Brandon Bernstein is anxious to get the 2008 season underway. 
Bolstered by solid performances in pre-event testing, the second
generation driver is invigorated and ready to renew his pursuit of an
NHRA Top Fuel championship.

The popular driver of the Budweiser/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster came
ever so close to winning the championship last year, finally losing the
battle for the coveted “Wally” trophy in the semifinals of the
season-ending event at Auto Club Raceway.  Building off the team’s
consistent success in ’07, team owner Kenny Bernstein feels the
Bud/Lucas Oil Team has all the markings of another strong run for the
Series title in 2008.

When Bernstein competes at the CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals Feb.
7-10, he’ll be looking to equal or better his runner-up finish at last
year’s season-opener.  Bernstein will be sporting a new red Budweiser
paint scheme, inspired by Bud’s new tagline, “The Great American Lager.”

Six-time champion Kenny spent five days in Phoenix monitoring the team’s progress in pre-season testing.

In 1903 G.A. Krause, the founder of
Wolverine World Wide, and his sons built a burgeoning shoe factory in Rockford,
Mich. capable of producing 300 pairs of shoes a day. By 1914 the factory was
growing, producing a line of leather work shoes branded as “1,000 mile shoes”
because of their durability.

In 2008 Wolverine will be using the
quarter-mile to promote its extensive line of premium outdoor foot apparel. The
company has entered into an agreement to sponsor Championship Sunday at three
events on the 2008 Knoll Gas Nitro Jam schedule. Wolverine will present
Championship Sunday at the season-opening Texas Nationals at San Antonio Raceway
April 4-6, the Northern Nationals at Knoll Gas
Motorsports Park in Martin,
Mich. Aug. 1-3 and at the Sooner Nationals at
Tulsa
Raceway Park Aug.
22-24.

Drag racing photographer and a friend of Torco's
CompetitionPlus.com. James Drew was released on Friday after 15 days of
staying at the VA Hospital in Long Beach, CA., with an undisclosed
illness.  He is confined to a wheel chair and must stay off of his feet
throughout the first part of the NHRA season. Understandably, James is
bummed out. Make his day and send a get well card or email.

 email - JAMES DREW
James
Drew
1211 Hackett Ave
Long Beach Ca. 90815

These spy shots feature the new paint schemes for West Coast-based Danny Rowe and Kirk Kuhns. They are paired up for 2008.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports
Museum presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California, kicks off the
year with dinner hosted by two legends of drag racing, an open discussion with
current driving stars and a racing collectible show. Combined they make an
event-filled week at the Parks Museum.

Thurs., Feb. 7, 6:30 - 9:30 p.m.
"A Night with Snake and Mongoose" is the title for a special dinner open to the
public and held at the Parks Museum.  Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "The
Mongoose" McEwen are co-hosts for the event, which will include highlights from
the recently released DVD Once Upon a Wheel: Match Race. Reservations are
required and can be made by calling the Museum at 909/622-2133. Tickets are $125
each or $1,100 for a table of 10.  All proceeds from the event, which includes a
memorabilia auction, will directly benefit the Parks Museum.

David Allio Photos

Kurt
Johnson posted the low elapsed time and top speed of the day, driving
his ACDelco Cobalt to the provisional pole with a 6.687 e.t. at 206.16
mph.

Qualifying for the third annual Pontiac Pro Stock Showdown got underway today at
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with three rounds of time trials. One
round of qualifying still remains to be completed on Saturday before the field
is set for the 16-car eliminator.

Team Chevy's Kurt Johnson posted the
low elapsed time and top speed of the day, driving his ACDelco Cobalt to the
provisional pole with a 6.687 e.t. at 206.16 mph.  Parked in the No. 2 position
is Jeg Coughlin Jr. who drove his Chevy Cobalt to a 6.701 second run at 205.44
mph, and Ron Krisher is No. 3 in the Valvoline Chevy Cobalt with a 6.711 e.t. at
204.23 mph.

Team officials for Gotham City Racing confirmed the Funny Car driven by Melanie Troxel suffered a non-catastrophic chassis failure during the NHRA Time Trials in Phoenix, Arizona. The chassis, driven by Mike Ashley in the latter part of 2007 and updated to the 2008 SFI chassis spec, cracked underneath the seat after tire shake was experienced on a Friday run.

The 2008 SFI spec allows for the use of normalized or heat-treated
tubing. This car utilized a chassis fabricated from heat-treated tubing
with normalized tubing welded into the section that failed.

Bob Tasca III and the Tasca Racing team completed the final step needed
for entrance into the NHRA Nitro Funny Car class with a 4.96 second,
317 mph run during testing at Firebird International Raceway on Jan.
31. The run qualified Tasca’s NHRA license to be upgraded from Top
Alcohol to Nitro Funny Car status.

“It has been a long test session,” said Tasca, driver of the
Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Shelby Mustang. “A new
car, new team and a tough track to deal with, but we did it. It was a
big difference in acceleration compared to my Top Alcohol car. To run
over 317 mph in under five seconds – it was incredible. We made great
progress on our tune-up and the guys got up to speed on servicing the
car. Pomona, here we come.”

NHRA has announced that limited tickets are available for the new
Quarter Mile Club, an innovative new luxury suite package available to
fans attending the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals, Feb. 7-10,
at the historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

NHRA fans who purchase tickets to the NHRA Quarter Mile Club will
receive many VIP amenities to enhance their NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
experience, including:

The following are the pre-entries received for the 8th annual CSR Eastern Spring Test Nationals presented by Torco's CompetitionPlus.com hosted by South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Ga.