Jack Beckman is braced to compete at both the famed Bristol Dragway and Bristol
Motor Speedway during this weekend's NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.

As a
contender in the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car class, he will
drive the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T down the
quarter-mile aiming for his second victory of the season. As a circle-track
newbie, he will compete against his NHRA peers in the NHRA Circle Track
Challenge on the half-mile paved oval across the way Saturday night.

The
affable cancer survivor, former Air Force sergeant and instructor at Frank
Hawley's Drag Racing School is stunned that he garnered 33 percent of the fan
votes so far which will likely put him on the pole for the Circle Track
Challenge once the voting is over.

"We put Bristol Dragway's release
about voting for the polesitter on our nhra.com blog and it just went nuts. My
dad sent it to two friends, and so on and so on and so on," explained Beckman.
"Sitting on the pole may be the last time I lead that event. It's pretty cool.
It will be fun. It will give me a great opportunity to get spun out early in the
race, I think," he laughed.

With the theme of the season being to take it one step at a time for Bob Tasca
III and the Motorcraft/Quick Lane/Custom Accessories Shelby Mustang team, the
rookie heads into this weekend’s NHRA race
at Bristol Dragway eager to capture his team's
first win.

“This weekend
is a real important race for us,” said Tasca. “If you look back at the last few
races; in Vegas we qualified our season
best in the No. 3 position, Atlanta was our best showing with making it to the
semi-finals, and St. Louis was hands down our most consistent performance of the
season with getting the quickest ET of my career. So you can just see that at
each race, we establish a new high point
for the program.”

The one step
at a time approach has allowed the team to put together a solid collection of
data through the first seven races of the season, and to successfully make more
and more consistent runs down the
track.

“Going into
Bristol, you kind of want to pull it all together,” said the Rookie-of-the-Year
contender. “We want to qualify in the top half of the field, we want to have an
extremely consistent car throughout qualifying and we want to go to the finals
and ultimately win the race.”

The Drag Racing and Yachting communities of Australia and friends and
family are in deep shock at the tragic loss of National youth sailing
Champion Nick Peate, aged just 17 years.

The youngest brother of female Drag Racing star Kath Stevens and
brother-in-law to the legendary Brett ‘The Boss’ Stevens, he passed on
sadly while at home in Ballina (NSW) on Saturday the 10th May.

A year 12 student at The Southport School (QLD) where he was the 2008
Sailing Teams Racing Captain, Nick was a regular in the Willowbank
Raceway grandstands and a smiling face and friend to many in Drag
Racing circles.

He was also a natural elite sporting talent in his own right with
numerous representative honours throughout his life including multiple
National Sailing Championships, NSW State Gymnastics, NSW State Cross
Country, NSW State Hockey, Schoolboy Rugby Union, Cross Country,
Athletics and Rowing, and the Bronze Medallion Surf Life Saving Award.

Having recently surpassed the 250th career race mark, U.S. Army Top
Fuel driver Tony Schumacher will now focus on another milestone here
this weekend in the O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol
Dragway.

Schumacher, who is the defending NHRA POWERade world champion, needs
just three more elimination round wins to reach the coveted 400 level.

“Given that John Force just got his 1,000th round win, I’m not so sure
that 400 round wins is that big of a deal,” he offered. “But, just the
same, I’m happy that my career has led me to this juncture. I’ve been
fortunate to have been surrounded by a lot of great people over the
years, including my crew chief, Alan Johnson.

“Without Alan calling the shots the last few years, I certainly would
not be in the position that I’m in right now. He’s the best in the
business and I’m blessed that he’s on my side.”

Three times racing Bristol, he’s yet to win a national event there …

Hot Rod Fuller has been to the finals twice in three races at Bristol Dragway. (Roger Richards)

The phrase, two out of three ain’t bad, sounds pretty good to NHRA Top
Fuel driver Rod Fuller considering he’d headed into Bristol Dragway
with two final round appearances in only three tries racing at the NHRA
Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.

The timing is perfect for Fuller who is hot off of a win two weeks ago
at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis. He qualified his
Caterpillar dragster eighth with a time of 4.541 seconds.

The Las Vegas racer then raced to his seventh career Top Fuel victory
by defeating five-time series champion Tony Schumacher in the final
round 4.525 to 4.583 seconds. It was Fuller’s 20th career NHRA national
event victory. He also has won 13 races in the Super Comp/Gas category.

Four-time NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series champion Gary Scelzi finds it hard
not to smile when it comes time to compete at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
at Bristol Dragway. This weekend the picturesque drag strip hosts the eighth
round of the 2008 NHRA series and Scelzi welcomes his return visit driving the
Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car.

The Fresno native has one Funny
Car victory at Bristol (2005) and still holds the Funny Car top-speed record
there of 329.26 mph, set in May 2005. Highlighting this weekend for him is the
NHRA Circle Track Challenge on Saturday night at the paved half-mile Bristol
Motor Speedway oval, where he'll compete against a handful of his NHRA peers in
street stock cars – basic late-model passenger cars with roll cages.

"You
know what, Bristol is one of my favorites," said Scelzi, who is currently 13th
in the Funny Car rankings. "You're not going to find a more beautiful race track
or a finer facility anywhere. It is typical Bruton Smith-style. I can't wait to
see the new drag strip Bruton is building in Charlotte.

In the largest showing of Blown Nitro
Funny Cars since the March Meet, sixteen AA/FC's invaded Southwestern
International Raceway in Tucson Arizona to compete for the $25,500
purse that the Funny Car Fever II event had up for grabs. The weather
was warm and the winds were light all day long with temps in the high
80s but cooled by the early evening hours, bringing forth great track
conditions for the Nitro Funny Cars to battle for the top honors.

The Brownsburg Motorsport Network will hold its second annual
Brownsburg Motorsport Open House Saturday, May 24, from 10 a.m. to
3:p.m., In Brownsburg, Ind. Many of Brownsburg's racing businesses,
including John Force Racing, Don Schumacher Racing, David Powers
Motorsports, and Gotham City Racing will open their doors to the public.

NHRA-related businesses that will be open include John Force
Racing (three Funny Car teams and the Eric Medlen Tribute Room), Don
Schumacher Racing (two Top Fuel teams and four Funny Car teams), David
Powers Motorsports (two Top Fuel teams),  Gotham City Racing (Funny Car team).

Mike Lewis made a decision many years ago which put him on the executive side of drag racing’s corporate ladder.

The current Senior Vice President for Don Schumacher Racing doesn’t
regret his decision to forgo a career as a driver, but many years ago
when he undertook the responsibility of running a drag strip, he did so
with the vision of one day returning to a position behind the wheel.

Staying true to his desires, Lewis recently completed a Top Alcohol
Dragster course at the Frank Hawley Drag Racing School where he ran a
5.99 elapsed time at 231 miles per hour.

The experience was exactly that – an experience.

“I was just marking off an item on my bucket list,” Lewis explained,
talking about the things he wanted to do before “kicking the bucket.”