With just a week remaining before  the starting lineup is determined
for the NHRA Circle Track Challenge at Bristol Motor Speedway on May
17, “Fast” Jack Beckman is sitting pretty in the pole position.
 
The lineup for the Saturday night race will be determined by fan
voting. Beckman currently leads the way with 28 percent of all votes
cast going his way. Allen Johnson, who hails from nearby Greeneville,
Tenn., is on the outside pole with 13 percent of the votes.
 
The rest of the starting lineup looks like this at the moment: Doug
Herbert is third (12 percent), followed by Gary Scelzi (7 percent), Ron
Capps (5.2 percent), Tony Schumacher (5.1 percent), Doug Kalitta (5
percent), Jeg Coughlin (4.5 percent), Antron Brown (4.3 percent) and
Greg Anderson (4.2 percent).
 
Starting 11th would be J.R. Todd (3.7 percent), followed by Cory
McClenathan (3.5 percent), Justin Humphreys (2.5 percent), Jason Line
(2.2 percent), Kurt Johnson (1.8 percent) and Morgan Lucas (1.6
percent).

Some events could be affected by actions overseas 

Drag racing could soon face a shortage of nitromethane, the very lifeblood of the sport’s entertainment value.
 
A source, who spoke to CompetitionPlus.com under the condition of
anonymity, said nitromethane production will likely be affected by a
large demand for the product outside of racing applications as well as
the upcoming Olympics. Many of the supplying factories, which are
located in China and provide the raw materials for making nitromethane,
will be shut down during the Olympics.
 
Our source, who we’ll call Mr. Nitro, said this problem isn’t in the future, it’s in the now.
 
“Internationally, the shortage has already begun,” Mr. Nitro confirmed.
“There has been a pick-up in the usage of nitromethane for other
chemicals.”

With
Memorial Day on the horizon, U.S. Army Top Fuel driver, Tony “The
Sarge” Schumacher, will get a head start honoring the brave men and
women of the U.S. Army by unveiling a special Salute the Troops paint
scheme on his dragster next weekend in the O’Reilly Thunder Valley
Nationals here at Bristol Dragway.

The special paint scheme on Schumacher’s record-setting Top Fueler
offers a hint of camouflage, photos of Soldiers and a Salute the Troops
logo.

The NHRA effort is part of an overall USO Salute the Troops Memorial
Day tribute to the armed forces, which will also take place during
NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 weekend in Charlotte.

Chris Cunningham, who took over full crew chief responsibilities for
Bob Tasca III’s Motorcraft/Quick Lane/Custom Accessories Shelby Mustang
nitro Funny Car in early April, has received a three-year contract
extension from Tasca Racing.

“Chris has been a crucial component in building this race team, and I
can’t give him and the crew enough credit for what we’ve been able to
achieve over the last six months,” said Team Owner and Driver, Bob
Tasca III. “He has a plan for this team and he is making sure that we
continue to build and progress each time down the track. We’re building
this program for the long term and we’re building it around Chris.”

Immediately following the move from sharing the position of crew chief
to taking over fulltime, Cunningham tuned Tasca’s Shelby Mustang to its
best qualifying position ever, earning the No. 3 spot in Las Vegas.

Johnson to debut Hadman chassis ... 

Tommy
Johnson, Jr., driver of the Monster Energy Funny Car, hails Bristol
Dragway as one of his favorite tracks on the 24-event NHRA tour.

“I just love this facility,” said Johnson, “plus Bristol, before it was
renovated into the premiere facility it is now, was the site of my
first alcohol Funny Car win in 1987.”

Second-generation Wilkerson to drive dad's car at IHRA event 

NHRA
Funny Car point leader Tim Wilkerson has spent much of the 2008 season
trailblazing his way round the country securing victories and top
qualifying positions.

Later this month, he’ll get to see his car run from a different perspective – the outside.

Wilkerson will step aside in two weeks to allow his 20-year old son Dan
to drive during the IHRA Motor City Nationals in Milan, Michigan, May
23 – 25, 2008.

“I am about as excited as he is,” Tim Wilkerson said. “We had planned
this outing at the beginning of the year and I wanted him to keep his
license and to do that you have to race a couple of times a year. We
decided we were going to (run Dan) unless things were going really bad
in the season.”

IHRA
national event won’t happen in 2009, IHRA says …

The proposed IHRA national event for Pittsburgh, Pa, slated for May
2009, has been put in a holding pattern alongside of the Mansfield,
Ohio event. IHRA officials are confident the event at Pittsburgh
Raceway Park will be contested in May of 2010.

As for Mansfield, EPA issues continue to dog the event which was
expected to be the IHRA’s answer to losing flagship facility Norwalk
Raceway Park in Norwalk, Ohio, located outside of Cleveland in late
2006. The IHRA is based in Norwalk, Ohio.

The Pittsburgh event was to be one of the new events in 2009 expected
to run on an eighth-mile strip. The decision to postpone, according to
the IHRA, was a collective one based on the current economic climate,
rising fuel prices and an election year.

The 17th annual Doug Herbert Performance Center Open House will take place this Saturday, May 10, 2007.

Doug Herbert, owner of Doug Herbert Performance Parts and driver of the
SnapFranchise.com Top Fuel dragster, will be on hand throughout the
day, manning the parts counter, signing autographs and firing the
SnapFranchise.com dragster.

The entire SnaponFranchise.com Top Fuel team will be present to display
for customers the haulers and equipment used to transport the entire
race operation across the country and from track to track.

The Open House, held every year the day before Mother’s Day, will also
feature an amazing car show, several food vendors, and plenty of
performance parts on sale at the best prices possible.

Bob Hedman's power producing Hedders gained national notoriety while racing on the salt flats of
California and Utah in the 1950s. That humble, grassroots history has instilled in Hedman, a selfless
dedication to supporting racers of all levels. From local street legal classes to NHRA Top Fuel
Dragsters, the Hedman Performance Group posts contingency dollars and product to the sum of nearly
$750,000 in 2008 alone.

RogerRichards Photos

One might say Alan Bradshaw’s first round victory at the NHRA Gateway Nationals in St. Louis, Mo., last Sunday was inspired.

Alan Bradshaw enjoyed a great weekend of honoring Darrell Russell.

Bradshaw was driving a tribute car to the late Darrell Russell, the
popular Top Fuel driver who was killed at St. Louis’s Gateway
International Raceway in a racing accident in 2004.

Adding to the motivation was the fact Bradshaw hadn’t won a round of
competition since succeeding J.R. Todd as driver of Dexter Tuttle’s
dragster at the start of the 2008 season.