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.

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.”