VANDERGRIFF LOOKS TO KEEP MOMENTUM ROLLING AT HOME EVENT: Bob Vandergriff and his C&J Energy Top Fuel dragster team enter the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals on a hot streak after Vandergriff won the most recent event in Houston. Vandergriff continued his tradition of jogging from past the finish line to join his crew at the starting line to celebrate the victory. Atlanta Dragway is merely 60 minutes from Vandergriff’s home in Alpharetta, Georgia, and he will have a full contingency of friends and family cheering him on during the weekend. For more on this story, visit www.nhra.com .For tickets, call 800-884-6472 or visit www.NHRATix.com.
Rounds three and four found Brian Deegan back on top of the podiums in both the Pro Lite and Pro 2 classes at the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series (LOORS) this past weekend. Saturday's races started out with Deegan winning the Pro Lite class in his #38 Rockstar Energy Drink/Makita Power Tools Ford. In the late afternoon Pro 2 race, Deegan led the field after the first lap before crossing the finish line second. On Sunday Deegan was part of a pile-up after a restart in the Pro 2 race, suffering a flat tire that sent him back to the pits. After coming out of the pits and fighting to get back in the running, Deegan crossed the finish line in the ninth position. Closing out the weekend, Deegan finished with another first-place win, bringing him back in the game for the overall points lead.
ENDERS-STEVENS IN SEARCH OF HOMETOWN VICTORY IN HOUSTON: Erica Enders-Stevens is easily the most successful woman in NHRA Pro Stock history. After a stellar 2012 season behind the wheel of her GK Motorsports Chevy that produced four wins in seven final rounds and a fourth-place points finish, there is one thing that would make her even more proud: to win a Wally in front of her hometown crowd at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA SpringNationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Royal Purple Raceway.
PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLES RETURN TO FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS: When the NHRA returns to zMAX Dragway for the Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals fueled by Full Throttle, April 19–21, fans will be treated to a four-wide assault from all four of the sport’s top categories, including Pro Stock Motorcycles, which haven’t raced four-wide since 2010. Pro Stock Motorcycles, which in recent years have only raced at "the Bellagio of dragstrips’ " traditional two-wide fall event, will take to the track with Pro Stock, Funny Car and Top Fuel dragsters. Matt Smith, who won the Four-Wide event in 2010, called it a great accomplishment for his team, which is based in nearby Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The 2013 season of the Nitto Tires United States Touring Car Championship (USTCC) will kick off April 13, at Northern California’s Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, California. Round two will be in June at Utah’s Miller Motorsports Park, where the USTCC teams will race at the same weekend with the Lucas Oil Off Road series. In July, the teams next will head out to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in California’s Monterey Peninsula. This is a special invitational event hosted by the National Auto Sport Association. The double-header weekend at Sonoma Raceway in September will be headlined by the FIA World Touring Car Championship. The teams then head to Southern California’s Buttonwillow Raceway in October before finishing off with another major challenge in Sonoma with a two-hour endurance season finale.