NHRA kicked off the 55th anniversary of the Mac Tools U.S.
Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, the world's most prestigious drag
race with two qualifying sessions for the muscle car contingent at
O’Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, In., today.

Under sunny skies and operating on a racing surface of 100 degrees, 150
Stock Eliminator hot rods were the first to take to the historic
quarter-mile. The 128-car qualifying field was lead by two A/SA
Stockers, representing the future and the past.

Division 5’s Chad Holzman, from Wichita, Kan., leads the pack after the
first two sessions. Driving his 2008 Ford Cobra-Jet Mustang, Holzman
negotiated the quarter-mile in 9.968-seconds, 1.332 seconds under his
11.30 standard. Only 0.005-seconds separates the new Cobra-Jet from the
second qualifier, the classic Mopar of Division 1 competitor David
Barton from Robesonia, Pa. Barton ran a solid 9.973-second elapsed time
in his 1965 A/SA Dodge Coronet.

Two-time defending NHRA Pro Stock Champion Cagnazzi Racing today
announced the appointment of veteran motorsports executive Ken Cohn as
their Senior Vice President.  In this new capacity, Cohn will oversee a
multitude of areas for the Mooresville, NC based organization,
including team sponsorship, marketing, strategy, sales/business
development and operations.  In light of the challenging financial
environment, team owner Victor Cagnazzi sees the pro-active addition of
Cohn as a key to his company’s continued success.
 
“As we continue to strengthen and grow our organization’s business
operations, we feel very fortunate to be able to bring on board
somebody with Ken’s diverse motorsports background and business
acumen,” said Cagnazzi. “His experience helping brands strategically
utilize motorsports marketing/sponsorship to engage passionate race
fans and drive tangible business results, coupled with a strong
reputation across the motorsports industry, provides Cagnazzi Racing
with a tremendous asset that will prove to be beneficial to our
organization as we look to further distinguish ourselves in the
marketplace.”

NHRA president Tom Compton’s assertion that this month’s four abreast
exhibition at Bruton Smith’s zMAX Dragway will mark “the first time that fans can witness modern Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars running four-wide” depends on his definition of “modern.”
 
That’s because Hall of Fame crew chief Austin Coil can recall at least
two past occasions when the ChiTown Hustler, the Funny Car with which
he first rose to prominence before directing John Force to 14
championships for Castrol GTX, was involved in four-across racing.  In
fact, he actually drove the “Hustler” in a four-wide race at Rockford,
Ill., in 1969.
 
“We had both our new car and our old car out there because we were
testing the new car to make sure it was all right,” Coil said. 
“Somebody didn’t show up who was supposed to be there, so they made us
an offer to run both cars.  I drove the new one and Pat Minick drove
the old one.  I think we made three runs (in the four across
configuration).

The downturn in the economy has left several high-profile NHRA drivers out of work this season.

Drivers like Top Fuel Funny Car pilot Tommy Johnson Jr. who raced
full-time in the Funny Car ranks from 2001-2008, was 18th in the points
standings a year ago. Today, he's not even in the points standings.

“It’s frustrating if you look at only drag racing and think that’s just
drag racing right now,” Johnson said. “But, if you step back and look
at the whole thing, we’re no different than any other thing in the
world right now, everything is struggling with the economy the way that
it is. All forms of racing are struggling to some degree and it’s kind
of a double-edge sword. You think boy, I hate that our sport is
struggling so bad and you look at it and you see that you’re not the
only one who is having these problems. When you look at the quality of
people who are unemployed this season in drag racing, you can’t be too
disappointed.”

Teenage rider L.E. Tonglet will be a member of Matt Smith’s MSR Racing
Pro Stock Motorcycle team for NHRA’s premier event, the Mac Tools U.S.
Nationals, Friday through Monday at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

Smith announced Tuesday his plan to add the 19-year-old Tonglet as a
teammate of Angie McBride.  Tonglet will be aboard the Frameworksmg.com
Buell Smith rode to the 2007 NHRA Full Throttle championship.

Oona Elmore, owner of Frameworks Marketing Group, said she was pleased
to help Tonglet – the youngest son of former rider Gary Tonglet and the
brother of GT Tonglet – gets his first Pro Stock Motorcycle ride at the
U.S. Nationals.  “L.E. is a talented rider and we are looking forward
to watching him race this weekend,” said Elmore.

John Force, the 14-time NHRA Funny Car Champion, will be featured
Sunday on SPEED TV’s Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain in the first segment
of a multi-part interview focusing on drag racing safety and the
changes his team has made in the wake of the death of promising young
driver Eric Medlen in a testing accident and a subsequent competitive
crash that left Force with life-threatening injuries of his own.  The
show will air at a special time – 10 p.m., Eastern.
 
The undeniable face of American drag racing for the last quarter
century, Force will take Despain and SPEED viewers behind the scenes of
The Eric Medlen Project, housed in his Brownsburg racing complex and
explain all that has happened since Medlen lost his life in March, 2007.

If you want to know what’s going on in the pits at the NHRA U.S.
Nationals, it’s possible to keep abreast of the action from the comforts of your home.

CompetitionPlus.com will provide extensive same day coverage from the
55th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis thanks to an event
coverage sponsorship from Bill Miller Engineering, a leading piston and
rod manufacturer based in Carson City, Nev.

CompetitionPlus.com’s Indy Same Day coverage presented by BME will
feature individual pit notebooks from the four Full Throttle
professional divisions as well as the Get Screened America Pro Modified
Challenge and Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series sportsman action. The
notebooks will be updated multiple times daily.

Jim
Cunningham plans to debut two of the new 2010 Mustangs this weekend at
the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. The new cars will not be
equipped with the new Ford Hemi engines but the sleeker bodies and
newer chassis should make a significant improvement as well as a few
new parts from Ford. These shots were taken outside of Jerry Haas Race
Cars in Fenton, Mo.

The Mustang driven by Cunningham was built by Haas while Enders'
Mustang was started by Don Ness and completed by Dennie Burnevik at
Sinned Customs. The cars are twins but not identical.

Dickie Venables has been named the new crew chief of the Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing Funny Car driven by Del Worsham, it was announced
today.  The crew chief change is effective immediately.  Venables
replaces Aaron Brooks who has been in the position since the beginning
of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season.

“Dickie will be a tremendous addition to an already talented Funny Car
team at Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing,” team owner Alan Johnson said. 
“As in most sports, when the playoffs begin each team must prepare for
a run at the championship, and that is exactly what we are doing by
taking advantage of an opportunity that presented itself.

“Aaron Brooks has done a great job creating our Funny Car team from
scratch and securing our spot in the Countdown. His efforts have been
invaluable, and we have all learned a lot in the first 17 races. With
the addition of Dickie’s talents and experience, I am confident we are
in a stronger position and have a better shot at winning the
championship.

For the first time in NHRA history, modern Top Fuel dragsters and Funny
Cars will race four-lanes, four-wide, unleashing a powerful assault of
28,000 horsepower on spectacular zMAX Dragway, NHRA officials announced
today.

In what is sure to be a must-see demonstration of the ultimate in
high-horsepower performance, four NHRA Top Fuel dragsters and four NHRA
Funny Cars will race in a four-wide configuration during separate races
in a special exhibition event just prior to the final round of the NHRA
Carolinas Nationals, on Sunday, Sept. 20.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, four-lane drag racing was occasionally
conducted at non-NHRA dragstrips, primarily throughout the Midwest,
with a few exhibitions held at tracks in California and Maryland. The
fastest cars of that era were just breaking the 230 mph barrier.

Today’s modern Top Fuel dragsters cover the 1,000-foot race distance in
3.8 seconds at more than 315 mph. Funny Cars travel the same distance
in 4.0 seconds at 310 mph.