After a long winter and a wet spring, the calendar has finally brought Dragway 42's racers to the threshold of the regular racing season as this weekend's triple-header schedule culminates with the first of a dozen IHRA Summit SuperSeries events for 2008 at Dragway 42.

The weekend gets kicked off on Friday night with the regularly scheduled 1/4 mile street race, grudge race, and test & tune along with the (new for 2008) Big 3 Racing of Hinckley, Ohio sponsored 1/8th mile gambler race featuring a 100% payback.

Saturday night will see the return of the very popular 1/8th mile Box / No Box combo race program at Dragway 42 as well as a 1/4 mile street trophy eliminator. The combo pays a minimum, guaranteed purse of $700 to win and $600 to runner-up (the Box winner faces the No Box winner in the finals) with the purse jumping to $1,200 to win and $1,000 to runner-up with 128 or more entries.

Sunday afternoon racers in seven separate classes will be in competition at the previously mentioned Summit SuperSeries event with increased purses being offered for 2008 in the Dragway 42 Top class, Wind-It-Tight Engines Mod class, and the World Cup Coffee Junior Super Stock class. Purses and entry fees remain the same for 2008 in the Vanson Leathers Pro Bike, Akron Horsepower Street, Pat Catan's Craft Centers Junior Fuel, and World Cup Coffee Junior Stock classes.

Gates open for the Friday program at 5:30 PM with competition continuing until at least 10 PM. The first round of the Big 3 Racing gambler race is scheduled for 8:30 PM. Car and driver or bike and rider entry fee is $15 with adult general admission being priced at just $5. Children 14 and younger are admitted free of charge.

For Saturday's program the gates will open at 4 PM, time trials begin at 4:30, and eliminations begin at 7:30 PM. The entry fee for the Box / No Box Combo is $30 for car and driver or bike and rider. For the street trophy class the car and driver entry fee is $15. Adult spectator admission is $10 with children 14 and younger admitted free.

On Sunday, gates will open at 9 AM with the first of 3 Junior Dragster time trial sessions at 10 AM. Big car time trials begin at 11 AM with big car and bike eliminations at 2 PM. You do NOT have to be a member of IHRA or Dragway 42 points program to participate in these events.

The seven classes in competition on Sunday are Top (0-7.99 Dial-In, Delay Box OK, 1/8th mile), Wind-It-Tight Engines Mod Class (0-9.49 Dial-In, No Delay Box, 1/8th mile), Akron Horsepower Street Class (12.00-17.99 Dial-In, Footbrake Only, 1/4 mile), Vanson Leathers Pro Bike (0-9.50 Dial-In, No Delay Box, 1/8th mile), plus the 3 junior dragster classes of Pat Catan's Craft Centers Junior Fuel, World Cup Coffee Junior Super Stock, and World Cup Coffee Junior Stock. The maximum purses have increased in 3 classes this year (Top, Mod, and Junior Super Stock).

More class details are available by clicking .

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

In 2007, Dragway 42 launched the 100 MPH Club for street legal cars as part of the Tuesday night program at the track.

In that first season, the first qualifying run that broke the 120 MPH barrier wasn't recorded until June 26th when Ray Litz did so in his 2002 Pontiac Trans Am. Two weeks ago, during the very first Tuesday event of the 2008 season, Chris Young and his 2006 Mitsubishi Evo 9 posted a run of 120.66 MPH.

Last season, the first qualifying run that broke the 130 MPH barrier wasn't recorded until July 31 when Will Carroll achieved that speed behind the wheel of his 2005 Ford Mustang. In 2008 it only took two weeks of competition for the 130 MPH mark to fall as Brian Lorenz and his 1987 Buick Regal Turbo blasted out a 132.59 MPH run.

With performances like that, what kinds of runs may we see tonight at Dragway 42 when the third Tuesday Night street race, grudge race, and test & tune event of the year hits the track?

Don't forget, the Top MPH car from each Tuesday night's 100 MPH Club qualifying is awarded a custom trophy to recognize their achievement. Competitors pay only $1.00 to make a qualifying attempt for the 100 MPH Club and that automatically makes them eligible for the night's trophy.

Not to be left out of the action, regular Dragway 42 racers will have an opportunity to get their pure race cars ready for the 2008 point season opening weekend that is rapidly approaching by participating in the test and tune portion of tonight's program.

Gates open at 5:30 PM with racing being offered from 6-10 PM. Qualifying sessions for the 100 MPH Club are held at 7, 8, and 9 PM.

Entry fees for 2008 on Tuesday (and Friday) nights are $15 for car and driver or bike and rider while adult spectators and crew members get in for just $5.00 each. As always, children 14 and under are admitted free of charge to all Dragway 42 events.