On the weekend of any @NHRA event, fans from not only the United States, but from around the world come together to share their love of the sport of drag racing. And it's not just being at an event itself but the advent of social media via facebook, twitter, internet forums, or the blogosphere gets the word of the @NHRA to more people than The Great Wally Parks could have ever imagined
Take for example Chris Hobson aka @NitroChrisUK from England, a gentleman thru and thru dedicates himself to taking in every event, via nhra.com's audiocast or espn3's broadcast over the internet. His love of the sport gave fruit to the website racing-picks.com, where drag racing fans can choose the winners of each of the classes at an nhra event. An fun and easy way to share one's love for racing.
Sean Bowe, England's "StatGuy" (sorry lewis bloom) is your go to guy for any elapsed time down to the last thousandth of a second and at any point during a run and like Chris follows the sport using the live timing provided by the nhra and motorola. Sean follows every class of the NHRA, so if you wanted to know what Antron Brown ran to lets say 660 ft; sean would be able to tell you.
@WFOradionitro"s Joe Costello brings weekly insights to the sport of the NHRA bringing some of the biggest names in the industry along with the top drivers of drag racing. Even some of the greatest announcers of the sport such as Alan Reinhart (@NHRAreinhart), Indy 500 announcer Paul Page and NHRA's legendary announcer Dave Mclelland have made their way onto Joe"s Weekly show.
CompetitionPlus.com, Dragracinginsider.com, rpm2night.com, LiveOctane.com, DragIllustrated.com, TopAlcoholnews.com are just a few of the many ways that fans can get their information on the going's on with the NHRA. Of course, who can forget the NHRA"s flagship publication National Dragster. A weekly magazine that has some of the best reporting and some of the best writers in the business such as Alex Baca, Kevin Mckenna, and Juan Torres.
So as you can see, social media has clearly brought the NHRA to more and more people not just in the U.S.A. but around the world as well. Who would have thought that so many years ago when Mr. Parks formed the NHRA, that the sport he cared so deeply for could bring so many fans together from around the world.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Gainsville Moments
This week, the NHRA Full Throttle series makes its annual stop to the newly renamed Auto Plus raceway and the Tire Kingdom Gatornationals. Over the years, this racetrack has shown its knack for history making moments. Alot stand out, but i'd like to share the ones that mean alot and that brought me back to being a drag racing fan. The first one was in 1986.
"Big Daddy" Don Garlits' debut of "Swamp rat 30" was amazing.The sleek black/fully enclosed top fueler was a sight to behold to all in attendance, and in the semi finals against Dan Pastorini blasted to the then fastest speed of 272 mph. The first ever run to 270 mph. Quite a smashing debut for "Big Daddy"
And who could ever forget the breaking of the 300 mph barrier in 1992. For many years, top fuel racers flirted with 300 miles per hour; but in qualifying, Kenny Bernstein in the Dale Armstrong/Wes Erney tuned Budweiser Top Fueler shocked the world with the run of 302 mph trully earning the title "King of Speed"
The Pro Stock Motorcycle class makes its annual start to the season at the Gatornationals, and in 2005 no one knew the history that was about to happen. Andrew Hines aboard his Vance&Hines screamin eagle bike pulled up to the line to make his run and the weather could not have been more perfect. As Andrew made his way down the quarter mile, espn's Lewis Bloom (@Lbstatguy) and Former PSM champ Terry Vance's excitement over the public address system was loud and clear as Andrew Hines shot to the first 6 second run of 6.99.
There are many more moments at Gainsville raceway, but these are moments many drag racing fans will not soon forget. Best of luck to all the teams this weekend in Gainsville, and Godspeed
"Big Daddy" Don Garlits' debut of "Swamp rat 30" was amazing.The sleek black/fully enclosed top fueler was a sight to behold to all in attendance, and in the semi finals against Dan Pastorini blasted to the then fastest speed of 272 mph. The first ever run to 270 mph. Quite a smashing debut for "Big Daddy"
And who could ever forget the breaking of the 300 mph barrier in 1992. For many years, top fuel racers flirted with 300 miles per hour; but in qualifying, Kenny Bernstein in the Dale Armstrong/Wes Erney tuned Budweiser Top Fueler shocked the world with the run of 302 mph trully earning the title "King of Speed"
The Pro Stock Motorcycle class makes its annual start to the season at the Gatornationals, and in 2005 no one knew the history that was about to happen. Andrew Hines aboard his Vance&Hines screamin eagle bike pulled up to the line to make his run and the weather could not have been more perfect. As Andrew made his way down the quarter mile, espn's Lewis Bloom (@Lbstatguy) and Former PSM champ Terry Vance's excitement over the public address system was loud and clear as Andrew Hines shot to the first 6 second run of 6.99.
There are many more moments at Gainsville raceway, but these are moments many drag racing fans will not soon forget. Best of luck to all the teams this weekend in Gainsville, and Godspeed
Friday, March 2, 2012
2012 season is underway
On February 12, 2012 the NHRA Full Throttle series began its 61st season at the Fairplex in Pomona, CA, and their were many changes in the off season that greeted the fans around the world. New drivers, new teams and new cars were the order of the day at the Winternationals.
In Top Fuel, Morgan Lucas arrived with new crew chiefs Aaron Brooks and Rod Centorbi and new teammate Brandon Bernstein. Shawn Langdon and Khalid Al Balooshi took over driving duties at the 2 time defending top fuel champion Al Anabi Racing team. Del Worsham, who just the year before finally captured his 1st world title in top fuel became the crew chief for funny car Rookie Alexis DeJoria.
One of the biggest stories of the off season was the announcement that Courtney Force would make her debut in funny car in 2012 piloting a ford mustang out of her father John Force's stable alongside her team mates Mike Neff, Robert Hight, and her father 15x champion John Force. Courtney's 1st 2 events show her prowess behind the wheel as well as the strength of the team as the cars of her father and brother in law hight captured both events to start the season.
In Top Fuel, the heavy favorites continue to be the DSR stable of 7x champ Tony Schumacher, Antron Brown and Spencer Massey. Of the three at the winternationals, Massey looked the strongest. And in the semi finals, Massey blistered the 1000ft track in 3.74 seconds at over 328 mph; the quickest and fastest runs to 1000 feet in history. He would win the event over his team mate brown. However Antron would return to the winners circle a week later in winning at Firebird raceway in arizona.
In pro stock, 4 time NHRA champion Jeg Coughlin made his return to drag racing in the jegs.com dodge avenger a memorable one making it all the way to the finals of the winternationals to face the all conquering summit racing Pontiac GXP of Greg Anderson.In the finals Jeg in his dodge left first but the KB racing horsepower took over at 330ft as Anderson won. A very good debut for a returning champion who is a favorite among the fans.
So, the 2012 NHRA full throttle season is 2 events in and next weekend will continue with the Gatornationals; one of the favorite stops among the teams of the series. The Pro Stock Motorcycle class marks its season debut with this event. Lost of history has occurred at the Gatornationals and with what the fans have seen so far in just 2 events, The Gators just might bring us another unforgettable event.
Sit down, buckle up and hang on. The 2012 nhra full throttle season looks to be an exciting one
In Top Fuel, Morgan Lucas arrived with new crew chiefs Aaron Brooks and Rod Centorbi and new teammate Brandon Bernstein. Shawn Langdon and Khalid Al Balooshi took over driving duties at the 2 time defending top fuel champion Al Anabi Racing team. Del Worsham, who just the year before finally captured his 1st world title in top fuel became the crew chief for funny car Rookie Alexis DeJoria.
One of the biggest stories of the off season was the announcement that Courtney Force would make her debut in funny car in 2012 piloting a ford mustang out of her father John Force's stable alongside her team mates Mike Neff, Robert Hight, and her father 15x champion John Force. Courtney's 1st 2 events show her prowess behind the wheel as well as the strength of the team as the cars of her father and brother in law hight captured both events to start the season.
In Top Fuel, the heavy favorites continue to be the DSR stable of 7x champ Tony Schumacher, Antron Brown and Spencer Massey. Of the three at the winternationals, Massey looked the strongest. And in the semi finals, Massey blistered the 1000ft track in 3.74 seconds at over 328 mph; the quickest and fastest runs to 1000 feet in history. He would win the event over his team mate brown. However Antron would return to the winners circle a week later in winning at Firebird raceway in arizona.
In pro stock, 4 time NHRA champion Jeg Coughlin made his return to drag racing in the jegs.com dodge avenger a memorable one making it all the way to the finals of the winternationals to face the all conquering summit racing Pontiac GXP of Greg Anderson.In the finals Jeg in his dodge left first but the KB racing horsepower took over at 330ft as Anderson won. A very good debut for a returning champion who is a favorite among the fans.
So, the 2012 NHRA full throttle season is 2 events in and next weekend will continue with the Gatornationals; one of the favorite stops among the teams of the series. The Pro Stock Motorcycle class marks its season debut with this event. Lost of history has occurred at the Gatornationals and with what the fans have seen so far in just 2 events, The Gators just might bring us another unforgettable event.
Sit down, buckle up and hang on. The 2012 nhra full throttle season looks to be an exciting one
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