Here are the classes and cars left to compete:

• Super Stock: 7 cars left

• Stock: 7 cars left

• Super Comp: 15 cars left

• Super Gas: 14 cars left

• Top Dragster: 16 cars left (round partially completed)

• Top Sportsman: 10 cars left

• Competition eliminator (9 cars) will conclude on April 12, after the second qualifying session at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. Top Alcohol Funny Car (4 cars) will conclude at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals on April 13 during qualifying sessions three and four. Don’t miss out on the action at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway!

In the meantime, we present a Gallery of Kim Fuller’s Sportsman Photos from the starting line at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip!

The post The Rain-Delayed NHRA Winternationals Sportsman Will Finish In Vegas • We’ve Got The Pomona Gallery! appeared first on BangShift.com.

This video called, “Pit Stop” is basically a driver’s education film that is dressed up to look like a racing film. Hell, maybe it is a racing film dressed up as a driver’s ed piece. What we do know is that it is wall to wall cars. Some of the passenger cars shown are cool, like the Buick GS that kind of winds its way through the whole video. You’ll see racers like Mario Andretti and others getting after it. We think that it’s really cool the drags got a nod here among the other perhaps more high profile forms of competition.

If you were born in the first half of the 1950s and you were coming of age to get a license in the late 1960s, there’s an excellent chance that you actually watched this film. Did anyone see it as a fresh release? We think that this is a fantastic watch!

Press play below to see this 1967 film called Pit Stop from Coca Cola – This rules all –

The post Awesome Video: This 1967 Piece By Coca Cola Called “Pit Stop” Highlights Every Major Form Of Racing appeared first on BangShift.com.

Here’s an example, but just an example: Racers who enter Rocky Mountain Race Week will race in the morning at Tulsa Raceway Park and then head off to their next track. Race Week racers will come into the track in the afternoon and will race that night before heading to the hotel and then making the drive the next day to the next track. See? And each even will be run separately so that we have winners for each event and on the last day we will be separating all our quickest and all our index class cars, into classes and brackets to race for even more money than they have already been up for! That makes the total purse WAY more than $50,000!

We’re already hearing that the heavy hitters are ready to be there. Names like Cline, Larson, Barry, Lutz, and more. Who knows, maybe Tom Bailey will even make an appearance to see how he hangs with all these folks. It’s going to be nuts but it is going to be something special. We’ll be bringing you all the live action right here on BANGshift of course, so if you haven’t already, make sure you check out all of Rocky Mountain Race Weeks social pages to stay tuned for 2025!

And watch the podcast replay below where we discussed it all!

The post The Biggest Announcement In Drag And Drive History? Two Drag and Drives, One Week, One Set Of Tracks, And More Than $50k On The Line! appeared first on BangShift.com.

While we lack specifics on the car and driver, the thing plays a mechanical song that has been tickling the ear holes of drag racing fans for more than 60 years. Lots of RPM and that dip in the pitch of the noise with each successive gear change. This truly is the good stuff and it is a form of mechanical language that transcends not only time, but oceans, cultures, and whatever else you can think of.

The other awesome thing about this video is the fact that the dude is obviously bracket or handicap index racing the car because his competition gets a good long run on him and when he bangs the ’55 into 4th gear he blows by the other racer like the dude is tied to a tree! He actually rips the throttle closed early after blowing him off. We’re guessing that’s in an effort not to break out.

Yes, the dude is using the clutch between gears but ya know what? We’re not knocking points off of that. His car, he gets to decide how he drives it. He’s still doing it the cool way with an H-pattern shifter and three pedals swinging under the dash.

Press play to see some good old fashion drag racing action from England

The post The American Powertrain Wednesday Shift: Ripping Gears At Santa Pod In A 4-Speed, Small Block, ’55 appeared first on BangShift.com.

The video you are going to see comes from a YouTube channel called Sour Schwinn. The guy who posted it was a baby at the time his pop brought the 8mm camera to Pomona and recorded his day from the stands. The films were found in a desk and he digitized them. This is some of the cleanest, most clear, and well shot 1960s amateur drag racing video we have ever seen.

You can clearly identify cars like the Sachs and Sons Mercury, Connie Kalitta in the Bounty Hunter dragster, KS Pittman, and the list goes on and on and on. What’s more is the fact that the top fuel final is shot from the top end and we can see Prudhomme blowing up the Hawaiian in the process of winning the event and launching one of the greatest careers in the history of the sport at the same time.

THIS is magic stuff.

Fantastic historic video: The 1965 NHRA Winternationals shot from the stands –

The post Drag Racing Time Machine Video: This 1965 8MM Footage Shot At The NHRA Winternationals Is Amazing! appeared first on BangShift.com.

So apparently this dude had crashed his car and repairs were made to the chassis. Before they got ahead of themselves and slung a body over the chassis the guys took the machine to the strip to get the basic setup correct. Well, they showed up and according to the dude narrating the video, it rained that day so everyone packed it up and went home.

These guys seemingly asked to stay to just make some short squirts off the starting line and Ray consented. In fact, you’ll hear George tell the crazy story of a guy with a gun to get this video started.

We love seeing the car with no body, the guy with a t-shirt on, and the meanness of the alky injected big block powering it all.

This channel has some really amazing footage from George Ray’s on it and you should check it out if you really love the sport of drag racing and one of its most amazing tracks.

The post Naked and Unafraid: Check Out This Video of Guys Shaking Down A Car Sans Body At George Ray’s In The 1980s appeared first on BangShift.com.

Back in 2001 Coonce released an album called “Big Sounds Of the Drags 2001”. Carrying on in the great tradition of the 1960s “Big Sounds” albums that covered drag races, road races, and other events, this is a truly awesome thing to listen to. There’s lots of natural racing audio, interviews with people like Dean Skuza, and so much more we’re not going to give it all away. Coonce put a lot of work into this thing and I bought a copy when I was a junior in college. I used to annoy the hell out of my roommates and neighbors by listening to the thing on loop while doing my homework. It was awesome.

Anyway, I had totally forgotten that Coonce has released the entire 37-track album on SoundCloud and you can listen to it all, track-by-track, below at the link. Words have never done sounds justice and mine won’t do any better but I can only implore you to give it a listen because it is so cool. You’ll hear guys like Bob Fry working races, guys like Jon Lundberg working races, funny stuff, scary stuff, and it is theater of the mind to the best possible degree.

This album didn’t change my life per se but what it did do was provide an already active mind even more fodder to dream when listening to it. Thank Cole…and thanks for sharing this work freely with the world.

Click the image below and crank the speakers! Big Sounds Of The Drags 2001 style

The post Listen To The Entire Big Sounds Of The Drags 2001 Album Here, Free! – Crank It Up! appeared first on BangShift.com.

The other thing that makes this broadcast great is Steve Evans and Don Garlits calling the race. They are loose, they are cracking jokes, and they are having fun. It feels like you are in the grandstands with them just watching the race and BSing while having a beer.

From personal experience I can tell you that making the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series television shows with guys like Alan Reinhart and Bruno Massel is really fun. We like to have fun like these guys and loosen up a little. We still treat the action and the competition with the seriousness that it deserves but at the same time we have some fun like these guys.

Such a fun watch!

Press play to see the fun action from the sportsman classes at the 1991 Mile Highs

The post Having Fun In 1991: Wild Combos, Interesting Cars, And Laughs At The 1991 NHRA Mile High Nationals appeared first on BangShift.com.

This 1964 drag racing film is a cut together grouping of home movies that were made around California at places like Fontana, Lions, and Sam Fernando Raceway. The places that became local legends for the guys in California and the places that become nationally famous to every other drag racer who wanted to see the tracks where all the “big stories” were being made in the drag papers of the day.

1964 was a great year for drag racing and you’ll see many reasons why in this film. Just look at the cars! The slingshot dragster was getting longer and more beautiful on the whole. They were getting faster as well, jet cars like the Valkyrie 1 that you’ll see here were growing in popularity, people like Dick Landy (also shown) were championing the cause of factory performance which was set to explode, and regular everyday Joe’s were having fun with their new muscle cars like the literally brand new 1964 GTO shown pulling off the track at one point.

You’ll see some radical stuff here. KS Pittman in his Willys and Larry Faust in the incomparable 554 1934 Ford among them. Press play and take a trip back in time…one that we really hope to make someday.

Watch classic 1964 drag racing action from SoCal! Legendary cars and tracks!

The post Groovy Video: These 1964 Drag Racing Home Videos From So Cal Take Us To Fontana, San Fernando, Lions, and More! appeared first on BangShift.com.

A huge shout out to all the members of the staff and crew at Famoso Dragstrip, while we chased rain showers, they had a safe, championship track ready for all the competitors… and got all on Sunday finished on Sunday evening!

However, going into the week prior to running the March Meet, Lee was still hunting for a supercharger and they just about pulled the plug on competing, at this event. They didn’t back into anything as evidenced by their first round victory over a red-lighting Matt Melendez, when Lee launched the “Pedaler” with the throttle stop still in place, to a 10.297 elapsed time.

Veteran funny car tuner Chuck Worsham was working every part of the engine alongside multi-time Heritage Series Champion Jason Rupert.

Lee went on to defeat Drew Austin and Cameron Ferre, meeting Jeff Arend in the final round. Lee cranked off a stout 5.658 at 260.01 miles per hour for the victory. The Pedaler had already set Top Speed for funny cars at 260.36 MPH in Round 2. Arend had difficulties, carding a 5.829 ET at 236.92 MPH after windowing a block in the previous round racing multi-time March Meet winner Bobby Cottrell.

This was Cory Lee’s first National Event win having raced on a limited basis with Turner since 2019. Lee tuned the Pedaler as well, hurting only a couple of pistons and a wrist pin during eliminations. Owner Turner is no stranger to Heritage-type funny car racing having won the Goodguys Championship in 2006 with driver Kris Krabill, racing undefeated that year with crew chief Donnie Couch.

Congratulations to Cory Lee, Gary Turner and Crew on your well-deserved victory!

Geoff Monise in the “Quarter Pounder” Pontiac was running solid with his number 2 qualifier 5.620 at 259.11 MPH, Bob Devour has come onboard to help co-owner Keith Clark, who celebrates his 50th year racing funny cars.

In the Top Fuel category it’s Tyler Hester!

Tyler Hester, driving the classic “Overtime Special” Top Fuel Dragster, had a day to remember as he won his first Bakersfield March Meet by clinching the Top Fuel title, beating Shawn Bowen in his “Violator”dragster in the process. After the win, Hester and his team were ecstatic in the darkness on the Famoso Dragstrip top end.

Michigan’s Shawn Bowen (above) was runner-up to Tyler Hester in Top Fuel.

The victory was a long time coming for Hester and owners Tedford & McGee, who’d been chasing a March Meet title for years. The day started with Hester taking out defending Heritage Series Champion Tyler Hilton and then defeating Pete Wittenberg in a close race, 5.725 ET at 261.67 MPH to Wittenberg’s 5.728 at 250.78 MPH as the two racers were neck-and-neck to the finish line.

Congratulations to Tyler Hester on his impressive victory and an unforgettable day at the Bakersfield race.

Newcomer Michael Anderson (above) showed determination in his Top Fuel Dragster, making his first pass in the 5’s at the wheel of his Donovan-powered dragster.

Pete Kaiser (above) now owns the Top Fueler he tuned and sometimes drove under Dan Horan, he qualified the gorgeous new entry into second in the 8-car field with a 5.735 at 255.82 MPH.

In the Fuel Altered final round, Lyle Greenberg’s “Cone Hunter” AA/FA faced Keith Wilson impressive “Witch Doctor” who he had beaten in the 2022 Bakersfield March Meet. Although Wilson crossed the finish line first, however, his 5.777 time was way too quick for the 6.00 index, giving New Mexico racer Greenberg the win. Greenberg defeated Johnny West in the first round and Ron Capps in the Burkholder Brothers Fiat in the Semis.

Keith Wilson’s “Witch Doctor” AA/Fuel Altered (above).

Wayne Ramay won the A/Fuel Class over Kin Bates Sr. in a final round battle, once again. Ramay won with a 6.057/217.00 charge.

Jr. Fuel was won by Oceansides’s Brad Woodard from the number 1 slot over Mathew Baldonado from Camarillo.

Jason Vanderpool won the 7.0 PRO Class on a single in the Final.

In Nostalgia Eliminator 1 Steve Schoenfeld from Murray, Utah, ran 7.677/153.44 to defeat Garden Grove’s Kenny Upton with his 7.895/175.09.

Nostalgia Eliminator 2 Modesto, CA Eddie Lucas in his ’48 Topolino ran 8.624/144.94 defeating Troy Moyle from Carson City, Nev. who ran 8.659/144.50.

In Nostalgia Eliminator 3 Ed De Staute’s ’62 Corvette from Rosemead, Calif. ran a 11.410/81.49 over a red-lighting Eric Harmon from Gold Run, Calif.

A/Gas was Bakersfield’s Kenzer Small’s Corvette running a 7.589/181.18 to defeat Tom Fowler from Paso Robles who ran a 7.575/177.04.

In B/Gas Bill Anderson from Copperopolis, Calif. in his ’68 Camaro, ran 8.642/148.48  defeating San Jose’s Rich Zondervan ’66 Chevelle, 8.716/146.88.

C/Gas was won by Stockton’s Michael Corradi in his ’70 Nova SS with a 9.864/123.66 over Crazy Connie Wold from Buena Park in her ’72 Vega 10.416/104.14.

In D/Gas Doug Fournier from Campbell, Calif in his ’48 Anglia ran 10.596/125.30 to defeat Oregon’s Steve Canton in his ’38 Austin, 10.525, 124.59.

Hot Rod Eliminator was won by Redding’s Joy Tucker in a ’66 MOPAR 10.780/120.52 downed Dale Hicks from Goodyear, Ariz., ’68 9.397/139.59.

Check out the first of our 2024 March Meet Galleries Below!

The post Cory Lee, Tyler Hester And Lyle Greenberg Take Top Nitro Spots At Rain Soaked Good Vibrations March Meet! appeared first on BangShift.com.