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Supercar Collectibles is trying to get a 1:18 scale version of the Briggs Chevelle made. The estimated price is $120. If you’re interested in one of these, please pre-order one by going to the Supercar Collectibles page for the model.

Technorati Tags: Briggs Chevrolet, Chevelle, Ray Allen, Supercar Collectibles, Truppi-Kling

I saw this video through a link on ClassRacer.com and thought it was really funny.

Technorati Tags: Drag Racing

I decided to go to Old Bridge Township Raceway Park today and go drag racing. They gave out a copy of the track’s newspaper which I read while waiting to race. One of the news snippets caught my attention:

As we go to press, the news is breaking from Raceway Park management that the owners of Old Bridge Township Raceway Park just closed on the 100% purchase of New Jersey’s two other drag strips, Atco Raceway and Island Dragway, and are now owned by Raceway Park. Immediate plans by the new owners are to modernize both race tracks with all new grandstands, new three story over the track VIP suite buildings, fully paved pit and spectator parking areas, fresh concrete and track pavement, all new food and beverage restaurants and racing at least five days a week at each track. It was also announced that each track will be awarded a national event. The names of both Atco and Island will change, as multi million dollar facility naming rights deals have been signed with two major corporations. Lastly, you should be advised that what you’ve just read is completely false and is an April Fool’s Day joke on you!

As I was reading it, I was excited that there’d be more national events in the area. I’ve been to Island Dragway and the pit/spectator parking could definitely use a repaving. It pissed me off to read that it was an April Fool’s Day joke.

Technorati Tags: April Fool, Atco, Island Dragway, Old Bridge Township, Raceway Park

Eric Medlen, driver of the Castrol Syntec Ford Mustang Funny Car for John Force Racing, passed away yesterday from injuries suffered when his race car crashed into a guardwall during a Monday test session at Gainesville Raceway. He never regained consciousness. He was 33. You can read more here.

Technorati Tags: Eric Medlen, John Force Racing

I’m a big fan of NHRA PowerADE Drag Racing but there are a few improvements I’d like to see done for the fans. They are, in no particular order:
1) Broadcast qualifying at the same time every race weekend. Qualifying now is shown anywhere between 5pm and 1am. If they broadcast qualifying at, or at least close to, the same time each race weekend, I’m sure there would be more viewers.
2) Broadcast eliminations at the same time every race weekend. This is a similar problem to the qualifying but the latest they broadcast the eliminations at is 10pm.
3) Broadcast qualifying and/or eliminations LIVE. They tried this a few years ago on Pay-Per-View and gave up after just one year. A better way to do it is to offer a discount for NHRA members and maybe offer a “Season Pass” like they have for football/baseball/hockey.
4) Broadcast qualifying and/or eliminations over satellite radio, preferably XM, but ONLY if the sound quality is a lot better than the audiocast NHRA members can listen to from NHRA.com.
5) Broadcast all sportsman categories, not just Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car. Even if they only broadcast the final rounds of all the sportsman categories, it would be an improvement over only showing the alcohol classes.
6) Pick one non-alcohol final that was interesting/exciting and show it before the professional classes final rounds. Some fans who only see the races on TV and never go to a national event may not know there are other classes other than Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, Pro Stock Bike, Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car. It really doesn’t even have to be a final round. Any round of eliminations would do. The idea is to show fans who don’t know, that there are more categories than what’s being broadcast on TV now.

Most of these suggestions have been made by other people on other sites, including ClassRacer.com. I figure the more it gets said, the more NHRA might actually listen.

Technorati Tags: NHRA

I’ve heard of fantasy football, fantasy baseball, and even fantasy hockey. When I was visiting NHRA.com tonight, I found fantasy drag racing. You pick 8 drivers from 3-4 different classes (depending on whether or not Pro Stock Bike is racing that weekend). You earn points for each of those drivers based on where they qualify and how far they go in eliminations. You can even join/create a private league, just like other fantasy sports leagues, and compete against other people you know.

That’s what NHRA is calling the new multitiered playoff system for determining a champion in each of the four pro categories (Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle). Basically, it copies the “Race to the Cup” that NASCAR uses. After the first 17 races, the top 8 in points move on to compete for 4 positions. The points get reset starting with 2,070 for first place, 2,060 for second, all the way down to 2,000 for eighth place. After the next 4 races, the top 4 in points move on to compete for the championship. The points are reset again, this time with first place getting 3,030 through last place getting 3,000.
Personally I don’t like this new system because I just don’t see the incentive for the other 12+ teams to go to the races. They never said what happens to the points system for the teams that either don’t make it into the top 8 or the 4 teams that make it to the top 8 but don’t make it to the final 4. What would happen if someone that finishes outside the top 8 winds up with more points than someone inside the top 8? There’s too much they didn’t mention that I’m still confused about.

Technorati Tags: Countdown to the Championship, NHRA

I just got done watching the first 2 episodes of Driving Force on A&E. The only complaint I have is that each episode is only 30 minutes long. I would rather see a full hour episode like some of the other reality shows on TV. If American Chopper and American Hot Rod can have hour long episodes, I don’t see why Driving Force can’t. Normally I don’t watch reality shows. I still have never bothered to watch an episode of American Idol. I’ll watch American Chopper and American Hot Rod if I’m flipping through the channels. This will be the first “reality show” I watch religiously and it’s partly because of the racing.