The final round of the 2019 European FIM Championships at Santa Pod Raceway will always be remembered for the stunning string of records laid down by Top Fuel Bike champion Filippos Papafilippou and the Gulf Oil Racing Puma (above). The event was disrupted on Friday by rain during qualifying between…
Inside Story of PSM’s Craziest Day Ever?
Slaps were thrown, engines were blown, emotions and nerves were pushed to the absolute limit. And although I’m sure Bret Kepner will school me otherwise, you’d be hard pressed to find a crazier day in the history of any class at the Finals than we saw yesterday in Pro Stock…
Gast Fast in the Darlington Heat
Motorcycle drag racing veteran Paul Gast admittedly struggled with the 135-degree track during the first Drag 965 Pro Nitrous Motorcycle qualifying session for the Professional Drag Racers Association (PDRA) Fall Nationals presented by $hameless Racing at blistering Darlington Dragway. But Gast drew upon his years of experience—and recent success at…
Smith Smokes Jackson in Pro Mod at Gateway
Rickie Smith finished up an impressive weekend with his first victory of the season in the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing at Gateway, beating points leader Stevie “Fast” Jackson in the final round on Sunday. Smith, a three-time world champion in the class, was on top in…
Enders ends drought at Gateway
Erica Enders snapped a winless drought that stretched back to early last year by going 6.598 at 208.36 in her Melling Performance/Elite Motorsports Camaro to slip past Matt Hartford’s 6.621 at 207.30 in the Pro Stock Car final round at the NHRA race at Gateway. It gives Enders, who was…
Smith Takes Pole, Johnson Wins Oscar
Defending NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champ (and Gateway winner) Matt Smith is known for putting on quite a show. I’m told his repertoire at Maple Grove consisted of a display of raw emotion when confronted with race-winning Suzuki performance. But in qualifying at World Wide Technology Raceway, Smith confined his…
Sato Superb at Great Gateway
Sweet Mother of Redemption! After being lambasted from all sides (sometimes with vitriolic hate, as happens today in our world of angry, armchair know-it-alls) and lustily defended by his Rahal/Letterman/Lanigan team, Takuma Sato rebounded with a storybook win at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. The win came six days…
IndyCar Sparks Sure to Fly at Gateway
After a week of swirling controversy, finger-pointing, and hand-wringing following last weekend’s first lap pile-up at Pocono, drivers away-from-the-fray took the upper hand in qualifying for IndyCar’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. NHDRO will run their World Finals on the Gateway dragstrip in October.…
Sam Wills Assaults the Salt in Bonneville
story and photos by Adam Weege The Bonneville Salt flats are unlike any other place on earth. If you are from the Midwest, like me, you have probably experienced snow, and if you go to the Salt flats you will expect it to be like snow. But what you have…
Are Two Bumped Teams Better as One?
Former polesitter James Hinchcliffe of the Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team failed to qualify for the 2018 Indianapolis 500 and qualified second-to-last in 2019. Two time F1 champ Fernando Alonso of Team McLaren failed to qualify in 2019. Now these two teams are joining together to share their experience at…