Hard as it is to believe, the 2008 racing season is drawing to a close. The good news, however, is that the off-season will get a
high-powered kick-off when the IHRA faithful gather at the Great Wolf
Lodge to honor this season’s champions and do a little howling at the
moon in the process.

Located north of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, adjacent to Kings Island,
Great Wolf Lodge is a first-class, full-service family destination
resort and conference center, designed to capture the atmosphere and
adventure of the north woods.

Dad might have seen Elvis at 1,000 feet in Memphis, but his daughter didn’t see a thing other than her Ford Mustang moving down the course faster than her fellow competitors during first day qualifying at the NHRA Mid South Nationals.

Ashley Force’s 4.079-second run at only 298.87 miles per hour put her
in an incredible position to score her second career No. 1 position.
This was her anniversary present to her dad, John Force and mom Laurie,
who when asked how long they had been married commented, “If you ask
mom she’ll probably say 100 years.”

Chris Rivas will be the first to admit changing everything combination-wise on the Drag Specialties/G2 Buell was a huge gamble. He’ll also tell you that it was a gamble that is still delivering a jackpot.

If you ask Rivas what change led to his recent victory at Dallas and
provisional No. 1 qualifying effort at Memphis, he’ll simply say the
changes.

No details. No one particular part.

There’s a good reason for those answers. He doesn’t know.

BERNSTEIN, A. FORCE, JOHNSON AND RIVAS PROVISIONAL NO. 1 QUALIFIERS IN MEMPHIS

Four
playoff contenders lead the packs after what some crew chiefs called
the best weather conditions Memphis qualifying sessions have ever
yielded.

Ashley Force, Brandon Bernstein, Allen Johnson and Chris Rivas were the
provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 21st annual O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South
Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Memphis Motorsports Park, the third
of six events in the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoffs.

FIVE ROOKIE DRIVERS HEADLINE NOMINEES FOR 2008 AUTO CLUB ROAD TO THE FUTURE AWARD

Five NHRA rookie drivers, representative of all four pro categories,
have been selected as nominees for the 2008 Automobile Club of Southern
California Road to the Future Award, it was announced today by
officials from NHRA and the Automobile Club of Southern California.

The nominees for the prestigious award include, in alphabetical order,
Rickie Jones (Pro Stock); Mike Neff (Funny Car); Junior Pippin (Pro
Stock Motorcycle); Bob Tasca III (Funny Car) and Steve Torrence (Top
Fuel).

The award, which recognizes the top rookie competitor in the NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series and offers a $20,000 prize and traditional
trophy to the winner, will be presented during NHRA’s annual
championship awards ceremony on Monday, Nov. 17 at the spectacular
Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City.

2008 PMRA Champion goes out on high note, sells car and retires from racing

To
celebrate his 2008 Pro Modified Racing Association championship, Bruce
Boland went out and bought himself a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
 
“I bought a new Harley yesterday,” Boland said the day after he won the PMRA Championship, his second such title in two years.
 
The driver of the B&B Racing 1963 Corvette has also sold his car,
less engine, and plans to be a part of the local Pro Modified scene
next year, but will not be racing on a regular basis.

Greg “The Desert Dawg” Krenik clinched the 2008 All
Harley Drag Racing Association (AHDRA) K & K Marine Pro Modified
National Championship at the S&S Cycle Jim McClure Nationals in
Richmond, VA., the next to last stop on the schedule.

Krenik, whose team is based in New Mexico, came to the event hosted by
Virginia Motorsports Park with the intent of wrapping up the Pro
Modified National Championship and to come away with at least a chance
to also win the Pro Stock National Championship.

Our great artist friend Greg Russell, owner and operator of Greg Russell Designs
, has mocked up another one of his great Funny Car renditions. This
time Russell has generated a vision of the new Challenger in Funny Car
form. 

Russell, as you may recall, generated our two part
series of throwback Funny Cars. Here's a refresher of those incredible
feature storie: THROWBACK FUNNY CARS, PART 1      THROWBACK FUNNY CARS, PART 2

Last month, four-time NHRA world champion Gary Scelzi took to El Mirage
Dry Lake Bed in the Mojave Desert in California to test drive a new
Dodge Challenger SRT8 and its 6.1-liter SRT Hemi SMPI engine for the
show Test Drive, hosted by four-time SCCA Trans-Am champion Tommy
Kendall. The 30-minute episode is scheduled to air on SPEED TV this
Saturday, Sept. 27, at 6:30 p.m. ET.

The show will also feature appearances by late-night host and car
aficionado Jay Leno, actress Carmen Electra and NASCAR driver Kyle
Petty.

It was a unique experience for the driver of the Mopar/Oakley Dodge
Charger R/T Funny Car in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series who is
more accustomed to racing an 8000-hp race car at over 330 mph in under
four seconds on a closed quarter-mile track. The challenges of the
desert were intimidating. Scelzi's goal? To see if the Challenger would
reach a speed of 165 mph. You'll have to watch the show to find out if
the goal was accomplished.

The John Force Racing family will be featured in the national spotlight next Tuesday night, Sept. 30, on ESPN's newsmagazine show, E:60, which airs at 7 p.m. (ET). John Force has won an unprecedented 14 NHRA POWERade Series world championships and an incredible 126 race victories. His daughter Ashley is a rising star on the circuit who has become wildly popular and is building quite a fan base.