Brisbane drag racer escapes injury in firey crash during Top Alcohol Final

Mark Sheehan was victorious for round one of the ENZED International Nightfire New Year Series (Brock Parcell)

Rookie
driver Mark Sheehan has taken an upset victory over ‘the Master’ Gary
Densham in the USA vs AUS Nitro Funny Car Showdown, round one of the
ENZED International Nightfire New Year Series, at Willowbank Raceway
tonight.

The result, which saw Sheehan take the win from the US legend - who had
earlier in the evening clinched and reset the National time and speed
records in the class after running the first ever ‘four second’ pass
outside of North America and the first 300 plus mph run on Friday night
- will no doubt inspire a spirited rematch at Willowbank Raceway for
round two of the Series on January 16/17.

Both drivers left the line strong in tonight’s final, before the 62
year old Californian Densham found the limit mid-track as he tried to
push for a 4.80s/320mph pass to top off his impressive record-breaking
passes and had to shut off early.

The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo was an American action/adventure
sitcom that ran on NBC from 1979 to 1981. For its second season the
show was renamed Lobo. The program aired Tuesday nights, at 8 p.m.
Eastern time. The lead character, Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo, played by
Claude Akins, was a spin-off character from another television series,
B.J. and the Bear.

The first day of practice for the fourth annual Whelan Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge ended with 2008 Pro Stock champion Jeg
Coughlin Jr. on top of the timing sheet. Coughlin drove his brand-new
JEGS.com bobsled down legendary Mount Van Hoevenberg in 48.99 seconds
from the No. 4 (practice) start gate to lead a group of 12 professional
racers from NASCAR and NHRA.

"We had a chance to walk the course with cleats on our feet and I had
that 'What have I gotten myself into?' feeling again," said Coughlin,
who competed in this event for the first time last January. "But once I
got in the sled and made a run with Marine Corps Master Sergeant Frank
Bellini as my brakeman, that got the juices following again. Then we
saw our time (50.33) for that run and we knew we were real quick out of
the first few sleds down. After that, it was on.

Carl
Weisinger is best known for his highly visible World Street Nationals
in Orlando, Fla., every fall. Right now he needs your help in bringing
an envisioned project to fruition.

Competition enters the quarterfinals for the second annual CompetitionPlus.com War Stories Showdown, a competition which places sixteen of drag racing's personalities head-to-head in storytelling competition. Over the next four days, you will be presented with the first round strories of each respective contestants. They are paired on an NHRA eliminations ladder seeded by reader vote last week.

Today's competition featuresa dynamic battle between No. 8 seeded Shirley Muldowney versus top qualified John Force, No. 4 Gary Scelzi meets Chris Kaufmann.

Last June, Castrol Global Lubricants announced an exciting new
partnership signed with FIFA to be a Primary sponsor for the 2010 and
2014 World Cup soccer championships.
 
As part of that program, Castrol also announced its renewed commitment
to its global motorsports activities, the cornerstone of its
technological leadership strategy in global lubricants.
 
This global motorsports strategy, activated in multiple racing venues
around the world with many of Castrol's key strategic business
partners, will continue to be showcased in North America through the
company’s 24-year relationship with John Force Racing, Inc. 

Gary Densham celebrates his pass this evening, which is the quickest and fastest in Australia (Credit - Malcolm Burgess)

Gary Densham has kicked off round one of the ENZED
International Nightfire New Year Series in the best way possible
tonight – running Australia’s quickest and fastest ever Nitro Funny Car
pass when he crossed the quarter mile in 4.86 seconds at 309.7mph
(approx 495.52kph).

The result is the first Nitro Funny Car ‘four second’ pass to be run
not only in Australia but also outside of North America, and also tops
the speed ladder as the first pass in Australia by a Nitro Funny Car to
come in at over 300 miles per hour.

Willowbank Raceway will be full of action tonight and tomorrow for round one of the ENZED International Nightfire New Year Series,
featuring the Nitro Funny Cars USA vs AUS showdown as well as Top
Doorslammer, Top Alcohol and Pro Stock Motorcycle action from the
Australian professional ranks.

With the professional racing action set to kick off from 5.00pm
tonight, US Nitro Funny Car legend Gary Densham was at the track today
with Australian rookie Mark Sheehan, with the pair sounding each other
out before their first runs tonight.

“I have been involved in Nitro Funny Cars since just after they started
back in the 1960s, and this is my 11th trip to Australia with my first
trip at Christmas time of 1974, and I just really love coming back
here,” said Densham.

Second round kicks off Friday morning with blockbuster match …

WAR STORIES HOMEPAGE

It was the greatest race that never happened and luckily for John Force it didn’t.

“I would have been crying so much that I couldn’t have raced,” said Force, a 14-time NHRA Funny Car Champion.

Force crosses paths on Friday with his quarterfinals opponent Shirley
Muldowney in the second annual CompetitionPlus.com War Stories. This
unique contest pits sixteen drag racing figures in a head-to-head
competition to determine who can tell the best drag racing story.
Readers vote on the stories and the winners advance in competition
while paired on an NHRA professional eliminations ladder.

Canadian Team Purchases Mark Thomas Operation …

Kon Rodz Racing will expand in 2009 with the purchase of the two-car Alcohol Funny Car operation of Mark Thomas.

“This acquisition has rejuvenated and excited our Kon Rodz Team and I
personally am extremely excited about our team's future for next year,”
said team owner Spiro Kontos.