It's looking that way for Cory McClenathan, whose first race with new crew chief Tony
Shortall progressed at a positive pace. The veteran, whose team replaced
veteran tuner Wes Cerny with assistant crew chief Shortall, qualified 13th with
a 4.668. Unfortunately for Cory Mac, he met eventual winner Tony Schumacher in the first round.

"In
all reality, Tony Shortall stepped up to be crew chief and Rahn Tobler helped us last weekend," McClenathan said. "Rahn has some other things going
that are really good for his future, and right now he was free for the weekend.
I asked him to come in, and between (team owner) Scott Griffin and myself, I
asked him to help us out, and he was kind enough to come in for the weekend.
Tony Shortall can do this. I really believe Tony is one of the up and comers. We
just decided to switch things around. We just want to get back to what we know
we can do. We're still not out of the hunt yet. We just need to go A-to-B, win
some rounds...that's my biggest focus right now. And between Tony Shortall and
Rahn Tobler, I think they can make that happen.”

Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com, has compiled a list of the Top 20 Mountain Motor
Pro Stock drivers as a way to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the “run
whatcha brung” style of competition that was first introduced under the IHRA
sanction in 1977. In the weeks leading up to the Torco’s CompetitionPlus Pro
Stock Showdown during Torco Race Fuels President’s Cup Nationals in Budds Creek,
Md., September 28 – 30, a driver will be revealed.

The special feature
began as the extension of research for an article forthcoming in Torco’s
CompetitionPlus.com chronicling the early years of the mountain motor
movement.

“I can’t begin to tell you how exciting it was to research this
story,” said Bobby Bennett, Publisher and Executive Editor said. “There are a
lot of individuals who sacrificed time and money to make Pro Stock racing what
it is. When you look back to every major doorslammer division in professional
drag racing, the IHRA’s mountain motor movement was the inspiration.

ANNOUNCING
THE 1ST ANNUAL TORCO RACE FUELS/SEELYE WRIGHT CELEBRITY GOLF
TOURNAMENT; Proceeds to
benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan.

Some of the best drag racers will be driving
differently on the Thursday preceding the IHRA Torco Race Fuels Northern
Nationals in Martin, Michigan. They will trade in their
8,000-horsepower dragsters for golf clubs for the first annual Torco Race
Fuels/Seelye-Wright Auto Group golf tournament benefiting the Make-A-Wish
Foundation of Michigan.

Scheduled
guests include Scotty Cannon, Scott Cannon Jr., Matt Hagan, Clay Millican,
Melanie Troxel, JR Todd, Dale Creasy, Doug Foley as well as Kevin and Rod
Pickett from the CMT television series “Trick My Truck.”

The cost to
participate is $70 per player and the fee includes food, a donation to
Make-A-Wish Foundation, golf fees and the use of cart. Donation bids are
accepted to play with your favorite driver.

The day
promises to be chock full of excitement with raffles, prizes and contests. A
reward of $5,000 (which won't be won by CP.com editor Bobby Bennett) will be presented to the golfer that lands a hole-in-one.

As an added
bonus the Top Fuel dragster of Scotty Cannon will be on display.

Throw together a absolutely huge car show, record-setting Outlaw-track
acrobatics and what do you get? Why, Fun Ford’s annual extravaganza at
Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio, of course!

YNOT Racing is proud to announce that the first annual YNOT Racing/ St. Jude
Children’s Research Hospital Challenge raised six thousand four hundred
dollars.  YNOT Racing would like to thank Janna
Beebe-Price, Lisa Kubo, and Jennifer Dedenhoeffer from Torco Racing Fuels for
their support and hard work in pulling this project
together.

A check
presentation was made by Jim Whiteley Janna Beebe-Price, Lisa Kubo and Jennifer
Dedenhoeffer to Don Langford,  Member of
Advisory Board for Country Cares for St. Jude Kids, in the YNOT Pit Area during
pre-race.  KNTY 101.9 the Wolf,
Fresh
County and 1320 TV
were on hand to broadcast the ceremony and it is available for pod
cast.

Evan Knoll
intends to put his game face on this weekend when the IHRA Torco Race Fuels
Northern Nationals kicks off at Knoll Gas Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan.
However, this time the intensity won’t be as a drag racing fan or a major
sponsor. Knoll is suiting up as a Top Fuel driver this time.

Knoll has unfinished
business when it comes to Top Fuel and Knoll Gas Motorsports Park.
It was three years ago when Knoll began and completed his licensing process and
came within .02 of qualifying on the strength of one run.

IHRA rules stipulate that
a licensing driver must make two short runs before a full quarter-mile pass.
This weekend, he plans to make three full pulls and earn a position in his
first-ever qualified field.

“It has been a tough road
for the last few years,” Knoll said. “It’s nice supporting the sport and
watching everyone else race but there comes a time when you like to play the
game. I got into this sport because I love it. I just love to play the game and
that’s what I plan to do.”

HD Partners CEO and chairman Eddie
Hartenstein met for the first time with owners and drivers here on
Saturday. All interested parties considered it to be a good first
encounter, but the general consensus was the HD Partners purchase of
NHRA Pro Racing is still a wait and see proposition.

"It went well," said owner/driver Kenny Bernstein, who is also PRO
president. "He doesn't have a definite game plan, but basically it's
about getting more awareness for the sport and more exposure. More
exposure means more sponsors and more sponsors means more dollars and
more dollars means better gains...he's got all the right ideas."

But some believe that its not all about giving the HD group and
Hartenstein the keys and let them driving unto the promised land.

"I think the guy can help us," said Pro Stock veteran Larry Morgan. "He
seemed like a very personable guy. We needed that. I just hope
something good comes out of it. We surely need some help out here. If
they open up and help us all, it will be good for the sport. That's all
I can hope for.

 
Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the
20th annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, the 15th
of 23 events in the  NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series -