National DRAGSTER, the official newsweekly of NHRA, will
celebrate its 50th year of publication in 2009 with a series of
retrospective articles on the publication’s history and evolution since
its debut in February 1960.

Current staff members, several of whom have been with the publication for three decades, plan to compare and contrast National DRAGSTER’s
look, feel, and major elements over its five decades, examining areas
such as the evolution of national event coverage, cover design,
features, columns, photography, reporting, printing methods, and more.

Two-time and reigning Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series season champion
Shawn Langdon will trade in his Super Comp dragster for a Top Fuel ride
in 2009 and beyond. Pending the successful completion of the crossover
licensing requirements, Langdon plans to run the entire 2009 NHRA Full
Throttle Drag Racing Series in a John Stewart-tuned Lucas Oil/Dixie
Choppers dragster as a teammate to established Top Fuel pro Morgan
Lucas.

"We think it's time for Shawn to make the move to the top level of the
sport, and we're pleased to have him join our son, Morgan, in Top
Fuel," said Forrest Lucas, founder of Lucas Oil and who oversees his
son's operation. "He's proven to be a winner in a race car, and it will
be fun to watch him grow into his new role with our team.

"It's also important for us to have another positive role model for our
company and the sport of NHRA Drag Racing. Shawn's a great young man
that's like family to Charlotte and me, and we wish nothing but the
best for him in the days and months ahead."

Flowmaster, a mainstay of the American Drag Racing League since its
inception, has announced that it is offering a bounty of $5,000 to the
first driver competing in the Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 class who can go
quicker than 3.99 seconds and an additional $5,000 to the first driver
that can go faster than 185 miles per hour.

Both ends of the current Extreme 10.5 class record were set last
October at the Texas Motorplex. Gary White established the elapsed time
mark with a stellar 4.101-second pass while Todd Moyer's 180.45 mph
blast set the miles-per-hour standard.

For Flowmaster Senior Vice President of Marketing Richard Small, the bounty evokes memories of the past.

"The Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 class reminds me of the original 'fastest
street car' shootouts of the mid-1990s," said Small. "Back then, they
raced for satin jackets. We wanted to up the ante a bit."

Anytime Jack Beckman gets the opportunity to test his MTS/Valvoline
Funny Car, he takes advantage of it. This weekend’s test session
provided more than enough kick for Beckman to shake off the cobwebs of
winter.

While the recent economic downturn is causing problems for some
companies and race teams, Rick Jones has decided not only to maintain
his involvement, but to increase his commitments for the 2009 season.
The owner Quarter-Max Chassis and Racing Components and RJ Race Cars,
Inc. says he is resolved to not let the nation's struggling economy
dictate their commitment to customers and fans.

"In these tough economic times we want to prove that Quarter-Max and RJ
Race Cars, Inc. is in this for the long haul," Jones communicates.
"When the going gets tough the tough get going. We are planning on
attending all 24 of the NHRA Full Throttle events. Also Quarter-Max
will have a new display trailer with inventory on the manufactures
midway to better service the racers and our loyal customers."

Jones, along with son Rickie as driver of the Quarter-Max Mopar Dodge
Stratus, also plans to increase involvement with his successful Pro
Stock operation.

Three former IHRA World Champions and reigning IHRA Spring Nationals
champion Elijah Morton are among the headliners already committed to
the fifth annual Rock Batteries Spring Blast which will culminate in
the crowning of a combined champion on Saturday, Feb. 21 at Rockingham
Dragway.

Morton, a Pro Stock veteran from Jacksonville, N.C., has driven his
Ford Mustang into the finals at the last two IHRA races at The Rock,
beating John Montecalvo to win the Spring Nationals before the New York
driver reversed the order of finish at last October’s World Finals.

The lineup of former IHRA World Champions includes “Tricky Rickie”
Smith of King, N.C., who won five Pro Stock and two sportsman world
championships; and Robert Patrick of Fredericksburg, Va., the 2007 Pro
Stock champ.

In a press release issued this afternoon, the NHRA said that its
competition department has reported as many as 18 teams in each of the
event’s three featured pro categories (Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro
Stock) have confirmed their plans for participating in the first of 24
races in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

In Top Fuel, 18 teams have entered to date, featuring the following
drivers: six-time champ Tony Schumacher, Brandon Bernstein, two-time
champ Larry Dixon, Antron Brown, Doug Kalitta, Cory McClenathan, Morgan
Lucas, rookie Spencer Massey, Clay Millican, David Baca, Mike
Strasburg, Troy Buff, Joe Hartley, Arley Langlo, Rob Passey, Steve
Chrisman, Urs Erbacher and Andy Carter, the FIA European Top Fuel champ.

The recent restructuring of Don Schumacher Racing’s nitro teams had arguably the largest impact on McClenathan’s team which
lost not only the crew chief Mike Green to his U.S. Army-sponsored
teammate Tony Schumacher, but also other key team members. On top of
that, McClenathan’s new tuners are in their first year of tuning a
dragster after many years of turning the wrenches on floppers.

McClenathan made the third quickest run of the weekend with a 3.887
elapsed time. His speeds were non-essential considering most of his
runs were aborted, mainly due to tire-shake.

 Members of MPE Motorsports and Rolling O Store Headed to Sudan …

Mark
and Lauren Pickens have pledged to donate 10% of the winnings for their
Top Fuel dragster to assist in war-torn Sudan. Lauren, along with two
other members of the drag racing community, will visit Sudan later this
month on a missions visit.

What started out as a plan to bring awareness to a
poverty-stricken war torn region, has turned into an effort that will
take three members of the drag racing community to the other side of
the world later this month.

Mark and Lauren Pickens adorned their 8,000 horsepower Top Fuel
dragster with the logo Hope4Sudan in hopes that that the Clay
Millican-driven dragster would inspire others to support the children
of Sudan, a country in northeastern Africa.

The team debuted their dragster during the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals
and the vision of the decorated dragster was enough to inspire an
announcer to comment, “Sudan is something I never envisioned on a race
car.”