Call it reorganization should the speculation comes to pass.

Sources indicate the departing crew on the U.S. Army Top Fuel team will
be replaced with members of the FRAM Top Fuel team thus putting in
place a vicious circle of raiding where members of at least one DSR
Funny Car team will replace the repositioned dragster crew members.

Confused?

Cory McClenathan isn’t. He’s been around drag racing long enough to know that nothing lasts forever.

Robert "Jocko" Johnson, who built some of drag racing's
swoopiest machines, including his notable but unsuccessful "JockoLiner"
with "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, died Nov. 14 of a massive heart attack.
He was 72.

Johnson first came to drag
racing renown for his work porting and polishing cylinder heads,
carefully massaging them by hand in the days before CNC machines.

Morgan Lucas couldn’t help but smile as he signed autographs on Thursday afternoon after ending up second in a Morgan Lucas Racing logjam atop the provisional Top Fuel field at the NHRA AAA Finals in Pomona, Ca.

He didn’t want to brag or beat his chest after the opening session, but
after the season he and his team has endured in 2008, such a display of
superiority is something that MLR has needed for a while.

“I’m very proud of the guys out here for what we’ve done,” Lucas told
CompetitionPlus.com. “This is my dream for the whole team to have the
two cars running one and two. Nothing would make me happier than to see
both cars go to the finals, I really wouldn’t give a damn who won the
thing as long as both cars are there and both cars run well. That’s
been my dream for this team all along. Today it almost takes us to that
level.

As the 44th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA
Finals began Brittany and Courtney Force will be wrapping up their
first
season behind the wheel of the Jerry Darien tuned A/Fuel dragster. The
youngest daughters of 14-time Funny Car champion John Force have
continued to learn as they have become more comfortable with each pass.
As they both look back on the season they know that they have enjoyed
their time in the cockpit but they both know they have much to learn.

They
are clearly on the right track as Courtney made a blistering 5.282
second pass in her Jerry Darien tunes A/Fuel dragster to secure the top
spot. If this time holds it would be the youngest Force's first No. 1
spot. Funny Car professional and sister Ashley Force qualified No. 1
five times during her Top Alcohol Dragster career.

Brittany is currently sixth.

All Jeg Coughlin Jr. needs to do to secure his fourth POWERade
championship is qualify for this weekend's 44th annual Auto Club NHRA
Finals. He took a big step in that direction Thursday by running a safe
6.678 at 206.95 mph in his JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt to earn the eighth
spot in the provisional field.

Chris Rivas knew the moment the engine in the G2 Motorsports Buell
fired up Thursday that his first qualifying run might not be a good
one. He was correct.

A leak in the intake system combined with an electrical glitch that
prevented the motor from reaching a competitive speed and Rivas rode it
to the end at just 26 mph.

Gary Densham will jet to Australia next month ready to compete in the
ENZED International Nightfire New Year Series at Willowbank Raceway –
but before he does he has the matter of the final round of the NHRA
season to contend with this weekend.

The two round January series will see Densham compete in a USA vs AUST
Nitro Funny Car showdown, as well as rounds of the ANDRA Championship
Drag Racing Series for Top Alcohol, Top Doorslammer and Pro Stock
Motorcycle on January 2/3, and Top Fuel and Top Bike on January 16/17.

While this weekend may be the final race of the NHRA season for
Densham, there will be little time off for him and his team with
preparations for his Australian trip which will see him compete against
local Nitro Funny Cars on January 2 - 3 and January 16 - 17 – an
experience he is very much looking forward to, although it won’t be his
first trip to Australia.

Eddie Krawiec rode his way to the top spot in Pro
Stock Motorcycle at the NHRA AAA Finals in Pomona, Ca., because he knew that is what he needed to do in order
to remain in the running for the 2008 NHRA world championship. The
second rider on the Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson team is in the
midst of a four-way battle for the crown.

He’s been figuring the points and at 19 points behind, knew he couldn’t
afford to fall one point further behind. Krawiec believed if he lost
one point to leader Matt Smith and fell twenty points behind, if he made up the
deficit and the championship came down to a tie, he noted Smith overall
season round wins outnumbered his and with that said, the incumbent
champion would win the tiebreaker.

Nothing says Rookie of the Year like a No. 1 qualifying shot. Just ask Mike Neff, the former crew chief turned John Force Racing driver.

“That was a very important run. To get down the track and get in there
solid is our game plan. We want to get all four of our Mustangs in the
top 4 or 5 spots so we wouldn’t have to race each other until the
semis. There are three runs left but that was pretty solid and I expect
that will stay in the top twelve,” said Neff.

J.R. Todd loves Pomona, he just prefers to stay away from Los Angeles.

Todd, driver for Morgan Lucas Racing, isn’t much for the fast-pace of
the big city but the fast pace of the Fairplex suits him just fine.
There’s a good reason for that.

He seems to do well at the NHRA’s closest home track and his
provisional low qualifying effort in Top Fuel on Thursday during the NHRA AAA Finals confirmed
that.