MCLEANSBORO, Ill. – Pro Fuel rider Janette Thornley is partnering up with two-time AMRA Nitro Bike champion Rich Vreeland to make her NHRA Top Fuel Harley debut in 2020.

The Straightline Strategy Group rider is looking forward to participating in all of the NHRA events next season.

As a four-time Pro Fuel champion, Thornley is familiar with the term “beating the odds,” as throughout her life she’s faced many challenges in the male dominated sport.

However, Thornley understands her new goal of racing Top Fuel Harley is very lofty. Pro Fuel and Top Fuel are two different animals, in both speed and in operational aspects.

“After nearly eight years of riding a nitro-powered motorcycle, nothing can prepare you for a Top Fuel Harley except seat time,” said Thornley. “I have nothing but respect for these machines and those who ride them. My goal is to be a competitive rider and I know that will take tenacity, strength and perseverance of my faith for it to happen.”

Thornley selected two-time Vreeland to assist her effort. The Straightline Strategy Group, who represents Thornley with a strategic marketing alliance, is proud to announce that Thornley and Vreeland will participate at all 2020 NHRA events in the Top Fuel Harley class.

The husband and wife duos – Janette and crew chief Buddy and Rich and Patti Vreeland – are excited about the 2020 season. The group have had a 20-year relationship both on and off the track.

While Janette obtains her seat time during test sessions, Rich will kick off the season as the team pilot of the Top Fuel Harley.

From a racing standpoint, Vreeland’s ability to tune and ride are a strong ‘one – two punch’. As a co-owner of Vreeland’s Harley-Davidson in Bloomsburg, Pa., for the past 29 years, Rich is highly engaged in community activities, including Starting Line Ministries and guides people of all ages.

The team is scheduled to debut its Top Fuel Harley this year at the 2019 Man Cup World Finals held at South Georgia Motorsports Park outside Valdosta Ga., Nov 21 -24.

Larry Dixon had just lost by one-thousandth of a second to Mike Dunn in the Top Fuel semifinals of the 2001 NHRA Winternationals at California’s Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, and he was perturbed.

But as he rode back toward the pits, brooding in the back of the tow vehicle, something caught his eye.

A rainbow of vintage, front-engine dragsters and their colorful period-correct push trucks sat ready to start and parade to the starting line in a tribute to the Golden Days of Drag Racing.

It was another edition of the relatively new phenomenon called “Cacklefest,” which had debuted during the 2000 California Hot Rod Reunion at historic Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif.

Dixon saw Tommy Ivo’s restored twin-Buick gas dragster, the copper-colored nose of Art Chrisman’s Hustler, the iconic banana-like Greer Black & Prudhomme machine that was a supreme marriage of form and function, and Kenny Safford’s blue “Sour Sisters” Olds-powered slingshot. He couldn’t miss the Magicar and its unique front-suspension design — with ace Jeep Hampshire sitting in the seat once again.

The red-and-blue Kuhl & Olson entry stood out. And there, in its scarlet glory, was THE car, the one that yanked on his heartstrings. It was the Howard Cams Rattler — with Larry Dixon Sr. in the cockpit.

“Stop for a second,” Dixon told the tow-vehicle driver. “I want to get out. I want to be a part of this deal.”

And with that, he bolted out and ran to the orange ’50 Ford that Steve Gibbs — then-curator at the Wally Parks Motorsports Museum and the primary force behind Cacklefest (a term colleague Greg Sharp coined) — was driving. Gibbs welcomed Dixon to ride along in the front seat of the push car.

Dixon took him up on his invitation but insisted, “I want to sit in the back seat.” Gibbs was puzzled. “You don’t understand,” Dixon said, “When I was a kid, push-starting off, I sat in the back seat. And I’m getting to go down the race track and have my dad push-started in a front-motor car, sitting in the back seat, just like I did when I was a little kid.”

Dixon added, “Even talking about it right now, honest to God, it gives me goosebumps. It took me back 40 years. You couldn’t have done more for me at that moment. It was so pure. I don’t know … I’m short of words on it.”

Referring to the 1970s and ’80s TV show, he said, “It was like going to ‘Fantasy Island.’ It absolutely took me to being a 7- to 10-year-old kid. Push-starting my dad and watching him race. It was the coolest thing I had done. There’s not a lot of things that are cooler in the world than being able to live that moment like that. I was almost thankful that we lost in the semis, because I wouldn’t have got that moment otherwise.”

Dixon says that was exactly the kind of emotion Gibbs must have had in mind when he came up with the concept: Trying to preserve the history of drag racing.

“There’s a lot of young people that come into the sport who have no idea of the history of it, of its roots, not knowing that guys had to push-start the cars. And bringing in the older crowd, the people that have these cars, tying them in — that’s the sport they grew up on.

“Cacklefest,” Dixon said, “feeds a lot of people, feeds their desires. There’s definitely a demand for that and there’s an absolute place for it. And if you go to one of the reunions, at Bowling Green (Ky.) or Bakersfield or even the Nitro Revivals that Steve and daughter Cindy Gibbs are doing, they’re packed with people and with cars from that era.”

Gibbs, for years the NHRA competition director, has branched out across California with his own nostalgic events, having hosted them at California’s Irwindale Speedway, Laguna Seca Raceway and Barona Speedway.

But in the beginning, as longtime journalist Cole Coonce explained it for the online publication Fuel Curve, “Restored vintage iron once campaigned by drag racing’s original slingshot gunslingers in the 1960s was fired up en masse, showcasing the smoke, the noise, and the acrid discharge of nitromethane molecules. As eight vintage fuelers simultaneously growled, spewed, and popped before the photogs and the railbirds, grown men openly wept that evening.

“These were tears of pure joy, based on a lifetime of memories.”

To continue reading, advance to the next page.

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. – On his way to his second South Boston Speedway track championship, Kevin Currin continued to build on a track record that can never be broken.

Currin wrapped up the Budweiser Hornets championship two weeks ago. And while he’s mightily proud of that accomplishment, he’s equally gratified by his other major achievement – participating in every Hornets division race since the class debuted in 2014.

“We are the only ones to start every Hornets race since the series started,” said Currin. “We work hard to make sure everything is together every week. There have been times my dad has had to bring the car to the track, and I met them there, but we’ve made every one of them.”

Currin finished second in the points race in 2017 and 2018 and the Chase City driver decided he needed to step up his game.

“I was tired of being the bridesmaid,” he said.

He and crew chief Jason Decarlo figured the best way to get better was to make changes, as many changes as often as needed.

“In the past, I think the biggest thing was we had kind of gotten in a groove of doing the same thing every week,” said Currin. “We decided we had to make changes. We’d go to practice this year and we’d change things. Every time we were trying something. Jason said we have to make changes to get better.”

Change obviously was a good thing for Currin.

Currin finished in the top five in each of the division’s 12 races in 2019 and wound up with three victories to claim the championship by 21 points over Steven Layne.

“We had an unbelievable season, a remarkable season,” said the 35-year-old, who gives massive amounts of credit to wife Jessica and their eight-year-old son Scott, his mom and dad Stanley and Mona Currin, and team members Decarlo, Clark Mathews, Logan Champion and Dan Bailey,

The constant changes brought more speed, but they also brought a little more work for Currin.

“These cars, every time you change something, you have to relearn how to drive it,” said Currin, who is sponsored by Matthews Towing and Recovery, Billy’s Paint and Body, Total Image Solutions, Hardee Ford, A and A Service Center and J and R Auto Works.

“You have to change going in or change coming off. It took me a while to get used to it every time. If you made the wrong swing at it, you just had to ride it out.”

Currin, a rural mail carrier, took an oddly different route to stock cars, one that prepared him for the occasional on-track crash.

“I had piddled around a little with some go karts, but then a local fair in town had a demolition derby. I got into that pretty heavy just to fill that need for racing,” explained Currin. “The older I got, the aches and pains got worse, and my wife said I needed to give demo derbies up. About that time the Hornets division began, and I moved to that.”

The Hornets have been a perfect fit for Currin.

“The Hornets are a division that I can afford and be competitive in,” said Currin. “It’s hard work, but it’s fun. And I think this year any given person could have won a race. The competition was really close. The last race of the season was almost a photo finish.”

TALLADEGA, Ala. – NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Childress and Talladega Superspeedway will celebrate their 50th anniversary together in a special way before the start of the 1000Bulbs.com 500 on Oct. 13.

Childress, who began his career in NASCAR’s premier series in 1969 during the track’s grand-opening weekend, will commemorate their long history by leading the field on track after engines are fired in a very special vehicle.

The veteran team owner will pace the field in the same black No. 3 Chevrolet Monte Carlo that carried Dale Earnhardt to his final NASCAR Cup Series win in October of 2000.

In one of the most exciting races in NASCAR history, Earnhardt and the famous black No. 3 for Richard Childress Racing came from 18th to first in just four laps to take the lead at the white flag. Earnhardt went on to capture his record 10th Talladega triumph, and his 76th and final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career win.

The car has been on display for years at the RCR Museum in Welcome, N.C., but now has a new temporary home.

“That car hasn’t been out of our museum since we put in there in 2001, so this will be the first time it has been on a race track since that day in 2000 when Dale won,” said Childress Wednesday at the track where he both started his career as a driver and has 12 victories as a team owner, nine of which that came with Earnhardt. “We took it down and put it on the race shop floor, and we have gotten it all fixed. Got the engine running. It’s the same engine that he had in the car that day.

“It’s the exact car just like it was that day when it left the winner’s circle. We did paint it and take the marks off of it. … I wish we hadn’t now, but that’s going to be the coolest thing. It gives me cold chills just thinking about it. I asked my guys could I run it 200 mph,” joked Childress. “Dale is a part of the history of this place. He loved Talladega because it was so wide, you could move around, and I’ve seen him do things here with a race car that you don’t even think about … fitting in some of the holes, and if there wasn’t room, he would kind of make a hole.”

The late Earnhardt, known as “The Intimidator,” was joyous that fall day, saying of the miraculous finish, “It was wild. I didn’t have any thought I would have a chance at winning this race where I started at on the restart. It was a chess game of getting there and staying there. It just worked out for us to be there at the right time.”

For Childress, Talladega has extra meaning.

Driving a ’68 No. 13 Chevrolet Camaro, he finished 17th in the track’s initial race – a NASCAR Grand Touring preliminary event held the day before the first Talladega 500.

But, a host of the top drivers decided to boycott the 500 because of what they thought were tire safety concerns with the nearly 200 mph high speeds.

“After that (Saturday) race, Bill France (then-president of NASCAR and founder of Talladega Superspeedway) stood up on one of the work benches down there and he says, ‘I want you guys to race for me tomorrow. See these other guys. We’ve seen them pull out and leave,’” said Childress, a Winston-Salem, NC native.

“So that was our opportunity to make some extra money. We worked that night real late to prepare our cars to race the next day. I had made three or four thousand dollars on a Saturday. The money that he paid us to run Sunday – we called it deal money in those days – plus my winnings I came back with seven, eight, 10 thousand dollars. In those days it was big money.”

He used the money to purchase a piece of land and opened a garage. It grew into RCR.

Childress made it 80 laps in that inaugural Talladega Cup Series race before an axle broke. He finished 23rd behind winner Richard Brickhouse. A year later, he competed again in a Grand American race at Talladega, this time in a No. 26 Camaro, and wound up 14th.

Over his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career as a driver, Childress competed at Talladega 19 times, with five top-10 results and a best of sixth in 1980.

Just over a year later, he decided to get out from behind the wheel and turn the driving duties over to a younger driver – some guy named Earnhardt. The rest is history.

While at Talladega, Childress toured the incredible construction on the Transformation Infield Project presented by Graybar and the all-new Talladega Garage Experience, which is nearing completion. He got an “up-close” look at the new “old school” Gatorade Victory Lane,” the 35,000 square foot Open Air Social Club, and assisted the landscaping efforts by dumping soil into a flower bed with a Caterpillar front end loader.

“Just unbelievable what they are doing here,” said Childress of the construction. “This has always been the most fan-friendly track that there is, and now to add all of these fan amenities, it’s going to be something else.

“I was here for the initial announcement of this Transformation project in July of 2018, and I knew what was coming. Now, it’s almost a reality!”

At 37, Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist enters his 15th NHL season. He's still known as one of the most dapper and recognizable players in the league -- not to mention a goalie you'd want in net for a Game 7. But last season was hard for Lundqvist. After years of competing for championships, the Rangers entered a rebuild that saw many mainstays traded away. Lundqvist is one of three players remaining from a team that made the Stanley Cup Final in 2014.

But Lundqvist, who has two years remaining on his contract, wanted to stick it out. He refused to waive his no-movement clause and waited out the storm. Things turned quickly. After a splashy summer -- in addition to No. 2 draft pick Kaapo Kakko, the Rangers acquired top defenseman Jacob Trouba and signed star right winger Artemi Panarin -- the Rangers are relevant again. The team might just be competitive before Lundqvist's personal window closes.

In an interview with ESPN, Lundqvist opened up about how hard last season was, workload management, his support of the Swedish women's hockey team, being known as "the shampoo guy" and why he just can't quit cheeseburgers.

ESPN: A Swedish friend told me that, in Sweden, you're known just as much as "the shampoo guy" as "the hockey guy." Is that true?

Henrik Lundqvist: That's what happens when you work with Head & Shoulders for eight years.

ESPN: So those commercials must just run all the time?

Lundqvist: They do. It's been a fun relationship. They let me be part of the creative side. For years, we've been having a lot of fun with it. But it happens, people stop and say I'm the shampoo guy.

ESPN: On a scale of 1-10 -- one being nobody recognizes you at all, 10 being you are swarmed the second you step outside -- how anonymous do you think you can be in public? What is the number when you're back home in Sweden?

Lundqvist: That's hard. It all depends on where you are in the city and what time it is. There are definitely moments where it's a little hectic, but there are also days when it's very relaxed. So it's hard. I'm going to say 5.

ESPN: What about New York City?

Lundqvist: Same, but it's less than Sweden for sure. I'm going to say a 3.

ESPN: That sounds nice.

Lundqvist: It is nice. That's why I love New York. You blend in pretty good, and you can live a pretty relaxing life. There are definitely moments and days where it's more intense and there's more focus, but there are also moments where you feel like you can live a pretty average and normal life. And that mix is great.

ESPN: I'm somewhat familiar with the Swedish women's hockey team boycott over their federation, and I understand you voiced your support for the women. For anyone who is unaware of what's going on, could you explain why they're boycotting?

Lundqvist: They had a list of many things that they feel like needed to improve. One of them was they wanted the federation to cover for lost income. A lot of these women, they have regular jobs, and then when they play for the national team, they lose some income. So what they want is for the federation to cover that. To me, I think that's something that needs to happen. To play for the national team should be the proudest thing you can do as a hockey player. It's really hard when you have to sacrifice that much to go and play. At the same time, I understand the federation doesn't have a lot of money. But I'm happy that they're starting this conversation because maybe they can just look at the budget and see how they prioritize money and see if they can move things around to make sure they can help women feel really good about going to these tournaments and playing for Team Sweden. And not feeling like they're putting themselves in a tough spot.

ESPN: Why did you feel it was important to speak out on it?

Lundqvist: Well, to be honest, I was walking off practice and a reporter came up to me and asked about it. I had been reading a little bit about what was going on. I just [thought about how] I feel when it comes to playing for my country, and how proud you are when you go there. It has nothing to do with making money or fame or fortune. It's about that proud feeling, representing your country, your people. I just want to make sure they don't end up in a tough spot by not getting covered the right way. That's what I felt. I really just tried to understand it from my point of view, then I understand we have very different circumstances when it comes to women's hockey players and men's hockey players. So sometimes it's hard to really understand their situation. I do know the feeling of playing for my country -- how it feels and how it should feel.

ESPN: At the end of last season, you told reporters it was a "draining season" for you. Was that more mental or physical?

Lundqvist: That was probably one of the toughest seasons I had played mentally. To go through what we went through [with] the rebuild. First half I felt really good, super excited. I played at a level I felt like I was making a difference. The second half was a lot tougher. There were a lot of things going on, a lot of guys left. Obviously, we were in a position where we were looking to the future, to the draft. It was a tough couple months there. But you learn a lot about yourself and how you react to certain things. That also makes me feel really excited about now, and what happened this summer with the draft and the signings we made and free agency. I feel like the Rangers took a couple big steps in the right direction.

ESPN: You said you learned about how you reacted to things. Now looking back, do you have any regrets? Anything you wish you had handled a little bit differently?

Lundqvist: No, I don't have any regrets. It was harder than I expected it to be, to go through this whole process. If you count the four or five years in Sweden to last year, which was 14 years [in the NHL], so 18 or 19 years where the focus has been to win and to be in the mix. And suddenly it's about improving and the future, and just your whole mindset and the feeling you have changes. It was a new experience. I had never experienced that before. You learn from it. In the end, I play this game to win games. You want to win as much as possible, that's why I'm super excited to go into camp because I feel like we've made some really strong additions here. I don't exactly know where we will stand or how good we will be, but I feel like we are moving in the right direction, and that alone is exciting.

ESPN: Artemi Panarin was the big splash. He's the guy everybody wanted, and you guys landed him. What was your reaction when he signed?

Lundqvist: It was a good feeling for sure. The fact that he picked us, the fact that he wants to come here and be a big part of the Rangers. I think he'll be a great fit. I had an opportunity to skate with him now for a week or so. Super skilled guy. Very good hockey player. I haven't really gotten to know him yet, just a little bit, but seems like a great guy. I think that's important when you're such a big piece of the team and to help all the young guys, too. We have a few Russian players on the team. I think he'll play a big part off the ice as well.

ESPN: One of the big trends in the NHL is goalie workload management. You've played 60 or more games in eight seasons, which now feels pretty crazy.

Lundqvist: Yeah, but that was also early in my career. I think over the last few years you have seen a change. More and more teams play the starting goalie a little less. I think it makes sense. It's more intense now, there's more shots, more scoring chances, it takes a toll obviously. I think there's a lot of games now, as a goalie, if you play good, you're probably not going to win. You need to play great to win games. For you to be on that level almost every night, that's obviously the biggest challenge. You have more options now. There are more goalies that can get the job done I think. It used to be a clear-cut No. 1, this guy would play close to 70 games. But you definitely see a change in that. It makes sense when you look at how intense the game is and also how many good goalies are out there.

ESPN: You guys have a good young goalie in Alexandar Georgiev. How does he push you? It feels like this is the first time where there could be a succession plan for you.

Lundqvist: Every year I feel like there's guys around you that, they want to play, they want to get more games in. I still -- no matter who is next to me -- my focus [is] on my game and how can I improve and be the best I can be. At the end, it's up to the coach when I play and how many games I play. Every year, it doesn't matter who you are teaming up with, you become a team within the team. It's you, the other goalie and the goalie coach. Me and Georgie work really well together and push each other. We have [Benoit Allaire] the goalie coach who pushes us so I feel good about that.

ESPN: What's your cheat meal?

Lundqvist: I'm a big cheeseburger guy. I eat a lot of cheeseburgers. I don't see that as a cheat meal, though, because I rely on it. It's too good not to eat it. I honestly don't see it as a cheat thing, maybe some people do, but I don't.

ESPN: What's an impulse purchase you've made in the last year?

Lundqvist: I bought a jacket when I went to London this summer. Didn't plan on doing on it, but it just happened. Nothing special, but I was there for a few days, walked around, and it caught my eye.

ESPN: What player in the league are you most in awe of?

Lundqvist: I think [Connor] McDavid is such a great player. He's fun to watch with his skill. He's impressed me since he entered the league. He's done great work.

The importance of good young talent to an NHL team cannot be overstated, as so many prospects are being developed and promoted very quickly in the league today. Here's our annual top 100 prospects in hockey, beginning with June's top two draft picks. If you don't know these names yet, you will soon.

Player eligibility: To be considered for the top 100, a player must still have Calder Trophy eligibility heading into the 2019-20 season. That means a player did not play more than 25 regular-season NHL games in the most recent season or, for players who have been called up and sent down fairly often, 50 career NHL games in all. Players must also be 25 years old or younger to be considered for the list.

Jump to notable prospects:
Zadina | Dobson | Farabee
Tolvanen | Fox | Knight
Samsonov | Nylander | Merkley

1. Jack Hughes, C, New Jersey Devils

Elite speed, hockey sense and skill give Hughes a chance to be a special player not only for the Devils, but the NHL at large. He sees the ice and processes play development extremely well.

2. Kaapo Kakko, RW, New York Rangers

A pro-ready frame with skill and confidence to spare, Kakko has the look of an immediate impact player and a legitimate threat to win the Calder this season.

3. Cale Makar, D, Colorado Avalanche

The best defenseman outside of the NHL in 2018-19, Makar followed up winning the Hobey Baker by seamlessly transitioning to the Stanley Cup playoffs with the Avs. He is a special talent with explosive skating and elite hockey sense.

4. Quinn Hughes, D, Vancouver Canucks

VIRGINIA WATER, England – Viktor Hovland is a PGA Tour rookie who has played just 11 events on the circuit, but his presence at this week’s BMW PGA Championship has created quite the buzz.

Hovland earned his Tour card this season via the Korn Ferry Tour and he has back-to-back top-10 finishes in his last two starts (T-10 at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier and fourth at the Wyndham Championship), but it was his potential as a future European Ryder Cup star that has sparked the most interest in the 21-year-old.

“It feels like he belongs, which is the biggest key to a young rookie coming out on Tour,” said European captain Padraig Harrington. “You know, if they look like they are caught in the headlights, they could disappear quickly, where Viktor really does look like he's here to play golf.”

Harrington’s interest was such that he listed Hovland as a player he wanted to be paired with in a tournament over the next year so he could get to know the Norwegian. He’ll have that chance for Rounds 1 and 2 at the BMW PGA Championship where the two will be grouped.

And next year’s captain isn’t the only one interested in how Hovland will fare as a professional.

“Obviously you do have these guys coming out, and Matt Wolff, Collin Morikawa and Viktor, they are the three that have been talked about for a long time,” Rory McIlroy said. “Matt and Collin have already won on the PGA Tour, but you could argue and say Viktor has maybe played the best golf of the three in terms of consistency and scores that he's shot.”

VIRGINIA WATER, England – Most agree that Padraig Harrington will be an unpredictable Ryder Cup captain next year for Europe, but on Wednesday he adhered to the status quo.

Harrington named Robert Karlsson his first vice captain following the Swede’s stint as an assistant for Thomas Bjorn last year in Paris.

“Anybody who was involved in 2018 in the backroom staff would see this as a no-brainer pick,” Harrington said. “He's very logical, very straight. Doesn't let the emotions, he's playing to the stereotype to be honest. He doesn't let the emotions get involved. A brilliant vice captain.”

Karlsson played in the Ryder Cup twice in 2006 and ’08 and was partnered with Harrington at Valhalla in foursomes.

Harrington said he plans to name five vice captains, which is the maximum allowed under the captain’s agreement, and said he has a pretty good idea who he will pick.

“It wouldn't take a genius to start picking out who would be the vice captains,” he said.

VIRGINIA WATER, England – Rory McIlroy had been on the fence regarding his European Tour membership this year and it was a conversation with his wife, Erica, that changed his mind.

“I think she sort of said to me, what are you trying to do, or what sort of point are you trying to make?” McIlroy said on Wednesday at the BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour’s flagship event.

But if Erica McIlroy set the Northern Irishman back down a path to tour membership it was the circuit’s chief executive Keith Pelley that secured his status.

“The rule was that you have to play an extra two events if you don't play your home open,” said McIlroy, who skipped this year’s Irish Open because of scheduling issues. “Pelley and I sat down and I said, ‘Keith, I can't possibly do that.’”

McIlroy said Pelley countered with a proposal that would allow the 30-year-old to play three of the circuit’s Rolex Series events instead. “I said, ‘Done, 100 percent done.’ Once we had that conversation, it was totally fine,” McIlroy said.

McIlroy played the Scottish Open and this week’s BMW PGA Championship, which are both Rolex Series events, and plans to play the season finale in Dubai in November. He also has stops scheduled this season at next week’s Dunhill Links Championship and the new Zozo Championship along with the WGC-HSBC Champions before taking an extended break in December and January to prepare for 2020.