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NOSTALGIAFEST AT CORDOVA INTO RECORD BOOKS
The event began on Friday nostalgia sportsman racing and concluded with professional qualifying for the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes. Although, there was a short rain delay, the qualifying went off without a hitch. On Saturday, the sportsman racers continued their time trails and went into eliminations. The feature show and final eliminations for the professional cars began at 7 PM. In Top Fuel, it was "Dragster Dave" Dahlmer with the Frantic Fueler with low ET of the race and a new track record with a 5.811 @ 244.25 mph that stopped the tire smoking entry of Dale Suhr driven by Roger "Radar" Lechtenberg. The hard fought Funny Car class came down to the final of Shawn Bowen in "Violator" against Lisa Coil in the "Drastic Plastic". Bowen took the win with a strong 6.126 @ 237.30 as Coil lost fire in the burn-out. Click here for final results of the AC Delco NostalgiaFest presented by RM Distributing. NHRA HOT ROD HERITAGE SERIES WELCOMES AC DELCO NOSTALGIAFEST TO CORDOVA DRAGWAY PARK
“This new series is an exciting step that will appeal to drag racing fans young and old,” said Peter Clifford, NHRA executive vice president and general manager. “It’s a great way to introduce the younger generation to the history of our sport and give fans young and old a glimpse of racing the way it used to be.” “This series will benefit everyone, from the racers to The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum,” said Steve Gibbs, director of The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. “It provides a great opportunity to preserve NHRA’s rich heritage through nostalgia drag racing competition.” Hundreds of “race-ready” drivers are anxious to compete in competition that will be conducted under existing, well-established NHRA nostalgia rules.
The out of control Altereds will be headlined by Lisa Coil (wife of John Force Racing crew chief Austin Coil) in Tom Motry’s “Drastic Plastic” making here competition debut, along with “The Rat Trap,” “Nanook,” and others. Midwest legend and Hall of Fame member Arnie “The Farmer” Beswick will match race his famous “Tameless Tiger” against “Aunt B’s Grocery Getter.” The Midwest Gassers Association and The Gassers and Geezers Association will run Chicago-Style eliminators on Saturday night. Also in attendance will be living legends “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, who will lead Saturday’s Cacklefest in his “Swamp Rat” dragster, and three-time world champion Shirley Muldowney as the Grand Marshal. Saturday night will also feature the 10,000 rpm, gear pullin’, wheel-standin’, Ozark Mountain Super-Shifters in action. Along with the great racing action, the AC Delco NostalgiaFest will have an invitation only car show, “The Eyeball Burn-Out” presented by Wizzard Road Shows, a manufacturer’s midway, vendors, fireworks and more. MOTORHOME SPOTS NOW AVAILABLE FOR NOSTALGIAFEST Due to floods in the region we have had some cancellations of motorhome spots for the AC Delco NostalgiaFest this weekend (Friday - Sunday, June 20-22). "Under this type of hardship we have allowed the victims of the flooding to cancel" said Scott Gardner. "Therefore, we now have a few spaces open." If you are interested in a motorhome space (along the race track), the cost is $50 in addition to your full event pass. Please call us at our office (309) 654-2110 to get your space reserved. DRAG RACING ONLINE TO POST NITRO SPEED AWARDS AT NOSTALGIAFEST Drag racing online (Dragracingonline.com) the highly rated Internet magazine, is posting $150 for Top Speed of the Nitro Nostalgia Top Fuel and Nitro Nostalgia Top Funny Cars during competition. "We are always trying to support the racers" said Jeff Burk. "We love the reassurance of nostalgia racing and putting some money in those guys pockets is important." he concluded. "We are pleased to have DRO involved with our event." commented Gardner. "Jeff Burk has always been a cheerleader for our sport and we appreciate him very much." concluded Gardner. WIN THIS GOLF CART
P-TOWN DRAG RACERS ASSOCIATION PRESENTS "SET IT OFF DRAGS" The P-Town Drag Racers Association presents the Set it Off Drags this Saturday and Sunday at CDP. The Set it Off Drags is a fun-filled event that features test-n-tune/time runs on Saturday and E.T. Brackets/Grudge Racing on Sunday. Gates open Saturday at 9 AM with time runs underway at 12 Noon. Following time runs will be the "Hospitality Night" with music and fun. On Sunday in addition to grudge runs, there will ET Bracket Classes including Super Pro, Pro, Pro-Bike, Street Car and Street Bike. Click here for the event flyer. For any additional information, contact event promoter Terry Burnside at 309-922-9390. Cordova Dragway Park will have our normal Friday Fun Night plus our High School class with racing from 6 till 10 PM. New NHRA Testing Rules Brings Tom Hammonds to CDP
With the new testing rules implemented by NHRA, racers were scrambling for facilities between Topeka and Joliet. “Tom called Tuesday morning, and we said bring it on” stated Jim “Tazz” Hines, Public Relations Director at CDP. “We knew we could give him a National Event Track set-up, and we did”. While only making 330’ and 1/8th mile hits, Hammonds worked out some carburetor and chassis problems he’d been having. “Cordova gave us a great track to work on,” said Hammonds, “We’re ready for Route 66, and we’ll be back to test here when or if we need to”. BIG ATTENDANCE AT NATIONAL DRAGSTER CHALLENGE
In the MJ Construction and Fabrication Top Sportsman & Top Dragster Challenge, it was Anthony Layne from the dragster side who took the overall championship. Layne defeated a hard charging Hank Brown in the Top Dragster final. In the Top Sportsman final, Benjamin Board drove his nicely prepared pick-up truck to a class win running in the solid six second zone as he defeated Rick Verkler driving the Pontiac of David Keeling.
This weekend at Cordova Dragway Park finds a Rev-Hard Friday Fun Night and a Points Bracket Series event on Saturday. BIG SATURDAY SCHEDULED AT CORDOVA May will end with a bang this Saturday, May 31 at CDP. In addition to a regular Points Bracket Event, the MJ Construction & Fabrication Top Sportsman and Top Dragster Series will get underway for 2008. The Series is made up of two ultra-fast classes of competition with a run-off of the winners for a $600 bonus. Also on tap is the National Dragster Challenge where the winners in Super Pro, Pro ET, Super ET and True Street will receive NHRA special event "Wallys" for a class win. "This is one of those events which is a true treat for the fans" said Scott Gardner. "Lots of fast racing action will be the rule of the night" he mentioned. Gates open at 2 PM with time trials at 3 PM and eliminations at 7 PM. Spectator admission is $11.Doc Halladay Tests at Cordova
Though a broken rocker arm cut his day short, he did make a nice 1/8th mile shakedown run of 4.56 @ 162 mph. Once Doc completes updating his license he plans to race various events around the midwest including the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Affiliate Event the “AC Delco NostalgisFest” presented by RM Distributing at Cordova Dragway June 20-21. MIDNIGHT IS BACK THIS FRIDAY The popular Midnight Mayhem Series is back this Friday, May 23 at Cordova Dragway Park. "Hopefully the weather will be warmer this time around" said Scott Gardner. "At the first race it was rather cold and windy." The Midnight Mayhem gets underway at 11:30 PM and goes till 4 AM. Before the Midnight Mayhem event there will the regular Friday Fun with racing open for everyone. As normal the Midnight Mayhem is open to all street legal cars and trucks that have DOT tires and mufflers. PAVING COMPLETED AT CORDOVA
In 2008, nearly $200,000 has been spent in facility upgrades. MJ CONSTRUCTION & FABRICATION TO SPONSOR T/S & T/D SERIES
The MJ Construction & Fabrication Top Sportsman and Top Dragster Shoot-out is a new ultra fast bracket series designed to encourage fast side by side race action. The first race of 2008 is May 31st. CDP DEBUTES NEW TRACK SCRUBBER
The Boss Scrubber will replace the use of "rice hall" type products for clean-ups on the quarter-mile race surface at CDP. In addition, the Boss Scrubber will be used to clean the track surface before race events as well as during larger events. "We are only one of a hand full of race tracks to get a Scrubber" mentioned Gardner. "Over the next few years, use of the Boss Scrubber will be the standard for all major tracks" he went on to say. In addition to the 100 gallon main soap solution tank, the Scrubber also has two more 100 gallon tanks, one with a mild mix soap solution and the other for fluid recovery. In addition, the Scrubber also has a dryer to evaporate any solutions remaining on the track after a cleaning and also can be utilized to dry the track surface after rain.ROUND #2 OF BRACKET POINTS THIS SATURDAY It might have been cold and windy, but the bracket racing action was hot this past Saturday at Cordova. "We could have probably called the race off for cold weather" said Scott Gardner. "However, I knew many racers were itching to get on the track with some competition" he continued. Unfortunately the raced was marred by two incidents as Gage Curry has his Jr Dragster rollover after a rear-end failure. Thankfully, he was not hurt in the incident. Also in round two of the Pro ET class, Rich Dawson lost control of this Camaro and smacked the wall. As a precaution he was taken by helicopter to a local hospital with bruising and a hand injury. He was scheduled to be released on Monday, May 5. "If there is any one thing that could be pointed out from these incidents is that the new safety wall did what it was intended to do" said Scott Gardner. Points bracket race #2 is scheduled for this Saturday, May 10 as it is also the deadline for entering the points program for 2008. BATTLE OF THE HIGH SCHOOLS RACING INFORMATION The Battle of the High Schools is this Sunday, May 2, 2008. Gates open at 8 AM with racing underway at 9 AM. Street driven vehicles are legal along with street bikes and race cars (10-second slower). No dragsters, quads, sleds or dirt bikes are allowed. You need to be in High School and have a valid state drivers license (including a motorcycle license should you be on a bike) to participate. Should you have any further questions, please contact our office at 309-654-2110. BIG WEEKEND PLANS MADE After several weeks of poor weather and the postponement of several events, Cordova Dragway Park is planing a big weekend (May 2 - 4) of nearly non-stop racing to make up for lost events. The marathon begins on Friday with a Rev-Hard Fun Night with open racing for everyone. Following that event is the first Rev-Hard Midnight Mayhem Event open to street legal cars and trucks. Then after a few hours of sleep the track re-opens on Saturday afternoon with the first Bracket Points Race of the season. The final race of the weekend is the Goodtimes Superstore Battle of the High Schools on Sunday. "We are really looking forward to some decent weather and an opportunity to string several events together" said Scott Gardner. "This is baptism by fire for the staff" continued Gardner. Cordova Dragway Park wants to thank all those who have attended events in not the best weather conditions. REV-HARD FUN NIGHT & MAYHEM The Rev-Hard Friday Fun Night and Midnight Mayhem Series kicks off this Friday, April 25th. Friday Fun Night is open for everyone with test-n-tune, trophy and gamblers races. Then the popular Midnight Mayhem Series kicks with racing for street legal cars and trucks. "Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can kick-off night racing in style" said Scott Gardner. The Midnight Mayhem event features instant green and flag starts. In addition, the popular flag girl contest and db drags return. On Saturday there is a program change as gates will now open at 12 Noon with test-n-tune, trophy, gamblers and Jr racing underway at 1 PM. "We needed to push back the schedule to give our staff a little more sleep time" explained Gardner. For more information click on the "This Week" section of the website. Burbon’s to Sponsor Sportsman at NostalgiaFest Cordova Dragway Park is pleased to announce the edition of Burbon’s Fine Dining and Spirits (101 South East Street Annawan, IL) as the sponsor of ALL the sportsman classes at the AC Delco NostalgiaFest (an NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series Event) June 20-21, 2008. The race will now feature Burbon’s Nostalgia Eliminator (NE I-V) and Burbon’s Hot Rod on both Friday and Saturday, and Burbon’s Bracket Combo on Saturday. “We are very happy to welcome Burbon’s to the family of sponsors here at CDP,” said Jim “Tazz” Hines, Public Relations Director, “Lloyd and Cheryl are just the type of people that fit in at CDP; race fans, sportsman supporters, and fun,” Tazz continued, “We were brought together by another great sponsor, Ernie of K&E Auto (MBA primary and second chance) introduced us to Burbon’s.” Tazz concluded. The AC Delco NostalgiaFest presented by RM Distributing features Nostalgia Top Fuel, Funny Cars, and Altereds, along with Gassers, A Fuel and Jr Fuel Dragsters, Burbon’s Sportsman Classes, and exhibition cars. Also scheduled to appear is Master-of-Ceremonies “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, who also will lead the Cacklefest in one of his legendary “Swamp Rat” Dragsters, Grand Marshall Shirley Muldowney, Arnie “The Farmer” Beswick, Guest Announcer Bret “Mr. Dirt” Kepner, and others. The NostalgiaFest weekend will also be host to “The Eyeball Burn-out” Invitational Car Show presented by Wizzard Road Shows, along with other displays and vendors. ROUND #3 -- CORDOVA TO RACE SUNDAY The pesky rain front is finally moving out of our region and gates will open at 11 AM Sunday, April 20th for the Spring Warm-Up and Swap Meet. "I'm extremely confident we will finally get to race on Sunday" mentioned Scott Gardner. "The grounds are drying nicely today Saturday and it's all systems go" he continued. MIDWEST BRACKET ALLIANCE KICKS OFF Year number two of the Midwest Bracket Alliance (MBA) gets underway Saturday and Sunday, April 26 & 27 at Cedar Falls Raceway. The MBA is a three track series where the Champion in Super Pro and Pro categories win a race car make-over. The Series is conducted over the course of the season at Cedar Falls, Cordova and Eddyville Raceways. The 2007 Pro ET Champion Eric Bjorheim said “Receiving all these prizes has been incredible, the companies have been great to deal with, and very generous with all of their awesome products they let me choose from.” “Heck, I even got a personal “Thank You” letter from Vic Edelbrock himself” he continued. In all, Eric received more than $15,000 in product awards. “This year we are working on securing additional sponsors for more than just the two champions” said Dan Driscoll. “We will continue to update the participating companies as the season goes on” He said. 2008 MBA EVENTS
2008 MBA SPONSORING COMPANIES
Note: The posting companies are responsible for the distribution of all products. The race tracks do not express a guarantee of these postings. WILKERSON SCORES BIG NHRA WIN
Wilkerson is scheduled to appear at Eddyville Raceway Park at the Musco Lighting Night of Fire event on Saturday, July 5 and returning to the O’Reilly Auto Parts World Series of Drag Racing on Saturday, August 23. The staff of ERP and CDP tip their hats to the Springfield based nitro team for a great start to the 2008 season.RACING ACTIVITIES CANCELLED
Cold, windy and poor racing conditions has lead to the postponement of the Spring Warm-Up & Swap Meet from April 12-13 to Sat & Sun., April 19-20. “The long range forecast calls for temperatures to rise into the 60’s and 70’s” said Scott Gardner. “Providing a much better opportunity for traction as well as a general safety issue” continued Gardner. Gates will open both Saturday and Sunday, April 19-20, at 11 AM with time runs underway at 12 Noon till 5 PM each day. The Swap Meet will also take place both days. Spectator admission for each day is $8. Test-n-tune is $20 per day and a Swap Space is $15 (including one admission) per day or $25 for the weekend. VOLUNTEER DAY A HUGE SUCCESS WITH RECORD ATTENDANCE
The list of projects underway or completed on Volunteer Day was staggering and included; preparation of a section of pit area for paving, dressing of the roadway edges, installation of electrical boxes and conduit for the timing system, cleaning and scraping of the race track, painting of grandstands, staining of fences, repairing of doors, cleaning of the tower and other buildings, and the demolition of the pit side concession building (which was built in the 1950's) and much more.
ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL
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As mother nature finally gave Cordova Dragway Park, Cordova, Illinois a break, record attendance and record performances set the pace. The AC Delco NostalgiaFest (an NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series Affiliate) featured Nitro Nostalgia Funny Cars, Top Fuel Dragsters, Nitro Altereds and special exhibition features. "We were elated by the performances of the professional racers" said Track Operator Scott Gardner.
To help preserve NHRA’s rich history and tradition while capitalizing on the success of nostalgia drag racing competition, NHRA has formed the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series.
The second affiliated event of the Hot Rod Heritage Series will rumble into Cordova Dragway Park June 20-21. The AC Delco NostalgiaFest presented by RM Distributing will feature Nostalgia Top Fuel and Funny Cars, Nitro Altereds, Gassers, “A” Fuel, Jr Fuel, and the Burbon’s Fine Dining and Spirits Nostalgia Eliminator, and Hot Rod classes. The Burbon’s Nostalgia Eliminator and Hot Rod classes will be ran both Friday and Saturday as separate races. Burbon’s Nostalgia Eliminator will also have two additional classes, NE IV (10.60 index) and NE V (11.60 index).
Top Fuel will be led by current track record holder “Radar” Lechtenburg in Dale Suhr’s “Orange Crate,” along with Proit, Brewer, Haight, “Dragster Dave,” Hendricks, Young, and McCain. Top Fuel exhibition will feature Dom Parris in the only active (and original) twin-engine hemi vs. the Beedy-Lutz nitro injected Ford dragster.
Nostalgia Funny Cars scheduled to appear include Justin Grant’s “Don Schumacher’s Wonder Wagon,” Doc Halladay’s Telstar, The Zombie, The Mo-Town Shaker, The Plastic Fantastic, The Chi-Town Hustler, and more.
Tom Hammonds brought his NHRA Chevy Cobalt to Cordova Dragway Park this past Wednesday for a full day of testing in preparation for the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals this weekend in Joliet,IL.
Just over 200 entries competed Saturday, May 31 at the NHRA National Dragster Challenge at Cordova Dragway Park. Class winners who received special NHRA Wally's included; Pat McGlynn (Super Pro), Mike Lund (Pro), Chris Walters (Super ET), Denny Rankin (True Street) and Steven Klemme (Pro-Bike).
In other competition it was Garrett Humphery taking the win over a large Super Junior Dragster class as Dalton (the Daltonator) Beale claimed the Novice Junior title.
Doc Halladay brought his recently revamped “Telestar” Nitro Nostalgia Funny Car to Cordova Dragway Park this past weekend for some test runs. “It’s been awhile since I’ve driven and I’m working on getting my sea legs back,” said the 68 year old Halladay. “Our goal for now is to go from A to B and make nice clean runs” he continued.
After weeks of waiting for the weather to clear, the latest paving project was completed at Cordova Dragway Park. Areas paved included an additional section of pit area and some roadway sections. "The cost of paving has sky rocketed as oil prices have climbed" said Scott Gardner. "I'm just happy we could get this completed" he continued. 
Current Cordova Dragway Park facility renovations in addition to the paving include a new pit side concession building, the completion of the final phase of pit lighting and the installation of the concrete drag strip safety walls. 
MJ Construction & Fabrication has stepped up to be the title rights sponsor of the TS & TD Shoot-out Series at Cordova Dragway Park. "It's awesome to have the support of a racer who also owns his own business" said Scott Gardner. "Mike Jensen and his family run a top line operation" he continued.
Cordova Dragway Park has purchased a high tech Track Scrubber. Utilized at NHRA National Events, the "Boss Track Scrubber" is positively the best system to clean up oil, antifreeze, transmission fluids and almost any other product that destroys traction on race track surfaces. "The Scrubber is an extremely fast and efficient machine to clean-up oil downs" said Scott Gardner. "It will decrease our down time while efficiently restoring the track surface condition" continued Gardner. 
Nitro funny car driver/owner Tim Wilkerson scored his first victory in nearly two years on the NHRA circuit this past weekend on the Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Wilkerson, who has qualified #1 twice in five races is proving that a multi-car team is not necessary required to win races on the NHRA Circuit. Wilkerson moved into the second spot in Powerade Points with his victory run. In the final round he stopped the John Force powerhouse team by denying Ashley Force her first National Event win.
"It's hard to believe one day can make so much difference in the appearance of Cordova Dragway" commented Scott Gardner following Volunteer Day at CDP this past Saturday. Nearly 100 people attended the annual Volunteer Day and helped to make the biggest changes ever to the facility in one single day.
"My guess is that we have made more changes and facility improvements this Spring than has ever been done in that short of time period" continued Gardner. "The racers and fans should be excited to see what is happening out here" he concluded. The Cordova staff sends a special thank you to all those who provided their labor and tools to make our facility better.
The new safety wall at Cordova Dragway Park has been poured after several weeks of preparation. It's awesome" said Track Operator Scott Gardner. "Dan Beale and his guys along with Slip-Tech did a great job" he continued. The wall is 32" high and runs past the quarter mile finish line where it will meet up with concrete Jersey sections. "It makes the track look wider" mentioned Gardner. "Clearly this addition will make our track better and safer"