Slightly different from the old “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” slogan,
seven-time NHRA Top Fuel winner Hot Rod Fuller spent last weekend
at Patten Cat’s annual ‘Red Tag’ sales event at the dealership’s
headquarters in Elmhurst, IL. Fuller had his new Vandergriff
Motorsports Top Fuel dragster on display, and spent two days greeting
Patten Cat customers as they came to the dealership to look at and buy
equipment.

The reward for Fuller assisting in a weekend of equipment sales is
getting to climb back in the cockpit of a Top Fuel dragster and make
his 2009 debut at this weekend’s NHRA National event, June 5-7, at
Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL.

Mark Benson, 54, of Springfield, Ill. passed away on June 2, 2009 at
St. John's Hospital in Springfield, after a lengthy battle with health
problems associated with diabetes.  Benson was a major part of the
Wilkerson Racing organization for many years, a founding member of the
"Wilk Warriors" group of supporters, and a dear friend to the Wilkerson
family and the entire team.

Tim Wilkerson originally befriended "Big Mark" when racing his bracket
car throughout the Midwest during the mid-80s.  Benson and friend Ron
Boyd campaigned their Benson & Boyd car at many of the same tracks
frequented by Wilkerson, and in 1991 both became crew members on
Wilkerson's Top Alcohol Funny Car.  After Wilkerson made the move to
the Nitro Funny Car class, both Benson and Boyd stayed with the
program.  Benson was also a contributing member of Daniel Wilkerson's
Top Alcohol Funny Car team, which won the NHRA Division 3 championship
in 2007.  Benson was a fixture in the Team Wilkerson pit area for
nearly two decades, and was known, respected, and loved by racers, crew
members, and friends.

At the last of his required visits to the Charlotte Spine Center for
treatment of the fractured vertebrae suffered in a March 7 crash at Houston Raceway Park, Charles Carpenter’s doctor cleared him to return to driving his beloved ’55 Chevy whenever he is ready.

That’s a good thing, because he’s more than ready.

Carpenter took delivery of his rebuilt and revamped ’55 Chevy from Alan
Pittman Race Cars in Greenville, SC late last week, and has been
working with invaluable team member Paul Albino of Total Induction
Tuning Solutions around the clock to complete the remaining tasks to
get the car track-ready. Albino flew in from Connecticut to assist
Carpenter.

Last year when the National Guard American Drag Racing League (ADRL)
visited U.S. 131 Dragway in Martin, Michigan, severe weather cut the
event short, forcing its completion at the next race on the schedule.
This year the tables are turned, as fans attending this weekend’s (June
5-6) Ford Drive One Summer Drags V will get to see event champions
crowned both days of the event due to rain ending the previous race
prematurely.

Within Friday night’s qualifying session, the semi-finals and final
rounds for all five National Guard ADRL professional classes that were
rained out two weeks ago in Memphis will be concluded at Martin. Then
on Saturday, the remaining two qualifying rounds and eliminations for
the Ford Drive One Summer Drags V will be run, with both days featuring
full winner’s circle celebrations and trophy presentations.

Last Saturday while Ashley Force Hood and her Castrol GTX Mustang
teammates were claiming their third No. 1 qualifying position of the
2009 Full Throttle season – tying her personal best for a season- at
Heartland Park Topeka’s 21st annual NHRA O‘Reilly Summer Nationals back
in Yorba Linda, California the John Force Cruise Night Car Shows was
giving back to the local community at their own record pace.

The second JFR Cruise Night and Car Show of the season nearly doubled
the amount of food raised for donations to the Orange County Food Bank.
The April 25th event netted 640 pounds of food (approx. 550 cans of
food) and the May 30th event netted an astounding 1,210 pounds (approx.
1,000 cans of food)

Top Fuel driver and team owner David Baca will relinquish the seat of his Mach 1 Global Services dragster to J.R. Todd for this weekend's 12th annual United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill.

Citing a need to personally guide his business through the current
economic turbulence in the housing industry in his native Northern
California, the popular Baca decided to use a substitute driver that
could dedicate the necessary time to servicing the multitude of Mach 1
customers and employees slated to attend the race at Route 66 Raceway.

"If I can't put 100 percent of my focus on driving a 300-mph racecar I
don't need to be driving," Baca said. "Everyone that knows me will
understand how hard this decision was but I have to put my commitment
to the Entzminger family and everyone at Mach 1 Global Services ahead
of my desire to drive my hot rod.

Matt Guidera, rider of the Mohegan Sun/Rocklin Motorsports Buell,
debuted on the premier showing of “Jesse James is a Dead Man”, on Spike TV Sunday night May 31st.  The show airs again on June 2, 2009 at 8:00 PM PST and Sunday June 7, 2009 at 10:00 AM PST on Spike TV.

“Paramount Studios contacted us last year right after winning the
Infineon race in Sonoma wanting us to do a special show for Spike TV
with Jesse James.  We were still riding high from winning our home race
when the phone call came from the studios. The call took us all by
surprise on that Monday morning following the Sonoma race, considering
they wanted us in L.A. on Tuesday morning to shoot the new show.  We
were able to put a deal together in that short amount of time and the
show really turned out great”, said Guidera.

Australian NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car driver, Steve Harker used consistency to win rounds at this past weekend's NHRA O'Reilly Summer
Nationals. Harker competed against twenty other Top Alcohol Funny Car
teams at Heartland Park Raceway through hot temperatures and tricky
track conditions.
 
Harker paired up against west coast racer, Sean O'Bannon for the final
round at the NHRA O'Reilly Summer Nationals. This was a repeat of the
finals from here last season where Harker is the defending event
champion. O'Bannon had the starting line advantage but Harker had that
made up by the 60ft timers and held on to take the win and his 4th
career NHRA National event win with a 5.656 at 253.47 mph.

For
competitors in almost any sporting event, there are few honors that
compare to being named to an Allstar team. Each of more than 60 elite
NHRA Sportsman racers who have qualified to participate in this
weekend’s 25th annual JEGS Allstars race at Route 66 Raceway certainly
realize that they are a part of something special and each one is
determined to make the most of it.
 
Initiated in 1985 at Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, Ky., the JEGS
Allstars is a special event which features an individual and team
competition for racers representing each of NHRA’s seven geographic
divisions. Racers from all over North America will converge in Joliet
to compete in the following NHRA Lucas Oil Series categories; Top
Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny Car, Competition, Super Stock,
Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, and Super Street. At the end of the
competition, the overall winning team will share in a $20,000 bonus out
of a total purse of more than $100,000.

Competition tightens in Matco Tools Pro Mod Clash with only four races remaining
 
Competition
is heating up for qualifying in the $35,000 Matco Tools Pro Mod Clash
after five of nine qualifying events in the Get Screened America Pro
Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx. Beginning at the NHRA
Gatornationals in March, drivers have earned points for the
"race-within-a-race" which pits the top Pro Mods against each other
with the chance to race for a $25,000 top prize.
 
The nitrous-powered team of Al-Anabi and Awesome Motorsports with
drivers Burton Auxier and Mike Castellana has jumped out to an
impressive lead, taking the top two spots. Both drivers have won an
event this season, Castellana taking Gainesville and Auxier scoring in
Bristol.