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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

The GT World Challenge races are going on all over the place, but this past weekend’s Circuit Paul Ricard race in Le Castellet, Var, France. This 6 hour endurance race featured plenty of racing action, including some serious drama, plenty of safety car cautions, and more. There was no shortage of excitement, that’s for sure. Check it out below. Video Description: Extended highlights from the 6 Hours of Circuit Paul Ricard 2026, featuring early race chaos, multiple safety car interruptions, and a dramatic late-race overtake to decide the victory. The post Extended Highlights From The Circuit Paul Ricard 2026 GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS appeared first on BangShift.com. View the full article

A couple of weeks ago we shared the video of Derek picking up this machine and getting it ready to drive 850 miles home. Seemed like a pretty stout trip in an unknown RV, but that was nothing when compared to the 3,000 miles planned for this trip here. I mean this is 7 states of fun, which means this bad boy needs to be ready to drive, camp, cook, and more. Will this vintage big block powered RV make it around the country? I don’t see why not! Many just like it drove millions of combined miles all over North America back in the day, hauling families and friends all over for vacations. Let’s see what Derek and Bentley got up to on this father son adventure. CLICK HERE IF YOU MISSED DEREK’S ADVENTURES GETTING THIS RV HOME Video Description: It’s our annual father & son trip. This year Bentley and I are going to attempt to fish in 7 states, which would get us over 3,000 miles in total. This episode is chock-full of travel, americana, antiques, museums, fishing, cooking, and more! The post Vice Grip Garage Annual Father Son Trip! ATTEMPTING 3,000 Miles In A VINTAGE BIG BLOCK RV! Cooking, Fishing, Museums and more! appeared first on BangShift.com. View the full article

Tony Stewart and the R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster team rallied to the first nitro victory for Elite Motorsports Sunday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip. It was Stewart’s third career Top Fuel victoyr and his first at Pomona Dragstrip. After multiple delays due to weather and on-track incidents, Stewart faced-off with Top Fuel rising star Justin Ashley in the finals under the lights at the historic facility. Ashley, known for his stout reaction times, left the starting line first but the R+L Carriers machine chased him down by the 60-foot marker and never trailed. Stewart reached the finish line in 3.683-seconds at 332.51 mph to defeat Ashley’s 3.714 at 328.54. “I literally told Richard Freeman (Elite Motorsports team owner) and Royce Freeman (Richard’s brother) on Friday, ‘I know I’m relatively new to drag racing, but I’ve been racing for 47 years, I’ve been a part of a lot of different programs and worked with a lot of different people. But I promise you, all the ingredients are here to win. I don’t know when it’s going to click and when it’s all going to come together, but all the stuff that you need to be successful is right here.’ I had no idea just 48 hours later that it was going to come together,” Stewart said. “We had a great day and I felt great on the racetrack. I felt great on the lights. They made big adjustments for the final to run a 3.68. [Crew chief] Mike Green’s track record speaks for itself, and so does Joe Barlam. For me to race with those guys and and to race with a different program, it’s definitely a unique and different dynamic than what I’m used to. But it’s awesome to race with Mike Green and Joe and Dustin Davis.” “This is three Top Fuel wins now for me, and the one person I’ve never mentioned in the media and in the interviews is my wife Leah [Pruett]. And if it wasn’t for her and everything that she and Matt [Hagan] (Funny Car driver) taught me. Leah has probably been 95% of it, people don’t realize how integral of a part she’s been in my career in drag racing. I’ve had a 1000 questions and every time there’s an answer, it leads to three more questions. Everything that I’ve done in the sport has been because of her. And to be a part of NHRA’s 75th Anniversary, to win with Matt Hagan in the 1000th Funny Car race is huge. This is Leah’s home track. All of this just feels extra special to me,” continued Stewart who won alongside his Tony Stewart Racing Funny Car driven by Matt Hagan. “Leah’s story of telling me that when she was a kid, she’d sneak out of school just to come to the drag races on Friday here at Pomona. When she won here, just to be here for an event and a track that’s so special means everything. Now I’m here sitting holding a ‘Wally’ trophy, in NHRA’s 75th Anniversary, just super special. It’s awesome.” En route to the finals, Stewart and the R+L team took down Will Smith, 2026 Gatornationals winner Josh Hart and former world champion Shawn Langdon. Elite Motorsports continues the 2026 Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series season with the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway just outside of Charlotte April 24-26. This story was originally published on April 13, 2026. The post Tony Stewart, R+L Carriers Team Get Elite Motorsports’ First Top Fuel Win at NHRA Winternationals first appeared on Drag Illustrated. View the full article

There are tons of historic spots around Southern California that impacted hot rodding, racing, and custom car building over the last 80 years or so, but no matter how many you can think of there are hundreds more. I was going to say dozens, but that just won’t cover it. Not by a lot. Having been fortunate enough to see many of them with David over the years, and having heard the history from so many during my time living there, I can tell you that they are nearly everywhere you look. Los Angeles, and the surrounding areas are a hot bed at a level you just can’t understand without spending a lot of time there. I know you’ve heard me say it before, but this time let’s watch Freiburger cruise around SoCal to see some of his favorite historic hot rod spots in and around Los Angeles. Video Description: In this video, find out about pioneering hot rodders and speed shops, the heyday of tire manufacturing in Los Angeles, winning Indy cars built in SoCal, the history of Vic Edelbrock, and much more! I love then-and-now images and I live for hot rod history, plus I’m a Los Angeles native—so this video mixes all those things together with a driving tour of historic automotive locations in and around Los Angeles! The post Freiburger Takes Us On A DRIVING TOUR of HISTORIC HOT ROD SPOTS Around Los Angeles! Too Many To Count! appeared first on BangShift.com. View the full article

Racers in the Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series professional, sportsman, and Jr. Dragster categories will have the opportunity to compete for two race wins in one event this weekend at the Summit Racing Equipment East Coast Nationals presented by FuelTech. Held at Darana Motorsports Park in Benson, N.C., April 16-18, the second of seven races on the 2026 PDRA schedule will see the series complete eliminations from its season-opening KTR Drag Racing Carolina Nationals presented by Pee Dee Fleet on Thursday before rolling into Friday qualifying and Saturday eliminations. The pro classes completed two rounds of eliminations at the Carolina Nationals at Darlington Dragway before numerous delays and cold track temperatures led series officials to postpone the rest of the event to the East Coast Nationals. The two-in-one aspect creates an action-packed schedule for racers and fans attending the race at Darana Motorsports Park, formerly known as GALOT Motorsports Park. “This is a staple track on the PDRA schedule and it’s not the first time we’ve contested two races in one weekend here,” said Tyler Crossnoe, series director, PDRA. “This track has a rich history in this area and it’s become one of the nicest eighth-mile dragstrips in the world. It’s going to be a busy weekend, no doubt. Whether fans are sitting in the stands or tuned in on FloRacing, they’re going to see nonstop racing action from the time they tune in on Thursday until event champions are crowned on Saturday night.” Fans can watch Thursday’s completion of the Carolina Nationals for free on FloRacing 24/7, which is available on Amazon Prime Video, Fubo TV, and YouTube. The FloRacing 24/7 broadcast will begin Thursday at noon ET and will run live through the end of the day. FloRacing subscribers can continue watching the race on Friday and Saturday. In Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous presented by Jerry Bickel Race Cars, reigning world champion and home track hero Marcus Butner will square off against “Mountain Man” Mike Achenbach on one side of the semifinal ladder. Fredy Scriba, the 2024 world champion, will meet up with three-time world champion and Darlington No. 1 qualifier Tommy Franklin in the other matchup. The reigning world champion in WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive, Ty Tutterow, is also still in Carolina Nationals competition. He was set to face Lyle Barnett, who’s announced he won’t make it to the East Coast Nationals due to a schedule conflict. After his semifinal bye run, Tutterow take on the winner of the other semifinal match between Johnny Camp and multi-time East Coast Nationals winner Melanie Salemi. Liberty’s Gears Pro Street presented by KTR Drag Racing No. 1 qualifier Jerry Morgano will take on young gun Blake Denton in a turbo vs. nitrous semifinal match. Retired NFL superstar Fletcher Cox will face another young gun in the class, Joel Wensley Jr., on the other side of the ladder. Another Darlington low qualifier, J.C. Beattie Jr., remains in competition in PDRA Pro 632 presented by Mark Williams Enterprises. He’ll line up against two-time and reigning world champion Jeff Melnick. The winner of that race will advance to the final round to face Melnick’s teammate, Jeff Pittman, who has a bye to the final. The two most recent world champions in 1320 Fabrication Super Street presented by Brian’s Heating & Cooling, Connor McGee and Dan Whetstine, could face off in the Carolina Nationals final round. McGee, the reigning world champ, will need to defeat championship challenger Austin Vincent, while Whetstine, the 2024 champ, must take down Darlington No. 1 qualifier Matt Schalow. There are multiple rounds of racing left to finish in the PDRA’s sportsman ranks: MagnaFuel Elite Top Sportsman presented by PAR Racing Engines, Greenbrier Excavating & Paving Elite Top Dragster presented by American Race Cars, MagnaFuel Top Sportsman, and ATI Performance Products Top Dragster presented by TBM Brakes. The East Coast Nationals will also include Edelbrock Bracket Bash presented by Philadelphia Racing Products, giving the area’s bracket racers a stage to compete. The future stars of the sport will compete in the East Coast Nationals in the PDRA’s Jr. Dragster ranks, Pro Jr. Dragster and Classic Graphix Top Jr. Dragster. Thursday testing will begin at 9 a.m., allowing racers a chance to hit the track before Carolina Nationals eliminations continue. The pro semifinals are scheduled to run at 2 p.m. followed by the finals at 4:45. Top Sportsman and Top Dragster will begin qualifying for the East Coast Nationals at 6 p.m. Pro qualifying sessions are set for Friday at noon, 4 p.m., and 8 p.m. On Saturday, pre-race ceremonies and pro eliminations will kick off at noon. Tickets are available for $20 on Thursday, $25 on Friday, and $30 on Saturday. Discounted Junior and Kids tickets are also available, while kids 5 and under get in free. Purchase tickets at www.PDRA660.com or at the gate. PDRA fans around the world can catch all the action live on the official event live stream through www.FloRacing.com. This story was originally published on April 13, 2026. The post PDRA Rolling Into North Carolina For Two-For-One Weekend at East Coast Nationals first appeared on Drag Illustrated. View the full article

Matt Hagan and the Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car team capped off the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip with Hagan’s 56th career victory, not only taking home an NHRA 75th Anniversary Wally but the 1,000th NHRA Funny Car event trophy. Hagan took down three-time Funny Car world champion and most recent NHRA event winner Ron Capps in the final round. Hagan handled the JHG Dodge Hellcat to a 3.876-second pass at 330.39 mph to defeat Capps’ 3.893 at 334.32. It is Hagan’s eighth overall victory at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip, fourth at the NHRA Winternationals. “I’m trying to catch Capps on overall wins [Ron Capps has 78 career victories]. But he has 20 years of racing on me,” Hagan said. “One thing about Ron is he’s just a great driver. He took me under his wing when I was first out here,and we got into all kinds of trouble together too. So, when we race each other, even back in the DSR days, we really throw it down, especially in the final round. Pomona Dragstrip has shown me so much love over the years. It’s a magical place, because champions are crowned hereat the end of the year. There’s just so many great memories made here. It felt like the championship, because the lights were on just like the World Finals in the fall. When you pull up to the starting your adrenaline’s going, and you’re trying to control your breathing. I was too pumped up in the final, and I almost double stepped the car up there off the line. “It was just our day. I was telling [team owner] Tony [Stewart] that sometimes you wake up and you’re just like, ‘All right, today’s good. Like, I can tie my shoes today. It’s going to be a good day.’ But to win with Bossman (Tony won in Top Fuel) and double up is special and Leah [Pruett] was No. 1 qualifier and we won the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Challenge on Saturday. Plus having the JHGfolks here, the only thing we didn’t leave with was the change under the bleachers. So, it’s been a great weekend,” Hagan continued. “History was made here with the 1,000thFunny Car race. That is super, super special. And I’m just very, very blessed to be a part of that. It just hasn’t really set in yet. To drive for Tony, be a teammate to Leah, to have this group of people. We’ve surrounded ourselves with great people from the media folks down to the guy that puts the oil in the car. We’ve been blessed to have an elite group of folks here. It’s a family within a family. I’m proud to be a part of it and we’re gonna hopefully do a lot more of this in the future.” Hagan started the day as the No. 4 qualifier defeating 2025 Rookie of the Year Spencer Hyde and en route to the finals also picked off Jason Rupert and JR Todd. In Top Fuel, Leah Pruett and the Rinnai Tankless Water Heater team earned a bye first round with their No. 1 qualifying position and had a solid 3.703-second pass at 334.73 mph with a .064 reaction time that came up short on a holeshot by .0222-seconds to Justin Ashley’s .025 reaction time and 3.720 pass at 336.07. “Overall, a phenomenal weekend. Starting with the very first day. Having a provisional No. 1 spot, and I think the entire paddock was thinking that won’t hold, everybody should go quicker and move around that,” Pruett said. “Everyone had the same challenges throughout the weekend. And for that 3.72 to hold, really maximized the value of what this Pomona race was. Not only did we get the points that go with being No. 1 qualifier, but you get that bye run in the first round and then the opportunity to dial in the car. We took every opportunity there. Pushed hard. And it was a little too much, and that’s okay. We were able to properly prepare for our second round against Justin Ashley who keeps doing what they do. “This entire Top Fuel field is insane. Cars are running within a couple hundredths of each other,” Pruett continued. “In eliminations, drivers are just diving those reaction times down, and it would be incorrect for me to say that it hasn’t taken me a couple races to get to where I’m at. And that’s okay. I knew that I wasn’t gonna give up. We had a lot of momentum in Phoenix. We continued that momentum here and just because we didn’t get past the second round does not mean that momentum has stopped in any way. Actually, I feel like, coming out of E2, on all fronts, pushes us right to where we want to be for Charlotte in a few weeks.” Tony Stewart Racing continues the 2026 Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series season with the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway just outside of Charlotte April 24-26. The post Matt Hagan Wins NHRA’s 1,000th Funny Car Race; Leah Pruett Advances to Quarterfinals first appeared on Drag Illustrated. View the full article

If there is one engine configuration that is the darling of the custom scene, it is the BMW air-cooled flat-twin. For over a century, the "Boxer" has been the backbone of Bavarian motorcycling, prized for its low center of gravity, ease of maintenance, and those iconic cylinders jutting out into the... View the full article