Compiled by SEMA Editors
 Travis Pastrana |
Travis Pastrana Joins Miss GEICO Offshore Racing Team
In 2020, Travis Pastrana will share the cockpit of the 47-ft. Miss GEICO Victory catamaran with world champion throttleman Sir Steve Curtis. Together, they will seek to clinch a world championship title during the 2020 World Offshore Championship Series. Pastrana plans to utilize his long-honed skills developed while racing on dirt courses, as he transitions to a liquid track with constantly changing conditions. Class ONE boats will compete in six world-class races during the upcoming season. Stops include events in Cocoa Beach, Florida; St. Pete Beach, Florida; Sarasota, Florida; St. Clair, Michigan; Michigan City, Indiana; and Fort Myers Beach, Florida. Class ONE consists of the fastest race boats in the world. These boats weigh exactly 11,750 lbs. with sealed 1,100 hp twin race engines governed by Mercury Racing to ensure fair competition. All of the teams use the same propeller dimensions. The Miss GEICO Victory catamaran is made of carbon and Kevlar for high performance and can reach top speeds of 160 mph.
 SpeedVideo has entered into a broadcast partnership with the automotive event series Street Car Takeover (SCT) to live stream the Street Car Takeover Charlotte 2020 event. |
SpeedVideo Enters Broadcast Partnership With Street Car Takeover
SpeedVideo has entered into a broadcast partnership with the automotive event series Street Car Takeover (SCT) to live stream the Street Car Takeover Charlotte 2020 event, June 26–27, 2020. Street Car Takeover not only features drag racing, but also roll racing, where drivers line up 1,300 ft. behind the burnout box, eclipsing the starting line at 35 to 40 mph, and the winner is determined by speed, not elapsed time. There are three classes of roll racing at SCT Charlotte 2020: the 140 mph and 150 mph brackets where speed cannot be exceeded, and the King Of The Bakery, which has no trap speed limitation, but vehicles must be street-legal. Full live-event coverage of the Street Car Takeover Charlotte 2020 event in live HD will be available on SpeedVideo.com for annual or monthly subscribers. Parts of the event will be broadcast for free.
 Rich Nye, racing in memory of his brother who recently passed away, won with a 7.88 in his Mustang over David Theisen, who trapped an 8.16 in his Firebird. |
Race Wrap: 18th Annual NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem
The 18th Annual NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem presented by Holbrook Racing Engines was held March 5–8 at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida.
VP Racing Lubricants Xtreme Pro Mod: Eric Gustafson in his PTP-tuned Coast Packing Camaro cruised all the way to the final, where he clocked a 3.68 to win over Andrew Handras, who went into a wheelie and was forced to lift to a 4.09 in his Camaro.
Holley EFI Factory Super Cars: Chris Holbrook’s Mustang Cobra Jet made it to the final, where he lit the board with a 7.70 to win over Bill Skillman, who was 7.73 in his Mustang Cobra Jet.
ARP Nitrous Pro Street: Vince Khoury in his Firebird advanced to the final, where he flew to a 4.56 to win over Craig Cerniglia, who clocked a 4.70 in his Chevelle.
Edelbrock Xtreme Street: Brian Keep in his Camaro made it to the final round where he secured the win with a consistent 4.54 over Troy Pirez Sr., who was forced to get off the throttle.
Dart NA 10.5 presented by Diamond Pistons: Rich Nye, racing in memory of his brother who recently passed away, won with a 7.88 in his Mustang over David Theisen, who trapped an 8.16 in his Firebird.
Chevrolet Performance Stock presented by Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center: In the final round of eliminations, Jeff Heintz won with a 10.18 in his Camaro over Keith Vaughn, who recorded a slightly better reaction time, but a slightly slower elapsed-time (10.34) in his Corvette.
Coan Engineering Stock/Super Stock Combo: Pete Ricart and Andy Warren squared off in the final round, where Ricart earned the win in his 50th Anniversary Mustang Cobra Jet with an 8.30 on an 8.29 dial-in when Warren turned on the red light in Scott Libersher’s COPO Camaro.
Quick Fuel Technology Nostalgia Super Stock: Jim Netherland and Brent Wheeler faced off in the final, where Netherland nabbed the win in his Buick when Wheeler turned on the red light in his Coronet.
Detroit Truetrac Nostalgia Muscle Car: Tim Boggs in his Chevy II faced Wesley Lee in the finals, where Lee lapped an 11.04 on an 11.00 index in his Monte Carlo to oust Boggs, who broke out with a 10.70.
MagnaFuel Open Comp: The final round saw Shane Williams and Dan Caissie and their Mustangs. Williams wrapped up the win and the trip to the Aerospace Components Winner’s Circle with a better reaction time and an 11.75 on an 11.72 dial, while Caissie was 10.28 on a 10.25.
TorqStorm Superchargers True Street: Mike French motored to the overall win with an 8.77 average, while Jason Rollins rolled to the runner-up finish with an 8.96 average. Willard Howard was the 9-second winner, Jeff Smith was the 10-second winner, Jeff Neibarger was the 11-second winner and Grant Martin was the 12-second winner. Jose Vera took the 13-second win, Jimmy Hodges took the 14-second win and Branden Arila took the 15-second win.
Dodge // Mopar HEMI Shootout: Lindsay Wheelock was the overall winner with a 10.03 average, while Pete Mansolillo was the runner-up with a 10.07 average. Jay Tucker took the 10-second win, Nathan Washington emerged as the 11-second winner, Lee Segars landed the 12-second win, Brian Bednar was the 13-second winner, Dave Burnett was the 14-second winner and Tim Rickey rounded things out as the 15-second winner.
Arrington Performance HEMI Quick 8 presented by Red Line Oil: Jerry Mathis ran right on his 10.55 dial-in with his Challenger to win over Robert Sharp, who was 11.08 on an 11.06 dial in his Charger.
Chevrolet Performance Street Car Challenge: Billy Wakefield wrapped up the overall win with a 9.07 average, while Terry Faust wrapped up the runner-up finish with a 9.12 average. Other winners included Jimmy Hartley in the 10-second category, Steve Sehghenano in the 11-second category, Jacob Segars in the 12-second category and Angel Gaulden in the 13-second category. Phil Peters put the finishing touch on the category with the win in the 14-second category.
The second stop on the tour is the 12th Annual Scoggin Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals, April 2–5, at Atlanta Dragway.
 Luke McMillin and co-driver Jason Duncan took the lead on the final lap of the race to score the win with an unofficial time of 6:49:52. |
Luke McMillin Conquers 2020 BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400
Luke McMillin added his name to the list of overall winners of the BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 with a victory last Saturday night. McMillin and co-driver Jason Duncan took the lead on the final lap of the race to score the win with an unofficial time of 6:49:52, collecting a $15,000 prize from event organizers and $25,000 contingency bonus from BFGoodrich Tires. With the extensive lead that Harley Letner had built no longer in play, the race looked to come down to the Unlimited Trucks of Ryan Arciero, McMillin and Bryce Menzies, who started the fourth lap within seconds of one another and maintained those positions up to the FOX Proving Grounds. When Arciero suffered a flat tire with the victory in his sights, McMillin inherited the top spot, and never looked back on the way to his first Mint 400 victory. It was the fourth victory for the McMillin off-road racing dynasty, as cousin Andy McMillin also took top honors in both 2009 and 2014. Meanwhile, Menzies also got around Arciero for second across the finish line.
 The TVS Supercharger Throwdown returns with a new set of race rules and a new location during the Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing, July 30–August 2, 2020, at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois. |
EATON TVS Throwdown Returns to NMRA/NMCA with New Location and Revised Rules
Last year, NMRA/NMCA worked with EATON Corp. to create a category to celebrate its Twin Vortices Series (TVS) supercharger technology. The TVS Supercharger Throwdown kicked off with super-fast street cars doing battle on the quarter-mile. In 2020, the TVS Supercharger Throwdown returns with a new set of race rules and a new location during the Nitto Tire NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing, July 30–August 2, at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois. If your vehicle relies on a late-model engine (GM LS/LT, Ford Mod Motor, or Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep Gen III HEMI) and utilizes an OEM or Aftermarket TVS-based supercharger—regardless of manufacturer—then it’s eligible for the EATON TVS Supercharger Throwdown. All racers will get a series of test-and-tune sessions leading up to Saturday’s timed event, which will have three designated “qualifying” sessions. NMRA/NMCA officials will average the three qualifying runs together to establish a competitor’s average time. Expanding on the new ranking system will be Quick 4 heads-up race on Sunday.
FIA Approves First-Ever Drifting Vehicle Regulations
The FIA World Motor Sport Council has approved the sport’s first-ever common vehicle standards for drifting cars following a proposal from the FIA Drifting Commission. The standards represent a milestone in the growing professionalism of drifting motorsports. The new standards, dubbed as DC1, relate to the professional classes of the sport and were created in cooperation with industry experts from the leading drift series around the world, according to an FIA press release. Until now, no common standards have existed for drift cars, with each event, series or organization implementing their own regulations. These new standards will allow teams to build to a common set of regulations that can be adopted worldwide, making it much easier for competitors to use the same car across multiple events and enabling the sport to grow further. As the DC1 regulations are aimed toward the professional classes of the sport, the Drifting Commission and FIA Technical Department will continue to work together over the year on similar regulations for both the semi-professional and amateur classes.
Horsepower Wars Announces 2020 Plans for $10K Drag Shootout
Horsepower Wars is back for 2020 with the $10K Drag Shootout, presented by Lucas Oil, that will sport a few rules changes this year to match the No Prep Edition update. Four teams will compete against each other to see who can build the quickest drag-racing car over a period of 10 days, with a budget of $10,000. During the competition, there will be surprise bonuses, competitions, and challenges that can assist, or hurt, the chances of each team’s ability to build their vehicle and win. Once the teams complete their build it’s time to go down to the track for heads-up racing where the team that proves they’re the fastest takes home $10,000 and their finished car.