Ron Correnti, who raced everything from door cars to gas dragsters to nitro Funny Cars, died April 5. He was 65.

For NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series fans, the familiar bright yellow
and red colors of DHL have been associated with the nitro-fueled DHL
Toyota Solara Funny Car, driven by Scott Kalitta, for over a year now.
At this weekend's, April 10-13, annual running of the SummitRacing.com
NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, those
well-recognized colors will also adorn the 330-plus-mph Top Fuel
dragster driven by native Australian and Team Kalitta pilot Dave
Grubnic.

"What an honor it is for me and our team to represent such a great
company and a great partner of Kalitta Motorsports in Las Vegas,"
Grubnic, a 45-year old resident of Ennis, Mont., said. "DHL's
commitment to our team and to the sport of NHRA drag racing is evolving
and strengthening. It's very gratifying for us to be able to share in
that dedication and excitement."

The
1967 - 1968 Camaros and Firebirds have replaced the 1963 Corvette
Stingray as the most-used body style in Pro Modified in 2008. The
reasoning is to fit a larger tire. However, in this picture, Ed Hoover
basketballs a set during the first round in San Antonio. (Roger Richards)

This
season marks the tenth anniversary of former Pro Modified icon Johnny
Rocca’s infamous exchange with the IHRA’s technical department. Rocca
was showing his disdain for the plethora of 1963 Corvettes in Pro
Modified.

Rocca’s conversation went something like this, “I want to build a 1963 Corvette, what colors are available?”

Rocca, who built a name with his radical, fender-skirted 1949 Mercury,
might be happy that only two 1963 Corvettes were in attendance for the
IHRA Texas Nationals. He would likely make another call soon.

Officials
with the JEGS ProMod Challenge will reward a race day purse of $32,000 for each
of the 10 national events on the 2008 schedule, which totals a whopping $320,000
in race winnings for the year. This is in addition to the $1,000 per race Ohio
Crankshaft Low Qualifier money, a $10,000 bonus to the racer with the most No. 1
qualifying efforts, a yet-to-be-announced $50,000 winner-take-all shootout
event, and a season-ending championship payout.

The race day purse will
be distributed according to final results with the winner taking $10,000, the
runner-up $5,000, semifinalists $2,500 apiece, quarterfinalists $1,500 each, and
eight first-round losers scoring $750 per person.

Gary Scelzi, the newly anointed
jet-setter in the NHRA Funny Car division, spent his time last weekend going in
circles at Madera Speedway in Merced,
California. Scelzi completed the
evening as the second place finisher out of fifteen entries within the
Spectator Racing Series.

"I should have had a
donut sponsor because I was making so many laps around here in practice," admitted
Scelzi.

Caddo, OK racer Kevin Self
picked up a $3000.00 Comp Cash Reward bonus check this weekend for his win of
the Jegs Cajun SPORTSnationals in Belle Rose, LA. Self was able to pick up the
check with a holes hot win over Scott Benham in the final round with his six
cylinder Chevy powered Bantam altered.

The matchup for Selfʼs semi-final run
would be recent Gainesville
winner Rodger Brogdon, but again, the sun shone on the Sooner state racer as
Brogdonʼs car lost oil pressure and Kevin was once again able to save his index going into the final.

The Don Schumacher and John Force Racing teams
battle tooth and nail on the racetrack, but these two teams will come
together at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday, April 11, at
7 p.m. for a mutual friend, Eric Greendale.

Greendale fought
inoperable cancer a year ago and was thought to have achieved a
miraculous recovery by the fall. His life was celebrated at an
after-hours event at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA
Finals in Pomona, but his cancer returned a month later with a
vengeance.

Greendale has sacrificed his home and his career to
fight his cancer and has just begun clinical trials with an energized
fight to beat it. He has a strong bond with friends throughout NHRA
teams, including DSR and JFR, and a long-standing friendship with Mike
"Zippy" Neff.

Bryan Epps Photo

Funny Car rookie Steve Macklyn almost got lost on the way to the
IHRA Texas Nationals winner’s circle and with good reason. He didn’t know where it was.

In only his second Funny Car outing, Steve Macklyn tasted the championship champagne. (Roger Richards)

“If I hadn’t been sitting in the car with a tow rope attached, I’d
never have found my way,” Macklyn admitted. “We had an incredible
weekend where we came in just hoping to qualify. To come out here and
beat Dale Creasy, Jr. in the final round was a dream come true.”

Those who know Macklyn knew he’d navigate his way. After all, he’s the
same kid who proclaimed he was going to drive a Funny car back in 1978.
On Sunday he piloted the same Steve Pluger Funny Car formerly driven by
Dale Pulde.

The Salt lake City, Utah-based Macklyn was competing in only his second
career Funny Car race. His first was during last season’s IHRA Rocky
Mountain Nationals in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 

“I owe this completely to my crew,” Macklyn said. “They gave me a good
car to win despite me pooching a few things. This one was for them.”

Terry
McMillen's Top Fuel dragster broke a throttle cable in the final
roundat San Antonio Raceway. Mike Smith is the crew chief for McMillen.
(Bryan Epps)

Second-generation crewchief John Smith sat on the step of Terry McMillen’s trailer and as much as
he labored to smile, the disappointment was clearly evident. He and
his driver McMillen fell victim to the proverbial fifty-cent part in the IHRA Texas Nationals Top Fuel
final.

McMillen rolled to the starting line with a broken car and hoped for a miscue from Massey. The rookie didn’t flinch.

“The throttle cable nut fell off on the burnout or just something
happened with the throttle cable when we took it off after the burn out
stopped,” Smith explained. “The throttle cable was loose when it came
off.  We’ve got a new team and stuff will happen.”

Bryan Epps Photo

Jim Halsey considers himself a confident drag racer but up until the
time he crossed the finish line ahead of Billy Harper, he didn’t
concede the victory was his. The Street, Md.-based veteran, along with
a handful of nitrous racers, had waited a long time for what transpired
in the finals of the IHRA Texas Nationals, a nitrous winner and even
better in an all-nitrous final round.

Jim
Halsey scored the first Pro Modified victory for a nitrous car since
the IHRA Motor City Nationals in July 2006. (Roger Richards)

The last time a pair of nitrous entries battled in a final round of a
Pro Modified event was the 2006 IHRA Motor City Nationals in Milan,
Michigan. There has only been two nitrous winners in the last two seasons in IHRA competition.