The world’s most prestigious drag race, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals,
will once again serve as the centerpiece of a special pull-out section
in the largest-circulation newspaper in the United States, USA Today.

The 54th running of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals will run from Aug. 27
to Sept. 1 and the special section will be published in USA Today on
Friday, Aug. 29, the first day of qualifying for drivers in the NHRA
POWERade Series. The special section will include advertisements from
the Coca-Cola Company/POWERade, ESPN/ESPN2HD, JEG’s Mail Order and
Harley-Davidson.

The Mac Tools U.S. Nationals is the longest-running race in the NHRA
POWERade Series and for many years, beginning in the early days of the
sport when teams competed regionally, it was the one race during the
year when all of the top teams descended on a single site to compete
against one another.

Historically, then, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals became the race to
win, drag racing’s equivalent of The Masters or Wimbledon, and it
remains that way today.

New shutdown area at Indy intended to be the prototype for the future …

Kenny Bernstein, shown here with Monster Energy Drink driver Tommy Johnson Jr., said the recent upgrade in the shutdown area was a process that NHRA deserves credit for bringing to fruition. (KennyBernstein.com Photo)

The NHRA’s decision to rework the shutdown area at O’Reilly Raceway
Park [ORP] was one put in motion in the days following the fatal
accident of Funny Car driver Scott Kalitta in Englishtown.

This according to Kenny Bernstein, President of Professional Racers
Organization [PRO], was something for which the NHRA deserves credit.
Bernstein pointed out the design at ORP will serve as the prototype to
be implemented at other facilities, notably the new zMax Dragway in
Concord, NC, and the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, Ca.

“This was their plan from the early going, it was just a matter of
getting the right people together and the engineers – those who knew
about sand, to make it happen,” Bernstein said, in a telephone
interview on Wednesday afternoon. “They went to work with the plan to
implement it here [Indianapolis].”

Roger Burgess arrived at his Atlanta, Ga., residence on Monday at 2 AM following a vacation trip around the world. While this
experience
was breath-taking for the highly successful businessman, he admits the
experience would pale in comparison to winning the greatest of all NHRA
JEGS Pro Modified championships – the NHRA U.S. Nationals in
Indianapolis.

The five-day experience known simply as the “Big Go” would serve as perfect follow up to his 24-day world tour.

“Without a doubt,” Burgess confirmed. “If you’re a drag racer that has
visions of grandeur, then you want to win Indy. It’s the Daytona 500 of
drag racing. You can win any event and it’s a great experience, but
winning Indy is a great experience and then a while lot more.”

The NAPA AUTO PARTS
fire suit worn by NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car driver
Ron Capps in early-season promotional shoots and also during the first
several 2008 NHRA events will be up for live auction at the Don
Schumacher Racing Open House in Brownsburg, Ind., on Friday, Aug. 29.

Also included in the live auction, which begins at 12:40 p.m., and
whose proceeds will benefit the Riley Hospital for Children, will be a
Valvoline helmet signed by all 2007 and 2008 DSR drivers.

After three months of excited anticipation, Ford Customer Service
Division (FCSD) will unveil the winning, JDRF-inspired paint scheme
that will adorn the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang Funny Car for
this weekend’s NHRA U.S. Nationals.

The official unveiling of the new scheme, and the announcement of the
winning JDRF child designer, will come in a special ceremony in
Indianapolis’ downtown Monument Circle at noon, Thursday, Aug. 28.

The unveiling will cap a three-month, on-line contest, sponsored by
FCSD that raised more than $84,000 for Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation, and which featured more than 300 paint scheme entries from
JDRF kids around the country.

CompetitionPlus.com has learned the ever-expanding Awesome/Al-Anabi
Motorsports operation will expand again in the weeks to come. A source
close to the situation has confirmed the Marc Dantoni 1968 Camaro was
purchased and will soon be outfitted with an engine from Awesome's
Reher-Morrison arsenal. Nitrous diehard Burton Auxier will drive the
car in IHRA competition.

Awesome/Al-Anabi Motorsports already has
three nitrous cars, driven by the trio of Mike Castellana, Shannon
Jenkins and Rickie Smith. Von Smith will debut the team's first
supercharged car, a 1957 Chevy formerly campaigned by Glen Kerunsky. 

XXX Racing Fuels has added another Pro Stock Motorcycle to its sponsorship line-up.

The Bolingbroke, Georgia based XXX Racing Fuels will join Angelle
Sampey’s primary marketing partner Rush Racing and fellow associate
Doc’s Harley-Davidson for the remainder of the 2008 season.

Crew chief George Bryce was instrumental in procuring the agreement.

“XXX CEO Thomas ‘Tog’ Goss has been one of my friends for 25 years,”
said Bryce. “I was one of the first ones to teach him how to drag race.
He’s been the ultimate under-the-radar drag racer for those 25 years
and now he’s all grown up. But most importantly, he’s come up with a
new invention. He’s invented a racing gasoline that is three times
better, and that’s why we affectionately refer to it as XXX.”

“I met George and Jackie Bryce in 1982,” added Goss. “I was 12 and my
dad bought me a GS1100 Suzuki. I was about 85 pounds on that big bike,
and George came over and gave us advice on wheelie bar height and
such.”

In looking at his stat sheet, Gary Scelzi appears to have earned more than his fair share of drag racing accolades.

Consider this. The Four-time NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series champion
holds an impressive list of accomplishments which includes  37 national
events in 58 final rounds, was the first Funny Car driver to break the
330-mph barrier, won his first Top Fuel crown as a rookie, and is the
only NHRA driver to have won in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Top Alcohol
Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car.

Yet there’s one simple tidbit that sticks in his craw.

Scelzi has not won the prestigious U.S. Nationals in the Funny Car
class. His solo victory at this event came in Top Fuel, in 1998.

"It's time," Scelzi admitted.

DataDot USA has been named an associate racing partner of David Powers
Motorsports, team owner David Powers announced today. The DataDot logo
will be placed on the Antron Brown-driven Matco Tools dragster
beginning at the prestigious U.S Nationals.

The partnership between David Powers Motorsports and DataDot USA
delivers retail distribution opportunities with Matco Tools, America’s
No. 1 tool franchise. DataDots are a state of the art microdot
identification technology used to mark a wide range of assets with its
own “unique DNA.” The dots are laser-etched with multiple lines of
information and registered into a secure national data base. About the
size of a grain of sand, the dots can be read with a 30x magnifier and
prove true ownership of an asset.  DataDots cutting-edge technology
covers a wide range of applications and was recently featured in two
episodes of CSI.  The 1,500 Matco Tools distributors in North America
and Puerto Rico will now offer DataDots on their tool trucks. The
partnership between DPM and DataDot USA was consummated by Forward
Sports Marketing, the agency of record of DPM.

The professional drivers who make up the top two classes on the
National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) POWERade tour, have established a
new Drivers' Safety Committee, which will analyze key safety issues
that confront the teams participating in the Top Fuel and Nitro Funny
Car classes.  The committee plans to work closely with the Professional
Racers/Owners Organization (PRO) and its President, Kenny Bernstein, to
maintain an on-going focus on driver safety and an open dialogue with
NHRA regarding the possible implementation of new policies.

As part of the committee's formation, the professional nitro class
drivers have elected Bob Vandergriff Jr. to the position of Chairman,
while also naming Larry Dixon as the Top Fuel representative, and Ron
Capps as the representative for the Funny Car drivers.   Dixon and
Capps are charged with gathering input from the drivers in their
respective groups, while the committee as a whole will prioritize the
various issues facing the 300-mph, nitro-fueled classes.