ROAD TRIP!

The Agent couldn’t pass this one up. Seems like Texan Pro Mod truck racer Bob Mungle and Sammy Mahan, who also have a one-hour drag racing radio show in Houston, TX, have a little side job. They buy, refurbish and sell fire trucks overseas. And it seems like they found a pair of trucks in upstate New York and needed to drive them from New York back to Houston. So the radio stars enlistedthe help of long-time drag racers Alan Miller and Jack Wyatt and flew to the town in upstate New York, got the fire trucks (which, by the way, don’t have heaters) and proceeded to drive them to Texas in the bitter cold of the East.

According to the Agent’s source the fire trucks require a stock of canned ether and jumper cables to start them each time. What could go wrong? Along the way the group stopped at former Pro Mod racer Matt Hagen’s shop in Virginia so that Wyatt could purchase a spare flopper body Hagen had. The body was bolted to the top of one of their fire trucks and the tour proceeded on to Mooresville, NC, where Bob and Sammy did their radio show from the shops of Pro Stock king Greg Anderson.

The next morning the caravan pulled out after using up a massive supply of ether and batteries to get the engines started. By then they had attracted a crowd as a pair of fire trucks, carrying a funny car body on one, running down the highways of the South has attracted some attention. Who said drag racing road trips are a thing of the past? [12/31/2007]

MARCH MEET PURSES AND FIELD SIZE SET

Putting rumors to rest, Auto Club Famosa Raceway Manager Blake Bowser sent the Agent information on the size of the qualified nitro fields for the upcoming 50th March Meet. The Top Fuel field will consist of 16 qualified cars and Nitro Funny Eliminator will remain an eight-car show. The round money for each field will be identical; the only difference is the floppers will have one less round on the way to their final.  

Citing that there have been fewer than sixteen funny cars in the lanes for previous March Meet events, Bowser commented, “We can slowly begin to build our way up to an 8-car "B" funny car field if we get the commitment from the racers.” He also emphasized that entry for the show remains at $85 for the car and driver in all categories for the legendary race. [12/31/2007]

LAMATTINA COMEBACK SET AT WILLOWBANK

Miracle racer Phil Lamattina has pulled off the “comeback of the century” and is set to compete in the Night Fire Top Fuel Spectacular and round four of the Australian National Drag Racing Association Top Fuel Championship at Willowbank Raceway on Jan. 4-5.

Lamattina miraculously survived one of the most horrendous drag racing accidents in Australian Drag Racing history at Willowbank Raceway three months ago, when his dragster snapped in half and burst into flames traveling at close to 500 kilometers an hour at the QEC Australian Nationals.

With his $300,000 (Aus.) dragster completely destroyed by the accident, Lamattina will compete with his recently acquired state of the art McKinney Top Fuel chassis from the U.S. (photo courtesy Willowbank Raceway) [12/31/2007]

YET ANOTHER HANGOVER RACE JAN 1

West Salem, Ohio's Dragway 42 kicks off the track's 51st Anniversary Season by hosting its 9th Annual Hangover Nationals. This extremely popular event is open to all street legal vehicles and is run "heads-up" on a 20.08 index. Last year's event turned out nearly 250 participants from a four state area. Trophies are awarded to all participants winning three or more rounds of eliminations. The champion and runner-up will receive custom trophies designed especially for this event. Race entry fee is $15. Adult general admission is $10. Children under 15 years of age are admitted free. Passengers ARE allowed in both time trials and eliminations at this event. Gates open at 11 a.m. with continuous time trials until the 2:30 p.m. eliminations. [12/31/2007]