South San Francisco, California USA – More nitromethane through the pipes is always a good thing. Just ask the Champion Speed Shop, who will field not one but two supercharged front engine top fuel dragsters for the 2010 drag racing season. The South San Francisco crew will run with an all-new Van Dyke Motorsports hemi-powered Retroliner entry in the NHRA Heritage Series points battle, and retain the Chevrolet-powered flip-top canopy Special for select vintage drag racing events. This unique situation makes driver Adam Sorokin the only man in drag racing to have a choice between a top fuel Chevy or nitro-huffing hemi to hammer down the full 1320 feet of the quarter mile.

The latest Champion Speed Shop creation features a Rodeck hemi engine between the Neil and Parks frame rails. The Guy Ruchonnet body panels wear a paint treatment that only Art Himsl himself could create. The car is ready to put the twist to the Hoosier tires, and driver Adam Sorokin is ready for twice nitromethane behind the wheel of a machine that hearkens back to the late sixties while running quicker, faster, and safer than ever before.

“This thing is really beautiful”, said Sorokin of the new hemi-powered car.

The psychedelic-era Art Himsl paintwork was still curing on the panels when the team rolled up to Sacramento Raceway for testing just one Sunday before from the final round of top fuel eliminations at the 52nd running of the Bakersfield March Meet. The team and car will descend onto the legendary patch this weekend March 5th, 6th, and 7th 2010.

Information on the 52nd running of the legendary March Meet March 5th, 6th, and 7th at the Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield can be found here: Be There!

Photos Dennis Barraza, Adam Sorokin and the Champion Speed Shop lens crew.

Famoso Raceway, Bakersfield - Despite a hard charge out of the gate and a stout one flat sixty-foot time by Adam Sorokin, Rick McGee made it over the stripe first and took the win light in round two eliminations top fuel eliminations at the California Hot Rod Reunion. McGee said he watched Sorokin get out on him at the green, but then kept his eye on the stripe and his foot in the throttle of his hemi-powered top fuel entry in the attempt to catch up to the Chevrolet. Sorokin was out keeping his own eyes on the finish, but heard the the high unmistakeable sound of a high winding top fuel engine at maximum volume off to his right on the top end of the racetrack, and watched as McGee crossed the stripe just ahead of him for the win. In the end Sorokin’s 5.93 ET at 209 miles per hour was not enough for McGee’s 5.81 ET and 249 mile per charge in this battle of top fuel hot rods.

Adam Sorokin took a round one top fuel win with a 6.02 ET at 218 miles per hour against Terry Cox 6.03 ET at 216 miles per hour. Sorokin deep staged and cut a light against Cox, who fought hard and close to keep his hemi-powered dragster with Sorokin and the Chevy down the full quarter mile. Both drivers knew it would be a close race even before the run, as both hot rods have been coming around and hitting their stride. Sorokin got out of the hole ahead of Cox after a deep stage, and charged the quarter mile straight with all eight lit.

“It went right down the track”, said Sorokin of the run into a hazy dusk at Famoso.

Cox kept his foot in the Cheetah until sparks flew from the headers along with flames, but in the end it wasn’t enough to take the win light. The Champion Speed Shop will move onto round two of top fuel eliminations, scheduled for Sunday at 11:30 AM.

Famoso Raceway – Adam Sorokin took the Champion Speed Shop streamliner to a number seven qualifying spot with a clean 6.04 second ET at 225.11 miles per hour. The crew is busy turning the car around for first round of top fuel eliminations, currently scheduled for 4PM – just hours from the final qualifying round. Brett Harris set low qualifying ET with a 5.80, while top speed went to Rick Rodgers with a 255.75 mile per hour run.The 16 car AA/Fuel dragster ladder is set, and Sorokin will take up the fight against Terry Cook in the Cheetah II in what promises to be a heavy round of nitromethane racing action at Famoso.

Bakersfield, California. Adam Sorokin and the Champion Speed Shop Special came out of the gate wheels up and on a charge in first round qualifying at the 18th running of the NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion. Getting through some tire shake was only half the battle, as the horrors of nitromethane took hold of connecting rod number seven. Half of the rod ended up in the oil pan while the other half did its best destruction derby impression – while still attached to the crankshaft of the small block Chevy. Adam took the Special safely down the track and lifted the oily canopy to see through to the turnout road. Nitromethane is the only fuel that can turn a qualifying run into a complete teardown and engine replacement, and the only fuel that can power the team to spend Friday night getting the car ready for Saturday action. Today’s top fuel qualifying session is scheduled for 1:30 PM, followed by first round of Eliminations at 4PM.

South San Francisco, CA – After a stout runner up finish in the race for the Governor’s Cup, the Champion Speed Shop is ready to launch the small block Chevrolet powered entry into the 16-car front engine top fuel dragster battle at the 18th Annual California Hot Rod Reunion at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, California. The 402-cubic inch small block Chevy powered Special clocked its best numbers ever in the State Capitol as the team brought the all-new combination in top fuel drag racing into ever quicker and faster runs down the quarter mile.

“We’ve been trying to get our 60-foot and half-track times down. In Sacramento it started to come around. That’s what we were looking for”, said Bob McLennan of the combination hitting a quick step at Sacramento Raceway.

With the car back at the South San Francisco base after the mid night grab for the Governor’s Cup, data and engine component analysis has yielded a plan to match out of the gate performance with a top end charge for lower elapsed times and higher top speeds from the Chevy-powered digger. Driver Adam Sorokin agrees the potential for maximum velocity is in order for the California Hot Rod Reunion – a fantastic place to witness drag racing history in motion and in the making on the very same weekend.

Sorokin clearly felt the car coming into line at Sacramento, and has confidence the team has learned what it takes to run nitromethane with success through the unprecedented engine setup. While the venerable Chrysler hemi has huffed nitro through thousands upon thousands of runs down the dragstrip, the small block Chevrolet nitromethane formula is the sole provenance of the Champion Speed Shop.

“I really think we have a car that can win. We’ve got some of the best people on the team you can possibly have”, said Sorokin mere days before the season finale of the 2009 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage series points battle finale.

The 18th Annual California Hot Rod Reunion takes place at Famoso Raceway on October Oct. 16-18, 2009. For event information please visit the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion. For race track information visit the Famoso Raceway.

The reward for a hot day in the sun at Sacramento Raceway is a long cool night of top fuel drag racing. Eight cars lined up in the field from afternoon qualifying set first round of eliminations at dusk. From eight would come only four, then two in the final round at 10 p.m. Adam Sorokin took a round one 5.88-second quickest ET yet at 215 mph victory over Williamson, who crossed over the center line for a foul. Second round eliminations appeared at first to be the last for the Champion Speed Shop against Brett Harris, but again the center line was breached. Sorokin would challenge Rick White for the top fuel Governor’s Cup.

Both teams tore their cars down to the engine block in a thrash to get their machines back together again for a final round slated for 10 p.m. On one side was the small block Chevy, on the other was a Chrysler hemi. Adam Sorokin and Rick White paired up under the stars where a fraction of a second can win, or in this case, end a race before it starts. One thousandth of a second was all the clocks needed to turn a green light to red for Sorokin. Rick White took his hemi-powered dragster downtrack for the win light with a 5.72 elapsed time at 264 mph blast.

Making it to the final against the record-setting Neil and White entry was a victory in itself for the Champion Speed Shop team, who clicked off the best yet elapsed time at the same race track where only months before the crew made the first ever shakedown runs with the all-new small block Chevy combination.

“I feel like we left here winners big time”, said Adam Sorokin of the weekend spent reaching for the Governor’s Cup. Next stop South San Francisco, for a return to Bakersfield for the NHRA Hot Rod Reunion.

Top fuel drag racing is everything but easy. The lead up to a near 11 o’clock p.m. first qualifying session for the Governor’s Cup began a few days earlier, with a Wednesday start up and load up in South San Francisco. The crew descended from onto the drag strip on Thursday and Friday. The mystery of tire shake stymied a test run on Friday afternoon. A full-track oildown and subsequent wreck pushed out Friday night AA/Fuel qualifying almost to Saturday. From the Wednesday shake out and start up session in South City to a long night wait in the staging lanes at Sacramento Raceway, the collected effort of the Champion Speed Shop team paid off with a Friday night half track blast leading into today’s capitol action. Saturday is here. The Governor’s Cup is on.

Governor’s Cup NHRA Heritage Series today at Sacramento Raceway

The Champion Speed Shop is rolling up the barrels of nitromethane and the small block Chevrolet powered AA/Fuel Special into the truck, and heading to Sacramento Raceway for the Governor’s Cup on Saturday September 19th. The team is prepared to put everything into the eight car nitro battle and wrap up the summer. Top Fuel hot shoe Adam Sorokin is looking forward to a return to his alcohol Funny Car stomping grounds, and collecting another Governor’s Cup to stand next to the one he already has.

An eight-car field of AA/Fuel dragsters will join fearsome Outlaw Pro Mods, a grip of CIFCA Alcohol Funny Cars, and four afterburner-equipped Jet Cars for some drag racing action in the sun and under the lights in the California State Capitol. Qualifying action will run on the Friday night preceding the event, for not one but two evenings of header flames lighting up the night sky on the last few Summer nights of the 2009 season.

The legend behind the 40th Annual running of the Governors Cup is somewhat hazy. In an effort to make the drag race more official, promoter Jumpin’ John Durbin sent out an invitation to the Governor himself to cut the ribbon at the track. The Lieutenant Governor showed up instead, and there has been a Governors Cup every year since. The top fuel dragster battle is the last of the summer before fall beckons the vintage drag racing gang south to Bakersfield for the 18th NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion.

Sacramento Raceway and Governor’s Cup Event Information

WHO: Champion Speed Shop
WHAT: Supercharged Small Block Chevy on Nitromethane
WHEN: Saturday, September 19th 2009
WHERE Sacramento Raceway Park. 5305 Excelsior Road Sacramento, CA 95827
WHY: Nitromethane Under the Lights
HOW: Get to Sacramento Raceway Park

Getting thousands of horsepower through a clutch, down through the tires, and onto the track is a precarious and explosive balancing act. Variables that make for the right combination can shift in split seconds and overpower the grip of the tires just as fast. While the Champion Speed Shop went out in the first round on Sunday with a 7.08 against Howard Haight’s winning 6.09, the racing action could not have been better for the on their feet crowd at Beech Bend Raceway Park. Adam Sorokin was in, slightly off, but never out of the throttle as he grabbed a few handfuls of the 3000 horsepower small block Chevy. Sorokin got out on Haight, lost traction, but kept the car in the lane – driving sprint car style for some flat track sideways top fuel thunder out on the drag strip. The race was over for the Champion Speed Shop, but the crew prepared the Streamliner for a return time-only run that followed Round Two of Top Fuel Eliminations. This time Sorokin ran an arrow straight 6.05 second quarter mile at 239 with-a-five miles per hour. The team was ultimately one run short the pack, but brought the combination closer to getting out in front of it. Next stop, South San Francisco, California.