Fourteen-time NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion
John Force will be the guest speaker at the fourth annual Speedway
Children’s Charities Mel Larson Night of Champions Dinner.  This year’s
event will honor American automotive and motorsports legend Carroll
Shelby and will be held in the Bellagio Hotel & Casino’s Grand
Ballroom in Las Vegas on Wednesday, April 1.

“Carroll sets the bar very high for everyone else in motorsports,” said
Force, who has 126 NHRA Funny Car final-round wins to his credit.  “He
is truly a legend and I feel honored to be a part of any function that
honors him and his accomplishments.  We have a lot in common.  We're
both racers; we're both Ford guys and we're both big storytellers. 
It'll be great to get together with him again in Las Vegas."

Team Wilkerson Racing announced today the addition of associate sponsor
T-Shirts Unlimited to the Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang Funny Car, for
the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle season.   Terms of the agreements were not
disclosed, per team policy.   The newest Team Wilkerson marketing
partner will actively support the LRS Ford Mustang Funny Car and the
Team Wilkerson organization, which is led by owner/driver/tuner Tim
Wilkerson, as part of their mutual quest for success during the 2009
Full Throttle season.

Wilkerson, who finished second in the Funny Car standings in 2008 after
winning a career-best six races during the season, is approaching the
2009 campaign in an aggressive fashion, both on and off the track.  A
new alliance with Bob Tasca III will provide a shift to the Ford
Mustang in '09, while a larger staff and new associate sponsors have
been put in place to give the Levi, Ray & Shoup team the best
possible chance at making a solid run toward the 2009 Full Throttle
Funny Car crown. 

"We're very fortunate to have Levi, Ray & Shoup with us as our
primary sponsor, and not a day goes by when we're not thinking of ways
to make this partnership stronger and more valuable for them and for
Dick Levi," Wilkerson said.  "We've beefed up our program, in terms of
marketing, promotions, corporate hospitality, and sponsor support, and
we're actively approaching new associate sponsors to come onboard with
LRS, so when Boris Podtetenieff, the owner of T-Shirts Unlimited, let
us know they were eager to be a part of our team, we welcomed them with
open arms.

Oakley Inc. has renewed with Don Schumacher Racing as an associate
sponsor on all team racing vehicles for the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle
Drag Racing Series.

Oakley will be the official eyewear, footwear and apparel supplier to the DSR organization for the 2009 season.

Oakley came on board with DSR as primary sponsor of the Scotty Cannon
Funny Car in 2002 and then as sponsor of a second Funny Car in 2003
driven by Gary Scelzi. Scelzi claimed the company's first major NHRA
championship when he was crowned the NHRA Funny Car champion in 2005.

"We are pleased to be continuing our longtime association with Oakley,"
said team owner Don Schumacher. "Oakley's products are unique, stylish
and of the highest quality, and we are proud to be a part of the
worldwide Oakley family."

It
was a day in the summer of 1958 and Don Garlits was making a guest
appearance at Kohler Dragway in Cayuga, Ontario. Because Fred was not
old enough to have a license, his dad dropped him off at the gate. Fred
was hooked on drag racing.  Little did he know that drag racing would
eventually become a career.
 
Throughout his high school and university years, he raced as a hobby
with a variety of cars....37 Ford Coupe, 55 Chevy, and 58 Pontiac to
name a few.  His 1967 Beaumont that was raced at the Niagara Dragstrip,
became internationally known as the Canadian Chevelle.  While teaching
at Cayuga Secondary School, Fred continued his involvement with friends
who relied heavily on his automotive and drag racing knowledge and his
no-nonsense approach.
 

Former Pro Stock racer turned Pro Street legend Pat Musi confirmed with
CompetitionPlus.com that he will return to competition in 2009 behind
the wheel of a ADRL Pro Nitrous 1953 Corvette.

Musi has commissioned Don Reems to build this ultra-trick doorslammer
complete with all the bells and whistles. He’s going to need them as he
plans on shoehorning a 903 cubic inch engine between the fenders.

Tim Charlet is the quintessential drag racing fan having established
his love for the sport as a kid. A member of our Blog Central staff,
Charlet's eagerness to contribute as well as a keen view of drag racing
from a pure race fan's standpoint is the reason that
CompetitionPlus.com has chosen him to pen a monthly article called From the Bleachers.

Charlet
will write a monthly column discussing drag racing's issues from the
eyes of a race fan and where better to write these columns from than
the bleachers.

Charlet's first column can be read by clicking on the link.

TIM CHARLET - FROM THE GRANDSTANDS

Nearly 20 years ago, Darrell Gwynn was the hottest racer on the National Hot Rod Association circuit. Known as “The Kid,” the 28-year-old had raced to 28 national victories.

But in a London exhibition race, Gwynn’s dragster hit a wall in a
horrific Easter Sunday crash. He lost his left arm, was left paralyzed
from the waist down, and never raced again.

Soon after, Gwynn turned his disability into another pursuit ---
raising money for children and young adults suffering from spinal cord
injuries and debilitating disease. Gwynn began donating custom
wheelchairs, providing long-term healthcare services for new spinal
cord injury patients, and decorating pediatric hospital units.

Former Employees of Knoll Gas/Torco Race Fuels Return With Competition Race Fuels …

All Bill Card and his business associates want is a fair chance.

Card is one of a half-dozen former Knoll Gas/Torco Race Fuels employees
hoping to resurrect a familiar brand albeit under the new name
Competition Race Fuels, Inc.

He feels the hard-working employees were the victims of what he felt
was damage perpetrated by top level employees of the former Knoll
Gas/Torco Race Fuels regime.

Card and his constituents are in the early stages of what promises to
be a monumental challenge in rebuilding a positive business from bitter
ashes.

By the time the New Year’s Eve chimes reached 12, Clay Millican
finished breathing his sigh of relief.  Year 2008 was officially history.  Bring on 2009!

Millican, a fan favorite Top Fuel driver from Drummonds, Tenn., now has
a firm grip on what his drag racing future holds – competing in all 24
of NHRA Full Throttle series races.  It’s comforting because 12 months
ago he had no insight on what ’08 held.

“We are excited this year because (team owners) Mark and Lauren Pickens
said we would be running all of the races,” said a happy Millican. 
“That certainly was very comforting to know going into this New Year. 
All we had last year was craziness . . . like being told we weren’t
going to run.”

K&N Engineering has announced a primary sponsorship agreement with
three-time national champion Dan Fletcher. A 56-time national event
winner who is ranked in the top 10 on NHRA's all-time win list,
Fletcher will compete in Comp, Super Stock, and Stock during the 2009
NHRA season.

"We are extremely pleased to add Dan Fletcher to the K&N family,"
said Steve Williams, vice president of PE & RD at K&N
Engineering. "Dan is a proven winner whose record speaks for itself.
His outgoing personality has also made him one of drag racing's most
recognizable Sportsman drivers, and we believe he is a perfect
representative for our company."