Antron Brown is living the dream as a Top Fuel driver. (Roger Richards Photos) 

Four wheels or two, no problem for Antron Brown. After a decade as
one of the elite riders in the Pro Stock Motorcycle category, Brown was
tabbed to drive the David Powers-owned Matco Tools dragster. Making an
unprecedented move, Brown earned the pole at the 2008 season-opener at
Pomona, Calif. and won in just his fourth Top Fuel start by edging
two-time series champion Larry Dixon in the final round at Houston
Raceway Park on March 30. Brown didn’t look back, advancing to three
consecutive final rounds where the Matco Tools driver earned the trip
to the winner’s circle twice. After 12 of 24 races on the 2008 NHRA
racing schedule, Brown finds himself trailing only five-time champion
Tony Schumacher in the Top Fuel standings. In this Q&A, the former
college track star discusses his move to Top Fuel, what it’s like
working with his crew chief, Lee Beard, and teammate, Hot Rod Fuller,
and the second half of the ’08 NHRA racing season.

Q: You’ve made the transition from Pro Stock Motorcycle to Top Fuel appear seamless. Has it been that easy?

BROWN: No, it hasn’t been that easy. What made things so smooth was
the great chemistry our Matco team has. Starting at the top with Lee
Beard and all my team, the way we jelled, made the transition very
smooth. We took things one step at a time and tried to minimize common
rookie mistakes. I didn’t have to learn to race, I just had to learn to
drive the car and that helped make us more competitive early on.

Joshua
Hernandez and ADRL presenting sponsor the National Guard have also
enjoyed a very rewarding union since joining forces at the start of
this year. Hernandez earned his third-straight national-event win at
Radford, Virginia, a feat never before accomplished in the ADRL.

Shortly after fireworks lit
up the south-Virginia sky, Joshua Hernandez lit up the crowd at Motor Mile
Dragway this July 4th by winning an unprecedented third consecutive
American Drag Racing League (ADRL) Pro Extreme event, in the
rain-postponed “arm-drop drags” final from the series’ previous race in
Martin, Michigan.

Joining Hernandez in victory lane at Motor Mile
Dragway in Radford, Virginia were Billy Harper in Pro Nitrous and Extreme
10.5 winner Gary White. The postponed Pro Extreme Motorcycle final was held
over again to the ADRL’s next event, July 25-26, at Budd’s Creek, Maryland
because finalist Scott Gray asked for the delay to accommodate his opponent,
T.T. Jones, who couldn’t make the race due to illness.

Rain Washes Out Second Friday Qualifying Session at CARS RV & Sport & Marine Rocky Mountain Nationals

Scott Cannon Jr. (Pro Modified), Mark Thomas (Alcohol Funny Car) and
Bob Bertsch (Pro Stock) claim provisional pole positions at Castrol
Raceway in Edmonton; Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Car will qualify Saturday

The main attractions of the first day of action at the Rocky Mountain
Nationals, the Top Fuel and Nitro Funny Car qualifying sessions, were
set to go just as an aggressive storm front struck, lashing the area
with heavy rain and steady flashes of lightning.

After close to nine months, Charles Carpenter made his long
awaited return to the national event scene at the 2nd annual
Shelor.com Motor Mile ADRL Independence Drags in Radford, VA.

Make no mistake, however: the time away from the Flowmaster American
Drag Racing League presented by the National Guard series was not spent
idly. Carpenter sold his trusty ’55 Chevy soon after the close of the
2007 season, and spent the remaining months working with up-and-coming
chassis builder Terry Murphy on the creation of brand new “shoebox”
Chevy.

Since taking delivery of the car, Carpenter has been running the wheels
off of it on the local Quick 8 scene in hopes of getting all the new
car bugs worked out. After running a 4.05 on its very first pass down
the track, Carpenter and crew have worked diligently on learning the
new car’s personality.

The NMCA and GM Performance Parts are excited to announce the 2nd Annual GM
Performance Parts LSX Shootout, which will occur at Memphis Motorsports Park
near Memphis, Tenn, the weekend of October 9-12, 2008. The event, held in
conjunction with the Nitto Tire NMCA World Finals, is the largest LS event in
the U.S.  The LSX Shootout features awesome heads-up racing for the fastest
LS-powered cars in the world, index-style racing for competitors of all levels,
a dyno shootout to see who can make the most LS power, and a giant all
LS-powered auto show and shine.  This is “the” LS event of the year, with over
$60,000 in cash and prizes, and it’s brought to you by GM Performance Parts.

Presenting sponsor, Source Interlink’s GM High-Tech Performance
magazine, will produce the official LSX Shootout fan guide as well as rules
and event press releases leading up to the LSX Shootout.  Rick Jensen, the
editor of GM High-Tech Performance magazine, and his team are looking
forward to the 2nd annual event and will provide comprehensive Shootout coverage
for their passionate readers.

Pete Berner currently sits fifth in the Nitro Jam Pro Stock points standings,
and he recently had a difficult decision to make concerning his run for the
Championship. As we near the halfway point of the season, the points battle is
tightening and the Championship chase is growing in intensity. In a year where
gas prices have soared to all-time highs and people everywhere are feeling the
effects of economic downfall, it is becoming increasingly difficult for racers
to be competitive on a national and international level.

The
fifth stop on the IHRA Nitro Jam tour lands in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, which
for many racers is a 40+ hour drive, costing thousands in fuel alone. This
financial burden is prohibiting some racers from attending the event, even those
currently vying for the '08 Championship. Berner and the Quarter-Max.com team
have chosen to sit out the Rocky Mountain Nationals in order to save costs for
the season and provide an equal championship shot for all Pro Stock racers.

The PRI Trade Show’s annual Friday night tradition of an exciting
evening of racing at the PRI Sprint & Midget Classic will be
postponed for one year as the event undergoes a major renovation in
anticipation of its return to the PRI calendar of events in 2009.

“We’re currently working on plans to make the event even bigger and
better, but we need more time to put everything in place. We will start
promoting the events at the 2008 Performance Racing Industry Trade
Show, as we still have a lot of details yet to be worked out with
regard to big changes in the race program,” said Steve Lewis, PRI Trade
Show producer and the race’s organizer.

Drag racing icon John Force said Thursday that, for now, he supports
the unprecedented step taken by the NHRA on Wednesday when it announced
that starting with next week’s Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Denver,
Colo., Top Fuel and Funny Car races at least temporarily will be
contested to 1,000 feet instead of to the traditional 1,320 feet.
 
 “As a PRO member, I support the NHRA decision, for now,” Force said. 
“(Shortening the race course) was one of several options they
considered but it’s one of the few things that could be done
immediately to reduce speeds (in the aftermath of the qualifying
accident two weeks ago that claimed the life of Funny Car driver Scott
Kalitta).”

Reigning Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will don a specially-designed
racing helmet for the upcoming Mile-High NHRA Nationals to honor the 50th
anniversary of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which is
located in nearby Colorado Springs, Colo.

Noted helmet artist Jason Beam
was contracted to paint the helmet, which will be presented to Lieutenant
General Charlie Bouchard of the Canadian Armed Forces, NORAD's Deputy Commander.
General Bouchard, the highest ranking Canadian Officer on U.S.
soil, is slated to be the honorary starter of the Mile-High NHRA Nationals.

"Much like the North American
Aerospace Defense Command team, world champion driver Jeg Coughlin Jr. and his
racing team are committed to excellence," Lieutenant General Bouchard said.
"NORAD and Jeg are also both in the business of high performance and we share
working in an area where there is no room for error.