Pro Mod racers and brothers Zach and Cody Barklage will be racing this Independence Day holiday for a greater cause then just winning a race.  The team will be racing for a cure for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society during the ADRL Hardee’s Independence Drags IV at Heartland Park Topeka.

“We have decided to race for more than just points and purse money,” said Zach Barklage.  “There are a lot of greater causes in this world and this happens to be one of them.  Our team has been touched by leukemia, so we wanted to do our part to help raise money and awareness.  A friend of our team, Michelle Royal, has suffered three times with leukemia.  She’s now in a coma and not doing very well.  She is a very nice person, and has had it pretty rough.  This was the only thing we knew we could do to help.  Once we got involved we were amazed to know over 1,500 people in just Missouri and Kansas died from blood cancer just last year.  Only $1000 will give 10 children a whole month of their cancer medication, and we’re out here spending a lot more than that to race.  That blows me away to know if we all come together; we can save people’s lives.”

Since Courtney Glover was the inaugural SCEDA – Southern California Drag Racing Champion in the Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels class in 2005, the class has always paid to the winner each day a minimum guarantee of $500, with progressives payouts thereafter.   However for the July 3rd and 4th event this year, any racer who pays the normal weekend entry fees to SCEDA on or before Saturdays’ SCEDA’s first time trial session, and enters for both days, will qualify for a special bonus purse of $500 per day, making the total payout to the winner $1,000 each day if they pay for both days and enter before the first time trial session on Saturday.

Heartland Park Topeka has produced some of the top performances over the years and Sunday was no different as the Kansas Super Chevy Show roared to an exciting finish.

The day was highlighted by Rick Farber's dominating win in Pro-Mod, but it also included competitive efforts in both bracket divisions, the D.O.T. class and a solid list of winners in the car show portion of the event.

The International Hot Rod Association recently announced the return of San Antonio Raceway to its family of member tracks.

The southern Texas track, which hosted IHRA national events in the mid-2000s, announced earlier this week that it has rejoined the IHRA under the leadership of operator Freddy Cruz.
 
“We are excited to be back with the IHRA. The IHRA is so much more sportsman oriented than any other organization and that is exactly what we are looking for,” Cruz said. “We are grassroots racing at its finest and IHRA fits that style perfectly. This is a win-win situation for the racers, the IHRA and for San Antonio Raceway.”

According to a source within the Don Schumacher Racing camp, the team will announce a major crew chief change prior to this weekend’s NHRA Summit Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. DSR released a statement on Sunday evening confirming the personnel reassignment.

Revonda Johnson is proud of her boys, especially the 68 year old one.

Mrs. Johnson is the mother of Pro Stock ace Allen Johnson and wife to his engine builder Roy Johnson, a Stock eliminator semi-finalist at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.

“They are awesome, both of them,” Mrs. Johnson proudly proclaimed, moments after both father and son were eliminated in the semi-finals. “They did a wonderful job, entertained the home body, entertained the family. It's been really special.”

Mike Edwards is learning every aspect about being a champion.

On Sunday he learned another.

The mark of a true champion is to be able to win when you’re not supposed to. Even he will admit on Sunday, when final eliminations for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn., were scheduled to begin – he believed his odds to win were a long shot at best.

Allen Johnson, a driver who proclaims Bristol Dragway as his home track, had claimed the No. 1 qualifying position in the most oppressive of conditions on Friday and Satuday and was on a collision course from the other side. Edwards merely did what he needed to do to ensure he had a spot in the last dance, going as far as recording low elapsed time.

Shirl Greer, the 1974 NHRA Funny Car World Champion, was inducted into the Legends of Thunder Valley Sunday at Bristol Dragway.

Greer, a longtime Kingsport, Tn. resident, died in March after an extended illness.

His sons, Van and Brian, were at the induction ceremony where Greer's 1974 “Chained Lightning” Mustang was on display. They spoke about what Bristol Dragway, a place where Shirl Greer won back-to-back IHRA All-American Nationals in 1974-75, meant to their father.

“This was home, where he always wanted to do good,” Brian Greer said. “At times, this was the hardest place for him to do good at. He always had a lot of love and support from fans and family here. This was his favorite place in the world to run a Funny Car.”

The fans have spoken and Warren Johnson is in the K&N Horsepower Challenge.

The bonus event for the Pro Stock class is June 26 during the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

Johnson, the winningest Pro Stock driver in NHRA history with 97 national event wins, was chosen as the eighth and final competitor for the race by an online fan vote. This will be the 24th time Johnson will compete in this special bonus event.

The way John Force was huffing and puffing as he took a seat for the post-race press conference, you’d have thought he'd pushed his 25th anniversary Castrol GTX Mustang Funny Car down the drag strip.

While that was hardly the case, Force, in 4.317 seconds, earned his way into the winner’s circle on the NHRA Full Throttle Series for the fourth time in 2010 with a car running under full throttle power all day.

In the final round Force defeated Tim Wilkerson and reclaimed the Funny Car point lead.