Dave Ley of the East Coast Stock/Super Stock Association and Maple Grove Raceway vice president/general manager Lex Dudas have announced the formation of a four-race Money Trail Stock/Super Stock Shootout for 2012.

The four races will be run over two weekends on back-to-back days: May 19-20 and Aug. 11-12.

“The 2012 season marks the 50th anniversary of Maple Grove Raceway and we wanted to showcase these categories,” Dudas said. “The Money Trail was founded on NHRA class racing and in honor of our 50th we wanted to get back to our roots.”

A point system will be maintained and a points fund will be created paying the top five finishers in the series. Awards will be presented as part of the Money Trail Awards Banquet in February 2013. Points will be awarded based on the current Money Trail ET point structure.

Sponsors interested in supporting the points fund are asked to contact Dudas at (610) 856-9200.

The guaranteed purses and the entry fees for the series were also announced:

• $1,000 Winner
• $400 Runner up
• $200 Semifinalists
• $100 Quarterfinalists

Entry fee to race is $75 for one day and $140 for both days on a weekend. There is also a $25 Money Trail membership fee.

Crew and spectators are $15 per day, while children 12 and under are free.

Drag racing pioneer and founder of Indiana’s first permanent drag strip in Bunker Hill (Ind.) Jim Hullinger passed away Monday, January 23rd after a brief illness.

Hullinger, 86, constructed Bunker Hill Drag Strip in 1956, and along with his wife Mary and family, operated the track for 40-years before they sold it in 1997 and retired.  The track continues to operate as one of the oldest and longest running facilities in the country.

“Our sport lost one of its pioneers this week,” said Maple Grove Raceway vice president/general manager Lex Dudas. “Jim and his family were innovators in drag racing and I was proud to call him a friend, he will be deeply missed.” More >

The Maple Grove Raceway drivers’ meeting will be held Saturday, Jan. 28 at 9 a.m. at the Crowne Plaza Reading Hotel in Wyomissing.

Team Maple Grove jackets will be available at the meeting for pickup.

If there’s anything you would like to have discussed, e-mail Lex Dudas at ldudas@maplegroveraceway.com with your suggestion.

There was a collective sigh of relief throughout Greg Stanfield’s engine-building shop on Thursday when Kenny Koretsky and JD Coffman officially announced plans to continue supporting Stanfield in his bid for the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock championship.

Koretsky’s Nitro Fish Gear and Coffman’s Coffman Tank Trucks also were the primary backers of the Bossier City, La. driver last season.

“I get to go racing one more year,” said an elated Stanfield, “and I am excited because our race team is still together.  We have been working overtime at the shop so we will be ready to go testing in Las Vegas before the (season-opening O’Reilly Auto Parts) Winternationals at Pomona (Calif., Feb. 9-12). More >

Making a triumphant return with new ownership in 2012, Gateway Motorsports Park will bring back the wildly popular Super Chevy Show and Fun Ford Weekend series events to the Midwest and St. Louis metroplex for its Inaugural Season.

Chevrolet and Ford enthusiasts in the Midwestern Region have been vocal for each series to return to the centrally located track in the St. Louis metro since Gateway’s closure in 2010. More >

Texas Motorplex will officially launch the inaugural event in the Mega Mopar Action Series on Saturday, May 19.  The new series, operated by the same group of national event tracks that manage the Super Chevy Show and Fun Ford Weekend series events, will feature the popular format of drag racing, car show, and swap meet attractions for fans of Dodge, Chrysler and Plymouth vehicles.

The series will host four events during the 2012 season beginning in Dallas, then moving to Denver at Bandimere Speedway (Sunday, June 3), followed by a stop one week later at Maple Grove Raceway  (Saturday and Sunday, June 9-10), and completing the 2012 tour at Virginia Motorsports Park in late September (Saturday and Sunday, September 22-23).

The series is planned to double or triple the number of events in 2013, potentially equaling the number of Super Chevy Shows and Fun Ford Weekend events, each currently hosting a 12-event national tour. More >