Longtime mountain motor Pro Stock racer Jason Collins fired off an early testing shot Friday morning in Valdosta, Ga.

Collins drove his Ford Mustang to a 6.268, 222.77, which is one hundredth and one mile per hour off of the current record held by Frank Gugliotta.

His incrementals included a .958 - 60' - 2.664 330' and 4.062, 177.11 eighth-mile.

Collins confirmed the car is running in legal IHRA trim with minimal changes since last season.

ONE RACE ADDED, ANOTHER REMOVED FROM 2009 NHRA HOT ROD HERITAGE RACING SERIES SCHEDULE

One race has been added and another removed from the 2009 NHRA Hot Rod
Heritage Racing Series schedule, it was announced today by NHRA
officials.

The Southern California Shootout event that was tentatively scheduled
for Sept. 11-13 at Auto Club Dragway at Fontana has been cancelled due
to noise ordinance issues. NHRA and track officials wanted to notify
racers of the change before the season starts so teams can adjust their
travel schedules accordingly. The April 3-5 Nostalgia Sportsman
Shootout event at Auto Club Dragway at Fontana will continue to run as
scheduled.

In another adjustment to the 2009 schedule, a second event at
Sacramento Raceway has been added to the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing
Series schedule, keeping the series total at eight.

In a joint statement Nick Boninfante, owner of Boninfante Performance
Clutch Parts and Frank Slocum, Vice President of Sales & Marketing
of Raybestos Powertrain announced today that the rumor circulating on
the internet about Raybestos getting out of the performance clutch
business is untrue.

"Due to the economic downturn Raybestos has, in fact, has closed down
some sections of their manufacturing facilities but the company will
continue to build sintered discs manufactured at our plant in
Crawfordsville, Ind. for many years to come," Slocum said. "There is no
shortage and we're currently shipping product out the door every day so
teams don't have to worry about getting the parts they need to race. 
Consolidation is a way of life in the automotive industries these
days."

Officials from both the National Guard and the American Drag Racing League took part in the formal unveiling of the two-car 2009
National Guard ADRL drag racing team with drivers Joshua Hernandez and
2006 ADRL Rookie of the Year Travis Swearingen at ADRL headquarters in
O'Fallon.
 
Joining Hernandez, the five-time ADRL national event winner and his red
'57 Chevy on the National Guard team for 2009 is the 26-year-old
Swearingen, whose '41 Willys has been a mainstay of National Guard ADRL
Pro Extreme competition.

Who said you can't visit home?

Larry Nance, former NBA star
turned drag racer, will return to his basketball roots this weekend at
the NBA All-Star Gala in Phoenix as a judge for the popular Sprite Slam
Dunk Contest.
 
Nance is no novice to the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest having won the
first-ever Slam Dunk in Denver in 1984, defeating “Dr. J,” Julius
Erving, in the final round. Now 25-years later, he returns to Phoenix,
where he began his professional basketball career.
 
“I’m honored that the NBA thought enough of me to have me as judge,”
said Nance. “The event has changed a lot since I won. The players are
doing things with the ball that I never thought of doing and probably
couldn’t do if I had thought of them. It’s going to be fun.”

Four-time and reigning NHRA Pro Stock world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr.
will now be supported in part by R+L Carriers, a National leader in the
LTL transportation industry with over 40 years of dedicated service to
their customers.

"The synergy between our two companies is amazing," Coughlin said.
"We're both family-owned business that started in Ohio back in the
early 1960s. We're definitely kindred spirits on many levels.

Father and Son Champions Facing Likelihood of Year Without Racing …

Let the record reflect a stressed economy has no respect for past accomplishments.

If it did, then Scotty and Scott Cannon would be discussing with the
media their excitement of chasing another Pro Modified world
championship. Instead the seven time world champions, father with six,
son with one, are lamenting the fact they’ll be on the sidelines
watching a run for a championship start without them.

“In the past it seemed like we could get a deal at the last minute and
could continue to race,” Scotty, the patriarch of the Cannon racing
family said. “I don’t ever remember the economy being this bad in all
of my years of drag racing.”

Lightning can strike twice in the same place, sometimes it takes 41 years to pull it off.

John
Calvert, driving one of the four brand new Cobra Jet Mustangs purchased
and brought to the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona by Ford collector Brent Hajek, maneuvered his way
to the Stock eliminator crown, defeating the E/Stock
Automatic Camaro of Tommy Gaynor. This marked the second time a factory
Cobra Jet package has won the NHRA Winternationals since Al Joniec
pulled off the feat in 1968.

IHRA has signed Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels to
present an exciting new bonus program for the Pro Modified class. For
2009, a $10,000 payday is up for grabs in the winner-take-all Mickey
Thompson Ten Grand Slam.

“Pro Modified racing had its beginnings in IHRA, and for the past 19
years we’ve had the quickest and fastest quarter-mile competition in
the sport,” said Tommy Dupree, IHRA/Norwalk Properties National Sales
Manager. “We’re proud to be able to work with Mickey Thompson to bring
this bonus program to the racers who have supported us for so many
years.”

Points will accrue through the first nine events of the season, ending
at the IHRA President’s Cup Nationals in September. To be eligible,
participants must have the Mickey Thompson program decal on their cars.