Jeff Wahl, of New Lennox, Ill., became the 10th NAPA Honorary Crew Member at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway

Jeff Wahl, of New Lennox, Ill., became the 10th NAPA Honorary Crew
Member at the Route 66 NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway, the 10th
round of the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Wahl had a look of complete surprise when his name was called. He
thought he would be pressed into service as a working crew member on
the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driven by Ron Capps. He
was quickly relieved to learn that he had earned the honor but wouldn't
actually have to turn a wrench on the NAPA Funny Car.
 

Even though you’ve seen a movie once, if it’s really good, you watch it over and
over.  And if you heard people talking about a great movie that you missed, you
want to make sure you see it.
 
For those who want to experience the
excitement and camaraderie of the fourth annual Old Spice Prelude to the Dream
presented June 4 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, HBO Pay-Per-View will
have encore presentations of the all-star dirt late model race available now
through June 15.  Contact your satellite or cable provider and check your local
listings for dates and times.  HBO Pay-Per-View’s racing telecast has a
suggested retail price of $24.95.
 
The race, which drew more than 23,000
fans to Eldora, was broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View with proceeds from the
telecast going to support the soon-to-be constructed Victory Junction Gang Camp
– Kansas City and the Tony Stewart Foundation.

Show it, win it and take it to Indy. That's the plan for entrees in the
Top 50 SoffSeal Show 'n Shine at the 6th Holley NHRA National Hot Rod
Reunion, June 13-15, Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, Ky.

For the first time, the nine "Best of the Best" winners, as well as the
Top 50 SoffSeal Show 'n Shine entries from the Reunion, will be invited
to the NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals (Aug. 27-Sept. 1) at O'Reilly
Raceway Park at Indianapolis. There the vehicles will be displayed in a
special area presented by Hot Hues Custom Finishes by Du Pont and the
participants will select who they think is the "Best of the Best of the
Best." All participants will receive a special memento of the occasion
and the winner will receive the inaugural Bob Daniels Award of
Excellence courtesy of SoffSeal.

It’s not only hot, bad and fast, it’s the creation of legendary custom-car designer – RJ de Vera.

The one-of-a-kind de Vera-inspired 2008 ROUSH Mustang GT-V that
captures a modern yet classic look will be the grand prize for a
Valvoline online promotion.

Known as the Valvoline Challenge, contestants can enter the ROUSH
Mustang giveaway by going to http://www.valvolinechallenge.com.

The first stage of the contest is to answer a Valvoline motor oil quiz.
After answering the questions correctly, contestants are required to
send a picture of their current car and in 20 or fewer words explain
why they should win the ROUSH Mustang, named after the automotive and
racing entrepreneur Jack Roush.

NHRA Top Fuel star Hillary Will, who won her first title
trophy Sunday, June 1, in Topeka, Kan., and Jim Oberhofer, crew chief of her KB
Racing, LLC dragster, are scheduled to be featured guests this Sunday on ESPN2's NHRA Race Day at 10:00 a.m. (CT).

Kurt Johnson's in the posts lead but his focus is on winning and not counting points.  (Roger Richards)

For the first time in five years, Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco
Cobalt Racing team will arrive at an NHRA national event as the leaders
in the POWERade Pro Stock Championship standings.   Although naturally
pleased with their current standing, with more than half the season
remaining, including the final six-race Countdown to One playoff,
everyone on the team realizes that the battle has just begun. 
Therefore, their focus entering this weekend’s Torco Racing Fuels
Nationals in Joliet, IL remains squarely on winning their second race
of the season. 

“We’ve done well so far, but it’s still early,” said Johnson.  “At this
point, we would like to have more than one win, but this category is so
tough, as shown by the eight different winners in nine races. So far,
it has been a crazy year in Pro Stock, so we’re pretty pleased to have
our ACDelco Cobalt at the top of the page.

CompetitionPlus.com has learned former NHRA funny car world champion Mark Oswald will handle driving duties for Mike Ashley this weekend at the NHRA Torco Route 66 Nationals in Chicago.

Fourteen-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force had as much warning as
everyone else on the latest nitro price increase. In the middle of a
news teleconference related to the NHRA Summernationals victory in
Topeka, Kansas, someone slipped him a note.

“I just got slipped a note,” Force said, as he paused in the middle of
answering a question. “I’ve just been told by the price of nitromethane
has just gone up to $1405.”

Force paused and then uttered, “That’s going to be a big hit.”

The increase caught Force off guard, much like last week’s announcement
of a ban on testing at NHRA national event facilities to accommodate a
nitromethane shortage by the official supplier VP Race Fuels.

A&R TRANSPORT PROVIDES PRIMARY SPONSORSHIP FOR MIKE ASHLEY IN CHICAGO

Joliet-based transportation company A&R Transport will take the
role as primary sponsor on Mike Ashley's Dodge Charger R/T nitro Funny
Car and as Major Associate on Melanie Troxel's Charger this weekend for
the Torco Race Fuels NHRA Route 66 Nationals. In addition, PneuTech -
Pneumatic Tank Trailer and Parts Sales - joins the Gotham City Racing
team as an associate sponsor on both cars this weekend.

A&R has been an associate sponsor for Gotham City Racing since the
beginning of 2007, and company owner, Mike Bedeker, said he wanted to
be sure both Team Gotham cars were competing in Joliet this weekend, so
he stepped up to take title rights on Ashley's car for the weekend.
Bedeker is also a principal in PneuTech.

"We're very excited that Mike's going to run his car this weekend with
the A&R name on it, and we're more than happy to help the team,"
Bedeker said.