The Infineon Raceway Drag Racing Team will be honored with the Drag
Racers of the Year award by the Motor Sports Press Association,
officials announced. 

The Infineon Drag Racing Team, which is comprised of 68 drag racers
from Northern California, beat out 13 teams from across the western
United States to win the NHRA Summit Racing Series Pacific Division
title at Top Gun Raceway in Fallon, Nev., last September. This marked
Infineon Raceway's second Summit Racing Series championship in three
years.

Quick Eight Pro Mods featured in IHRA Division 9 Farmington Event ...

Quick Eight Pro Mods will run this weekend, March 20 - 21, at
Farmington Dragway in Farmington, N.C., as part of the IHRA Div. 9
event. This season marks the 20th anniversary of Quick Eight
doorslammer racing at the facility known simply as the FARM.

In
addition to the excitement of the Pro Mods, a full slate of racing is
planned for Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, Super Stock, Stock, Quick Rod,
Super Rod and Hot Rod.

Addresses Air Force 49th Tactical Fighter Wing

As a longtime instructor at Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School, Jack
Beckman admits he was a student himself during that time. It's where he
acquired his skill as a motivational speaker. He didn't intend to, or
expect to, but the time he spent educating racers in the fine art of
negotiating a high-powered racing car down the quarter mile turned him
into an outstanding orator. Add into the mix his experience as a cancer
survivor and the ability to intellectualize ever aspect of driving a
vehicle to over 300 mph in under five seconds, and you have one helluva
communicator.

Beckman, whose day job is driving the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services
Dodge Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing in the NHRA Full Throttle
Drag Racing Series, used his skill recently to speak to the Air Force's
49h Tactical Fighter Wing at the unit's annual maintenance awards
presentation at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamagardo, N.M.

The IHRA confirmed on their website that Milan Dragway and San Antonio Raceway are no longer under their sanction.

The U.S. Army Top Fuel team with driver Tony "The Sarge" Schumacher and NASCAR's Tony Stewart Thursday toured Fort Knox, the home of the U.S. Army's Armor Center and School.

Coming off a quarterfinal round appearance at the ACDelco
Gatornationals last Sunday, Schumacher and his team, along with
Stewart, observed Soldiers training as well as participated in some
hands-on activities.

The group experienced the Close Combat Tactical Trainer, the Kelly
Engagement Skills Trainer and the Thunderbolt Confidence Tower.

Forrest and Charlotte Lucas to keep Garlits' dream alive

Forrest
and Charlotte Lucas and the company they founded, Lucas Oil Products,
will help legend "Big Daddy" Don Garlits honor the pioneers of the
sport by becoming the title sponsor of Garlits' International Drag
Racing Hall of Fame.

Celebrating its 20th year in 2009, Lucas Oil Products already supports
so many current drag racing programs and drivers, the Lucas Oil Drag
Racing Series, and national events in Phoenix, Brainerd, Minn., and
Indianapolis. So when Chrysler was forced to scrub its 19-year
association with the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, the
company was quick to jump and help keep Garlits' dream alive.

Laurie Cannister and the Kalbones Racing Alcohol Funny Car team have put their racing plans on indefinite hold.

The
team was in the final stages of preparing the Funny Car for a
late-spring NHRA debut when team owners Kevin and Wendy Sims received a
phone call informing them that longtime business partner and close
friend, Mike Couch passed away March 6, due to complications of an
illness. Couch was diagnosed with the undisclosed illness just a few
short months ago.

Cinderella has nothing on Top Fuel racer Bobby Lagana Jr.

Sunday, March 15th at 3:30 PM, EST looked an awful lot like midnight as
the Cinderella story for the veteran low buck Top Fuel racer from
Scarsdale, N.Y. danced his last dance in the semi-finals at the NHRA
ACDelco Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

Lagana smoked the tires at the hit of the throttle while opponent Cory
McClenathan exploded an engine down track and coasted through the
lights with flames in tow.

After knocking off Spencer Massey and point leader Antron Brown, his 8,000-horsepower carriage turned into a pumpkin.

Oh, what could have been.

Past
NHRA Pro Stock champion Jim Yates confirmed in his NHRA.com blog that
he's going to call it quits following next weekend's NHRA O'Reilly
Spring Nationals in Houston, Tex. After 405 consecutive races in a
Pontiac, Yates said that he was having a hard time letting go of racing.

Drag Racing is the ultimate competitive sport where every racer has two
goals in mind, maximum performance & win lights. After countless
hours of sweat, blood & tears, Mike Moran has accomplished his
first goal, now he looks forward to the challenge of part two. Behind
the wheel of his familiar ’99 Monte Carlo, Moran became the first
turbocharged competitor to enter the 5 second zone on March 12 at South
Georgia Motorsports Park, running a staggering 5.973 elapsed time @
250.41 mph.

Confidence in the combination is at an all time high. Although the ¼
mile numbers are quite impressive, a quick analysis of the time slip
indicates that much more performance is available. “We definitely left
a little bit on the table on that pass” stated Moran. “We have been
consistently 1.01-1.02 to the 60’ & usually around 195.5 mph to the
660’ on our previous shots, but we had a little extra wheel speed off
the line on that pass, so there is definitely more to come.” The full
incrementals on the pass were 1.036 – 60’, 2.708 – 330’, 3.994 @ 194.52
– 660’, 5.072 – 1,000’ finally resulting in the historic 5.973 @ 250.41
miles per hour.