A month ago Mike Neff blew up his Old Spice Ford Mustang during the first session of qualifying of the Summit Racing

Mike Neff' wants more than a first round win in Bristol - he wants to win the event. (Roger Richards Photos)

Equipment in Atlanta and two weeks later in St. Louis he launched
himself into his first final round. On May 16th, as the NHRA Thunder
Valley Nationals rolls into Bristol, Tenn., Neff along with crew chief
John Medlen will attempt to get all the way to the winner’s circle. It
has been quite a month for the former crew chief and rookie driver.
In Bristol, instead of their first round win, Neff and Medlen are
looking for their first final round win. Two weeks ago Neff ended an
0-8 first round losing streak with a win over Melanie Troxel to start
the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals in St. Louis. Neff then outran Mike
Ashley and teammate Robert Hight to land in his first final round as a
driver.

Neff was edged out at the finish line by red hot Tim
Wilkerson for the win. Rather than get bogged down in patting himself
on the back the even keeled Neff is already focused on Bristol.

JDM Engineering, a leading tuner in the late-model Ford
segment, has stepped up to sponsor a new NMRA class called "Super Stang" that
will run at four select events in 2008 - Detroit, Michigan (June 13-15), Atco,
New Jersey (August 8-10), Columbus, Ohio (August 29-31) and Bowling Green,
Kentucky (October 2-5). JDM Super Stang will be a declared index-style
eliminator open to '05 and later Mustangs (S197). Super Stang will be a part of
the NMRA's all-cash contingency program and will have a points chase with the
world champion crowned at NMRA's awards ceremony at the PRI show in December
'08.

NHRA
Pro Stock driver and Greeneville, Tenn. native Allen Johnson seeks a
win as he heads to his home track of Bristol Dragway [Tenn.] on May
16–18 for the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.

Johnson’s best finish at his home event came last year with a
quarterfinals appearance. He’ll attempt to kill two birds with one
stone and notch both his first win of the 2008 season and his first
victory at the Bristol NHRA stop.

“Bristol has always had a stranglehold on us. Our best finish there
since it became a national event has been the quarterfinals,” said
Johnson. “I think a win anywhere right now would mean a lot, but a win
at Bristol would be special, right up there with qualifying No. 1 and
winning at Denver [which Johnson did last year at the Mopar Mile-High
Nationals]. It would mean a lot to family and friends, and I know we
would get a lot of coverage from the local media.”

Ron Capps, driver of the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
for Don Schumacher Racing in the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series,
will visit Pole Day at the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor
Speedway on Saturday, May 10.

Capps, in town from Carlsbad, Calif., for the wedding of Ronnie
Thompson, the assistant crew chief on the NAPA Funny Car team, is eager
to see how the drivers in the IndyCar Series qualify for the historic
and prestigious Indy 500.

Though it is an off-weekend on the NHRA tour, Mike Edwards and his Penhall/Young Life team will be out carrying the Pontiac banner to many of the brands faithful followers when he is scheduled to make exhibition runs in his Pontiac GXP during the Indian Nations Pontiac Club event this Mother’s day weekend in Tulsa, Okla.

The event will not only feature Edwards, but will include a car show, drag racing, and on Friday night a tech session with guest speaker Jim Wagners, who was the head of marketing for Pontiac that launched the GTO craze.

"Mike is a great ambassador for the area when it comes to drag racing and to those who just love cars," said Indian Nations Pontiac Club president Larry Crider. "It is a great benefit to us here locally to have such a great ambassador to the Pontiac brand and who is willing to bring his professional operation to the track and make exhibition runs.

The Flowmaster American Drag Racing League (ADRL) presented by the
National Guard gets back on track this weekend, May 9-10, as it stages
the 4th annual Hardee’s Georgia Drags at South Georgia Motorsports Park
(SGMP), near Valdosta, GA. With the postponement of its race last month
due to heavy rain in Tulsa, it’s been nine long weeks since the ADRL
season opener at Houston, TX.

Standing room only crowds are expected at SGMP, where racers in four
professional classes—Pro Extreme, Pro Nitrous, Extreme 10.5 and Pro
Extreme Motorcycle—will compete in eighth-mile, head-to-head action.
Pro race teams from all four corners of the country have already
started making their way to the south-Georgia strip to go after their
share of the nearly $100,000 total purse.

Photos by Chris Simmons, Roger Richards

Mountain motor Pro Stock racer back
in frontrunner status …

In 2004 Elijah Morton drove past Brian Gahm and into the Winner’s
Circle at the Mopar Canadian Nationals in Grand Bend, Ontario. After
that the dry spell began.

Elijah Morton is currently second in the Pro Stock points.

Morton could not seem to find the right combination after the win in
Grand Bend, and spent the 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons searching, in
vain, for the right set-up…a set-up that would take him back to the
hallowed ground of the Winner’s Circle. Heading into 2008 it was
apparent things were going to be different.

Morton opened some eyes at South Georgia Motorsports Park in pre-season
testing by clocking a pass at 224.40 mph, a speed that would have
shattered the standing Mountain Motor Pro Stock speed world record by a
full half-second. He also ran a 6.279 during testing at Rockingham
Dragway before advancing to the semifinals at the IHRA season opener in
San Antonio, ultimately falling to eventual event champion John
Montecalvo.

When the Corvette Fever team goes to a race, it plans to enjoy itself, to spend the day racing and have fun.
 
That’s the philosophy of the Erie, Pennsylvania-based Pro Modified team
of John and Brian Vergotz, who will be entering their first year of Pro
Modified Racing Association competition in 2008.
 
“We’re local people and this is purely a hobby with us,” said Brian
Vergotz, who wrenches on the 2000 Corvette driven by his brother John.
“Sure, we enjoy racing, but we also want to have fun at it.”
 
Sitting on a Vanishing Point Race Cars 2000 Corvette is a 746-cubic
inch nitrous-fed engine by Buck Racing Engines, fueled with a Barry
Gant system and hooked up to a three-speed Lenco Drive. The team has
raced since 1983, and has operated its own car for about the past ten
years, according to Vergotz.

Jerry Eckman was released of his duties as crew chief of Team Hammonds, owned by
Tom Hammonds Enterprises, LLC.