Little did Paul Trussell realize when he was just 12 years old, how much the course of his life would change through one event.

"I remember when I was 12, and  my dad bought me my first car," Trussell said. "He bought me a 1932 Ford five-window coupe."

As the story goes, Trussell's father obtained the car to settle a $300 debt. To this day, Paul still owns that car and many, many more.

Technicoat Companies, a longtime associate sponsor with Kalitta Motorsports, will be the primary sponsor on the dragster driven by Doug Kalitta for the remainder of the 2009 Full Throttle Drag Racing Series starting with this weekend's NHRA Mid-South Nationals in Memphis, Tenn.  
 
Las Vegas-based Technicoat Companies specializes in hi-tech performance coatings and floorings, wearing surfaces for pedestrian traffic and vehicular traffic, as well as new and existing roofs. Technicoat’s President Bob Coffman and C.O.O. Glen Williams, a.k.a. “the Cowboys”, are fixtures in the Team Kalitta pit area at most NHRA national events with their trademark cowboy hats. Technicoat Companies and Kalitta Motorsports began their marketing partnership near the end of the 2002 NHRA season.

What exactly is the rule for testing? Even this late in the season, many teams are still confused over the testing policy.

The NHRA, after the confusion surrounding Robert Hight’s fifth test session in Brainerd, Minn., - he ran in John Force's car with Force's team - established that the tests go with the car and team, and not the driver.

What is not clearly defined is what happens after a team tests for a fifth time. Everyone knows the team is penalized based on the points they earn in the next event. But, what happens after a sixth test, or a seventh test?

Among the hundreds of interesting stories relived at the 9th annual Old Racers Reunion held this weekend in Montgomery AL, was the history of Speedy Ball and "Big Iron" Aubrey Padgett.

Seventy Four year old Speedy Ball, which is the only name we know him by, began racing in 1958 and has raced every year since. He currently drives a SBC powered Ford Probe that he has painted like the Motorcraft Cars that Bob Glidden drove. Ball estimates this is only his sixth race car he has ever owned.

Hundreds of drivers are expected to compete this weekend for thousands of dollars in prizes as Maple Grove Raceway runs its annual Pro Eliminator Footbrake Nationals.
 
There will be races on Saturday and Sunday with different prize amounts for each day.
 
Saturday’s race, the “10K,” features a guaranteed $10,000 for the winner, with a $3,000 payout to the runner-up. Round money, starting at $100, will begin in the fourth round.

One of Piedmont Dragway's [Greenboro, NC] most anticipated events kicks off Thursday and extends through Saturday with the North vs. South Big Dog Shootout. A healthy $50,000 purse is on the line when eight of hottest cars north of the Mason Dixon Line travel to North Carolina to face eight of the baddest hot rods from the south. This is the largest event on the track's schedule.
 

p>Memphis-area drag racing fans have the opportunity to watch favorite son Clay Millican at work during the O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park, Friday through Sunday.

This time around, Millican, a Drummonds, Tenn. resident, arrives as one of the 10 Top Fuel drivers in contention for the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series championship.  With two of the six deciding events already completed, Millican is 10th with 2062 points.  But he’s only a round win out of ninth and, should the Hope4Sudan/Motorvation dragster get on a hot streak, he’d climb higher.

“We would go a long way toward filling in a lot of the valleys we’ve had this year if we win this race,” Millican said.  “It would mean a lot.  It would certainly be something I could write off my to-do list – win the Memphis race, win my first NHRA race . . . and to do it all at home would be just awesome." 

With seven national event victories and 14 races atop the Full Throttle point standings this season, Jeg Coughlin Jr. has been the most prolific drag racer on tour in 2009. Yet since the Countdown to 1 playoff began two races ago, Coughlin has been playing catch-up, relegated to second place by his only first-round loss of the season in Charlotte.
 
Through two of six Countdown to 1 events, Coughlin finds himself 63 points off the lead. A manageable deficit, yet one he hopes to begin erasing at this weekend's 22nd annual Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park.

John Montecalvo erased a 19 point lead held by Frank Gugliotta headed into last weekend's IHRA President's Cup Nationals and because of that, leads the IHRA Pro Stock point standings into the final event of the season. His semi-final finish at the Maryland International Raceway-hosted event puts him in the driver's seat for the championship.

“We did what we came to do,” said Montecalvo, who lives in Center Moriches, NY. “We wanted to leave the event with the points lead and that’s exactly what we did. Our day ended a little earlier than we hoped for, but Cary just put up a good run against us and then went on take the Iron Man. Congratulations to him and his team on a job well done.