First round of competition concludes with Day 4 matches …

Drag
racing’s most prolific star and a dreamer who wanted to be a
sanctioning body president both won their respective first round
matches during the second annual CompetitionPlus.com War Stories
Showdown.

The second round of competition will pair “Big Daddy” Don Garlits and
Kenny Nowling in the second round of competition, their match scheduled
for January 5, 2009.

While sanctioning bodies are able to hang onto their deals another team loses sponsorship funding.

In a prepared statement issued to the media this morning, Mac Tools
announced they are changing their sports marketing program by ending
their primary sponsorship on the Top Fuel dragster driven by Doug
Kalitta at Kalitta Motorsports.

While most Australians were enjoying some Boxing Day relaxation, American nitro racer Gary Densham was on a plane - on his
way to Australia for the ENZED International Nightfire New Year Series
this Friday and Saturday, January 2 and 3, at Willowbank Raceway.

Touching down in Brisbane over the weekend, the nitro Funny Car legend
will feature at both of the two rounds of Willowbank Raceway's January
Series, taking on four Australian contenders in a USA vs AUS Nitro
Funny Car showdown.

You would be mistaken however for thinking this was Densham’s first
trip to Australia – in fact it is his eleventh trip Down Under, and a
little known fact about the racer is that he was the first to race on
Queensland’s premier drag racing facility – Willowbank Raceway – albeit
with a twist.

The fourth day of round one voting for the second annual CompetitionPlus.com War Stories competition is scheduled to close on December 29, 2008 at 5 PM, EST.

Drag racing icon “Big Daddy” Don Garlits and ADRL Promoter Kenny
Nowling lead their respective opponents entering the final hours of
first round voting.

Garlits carries a 19.90% percent share of the votes in his first round
match against former Seattle International Raceway promoter Jim
Rockstad.

Strong first round stories set up barnburner second round match …

One
storyteller nearly got lynched and the other ended up in a courtroom.
Those were the stories that advanced “Waterbed” Fred Miller and Pat
Musi into the quarter-finals of the second annual CompetitionPlus.com
War Stories Showdown.

Miller can’t wait for the second round.

“It’s time to turn it up a notch or three,” Miller, a longtime Blue Max crewman said.

NHRA Top Fuel star Hillary Will claimed the inaugural Scott Kalitta Memorial Trophy by winning the Shannons U.S.A. v. Australia Top Fuel Showdown at Western Sydney Int'l Dragway in Sydney, Australia, Sunday.

Will, a 28-year old native of Fortuna, Calif., was the only American
competing in the event. Her team, led by crew chief Jim Oberhofer, was
plagued by many mechanical problems throughout the event but posted the
quickest lap of the event in the final round by defeating Aussie Terry
Sainty, 4.743 seconds, 303.16 mph to 5.284 sec., 260.51 mph.

The third day of round one voting for the second annual
CompetitionPlus.com War Stories competition is scheduled to today,

December 28, 2008 at 5 PM, EST.

“Waterbed” Fred Miller and Pat Musi, pending a comeback of monstrous proportions from their competition, will meet in the second round of competition.

Miller used a first round story chronicling an ill-fated match race
weekend during the early years of his association with the famed Blue
Max team. He carries 76.66% of the reader vote against former IHRA Vice
President Ted Jones.

Eliminations are underway for the second annual CompetitionPlus.com War Stories Showdown, a competition which places sixteen of drag racing's personalities head-to-head in storytelling competition. Over the next four days, you will be presented with the first round strories of each respective contestants. They are paired on an NHRA eliminations ladder seeded by reader vote last week.

Today's competition features the #3 qualifier "Big Daddy" Don Garlits versus #14 Jim Rockstad as well as #6 Kenny Nowling versus #11 Steve Reyes. Voting concludes on December 29th at 5 PM.

This is a must see video for any of the old musclecar fanatics. Introducing the new Camaro.

NHRA Top Fuel star Hillary Will, the world’s fastest female, qualified
her 8,000-horsepower dragster in the No. 3 (5.013 seconds, 213.47 mph)
spot for Saturday’s final eliminations of the Shannons U.S.A. v.
Australia Top Fuel Showdown at Western Sydney Int’l Dragway in Sydney,
Australia, but unfortunately rained moved into the area late in the day
and has postponed eliminations until tomorrow.

Will, a 28-year old native of Fortuna, Calif., is the only American
competing in the event. She and the other seven competitors in
tomorrow’s Top Fuel eliminations will be vying to win the inaugural
Scott Kalitta Memorial Trophy. Will is set to race against No. 6
qualifier (5.519 sec., 197.94 mph) Mark Mariani in round one of
eliminations.

Racing will resume at 11:00 a.m. (local) with a determination of the
time for the first round of Top Fuel to be made tomorrow morning.