Racingjunk.com's has named its three finalists for $55,000 in sponsorship monies as voted on by the readers of the website.

Funny Car driver Jack Beckman gets the opportunity on Friday to address
a group of Santa Monica YMCA After Schoolers with his testimony of his
life experiences.

Beckman will be speaking on behalf of the Racers Who Care group Friday,
November 30, 2007 with personalized Quick Tips on Winning in Life,
based on his own life/career experiences. 

It's that time of the year when Torco's CompetitionPlus.com provides
the drag racing community with their annual WHAT'S NEW FOR 2008 gallery
of pictures and renderings.

REQUIREMENTS --  jpg or gif
format, driver and team owner information, address and pertinent info
about the car such as engine, chassis builder and classification.

If you would like to submit your new car photo or rendering, please send it to email to NEW CAR STUFF.

A hurricane
survivor – can he overcome budget cuts?

Richie Stevens sent an
email to his major sponsor Mopar thanking them for sticking with him despite a
tough 2007. That was two weeks ago when the New Orleans, Louisiana-based driver
believed he had a program for 2008.

Stevens wasn’t being
naïve. He said he was told by Mopar that his program was moving forward in
2008.

Stevens admitted that he
never got a reply to his email.

Late last week, Don Schumacher Racing and
Stevens fell victim to budget cuts to the Mopar’s motorsports program,
reportedly handed down from the highest of the upper management.

The drag racing budget was
slashed 30%, making the team Stevens drives for expendable.

If your patootie is sweet,
then you can bet the new drag strip in Charlotte,
NC will be completed in time for
the NHRA’s No. 24 T.B.A. date, September 21 – 24.

That’s what Bruton Smith alluded
to in a recent press conference when asked if the track would be ready for the proposed
date. Two crews, working 16 hour shifts, are reportedly prepared to have the
track ready by spring.

Every spring racers travel from across the country to
Rockingham Dragway with a definite purpose in mind…to see how their engine
combinations and off-season work will pay off once the racing starts for real.
The Nitrojam.com Rock Spring Blast presented by Richmond County Tourism is
expected to be one of the largest organized test sessions in the country and
will bring drivers from all over the United States and Canada.

“The Rock Spring Blast is a great opportunity for
drivers and crew chiefs to see how their off-season work will pay off,” IHRA
president Aaron Polburn said. “You can run on the dyno all you want, but you are
not ready for the season until you make a few laps on a national event-level
prepped racing surface. This event will tell you a lot about where you stand,
what you need to work on and what you have done that will be
successful.”

The Spring Blast is a four day feast designed with the
most ardent gearhead in mind. The top doorslammers in the country will be joined
by new and established sportsman cars to give the race fan everything he or she
could want. Feb. 21-22 will feature testing in the Pro Stock and Pro Modified
classes while all other pro entries will be welcomed to take a shot or two at
the racing surface at Rockingham Dragway. Feb. 23-24 will be a free bracket race
for all sportsman competitors as well as a Chicago Style race in the
professional classes.

SCHUMACHER, PEDREGON, COUGHLIN LEAD DRAG RACING NOMINEES FOR 2007 AARWBA AUTO RACING ALL-AMERICA TEAM

NHRA POWERade Series world champions Tony Schumacher, Tony Pedregon and
Jeg Coughlin headline the Drag Racing nominees for the 2007 American
Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) Auto Racing
All-America Team.

 Two drivers from each of seven categories - Drag Racing, Open Wheel,
Stock Car, Road Racing, Short Track, Touring Series and At Large - will
be selected to the first team by the members of the motorsports press
association. Two second team drivers from each category also will be
named.  The remaining drivers in each category receiving five percent
of the vote will receive honorable mention status.

In addition to Schumacher, Pedregon and Coughlin, Pro Stock runner-up
Greg Anderson also was nominated in the Drag Racing category and Top
Alcohol Funny Car world champion Frank Manzo was nominated in the At
Large category.

Native Australian and Top Fuel driver Dave Grubnic is anxious to get back out on
the track for the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series that begins in Pomona,
Calif., in early February. However when his quest for the 2008 POWERade Top Fuel
title commences it will be without last season’s primary sponsor Zantrex-3.

Despite the unexpected setback, Grubnic and his team will continue to compete
out of drag racing legend Connie Kalitta’s multi-car racing operation Kalitta
Motorsports, based in Ypsilanti, Mich.

“First off, I want to thank everyone at Zantrex-3 for everything that they
did to support our team both on the track and off,” Grubnic, a 45-year old
resident of Ennis, Mont., said. “Certainly, this is a disappointing turn of
events, but we’re not going to let this hold us back from going back out there
to race as hard as we can for the 2008 championship.

Doug Herbert, owner and driver for the Snap-on Tools Top Fuel team, announced
changes today within his organization.

Effective immediately, Kevin Poynter
will serve as crew chief of the Snap-on Tools Top Fuel dragster, and Keith
Stewart will join the team as co-crew chief.

“I can’t begin to explain how
excited I am about having Kevin and Keith come on board,” said Herbert. “Jim
Brissette has been with me since 1991 and tuned us to a pretty good season last
year with the huge win in Reading to make the final eight and several other
final rounds, but these guys bring something different to the table. I am
completely confident that Kevin and Keith will help take us to the next level
and beyond, and Brissette will still be around as a consultant to help out if we
need him. We are looking to the future with this change.”

Poynter, who currently resides in
Mission Viejo, Calif., with his wife Terri and daughter Sonja, will be
transplanting to North Carolina to work full time with the Snap-on team. He most
recently served as crew chief for J.R. Todd's Top Fuel dragster, and has worked
for several other top tier teams in the past, including John Force Racing and
David Baca.

It's the time of the season when drag racers and fans wax nostalgic and
thumb through the old magazines. We couldn't ignore this classic drag
racing documentary that had previously aired on Speedvision and is now
in rotation on YouTube.com. Enjoy the footage from Green Valley and
Dallas International Motor Speedway from 1969.