The Sportsman Drag Racing Podcast w/ Luke & Jed

In this episode, Luke & Jed discuss Jake Howard’s incredible run: all he does is win E.T. Finals (that’s 5 in 3 years, and 3 in 3 weeks for those keeping score at home).  Luke took a deeper dive into the NHRA national points chase in Super Stock, Super Comp, and Top Sportsman to break down the championship contenders and their odds.  The guys closed the show with a couple of listener e-mails t...

Luke & Jed sit down with the man of the hour, Rocky Pintavalle.  In case you haven’t heard, Rocky had an incredible season… last weekend!  Pintavalle drove his 3-speed equipped back-half Mopar to wins in both the $15,000 opener and the $50,000 main event at the Fall Fling.  The guys recapped everything Fall Fling, including the big ($500,000) announcement for next year’s event.  NHRA got slipp...

Luke and Jed did their best to recap an incredible weekend of racing from across the country.  Jake Howard and Mikie Sturgill headlined a weekend chalk full of E.T. Finals action with rare doubles.  Cory Gulitti and Andy Schmall showed out in big dollar bracket competition.  We’ve got new national points leaders in two NHRA categories.  Lots to talk about - plus potentially the most memorable Luke...

In this episode, Luke & Jed get “Dialed In” with Zach Schlumpf, co-host of a new racing podcast titled “Dialed In with Jake & Zach.  In addition, they recapped a fairly light weekend of racing action highlighted by a pair of NHRA divisional events, and previewed a big weekend of bracket finals action on the horizon.  Jed, Luke and Producer Mark also weighed in with memories from September...

In this episode, the guys caught up with recent NHRA U.S. National Super Gas champion (and current Super Gas points leader) Devin Isenhower to recap the biggest win of his young career.  That leads their in-depth coverage of the Big Go, and some of the stories of note from the fabled event.  Lead (only) Sportsman Drag Racing Podcast correspondent JJ Pennington provided his Top 10 for the month of...

In this episode, the guys dissect the NHRA points chase following a big weekend of divisional action.  Did you hear that the Top Dragster bump in Bowling Green was 6.342?!?!  That’s not a typo: 6.343 DID NOT get in!  Jed and Luke discuss and get deeper into the 32 vs. 48 car Top Dragser/Top Sportsman debate.  Plus they recapped a busy weekend of bracket action from coast to coast that featured ano...

In this episode, the guys catch up with Nick Duty fresh off of his big win at the Windmill Nationals.  They discuss his emotional triumph, his life as a track operator who gets to race every once in awhile, and the year of the Chevette.  The NHRA points picture got a little bit clearer after a big weekend of events across the country; and some pockets got a little fatter following a number of big...

In this episode, Luke & Jed start off talking about ducks, pylons, and kamikaze racers before smoothly transitioning into the week that was in sportsman drag racing - and it was a big one!  They highlight results from the SFG event at Dragway 42, along with the Nightfire Nationals in Boise, ID and big bracket action from Virginia, South Carolina, and Illinois.  Plus they recap the lone NHRA ev...

This episode of the podcast is jam packed with guest appearances from our lead (only) correspondent, JJ Pennington (JJ’s Top 10) and recently crowned World Super Pro Challenge $50,000 winner Chris Stine.  Also: Are we understating the accomplishments (and greatness) of Justin Lamb?   The weekend brought a memorable father-son final round (and nearly two) And it’s the year of the No Box racer and t...

In this NHRA heavy episode of the Sportsman Drag Racing Podcast, Luke gets all nerdy talking numbers and details in the NHRA sportsman title chase.  The guys get deeper into the 32 vs. 48 car field debate for the NHRA Top Dragster and Top Sportsman classes.  And the guys introduce a new (to the show) sponsor with a cameo appearance from Chance Lykens of BTE Performance.  They close this week’s sho...

Facebook drama within the big buck bracket community, Jed’s redemption tour at the JEGS Summer Door Car Shootout, and the NHRA sportsman world championship picture (and our podcast pick ‘em contest) is a little bit more in focus.  The guys discuss these topics and more in Episode 87!

In this episode, Luke & Jed rehash the action from the SFG Summer Shootout at US 131 as well as NHRA action from Division 3 and 6, and assorted big dollar bracket events across the country.  Two former world champions that the guys dropped from their team last week showed out over the weekend and forced them to rethink those decisions… Luke previews the upcoming JEGS Summer Door Car Shootout,...

National Dragster Senior Editor Kevin McKenna joined Luke & Jed for this week’s show, as the trio performed their mid-season re-draft of Sportsman champions.  That closed an episode that led off with Jed’s World Footbrake Challenge Recap, as well as insights from Luke’s weekend at the Firecracker Bracket Nationals in Byron, IL.  In addition, they touched on results from the Tenn-Tuck series, a...

This episode features our monthly segment from the best 12-year-old announcer and podcast personality in the land, JJ Pennington: JJ’s Top Ten.  In addition, the guys discuss the holiday weekend events, introduce a new Siebert Performance Who’s Hot, and close with some final thoughts on the constantly changing landscape of big dollar bracket racing in 2018.

In this episode, Luke welcomes the newest addition to his family, and the guys recaps a weekend of racing, in Texas and North Carolina. They highlight a standout JR performance and another footbrake racer earns Who’s Hot honors. IHRA’s new Summit Sportsman Spectacular is explained by our guest Skooter Peaco, and as always the popular shoutouts round out the episode.

In this episode, Luke & Jed lay gifts at the feet of Kevin Pollard, and discuss related news from the SFG No Dragster Nationals.  That was the lead event of a busy weekend of racing that also included the No Box Nationals, the 75 Hundos in New York, and a full slate of NHRA divisional and national event action.  The show wrapped with a long overdue edition of #RacingAnswers, the regular What’s...

Barry Davis, the longtime crew chief for sportsman racing legend David Rampy joined Luke and Jed this week to discuss his role and the role that crew members (who are often family members and/or friends) play in racing everywhere.  The guys led the show with some big talk from the weekend: a $50,000-to-win NO SPLIT final round.  As always, they covered notable results from across the country and p...

This week, the guys got to catch up with the most recent winner on the NHRA Top Sportsman tour, Don O’Neal, who claimed his second win of the 2018 season in bizarre (and controversial) fashion last week in Chicago.  Don talked about that, his hot start to the season, and the cloud of tragedy hanging over the entire Top Sportsman class.  In addition, Luke & Jed covered the big weekend in Chicag...

It’s the end of the month and you know what that means!  It’s JJ’s top ten!  This time around, JJ not only broke down his top 5 Super Pro and Bottom Bulbers from the month of May, but added in a Jr. Dragster segment.  In addition, the guys broke down a massive holiday weekend that included a legendary performance from Kevin Pollard, and no less than half a dozen standout performances from across t...

In this episode, the guys took an opportunity to sit down with the masterminds behind the SDPC Dream Team Challenge: Gaylon Rolison and Britt Cummings.  The duo explained how the unique Dream Team idea came to fruition, and all four (Gaylon, Britt, Luke & Jed) discussed their excitement for the weekend that lies ahead.  Britt even got a few jabs in at Johnny Bracket Racer, as that epic grudge...

In this episode, the guys deviate significantly from the typical show for an interview with Bruce Deveau, a licensed psychotherapist and Performance Consultant and the author of the popular Racer’s Mind series of audio trainings and workbooks.  In the interview, they had a wide ranging discussion on optimal mental performance, how sports psychology applies behind the wheel, and also touched on the...

In this episode, the guys were joined by the driver of the Kalitta Racing Global Electronic Technology Funny Car, Shawn Langdon.  Prior to his nitro fame, Shawn was a 2-time national champion in Super Comp, and also has a Jr. Dragster national title to his credit (he’s the only driver to date to hold titles in Jr. Dragster, a sportsman category, and a professional category: Top Fuel).  Shawn talke...

This week’s episode kicked off with the monthly breakdown from Sportsman Drag Racing Podcast Lead (and only) Correspondent, J.J. Pennington.  In it, the best 12-year-old announcer in the world unveiled the second edition of “J.J.’s Top Ten.”  Luke & Jed then reviewed an entertaining list of “retro” racing phrases submitted by you the listeners and threw in a few entertaining stories to boot. ...

Randell Reid, the winner of last weekend’s Spring Fling Million joined Luke & Jed on this episode to recap and relive his huge victory over J.R. Lobner in Friday’s main event.  While Randell and J.R. were obviously the big story, their success was at least somewhat overshadowed by a staging controversy earlier in the day involving Johnny Ezell.  The guys put Johnny Bracket Racer on trial so to...

In this episode, Luke & Jed are joined by last weekend’s $175,000 Powerball of Drag Racing winner, Brandon Taylor.  Brandon gives us a bit of a round-by-round of how the biggest windfall of his drag racing career to date happened, and what was going through his head in that crazy final round sequence.  In addition, the boys recapped the weekend action from not only the Powerball event, but als...