Video Description:

As some of you may know my iconic Chevy II is headed over to Brazil! I’ve loved this car all its life but the worst thing I hate is it just sitting here doing nothing. I didn’t have to sell it but the opportunity to put it in the of Israel in Brazil and get raced there was just something I couldn’t pass up. This will give the car another legacy in South America!

The post Is Goliath Really Sold? Really Leaving The Country? Together And Loading Up For The Last Time? Watch. appeared first on BangShift.com.

As cool as this car would be in any sort of drag racing garb, seeing it with small (they look like 275s) Mickey Thompson drag radial tires and bead lock wheels really make it all look bad ass. Hooking the tires with a stick shift requires a really good chassis setup and a really well operated clutch as well. It is easy to blow a radial tire off if you over cook it on the starting line or if the suspension is not tuned properly. No such problems here!

Enjoy the car and the run. This thing is healthy!

Press play below to see this cool Chevrolet Caravan wagon hammer!

The post Wagon Fantastic: This Brazilian Opala Caravan Is A Straight Six, Small Tire, Go Machine! appeared first on BangShift.com.

Surprisingly, the conflict and proposed boycott isn’t over the usual grievance: a lack of purse money — it’s about NHRA’s inability to accept a windfall of outside sponsorship toward an enhanced purse and a bigger field.“It breaks my heart that it has come to this with NHRA,” Bob McLennan, President of AAFD, said. “We have offered to double the Top Fuel Dragsters for this race, and NHRA wants no part of it. We have asked for a 16-car ladder versus the current 8-car ladder. We’ve even brought in a private sponsor to offset their costs, but NHRA has drawn a line in the sand, and they will not change the event structure to allow for more money and more cars.”

All American Fuel Dragsters’ impetus to double the number of nitro-dragsters is based on Nostalgia Top Fuel’s growth as a class as well as a lack of participation from the AA/Funny Cars at Bowling Green. Each year a race fan could count the Funny Car entries on one hand — and whose further participation is in doubt because recent Holley Hot Rod Reunion drew as few as three nitro Funny Car teams.

“To offset any of NHRA’s costs, (Midwestern Top Fuel racer) Jimi Young brought in Custom Floaters for an additional five figures in purse money,” McLennan explained. “This event benefits the NHRA Museum — it’s their largest fundraiser of the year. It’s just mind-boggling that NHRA will not support our effort to put on a better show and help finance their Museum.”

Still, this is a hard pill for McLennan, whose father, Jim McLennan, was inducted into the NHRA Hall of Fame in 1991, the second class of inductees. “With our family’s history with NHRA, you’d think they would know we are trying to benefit the Museum’s bottom line and make this a huge success,” McLennan said. “We want this to be a win-win.” said McLennan, he is still open to making things work, but with teams voting imminent and the sentiment of the Top Fuel racers almost unanimous in their viewpoint, the possibility of even an 8-car Top Fuel Eliminator for the Holley Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green doesn’t look promising.

The post All American Fuel Dragsters Association To Vote On Boycott Of Hot Rod Reunion appeared first on BangShift.com.

Here’s a little background.

The Dragstrip at California Speedway has always been the red-headed stepchild of the International Speedway Corporation, basically the owner of NASCAR and many of their tracks. From its beginnings in the parking lot on the South side of the two-mile oval grandstands, to it’s current location on the North side, neither of these drag strip venues ever seemed permanent to local sportsman racers.

For nearly two years Auto Club Dragway has remained dormant during the Southern California Covid-19 lockdowns, and its current fate appears to be part of a master plan presented to the San Bernardino County Government for a remodeling of the existing infrastructure. The plan was to reduce the size of the two-mile NASCAR oval to a half-mile “Bullring” like Bristol, Martinsville, or Richmond. That’d render acres of land surplus, land that had originally been reclaimed by the EPA’s Superfund (funded by US Taxpayers) into a commodity that could be parceled out for other uses, long after the steel mill closed. (If you aren’t familiar, California Speedway and Auto Club Dragway, sit on land that was a former steel mill that had been left sitting for decades and was considered unsavable until Roger Penske and Kaiser Steel got together.)

In recent years, many of us locals wondered how long either the NASCAR track or the Dragway could remain with only one Spring NASCAR Race per year and a poorly fan-attended quarter-mile with a relatively short top-end shutdown.  Spectators in the Fontana area just weren’t much interested in motorsports anymore, and like most NASCAR facilities, track management has already removed banks of grandstands on the ends to make a better presentation for televised NASCAR races. (Chad Note: One thing I’ve never been able to understand about Fontana is that while it is only 15 minutes or so past Irwindale, they had a hard time getting people to come race there outside of bracket races and NHRA Sportsman events. With that said, events that were promoted well had great turnout, so I believe the right management could have made a difference here in a big way.)

Strangely during the draconian lockdowns in California, the parking lots still thrived with sellout Autocross participation sponsored by NMCA, SCCA and others in the southwest parking lots. The go-karts and RC tracks thrived as well on most weekends. As a very large facility, with limited “big” events per year, the only way to make it profitable is to have a multi-use facility mentality and have lots of things happening all the time on-site, and even during the pandemic lockdowns, all these outdoor facilities could have events going on.

And even with limitations on attendance, etc, a very loyal group of Dragway bracket racers, Test-n-Tuners, and specialty races kept the quarter-mile regularly booked during the year. There were even a few NHRA LODRS Divisionals held here too. Many of us appreciated the immense efforts to keep that 1320 feet going, after AAA’s Tom McKernan and Lucas Oil’s Forrest and Charlotte Lucas stepped forward to help build the County Mandated sound attenuation wall after a much-publicized lawsuit was settled a few years ago, and were glad to see it still surviving even during these lockdowns.

Rumor has it that as part of the pitch to San Bernardino County to re-purpose the existing infrastructure, the prime real estate on which the Dragway sits would become a vast building to warehouse an Amazon distribution center. (Keep in mind that there are multiple locations that have MILLIONS, and we’re not exaggerating, of square feet of Amazon distribution centers within 15 miles of  the track.) Just what the world needs in a time of Street Takeovers and weekly organized Street Racing and bystander deaths. The deaths leave local hand-wringing politicians on TV news decrying exhibitions of speed and carnage on city streets – yet herald the progress and job creation of yet another Amazon Distribution Center in a county with square miles of vacant land. Yes, you read that right, this area of Southern California has a lot of empty land that would be much easier and quicker to build on that tearing down facilities at this track.

Ironically, NASCAR will break ground in mid-December at the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, so they can hold a quarter-mile short track spectacle entitled “Clash at the Coliseum” sponsored by Busch Light on February 5-6, 2022 – to be broadcast on FOX Sports, the weekend prior to the Super Bowl.

In what is arguably the Cradle of Civilized drag racing; Southern California, that leaves three remaining drag strips and the new Lions Automobilia Museum along with the lackluster NHRA Motorsports Museum at Pomona Fairgrounds. The survivors are 1/8-mile tracks at Barona Indian Reservation near San Diego and Irwindale Speedway’s multi-use facility. Pomona Raceway is only for elite NHRA National Events, not for locals, Jr Drag Racers, or any weekly sportsman program. None of these locations will support really fast cars.

Local street racing deaths will continue to be tearfully reported in the Los Angeles Times and on local newscasts, but NHRA, an organization with deep roots in this area continues to shrink for its own survival.  NHRA recently sold their spacious Glendora headquarters, relocating much of the remaining crew to Indy, while management maintains a small corporate office near Raging Waters in San Dimas.

Fortunately, there’s still an all concrete quarter-mile about two hours north of SoCal, down a country road, near Bakersfield at legendary Famoso Dragstrip, where nitro racers race dragsters and funny cars, and where fuel altereds meet. Where Imports gather, nostalgia sanctioning bodies thrive and the Good Vibrations March Meet welcomes spectators back to their roots in the Spring.

Sadly, we lose another dragstrip, but as time marches on, we’ll all see if that small hunk of Fontana land was better used to lure dangerous street racers off of the city streets or to distribute truckloads of products.

The post Another One Bites The Dust: R.I.P. Auto Club Dragway appeared first on BangShift.com.

Packing more than 500 horsepower, slicks on all 4 corners, a stripped-out interior, and the instant torque of an electric motor, the Honda E-drag can be thought about as an eco-friendlier Dodge Demon of COPO Camaro. Set to complete the Quarter mile in the 11 second range, the E-drag is not street-legal, nor will it be winning many races against upgraded muscle cars or even Honda’s own Civic with a few mods. Nevertheless, the E-drag would be an awesome limited-run special that would hold us over on cool JDM performance models for years to come.

There is no price on the E-drag, nor any confirmation it is actually making production, but all we ask for is like 100 of these things stateside. An NSX Type-R would do too.

The post Life Sized Slot Car: The Honda E Drag Car Is An 11-Second Electric Pocket Rocket appeared first on BangShift.com.

Of course the flip side of that is the fact that you get to make it clean and nice and new and what you want, instead of being something you’ve added to over time and had to fix and patch together like most race cars we know. So watch, learn, and see just what this ride and crash was all about. Man this thing is tore up.

The post Kamikaze’s Crash: How To Kill An El Camino In 3…2…1 appeared first on BangShift.com.

The guests on this show are Tony Pedregon who I work with week in and week out, David Freiburger who is my pal and the guy who came up with the Drag Week concept as well as the guy who announces the event with me, and Wes Buck of Drag Illustrated who spends his days and nights inside the sport of drag racing on several levels.

This one is a little longer than normal because there’s so much stuff to talk about and it’s all interesting. Tony’s takes on Indy winners, who is coming into the countdown strongest, and what the rest of the year will look like are fresh. Getting the inside scoop on Drag Week is cool, and Wes Buck drops knowledge bombs about pro mod and what happened over the course of a wheeling and dealing weekend.

You’re gonna dig it!

Whack the play button below to listen to Episode 26 of the NHRA Insider

The post NHRA Insider Podcast: The Big Show About The Big Go – Talking Indy, Drag Week, and the State Of The Sport appeared first on BangShift.com.

It has been one hell of a season with the addition of the ultra-competitive United Nitro Funny Car Association and the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series, making nearly a dozen events that included nitro funny cars.

On the west coast, the UNFC and NHRA Heritage Series have brought nitro funny car racing to even more fans and with the addition of the NHRA Museum finally inviting the Heritage funny car class to the Holley Hot Rod Reunion in Bowing Green, made a move to include the rest of the nation.

Certainly the odds-on leader this season has got to be Bobby Cottrell, driver of the “Northwest Hitter” ’69 Victory Camaro of Bucky Austin and Mike O’Brien. Cottrell has dominated with multiple wins, winning the Good Vibrations UNFC Championship and personal bests all over the western United States. Cottrell won eight events in 2018, including the Good Vibrations March Meet, Heritage Series race at Rocky Mountain Raceways, UNFC Tuscon, two UNFC races at Spokane and two UNFC races at Pacific Raceways.

Three “experts” have contributed their best guesses for the nitro funny car class this year, to advise on the BANGShift Funny Car Gypsy’s odds for the Auto Club Famoso Raceway Winners Circle late Sunday afternoon.  These are tough decisions and guesses this year since so many teams have stepped up their performance with more events and passes on the run card.  

Nevertheless here’s the consensus of the Top Contenders handed over for the 27th California Hot Rod Reunion.  We can’t guarantee on the Odds and as far as we know there are no Vegas or local Indian Casinos yet that’ll take your bet, however we have seen some money changing hands in the cash the newly refurbished Famoso 1/4 mile grandstands.  The weather should be  awesome!

(1-1 Even Money) Bobby Cottrell – “Northwest Hitter” ’69 Victory Camaro – As we picked to win the Good Vibrations March Meet, Bucky’s team is a roll after eight event wins this year and last year’s 26th Reunion trophy. Team has already won the UNFC Championship, could win the NHRA Heritage Championship too. Could this event show a 5.40 ET?  A Legends of Nitro 260 Club Member.

(2-1) Matt Bynum  – “Nitro Nick” ’70 Chevrolet Camaro – on a limited schedule, owner Cecil Matthews has proven his abilities with a runner-up finish at last year’s Reunion and a runner-up at this year’s Pepsi Nightfire Nationals in Boise. Bynum’s driving is second to none, we pick this car for the Finals.  A Legends of Nitro 260 Club Member.

(2-1) Ryan Hodgson – “Pacemaker” ’69 Victory Camaro – 2017 NHRA Heritage Series Champion with veteran tuner Bob Papirnick could make it to the final round as they did at the March Meet earlier this year. Even though they sat out most races this year, they are hard to bet against.  A Legends of Nitro 260 Club Member.

(4-1) Jeff Arend – “California Hustler” ’78 Pontiac Firebird – Veteran tuner Ronnie Swearingen and solid crew finally found the 5.60’s at 259+ and won the NAPA Ignitor at Firebird Raceway this year. Jeff Arend and Swearingen have hit it off well with consistent performance.  Might be a final round here for owner Don Nelson.

(4-1) Jason Rupert – “Rolling Thunder” “69 Chevrolet Camaro – Tough to bet against this team, but DNQ’d at last year’s Reunion with three oildowns. Rupert is a three-time NHRA Heritage Champion and won the Boise Nightfires this year with a crushing 5.60-253.47 final against Bynum.  Missed much of this season due to injuries, but lost in the first round at Spokane to a hole shot by Wally Giavia.  A Legends of Nitro 260 Club Member.

(5-1) Dan Horan –  “Patriot” ’69 Victory Camaro –  he won the 2014 Heritage Series Championship, often talks of retirement, but will field his patriotic NFC and his late Pop’s Top Fueler here at the Reunion. He’s got longtime team leader David Fears still with him and won the NHRA Bowling Green Reunion this year.  A Legends of Nitro 260 Club Member.

(5-1) Mark Sanders – “Mr Explosive” ’71 Ford Mustang – No better driver out there, son and tuner Jake “the Snake” is deep into the Indy-based nitro world doing fabrication and learning from some of the best in our business.  This team usually kicks ass and has a bunch of fun.

(5-1) Steven Densham – “Teacher’s Pet” ‘69 Chevrolet Camaro – They won the 2015 Heritage Series Championship, but hasn’t run the family Camaro much this year.  Father Gary Densham has burned nitro for so many years – this team can never be counted out. 

(6-1) Kris Krabill – “Cascade Automotive” ’79 Dodge Omin 2.0 – New team combination with owner Rick Akers, Krabill sure knows the Famoso Winners Circle, this is a proven hard charging funny car team, word is that veteran Del Worsham will be consulting on the tune-up his weekend. Looking for a strong finish. (photo courtesy of Kris Krabill)

(7-1) John Hale – “One Bad Texan” ’69 Chevy Camaro – Hale has been pursuing his other interests and also run in the Funny Car Chaos series, staying closer to home. Crew Chief Guy Tipton is back and ready for action with a proven team.  John has plenty of his Best of Texas BBQ sauce onboard, too!

(7-1) Brad Thompson – “Jailbreak” ’78 Chevy Camaro – Qualified well at the last Reunion with a 5.69, showing his old form and winning performance, but was off-pace at the Nighfires in Boise. Thompson’s NFC is the test-bed for the new generation MSD mag from sponsor System 1 and gets lots of help from veteran Steve Faria.

(8-1) Bill Windham – “Shakedown” ’69 Chevrolet Camaro – Seems this solid team has turned the corner with some improvement at almost every race this year. Veteran racer Windham has driven just about every kind of drag car. A dark horse for sure.

(8-1) Billy Morris – “Problem Child” ’69 Chevy Camaro – A new NFC team this year and Morris is a finalist in the Legends of Nitro Rookie of the Year that’ll be awarded this weekend.  Owner Eddie Knox, former Top Fuel Hydro World Champion, now tunes the car and is making progress.  Billy knows how to win at the sand drags, but like the many drag races he’s competed in this year, the team gets better with every pass, utilizing a new trick supercharger from the Blower Shop.

(8-1) Marc Meadors – “Fuel Curve” ’70 Camaro – Goodguys President is back and with Championship winning Crew Chief Jim Basko, made a solid pass in testing this week, but a brand new team for this event.  A dark horse with all the right parts and pieces.

(8-1) Tim Nemeth – “Iceman” ’78 Trans Am – A strong Canadian racer who has all the right racing parts and if you see veteran nitro tuner/builder Donnie Couch in their pits, could go rounds and have an epic time together.

(9-1) Rian Konno – “Kazanjian Lemon & Konno” ’73 Ford Mustang – This funny car has improved with guidance from Roland Leong, who recently left the team. They’ve been stuck in the 5.80’s, but awesome reaction times got Konno extra rounds at the Good Vibrations March Meet this year.  Racing in the memory of longtime friend John Egan.

(11-1) Cory Lee – “Pedaler” ’79 Dodge Challenger – Driver Cory Lee and veteran, winning owner Gary Turner are back together, but not much racing in the past year, these guys race well together.

(11-1) Geoff Monise – “Quarter Pounder” ’77 Chevy Monza – Ace fabricator Monise pilots this old school classic, legacy funny car. Veteran Keith Clark tunes with a dedicated team, should qualify well.

(12-1) Mike Halstead – “Code Red” ’78 Chevy Camaro – Owner/Trucker Lee Jennings has raced Top Fuel and Funny Car for years and is a crafty tuner he loves to kick some ass with proven knowledge. Halstead is a confident driver and should qualify well.

(13-1) Justin Taylor – “Evil Wicked Mean & Nasty” ’73 Ford Mustang – Justin is a second generation to father and safety supplier Dennis Taylor,  A work in progress with a lot of heart.

(15-1) Jeff Utterback – “Pisano & Matsubara” ’73 Vega – This classic funny car is owned by Danny Pisano and not often raced, but Jeff will put on a show. Stop by the pits and see this one!

(15-1) Jon Capps – “Smokey’s Dark Side” ’79 Dodge Challenger – Owner/Tuner Smokey Alleman knows what he’s doing and with driver Jon Capps tested will this week, these guys are crafty and should qualify.

(15-1) Matthew Melendez – “Cacklin’ Critter” ’70 Dodge Challenger – New team with a proven race car, been running locally this year, Wonder if they’ll refer to the Bowen Racecars tune-up book, could former owner/driver Shawn Bowen be in Bakersfield this weekend?

(15-1) Rick O’Rogers – “Fighting Irish” ’74 Chevy Camaro – Great looking classic team and legacy name, trying to get into a tough field with a dedicated team, owner Charlie O’Neill has been through it all.

(15-1) Shawn Van Horn – “Choo Choo Mama” ’78 Pontiac Firebird – these former fuel altered racers are still learning with their fuel funny car, they have a shot at qualifying. Get your A&W Root Beer floats at their party in the pits, the best ever

(16-1) Tony Jurado – “Capital Punishment” ’69 Victory Camaro – Beautiful brand new PRC Fabrication funny car, built by crew chief Jason Bunker.  Glassman Jurado just earned his license and has run Pro Mods for years, but will have his hands full, Bunker knows what he’s doing with the years he spent in Pro Mods and with Mark Meadors funny car.

All of those making the picks this year had a tough time picking a solid winner, with the Cottrell/Austin & O’Brian team a clear leader, the nitro funny car racing this year has been the best in years with any of six cars making the final!

It’s always a crap-shoot to make these picks, but based upon our observations during this awesome racing year, this is the list in the real 805 (Area Code). Remember, its very tough to make money in drag racing, but sometimes you can make a couple of bucks in the grandstands, betting with your neighbors.

Good luck racers, it’s going to be a dog fight!

The post 27th California Hot Rod Reunion – BANGShift’s Gypsy Delivers The Nitro Funny Car Odds! appeared first on BangShift.com.

While competing at this weekend’s NHRA SpringNationals in Houston, Funny Car star and two-time NHRA World Champion Del Worsham announced that his racing operation will be temporarily parked and on the sidelines after the Houston event, while he continues to pursue additional funding for his organization. At this point in time, Worsham has plans for a return to NHRA competition at the Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals, July 27-29 at Sonoma Raceway in California. If funding can be secured in the interim, the team will be ready to compete immediately.

Worsham has competed at all four NHRA Mello Yello national events prior to Houston, with backing from a consortium of associate sponsors, and has compiled a round record of 2-4 while earning 167 points, good enough for the No. 10 spot in the standings. His 2018 Toyota Camry has been consistent and fast at the prior two races, in Gainesville and Las Vegas, but the full-time search for additional marketing partners will be his primary focus moving forward.

“In some ways it’s one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever made, but in other ways it’s one of the easiest,” Worsham said. “I don’t think it’s any secret that we’re underfunded and kind of piecing this thing together. We had a little bit of a rough start, performance wise, in Pomona and Phoenix but we fixed the issues and we’ve been really consistent and real contenders at the last two races. I expect no less here in Houston.

“What I need now is time. These cars are expensive to run, even when things go perfectly, and in addition to that they consume almost all of your time when you have a small organization like ours. I work on it, service it, drive the transporter, tune it, and I drive it. My dad and I have a very talented, loyal, and hard-working crew, but I need to put 100 percent of my focus into continuing some conversations we’re having with a number of companies that already see what we have to offer. Hopefully, we can start a few additional conversations, as well. We will have the car ready to go, so if we can land a partnership we’ll be able to race at a moment’s notice. Otherwise, we’ll aim for Sonoma.”

The veteran driver and tuner is assisted by his father Chuck and a small crew. He is one of only three drivers to ever win the NHRA World Championship in both Top Fuel (2011) and Funny Car (2015), along with Kenny Bernstein and Gary Scelzi. He drove his family owned car from 1991 through 2008, much of that with backing from auto parts retailer CSK Auto.

From 2009 through 2011 he drove for Al Anabi Racing, first in a Funny Car and then in a Top Fuel Dragster in 2011, when he won the championship. After one season as a crew chief he returned to the Funny Car driver’s seat, for Kalitta Motorsports, in 2013. In 2015 he added the NHRA Funny Car championship to his mantle.

In 2017, Worsham returned to the family operation, racing with his father Chuck and much of their current crew.

“I made that decision with my heart and I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” Worsham said. “This is what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be. A lot of it felt like 1996 all over again, but it’s family and I wanted to race with my dad. I’ve won two championships and a lot of races, but the next bucket-list item was doing that with my dad. If any of the conversations we’re having right now turn into a major partnership, that company is going to be working with a championship-caliber team that’s ready to go.”

Further announcements will be forthcoming if Worsham’s quest for additional marketing partners is successful prior to the Sonoma race, thereby allowing an earlier return to racing.

The post Worsham Parking His Family Funny Car – Will Return At Sonoma NHRA Mello Yello Event! appeared first on BangShift.com.

While some of last year’s front runners from the Midwest and Texas, such as #1 qualifier Mike McIntire Jr’s “McAttack” Camaro, John Hale’s “One Bad Texan” Camaro and the “Crop Duster” Monza elected to sit out this event and Goodguys’ Marc Meadors’ “Fuel Curve” Camaro won’t be ready until April. Nitro veterans like Paul Romine and his “Man O War” Mustang decided to make the trek from Indy, since NHRA Tech Department allowed an MSD-type 12-amp magneto in the off season, after a multi-year lobbying effort from racers.

Our “experts” have contributed their hunches for the nitro funny car class this year, to advise on the Funny Car Gypsy’s odds for the Auto Club Famoso Raceway Winners Circle on Sunday evening or as last year on Monday.  It’s a tough decision, especially since owners joining in pre-season testing was light this winter… a little at Wild Horse Pass, a few more at Famoso and over the past weekend with Bucky’s Test-N-Tune weekend.

This event will bring out two distinct funny car fields to rabid nitro spectators; a 16-car qualified, all-out NHRA Heritage series 16-car eliminator and a Classic 8-car Field that’ll qualify and run on a 5.90 index, designed to go easier on the funny car owners who don’t want to put in a fresh rack of pistons every round.  Special thanks to both Jeff Utterback and track manager Blake Bowser for offering a way for owners to play with nitro in a more sensible way – with an Index as has been done to revitalize the AA/Fuel Altered class.  Thanks also to Stith Printing for stepping up with a crisp $500 bonus for the #1 Qualifier in the Classic class!

Going into qualifying a funny car team must declare which class they want to run in; Heritage or Classic and the Classic class has already brought out George Doty’s “Crazy Horse” Mustang driven by Rodney Flournoy, the first in the 5-second zone way back in the Goodguys VRA days, and the iconic “Pisano & Matsubara” Vega owned by Danny Pisano and driven by Jeff Utterback, for the Classic eliminator.  Since the Classic class will be run on a 5.90-second elapsed time index, here we concentrate on the heads up NHRA Heritage Series Class.

Some twenty-two members are supporting the United Nitro Funny Car Championship, sponsored by Good Vibrations Motorsports in a five race series with healthy payouts and a points fund, directed by promoter Bill Doner.  So the UNFC and NHRA Heritage Series are now bringing nitro funny car racing to even more fans and with the addition of the NHRA Museum finally inviting the Heritage class to the Holley Hot Rod Reunion in Bowing Green for the first time, making this almost a National series.

Anyway, here’s the consensus of the Top 25 nitro funny cars presented to the BANGshift Funny Car Gypsy for the 2018 Good Vibrations March Meet.  There’s no guarantee on the Odds and as far as we know there are no Vegas casinos that’ll take your bet, however cash wagering in the refurbished Famoso grandstands or the new starting line Famoso Beer Garden (above) might prove productive.  Wagering on the weather is a sucker bet, but will certainly be a factor.

(1-1 Even Money) Bobby Cottrell – “Northwest Hitter” ’69 Victory Camaro – On a roll after multiple wins last year capped by the ’17 Reunion trophy, qualifying #1 and a best of 5.528 in eliminations. Pre-season testing went as planned.  Maybe a 5.40 in there?  A Legends of Nitro 260 Club Member.

(2-1) Matt Bynum  – “Nitro Nick” ’70 Chevrolet Camaro – owner Cecil Matthews proved his smarts in a runner-up finish at last year’s Reunion and driver Bynum grabbing the last remaining Legends of Nitro 260 Club Member jacket re-setting the national record at 263.05. Bynum’s driving is second to none, he’s wanted to drive a nitro funny car since he was a kid and sure could be in the final round, again.

(2-1) Shawn Bowen – “Bartone & Lebor” ’69 Chevrolet Camaro – This may be the race for that breakthrough Heritage Series win.  Bowen’s won in IHRA and the Drag Racing Online Challenge and racing in a few Heritage Series events last year shows they can do this. This funny car sparkles!  A Legends of Nitro 260 Club Member.

(2-1) Ryan Hodgson – “Pacemaker” ’69 Victory Camaro – 2017 NHRA Heritage Series Champ and was the MPH record holder. Bob Papirnick and Jim Basko have a strong crew and could make it to the final round having won last year’s Good Vibrations March Meet.  Hard to bet against.  A Legends of Nitro 260 Club Member.

(2-1) Jeff Arend – “California Hustler” ’78 Pontiac Firebird – Veteran tuner Ronnie Swearingen and solid crew has found the 5.60’s at 259+. Arend looks like the driver this team needed as the odds-on leader in pre-season testing at Famoso with the car’s best 60-foot times, ever.  Could be the final round here for owner Don Nelson.

(3-1) Steven Densham – “Teacher’s Pet” ‘69 Chevrolet Camaro – Steven and pops Gary Densham won the 2015 Heritage Series Championship and any drag racer who has burned nitro for as many years as this team can never be counted out.  This car loves to carry the wheels off the line and driver Steven seems to thrive on it.

(3-1) Jason Rupert – “Rolling Thunder” “69 Chevrolet Camaro – Tough to bet against this team, but DNQ’d at Reunion with oildowns. Won the 2016 IHRA Championship, 2016 Reunion and Rupert is a three-time NHRA Heritage and three-time IHRA Champ – usually has field crushing performance. A Legends of Nitro 260 Club Member.

(3-1) Paul Romine – “Man O War” ’79 Ford Mustang – Romine is a multi-time IHRA Champ and maybe one of the craftiest racers out there.  As he says, “I always want to race against the best.” With the new MSD 12-amp mag now available, nothing may stop him.

(5-1) Bill Windham – “Shakedown” ’69 Chevrolet Camaro – After some mis-steps last season, it looked like Windham and his team may have turned the corner in pre-season Famoso testing. Veteran driver, veteran crew and a new, spacious workplace at the track. A dark horse for sure.

(5-1) Mark Sanders – “Mr Explosive” ’71 Ford Mustang – No better driver out there, son Jake the Snake has immersed himself in the Indy nitro world. learning from some of the best in the business.  This team usually kicks ass.

(6-1) Dan Horan –  “Patriot” ’69 Victory Camaro –  The 2014 Heritage Series Champ who often talks retirement and sat out much of last season. He’s got longtime leader David Fears turning the wrenches with him, but has elected to enter his late father’s Top Fueler, yes thats two nitro cars, could be a lot of work.  A Legends of Nitro 260 Club Member.

(6-1) Brad Thompson – “Jailbreak” ’69 Victory Camaro – Qualified well at the Reunion with a 5.69, showing his old form and winning performance.  He’ll be double-dipping with his Ridge Route Terror rear engine dragster. Great to see this team turn their program around, back to the 5.60’s – now with the new MSD mag from sponsor System 1 and help from veteran Steve Faria.

(7-1) Billy Morris – “Problem Child” ’69 Chevy Camaro – New, great looking entry with frustrating pre-season testing, then overnight turned the corner to get Billy his license.  Top Fuel Hydro World Champ Eddie Knox drives this team with tuner Jon Wurtz.  Could be a real dark horse, but sand racer Billy knows how to win – this’ll be the toughest funny car field of the year.  If you make it to Famoso, stop by and welcome these guys.

(7-1) Tim Boychuk – “Happy Hour” “78 Pontiac Firebird – Canadian Boychuk races hard with crew chief Twig Ziegler, sometimes running hot and sometimes cold, but could make the Semi’s with some breaks.

(7-1) Rian Konno – “Kazanjian Lemon & Konno” ’73 Ford Mustang – This car has been steadily improving with guidance from crafty Hawaiian Roland Leong who tuned the Heritage Top Fuel champ last year.  Stuck in the 5.80’s – needs 70’s at least.  Racing in the memory of longtime friend John Egan.

(7-1) Steve Easton – “Burnin’ Money” ’70 Plymouth Barracuda – Early on, owner Bob Godfrey helped start this class, he match races and doesn’t waste parts. Easton has been racing Pro-mods and A/Fuel in the Mello Yello series.  A resourceful team

(8-1) Don Hudson – “Beachcomber” ’78 Pontiac Firebird – Strong central California coast team, good running car, smart driver with lots of funny car seat time. Should qualify this great looking car, but the crew led by Paolo Galli needs to find the 5.70’s to advance in this field.

(10-1) Claude Lavoie – “Sandman Special” ’72 Plymouth Satellite GTX – Lavoie has been sitting out the quarter mile for a could of years, but when he races his Rodeck Hemi-powered flopper, he usually does well.  Hard to pick this one.

(10-1) Cory Lee – “Pedaler” ’79 Dodge Challenger – Driver Cory Lee is back with veteran owner Gary Turner, should qualify, good parts and smart people, but not much racing in the past year as Cory worked the Mello Yello show with Del Worsham. Former driver James Day moves over to pilot the “Black Sunshine” AA/Fuel Altered.

(10-1) Chris Davis – “Old School Nitro” ’77 Plymouth Arrow – awesome looking funny car with good showings in the Northwest and a killer 300 foot wheel stand at the UNFC race in Seattle last year, hard working and dedicated crew, the fans love this car!

(10-1) Mike Halstead – “Code Red” ’78 Chevy Camaro – Sounds like owner Lee Jennings may have some tricks up his sleeve, he’s driven and tuned for many years and loves to kick some ass with proven knowledge in top fuel and funny car, Halstead is confident and knows the Famoso 1320 well.

(11-1) Geoff Monise – “Quarter Pounder” ’77 Chevy Monza – Monise is piloting this old school classic, legacy funny car. Keith Clark tunes with a dedicated team – if weather is a factor Clack knows Famoso..

(12-1) Rick O’Rogers – “Fighting Irish” ’74 Chevy Camaro – Great looking classic team, will need more than 5.80’s in this March Meet pack, owner Charlie O’Neill knows how to motivate hard working team

(12-1) Kris Krabill – “Darkside” ’79 Dodge Challenger – Owner/Tuner Smokey Alleman knows what he’s doing and veteran driver Krabill has spent lot of time in the Winners Circle, these guys are crafty and should qualify. They’ve got new T-shirts, too!

(13-1) Shawn Van Horn – “Choo Choo Mama” ’78 Pontiac Firebird – these former fuel altered racers are still learning with their fuel funny car side have a shot at qualifying. A&W Root Beer floats, the best!

That’s a lot to digest, but you can bet your last dollar – if only those odds makers in Vegas would take your cash!

The post Good Vibrations March Meet – BANGshift’s Nitro Funny Car Gypsy Delivers The Odds! appeared first on BangShift.com.