Native Australian Dave Grubnic returns to racing this weekend, Oct. 30 - Nov. 1, behind the wheel of the Hawaiian Industrial Structures Top Fuel dragster for Kalitta Motorsports at this weekend's NHRA Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
 
Founded in 2006 by longtime Kalitta Motorsports supporter Dan Hayes, President and CEO, Hawaiian Industrial Structures, Inc. was established to meet the needs of the growing metal building industry in Honolulu, Hawaii. The company has a dynamic erection crew, excavation and site work crew, sales and office staff. Their success is attributed to maintaining employment of qualified and experienced employees who have the knowledge and skills to provide professional results and to maintaining a quality line of vendors.
 
Grubnic, 47, previously drove a Top Fueler for Kalitta Motorsports at three NHRA national events (Brainerd, Minn., Reading, Penn., and Indianapolis) in 2009 and full-time from 2004-2008, but he has been sidelined for much of this season due to budget constraints. He has two NHRA national event wins in 14 final-round appearances in his 14-year Top Fuel career. In May, 2005, he became the first racer born outside of North America to win an NHRA Top Fuel event. He currently resides in Ennis, Mont.

For the fourth time in less than two seasons, Top Fuel driver Antron Brown will answer to a new boss.

Don Schumacher Racing on Tuesday acquired the racing assets of the Matco Tools Top Fuel from Mike Ashley Racing. The sale was finalized on Tuesday afternoon and continues the longstanding relationship between Matco Tools and DSR.

The Matco Tools team will remain intact with Brown piloting the bright blue Matco-backed rail tuned by Brian Corradi and Mark Oswald. The team will next compete at the ninth annual Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, Oct. 29-Nov. 1, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Matt Hartford shakes his head at the irony.

On Saturday afternoon Hartford captured his first Extreme Pro Stock Championship, his third world title overall. Amazing as it sounds, Hartford never reached a single Extreme Pro Stock final round during the season. His previous two championships, both in Sport Compact competition in 2001 and 2002, included final round victories.

The similarity between the three titles is stunning. Hartford never carried the No. 1 designation after winning his first two titles and he won't be sporting the No. 1 designation next year.

CompetitionPlus.com has learned that delays in parts will prevent the two-car Pro Stock team of Jim Cunningham and Erica Enders from completing their new Ford engines in time to race the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals. They are expected to race at the AAA Finals in Pomona, Ca., next month.

Advertisement

Fred Crespi, oddsmaker for the sports books at The Palms Resort & Casino and the South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas predicts Tony Schumacher, Robert Hight and Mike Edwards will win final-round eliminations on Sunday at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Jay Blake's Follow A Dream/Permatex Top Alcohol Funny Car team has named Todd Veney as its driver for the 2010 season. 

"Our whole team is excited to have Todd driving; he’s a great team player," said Blake, who has led the team to multiple national event victories since fulfilling his lifelong dream of owning his own Top Alcohol Funny Car team in 2003. Veney drove that first Follow A Dream car before pursuing his own lifelong dream of fielding a team with his dad, Ken Veney, in 2004.

Who knew a $ 40 investment could go so far?

When Davey Boyd bought his ’65 Satellite all the way back in 1974 for a grand total of $40 he never dreamed that it would one day lead to a $12,000 payday and a world championship, but that is exactly what he experienced over the weekend by picking up the Summit SuperSeries No Box World Championship at the IHRA World Finals Sunday at Rockingham Dragway.

Boyd, from Spencer, Tenn., capitalized on that investment Sunday when he drove around Todd Hohn (Nashville, Tenn.) in a battle of Tennessee to lay claim the 2009 Summit SuperSeries No Box title and in doing so takes home a lucrative prize package.

Over the last few years, one of the segments of the motorsports community experiencing a dramatic rise in popularity has been nostalgia drag racing.  Every summer weekend at tracks across the country, fans have been flocking to events where meticulously restored vintage race cars from the 50s, 60s and 70s as well as faithfully executed reproductions compete both in static displays and on the race track, offering a highly sensory glimpse into the history of the sport.    Recognizing this growing trend, Championship Auto Shows, Inc. (CASI) today announced an expansion to its highly popular Autorama and World of Wheels car shows with an attraction dedicated to the nostalgia drag racing community.

Nostalgia Funny Car racer Leah Pruett-LeDuc, will make her debut into the Nitro Funny Car class at the 2009 Pomona Winter Finals, November 12-15,  driving the John Lindsay and Phil Miller owned Chevrolet Monte Carlo Funny Car sponsored by DragStar and TIGERFLOW Systems, Inc.
 
DragStar and TIGERFLOW Systems, Inc. will serve as co primary sponsors, with associate sponsors Iwata Medea, who are distributors of the World’s finest Airbrush Materials, and Coast Airbrush, located in Anaheim, Ca. Additional supporters of the team are Lucas Oil, Justice Brothers, Clevite, DJ Safety, and Simpson.

Before competing in the penultimate event on the 2009 NHRA schedule, 23-time NHRA winner Antron Brown and his Matco Tools dragster will visit College of Southern Nevada. The former college track star turned Top Fuel driver will visit with CSN students on October 28.

"I really enjoy these TechEd visits we do for Matco (Tools)," Brown said. "I was just like many of these students not too long ago when I was a student at Mercer (Community) College in New Jersey. It's nice to give back and speak to the kids about career paths and the importance of focusing on education. These kids at the Votech schools are the technicians of tomorrow and it's great to have the chance to meet them and hopefully deliver the right message."