Nitro Dogs Racing

Millican/Pickens Top Fuel team to run all 24 NHRA Full Throttle Series races

Driver Clay Millican, left, and team owner Mark Pickens will compete in Top Fuel at all 24 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events in 2009.

Clay Millican, a fan favorite Top Fuel driver from Drummonds,

Tenn., and team owner Mark and Lauren Pickens will compete in all 24 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events.

It’s comforting assurance for Millican, because 12 months ago, he had no insight on what 2008 held. Expecting to challenge for his first NHRA race victory and, ultimately, win the world championship was foremost in the minds of Millican, crew chief Lance Larsen, and the Top Fuel crew last January. But an unexpected sponsor problem blew up those plans like a supercharger explosion at the finish line. The good news was there were enough strong pieces remaining for Pickens to purchase the team assets and get Millican to seven races with more in store for 2009.

“We are excited this year because Mark and Lauren Pickens said we would be running all of the races,” said a happy Millican. “That certainly was very comforting to know going into this new year. All we had last year was craziness … like being told we weren’t going to run.

“It is very comforting to know we are going to be racing,” added Millican, a six-time IHRA Top Fuel champion. “We are all working real hard to try to win that first NHRA race and go for that first NHRA championship. It is going to be a good year for the MPE Motorsports team. We are very close to being ready right now.”

Pickens, too, is excited about beginning the season with the rest of the Top Fuel contenders. “We’ll see what it holds … we’ll be on a level playing field with everyone else. We’ve made a lot of changes, and now we’re ready to go down the track,” he commented. “We need some runs under our belt so we can find that secret something and move from a challenger to a contender. We are close but not there yet.

Tennessee native Millican is a crowd favorite in the Top Fuel ranks.

“Our goal is to win races and a championship,” Pickens continued. “We want to run consistently among the top four cars, and I think we are capable of that.”The seven races Millican ran in 2008 provided perfect test conditions for Larsen, and he squeezed everything he could from them.

“I thought we were very successful with all the changes we made to the chassis as well as the new Goodyear tire,” Millican said. “The hard part for us was there was no testing allowed on national event tracks, so we had to basically learn how the car was going to react to those changes while we tried to qualify for the races.”

The team’s performance in

Reading in its first race in five months was downright stunning. Millican qualified 13th and upset No. 4 starter J.R. Todd in the opening round, then slapped a .039-second reaction time on Morgan Lucas, leading to a 3.994-second triumph over his rival’s 3.963.

Millican showed he wasn’t a bit rusty in the semifinals, too, despite losing to eventual race winner and eventual world champion Tony Schumacher. Out of the gate first with a .055 reaction time to Schumacher’s .063, Millican held the advantage until the final nine-thousandths of a second – Schumacher’s winning margin.

“To do that on our first race back was a huge success,” Millican said. “We were fixing to go to the final round in our first race. Cinderella was just about to put her shoe on – and it was going to fit – when Schumacher stepped in. But that performance built our confidence, and we qualified for the rest of the races and went a few rounds here and there.

“Lance has done a wonderful job taking care of the parts, which, in turn, makes the car run better and makes it safer for the driver,” Millican continued. “We are fortunate because the core team members who were here in 2007 came back. They are the ones who have always been here.”

Two Brad Hadman-built Hope4Sudan/Motorvation dragsters are ready to do battle, and the crew is completing work on the trailers before the trek to

Phoenix begins in a few short weeks.

Meanwhile, Pickens and Millican continue searching for a marketing partner.

“We are going to continue to work as hard as we can, and hopefully we can put together the right business plan for somebody. And then we can put the name of a company on our race car,” noted Millican. “We have a nice lineup of associate sponsors who have been with us over the years, and we appreciate everything they do.

“We want to do our best to make it a successful year for Mark and Lauren Pickens.”

Schumacher wins Jerry Titus award for second time as auto racing’s top gun

NHRA President Tom Compton, left, congratulated NHRA Top Fuel champ Tony Schumacher, who won his second Jerry Titus award.

Veteran television personality and announcer Dave McClelland was honored as a pioneer in racing by AARWBA’s Susan Wade.

Judy Stropus, who handles public relations for many of Don Schumacher Racing’s cars, received the Jim Chapman award for excellence in PR.

NHRA Funny Car star Jack Beckman was among the many racing personalities on hand for the awards ceremony.

Tony Schumacher, whose record-setting NHRA drag racing season was capped with a fifth consecutive Top Fuel championship, was announced as winner of the Jerry Titus Memorial Trophy at Saturday night’s 39^th annual American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association All-America Team ceremony, presented by A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. In the closest margin in over a quarter-century, Schumacher edged NASCAR Sprint Cup titlist Jimmie Johnson by one vote. Shirley Muldowney received one vote more than Bobby Allison in 1982.

The Titus Trophy is awarded to the driver who receives the most All-America Team votes. It is named in memory of the late journalist and racer, who was an AARWBA member.  It is the highest honor offered by AARWBA, the country’s oldest and largest organization of motorsports media professionals.

AARWBA members annually elect drivers to the Team from seven categories: Stock car, open-wheel, drag racing, road racing, short track, touring series and at-large.

Schumacher dominated the Top Fuel class. He finished with 15 wins out of 18 final-round appearances in 24 events, had seven consecutive victories, made 11 straight final rounds and had 31 consecutive round wins. All are records. His 76 round wins tied Greg Anderson’s single-season mark. Along the way, Schumacher surpassed Joe Amato’s all-time Top Fuel wins record and ended the 2008 season with a career total of 56 victories.

“It’s a thrill to be named the Jerry Titus Trophy winner,” said Schumacher, who also won the award in 2006. “Given the history-making season the U.S. Army team had in 2008, I wish this trophy could be split up in a lot of different ways so every crew guy can have a piece for themselves. When I look back on this past season, I can safely say I was part of the greatest Top Fuel team that’s ever been assembled in NHRA history.

“I’m also happy that I could bring home another Titus award to the NHRA world. With so many talented drivers from so many different series eligible, to be singled out as the top vote-getter is really special. It clearly means drag racing is getting its fair share of attention.”

Other Team drivers to earn Horsepower Trophies were: Cruz Pedregon (drag racing); Johnson and Carl Edwards (stock car); Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves (open wheel); Scott Pruett/Memo Rojas and David Brabham/Scott Sharp (road racing); Johnny Benson and Justin Allgaier (touring series); Jerry Coons Jr. and Donny Schatz (short track); Jorg Bergmeister/Wolf Henzler and Raphael Matos (at-large).

A1GP Chief Commercial Officer Scott Hollingsworth greeted guests on behalf of the ceremony’s presenting sponsor. The international, 10-race, A1GP open-wheel series’ unique format matches country vs. country. A1GP brings together more than 20 nations to compete on an equal basis. Andretti Green Racing represents Team

USA with Marco Andretti leading the driver roster. 

Several special awards were presented:

Pioneer In Racing Award:  Dave McClelland, the legendary NHRA announcer and broadcaster, was honored for longtime dedication and achievement that has made a difference in the sport. The Pioneer is one of AARWBA’s oldest and most prestigious awards and this was the first time it was presented to someone in the media. McClelland was the evening’s Master of Ceremonies. Co-Chairperson Susan Wade made the introduction and presentation. 

Jim Chapman Award:  Judy Stropus received the honor for excellence in motorsports public relations. It is named in memory of Chapman, the late legendary PR executive, who was Babe Ruth’s PR rep and director of racing for CART series sponsor PPG Industries. Stropus, representing Don Schumacher Racing, was chosen by a blue-ribbon committee of journalists, all of whom knew Chapman. The plaque was presented by ceremony Co-Chairman Michael Knight and AARWBA Southern Vice President Mike Harris, both close friends of Chapman.

Appreciation Awards:  Ford, Honda,

Toyota, Mazda and Porsche were recognized by President Dusty Brandel for their longtime support of the organization. All were represented at the ceremony.

Gorsline Scholarship:  The 16th annual scholarship, given by John Gorsline of The Gorsline

Co., went to Star Mazda series runner-up Joel Miller. The prize is awarded to an up-and-coming driver who displays the attributes of a future champion. Four-time SCCA Trans-Am champion and 1997 Titus winner Tommy Kendall made the presentation.

The ceremony was staged in the Hilton Hotel ballroom. Audio-visual tributes were offered in memory of Paul Newman, Phil Hill, Scott Kalitta, Porsche publicist and Chapman Award winner Bob Carlson and longtime AARWBA vice president and online racing journalism pioneer Michael F. Hollander. Several speakers participated in the Shav Glick Newsmakers Forum. The pre-dinner reception was co-hosted by ESPN, MAZDASPEED and Valvoline. Guests enjoyed complimentary Budweiser products.

Earlier in the day, AARWBA members toured the shop of 14-time Funny Car champion John Force and participated in media drag racing on the legendary

Pomona quarter-mile.

Coughlin has proven that to be the man, you have to master the system

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be a driver in the middle of a championship points race? Do you think you could you handle the pressure? Is your team up to the challenge?  

JEGS.com racer Jeg Coughlin Jr. has reached drag racing’s Promised Land on five different occasions, once as a Sportsman racer and four times as a Professional, and each journey was decidedly different from the others. In this candid and exclusive interview with NHRA.com, Coughlin takes readers through each title ride from his perspective behind the wheel. He may seem unflappable on the surface, but it turns out Coughlin is human after all, which he makes clear when recalling the battles.

Super Gas, 1992

Coughlin was a 22-year-old college student when he captured his first world title, taking the Federal-Mogul championship in Super Gas in 1992. Racers in the class can run up to six national and eight divisional races from which they use their best three national and best five divisional outings to count towards their point position. 

Staring the year with a Division 3 win in Indy, Coughlin went on to capture a total of five trophies on the season, four at the divisional and one at the national level.

“This one is still very, very special to me,” Coughlin said. “In Pro Stock, you start a season knowing there are 10-15 teams that can win the championship. In Super Gas, there’s close to 1,000 racers that are capable of winning it all. It’s brutal. 

“I remember starting off by winning Indy and that was a great headstart because it was an eight-round race so we effectively got a bonus round right away. We later won the U.S. Nationals, which was the only other eight-round race that year.

“Racers always watch points but it’s tough to do in the Sportsman ranks because there are so many racers all over the country doing their thing. You always read National DRAGSTER (because NHRA.com was not even a thought back then) to see what everyone did, but it’s hard to follow. I know Tom Seemann got on a roll early that year and seemed impossible to catch at one point, and Kyle Seipel got hot during the summer months out on the West Coast.

“To be honest, the championship wasn’t on my mind at all until real late. I was having issues with my motor shutting off during runs and at one point, Mike (brother) and I were driving from

Montreal and he was having some of the same issues. George Rupert built fuel systems for us at the time and his shop was on the way home. So we just pulled off the freeway and dropped in. Ol’ George figured out what was wrong and I came out and won four of my next five events. It turned the whole season around.

“As mentioned, I ended up going on one of the most dominant runs of my career, winning six races in seven weeks (two were non-sanctioned and didn’t count toward the points), and taking the championship. I never thought I was in it until really late in the year so I didn’t really sweat it out much.”

Pro Stock, 2000

Coughlin immediately smiles when the conversation turns to his first Pro Stock title run in 2000. However, he also knows his dominating wire-to-wire job will likely never be duplicated in the age of NHRA’s playoff system.

“That was under the old points system and back then it didn’t matter when you got your points,” Coughlin said. “We got ours early that year and just cruised. It was the epitome of a dream season.”

Starting the year on a hot streak, Coughlin won six of the first seven races to set the tone for his easiest title run to date. In the end, he won 10 national events in 14 final-round showings and posted an impressive 62-13 race day mark.

“We never aborted a run the entire year, even in testing,” Coughlin said. “It was just phenomenal. You talk about a driver feeling confidence; that was just unbelievable. Every time the win light came on I’d just chuckle in disbelief. It was like, ‘hey we won again.’ I sure haven’t had that feeling many times in my career.”

Pro Stock, 2002

Unlike his Y2K romp, Coughlin’s had a fight on his hands in 2002. The JEGS team had taken their engine program in-house midway through the 2001 season and they were still working out the bugs when their ‘02 campaign started. Fortunately for Coughlin, none of his rivals managed to get too far ahead and the parity in the class ended up playing into his hands.

“We had nine different winners to start the year and 11 different winners in the first 12 races so it was wide open,” Coughlin said. “I really wanted to win that year because it was the first season with POWERade as the series sponsor and I knew that was special. If you think about it, ‘02 ended up being a lot like it is now with the playoffs because it all came down to that stretch run. There were so many teams in it.

“I had two wins coming out of the Western Swing and that was the first time I started thinking we had a chance. Greg (

Anderson) had the quickest car but ours was repeating a little better. The gap started closing and when we managed to win Brainerd and Indy it really tightened up.

“As a driver, I didn’t want to make a mistake. I knew we didn’t have much room for error because it was so close. We finally had the car working right and I just went into this mode where I wanted to be perfect in the seat. We ended up winning four in a row down the stretch and that catapulted us to the top for good. It was an incredible effort by the team.”

Pro Stock, 2007

For the first time in his career, Coughlin had to change his strategy in 2007, the first year of NHRA’s Countdown to 1 playoff format. Racers always want to win every event, and in the pre-Countdown days, as Coughlin himself proved, you could win the title with early or late runs. Not any more. Now racers needed a consistent ride early, and a dominating one late to get the job done.

“The new format really is a lot of fun,” Coughlin said. “I compare it to the 1000’s of runs I’ve made in the Sportsman ranks where every round is so cutthroat. Without question, the last two years have been the most trying of my career. I’ve never felt comfortable at any time.

“The strategy sessions actually began in January. I had a new teammate in Dave Connolly and a complete new team at Cagnazzi. I recall talking things over with my Dad (Jeg Coughlin Sr.), crew chief Roy Simmons, and Victor, and we sat down and said, ‘How do we make sure we’re in the top eight before that first cutoff?’ That was all we focused on the first several races of the year.

“Once we secured a top eight spot it shifted to those four races we had to make the top four. It was a very uneasy time because we’re all bunched up in the standings and you really start to rely on your planning of parts inventory and your motors to get it done. We even were mentally prepared for a rainout, which would have made that stretch even tighter.

“Dave got on a roll and won five in a row. Meanwhile, we were fighting our car. It went straight to the centerline in Round 1 in

Dallas and I pushed in the clutch and thought, ‘oh well, there goes the championship.’ We struggled some more in

Richmond, but so did a lot of guys, and we somehow managed to make the final cutoff in third place.

“Fortunately, the points reset again and despite all of our troubles we knew we were back in it. We went to

Tucson and tested but still struggled the first few days in Vegas. In Round 1 the car went to the wall and I had that horrible feeling again, but I gathered it in and managed to get by A.J. (Allen Johnson) on a close run.

Coughlin’s second-round defeat of teammate Dave Connolly in round two in Las Vegas helped propel him to the 2007 championship.

“The season really came down to the second round in Vegas. I had Dave, the hottest guy on tour, and he had lane choice. Fortunately, all the testing in Tucson and the late-night thrashing at Vegas paid off because the car was finally coming around and responding to what Dad and Roy were wanting and it finally went straight that round. I knew I needed to be perfect to have a chance and we won the round on a very slight holeshot. Talk about a feeling of accomplishment!”Coughlin still left Vegas almost two rounds behind

Anderson after finishing runner-up to his friendly foe, but he didn’t have much time to worry about the situation.

“The Finals started Thursday and between the SEMA show and all the media work we had, there wasn’t much time to think about it,” he said. “Frankly, after the stretch we’d had, I was just happy to have a chance.

“

Pomona was the single most exciting race of my career. The feeling in the pits was incredible. The pressure was on. On race day, I remember this feeling in my body that I’d never felt before. I was buzzing. You can’t see much when you’re in the car but there was a TV monitor and I thought I saw Dave win but he actually had red-lighted. Then I saw (Justin) Humphrey’s team celebrate, which meant Greg was out. I thought it was down to me and Dave and when I fired the car I had this incredible surge in my body.

“I had a great light and beat Larry Morgan and when I got to the top-end they told me Dave had red-lit so I suddenly realize Round 2 was a winner-take-all deal. Wow! The next 75 minutes were very intense. The team was real quiet and I had no doubt in my mind that my car could beat any other car. I just had to do my job.

“I had Richie (Stevens) and I knew I hit the tree again. I got to fifth gear and held it so tight all the way through, then I see the win light come on and I got so excited I actually became lightheaded. Here we had this brand new team and now we were the champs. It was beyond anything I could have hoped for.”

Pro Stock, 2008

NHRA tweaked the playoff format before 2008 and allowed in two more teams, while axing the second cutoff. Now there would be 10 drivers fighting it out over the final six races.

“Making the playoff was again the top priority and we had a pretty smooth run to Indy,” Coughlin said. “I don’t think we ever went below fourth in the points. Greg was phenomenal early but we came around and held the point lead for a couple races before cooling off a touch. That let Greg by and he went on a terror and got so far ahead of everyone that by the Western Swing we pretty much knew he’d be the top qualifier in the Countdown. That actually allowed us to prepare everything for

Charlotte and the start of the Countdown. We wanted to be at full sprint right from the get-go.

“The guys had new motors ready for us at Charlotte and it almost felt like

Pomona the year before because the feeling in the pits was that the real race was on. We were third in the points again and the new engines were stout, although we had a little issue that the guys discovered after our semifinal finish. They fixed it and we got to

Dallas and qualified No. 1 and the car was a rocket. We were runner-up there and that put us in the points lead but it was a long way from over.

“We get to

Memphis and the No. 1 motor broke in Q1. We struggled from there on out, qualifying ninth and barely winning Round 1. Then the motor breaks again on the burnout in Round 2 and I went ahead and staged just to see if A.J. might red light.

Roy was on the radio saying the motor was eating itself up but I felt we had to take the chance or the championship might slip away. Well, Allen’s guys saw we were having problems and he had a real safe light and won the round. The only thing that saved us was the other guys around us in the points lost early also. It was a lucky break.

“The thing we fear most is beating ourselves and we were glad to have a week off to fix things. We got back to racing in

Richmond and I felt like I was walking on eggshells in the car because I didn’t want the motor to break again. Still, there was something wrong and the team decided to change everything but the driver and the paint job on Friday night. It was a massive move but it paid off because we made it to the finals again and ran our career best run of 6.55.

“After another quick trip to

Tucson we had renewed hope heading into Vegas. A racer’s worst nightmare is not knowing what’s wrong when their car is a little off but we didn’t have that feeling. We knew what was wrong and we knew we almost had it fixed.

As in 2007, a solid outing in Las Vegas helped Coughlin clinch in ‘08, too.

“We got to Vegas and it all fell into place. We qualified No. 1, won the race with four really good runs, and left there only needing to qualify for

Pomona to clinch. We actually fought a leaking cylinder all race day. It was just barely leaking and the guys decided to leave that motor in there, so we just held our breath. It’s never as easy as it looks.“The drama wasn’t over because we went into Saturday at

Pomona not being a part of the top 12 but we managed to qualify and that sealed the deal. We got it done with a little air to spare, but not much. It was another incredible accomplishment for the team.

“Every run, every season, every championship is its own journey. I can tell you it’s never easy. The drivers in the NHRA are all world-class and that’s what makes it so special.”

A familiar face returns as popular Top Fuel shoe Baca gears up for 2009

With details such as a major sponsor and schedule yet to be disclosed, popular Top Fuel driver David Baca is readying for his return to the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Baca, whose only action since the 2006 season was a two-race stint in the Matco Tools dragster at the final two races of 2007, will begin the 2009 season with his own team.

“I’m pretty close to announcing a sponsor that could have us attending half the races or a little better, but we have to keep it under wraps at the moment,” said Baca. “We’re going to test in Phoenix and come out with a vengeance in

Pomona.”

The timing is right for Baca to return to the sport. After a two-year layoff, Baca’s racing equipment is fresh, and his business, Allstate Contract Floors, is squared away so that he can be a player in NHRA’s fastest category once again. Baca has always been a threat to make competitive laps, having run as quick as 4.485 seconds and as fast as 331.69 mph in quarter-mile racing.

“It gets in your blood,” said Baca. “I was able to keep my license current when I drove the Matco car in 2007. It’s pretty cool anytime you can have a chance to drive for one of the best tuners in the world in Lee Beard.

“We’ve been known to run fairly well. We’re going to go out there full steam ahead. I think we can run right there with them. If you look at some of our time slips when we ran at 1,320 feet, we made a lot of runs that were .80 to .82 at the 1,000-foot mark. We’re pretty optimistic.”

Baca’s reorganized team will be headed by crew chief Rick Henkelman, who often challenged him on the Top Alcohol Funny Car circuit in Northern California in the 1980s, and car chief Jon Schaffer. Schaffer began wrenching for Baca at 15 years old and most recently was a part of Doug Herbert’s team.

Baca, a longtime driver in the alcohol categories, jumped to the fuel ranks as a co-owner with Henkelman in 2002. The pair had a successful debut season with Cory McClenathan wheeling their entry to a fifth-place finish in the points standings and a win at the season-closing event in

Pomona. Baca took over the driving chores the following season and finished seventh while posting a final-round finish and two No. 1 qualifying positions. Baca is hunting for his first win after three losses in the money round.

“I don’t feel like we’ve missed a step,” Baca added. “We plan on coming out and being a factor right out of the gate. Hopefully, those guys will be going, ‘Uh-oh, that guy’s back again.’

“We’ve always had such a loyal fan base. It’s been great to have my own little sector of Baca-maniacs. I want them to know we’re coming back out, and I can’t wait to see them all at the track.”

Hartley family will run all 24 events on 2009 Full Throttle Top Fuel schedule

Allen Hartley

Joe Hartley

The popular father-son Top Fuel team of Allen and Joe Hartley plan to run the entire 24-event NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule in 2009.The team, with father Allen tuning and son Joe driving, consistently had run seven to 10 races each year since a career-high 17th-place finish in 2000 when they ran 12 events in Joe’s rookie Pro season and showed its capabilities in 2007 during a strong 11-race schedule that was highlighted by a runner-up in Houston and a No. 1 qualifying berth in

Topeka. Despite running only half of that season’s events, the Hartleys finished a career-high-matching 17th in the standings. The team only ran three events last season — Topeka, Dallas, and the second Las Vegas event – but qualified at all three and won its first-round battle in Topeka.

“We know that when we run a lot of races we have more success, like we did in 2007, unlike last year where we only ran a few times, which makes it very difficult to stay consistent,” said Joe. ”By only running a few times last year, we were able to save some money that makes this season more doable.

“We ran as many as 27 races one year when we had the A/Fuel car, so the travel will be nothing new to us, but this obviously will be the most we’ve run in Top Fuel, but it’s all about fulfilling a dream for us.”

Hartley says that the team’s decision to run the entire schedule was made long before a series of sponsor and owner developments that will sideline a few of the tour’s regulars.

“We talked about it toward the end of last season and just decided we were going to go for it back then,” he said. “It’s definitely playing into our hands – running all 24 will definitely make it more feasible to make the Countdown [playoffs] field — but it’s not the reason we’re doing this.  Plus, we know that a lot of the big hitters will be out there and running hard, and although qualifying is never definite, having that money coming in will help keep the car running.”

The team initially will field the car out of its own pocket, supplemented by associate parts sponsorships from Red Line Oil, Clevite, and Mechanix Wear.

“We’re looking for sponsors and talking to people, of course, but don’t really have anything online yet, but that’s not going to keep us from going out and doing it,” he said. “We’re going to make it happen.

“We’ll cut expenses where we can – we won’t have a spare car, for example – but we’re still going to run it the way we ran it before. We’re going to run all of the qualifying sessions and run it hard.

“The other good thing for us is because we do have some of our own personal funding to back this up, we can offer a full sponsorship for a lot cheaper than some of the other teams, which is one thing we’re pursuing. We understand with the economy that it’s difficult to get funding, but we’re hopeful that it all plays out for us.”

Kalitta Motorsports restructures for 2009 NHRA season

Kalitta Motorsports, a legendary Professional drag racing team founded and owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta, will compete in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series with one full-time entry, the DHL Toyota Solara Funny Car driven by Jeff Arend. Also in 2009, Kalitta Motorsports will celebrate 50 years of drag racing by Kalitta as he commemorates the golden landmark as a driver, tuner, and owner.

Jon Oberhofer and Nick Boninfante will serve as co-crew chiefs on the nitro-fueled DHL Funny Car in 2009, replacing Glenn Mikres, who was relieved of his duties as crew chief of the DHL car after the conclusion of last season. Arend joined Kalitta Motorsports last season to assume the driving duties of the DHL entry after the tragic death of Scott Kalitta as the result of injuries he suffered in a high-speed racing accident in June in

New Jersey.

Top Fuel veteran Doug Kalitta, Connie’s nephew, will compete in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in the Top Fuel class on a part-time, race-by-race basis as the team searches for a full-time primary sponsor. The team is expected to compete at the season’s first two events, the Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals in Pomona and the NHRA Arizona Nationals in Phoenix, then will evaluate its status on a race-by-race basis.

The Top Fuel entry will be helmed by crew chief Jim Oberhofer and assistant crew chief Troy Fasching. Doug, a two-time Top Fuel championship runner-up and 30-time NHRA national event winner, and Kalitta Motorsports were notified in December that longtime backer Mac Tools would not return as the dragster’s primary sponsor in 2009 but would remain with Kalitta Motorsports as an associate sponsor.

“Despite the challenges, we are very excited about the 2009 season,” said Jim Oberhofer, Kalitta Motorsports general manager. “Connie has done so much for our sport, and we want to celebrate that at every event. Over the past 50 years, Connie has dedicated so much of his time and resources to building one of the most successful teams in the history of auto racing. We want to make sure everyone knows how important he is to us and to drag racing throughout 2009 and beyond.

“We’re also very thankful to DHL for their commitment to our team and to NHRA Drag Racing. They have been wonderful partners since joining our organization in 2007. We’re looking forward to continuing to build upon our great partnership and great friendship with them in 2009.”

Kalitta Motorsports has won five world championships and more than 50 national event titles in five drag racing sanctioning bodies since Connie established it in 1959.

Associate sponsors on Kalitta Motorsports’ race cars include Red Line Oil, Summit Racing Equipment, Technicoat Cos., K2M,

Toyota, and Mac Tools.

John Force

Ashley Force

Castrol has committed to maintain one of the longest-running global sponsorship partnerships in motorsports history as it has announced it will continue primary sponsorship on both John and Ashley Force’s fuel Funny Cars in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The sponsorship of JFR will enter its 24th year in 2009.  Last June, Castrol Global Lubricants announced an exciting new partnership signed with FIFA to be a Primary sponsor for the 2010 and 2014 World Cup soccer championships. As part of that program, Castrol also announced its renewed commitment to its global motorsports activities, the cornerstone of its technological leadership strategy in global lubricants.

This global motorsports strategy, activated in multiple racing venues around the world with many of Castrol’s key strategic business partners, will continue to be showcased in

North America through the company’s relationship with John Force Racing Inc. 

In addition to primary support to John and Ashley, Castrol will continue to provide secondary/associate sponsorship support to Robert Hight, Mike Neff, Britney Force and Courtney Force. In addition, Castrol will be realigning its activation support of John Force Racing in programs to be announced prior to the 2009 season. That realignment, however, will result in the curtailing of Castrol’s NHRA contingency program sponsorship and the elimination of Castrol’s at-track interactive Midway program. 

“We’re very excited about beginning our 24th season in the Full Throttle NHRA series while remaining the major sponsor of John Force Racing,” said Lori Anne Gola, Assistant Sponsorship Manager for Castrol. “We’ll have some exciting new announcements about our JFR sponsorship in the next few weeks.” 

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series 2009 Schedule
February 5-8	Kragen OReilly NHRA Winternationals	Pomona, Calif.
February 20-22	Arizona NHRA Nationals	Phoenix, Ariz.
March 12-15	ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals	Gainesville, Fla.
March 27-29	OReilly NHRA Spring Nationals	Houston, Texas
April 2-5	SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals	Las Vegas, Nev.
April 16-19	Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals	Atlanta, Ga.
May 1-3	OReilly NHRA Midwest Nationals	Madison, Ill.
May 15-17	NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals	Bristol, Tenn.
May 29-31	OReilly NHRA Summer Nationals	Topeka, Kan.
June 4-7	NHRA Route 66 Nationals	Chicago, Ill.
June 11-14	NHRA SuperNationals	Englishtown, N.J.
June 25-28	Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals	Norwalk, Ohio
July 10-12	Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals	Denver, Colo.
July 17-19	NHRA Nationals	Seattle, Wash.
July 24-26	Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals	Sonoma, Calif.
August 13-16	Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals	Brainerd, Minn.
August 20-23	Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals	Reading, Pa.
September 2-7	Mac Tools U.S. Nationals	Indianapolis, Ind.
September 17-20	NHRA Nationals	Concord, N.C.
September 24-27	OReilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals	Dallas, Texas
October 2-4	OReilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals	Memphis, Tenn.
October 9-11	Virginia NHRA Nationals	Richmond, Va.
October 29-November 1	Las Vegas NHRA Nationals	Las Vegas, Nev.
November 12-15	Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals	Pomona, Calif.

 

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.