The 16^th annual
edition of the Hot Rod Reunion was another barnstormer despite being
interrupted by rain on a couple of occasions during the weekend.

Prior to the event there were predictions that at least 20 cars would contest
both Top Fuel and Funny Car and while the flopper contingent fell short of that
number with 16 cars actually making runs during qualifying there were 21
Dragsters on hand to put on a spectacular show.

Brad Thompson led the pack after each of Saturday’s sessions and then
steamrollered the opposition on Sunday. His opening round win over Rick Rogers
was his slowest pass of eliminations at 5.902. He then stepped up with a best
of the round 5.768 to take out Rick White, running a stout 212 mph at
half-track to advance to the semifinal. Here the Agent Orange car got a freebie
when Jason Richey could not make the call in Dave Smith’s Sacramento-based
entry. Even with a final round berth in the bag Thompson wowed the fans with a
5.706 to further lower his best-of-the-event elapsed time.

On the other side of the ladder, No. 2 qualifier Jim Murphy beat Mike McLennan
in the opening stanza and then put away Denver Schutz’ Raisin Express in the second
round, running a stout 5.789 to overcome a holeshot. In the semi Murphy was
again late off the line in the WW11 car but went to the final when Pete
Kaiser’s ride stumbled after leaving with a great .035 reaction time.

Jack Beckman feels he has something to prove after being bumped out of
the inaugural NHRA POWERade Series Countdown to the Championship field
in Richmond.

He probably didn’t need to, but he showed once again on Wednesday that
he could still star in the roll of spoiler, driving his Mail Terminal
Services Dodge Charger to a 4.753 at 325.30 mph during the second day
of testing at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In one week, the Series returns for the seventh annual ACDelco Las
Vegas NHRA Nationals, Oct. 25-28, the first of two final races that
will determine the 2007 POWERade Series world championships.

“We tested clutch parts, blower parts, injector parts and we evaluated
all day yesterday and today,” Beckman said. “We kind of picked the best
combination and picked away at it. We want to make those four who are
still in miserable. We want to win these races and make an exclamation
point at the end of the year.”

Torco's
CompetitionPlus.com would like to congratulate IHRA Publicity Director
Mike Perry and wife Christy on the birth of their first child, Mitchell
Lawrence Perry. He was born at 6:02 AM, on Wednesday, October 17.

Mitchell was 6 pounds, 5 ounces and is 19 inches long.

Both mother and child are doing fine. Dad ... he's a bit frazzled but is expected to be fine.

Something was missing
when Pete Berner, Pro Stock driver, arrived for Winner’s Circle photos following
his victory at the IHRA Torco Race Fuels Presidents Cup Nationals at the Budd’s
Creek facility several weeks ago. He searched high and low throughout the
Maryland International Raceway property, but to no avail.

 

Berner had planned to
present this missing individual member the winner’s trophy, because this one
individual had made that much of a difference in his heart.

 

The interesting part,
this individual was not an integral member of the crew.

 

In fact, she had
become a part of the crew only the day before and only by a twist of fate. The
unfortunate part of the entire story, Berner hasn’t seen or heard from his
newest crew member since that Saturday meeting.

 

Berner had just run a
6.294 elapsed time  at 221.74 miles per
hour to claim the third spot in one of the quickest-ever IHRA Torco’s
CompetitionPlus.com Pro Stock field during Saturday
qualifying.

Tuesday evening’s blessing
from the Concord
planning and zoning commission paving the way for the controversial drag strip
at Lowe’s Motor Speedway may be a noble gesture, but one that could be too
late. This comes after the City Council’s retreat from an opposing stance.

Bruton Smith had planned a
$60 million drag strip project, but that was voted down on October 1 after City
Council, answering to the complaints of Speedway
neighbors related to noise, banned drag strips in the on Smith's property.

Smith responded by
threatening to spend $350 million to leave his Concord
property and move to somewhere within the Charlotte
region. He told the Charlotte Observer there’s a 90% chance that he’ll leave Concord and sell the
property piecemeal.

Over the last few weeks,
the drag racing community has been attacked by a rash of car thefts. Word comes
to Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com that Henry Velasco’s shop was broken into and
stolen were several specialty items.

Ron
Capps turned in the best Funny Car performance of the first day of
testing at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – the last time teams
will have time to tweak before the inaugural Countdown to the
Championship titles are decided.

Capps drove his Brut Revolution Dodge Charger to a 4.824-second run at
316.97 mph, the quickest of his Don Schumacher Racing-owned teammates.
Testing continues until Thursday, one week before the NHRA POWERade
Series comes to The Strip for the seventh annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA
Nationals Oct. 25-28.

This year, Ford adds some flair to the Warriors in Pink campaign by enlisting
celebrities to join them in the fight against breast cancer by signing and
decorating mini Warriors in Pink Mustangs. The 10-day auction, which launched on
October 15, 2007 on ebay.com/WarriorsinPink and benefits Susan G. Komen for the Cure, allows fans to
purchase a one-of-a-kind collector’s item signed by their favorite celebrity. 
Ford has supported Komen for the Cure for 13 years and has dedicated more than
$90 million in cash and in-kind donations to save lives and help end breast
cancer forever.  This year, they have added some muscle to the fight with the
addition of the new 2008 Mustang with Warriors in Pink package.

Celebrities such as David Arquette and Courteney
Cox, superstar Toby Keith, award-winning artist Kelly Clarkson, and the
award-winning casts of “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Desperate Housewives”, “The Young and
the Restless” and “General Hospital” join Ford this year in the fight against
breast cancer by signing and decorating limited-edition 1/18th scale models of
the 2008 Mustang with Warriors in Pink package.

Paul T. Mayo of Ginter, PA died on Sunday, Oct.
14, 2007 due to an accident while felling trees near his home.

Mayo was born in San Diego, CA on February
15, 1941, the son of the late David and Mary (Burke) Mayo.

Mayo served in the U.S. Navy and was a plank
owner of the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. In 1985 he retired from the National Hot Rod
Association after a long and successful career winning many National
Championships. Earlier this year he was inducted into the Legion of Honor of the
National Nostalgic Drag Racing Association in recognition of his achievements
during the 1960's and 70's.