Drag Illustrated Issue 109, May 2016 | Page 46

“I’m not crying because I have made a good living with Pro Stock. All I am saying is we have reached the point in drag racing, and, in this case, Pro Stock, where we can no longer depend on sponsorship to fully fund our teams.” - LARRY MORGAN MOVERS & SHAKERS SPORTSMAN FIRST Longtime sportsman racer turned Top Fuel pilot Shawn Langdon shoots the breeze with Michael Tedesco, father to Top Alcohol Dragster standout Mia Tedesco, in the staging lanes at the NHRA Gatornationals. On the Mic T.J. Pruitt prepares to deliver round-by-round results from the $25k-to-win bracket races at Memphis International Raceway on April 1-3. The broadcast was part of a live feed being transmitted to DragCoverage.com, a racing website Pruitt launched 12 years ago. Not only a talented racer himself, Pruitt is also the founder of the DragCoverage. com Nationals, an exciting event held annually at Alabama’s Atmore Dragway. DONE DEAL Randy Merick, Dominic Blasco, Larry Jeffers and Rich Mathews pose for a photo on the heels of Jeffers and Merick inking a deal to purchase Dyno Dom’s Sikeston Raceway from Blasco in early April. Jeffers wasted little time in bringing Mathews in to manage the south Missouri drag racing facility. GRINNING Sometimes a driver, sometimes a crew chief, but always good for a laugh, Chase Driscoll headed out to the starting line to check the conditions prior to sending the Alepa Racing Corvette down the eighthmile at Memphis International Raceway during the Outlaw Street Car Reunion. 46 | D r a g I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com NITRO SMALL TALK NHRA team owner extraordinaire Don Schumacher chats with driver/owner Steve Torrence prior to nitro qualifying at the recently completed NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida. Issue 109