in the world of drag racing
The latest update as of September 10, 1999
The "FIA European Finals" is on this weekend at Santa Pod Raceway in
England. What? The season's over already? Yes, for European racers it is, as
the largest event of their short season is already underway at Santa Pod. The
meeting will also determine the FIA Top Fuel and Top Methanol Champions for
1999. Qualifying is scheduled for today and tomorrow, with the eliminations
on Sunday. We'll do our best to bring you the results as soon as possible. Check
them out by way of our Results Menu. With an
entry list of over 230 cars and bikes, including six Top Fuel cars and sixteen
Top Methanol cars, plus nitro Funnies, Pro Mods and Pro Stocks, this will
undoubtedly be the highlight of the European season.
So what else is happening this weekend? The IHRA schedule takes their racers to the Northeast, with Epping, New Hampshire's New England Dragway presenting the "Parts Pro North American Nationals". We'll be closely following the progress of local hero Glen May as he continues to pursue the IHRA Pro Mod Championship. This event will be the second appearance of Glen's new Ford Ranger truck and if its debut appearance at the World Nationals two weeks ago is anything to go by, May and company should be a serious threat for another late round finish. Check out the Top Fuel results from Epping on our results menu, and for the latest updates on Glen May, go to our continuing feature on his "dream" season.
Happening locally is the annual Car Club Drags at Mission Raceway. While it was originally scheduled to be a low-key weekend, the rainouts at the last two major events (The Pro Mod race and the Bike Drags) have necessitated a "double points" race for the Canada West Doorslammer and Pro Gas Associations -- according to my informants. Elsewhere, while there's no NHRA National Events this weekend, there are several races happening downunder.
It's a little late for anyone from North America to get there (it's Saturday already in Australia), but Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin is presenting the "Top End Championships", Willowbank Raceway (Ipswich) has the 2nd Annual "Bracket Blast" and in North Queensland, Mackay's Palmyra Dragway is running an All-Bike meeting. A little further north, Townsville is hosting a bracket race.
Next weekend the NHRA national event tour swings into action again, at Reading, Pennsylvania's Maple Grove Raceway with the "True Value Keystone Nationals". And two weeks from now, the last major event of the Western Canada racing season is on tap at Ashcroft, BC's Eagle Motorplex. The final round of the Canadian National Open series will be contested over three days, September 24-26. For full information on the schedule, entry, etc., visit the Division Six homepage over at Horsepower Heaven.
That's all the news for now, but we'll be back with you periodically over the weekend with updates on the racing and all the latest news from the world of drag racing. Stay tuned. LATE UPDATE: The action was rained out today at New England Dragway's "Parts Pro North American Nationals".... so you'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see what's happening there. But we do have a race report from Santa Pod's "FIA European Finals" and the first day's qualifying results.