Photographer Brian Losness captured this blazer from Joe Hartley during Friday's qualifying.

 SCHUMACHER, WORSHAM, LINE AND HINES LEAD QUALIFYING AT AUTO CLUB NHRA FINALS; Spectacular Worsham crash closes second day qualifying at Auto Club Raceway
at Pomona

 
Tony Schumacher led Top Fuel qualifying Friday at the Auto Club NHRA Finals.
Schumacher followed Thursday's 4.490-second pass
with a 4.506 to maintain the
No. 1 position in the provisional field at
Auto Club Raceway at
Pomona.

Del Worsham, Jason Line and Andrew Hines also were qualifying
leaders in their categories at the final of 23 races in the $50 million
NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series.

		Event Notebook Event Results Final round-by-round results Final Round Results			Event Photos Sportsman

Del Worsham was released from Pomona Valley Hospital shortly after 7:00 pm
on Friday.   Though his car was a total wreck after his spectacular and
horrifying wreck on Friday, his body came out of the experience in slightly
better shape.    Worsham suffered a few small lacerations to both shins,
caused by the violence of the end-over-end wreck at high speed, but had
those either stitched up or bandaged with no ill effects.  Slightly more
serious were x-rays which revealed a cracked tail bone.  Doctors at Pomona
Valley informed Worsham he would be able to race with no danger of further
injury.

"They basically told me it was up to me, and how I can manage the
pain," Worsham said.  "It's an injury they really can't treat, you just
need to let it heal and you know it's going to hurt for a while.  The
ER doctor who cared for me was really fantastic, and everyone from the
ambulance guys to the people in the emergency room took great care of
me
and my wife Connie, who was with me.   The doctor was explaining what they
saw on the x-rays, and he was also pretty interested in what we do and how
it all happened.  I had the worst view of it of everyone, of course, and I
still haven't seen the video, but I think we gave him a pretty good idea of
everything that happened.  He actually wants to come out to the race on
Sunday, so that would be cool.

NHRA POWERade Funny Car driver Mike Ashley will return to the familiar role of
team owner/driver and field his own nitro Funny Car team in 2007 with primary
sponsorship from Torco Racing Fuels, Inc. and Evan Knoll and his conglomeration
of successful companies. The two-time Pro Modified world champion from Long
Island, New York, will conclude his program with Don Schumacher Racing at the
end of the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals in Pomona, Ca.

Ashley plans to race under his established Gotham City
Racing banner and base his operations out of Indianapolis. Crew chief Brian
Corradi and the entire crew will join the new team.

"This is an incredible opportunity and I owe a lot to Evan
Knoll for making this happen," Ashley said. "I am most comfortable with the role
of owner/driver, and history shows we have been very successful fielding winning
teams.

Summit Racing Equipment has renewed its series sponsorship of the NHRA Summit Racing Series through the year 2009. 

The NHRA Summit Racing Series features competition in a bracket racing (elapsed time) format, allowing drivers in many types of cars, including dragsters, roadsters, sedans and coupes, to compete on an equal basis against each other. In addition to three competition categories for cars, there also is a motorcycle category featured in the NHRA Summit Racing Series.
           
The commitment by Summit Racing Equipment has been a huge boost to the sportsman series – the backbone of NHRA – which has provided for safe and exciting competition for the local racer since the mid-1970s.

Jesse Greening, of Culman, Alabama’s “Greening Auto Company” was presented with
the Goodguys 2006 Trendsetter award, Wednesday, November 1st. Greening accepted
the award during the Hot Rod Industry Alliance reception here at the SEMA
show.

The Goodguys Trendsetter Award is
annually presented at SEMA to rising young talents in the realm of rod &
custom car building.

WORSHAM RACES TO FUNNY CAR QUALIFYING LEAD AT AUTO CLUB NHRA FINALS; Schumacher, Anderson and Hines also quick at Pomona 

PHOTO GALLERY 

Funny Car racer Del Worsham is on pace to close a sub-par year with a big finish
by racing to the qualifying lead Thursday at the Auto Club NHRA Finals.

Currently in danger of finishing outside the top-10 for the first time
in a decade, Worsham produced 4.712-second pass in his Checker Schuck's Kragen
Chevy Monte Carlo, the quickest of his career, to take the early lead. Tony
Schumacher (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock
Motorcycle) also are qualifying leaders at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. The $1.8
million race is the final of 23 events in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series.

Paul Athey and the Mohegan Sun Racing team are proud to announce the formation
of a partnership with the New England based West Coast Choppers Pro Mod team of
Iannotti Racing. This joining of forces will no doubt pay big dividends for both
teams in their 2007 campaign and bolster the Pro Mod scene on the East Coast.

"Ron and I had talked a little bit back in the Spring about working together
and getting their team back out to the track," Athey explained. "Ron really
wanted to go racing but needed to secure additional funding."

This is a duo that has long been familiar to Pro Mod fans in the eastern half
of the country. Iannotti, known as one of the bad boys of the class, a
competitor at the first ever ADRL Dragstock event, and flying the banner of
Jesse James's West Coast Choppers will retain the tuning services of Brian
Winkler. Data sharing with the additional car will be invaluable for both teams.

The deposed general manager at Spokane Raceway Park recently was indicted by a federal grand jury on several counts of public corruption.

The charges stem from the fact Moe and the former Airway Heights (Wash.) Mayor Dale R. Perry were financially involved. The indictment alleges Moe loaned the mayor money with the expectation that Perry would cast favorable votes when issues regarded SRP came before the Airway Heights City Council.

Moe was fired June 1 as the GM of SRP, a 600-acre drag-racing and motorsports complex in Airway Heights, just west of Spokane.

Kelly Clancy has been named director of corporate marketing for the National Hot Rod Association, NHRA Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing Gary Darcy announced today.

Clancy joins NHRA with more than 20 years of experience in the marketing field – including 10 years with California Speedway, where she managed all media, advertising, sponsor programs, and pre- and post-race ceremonies as director of advertising and promotions.

“I’m very excited to join the NHRA team and to have the tremendous opportunity to work with our sponsors, teams, and fans to continue to grow the ever-expanding popularity of the sport of NHRA Drag Racing,” Clancy said.