Nitro Dogs Racing

In a season in which old records were broken despite new rules that were in play and a year where new alliances were formed and old friends were lost, NHRA Drag Racing rose to meet challenges both old and new in a remarkable season of competition. In the final installment of an annual NHRA.com feature, we take a look back at the year’s top headlines. Today: September through December.

Among the news items were the thrilling NHRA Countdown playoffs, the NHRA Softball Classic, the announcement of the new Al-Anabi Top Fuel and Funny Car teams, the crowning of the 2008 champions, awards heaped upon six-time Top Fuel champ Tony Schumacher, and a dizzying series of post-season personnel moves.

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 1: Worsham Racing and O’Reilly Auto Parts announced that their 12-year relationship would end at the conclusion of the 2008 NHRA season.

Sept. 6: Tom Hammonds hired Kenny Tom as crew chief for his Tom Hammonds Racing Pro Stocker.

Sept. 9: Pro Stock’s Justin Humphreys announced that he would be back in his family-operated RaceRedi Motorsports Pontiac GXP for the inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals with a General Motors powerplant supplied by veteran driver/engine builder Warren Johnson.

Sept. 9: Bob Tasca III announced that his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Funny Car team will have a new home in 2009 after breaking ground for its racing shop in

Concord, N.C.

Sept. 14:

Pueblo Motorsports Park won the team championship, and Jeff Soloman (Super Pro), Andy Schmall (Pro), Tim Lewondowski (Sportsman), and Tom Klemme (Motorcycle) earned individual titles at the West Central Division NHRA Summit Racing Series Finals at Bandimere Speedway.

Sept. 14: During qualifying at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway, Connie Kalitta presented Doug Herbert a $50,000 check for his charity organization, BRAKES (Be Responsible And Keep Everyone Safe).

Sept. 15: O’Reilly

Raceway Park at Indianapolis won the team championship, and Lance Stillwell (Super Pro), Joe Lee (Pro), Jimmie Barrett (Sportsman), and Chad Isley (Super Pro Bike) earned individual titles at the North Central Division NHRA Summit Racing Series Finals in

Indianapolis.

Sept. 15: Tony Schumacher ran his Top Fuel winning streak to seven races with a convincing victory over Antron Brown at the inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals at the all-new zMax Dragway and in the process became the sport’s winningest Top Fuel driver with 53 victories. Jack Beckman also gained the upper hand in the first Countdown to 1 race with his third Funny Car win of the season. Justin Humphreys scored his first victory in Pro Stock, and Steve Johnson backed up his Indy victory in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Sept. 15: Pro Mod racer Steve Engel died from injuries sustained in a one-car racing accident during the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park at

Indianapolis.

Sept. 15: A year after he flew out of Texas Motorplex in an Air Evac Lifeteam helicopter, 14-time Funny Car champion John Force returned to the track on which he suffered the worst crash of his 32-year NHRA career.

Sept. 16: Aaron Brooks, crew chief of Roger Burgess’ R2B2 Racing Funny Car, announced that he would leave that team at the end of September to join renowned Top Fuel tuner Alan Johnson’s new two-car team. It was also announced that Rob Centorbi, Brooks’ assistant, will join him.

Sept. 16: NHRA announced that the NHRA Softball Classic, which was rained out in August, had been rescheduled for Nov. 12 at Arrowhead Credit Union Park in San Bernardino, Calif.

Sept. 19: Del Worsham was named driver of the Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing Funny Car effective at the conclusion of the 2008 NHRA POWERade season.

Sept. 20: Four-time NHRA world champion Gary Scelzi announced that he would step down from NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series competition at the end of the 2008 season.

Sept. 21: J.R. Todd ended Tony Schumacher’s reign of terror in Top Fuel, and Greg Stanfield scored his first victory in Pro Stock to highlight final eliminations at the O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec at Texas Motorplex. Todd ended Schumacher’s amazing winning steak at 31 rounds and seven straight NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series victories. Tim Wilkerson earned back his points lead in Funny Car by defeating then-points leader Tony Pedregon in the final, and Chris Rivas defeated points leader Matt Smith to claim the win in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Sept. 22: Dan B

rickey, longtime NHRA director of emergency medical services, died after a lengthy illness. He was 58.

Sept. 24: Undefeated on the dragstrip, Tony Schumacher was voted third-quarter Driver of the Year 2008. Schumacher won every NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event in the third quarter, which ended Sept. 14.

Sept. 25: Officials from NHRA and the Automobile Club of Southern California announced the nominees for the 2008 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award: in alphabetical order, Rickie Jones (Pro Stock), Mike Neff (Funny Car), Junior Pippin (Pro Stock Motorcycle), Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), and Steve Torrence (Top Fuel).

Sept. 28: Funny Car points leaders Tim Wilkerson defeated John Force Racing drivers John Force, Robert Hight, and Ashley Force in consecutive rounds to win the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil at

Memphis Motorsports Park. As did Wilkerson, Top Fuel titlist Tony Schumacher extended his points lead with a decisive final-round victory against Doug Herbert. Countdown to 1 drivers Mike Edwards and Craig Treble were victorious in Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle, respectively.

Sept. 29:

Maple Grove Raceway won the team championship, and Bob Avalos (Super Pro), Brock Moshier (Pro), Mike Vandenheuvel (Sportsman), and Bob Carlson (Bike/Sled) earned individual titles at the Northeast Division NHRA Summit Racing Series Finals at Maple Grove Raceway.

OCTOBER

Oct. 1: Johnny Gray and Allen Johnson announced they had formed a two-car team alliance for the 2009 and 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series seasons.

Oct. 6: NHRA and Full Throttle unveiled the new NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series logo. Full Throttle and NHRA collaborated to create the logo for the series.

Oct. 7: Cagnazzi Racing announced that Lucas Oil Products would be the primary sponsor of Dave Connolly’s Chevy Cobalt Pro Stocker for the

Richmond event. Connolly’s car sported Lucas Oil colors in

Richmond as part of a new marketing alliance between Charter Communications and Lucas Oil.

Oct. 8: NHRA mandated the use of the Electrimotion Safety Shutoff Controller on all nitro Funny Cars, beginning at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.

Oct. 8: Rodger Brogdon announced his return to Pro Stock competition. Driving a Pontiac GXP with Tom Hammonds Enterprises engines and Kent Services and Trucking sponsorships for team owner Steve Kent, Brogdon competed in the final three races of the season.

Oct. 9: It was announced that the award-winning Inside Drag Racing television program will move to Friday afternoons on Fox Sports Net beginning in April, 2009.

Oct. 10: NHRA released a 97-second preview clip from the upcoming DVD recounting the 2008 Countdown to the Championship battle. The preview recounts Ashley Force’s historic first Funny Car win in

Atlanta earlier this year.

Oct. 10: Scott Revell, partner of Palm Beach Int’l Raceway, announced the signing of a three-race deal with Ken Black to be title sponsor of Hillary Will’s Top Fuel dragster. Palm Beach Int’l Raceway, formerly

Moroso Motorsports Park, backed Will the final three races of 2008.

Oct. 10: The Division 2 and Division 4 NHRA Summit Racing Series Finals concluded. In Division 2,

Bradenton Motorsports Park won the team championship, and Mark Padgett (Super Pro), Bruce Wilson (Pro), Steve Foley (Sportsman), and Roy Hagadorn (Super Pro Bike) took individual honors. Division 4 winners were

Houston Raceway Park (team), Bart Nelson (Super Pro), Jordan Echols (Pro), Dennis Cameron Sr. (No E Quick), Mike Griggs (No E Street), and Dan Rollman (Super Pro Bike).

Oct. 11: Bob Tasca III added Marc Denner as assistant crew chief on his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang Funny Car for the 2009 season. Denner will assist current crew chief Chris Cunning with tuning duties.

Oct. 12: David Powers Motorsports and Rob Flynn, crew chief on the Rod Fuller-driven Caterpillar Top Fuel dragster, announced they reached a mutual agreement to part ways at the conclusion of the 2008 season. Three days later, Kenny Bernstein announced Flynn will be crew chief on his Budweiser/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster at season’s end. Flynn will be joined by Mike Guger, who was named assistant crew chief. The duo replaces current crew chiefs Tim and Kim Richards, who announced their retirement Oct. 13.

Oct. 12: Tony Schumacher all but locked up the 2008 NHRA POWERade Top Fuel world championship in

Richmond event, where he qualified No. 1 and won. The win gave Schumacher a 212-point lead over second-place Hillary Will, meaning he only needed to qualify in

Las Vegas to claim the title. Cruz Pedregon and Dave Connolly were also victorious at the event.

Oct. 14:

Bristol Dragway and Bandimere Speedway were named the host tracks for the 2009 NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Eastern and Western Conference Finals.

Oct. 15: Don Prudhomme Racing announced it signed Spencer Massey, who claimed the 2008 IHRA Top Fuel championship as a rookie, to a multi-year agreement. The team planned to put him behind the wheel of a Top Fuel dragster, beginning with the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle season.

Oct. 16: NHRA announced it hired industry leader AmericanEagle.com to complete a wall-to-wall renovation of NHRA.com that will transform it into one of the premier fan-destination sites on the Web.

Oct. 17: Four-time European drag racing champion Urs Erbacher announced his Fat Attack Top Fuel dragster team would return to the United States to compete in the final two NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series events of the season, in Las Vegas and

Pomona.

Oct. 18: NHRA released the 2009 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series schedule. Headlined by the Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car classes, the Series features 44 races throughout NHRA’s seven geographic divisions.

Oct. 24: Mopar extended its long-running sponsorship of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event at Bandimere Speedway in

Denver. Mopar will back the event through 2011.

Oct. 24: Shawn Gann was named the rider of the new S&S-powered Buell owned by Lister Harrell. Gann will ride the bike, which is backed by X-Treme Rebellion and XXX Racing Fuel, for the remainder of the 2008 season and all of 2009.

Oct. 27: Technicoat Cos. and Kalitta Motorsports extended their long-running partnership for an additional five years, through 2013.

Oct. 29: NHRA released the 2009 Jegs ProMod Challenge schedule. The 2009 schedule expanded to 12 events, adding Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka and zMax Dragway in

Charlotte to its roster of host tracks.

Oct. 30: NHRA released the 2009 class schedule for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, which once again includes 17 events for Pro Stock Motorcycle, 16 events for Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car, and a rotating schedule for the remaining Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series classes.

Oct. 30: Ashley Force accepted the 2008 Female Athlete of the Year award from the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation at its 10th anniversary Tribute to Living Legends of Sports and Media awards dinner at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

NOVEMBER

Nov. 1: Tim Wilkerson and Bob Tasca III announced that they would form a two-car alliance for the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season.

Nov. 2: By merely qualifying at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, Tony Schumacher and crew chief Alan Johnson clinched the Top Fuel championship, their fifth straight and sixth overall.

Nov. 2: Championship battles raged on at the eighth annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the second-to-last stop in the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. With his second straight Funny Car win, Cruz Pedregon supplanted Tim Wilkerson as the points leader. Tony Schumacher added another win to his historically dominant 2008 season, Jeg Coughlin put together a wire-to-wire win in Pro Stock, and Chris Rivas scored a big win against second-place Eddie Krawiec in the final.

Nov. 3: Lucas Oil Products renewed its multiyear agreement for title sponsorship of the NHRA national event at Brainerd Int’l Raceway.

Nov. 4: Reigning NHRA POWERade Pro Stock world champion Jeg Coughlin flew with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.

Nov. 6: It was announced that Funny Car racer Matt Hagan will drive a Dodge Charger Funny Car sponsored by BrakeSafe Rear-End Collision Avoidance System for Don Schumacher Racing in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Nov. 6: NHRA issued a brief update on the progress being made to investigate, analyze, and determine ways to implement initiatives to enhance racing safety, among them parachutes and braking systems.

Nov. 12: The talent-laden Brown’s Burndown Bombers scored a big win over Scelzi’s Superchargers, 21-12, at the inaugural NHRA Softball Classic at Arrowhead Credit Union Park in

San Bernardino, Calif., to benefit the Drag Racing Association of Women.

Nov. 14: Famed camshaft manufacturer Jack Engle passed away. He was 88.

Nov. 14: Robert “Jocko” Johnson, who built some of drag racing’s swoopiest machines, including his notable but unsuccessful JockoLiner with “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, died of a massive heart attack. He was 72.

Nov. 14: NHRA announced that the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season will begin with the Top Fuel and Funny Car categories racing to 1,000 feet. All other Professional and Sportsman classes will remain at 1,320 feet.

Nov. 15: Jim Dunn Racing announced that Funny Car veteran Jerry Toliver will drive the Canidae All Natural Pet Foods Chevrolet for the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle season.

Nov. 15: O’Reilly Auto Parts leveraged its recent acquisition of Checker, Schuck’s, Kragen, and

Murray’s to strengthen its complement of NHRA title sponsorships to become the title sponsor of the Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals in

Pomona, set for Feb. 5-8.

Nov. 15: By qualifying for the 44th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Jeg Coughlin won his fourth Pro Stock world championship.

Nov. 16: Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), Ashley Force (Funny Car), Kurt Johnson (Pro Stock), and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) claimed the 2008 Full Throttle NHRA Pit Crew Championship in their respective categories.

Nov. 16:

Summit Racing Series national championships were won by Division 4’s Bart Nelson (Super Pro), Division 6’s Steve Kelly (Pro), Division 1’s Michael VanDenHeuvel (Sportsman), and Division 5’s Tom Klemme (Super Pro Bike) during eliminations at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals.

Nov. 16: Sixteen years after winning his first NHRA title, Funny Car veteran Cruz Pedregon returned to the top of the drag racing world after advancing to the quarterfinal round of the season-ending 44th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway. A few hours later, Eddie Krawiec delivered the fourth NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Pro Stock Motorcycle world championship in the past five years to Harley-Davidson and his Vance & Hines Screamin’ Eagle team by reaching the final round.

Nov. 16: Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and Chris Rivas (Pro Stock Motorcycle) won event titles at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season finale at Auto Club Raceway at

Pomona.

Nov. 17: Mike Neff was named the winner of the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future award as the season’s top Professional rookie.

Nov. 19: Matt Guidera renewed his major-sponsorship agreement with Brian Bozsum and Mohegan Sun Racing for the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season.

Nov. 21: Following an incredible season, Chevrolet won the 2008 NHRA Manufacturers Cup for the 17th time, the most ever by any automobile manufacturer.

Nov. 28: Newly crowned NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ Eddie Krawiec married Annemarie Tribuzio Friday at

St. Thomas More Church in Manalapan, N.J., just minutes from

Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, where they met.

DECEMBER

Dec. 1: NHRA nitro champs Tony Schumacher and Cruz Pedregon were among those named to the first team of the 2008 All-America Auto Racing Team.

Dec. 2: Former NHRA Nationals and March Meet winner Ted Cyr died of pharmaceutical complications following heart surgery in July. He was 79.

Dec. 3: Tim Buckley, owner of 3B Racing, and David Powers, owner of David Powers Motorsports, announced an agreement in which 3B Racing will become the sole owner of the Matco Tools Top Fueler driven by Antron Brown.

Dec. 3: Jeff Perley, the highly renowned Pro Stock crew chief who worked with Kurt Johnson from 1997 to 2001 and KB Racing during all of its four world championship seasons (2003 to 2006), was announced as co-crew chief with Mark Ingersoll for the J&J Racing Dodge team of driver Allen Johnson and his father and engine builder, Roy.

Dec. 4: Warren Johnson, Jim Yates, Cory McClenathan, and Jason Line returned to the United States after representing NHRA and General Motors on a seven-day USO-sponsored tour of U.S. military installations in Kuwait and

Germany.

Dec. 5: John Force received the MSEC Motorsports Achievement Award for his work in helping to establish The Eric Medlen Project.

Dec. 8: NHRA Technical Services announced that Top Fuel cars will be required to use the Electrimotion Safety Shutoff Controller in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. 

Dec. 8: It was announced that Erica Enders will compete full time in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series behind the wheel of Jim and Gloria Cunningham’s Mastercam Ford Mustang Pro Stocker.

Dec. 9: NHRA Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher was voted the 2008 Driver Of The Year by an elite panel of broadcasters and journalists. Schumacher became only the third NHRA driver to win the original Driver Of The Year award in its 42-year history.

Dec. 11: Don Prudhomme Racing announced that Larry Dixon has bought out the remainder of his employment contract from Don Prudhomme Racing. Later that day, DPR announced that Spencer Massey has been selected as driver of the team’s U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. Top Fuel dragster for the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Dec. 12: Morgan Lucas Racing and GEICO Inc., announced the joint multiyear sponsorship of the Forrest Lucas-owned NHRA Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster for the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season.

Dec. 12: Tony Schumacher became the first driver to win a second Economaki Champion of Champions award.

Dec. 13:  In a wintry, snow-laced ceremony, Ashley Force married Danny Hood on the shores of

Lake Tahoe in

Nevada.

Dec. 18: Ending months of speculation, two-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Larry Dixon was named the driver of the Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel dragster.

Dec. 19: Don Schumacher confirmed that Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Matt Smith will join Don Schumacher Racing to ride a DSR TL-1000 Suzuki sponsored by Nitro Fish Ultimate Gear and XXX Racing Fuels in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Schumacher also confirmed that he has released riders Chip Ellis and Craig Treble.

Dec. 19: NHRA Technical Services announced that the maximum nitromethane content for non-supercharged cars in the Top Alcohol Dragster class will be adjusted from 96 to 94 percent for 2009.  This requirement will be in effect for all events, except those conducted at Bandimere Speedway in

Denver, where 100 percent nitromethane will still be permitted.

Dec. 27: NHRA Top Fuel star Hillary Will claimed the inaugural Scott Kalitta Memorial Trophy by winning the  Shannons U.S.A. v. Australia Top Fuel Showdown at Western Sydney Int’l Dragway in

Sydney, Australia,

In a season in which old records were broken despite new rules that were in play and a year where new alliances were formed and old friends were lost, NHRA Drag Racing rose to meet challenges both old and new in a remarkable season of competition.

In the second of three installments of an annual NHRA.com feature, we take a look back at the year’s top headlines. Today: May through August. Among the news items were the loss of Scott Kalitta, the release of the 2009 Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule and an event-purse increase in excess of $1.3 million, the move to 1,00-foot racing, the official opening of zMax Dragway, and Tony Schumacher’s milestone 50th career win.

May 3: Frank Manzo shattered Tony Bartone’s record of 37 consecutive round-wins by increasing his total to 39 and counting with a win at

Virginia Motorsports Park.

May 4: John Force celebrated his 59th birthday by becoming the first driver to win 1,000 competitive rounds in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series when he drove his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang to a 4.862, 320.20 to beat Ron Capps in the first round in Madison.

May 4: Tim Wilkerson edged rookie Mike Neff in the

Madison final and took the Funny Car points lead for the first time in his career. Kurt Johnson scored in Pro Stock, Andrew Hines in Pro Stock Motorcycle, and Rod Fuller in Top Fuel.

May 6: Johnny West was named crew chief on the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driven by Jack Beckman, replacing Rick Cassel.

May 11: Holley announced that it will remain as title sponsor of the NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion for at least three more years.

May 14: NHRA Top Fuel driver Clay Millican, Funny Car racer Phil Burkart Jr., Pro Stock pilot Erica Enders, and NASCAR driver Jeremy Mayfield returned to the United States after spending seven days in Iraq on a Racing Heroes tour to meet U.S. troops serving overseas.

May 14: NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster drivers Kate and Diana Harker were selected with 16 other young women drivers across multiple motorsports arenas for consideration for the Lyn St. James Project Podium Scholarship grant.

May 17: Top Fuel racer and former USAC champion Doug Kalitta won the NHRA driver’s portion of the NHRA Circle Track Challenge at Bristol Motor Speedway, a companion feature to the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.

May 18: After a long day of rain delays, Tony Schumacher, Melanie Troxel, and Dave Connolly were finally crowned winners of the eighth annual O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Troxel became the second woman to score in Funny Car and the first to win in both nitro classes when she beat a fireballing Mike Neff in the final.

May 20: NHRA announced that Lucas Oil Products will be the title sponsor of the 2008 Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals at

Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, June 19-22.

May 23-25: NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series drivers were far from sitting out around the backyard barbecuing steaks. From Indianapolis to Charlotte, many of NHRA’s top drivers and teams are taking advantage of the intense focus on the weekend’s

Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 to help bring more awareness to NHRA Drag Racing.

May 23: Jim Yates and Richard Maskin, who teamed to win the 1996 NHRA Pro Stock world championship, announced they had partnered for the duration of the 2008 season.

May 25: In front of a NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 pre-race crowd of nearly 100,000, Mike Neff laid down one of the most impressive burnouts in recent memory on pit road.

May 27: After splitting with engine builder Richard Maskin earlier in the week, Justin Humphreys announced he would not be able to compete at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in

Topeka. A day later, he was offered a temporary ride in the Allen Johnson/Don Schumacher Dodge.

May 28:

Hurst Jaws of Life renewed its sponsorship as the official rescue tool of NHRA with a new three-year agreement.

May 28: Former NHRA Funny Car world champion Cruz Pedregon announced he would switch to a Toyota Solara body for the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals.

May 29: The Goodyear Tire & Rubber

Co.’s racing division announced the introduction of the next-generation rear drive tire for NHRA’s Top Fuel and Funny Car categories. The D2550 will be offered for optional use during the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown and the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk but will be the only offering for those applications beginning at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in

Denver.

May 30: Top Fuel driver Clay Millican and

Memphis businessman Mark Pickens announced they had formed a partnership with plans to debut a new race team in time for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

May 30: After sitting out the first part of the 2008 NHRA POWERade season, Joe Hartley returned to Top Fuel competition for the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals.

JUNE

June 1: Following historic wins by Ashley Force and Melanie Troxel, Hillary Will added her name to the short list of female Professional winners when she defeated Larry Dixon in the Top Fuel final at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals. Funny Car legend John Force hoisted Wally number 126, and Ron Krisher picked up the sixth Pro Stock win of his career.

June 5: NHRA announced that it had retained Edelman, PRWeek’s 2007 Large Agency of the Year, to provide support and counsel with the implementation of its national public-relations campaign.

June 6: NHRA’s Publications Department announced the first in a series of special NHRA-themed books with the release of Wally Parks, Hot Rodding’s Hero, a biography on the late NHRA founder.

June 7: Based on input from members of the Sportsman Racer Advisory Council, the oildown penalty policy was modified for NHRA Sportsman categories during qualifying or eliminations at NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series events.

June 7: Led by an impressive victory by Super Gas racer Michael Sawyer and a runner-up finish by Top Alcohol Funny Car kingpin Frank Manzo, the Northeast Division team held on to win its third straight overall team title in the Jegs Allstars event, held during the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals.

June 8: Tony Pedregon bounced back from a fire during qualifying Saturday to win the 38th event of his career at the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals. Also posting his 38th national event win was Kurt Johnson in Pro Stock. Tony Schumacher extended his Top Fuel points lead, and fourth-year Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Chris Rivas won for the first time in his career.

June 10: Sidelined Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Peggy Llewellyn announced her plans to return to the NHRA POWERade tour, most likely at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals.

June 10: Funny Car and Pro Mod driver Mike Ashley announced he would abandon his driving aspirations in all classes to devote his time exclusively to his growing Lend

America business. Eighteen days later, he sold his interest in the Gotham City Racing Funny Car team to his partner, Roger Burgess.

June 11: Steve Torrence, the 2005 NHRA Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster champion, was named to replace Alan Bradshaw as driver of the Vis Viva Living Force Energy Top Fuel dragster owned by Dexter Tuttle, beginning at the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals.

June 15: On a rare off weekend from the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, Pro Stock driver Jeg Coughlin scored a $25,000 victory at the Jegs U.S. Open Bracket Championships at O’Reilly Raceway Park at

Indianapolis.

June 15: After sitting out most of the season, Top Fuel racer Doug Foley announced his return to the class for the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals.

June 17: Kenny Bernstein confirmed that crew chief Jimmy Walsh had resigned from the Monster Energy Funny Car team and that Rick Cassel would take over tuning responsibilities.

June 21: Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta, 46, died from multiple injuries suffered after his car went out of control and crashed in a high-speed racing accident at

Old Bridge Township Raceway Park during the fourth and final round of qualifying at the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals.

June 22: The mood was understandably somber and the winner’s circle celebration subdued as Tony Schumacher, Tim Wilkerson, Greg Anderson, and Chip Ellis were crowned champions at the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals.

June 24: Still recovering from a crash earlier in the season, Kenny Koretsky put Richie Stevens Jr. in the seat of his Nitro Fish/Indicom Electric Pro Stock Pontiac GXP for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.

June 27: While still conducting its investigation into the tragic accident that took the life of Scott Kalitta, NHRA announced some of its initial findings and subsequent steps being taken to continue its efforts to make the sport safer.

June 28: Allen Johnson won the NHRA K&N Horsepower Challenge title when he bested Greg Anderson in the final of the special race-within-a-race bonus event for Pro Stock competitors contested during the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. Johnson earned $50,000.

June 29: Five months after losing his teenage sons in a traffic accident, Doug Herbert scored an emotional first Top Fuel win of the season at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, and 18-year Pro Stock Motorcycle veteran Hector Arana, twice a runner-up in his 149 starts, finally collected his first victory. They were joined in the winner’s circle by Tony Pedregon (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock).

JULY

July 2: NHRA announced that beginning at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, Top Fuel and Funny Car races would compete to 1,000 feet instead of the traditional 1,320 feet as an interim step while NHRA continued to analyze and determine whether changes should be made to build upon the sport’s long-standing safety record.

July 2: Five-time NHRA POWERade Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher was nominated for the ESPY Best Driver award and Funny Car racer Ashley Force for the ESPY Hummer Like Nothing Else award.

July 9: NHRA released its 24-event 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule. In addition, officials announced an event-purse increase in excess of $1.3 million.

July 9: Pro Stock Motorcycle fan-favorite Peggy Llewellyn announced she would return to competition at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals aboard a second Rocklin Motorsports Buell as a teammate of Matt Guidera.

July 10: The NHRA Technical Department announced that incident data recorders will be required for all Pro Stock teams.

July 10: Veteran nitro tuner Jimmy Walsh rejoined Tuttle Motorsports. Walsh previously worked for team owner Dexter Tuttle in 2006 before accepting a position with Kenny Bernstein’s Funny Car team early in 2007.

July 10: NHRA announced that beginning in

Denver, the monetary fines imposed on the Professional categories associated with the oildown policy would be eliminated until further notice but that points deductions associated would continue to be enforced.

July 11: NHRA announced the members of its safety task force, created to investigate, analyze, and determine ways to implement the initiatives outlined by NHRA to continue to enhance safety.

July 12:

Maple Grove Raceway tallied 37 points to beat out Mason-Dixon Dragway for the team championship at the 2008 NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League Eastern Conference Finals presented by Gaged Engineering, becoming the first track in Conference Finals/National Championships history to win three team championships.

July 13: At the 29th running of the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel) and Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car) scored hard-earned wins at the first event where nitro racing was contested to 1,000 feet. Greg Anderson scored in Pro Stock, and Matt Smith defended his Pro Stock Motorcycle crown.

July 17: Top Fuel pilot Brandon Bernstein flew with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, pulling 9.2 Gs during his ride in an F-16.

July 17: On the heels of the disappointing announcement July 16 by NOPI Motorsports regarding the cancellation of the remainder of the NOPI Drag Racing Series season, NHRA outlined the classes in which sport compact racers can compete in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series and NHRA Summit Racing Series.

July 20: Tony Bartone scored his first Pro victory in his 119th start in Funny Car at the Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals. Tony Schumacher kept alive his bid to become the sixth Pro driver to sweep the Western Swing, and Jason Line triumphed in Pro Stock.

July 22: NHRA announced that racing in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series classes of Top Fuel and Funny Car would continue to be contested over a 1,000-foot course for the duration of the 2008 season.

July 22: It was announced that NHRA POWERade drivers would compete against each other Aug. 14 in the NHRA Softball Classic, a special softball game that will benefit the Drag Racing Association of Women.

July 24: After a national search, NHRA hired Glen Gray, formerly of Delphi Corp. and its electronics and safety division, for the newly created position of vice president of technical operations.

July 24: In yet another indication of its increasing strength in the highly competitive sports marketplace, NHRA announced that its NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series ratings on ESPN2 are up 30 percent and household impressions are up 34 percent.

July 26: Rocky Mountain Raceways boasted two individual champions — Jake Jones (age 11) and Chance Parker (15) — and collected the team championship at this year’s NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League Western Conference Finals presented by JR Race Car.

July 27: Tony Schumacher won the Top Fuel title at the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals, his fifth win in the last six NHRA national events and a sweep of the Western Swing. He was joined in the winner’s circle by Robert Hight (Funny Car), Dave Connolly (Pro Stock ), and Matt Guidera (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

July 27: Ralph Truppi, who during his longtime partnership with Tommy Kling built engines since the 1960s for many top Division 1 Super Stock and Stock entries, died after a long illness.

July 29: Top Fuel owner/driver Morgan hired tuner Jimmy Walsh.

July 30: Robert Hight threw out the first pitch prior to the Los Angeles Dodgers versus San Francisco Giants game at Dodger Stadium. John Force Racing also announced Hight would run a commemorative Dodgers 50th Anniversary paint scheme at the final two NHRA events of the season.

July 30:

Gotham City Racing announced it would carry the Rite Aid Pharmacy logo and colors as the title sponsor on its second Funny Car and return two-time NHRA Funny Car world champion Frank Hawley to NHRA competition for two races in August.

July 31: Kalitta Motorsports team owner Connie Kalitta announced that he would bring son Scott’s DHL Toyota Solara Funny Car back into racing action with Jeff Arend as driver for the remainder of the 2008 season beginning with the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

AUGUST

Aug. 3: Daniel Wilkerson defeated Ashley Force to win the 31st annual ACDelco Night Under Fire at

Summit Motorsports Park in

Norwalk. Wilkerson beat his father, Tim, and Force beat her father, John, to set up the final.

Aug. 4: Veteran nitro tuner Nick Boninfante Jr. is named co-crew chief on the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster driven by 30-time NHRA national event champion Doug Kalitta for Kalitta Motorsports, beginning at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd.

Aug. 9: Top Fuel driver Clay Millican and partner Mark Pickens announced they would debut their new Top Fuel team in time for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals with veteran tuner Lance Larsen serving as the team’s crew chief.

Aug. 10: Tony Schumacher won his milestone 50th Top Fuel title and ninth of the season when he defeated teammate Cory McClenathan in the final round of the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals. Schumacher was joined in the Brainerd winner’s circle by Tony Pedregon, Kurt Johnson, and Matt Smith.

Aug. 13: Fourteen-time NHRA POWERade Funny Car world champion John Force was one of seven inductees into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in

Novi, Mich.

Aug. 17: Tony Schumacher defeated Larry Dixon to score a class-record-tying fifth straight victory in Top Fuel and run his unbeaten streak at the 1,000-foot distance to 20 straight rounds with a victory at the 24th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals. Matt Smith scored his second straight final-round victory over Angelle Sampey in Pro Stock Motorcycle, and Jack Beckman and Jeg Coughlin each earned their second wins of the season in Funny Car and Pro Stock, respectively.

Aug. 19: Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Craig Treble announced he will ride for Don Schumacher Racing through the remainder of the 2008 season after leaving Harry Lartigue’s Team Tigue following Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals in

Reading.

Aug. 20: Defending Pro Stock world champion Jeg Coughlin and his Cagnazzi Racing teammate, Dave Connolly, used their race cars Wednesday morning to officially open zMax Dragway in

Charlotte.

Aug. 25: Halie Schmidt was hired as community relations manager for NHRA after spending several years at public relations agencies working with clients such as Toyota, Yamaha, and Mattel Hot Wheels on various automotive and motorsports initiatives.

Aug. 25: The KB Racing team of Greg Anderson and Jason Line announced it would field a third Pro Stocker at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, run by the team’s induction specialist, Wilson Manifolds of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and driven by Robbie Mansfield, an employee of Wilson Manifolds.

Aug. 26: NHRA announced that it had modified the top end at O’Reilly Raceway Park at

Indianapolis to assist in keeping race vehicles at the top end of the racetrack within the confines of the dragstrip. The modifications include 4-foot-high concrete walls on each side of the sand trap, an eight-foot-high catch fence, catch fences alongside the sand trap, and two catch nets.

Aug. 27: Valerie Thompson, a two-time Bonneville land speed record holder who has spent the last two years in the All Harley Drag Racing Association’s V-Rod Destroyer class, announced she would make her Pro Stock Motorcycle debut at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

Aug. 29: For their ongoing dedication and commitment to NHRA Drag Racing in the Professional and Sportsman ranks, Forrest and Charlotte Lucas were honored at a trackside presentation held prior to the first Funny Car qualifying session Friday at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. NHRA President Tom Compton led the on-track presentation dedicating the west grandstand suite complex at O’Reilly Raceway Park at

Indianapolis in their honor.

Aug. 29: Charlie Westcott Jr. drove his War Fish Barracuda to the SS/AH class title at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, winning the NHRA Mopar Hemi Challenge for the third time in the last four years. Wescott defeated Bucky Hess in the final, 8.65 to 8.86.

Aug. 29: The 54th running of the world’s most prestigious drag race, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, was once again the centerpiece of significantly enhanced media coverage in major national media outlets, including USA Today, National Speed Sport News, and RACER magazine.

Aug. 30: The most decorated Top Fuel crew chief in NHRA history, Alan Johnson, announced he will field a two-car team in 2009 through a partnership with Qatar-based Al-Anabi Racing. A seven-time NHRA Top Fuel champion, Johnson has tuned Tony Schumacher to the last four Top Fuel titles and the current points lead.

Aug. 30: For the fifth straight year, a Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson V-Rod claimed the $25,000 top prize in the Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle as Eddie Krawiec earned his first victory in NHRA competition with a final-round victory over his Vance & Hines teammate Andrew Hines, who fouled.

Aug. 31: Cruz Pedregon defeated Tim Wilkerson in the final to claim his first U.S. Smokeless Showdown title and the $100,000 that goes with it. Appearing in the bonus event for the 10th time, Pedregon beat his brother Tony and Del Worsham to advance to his fifth Showdown final.

Aug. 31: With two winners on Sunday, the home team from Firebird Raceway earned its fifth overall team title at NHRA’s Northwest Division Summit Racing Series Finals in

Bosie, Idaho. Nampa, Idaho, resident Derric Barr won the Super Pro title, and Aaron McCoy of

Meridian, Idaho, won the Sport Compact class to lead the charge.

 

Will wins Scott Kalitta Memorial Trophy in Sydney

NHRA Top Fuel star Hillary Will claimed the inaugural Scott Kalitta Memorial Trophy by winning the  Shannons U.S.A. v. Australia Top Fuel Showdown at Western Sydney Int’l Dragway in

Sydney, Australia, Sunday.

Will, a 28-year old native of

Fortuna, Calif., was the only American competing in the event. Her team, led by crew chief Jim Oberhofer, was plagued by many mechanical problems throughout the event but posted the quickest lap of the event in the final round by defeating Aussie Terry Sainty, 4.743 seconds, 303.16 mph to 5.284 sec., 260.51 mph.

Will, the No. 3 qualifier (5.519 sec., 197.94 mph) defeated No. 6 qualifier Mark Mariani in round one of eliminations after Mariani’s dragster would not go into reverse after the burnout. Will got the solo run and advanced to the semifinals after smoking the tires immediately upon hitting the throttle, 13.309 sec., 79.83 mph.

In the semifinals, Will raced against Martin Stamatis. Will got a huge starting line advantage (.118 sec. to .334 sec.), but both dragsters struggled to maintain traction when they got near half-track. When all of the smoke cleared, Will’s win light was on after the pedal-fest, 5.909 sec., 189.31 mph to 6.054 sec., 155.47 mph to advance to the final against Sainty.

“This means so much to me and this team,” Will, who has now claimed Top Fuel titles in three different sanctioning bodies (ANDRA, NHRA, and IHRA), said. “To get this trophy and take it back to the States is such an honor for us. Scott was my mentor, and he was like a brother to me. We miss him so much, but we are so happy to win this trophy for Connie, Doug, Scott’s wife Kathy, and his boys, Corey and Colin and the entire Kalitta family.”

Hillary Will

 NHRA Top Fuel star Hillary Will, the world’s fastest female, qualified in the No. 3 (5.013 seconds, 213.47 mph) spot for tomorrow’s final eliminations of the Shannons U.S.A. vs. Australia Top Fuel Showdown at Western Sydney Int’l Dragway in

Sydney, Australia.

Will, a 28-year old native of

Fortuna, Calif., is the only American competing in the event. Her team, led by crew chief Jim Oberhofer, was plagued by many mechanical problems throughout the three sessions of qualifying Friday at WSID and had to hurry to make their final attempt, which looked strong early but faded down track. Will’s 5.013-second lap from the first qualifying session of the day ended up being the team’s best. Will and the other seven competitors in tomorrow’s Top Fuel eliminations will be vying to win the inaugural Scott Kalitta Memorial Trophy.

Will is set to race against No. 6 qualifier (5.519 sec., 197.94 mph) Mark Mariani in round one of eliminations tomorrow afternoon.

The 2008 racing season was the best of Hillary Will’s three-year career as a professional driver. Will became the fastest woman in the world when she posted a 335-MPH lap down the quarter-mile race track at the first event in the 2008 NHRA season. Will then powered her 8,000-horsepower, nitro-fueled dragster to a career-high fourth place finish in championship points after scoring three final-round finishes and five semi-final round finishes. She picked up an emotional first NHRA national event title in

Topeka, Kan., June 1, 2008.

Scott Kalitta, a teammate of Will’s at Kalitta Motorsports and the 2005 and 2006 champion of the U.S.A. vs. Australia Top Fuel Showdown, died June 21, 2008, from injuries he suffered in a high-speed Funny Car racing accident at

Old Bridge Township Raceway Park during qualifying for the NHRA national event in

Englishtown, N.J.

Scott, the son of Kalitta Motorsports team owner and drag racing legend Connie Kalitta, was a two-time NHRA Top Fuel World Champion (1994-1995) and the winner of 18 NHRA national events (17 Top Fuel, 1 Funny Car). Scott is survived by his father, Connie; wife, Kathy; and sons, Corey, 15, and Colin, 9.

Year in review, Part 1: Forces shine, rules changes, and friends we lost

In a season in which old records were broken despite new rules that were in play and a year where new alliances were formed and old friends were lost, NHRA Drag Racing rose to meet challenges both old and new in a remarkable season of competition.

In the first of three installments of an annual NHRA.com feature, we take a look back at the year’s top headlines. Today: January through April.

Jan. 2: Bob Gilbertson announced that Nicky Boninfante Jr. will rejoin the Terminator Motorsports team as crew chief for the 2008 season.

Jan. 5: NASCAR road course specialist Boris Said beat Top Fuel pro Morgan Lucas by 1.07 seconds in the final round of the NASCAR vs. NHRA Challenge to claim glory for the roundy-round set at the Olympic Bobsled Course in

Lake Placid, N.Y.

Jan. 8: Canidae All Natural Pet Foods, a leading manufacturer of super premium dog and cat foods, announced that it will be the primary sponsor on Jim Dunn Racing’s Chevrolet Funny Car for the 2008 NHRA POWERade season.

Jan. 9: Torco Racing Fuels announced an interruption for its 2008 racing season. The break will include sidelining all Knoll Gas Motorsports teams, including those owned by Evan Knoll and sponsored by Torco Racing Fuels.

Jan. 10: NHRA announced modifications to the NHRA POWERade Countdown to the Championship, expanded the playoff fields to 10 drivers in each class, up from eight in 2007, and changing the playoffs to one six-race format instead of the previous two-tiered schedule.

Jan. 10: Team owner Don Prudhomme and owner/driver Tim Wilkerson announced an alliance for the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing season that will create the ability for the two teams to share resources and discuss tuning decisions, while generating new opportunities for their sponsors.

Jan. 11: In an effort to maintain a high level of communication between race officials and participants, the NHRA announced the formation of a Sportsman Racer Advisory Council to provide a means for discussing and evaluating rules and regulations pertaining to Sportsman racing at NHRA events.

Jan. 11: After losing his Torco sponsorship, Mike Ashley announced a racing partnership with ProCare Rx Chairman and Co-Founder Roger Burgess to field a Funny Car with Melanie Troxel behind the wheel, and while aggressively seeking additional long-term sponsorship to field a second Funny Car.

Jan. 12: Rick Jones’ Quarter-Max Racing team announced that it would be competing in NHRA Pro Stock in 2008 with his son, Rickie, behind the wheel.

Jan. 13: Don Schumacher announced that Chip Ellis will join the Don Schumacher Racing stable for the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing season in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class on a an entry sponsored by Schumacher Electric under a developmental relationship with Suzuki.

Jan. 15: NHRA was named the Diversity in Motorsports Award winner at the Fox Theatre in

Detroit during the 12th annual Urban Wheel Awards. The Urban Wheel Awards ceremony is the only official event honoring African-Americans, Latinos and Asians during the North American International Auto Show.

Jan. 16: NHRA announced a new Professional qualifying format in which only the top 12 elapsed times in each pro category will be provisionally recorded prior to the last day of qualifying. Those teams who were unable to earn a provisional spot in the top 12 will have an opportunity to make the 16-car starting order during the final day of qualifying.

Jan. 18: It was announced that Chris Rivas will ride the Drag Specialties S&S Cycle Proven Performance-powered Buell for G Squared Motorsports in 2008.

Jan. 21: Team owner Don Schumacher confirmed that Jerry Toliver would drive the Rockstar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing in the 2008 season.

Jan. 23: Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. renewed its title sponsorship of the NHRA POWERade Series event at scenic Maple Grove Raceway in southeast

Pennsylvania.

Jan. 24: NHRA announced that the Sept. 11-14 national event on the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series schedule will be held in

Charlotte, N.C., at a new state-of-the-art facility being built by Speedway Motorsports Inc.

Jan. 26: The two young sons of Top Fuel racer Doug Herbert were killed in an automobile accident in

Cornelius, N.C. Jon, 17, and James, 12, died instantly when their Mazda3 collided with a second vehicle.

Jan. 26: Former Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Antron Brown made the necessary runs in his Matco Tools dragster to earn his crossover Top Fuel license at Firebird Int’l Raceway near

Phoenix.

Jan. 26: Five-time and reigning NHRA POWERade Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher was the quickest driver during the annual National Time Trials at Firebird Int’l Raceway. Schumacher zipped down the

Phoenix quarter-mile in 4.480 seconds. Schumacher’s teammate under the Don Schumacher Racing umbrella, Ron Capps, was best in Funny Car with an impressive 4.785 at 322.34 mph.

Jan. 28: Following four months of intensive rehabilitation following the most serious crash of his Pro career, 14-time NHRA champion John Force returned to battle with an unexpected and spectacular 4.782, 327.51 pass during pre-season testing in

Phoenix.

Jan. 30: Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer O. Bruton Smith unveiled plans for a state-of-the-art drag racing facility that he said would become “the Bellagio of dragstrips.”

FEBRUARY

Feb. 1: Bob Tasca III completed the final step needed for entrance into NHRA’s Funny Car class with a 4.96 at 317 mph run during testing at Firebird Int’l Raceway in

Phoenix.

Feb. 2: Picking up where he left off last year, reigning NHRA POWERade Pro Stock world champion Jeg Coughlin scored the win at the annual Pontiac Pro Stock Showdown at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a final-round victory over the Mopar Dodge Stratus of Allen Johnson.

Feb. 4: Pro Stock racer Max Naylor announced a new title sponsor for his Dodge Stratus R/T: Phoenix-based VegasFuel Energy Drink.

Feb. 5: Bruton Smith, Concord, N.C., Mayor Scott Padgett, and Jay White, chairman of the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners, broke ground for The Dragway @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in

Charlotte.

Feb. 6: 2007 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle world champ Matt Smith announced that he would attempt to defend his title in 2008 with the help of Kenny Korestsky’s company, Nitro Fish.

Feb. 9: Procter & Gamble, through its Old Spice brand, was introduced as the major sponsor of the John Force Racing Ford Mustang driven by rookie Mike Neff.

Feb. 10: Schumacher moved into second place on the all-time NHRA Top Fuel wins list with a victory at the season-opening CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals. Funny Car star Robert Hight and Pro Stock front-runner Greg Anderson joined Schumacher in the winner’s circle of historic Auto Club Raceway at

Pomona as the trio kicked off the year with thrilling final-round victories over Cory McClenathan, Cruz Pedregon, and Jeg Coughlin, respectively.

Feb. 13: The Motorsports Hall of Fame of

America announced that Force, open-wheel racing champion Michael Andretti, and NASCAR legend Buddy Baker will be among those honored when the organization stages its annual induction ceremony Aug. 13 at the Fillmore Detroit.

Feb. 16: Two-time Funny Car world champion Frank Hawley renewed his NHRA Funny Car license at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hawley ran a 4.875 at 318.62 mph behind the wheel of Mike Ashley’s developmental car and a 4.901 at 325.61 mph in Melanie Troxel’s ProCare Rx Dodge Charger R/T to fulfill his re-licensing requirements.

Feb. 24: Brittany and Courtney Force and Adria Hight accepted the Justice Brothers-Shav Glick Award on behalf of their father John Force, who was racing at the Checker Schuck’s Kragen NHRA Nationals in

Phoenix. The annual award, presented in conjunction with the Auto Club 500 at California Speedway, recognizes those who have made distinguished contributions to motorsports in

California.

Feb. 25: O’Reilly Auto Parts signed a multiyear extension to be the title-rights sponsor of the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals through 2010.

Feb. 26: Two-time NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series world champ Larry Dixon scored in Top Fuel at the 24th annual Checker Schuck’s Kragen NHRA Nationals presented by Castrol at Firebird Int’l Raceway to collect his 42nd win, tying him with Tony Schumacher for second place in career class victories, 10 behind retired class-leading legend Joe Amato.

Dixon beat Dave Grubnic to capture top honors at the second round of the 24-event NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Jack Beckman scored his fourth win in Funny Car and denied points leader Robert Hight his second straight win of the season, and V. Gaines scored his first Pro Stock win in seven years, winning the final round over 2006 season champ Jason Line.

Feb. 26: NHRA signed an onsite display deal with the Ford Customer Service Division that will enhance the automotive division’s return to professional drag racing.

Feb. 28: NHRA announced that the Jegs ProMod Challenge exhibitions will be held at 10 NHRA national events in 2008, beginning at the 39th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals in

Gainesville.

MARCH

March 2: John Buttera, 67, who left his stamp on the drag racing world in the 1970s building a series of winning Funny Cars and dragsters, died after a long battle with cancer.

March 5: Former NHRA Top Fuel driver Mike Smith announced that he would make his NHRA Funny Car debut during the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals.

March 7: Andrew Hines blasted out a

South Georgia Motorsports Park track record of 6.889 at 193.13 mph during testing, which was the first time that Hines had been in the 6.8s with his Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson.

March 8: Top stars from the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series participated in the sixth annual NHRA Tour de Charity at the

Infineon Raceway Karting Center and raised $14,000 for Speedway Children’s Charities.

March 8: Veteran drag racer John Shoemaker, 65, died from injuries suffered when his nostalgia Top Fuel dragster went out of control and crashed during a qualifying run at the March Meet at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in

Bakersfield, Calif.

March 9: Jack Harris (Top Fuel) and Bucky Austin (Funny Car) led the winner’s list at the 50th annual March Meet, which was the first event of the new NHRA Hot Rod Heritage series.

March 12: In a surprise announcement, sidelined Top Fuel racer Clay Millican confirmed that he will compete at the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals.

March 14: The first meeting of the NHRA Sportsman Racer Advisory Council was held during the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals.

March 16: Reigning NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series world champs Tony Schumacher, Tony Pedregon, and Jeg Coughlin collected victories at the 39th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals. No. 1 qualifier Matt Guidera won Pro Stock Motorcycle with a blistering string of four six-second passes.

March 17: Former NHRA Top Fuel national event winner Pat Dakin, who hadn’t piloted a fuel dragster since October 1998, returned to the cockpit following the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals during a test session at Gainesville Raceway to make runs to renew his Top Fuel license.

March 18: Wayne McMurtry, NHRA’s recently retired vice president of facilities operation and development and an NHRA employee since 1981, joined the board of directors of The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by Automobile Club of Southern California.

March 20: It was announced that NHRA POWERade Funny Car world champ Tony Pedregon and fellow NHRA racers Whit Bazemore and Marty Nothstein will participate in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Pro/Celebrity race, April 19.

March 20: Former NHRA Funny Car national event winner Al Hofmann, 60, died of a heart attack.

March 24: Team owner Dexter Tuttle announced that his Alan Bradshaw-driven Vis Viva Top Fueler would fly the colors of Shell’s V-Power fuel additive at the POWERade events in Houston and

Las Vegas.

March 24: NHRA announced weight adjustments for Pro Stock Motorcycle competitors; adding five pounds to all S&S Buell V-Twin entries; and removing five pounds from the two-valve Suzukis and 15 pounds from the four-valve Kawasakis.

March 25: Morgan Lucas Racing announced that crew chief and general manager John Stewart would tune both Lucas’ Top Fuel dragster and that of teammate J.R. Todd following the departure of Richard Hogan.

March 25: NHRA announced that it has retained the services of L. Daniel Metz, Ph.D., P.E., to provide valuable technical analysis and engineering expertise to the sanctioning body on short- and long-term initiatives in both the Professional and Sportsman categories.

March 26: PiranaZ was announced as the sponsor of Junior Pippin’s Pro Stock Motorcycle team for the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

March 27: Legendary Funny Car racer, fabricator, and race car restoration guru Pat Foster, 68, died after a short illness.

March 27: Tradicion Azul Tequila was announced as the sponsor of NHRA nitro Funny Car racer Bob Gilbertson.

March 30: Richard Hogan was hired to be the co-crew chief on the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster driven by Doug Kalitta in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

March 30: Antron Brown became the first NHRA driver to win in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle with his first Top Fuel victory at the O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at

Houston Raceway Park while Del Worsham thwarted history by preventing Ashley Force from becoming the first female winner in Funny Car. Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also collected wins.

APRIL

April 2: Prompted by the team’s decision to part ways with crew chief Mike Kloeber, Chris Cunningham assumed full crew chief responsibilities for Funny Car rookie Bob Tasca III.

April 5: Charlie Westcott Jr. reaffirmed his status as the king of the Mopar Hemi Challenge with a dominating victory at the Jegs NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals at No Problem Raceway Park.

April 6: Drag racing legend Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins underwent heart treatment after experiencing a drop in blood pressure but recovered quickly enough to be at the next event to help with Dave Northrop’s Pro Stock team.

April 7: Kevin Self and Jeff Strickland led the winner’s list as more than 400 racers took part in the annual Jegs NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals at No Problem raceway Park in Belle Rose, La.

April 12: NHRA Top Fuel racer Doug Kalitta, a sprint-car racer early in his motorsports career, won the 15-lap Stars of the NHRA Thunder Roadster on the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

April 13: It was announced that NASCAR racer and Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick and his wife, DeLana, have teamed with NHRA Drag Racing veteran Bob Vandergriff Jr. to explore the option of fielding a Top Fuel dragster in NHRA competition.

April 13: Cory McClenathan claimed his first Top Fuel win in more than a year, and Tim Wilkerson ended a winless drought that extended back to the 2004

Sonoma event during the final rounds of the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. They were joined in the winner’s circle by former NHRA POWERade Pro Stock world champion Jason Line.

April 13: With her runner-up finish in Funny Car at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals, Ashley Force made history by becoming the first woman to lead the POWERade points in that class.

April 14: NHRA announced that it had entered into a strategic alliance with global sports and entertainment company IMG, which will assist the premier drag racing sanctioning body as its exclusive outside sponsorship marketing agent.

April 14: Billy Williams, 63, who won the 1979 NHRA Pro Comp championship and twice won the U.S. Nationals, died. He had been hospitalized since he was critically injured March 22, 2002, after a crash in his Top Alcohol Funny Car in

Rockingham, N.C.

April 18: NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle rookie Angie McBride and Indicom Electric signed a sponsorship deal for the next three NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series races.

April 19: Greg Carrillo, a 20-year veteran of NHRA Sportsman racing, announced that he will step into NHRA’s Professional ranks later this season in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series with a new entry in Top Fuel.

April 19: Two-time and defending NHRA POWERade Series Funny Car world champion Tony Pedregon finished fifth in the Pro/Celebrity race at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. He was first among the drag racers — Whit Bazemore finished sixth overall and Marty Nothstein finished eighth — and second among the pros behind only Craftsman Truck Series driver Mike Skinner.

April 22: Paul Blevins, one of the successful campaigners in NHRA’s Modified class with a U.S. Nationals title, world championship, divisional championships, and national records to his credit and later a standout racer in the Pro Stock ranks, died.

April 24: Former NHRA Pro Stock champion Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins and NHRA racing pioneer Art Arfons were inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame at the Speed Channel Dome in

Talledega, Ala.

April 24: Pro Stock racer Jim Cunningham announced that he would return to competition at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals with his Ford Mustang entry.

April 24: Former NHRA Top Fuel world championship car owner and driver Gaines Markley, 66, died after a lengthy hospitalization.

April 25: In a joint announcement, it was revealed that Coca-Cola North America’s Full Throttle energy drink will succeed POWERade as the title sponsor of NHRA’s premier Professional drag racing series in 2009.

April 25: After an exhaustive review of 4,365 entries in a naming contest for Lowe’s Motor Speedway’s new dragstrip, Speedway Motorsports officials selected zMAX Dragway @ Concord as the official name for the facility.

April 27: After running just one of the season’s first six events, Mike Ashley announced his return to NHRA Funny Car competition for five races, beginning with the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals.

April 27: Ashley Force etched her name into the annals of drag racing history when she defeated her father, John, in the final round at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals to become the first woman to win an NHRA Funny Car title. Joining Force in the winner’s circle were Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock), and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

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A John Force Christmas: The champ remembers his best Christmas ever

“My whole family was together, we didn’t have much, but we loved each other. Is there anything else you really need?” – John Force

Everyone loves a great Christmas story and all drag racing fans love a great John Force story, so what could be better than both wrapped up in one neat holiday present? Six years ago, Force shared with NHRA.com’s Rob Geiger the memories of his “best Christmas ever,” 1955, when he was six years old and wanted nothing more from Santa than a toy logging truck like the one operated by his dad, Harold. But times were hard in the Force household back in those days, and it took some real Christmas magic to make a little boy’s dreams come true.

Every couple of years, fan demand for the republishing of this tale swells as they, too, remember little Johnny’s most special Christmas. It’s our holiday gift to you. Enjoy!

The year was 1955 and the man who would become drag racing’s greatest driver was just 6 years old. Like most boys that age, little Johnny Force desperately wanted Santa Claus to bring him a favored toy on Christmas Day. Problem was, the Force family was struggling to make ends meet, and as young Johnny addressed his letter to the North Pole he had no way of knowing his parents were praying for a way to simply feed their five kids a Christmas dinner.

It was that year, as a chilling wind blew a thick blanket of snow across Northern California’s logging district, that John Force’s family came together and helped him realize the true meaning of Christmas.

“I’m going to tell you a story that really matters,” Force said. “It was a moment of a family coming together and doing a great thing. Three brothers and a sister, you think they don’t care about you, but that year the little kid with the runny nose had his Christmas in a way I never would have expected. That’s when I learned what Christmas meant.”

It had been another tough year for the Force family. John’s father, Harold, was a logger but a heavier than normal snowfall had closed the local mill sooner than anyone expected. Like the rest of the men on the crew, Harold was given an $80 allowance to carry him through the winter until the mill re-opened in the early spring.

Force’s mother, Betty Ruth, was of Indian descent so the family took advantage of her heritage and found a small house and barn on the Hoopa Indian Reservation, which they rented for $55 a month. The place was in a small town called Redwood Creek, just north of Eureka, Calif.

“We lived on the reservation but we didn’t live in teepees,” Force said. “It wasn’t like that. It was just a small house, but it was home. I went back there a few weeks ago and it was very emotional. The house is pretty much gone, but the barn out back was still there, and it’s still full of bats. No one knew my mother was an Indian, from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, but back then it sure helped because we were able to stay on the reservation, and it was right by where my dad was working.”

At his age, lil’ Johnny didn’t understand the financial ramifications of the logging off-season and the belt-tightening his family was experiencing never seemed like a big deal.

“We were eating bologna sandwiches with no bologna,” Force said. “They were really just mustard sandwiches, and we had potatoes. Believe it or not, that’s still my favorite food. I was asked that once by a reporter and I said right away, ‘Bologna sandwiches without bologna, just the mustard.’ You know why? Because when I sat down with dad and he would reach over and wipe a little mustard off my chin and tell me he loved me; that’s all I needed. I’m about to cry right now just thinking about it.”

As Christmas approached, Johnny finished up his handwritten letter to Santa Claus, confident his wish would be answered.

The object of Force’s desires.

“All I wanted was a toy logging truck,” Force said. “It was a real nice truck, all cast metal. It was one of those good toys that last forever. The kind they don’t make any more. Well, I found out the truck cost $18, even back then. That’s a lot of money now so you can imagine how much it was to us in 1955. It was just too big a deal to even consider.”

Any hope Johnny had for last-minute magic from the jolly red elf was quickly dashed by his mother, who told him with tears in her eyes that Santa wouldn’t be by that year.

“It’s snowing a lot, like a blizzard, and it’s three days before Christmas,” Force said. “Mom sits me down and convinces me that Santa wasn’t going to make it. She told me he couldn’t get his sleigh in there. I argued that he flies in from above, that it shouldn’t be a problem. But she said it wasn’t gonna happen. I was crushed, and so was she.”

The bad news didn’t stop there. Earlier in the year, Force had a found a puppy that followed with him everywhere, but the young dog was a little too rambunctious and had become a bit of a nuisance, not to mention a small but persistent drain on the family finances.

“My dad said Flicker – that was my dog’s name – had to go,” Force said. “We couldn’t afford to feed him plus he kept chasing the horse through the corn so he was killing the little bit of stuff we had to eat. I cried all the way to the pound in Eureka but my dad said it was for the best because a good family would get him. He said Flicker would probably be some rich kid’s Christmas present.

“Next to my mom and dad dying later in my life, giving up Flicker was the most painful thing that ever happened to me. I’ve never told this to anyone before. I doubt anyone outside my family even knows I had a dog named Flicker.

“I was feeling sorry for myself. I fell asleep at my mama’s feet on the floorboard of this old ‘56 Buick Dynaflow. I didn’t have my dog no more, Santa wasn’t coming, and I wasn’t getting the logging truck. It didn’t look like it was going to be much of a Christmas.”

But then, as is often the case around Christmastime, some special things began to happen just as little Johnny was giving up hope.

“My brother Louie could see how upset I was when we got home,” Force said. “So the next day he got up early and went out in the snow and built me this log camp with a log pond and everything. A log pond is where the trucks would unload. He spent three days out there building this deal, stripping tree branches, and putting it all together. He filled the pond with water and it froze over right away. It was the most awesome thing. I already had a toy tractor and a bulldozer and then I had this log camp and pond. I thought it was the greatest gift ever, even though it all washed away in the spring. I’ll never forget it to this day how hard he worked. He made roads and ramps and everything. It was an area about as big as a car.

The inspiration for Force’s wish came from the logging truck operated by his father, Harold.

“On Christmas, my dad decided that at the very least we were going to have a good Christmas dinner. Not the usual turkey and ham, but my dad made a spear from a wooden pole and a knife tied to the end and went to the creek to get us some food. We couldn’t even fish the normal way because we couldn’t afford fishing line.

“So it was snowing really hard and dad and I were standing on the side of the creek trying to get dinner. The salmon were going upstream and you could get them pretty easy. Well, my dad had just speared this big ol’ fish when this game warden caught him. I mean, he hadn’t speared that thing for more than a second when the game warden showed up.

“My dad never had any luck. If he owned a boat, it sank. Nothing ever went right for my dad. It’s like my brother Louie, nothing ever seems to go right for him either. But everything seems to go right for me. God must think he’s helping the wrong guy.

“Anyway, the warden’s got us red-handed but right then something happened and all I could think was that it had something to do with Christmas. My dad didn’t have a fishing permit and he told the warden, ‘If I could afford a fishing permit I would have bought a turkey.’ The warden looked at us and said, ‘I’m gonna turn my back here and just walk away.’ He let us go! I’ll never forget that guy’s face as long as I live and I was just a kid when I saw him. He was a big, strong man. He was a country man. The kind of guy you want to grow up and be. He had power over us but he was a good man.”

It appeared the pieces were beginning to fall into place.

“We even had a Christmas tree because back then you could just walk into the forest and cut one down,” Force said. “That was before Lady Bird Johnson put a ban on that kind of stuff. She did away with logging to save the birds and now the birds are alive and the loggers have all died off.

“The point is that my brothers and sister and me, Walker, Tom, Louie, and Cindy, we really had all we needed. We had a Christmas tree, a blanket with all them different color squares in it that my mom had made, a fireplace and plenty of wood, and just like the Christmas story, real mice running around in the closet. My mom used to tell us, ‘Leave the mice alone and they’ll leave you alone.’ And we had the fish to eat. If you’ve ever seen a salmon with stuffing crammed in it’s mouth, it’s quite a sight, but it looked great to us because we were hungry.

“When we got done eating we went by the fire and there was a present under the tree; Just one present. My mother had already made stuff for everyone and given it to us. Stuff you can’t buy at the mall. Stuff we needed and it was all handmade from my mom. Blankets and socks, stuff like that. That was what everyone got for Christmas. But there was this one present all wrapped up under the tree.”

With tears in everyone’s eyes, Betty Ruth told her son to see whose name was on the lone gift. It simply said, “To: Johnny, with love.”

“It was the logging truck I wanted,” Force said, still choking back the emotion 50 years after the fact. “It turns out that everyone else had told my mom and dad they didn’t want a present. They just wanted for me to get that logging truck. They gave up everything for me. I have that truck to this day. It means the world to me.

“When people say Christmas, I think of that year. That one Christmas was the best. My whole family was together, we didn’t have much, but we loved each other. Is there anything else you really need? To me, that’s the Christmas spirit.”

Little Johnny’s Christmas wish came true …

Just a month into his retirement, Scelzi already is thinking about driving again

It’s been only about a month since the curtain dropped on Gary Scelzi’s driving career at the season-ending Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, and already the four-time NHRA world champion is talking about getting back in the cockpit.

“In the next couple of weeks I’m going to take my physical to renew my license for next year,” said Scelzi, 48, who for the last six years drove a Funny Car for one of drag racing’s highest profile teams, Don Schumacher Racing. “I want to keep everything current. There is a possibility that in January when testing starts I’ll jump in somebody’s car and make a couple of runs just for the hell of it. I’ll definitely be going to

Phoenix with my firesuit and helmet just in case.

“I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that someone is going to call and ask me to drive at a race or two,” he added. “Jim Head and I are good friends, and Jim really doesn’t want to drive anymore. He’s looking for someone to bring some money to the party, but even 12 to 14 races is too many for me. I’m sure he’ll be in Phoenix or

Las Vegas, and I may make a couple of runs in his car. I haven’t talked to him about it, but I know if I asked him he’d do it, if for no other reason to give him a chance to stand outside the car and see if he likes someone else driving it.”

For the last 12 years, Scelzi’s life has revolved around drag racing. After driving Top Alcohol Dragsters and Top Alcohol Funny Cars for more than a decade, Scelzi joined the professional ranks in 1997 and drove Alan Johnson’s Top Fuel dragster to victories in his first two starts en route to the Top Fuel championship. He won the championship again in 1998 and 2000, when he set a Top Fuel record for wins in a season with nine.

Scelzi and Johnson switched to Funny Car in 2002, but after struggling through the season’s first seven races the two severed their five-and-a-half-year relationship. Scelzi signed with Schumacher Racing in 2003 and won his first Funny Car title in

Sonoma, Calif., making him the only driver in NHRA history to win races in Nora’s four fastest classes (Top Fuel, Funny Car, Top Alcohol Dragster, and Top Alcohol Funny Car).

After a third-place finish in 2004, Scelzi mastered the class in 2005 when he dethroned John Force, becoming the only non-Force Racing driver to win a championship since Cruz Pederson in 1992. Scelzi didn’t secure the championship until the season’s final race, winning by eight points over Schumacher teammate Ron Capps in the closest Funny Car finish in NHRA history to become only the second driver in NHRA history to win championships in both Top Fuel and Funny Car.

“I would love to win another championship in Funny Car,” said Scelzi, who has 37 career wins, 25 in Top Fuel. “Even though we won that one, it was almost like we were the last ones standing and I don’t feel that we did it in the style and fashion that any of us wanted to do it in, [crew chief] Mike Neff included. When I was with Alan Johnson, we won those championships from the beginning, from behind, from every which way. By the time we pulled into

Pomona it was done; we kicked their ass. We did a good job in Funny Car, but Funny Car is brutal. Guys are winning championships with DNQs and that never happened before. Now, everybody DNQs; it’s the norm.”

Of course, in order to win another championship Scelzi would have to return to racing full-time, and that’s that last thing he wants to do right now.

“I’ve done this all my life, whether in the Sportsman ranks or as a Professional, and I need the time off; I need to go away for a while,” he said. “My attitude was getting bad at home and at the racetrack. I had some close friends of mine tell me that I hadn’t been smiling much the last year and half, and they were right.”

This year was especially tough for Scelzi, who finished outside the top 10 and failed to win race for the first time in his 11 full seasons as a professional. Neff, his crew chief since he began driving for Schumacher, left and was replaced by Todd Okuhara. Okuhara was then sidelined by an inner-ear infection in July and eventually subbed for my Richard Hogan.

“I’ve never had a year like I had this year, even when I drove Sportsman cars that were lousy,” he said. “Everything changed. When I worked with Mike Neff we had the same guys for five years. Todd Okuhara and I got along really well, but we just couldn’t make anything happen. I’d never gone to the starting line thinking that I was duck, but I couldn’t keep a positive attitude. I started booking my flights home for Sunday evening and I’d never done that before. Richard actually got the car to decent, but our finishes didn’t show it.”

Though Scelzi’s disappointing 2008 season likely hastened his decision to step away, maintaining and growing the family’s custom truck body manufacturing business in his hometown of Fresno, Calif., and spending more time with his wife Julianne and their sons Dominic, 11, and Giovanni, 7, were his primary reasons.

“I’m slowly getting my feet wet again after being out of the business for 12 years,” said Scelzi. “My older brother Mike and I started Scelzi Enterprises in 1978, and he’s excited. With me being gone and the business growing as it has, he was really struggling. My other brother Jim is also involved in the business, but with 200 employees it takes more than two, and I know the business. I may not know a lot of the day-to-day stuff, but I know the manufacturing end of it and I know the sales end of it. There have been some major changes since I’ve been gone, and I need to get back involved.”

One thing that hasn’t changed is Scelzi’s commitment to his sons’ racing, though things will be different.

“When I raced I was always home on Monday afternoon and didn’t leave until Thursday morning, so I was at their disposal,” said Scelzi, who has been busy getting Dominic’s Restricted Mini Sprint and Giovanni’s Junior Sprint cars ready for next season. “I’d go into the office in the morning, but I was home they got out of school and we’d go do something. Now, I’m a normal dad. I go to work at 7 in the morning and don’t get home until 6 at night. I’ll still be able to go to their games [both play football and baseball] and things at school, but now I have a job and I have to be there. Just because Dad’s home doesn’t mean he’s going to be Mr. Mom. But I’ll be home weekends and from March until October we’ll be racing just about every Friday and Saturday night.”

As busy as he has been, Scelzi misses the things that he would normally be doing this time of year if he was still racing, like picking out a new firesuit, weighing in on the team’s color schemes and graphics, and flying back to Schumacher’s shop in

Indianapolis to be fitted for a new chassis.

“It’s kind of an empty feeling, and if it’s already hitting now I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like when the season starts,” he said. “I’m going to the Winternationals and if someone slips on a banana peel and needs me to step in for a couple of races, I’ll be available. But I definitely don’t what to go back and do a 24-race thing, not right now.

Pomona will be a big gauge for me to see how I’m able to handle being on the other side of the ropes. That’s going to be different and I guess I won’t know until it happens.

“I’m going to miss driving the most,” he added. “The one thing you can’t replace is the feeling that you get driving one of these cars and the knot you get in your stomach Sunday morning. And I’m going to miss the people who race, the people I spent the weekends with having dinner and hanging out. That was so much a part of my life that it’s going to leave a void.”

Though Scelzi has left the door open, it would take a lot for him to consider another full-time ride.

“I’m not going to do it just to do,” he said. “Even if I wanted to come back in 2010, it would have to be a pretty good situation for me to even consider it. I’d have to have a say in who was going to be on the team because I know a lot of the crew guys and I’d want the best, and the crew chief would have to be someone I felt I could get along with and win a championship with. If not, then I have no desire to do it. I might do something with Jim, and I honestly think Jim’s car is capable of winning a race, but it would have to be a special situation for me to do it full time; a deal where all the stars lined up and there’d be enough money that we’d want for nothing, pretty much like what I left in both Top Fuel and Funny Car.”

But if Scelzi never wins another race or another championship, he’ll be okay with that.

“Of all the national events I’ve won and all the championships I’ve won, my greatest satisfaction is knowing that I can walk into anyone’s trailer and they’ll welcome me with open arms, and it doesn’t matter who it is,” he said. “That’s one thing that nobody can ever take away and something that makes me feel really proud.”

After five nitro seasons, Bartone to return to Alcohol Funny Car roots

Tony Bartone will be driving a Funny Car again in 2009, though his new ride will not be of the nitromethane-burning variety. Bartone will return to his Sportsman racing roots by taking the wheel of Rick Jackson’s ‘08 Ford Mustang Top Alcohol Funny Car while reuniting with former tuner Steve Boggs. The 1996 TAFC champion left his post as the driver of Jim Dunn’s Canidae Pet Foods Funny Car at the end of the 2008 season to spend more time with his family after five full seasons of racing with Dunn in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Bartone made headlines in 2008 when he notched his first national event win in Funny Car in Seattle. He became the third driver in NHRA history to win in both alcohol classes and Funny Car (Cruz Pedregon and Gary Scelzi are the others).

“My heart was in fuel racing, but the bottom line is that I have a couple of kids I need to spend time with,” said Bartone. “Being on the road for 24 events affects me more than the average Professional racer because when the race is over, I have to go back to my business in New York while my kids are in

Florida. With an alcohol car, you can run 14, 15, 16 races, get your points, and go from there. Going back to alcohol racing gives me some of my family life back.”

Bartone doesn’t leave the nitro ranks emptyhanded as he returns to his roots as the former national Alcohol Funny Car champ scored a win in Seattle earlier this year for team owners Jim and Diane Dunn.

Though Bartone last competed in Top Alcohol Funny Car in 2000, the prolific driver intends to be competitive from the get-go. After all, he’ll be driving for a team that won the prestigious Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in

Indianapolis and finished in the top five in the national points standings in 2008 with driver Von Smith, who will be driving a Pro Mod entry for Awesome Al-Anabi Motorsports in 2009.Jackson, who owns

Centre Pointe Collision Center and Valencia Body Shop in

Santa Clarita, Calif., has fielded entries that have finished in the top 10 in the past two seasons. He scored three national event wins with Smith and won the inaugural spring event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2000 with Rod Alexander driving. Boggs, who tuned Bartone to all 28 of his wins in the Sportsman ranks, has won TAFC championships with Joe Penland Jr. in 1995 and Bartone in 1996 as well as a Top Alcohol Dragster championship with Mitch Myers in 2004.

“I think we have the opportunity to be competitive right off the bat,” said Bartone. “I don’t think I forgot how to drive an alcohol car, and we’ve got a good car with good parts and a good team behind it. I don’t have to tell you about my relationship with Steve Boggs. He’s like an older brother, and we talk almost every day of the week. I only met Rick in the last year or so, but I can tell you that if Steve Boggs is hanging out with Rick, then Rick has got to be a good guy.

“I don’t have any reservations about going back to alcohol,” Bartone continued. “I enjoy racing. Some guys get in their mind when they get in the Pro ranks that they can’t go backwards, but I’m a car guy, I enjoy driving, and I enjoy racing. I still get to do all that, so it works for me.”

The team is working on finalizing a schedule for 2009 and plans to participate in preseason testing in January and compete at the season-opening Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals in

Pomona

Yep, it’s Dixon. Johnson officially taps two-time former champ as his driver

Larry Dixon

Ending months of speculation, two-time NHRA Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon has been named the driver of the Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel dragster, effective immediately. Jason McCulloch will be the team’s Top Fuel crew chief.

Dixon, who won the NHRA title in 2002 and ‘03, joined Don Prudhomme Racing in 1988 as a crew member and worked his way into the cockpit after earning his Top Fuel license in 1994. He was named NHRA Rookie of the Year in 1995.

The

Indianapolis resident has recorded 43 NHRA wins in 83 final rounds and is third on the NHRA’s all-time Top Fuel winners list. He finished second in the 2008 NHRA Countdown to the Championship, and in 2007 he finished fourth.

“I’m very excited and looking forward to this opportunity and a new chapter in my career,”

Dixon said. “I had a great time in my 20 years at Prudhomme Racing, and I am thankful for the opportunities I had in that time. Now I’m ready to start this new chapter in my life; it’s a wonderful opportunity, and I feel very blessed to have the ability to take care of my family for the long haul.

“It’s a new team, and everybody will be in a new position. It could take us a while to gel as a team, but everyone on this team has won at least one championship in previous ventures so I’d like to think we can hit the ground running.” 

McCulloch, 37, comes to Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing after six seasons with Don Schumacher Racing where he was the assistant crew chief on the Army Top Fuel dragster driven by Tony Schumacher. McCulloch’s father, Ed, drove for Larry Minor in the 1980s, and Jason McCulloch was a crew member on that team.

Dixon’s first drag racing job also was with that team. The driver and crew chief of the Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Top Fuel dragster have been friends for more than 20 years.

Driver Larry Dixon (above) and crew chief Alan Johnson (below) will be a formidible team. Dixon win NHRA Top Fuel titles in 2002 and 2003 and Johnson is an eight-time championship tuner who in 2008 smashed or matched many longstanding records with driver Tony Schumacher.

“This opportunity is great for everyone involved,” Jason McCulloch said. “I am the crew chief, but we’ll still have Alan looking over everything. We have a very experienced crew; everyone on this top fuel team has at least five years of drag racing experience, and seven of the eight guys also worked together at Schumacher Racing.”Our goal is to return to the level of excellence we all became accustomed to in our Army Team days. When we get there, we hope to have similar results. We definitely have our work cut out for us because everything we have and are getting is new. We are truly building this team from the ground up. It’s exciting; it’s a once in a lifetime experience.”

“To think that I started my career at the same place and time as Jason, and now we’re together as driver and crew chief of a top fuel team is amazing,”

Dixon said. “We never imagined this would happen, but I’m looking forward to being able to give him his first win as a crew chief, hopefully sooner rather than later.”

After more than five years with Don Schumacher Racing, legendary NHRA crew chief Alan Johnson returns to team ownership when Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing debuts in 2009 as a two-car NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series team with one entry in both Top Fuel and Funny Car competition. In September, Del Worsham and Aaron Brooks were named the team’s Funny Car driver and crew chief, respectively.

Johnson is widely considered one of the most innovative and successful crew chiefs in NHRA Top Fuel racing. During his just-concluded tenure with Schumacher Racing, he led driver Tony Schumacher to five consecutive Top Fuel titles. On the way to this year’s championship, Johnson and Schumacher’s Top Fuel dragster set records for consecutive wins (7), wins in a season (15), and consecutive round wins (31). In addition, Johnson won NHRA Top Fuel championships with driver Gary Scelzi in 1997, ‘98 and 2000.

“When I started thinking about who I wanted in the Top Fuel cockpit back in the fall, Larry Dixon was among the first drivers I considered,” Johnson said. “A two-time champion is a great asset, but I knew there would be obstacles for Larry to overcome to make it happen. It’s nice that Larry and Don were able to work things out between them so that Larry could take advantage of this opportunity. I appreciate Don Prudhomme’s willingness to work with Larry, and we certainly wish him well with his new driver.

“I have worked with Jason for the last five seasons, and I know he is capable of great things. He is definitely ready to step into the crew chief position, and I know Jason and Larry will work well together. With any new team, it can take some time for the crew chief to earn the driver’s confidence, but the fact that this driver and crew chief have been friends for 20 years should accelerate that process.”

Johnson’s 2006 championship will be forever remembered for “The Run;” a national record-setting run on the final pass at the last race of the season that gave Johnson’s team the title. The memorable 4.428 second pass is regarded as the greatest single run in NHRA history by many drag racing historians.

After the Schumacher-driven U.S. Army dragster struggled in the first nine events of the 2003 season, Don Schumacher hired Johnson as the team’s crew chief. The hire immediately paid off as Johnson guided the Army dragster to a win in his first event. Schumacher earned the Top Fuel trophy four times in 2003 en route to a third-place finish in points. Johnson and Schumacher earned NHRA Top Fuel titles in each of the next five seasons.

Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing is a partnership between Alan Johnson and His Highness Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Thani. The team will be a two-car NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Team fielding entries in Top Fuel and Funny Car competition. At the forefront of this partnership is Al Thani’s goal to promote the domestic and international awareness of motorsports in the nation of

Qatar.

Ashley Force nuptials were a wintery ‘dream wedding’ for Funny Car star

The wedding party braved below freezing temperatures to capture the winter wonderland theme of the Ashley Force Hood wedding on the shores of Lake Tahoe.

Ashley and Daniel Hood take a quick break with flower girl Autumn Hight.

On Saturday Dec. 13 Ashley Force and Daniel Hood tied the knot in beautiful

Lake Tahoe. Ashley wanted a winter wonderland theme for her wedding and her wish was granted as snow began falling the day of her wedding creating a magical backdrop for the guests including Brandon and Tracey Bernstein,

Del and Connie Worsham, and the Tim Wilkerson family.

“It was snowing on my wedding day and my photographers said they didn’t care that we were going to go out and take pictures outside in the snow,” said Force Hood. “I am glad they did that now but at the time I was freezing and I would have liked to have been in my firesuit.

“It was kind of fun to wear a dress. I thought I might not like it as much as I did. I loved the dress I picked but I was kind of dreading being in a dress and heels all night. I was thinking this is going to stink and I am going to be so miserable and uncomfortable but I think that since it is your one day in your life that you do that you try and enjoy it. I snuck in and wore, not race boots but, Ugg boots kind of the same style. That made it a lot easier to take off the heels after a while and slip on those boots.”

After spending an entire race season planning the big day Force Hood was pleased with both her season finish and her wedding day.

“It was really my dream wedding. I look back and there is not one thing that I really think that went wrong. Everything went as we had hoped. All the bridesmaids and the groomsmen got along. I can’t believe that we pulled it off. I had so many people telling me it wasn’t going to go perfectly and things would go wrong. My memories of that day are everything did go perfectly. I can’t wait to see the pictures and to have those memories with our normal family and our race family. It was a fun experience and I am so thankful that it went as perfectly as it did. We were really, really excited.”

 

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GEICO, Lucas Oil Products will sponsor Morgan Lucas Racing

If you happen to be walking through the pits of any NHRA Full Throttle drag race in 2009, don’t be surprised if you see a caveman kibitzing or a six-foot-tall gecko hanging out in Morgan Lucas’ pits.

Morgan Lucas Racing and GEICO Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), have announced the joint multiyear sponsorship of the Forrest Lucas-owned NHRA Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster for the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season. Morgan Lucas, 25, pilots the GEICO/Lucas Oil dragster, with Jimmy Walsh heading up the drag racing team as crew chief.

“We are very excited to have a sponsorship deal in place with Morgan Lucas Racing,” said Eric Vaden, GEICO’s media buyer in charge of Motorcycle and Powersports products. “We firmly believe this team will post some wins next year and Morgan will be a great spokesperson for our company and our line of Powersports insurance products.

“We are planning to use this sponsorship and Morgan specifically to help us get the word out about all the insurance products GEICO has to offer. We aren’t just car insurance anymore, and we have great rates on insurance for all the other things that move them. The tricky part to all of this is just getting people to pick up the phone and call us. We know we have great products with great rates, and we are hopeful that this partnership with Lucas will help us get a few more folks to give us a try.”

GEICO, Government Employees Insurance Co., headquartered in

Chevy Chase, Md., dates back to GEICO’s first customers in 1936, who were government employees and military personnel. Founder Leo Goodwin went into business determined that he could deliver automobile insurance at reduced prices by selecting prime customer groups and marketing directly to them. Goodwin succeeded in driving down operating costs and passing on the savings to policyholders up front as discounts. GEICO continues to find ways to manage its business costs to offer saving to all drivers today.

GEICO has 8.5 million policyholders and growing and insures more than 14.4 million vehicles. It is the third-largest private-passenger auto insurer in the

United States based on the latest 12 months’ written premium with 23,000 GEICO associates based in 12 major offices around the country. One key note of its business is that it is open 24-7, seven days a week, 365 days a year. In addition to auto insurance, GEICO offers customers insurance products for motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), boats, homes, apartments, and mobile homes. Personal umbrella protection and life insurance are also available.

The new sponsorship was unveiled Friday at the PRI Show in Florida.

“We couldn’t be any happier at Lucas Oil Products and Morgan Lucas Racing than having GEICO onboard as our major sponsor in 2009,” said Morgan Lucas. “It’s a big step for us in 2009, and seeing their plans for the year will definitely bring excitement to our race team and the NHRA. We’re looking forward to having a great season and taking GEICO with us to the winner’s circle. I know I’m looking forward to their promotional ideas in drag racing giving us a promotional boost.”Lucas Oil Products stepped up in 2006, announcing its sponsorship of the newly built, state-of-the art Lucas Oil Stadium for the 2007 Super Bowl champions, the NFL Indianapolis Colts. Lucas Oil is involved in an array of motorsports sponsorships, including being the official motor oil of NHRA.