In opening day qualifying at O’Reilly Raceway Park for the NHRA Lucas
Oil Drag Racing Series, Top Alcohol Dragster driver Michael Manners,
Willis, Texas, and Top Alcohol Funny Car pilot Mick Snyder, Demotte,
Ind., took the No. 1 qualifying positions in their classes.

Manners outran the field with a stellar pass of 5.249 seconds at 272.94
mph.  Manners is more than a tenth of a second faster than the rest of
the field, including the No. 2 qualifier and defending National
Champion Bill Reichert of Owosso, Mich., clocking in at 5.405 seconds,
260.41 mph.

Snyder, the former 3-time North Central Division Funny Car Champion
posted a 5.611-second pass at 256.02 mph in this the season opening
event in the division. Andy Bohl and defending champion Bobby Martin
are 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Terre Haute, Ind., racer Tom Stultz grabbed the top spot in the Top
Sportsman class at 6.770 seconds, 204.05 mph.  Not to be out done, Tom
Elliott put his Top Dragster on the pole running 6.255 seconds, 221.02
mph out of Brooks, Ky.

He was the kid seeking autographs. The son of the owner of a Ford
dealership, who would hire race teams to put their cars on display
in
the days leading up to the IHRA events.

He was the kid who dreamed that would day he would be just like Rickie Smith, Ronnie Sox, Roy Hill and  “General” Lee Edwards.

Robert Patrick never wavered in his belief that a day would come when
he would be an IHRA Spring Nationals champion just like them.

Over the years the 38-year old, former IHRA Pro Stock world champion
from Fredericksburg, Va., has never let go of the dreams of his youth.
This weekend as the IHRA drag racing tour heads to the racing hamlet of
Rockingham, N.C., for the 38th annual IHRA Spring Nationals presented
by Advance Auto Parts/Castrol GTX, Patrick's youthful desire still
burns strong.

“I love coming down and racing with Steve Earwood at Rockingham
Dragway,” Patrick said. “I honestly believe the fans are in store for
one of the greatest IHRA Pro Stock events they’ve ever witnessed. I
hope we can win it all. It’s not going to be easy. Winning this race
never is.”

S&S Cycle has acquired certain assets of Crane Cams Inc.  Those
assets include the inventory, intellectual property, and trademarks for
all Crane automotive and motorcycle electronic products and for Crane
motorcycle valve train products.  The intellectual property portion
includes designs, drawings, and cam profiles.  Crane automotive valve
train products are not included in this acquisition.  Crane Cams was
founded in 1953, and like S&S Cycle, founded in 1958, it has become
a respected and iconic brand in the high performance industry.

Tim Stevens Michigan based Top Alcohol Funny Car team will debut their
beautiful ‘Flopper’ on the track this weekend at the Division 3 Lucas
Oil Drag Racing Series event at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis,
Indiana.

They will also be unveiling a very unique sponsorship and fund raising opportunity.

Scott Richmond- President of Michfab, along with partner Craig Chopp
and Jim Simon- President of Tailored Building Systems, are thrilled
with their respective company’s involvement as major sponsors with
Stevens and the NHRA. As such, they have sponsored the car’s unique
paint job. 

It is not the typical car in the NHRA that is focused on sponsor
stickers and logos. Instead, this car will focus on art and “attitude”.
Richmond’s passion for car racing and the vision for his company’s
sponsorship is two fold.

Drag racing is all about speed and trying to be the fastest.

Kevin Martin hopes to take that statement to the next level by trying to be the fastest of all time.

Riding what many consider the most extreme bike on the planet,
Martin will try to set a new world record by being the first jet bike
driver to surpass the 200 mile per hour barrier atop the world famous
Ballistic Eagle Jet Motorcycle at the 38th annual Spring Nationals
April 24-26 at Rockingham Dragway.

Drag racing pioneer and innovator Chester “Chet” Herbert died on April 23, 2009.  Herbert, born on March 4, 1928, overcame huge personal challenges and went on to develop some of auto racing’s most significant speed components.

Growing up in Southern California’s early hot rod scene, the teenaged
Herbert had a reputation for building and racing fast cars and
motorcycles. When he was 20 years old, though, he was stricken with
polio and lived the rest of his life in a wheelchair, paralyzed from
the chest down.

Gateway International Raceway recently put the finishing touches on the most extensive drag strip renovations in years with improvements made to both the top-end emergency shutdown area and the facility’s timing system.

The following changes were made to the top end of the GIR drag strip:

    * The gravel trap length was increased by 70 feet to a total of 165 feet with a gravel depth of 22 inches;

   
* 70 feet of metal guardrails on either side of the gravel trap were
removed and replaced with 200 feet of concrete walls, measuring four
feet high, with eight-foot tall, wire-supported chain link fencing
added to the top of those walls;

    * The existing six-foot
nylon catch net was removed and replaced by two 12-foot nylon catch
nets 25 feet apart with the first catch net placed at the 25-foot mark
of the gravel trap;

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Greg Biffle intends to pull some
unusual double duty this weekend when he takes to the quarter-mile at
zMAX Dragway for Saturday's PINKS All Out.
   
Weather permitting, Biffle will qualify his familiar No. 16 Roush
Fenway Racing Ford in Talladega Saturday morning, fly to Concord, N.C.,
then bring his 2007 Shelby GT 500 to the Bellagio of drag strips to
compete in an exhibition competition that will be featured on PINKS All
Outtakes on SPEED.
   
"I am so excited about it," said Biffle, who used to drag race in
eighth-mile "grudge matches" as a teenager in Vancouver, Wash. "I've always
loved PINKS because it's fun to watch for anyone who really loves cars. It
was cool when they raced for titles and still very cool with PINKS All Out,
where they race for money.

Four-time Top Fuel champion and drag racing legend Shirley Muldowney
has joined the CompetitionPlus.com staff of columnists. Never one to
mince words, the talented Ms. Muldowney will pen a monthly column
titled "Shirley Says" in which she will discuss drag racing topics as
she sees them.

Knowing Muldowney this won't be a monthly "fluff" piece. 

Read her first column: I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT A FEW THINGS 

Sources have confirmed the NHRA had originally planned to test the
nitro engine combination with Tim Wilkerson following the NHRA
Nationals in Joliet, Ill., could test a new nitro engine combination as
early as May 4, the day following the NHRA O'Reilly Midwest Nationals
in St. Louis, Mo.