King Racing

Big congratulations to King’s Top Fuel Ambassador, Justin Ashley! This rising star of Top Fuel was named Rookie of the Year by NHRA for 2020, completing a top-notch year for him and his fabulous team. Justin Ashley is one of the first in the world to run King’s brand new Top Fuel bearings in his 10,000+ horsepower 500 CI Chrysler Hemi engine. King Engine Bearings has just introduced its uniquely designed Top Fuel (TFC) bearings featuring a strengthened steel back as used in King’s aviation bearings, a special ductile bronze intermediate layer and a King designed and applied polymer coating to keep the bearings and their rotating assembly intact even under the extreme load and heat conditions of Top Fuel racing.

King’s Brand Ambassador Andoni Mugarza has secured the Hill-Climb 2020 championship for 2020. Though many of the rounds have been called off, and this year has been plagued, literally with changes and cancellations, Mugarza was able to secure the leadership in the category number 4, and take the title that consisted this year of 3 racing rounds, and 6 results, taking into account official practice runs.

Rookie of the year candidate and King Engine Bearing Team Member of brand Ambassadors, Justin Ashley and his team at Davis Motorsports delivered an impressive win, a first for Ashley, in the postponed finals of the Summernationals event of the Mello Yello 2020 Top Fuel Racing season.

The Las Vegas based team, Grr Racing, is making their return to the Trans Am West Coast Championship series presented by Pirelli for the 2020 season.  Driver and team owner Michele Abbate made her debut in 2019 with Trans Am in the competitive TA2 class and finished the season with a top 5 finish overall.  

All things considered, the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals was a success for the Strutmasters Top Fuel Dragster Team. After all, they made their quickest run to date in Pomona, a scorching 3.72 at 323 MPH, and made it to the quarterfinals before leaving the Auto Club Raceway in sixth place in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.

Justin Ashley’s plan for his second season in the Top Fuel ranks calls for 12 races, with the possibility of two more. 

It may be the off-season but it sure doesn’t feel like it! The Grr Racing team has been very busy since their last race, and last weekend brought an exciting new experience to the team. Driver Michele Abbate made her debut in the iconic 25 hours of Thunderhill NASA endurance race with support from the Shift Up Now team and the HQ Autosport Racing team. Grr Racing’s Crew Chief Anthony Philleo also took on a team role during the race weekend.

King Engine Bearings has joined forces with Justin Ashley, driver of the Davis Motorsports Top Fuel Dragster as the team’s official engine bearing supplier for the 2020 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

The final race of the Trans Am National series took place on the high banks of Daytona in Daytona Beach, Florida this past weekend. The Grr Racing team headed to the iconic track to support the Trans Am series and its national competitors as they all raced to the finish of the 2019 season.

After an exceptionally successful showing at the Specialty Equipment Marketing Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas, Faruk Kugay and his Formula Drift car participated in the week’s end celebration, SEMA Ignited! As usual, Faruk delivered and went out with a bang as his car did, in fact, ignite! During his final run for the night his engine blew, the result of running too much power through the rods in the built motor, and his car became engulfed in flames in spectacular fashion. He was able to exit the car while safety crews put out the blaze. Faruk’s health has been evaluated, and he has no medical issues. He and the team appreciate the outpouring of concern for his well-being.