Those seeking an immediate resolution to the NHRA’s fine of Don
Schumacher Racing shouldn’t expect the issue to be resolved in the
immediate. The NHRA’s appeal process can take up to 90 days. There are
three steps to the process and each takes 30 days to complete.

Maple Grove Raceway outside of Reading, Pennsylvania holds special
meaning for the Follow A Dream (“FAD”) Top Alcohol Funny Car race
team.   Maple Grove is where FAD team owner and crew chief Jay Blake,
who is the only blind crew chief in motorsports, decided to follow his
dream of owning his own drag race team.

Blake brings his Permatex/Wynn’s/Texas Roadhouse 2008 Chevrolet Impala
SS Top Alcohol Funny Car to Maple Grove this weekend (May 23-24, 2008)
for the second stop on the 2008 NHRA Northeast Division 1 race schedule.

“Every race is special, but this one this year is a little more so, 
because it comes one day after the anniversary of my accident,” said
Blake, who was left without sight, taste and smell following the May
22, 1997 industrial accident that left him clinging to life.  “It’s
amazing how far this team has come over the years, and it would be
great if we put it all together this weekend at Maple Grove.”

Pontiac and GMC will fill the  role as the official vehicles of
Heartland Park Topeka. The multi-purpose racing facility located five
miles south of downtown Topeka is celebrating its 20th anniversary in
2008 and will join Bristol Dragway, The Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway, Houston Raceway Park and Virginia Motorsports Park as venues
where Pontiac and GMC are the official vehicles. Pontiac and GMC also
serve as the official car and truck of the NHRA and are the official
vehicles at all NHRA-owned facilities including Gainesville Raceway,
Atlanta Dragway, O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis and Auto Club
Raceway at Pomona.

"Heartland Park Topeka is one of this country's premier racing
facilities," said Fred Simmonds, GM drag racing marketing manager.
"Track officials and the management have done a wonderful job in making
improvements to the facility that will continue to benefit race fans
and competitors for years to come. Pontiac and GMC are proud to serve
as the official vehicles of Heartland Park Topeka."

Second-year NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Sean O'Bannon and the
Tequila Patrón/Forest River RV's team will debut their new '08 Monte
Carlo body during this weekend's Division 6 Lucas Oil Drag Racing
Series event in Mission, B.C.  The team hopes the lower-profile Monte
Carlo body will enable the team to run better speeds.
 
O'Bannon, who helps run the family business, Fontana Wood Products, in
Fontana, Calif., is excited about returning to the track after
qualifying No. 2 at his last event, the SummitRacing.com Nationals in
Las Vegas.

Roger Richards Photo

Chip Ellis, rider of the Schumacher Electric Suzuki Pro Stock
Motorcycle in the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, made a special
“V.I.P.” visit to Van Buren Technology Center in Lawrence, Mich., on
Tuesday, May 20. Ellis toured the technical facility, met with hundreds
of students and enjoyed a luncheon with members of the faculty. The
NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car was also on display during
the visit.
 
"It was a very interesting day," said Ellis, who is currently third in
the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle point standings. "It is a technical
school for high-school kids who go there half-days. There are a variety
of programs available for the students, including everything from
welding classes and automobile repair to law enforcement and finance
and computer classes. It was a pretty cool day.
 

Photos by Roger Richards

Rookie Top Fuel driver and Bill Miller student, Troy Buff, says he’s learning to drive a Top Fuel dragster the

Former TAD standout Troy Buff is adjusting remarkably to the challenge of Top Fuel.

right way. The former Top Alcohol dragster standout is making a
significant amount of progress in his rookie season. Winning the first
round of eliminations at the recently completed NHRA Thunder Valley
Nationals for his first career Top Fuel round win confirms the
advancement.

Just ask Laurie Cannister if she expected to be undefeated headed into
the third race of the IHRA season and she’ll quickly respond the
experience has come as a pleasant surprise. An already strong Cannister
will get stronger headed into this weekend’s IHRA Motor City Nationals
in Milan, MI.

Cannister will be rejoined on the tour by crew chief Mike Couch.

Couch was unable to attend the San Antonio and Rockingham races.  First
due to an illness and second to attend his daughter’s wedding. He
assisted the team via telephone.

"We are all looking forward to having Mike be there with us,” she said.
“It seems like such a long time since he's been at the track. 
Although, we have stayed in constant contact with him each race, it's
never the same as him being there."

Make no bones about it, Couch wanted to be there to celebrate with the team.

Teams of the Pro Modified Racing Association Presented by Torco Racing
Fuels Ontario will be traveling to a new venue Saturday, June 7, and
the new owners of New York International Raceway Park are excited to be
hosting the popular Pro Modifieds.
 
“This is going to be a terrific show,” said Vito Antonicelli, who along
with wife Sylvia recently purchased the facility just south of
Rochester, New York. “The PMRA has established itself as one of the top
Pro Modified shows, and we are looking forward to having them with us.”

And you thought nostalgia dragsters were fast!  The JCB GT, the world's fastest
backhoe loader dragster, with driver Neil Smith behind the wheel, will be
speeding down the track, June 13-15, at the 2008 Holley National Hot Rod Reunion
at Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, Ky. Powered by a 1,300-horsepower engine,
the "backhoe on steroids" is capable of speeds more than 150 mph and lights up
the sky with its flame-shooting exhaust.

"The JCB GT is an absolute
thrill to watch," said Tony Thacker, executive director of the Wally Parks NHRA
Motorsports Museum, producers of the Reunion. "People will be cheering---they've
never seen anything like it. The Reunion will be packed with drag racing action,
including Top Fuel, but this is something special that the whole family will
love."

God Speed Ministry is racing to “Change a Child’s Life.”  Every night
children right here in the United States go to bed hungry. Over 4
million children in the U.S. are hungry, according to statistics.

This is unacceptable. We can and must do something to change this. Together, we can Change a Child’s Life.

God Speed Ministry, Inc. has partnered with Feed The Children to help
feed children in each U.S. city that hosts an IHRA National Event. Feed
The Children is a Christian, nonprofit relief organization that
delivers food, medicine, clothing and other necessities to individuals,
children and families who lack these essentials due to famine, war,
poverty, or natural disaster.

Your pocket change can significantly change a child’s life when pooled
together with the change of other like-minded people. At each IHRA
National Event in the US, God Speed Ministry will have jars located at
the concession stands, manufacturers’ midway, and various racer pits
for you to deposit your coins or other monies for these hungry
children. The money collected at each IHRA event will be used to feed
the hungry children here in the USA.