Former mountain motor Pro Stock racers Pat Musi and Sonny Leonard
learned a valuable lesson back in the 1970s when both raced mountain
motors under the IHRA sanction. There’s no substitute for cubic inches,
even if you have 903 of them to throw around.

The two engine builders might come from different areas of the country,
Musi in Carteret, N.J., and Leonard in Lynchburg, Va., but both have
found a common ground in that the time has come for mega cubic inch
engines to chart territory once deemed untouchable.

If this modern day horsepower Lewis & Clark have their way, they’ll
explore upwards into the 930-inch territories with 1,000-inches on the
not-so-distant horizon. These engines will begin with 5-inch pistons
and a 5.300 bore spacing.

CompetitionPlus.com has assembled a staff of weekly bloggers
for your reading pleasure. Tune in every Monday for a week in the life
of such notable correspondents as European Top Fuel racer Urs Erbacher,
John Force Racing's Robert Hight, and Kendall Racing Oil's V. Gaines.

Laurie Cannister, top running IHRA TAFC driver, has joined the blogging team as has CompetitionPlus.com editor Bobby Bennett. 

Timmah has arrived.

UPDATED 11-05-2008

In its never-ending quest to bring the entire world of drag racing to its readers, CompetitionPlus.com has added Robert Hight, one of drag racing’s leading Funny Car racers on the NHRA POWERade tour.

Hight worked his way from the position of crew member for father-in-law John Force to his current position as driver of the Auto Club/Ford Mustang. The former NHRA rookie of the year recipient [2005] has posted back-to-back championship runner-up seasons starting in 2006.

Also a former trap shooting champion, Hight will share with the readers of  CompetitionPlus.com life through his eyes on a weekly basis.

UPDATED 11-05-2008

So you really want to be a reporter? Our publisher/editor Bobby Bennett will compile a blog on the behind-the-scenes happenings with CompetitionPlus. Traveling along with him as he provides the stories behind gathering the stories. You might not get all of the gossip, but you'll get a glimpse of a day in the life of one of drag racing's most persistent reporters.

Chatting With Director of Ford Racing Technology


You'll have to forgive Brian Wolfe while he pauses for a moment to live a dream.

Wolfe, a management veteran for the Ford Motor Company, succeeded
Dan Davis as the Director of Ford Racing Technology back in June. He
says that every day since the appointment has been a dream. Come to
think of it, hearing Wolfe discuss his involvement with Ford, even
indirectly, is proof his dream started long before his executive
appointment.

Cut him and Wolfe bleeds Blue Oval Blue, something he has done since
being old enough to drive. He has a drag racing background, having
visited the strip just hours after procuring a driver's license.

What else would you expect from a man who once labeled Henry Ford as one of his heroes?

CompetitionPlus.com Editor/Publisher Bobby Bennett recently caught up
with Wolfe during the recently completed Las Vegas event to discuss the
current state of Ford’s racing endeavors among other topics.

UPDATED 11-03-2008

In its never-ending quest to bring the entire world of drag racing to its readers, CompetitionPlus.com has added V. Gaines, one of drag racing’s more interesting Pro Stock racers on the NHRA POWERade tour.

Gaines brings a unique personality to the sport and the corporate world. A man of many business ventures, Gaines finds the time to drive the highly competitive Kendall Motor Oil-sponsored Dodge Stratus on the NHRA POWERade tour. The three-time winner on the tour most recently scored a victory during the NHRA CSK Nationals in Phoenix, Arizona.

Gaines serves as the CEO of Western Distributing, one of the largest trucking companies in the Western United States, and in of his rare moments resembling a break will share with the readers of CompetitionPlus.com life through his eyes on a weekly basis.

At the start of the 1977 season, no one was thinking John Wiebe had any
reason to retire from drag racing. No one that is, but John Wiebe.

“Kansas John” or “Weeb” was, while not a Top Fuel supernova on the
order of a Don Garlits or Shirley Muldowney, one of the class’ bigger
stars and most feared competitors throughout the first part of the
1970s.

Wiebe’s resume reflected his accomplishments. He was a three-time
American Hot Rod Association world champion, including the previous two
years running, when the AHRA Top Fuel ranks regularly included heavy
hitters like Garlits, Jeb Allen and Frank Bradley, a national event
winner and a real Hall-of-Famer possibility. Wiebe was the first person
to race Ed Donovan’s famed 417 fuel motor, and one of the last to race
a front-engined fueler.

UPDATED 10-30-2008

In its never-ending quest to bring the entire world of drag racing to its readers, CompetitionPlus.com has added fan extraordinaire Tim Charlet, to bring insight to his world.

Charlet brings a cult-following from MySpace.com as well as the drag racing message board community. He's a pretty cool guy as well and as a drag racer. He dabbles in video editing and is even a licensed drag racer. 

Charlie Westcott Jr. had just won the Mopar Hemi Shootout at Indianapolis, yet he was bummed. It didn't matter the victory represented his third Indy Hemi event win in the last four
years - he was bummed that his dad had fallen one round short of the
final round.

Senior had a car just as quick as his son and even ran a hundredth
quicker. The son wanted to race against his dad. In his assessment,
that’s the greatest measuring stick of success. That’s how the kid
rolls.

He wants to win, but seeing dad win is just as gratifying.

Westcott’s victory was a bit anticlimactic as he clearly had the car to
beat from the first run; that confidence came largely from successful
test results a week earlier.