Pro competition, he posted one .014 reaction in the Mickey Thompson Vega, and one .011 reaction in his CSR Performance Products Dragster. The remaining 11 times he left the starting line with lights in the .00’s. In Sportsman competition, which does not allow the use of a delay box, he was slightly more human; posting reactions ranging from .005 to .023 before slipping to a .039 in the final round. In the semi-finals, Bogacki used a .002 react and a 6.129 on his 6.10 target to hold off Triplett by .011 and advance both cars to the final round.

Meanwhile, in Sportsman competition, Bogacki rolled through an all-star cast of bottom bulb competitors including last year’s number two series finisher Bob George, Chip Rollins, and Brady Kelly. He then squared off with Jon Siegel in the final round. There, despite a vulnerable .039 reaction, Bogacki got the automatic victory after Siegel fouled with a -.002.

“The more this sinks in, the more amazing it is to me,” said Bogacki. “I’ve been real fortunate in racing; I’ve been able to double-up on several occasions, and I’ve run myself in the final a few times too. But to do both in one day--to not lose a round--especially against the level of competition we had at Gainesville… That’s a really special day, and the rarity and significance of that isn’t lost on me.”

Flowmaster American Drag Racing League (ADRL) presented by the National Guard announced today that its 2nd annual Shelor.com Spring Drags have been postponed from Apr. 25-26 to June 20-21. Although new tickets reflecting the June 20-21 dates will be printed and distributed, all tickets bearing the original April dates will be honored.

“Unfortunately, the entire Tulsa region has been inundated with heavy rain over the past several weeks which has left the spectator parking and overflow pit parking areas oversaturated with water and unusable,” ADRL President Kenny Nowling said. “If it were to stop raining right now and not rain again through next weekend we would still not be able to utilize a large majority of the spectator parking areas. What makes this decision so difficult, though, is the amount of work my staff and the staff at Tulsa Raceway Park have put in distributing tickets and working to establish relationships with local businesses and sponsors.

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