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Alexis DeJoria continued to build momentum with John Force Racing at the NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, driving her Bandero Café Chevrolet SS Funny Car to a quarterfinal finish Sunday afternoon. In pursuit of the 1,000th NHRA Funny Car Wally, DeJoria picked up championship bonus points in qualifying and posted a solid showing in eliminations. She leaves the third of 20 races on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour ranked seventh in the Funny Car points standings. After a tricky first qualifying session on Friday, DeJoria bounced back in the second session with a 3.989-second pass at 328.30 mph to jump up to the provisional No. 2 spot. It was also the second-quickest pass of the session, earning two championship bonus points for DeJoria. She followed that up on Saturday with a 3.998 E.T. at 324.83 mph in the third session and her quickest pass of qualifying, a 3.979 E.T. at 328.46 mph, in the final session. With the confidence that comes with making three quick and consistent runs in qualifying, DeJoria went into eliminations in the No. 7 position. DeJoria and crew chiefs Mike Neff and Jonnie Lindberg kept their momentum rolling in the opening round of eliminations on Sunday. DeJoria grabbed a slight starting line advantage over Dave Richards and powered to her quickest pass of the event, a 3.906-second performance at 330.07 mph, to move on to the quarterfinals with lane choice. When Funny Car’s second round kicked off, DeJoria moved first off the starting line against Ron Capps before losing traction early. Though she pedaled the Bandero Café machine in an attempt to chase down Capps, DeJoria ultimately lifted off the throttle as Capps posted low E.T. of the round. “I had a starting line advantage, which was good,” DeJoria said. “We had a very consistent car this weekend and made it down the track more times than not. I have a lot of faith in our abilities, and I’m very much looking forward to our future as a team. We have a really good, consistent car. We know exactly what the issue was with that last run and we’re just going to take that information and move forward. We’re still gaining information and runs for this team and for this race car. We learned this weekend that you live and learn and you move on and you use that to your advantage the next time. I’m really looking forward to Charlotte.” DeJoria and the John Force Racing Bandero Café Funny Car team will return to action at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, April 24-26, at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. The post Alexis DeJoria Builds Momentum with Quarterfinal Finish at NHRA Winternationals first appeared on Drag Illustrated. View the full article

(Photos by David Whealon) – The PDRA Carolina Nationals from Darlington were cold and challenging, but we’ve got a bunch of photos from David Whealon showing just how cool the cars and racing action were. While they were not able to finish the event, because of weather and cold track temps, the final two rounds of eliminations will be contested at this weekend’s East Coast Nationals at Darana Motorsports Park GALOT. That means fans and racers are in for three big days of racing with Thursday’s action finishing up the Carolina Nationals eliminations, followed by qualifying and eliminations for the East Coast Nationals themselves. With Pro Nitrous, Pro Boost, Extreme Pro Stock, Outlawy 632 and more on hand, you know that some awesome racing was happening. The car counts were strong and the competition was unrelenting throughout eliminations in all categories. The post Drag Racing Photos: The PDRA Carolina Nationals 2026 Were Cold But The Action Was Hot! Check Out All Of Our Galleries Starting Right Here! appeared first on BangShift.com. View the full article

Thule's new Widesky rooftop tent is pretty big, but still able to be fitted to a side-by-side. But the coolest thing about it is that it comes complete with a sofa. View the full article

As the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series enters its 13th season, the all-eighth-mile series is once again helmed by Series Director Tyler Crossnoe. After stepping away from his position as the vice president at Virginia Motorsports Park over the winter, Crossnoe is now locked in on the PDRA and its seven-race season. Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI 199, the Interview Issue, in March/April 2026. Offseason initiatives have included improvements to existing elements, but also all-new programs. Pre-race promotions will reach more eyeballs, racers who win and even qualify will walk away with more money, and fans who attend races in-person or watch live on FloRacing will witness improved shows optimized for both fans and racers. Drag Illustrated grabbed a quick interview with Crossnoe over the offseason to get his thoughts on the upcoming season. What’s your mindset going into the 2026 season? We are spending a lot more time on the series than ever before and trying to fine-tune a lot of details that have needed some time in the past. I am motivated to continue to improve the series each time we show up to the racetrack and continue to make small changes throughout the season to improve the overall product for everyone involved. The PDRA was built on a great place to race for all competitors and putting on a great show for the fans in the process. We plan to continue that in 2026 and do it better than ever. What has you most excited about this season? I think I am most excited about all of our changes and additions. Change is hard at times but sometimes, change can be exciting. Adding the Triple Threat Bracket Series to the PDRA folder is one of my favorite changes for the season after the years of building it through our time at VMP. I’m a bracket racer at heart and enjoy competing when I have time to get behind the wheel, but I always enjoy trying to promote events that I would circle on my calendar as a racer. The purse increases for the Red Line Oil PDRA series are exciting to give back more than ever to the racers. I think for the first time in the series’ history, all Pro classes are paying out qualifying money equal to the entry fee so effectively, if you qualify, your entry fee is paid for, which for me is extremely exciting to see for the future of the sport. What can racers and fans expect from the series for 2026? Racers can expect our professionalism and consistency that we’ve always brought to the table, but striving to do better each and every event. While there will be hurdles to overcome at all events, it is our goal and promise to always put our best foot forward, no matter the hurdles. Fans can expect the best eighth-mile drag racing on the planet as we’ve delivered in the past. Our biggest goals for the 2026 season do come through our new FanZone area on the midway that we debuted in 2025. We are going to put more emphasis on creating the ‘extras’ at the PDRA events this season, giving our racers and teams chances to get in front of the fans more and build on storylines through the year. For our fans across the globe who may not can attend in person, our partnership with FloDragRacing continues for the entire 2026 season for live streaming of all the Red Line Oil PDRA Series events from Darlington to the World Finals in Virginia. The post Locked In: With Renewed Focus, PDRA’s Tyler Crossnoe Sets The Tone For 2026 first appeared on Drag Illustrated. View the full article

We love tool tests around here, and while we know many of you out there are super loyal to mustard or ketchup, aka DeWalt or Milwaukee, we’re not really that particular. Yes I understand why folks stick with one brand to keep batteries compatible, but the truth is that there are more good cordless tool brands now than ever, and the cordless tool wars never seem to stop. They don’t always market directly at their competitors, but in this case DeWalt most certainly is as they say their new right angle die grinder is more than 50% more powerful than the Milwaukee. So who’s going to come out on top in real dyno testing? Check it out and let’s see. Video Description: LIFETIME OF RANKINGS: https://torquetestchannel.etsy.com/li… DeWALT’s new DCG422 is here, their 1st right angle die grinder to date, with plenty of marketing directed at Milwaukee’s M12 3485 so let’s test those along with one out of left field from Johnsway to see how they compare and if it’s anything close the picture DeWALT is painting. We do not accept any tools shown on the channel from any brand, nor do we take any sponsorships, partnerships, discounts, product placement deals, pre-market brand samples, money, items or compensation of any kind from brands, tool makers or otherwise in the planning or creation of these videos. The post Tool Testing: Mustard vs Ketchup DeWALT says their 1st Right Angle Die Grinder is 1.5X As Powerful As Milwaukee! appeared first on BangShift.com. View the full article

Advocacy groups push for protections as regulations and fuel shifts put heritage nee "classic" motorcycles under pressure. View the full article

The problem relates to 'inappropriate materials' being used, such that they may deform and become inoperable when the front axle shaft is tightened.View the full article

Ducati’s Voyagers 2026 contest rewards real journeys with global exposure, factory access, and WDW 2026 perks. View the full article

Old race cars are cool, but old race cars owned and raced by the same people for decades is even cooler. That is exactly what this cool 1955 Chevrolet is. Rene Garza is the man behind this great ’55, and we love him for it. We’re going to let Tommy Lee Byrd, the Hot Rod Hoarder, tell the story only as he can. This is greatness. Video Description: Rene Garza has been winning races for more than 50 years, always in the same car! This 1955 Chevy 210 was his daily transportation through high school and he turned it into a drag car in 1972 with help from John Lingenfelter. The car has ALWAYS used a 265ci small block Chevy and he has run in the Super Stock ranks from day 1. He has been classified in O, P and T classes through the years. Many of the details on this car have been in place for decades, including the Dana 60 rear end, which was installed in 1976 by Larry Nelson from Jegs. The car weighs 3,450 pounds and still has a tiny small block, so it takes a 6.83 rear end gear and 7,000rpm stall converter to get this thing rolling. The car has won LOTS of races, and even though Rene Garza is no longer driving it, he’s kept it in the family by having his son Joey drive. The car is a fixture at NHRA events, as well as the Tri-Five Nationals. The post Super Stocker Feature: This Classic Tri-Five has been a 265ci powered Small Block Race Car Since 1972! appeared first on BangShift.com. View the full article

It’s time for some IHRA Stock and Super Stock video, this time from our friend Bobby Fazio at the IHRA Pro Am at Virginia Motorsports Park. We’ve shared other photos and video from the event already, but as far as we are concerned you can never have enough Stock and Super Stock video so here we go! Video Description: We had perfect weather for the recent IHRA event at the newly acquired Virginia Motorsports Park! I was on the property pulling double duty—working on Lenny Lottig’s Mountain Motor Pro Stock car, but I made sure to grab the camera and head to the line whenever I had a spare minute. The Stock and Super Stock racers were taking full advantage of the great conditions, and I captured some high flying action. The post 2026 Virginia Motorsports Park IHRA Pro-Am Series Super Stock And Stock Eliminator Drag Racing appeared first on BangShift.com. View the full article

BMW's motorcycles are some of the best around. They're also some of the most expensive around. But they don't have to be, so long as you jump on these awesome deals going on right now. View the full article

Wheels and tires make or break a car. When combined with the right stance, the wheels and tires on your ride can dramatically change the look, character, and feel of any car or truck. With one simple change of wheels and tires you can change a car from race car to hot rod, lowrider to custom cruiser, and more. The style of the wheels, along with the size and fitment, can make a really big difference. And if two identical cars have the same style of wheel, but different backspacing/offset and dimensions, they can still look completely different. Fit matters. But the right fit and the wrong wheel style can be just as bad. Here’s the third history lesson on wheels, with more to come in another episode of Influence and Impact. If you missed the first two videos, CLICK HERE TO CHECK THEM OUT The post Influence And Impact Podcast: Rolling Art – Wheel History Part 3: Billet Wheels And Multiple Piece Aluminum Wheels appeared first on BangShift.com. View the full article

For both Ducati and motorcycle fans in general, there's a new postage stamp to add to your very special philatelic collection.View the full article

A new patent from Autoliv details what appears to be a self-adjusting motorcycle helmet chinstrap, complete with an electrical strap. But is this complexity for complexity's sake?View the full article

Master the balance of torque and drivability. McLeod’s Will Baty breaks down clutch friction, MOI, and the physics of a perfect launch.View the full article

Sherco Australia has secured an ultra-limited allocation of MY26 EnduroGP Replica models, with only 10 examples of the 300 SE two-stroke and five of the 300 SEF four-stroke due here in August 2026. The post 2026 Sherco EnduroGP Replica models confirmed for Australia appeared first on MCNews. View the full article

Royal Enfield has recorded 1,238,659 motorcycle sales in FY2025-26, marking a second straight million-plus year as the brand continues to expand globally and strengthen its presence in Australia through Urban Moto Imports. The post Royal Enfield global growth continues with 1.24 million annual sales appeared first on MCNews. View the full article

After years of injuries, interruptions and inevitable comparisons with younger brother Jett, Hunter Lawrence is delivering the most complete Supercross campaign of his career in 2026. Four wins in 13 rounds and the series lead underline a season built on maturity, patience and composure. The post Hunter Lawrence comes of age in 2026 appeared first on MCNews. View the full article

The 2026 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship gets underway this weekend at 24MX Alestrem, with Manuel Lettenbichler leading a stacked field as he chases a fifth straight world crown. Billy Bolt, Mitch Brightmore, Mario Roman, Wade Young, Matthew Green and Teodor Kabakchiev headline the list of challengers, while Graham Jarvis adds an intriguing electric subplot alongside Toby Martyn and Eddie Karlsson. The post Lettenbichler leads stacked field into 2026 Hard Enduro opener appeared first on MCNews. View the full article

Moto News Weekly April 14, 2026 What’s New: HEWC kicks off this weekend American Enduro Kapunda 24 Hour Trial Team Australia entries open for WJMX 2026 Kosciuszko Killer AHEC NZ Junior MX Snowcross World Champs Ice Speedway World Champs Dungog AusEnduro EnduroGP season opener MXGP of Sardegna Nashville AMA Supercross 2026 Racing Calendars Hard Enduro […] The post Moto News Weekly Wrap | MX | Enduro | Juniors | SX | Hard Enduro appeared first on MCNews. View the full article

The post Royal Enfield | The Pure Motorcycling Sale Event is Now On! appeared first on MCNews. View the full article

While ARP’s engineering team is constantly developing fastener kits for late model engines like the Chevy LS/LT, Ford Coyote and Chrysler Gen III Hemi plus related aftermarket block/cylinder head combinations, they also step back in time to meet the needs of enthusiasts. Such is the case of ARP’s new head stud kit #151-4002 for 1927-31 Ford 201 c.i.d. Model A 4-cylinder engines. The kit includes 8740 chrome moly studs, parallel ground washers, and forged, hardened, CNC machined and polished stainless steel acorn nuts. ARP also offers five kits for Ford flathead V-8 applications that cover various blocks from 1936-53 with factory or aftermarket cylinder heads. For inline 6-cylinder Ford applications (1965-96) ARP offers head stud kits for both 240 and 300 c.i.d. engines. All studs for vintage applications are manufactured in-house at ARP’s California facilities from premium grade 8740 chrome moly steel that’s nominally rated at 190,000 psi tensile strength and significantly stronger than the OEM hardware. Threads are rolled after heat-treating, which gives them a fatigue strength up to 20-times better. For additional information check out ARP’s new 2026 catalog at www.ARPcatalog.com or call 800-826-3045 for personalized technical assistance. A printed copy of the 180-page catalog is available free upon request. The post Got A Flathead? ARP Expands Coverage Of Vintage Engines! appeared first on BangShift.com. View the full article

Small tire drag racing has been the hot thing for the past few years, and with all kinds of small tire classes taking over events all over the country for the last few years, it is no wonder the IHRA decided they wanted to jump on the bandwagon as well. Small Tire No Time drag racing has not typically been something you’d see at national event level races, so when IHRA made the announcement it hit really hard with the No Time racing community. Add to that big payouts and it’s no wonder they have been getting some big No Time names to come out for the first events of the year. In the video below we’ve got full Small Tire Bratz coverage from Virginia Motorsports Park, so check it out and let us know what you think in the comments below. Video Description: Full coverage of the small tire Bratz series, IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series from Virginia Motorsports Park the second race of the 2026 IHRA season. Enjoy these small tire cars as they battle tricky conditions to head to the winter circle later in the day. Please make sure you like, share and subscribe. Thanks again for watching. The post Small Tire Bratz Class Outlaw Nitro Series Full Eliminations Video From Virginia Motorsports Park appeared first on BangShift.com. View the full article

(Words By Darr Hawthorne) • Drag racing, and motorsports in general, has never been an easy sell. It wasn’t in 1965, it wasn’t in 1985, and it sure isn’t now. Somewhere along the way, we all started pretending it should be. Here’s the reality: nobody wakes up on a Saturday morning automatically deciding to go to the dragstrip anymore. Families have options, endless options. Youth sports, concerts, beach and lake days, streaming services, backyard barbecues. If you’re not already in their head before the weekend hits, you’re not even in the conversation. That’s the part too many “motorsports executives” miss. You don’t just open the gates and hope a crowd shows up. You pre-sell the audience. And no, that doesn’t happen with a slick TV Ad campaign, YouTube livestream or a well-produced TV show. Don’t get it twisted, streaming has its place. It serves the hardcore fans, the racers, the already-converted. But it doesn’t create new spectators. It doesn’t convince a family of four to pile into the SUV and go spend money at the track. That takes something else entirely. It takes boots on the ground. It’s not glamorous. It’s not scalable. It doesn’t come with analytics dashboards or quarterly reports. But it works, and it always has. You want people in the stands? Then you go where people actually are. You hit the local car shows with stacks of flyers and a limited amount of single-day, two-for-one ticket deals. You walk into auto parts stores, fast food joints, liquor stores, even the places some folks don’t like to mention. You make sure your event is seen. You connect with local museums, vocational schools and what’s left of High School and Community College auto shop programs, because those kids aren’t just future fans—they’re future racers. You get the local TV weatherman strapped into a nitro car during the 5 and 6 o’clock news and light the thing off. Is it a little goofy? Sure. Does it work? Absolutely. Because now people are talking. That’s how you build awareness! Not with perfectly curated social media posts, but with repetition, presence, and a little bit of noise. It’s grassroots. It’s messy. It’s effective. And here’s the part that might sting: drag racing isn’t Formula 1. It isn’t NASCAR. It isn’t IndyCar. It never has been, and it never will be. There’s this assumption floating around that drag racing’s biggest problem is awareness. It’s not. People know what drag racing is. The problem is access, and more importantly, friction. Let me give you a real-world example. The second drag strip I ever set foot on was Pomona, now In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip. I absolutely love that place. It’s hallowed ground. But for years, getting there as a casual or rabid fan meant loading up the car, sitting in LA traffic, burning gas, paying exorbitant Fairplex parking fees, and committing to a full-day logistical exercise before you even smelled nitro. That’s a barrier. A big one. But something changed last September that nobody in the sport is talking about: the MetroLink stop at the La Verne/Fairplex Station. There’s a proposed pedestrian bridge from the new station into the dragstrip parking lot. Think about what that actually means. Now a dad and his kid can hop on a train, step off a platform, cross at the stoplight, and walk straight into the drags. No gas. No parking fees. No nonsense. Just buy a ticket and go in. That’s not theoretical, that’s a turnkey, walk-up audience. And here’s where the sport needs to wake up. Why not lean into it? Why not create a simple, no-brainer family pass? Fifty bucks gets a family through the gate for a day at the drags. No overthinking it. No convoluted ticket tiers. Just an easy “yes” come on in. They can walk over to the Westside grandstands, the ones currently hidden behind giant sponsor tarps, and sit down to watch 330-mph cars try to rearrange the laws of physics. Maybe they skip the pits this first time. Maybe they don’t. Give them the option to upgrade if they want the full sensory overload. Either way, they’re in the building. And once they’re there? The rest takes care of itself. They’ll hear it. Feel it. That chest-thumping, ground-shaking violence that no TV broadcast has ever successfully captured. The kid’s eyes go wide. The dad grins like he’s 12 again. Maybe they grab a wildly overpriced event shirt, a toy, an In-N-Out Burger or churro, because of course they do, but that’s not the point. The point is they’ve been exposed. That’s how this works. Not with million-dollar ad campaigns or gimmicks—but by removing friction and letting the product do what it’s always done best. You don’t need to sell drag racing once people are standing at the fence. You just need to make it stupid simple for them to get there. Trying to package it like other series misses the entire point of what makes drag racing special in the first place. This sport was built at the local level, by local people, for local crowds. Take that away, and what are you left with? An expensive TV show… or worse, an amateur video feed with no audience behind it, and neither one fills grandstands. The truth is, you can have the best cars, the biggest names, and the slickest broadcast in the world, but if the seats are empty, the whole thing feels hollow. Because empty seats don’t buy tickets. They don’t buy trackside In-N-Out Burgers. They don’t buy beer. And they definitely don’t come back next time. Building a crowd isn’t about job titles or marketing degrees. It’s not something you can outsource to a “VP of Promotion” and check off a list. It’s more like politics than people want to admit. It’s handshakes. It’s conversations. It’s showing up, over and over again, until people know who you are and what you’re bringing to town. And you pray for great weather! It takes work. The kind of work that doesn’t scale neatly, doesn’t trend online, and doesn’t look impressive in a boardroom. But fills seats. And at the end of the day, that’s the only metric that really matters. Famed drag racing promoter Bill Doner used to say, “The empty seat doesn’t buy a hot dog”. Because an empty seat doesn’t buy a damn thing. The post Boots On The Ground: How To Actually Fill A Dragstrip In 2026 appeared first on BangShift.com. View the full article

Cory Reed is starting to make small-tire racing look easy. It isn’t. Reed wheeled Manny Buginga’s “Freddy” Mustang to his second consecutive IHRA Small Tire BRATZ Series victory at the second stop on the 2026 IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series tour at Virginia Motorsports Park, following up his season-opening win at Galot Motorsports Park with another sweep through the bracket. He beat Adrian Herrera in the opening round, outran Dustin Mewbourn in the second, took out small-tire heavyweight Bill Lutz in the semifinals, and closed the deal against Tom “Jimmy Dale” Gunner in the final to collect the Ironman trophy. The BRATZ format is IHRA’s answer to True 10.5 – a single power adder, 28×10.5 slicks, and no-time competition. The clocks don’t matter. The win light does. And right now, nobody’s doing it better than Reed. “(I’m) just letting that car do the work,” Reed said. “Like I said last time, it’s easy when the hot rod’s fast. You can relax. You can just try to drive and keep it straight in the groove, which is hard in those little things.” It is, in fact, hard. Small-tire cars big on power are a handful by design, and Reed has been open about the learning curve. “Everybody in this class will tell you those things get squirrely, especially when the power ramp comes in,” Reed said. “It squats down and wants to make moves.” That Reed is piloting one of the most recognizable small-tire cars in the country is the story behind the story. “Freddy” belongs to Manny Buginga, the New England small-tire icon and one of the most respected drivers in the category, who stepped out from behind the wheel of his own car to hand the keys to Reed. The partnership took shape at the Drag Illustrated Winter Series in Bradenton, Florida, where Reed wheeled the Mustang at all three events, and it’s carried straight through to the 2026 IHRA campaign. Tuning the Mustang are Jamie and Johnny Miller of the notable Red Hat Mafia, and under the hood is a ProCharger-equipped, Pro Line Racing Engines-built Hemi. That’s as stacked a combination as there is in small-tire racing right now, and the pedigree under the hood of “Freddy” matches the pedigree behind the wheel. Reed, for his part, isn’t taking the ride for granted, and he isn’t sugarcoating how the weekend actually went. “The map sensor blew off a couple times the last two passes, and I kind of got lucky that we were still hauling butt and able to get those wins,” Reed said. “We probably should have changed the heads on that last one, stretching valves and whatnot. We got lucky to make it down that racetrack.” That pretty much sums up small-tire racing. You keep the round win and figure the rest out between passes. Reed, the son of Jim and Annie Whiteley of J&A Service, has been on a steep trajectory across disciplines. He raced Pro Stock Motorcycle in the NHRA ranks in 2023 before making the jump to a Pro Stock car in 2024. His small-tire ride with Buginga is the latest chapter, and two wins in two races suggests he’s settling in. Reed has been quick to credit Buginga publicly more than once in recent months. “He’s a great teacher, he’s a great mentor, and he’s a great friend of mine,” Reed has said of Buginga. “I’m very much appreciative of him.” That pairing – a veteran car owner willing to hand over a championship-caliber ride, a young driver eager to learn, and a tuning duo with a résumé that speaks for itself – has put Reed two-for-two to open the 2026 BRATZ season. Gunner, Reed’s opponent in the final, is a name the small-tire world is going to be hearing a lot more of. The young star better known as “Jimmy Dale” made his IHRA debut at Virginia Motorsports Park behind the wheel of the Miller Family’s notorious “Bumblebee” Camaro, and ran the table on his side of the ladder before lining up with Reed for the championship round. His brand is building in real time, and reaching a BRATZ final in his IHRA debut isn’t a bad way to keep that going. But Reed and “Freddy” got to the stripe first, and the Ironman went home with the Mustang. The IHRA Outlaw Nitro Series heads to Montgomery, Alabama, May 7-9 for the third event of the 2026 season, where Reed will look to make it three straight wins. This story was originally published on April 13, 2026. The post Cory Reed Goes Back-to-Back in IHRA Small Tire BRATZ in Manny Buginga’s ‘Freddy’ Ford Mustang first appeared on Drag Illustrated. View the full article