Drag Racing Blog

Back in the ’90’s, Quick 8 was the quickest and fastest VW drag racing class on the planet. These flat fours were usually custom-built to top-notch specs, using mostly aftermarket parts.

PRA ’94 profiles the radical Nitro-Methane fueled, dual-supercharged rail of Bonbright & Haire. This digger has to be seen and heard to be believed! The story continues with a close look at the turbocharged rail of VW Paradise in San Marcos, California, as they enter into an epic five-round Sacramento elimination with long time Quick-8 champions Dave Folts and Tom Schuh. It was the first time in years that someone had seriously challenged Folts and Schuh, and it started a rivalry that lasted for quite awhile.

PRA Pro Turbo VW drag racing has been called “the class where anything can happen”, and you can see that in this video. Watch a group of hardcore VW drag racers push their force-fed flat fours to the limit, and beyond! Volkswagen drag racing legend Chris Bubetz was the man to beat in 1994, and the points title chase went down to the wire, with three race car drivers still in the hunt at the final race of the year.

Ron Townsend was the 1993 PRA Pro Turbo points champion, and in 1994 he debuted a Dave Kawell-built turbo engine that had record-setting potential in it. Manny Flores in Yellow Trouble worked his way up the ladder to lead the 1994 points chase. Steve Ortega brought out a sweet ride that also had the potential to shake up the class rankings. VW drag racing doesn’t get much better than this!

This is racing action from the PRA ’94 videotape; the Pro Stock class. The drag racing action starts off with passes from the 1993 season, when Ron Lummus Racing and the Mike Stewin/JayCee crew were slugging it out in the points title chase. The rivalry continued into 1994, but with Jack Sacchette doing the driving against RLR. Most of the Pro Stock participants were experienced drivers; Super Street was the place where you cut your teeth on heads-up VW drag racing.

One of the most experienced drivers on the circuit was Larry Kelley. He had been racing Volkswagens back in the ’60’s, and when the import drag racing scene blew up in the mid ’90’s, both he and his son Scott Kelley hit it big time. They are still doing it in 2015, this time with the NHRA: http://www.competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/20169-here-come-da-bugs

Ray Medrano ran his car in this all-motor PRA Pro Stock class, and shortly thereafter put nitrous to it. He would drive up from L.A. to the Sacramento Bugorama, with a small dog for a crew chief. He would run big numbers, then pack the dog and the car up, and drive home. These days you’ll probably find him racing Super Comp at Fontana.

The PRA Pro Stock VW drag racing class was a pounds-per-cubic-inch, tube chassis class. Perhaps it could be said that the halcyon days of the class were in the early ’90’s, but regardless of the turnout, some people considered it to be the pinnacle of VW drag racing.