The NHRA Division 5 of the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series kicks off this weekend in Earlville, Iowa, at historic Tri-State Raceway, and the Bishop’s Performance Motorsports (BPM) team is bringing a full stable of entries, as well as new partners; Bugs B Gone and NGK Spark Plugs.
The BPM’s Top Sportsman 1979 Malibu, driven by Steve Stockton, has a new livery featuring Sea Foam Products’ rebranded Bugs B Gone. This dried-on gunk remover removes bugs, crud, algae and mildew, brake dust, soot, road grime and more. It works fast to remove stubborn bugs and gunk and is safe on vehicle paint, clear coat, metal, glass, carpet, plastic and vinyl with a water-activated formula. See it in action at bugsbgoneworks.com.
Steve won the Earlville divisional race last year, as well as the Denver divisional and drove to a semi-final finish at the 2022 NHRA Norwalk Nationals in the #SeaFoamWorks 1979 Malibu. This will be his first NHRA race of the 2023 season with a new 540 cubic inch engine from APD equipped with an XR1 871 blower that can run in the low seven seconds in the quarter-mile strip.
The BPM team is also pleased to announce a new partnership with Niterra North America and their brands: NGK Spark Plugs, NTK Sensors, and Shop Squad. Niterra is the largest supplier and manufacturer of spark plugs and oxygen sensors for import and domestic vehicles. They are also the experts drag racing teams can count on because of their rigorous testing standards and countless first to market technologies. The entire BPM fleet is now equipped with NGK Spark Plugs for their 8-car team, as well as NTK oxygen sensors and coils, and will be exclusively used at the Bishop’s Performance transmission shop.
“We are excited to have NGK and NTK on board with us for the rest of the 2023 season,” said team owner Chris Bishop. “They’ve also got a great technician training website called Shop Squad. We’ve always ran NGK Spark Plugs, so we are really looking forward to representing them this year starting at the first NHRA Division 5 race in Iowa this weekend. We will have almost the whole team competing and hope to park multiple Sea Foam Products cars in the winner’s circle like last year.”
Joining Steve and Chris this weekend will be Danielle Davis in her 1966 Nova, Donnie Durenberger with his 1969 Nova and 1978 Kawasaki bike, and Matt Cheney piloting the 1982 Camaro. Time trials start Friday, June 2nd, and continue onto Saturday before the first round of eliminations.
This story was originally published on June 2, 2023. 
