Photographer Roger Richards captured the absolute essence of danger
associated with racing a Top Fuel Harley-Davidson. During the NHRA
Division 7 LODRS, former IHRA world champion Doug Vancil pushed the
head gasket out of his nitro-burner causing quite the spectacle. He was
uninjured in the spark/fire show.

Officials for Houston Raceway Park today announced the 1st annual
Spring Stampede Preseason Test Session presented by DragRaceHose.com
which will take place Feb. 27-Mar. 1, 2009, at Houston Raceway Park in
Baytown, Texas.  Organizers expect race teams in the NHRA, IHRA, and
the ADRL sanctions to participate in this preseason test to tune their
hot rods for the 2009 season.

Houston Raceway Park benefits from incredible atmospheric conditions
because of its proximity to Trinity Bay, which feeds the facility cool
air.

“During this off season we are going to grind our concrete launch pad
to ensure we have the smoothest racing surface possible.  The track
will be in tip-top shape for the ground pounding 8,000 horsepower
machines that need ideal track conditions,” said track GM Seth Angel. 
“We know that the ADRL will open its 2009 season here, the NHRA
O’Reilly Spring Nationals March 27-29th, and this test session will
allow everyone a chance to fine-tune their set-ups both for our race
and the upcoming season.”

In the first rounds of qualifying at the Short Line Express Market
Gambler Shootout, a round of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, there are 19 Top Alcohol
Dragsters and 21 Top Alcohol Funny Cars vying for a spot in their
eight-car eliminations fields. Michael Manners set the pace in TAD and
Steve Harker leads the TAFC class.

Racing continues Saturday and
Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Gates open at 8 a.m. both days.
Qualifying and time trials resume at 8 a.m. Saturday and eliminations
start on Sunday.

Keep up with this weekend's NHRA Division 7 LODRS event through the lens of ace photographer Roger Richards.

PHOTO GALLERY

A multitude of products formerly owned by Evan Knoll will be auctioned
off on Monday, November 10, 2008 in two locations within Michigan.

201 E Sherwood St., Decatur, Mi 49045

601 Gordon Industrial Court, Byron Center, Mi 49315

Every
Friday, CompetitionPlus.com brings you our Feedback letters.
Read what our readers have to say about our feature articles and you
can even offer your opinions.

FEEDBACK FRIDAY - NOVEMBER 7, 2008

The
Automobile Club of Southern California Finals Nov. 13-16 marks the
final race of the 2008 season and for the Budweiser/Lucas Oil team it
will also turn the final page for Tim and Kim Richards as crew members
in the sport of drag racing.

The tuning duo has led the Kenny Bernstein-owned Top Fuel team to 33
victories and a Top Fuel championship in the seven years they have worn
the vibrant red team jerseys.

NHRA, working with the safety task force formed a little more than
three months ago, has continued to investigate, analyze, and determine
ways to implement initiatives to enhance racing safety. Among the areas
under review were parachutes and braking systems. Below is a brief
update on the progress being made on these two initiatives.

Weld Racing, LLC is pleased to announce that it has been acquired by a group led by management and Granite Creek Partners, LLC (www.granitecreek.com ).

Weld
Racing is a US-based manufacturer of aluminum wheels for performance
automotive enthusiasts and the auto racing industry. The company was
founded in 1967 and has a single manufacturing and distribution
facility in Kansas City, Missouri. For over four decades, the Weld
Racing brand has been known throughout the automotive aftermarket as
the premier aluminum race wheel manufacturer in all forms of
motorsports.

Structured as a management buyout, the acquisition
places ownership and leadership of the company in the hands of racers,
and allows the Weld Racing brand to do what it does best: engineer and
manufacture the best aluminum racing and street/strip wheels available.
The investor group includes management team members Kyle Fickler,
formerly of Aeromotive, Inc. and Scott Rider, Engineering and
Motorsports Group Manager of American Racing/Weld Motorsports.

Don Schumacher announced today that IHRA and Pro Mod racer Matt Hagan will drive a Dodge Charger Funny Car sponsored by BrakeSafe Rear-End Collision Avoidance System in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series for Don Schumacher Racing.
 
BrakeSafe Rear-End Collision Avoidance System will be a primary
sponsor, with a co-primary sponsor to be named later. The associate
sponsors include NAPA AUTO PARTS, Mail Terminal Services, Matco Tools,
Valvoline, U. S. Army and FRAM. Tommy DeLago will move over from DSR's
Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Funny Car team to take on the crew
chief duties.

Lee
Beard has established a reputation as one of the elite professional
crew chiefs during the last three decades. The Colorado native tuned
Gary Ormsby to the 1989 NHRA Top Fuel championship and has amassed 53
wins and 60 poles. Perhaps even more impressive is that Beard has tuned
10 drivers to the winner’s circle and eight racers to the No. 1
qualifying award in the Top Fuel and Funny Car ranks. This season,
Beard has his latest shoe, first-year Top Fuel standout Antron Brown,
in position to finish second in the NHRA POWERade Top Fuel standings.
Last weekend during qualifying at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway, the Matco Tools dragster uncharacteristically caused two long
delays during qualifying. In this Q&A, the David Powers Motorsports
team manager discusses last weekend’s events and why it happened.