Drag Illustrated Issue 136, September 2018 | Page 106

20 REASONS
16
MICKEY THOMPSON BACKS TOP
FUEL HARLEY’S BIG STAGE STATUS
O
f all the wild action that is
possible when Funny Cars and Top
Fuel dragsters going 330 mph, is
there still anything wilder than
watching a Top Fuel Harley race
down the track? The line between
pure craziness and precise perfor-
mance is probably so thin it can’t be seen with
the human eye, and the regulars who provide that
action in the class can’t be commended enough
for the show they provide.
Mickey Thompson also needs to be com-
mended for the stage they’ve given the class
with their sponsorship of the Top Fuel Harley
class. Their 10-race schedule is featured during
the FS1 broadcasts, a wise move considering
the must-see TV nature of the class. Both
aspects have given the class legitimacy, and
though the action is outstanding, it’s much
more than just a sideshow. It’s a talented class
with bona fide competitors, adding depth, great
racing and entertainment value on the week-
ends when Pro Stock Motorcycle is not racing.
- JOSH HACHAT
NEW TRACKS,
17 NEW OWNERS &
NEW IDEAS ABOUND
No.
I
t may have been Bruton Smith’s mas-
sive investment at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
to add two more lanes to The Strip that grabbed
the offseason headlines – adding a second four-
wide event to the NHRA schedule – but it is only
one of many major investments that were made
in the name of drag racing for the 2018 season
and beyond.
Tommy and Judy Franklin’s purchase of
Virginia Motorsports Park and subsequent
multi-million-dollar investment to renovate
and repair the facility fueled a sellout crowd
at the track’s first national event since 2009.
Midwest motorsports magnate Chris Payne
doubled down on his drag racing investment
after purchasing Heartland Park Topeka a few
years ago with the acquisition of National Trail
Raceway in Columbus, Ohio, in early 2017, and
held their first PDRA event in 2018. Payne
announced in June that the greater Kansas
City area will see the return of a quarter-mile
drag racing facility by the summer of 2019 with
the opening of I-70 Motorsports Park. Also
opened in early ’18 was Xtreme Raceway Park,
an eighth-mile concrete strip 20 miles south-
east of Dallas. – ROB KING
106 | D r a g
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No.