:::::: News ::::::

BACA TO REPLACE BAZEMORE

Veteran NHRA Top Fuel driver David Baca has been tabbed to fill the
recently-vacated Matco Tools dragster seat at the final two events on the 2007
NHRA schedule team owner David Powers announced today.

 

Baca, a native of Concord, Calif., earned
his NHRA Top Fuel license in 2002 and made his professional debut at the fall
Las Vegas race
that same year. He has reached the final round three times and has two career
pole awards, including the U.S. Nationals in 2003. The second generation Top
Fuel racer advanced to the final round at the 2006 Winternationals and raced to
a 12th place finish last season. Baca’s father, Dennis, won the U.S.
Nationals Top Fuel crown in 1977.

 

“What an opportunity,” Baca said.
“To sit at home and watch the NHRA on TV every weekend and to get a call from
Mr. Powers to run the car for Matco Tools is just an awesome feeling. I got
chills when he asked me to fill the seat at Las
Vegas and Pomona. Just to be remembered and considered is
a great feeling. I know I’ve still got it and I’ll do my best to represent the
team and sponsors. It’s really a dream come true.

 

WARREN JOHNSON - THE GRAND MARSHALL

Although the POWERade Drag Racing
Series will be idle this weekend, Hall of Fame racer Warren Johnson will still
be at a racetrack, evaluating the competition and taking an active role in the
on-track events. However, the six-time NHRA Pro Stock champion will not be
behind the wheel of his familiar GM Performance Parts Pontiac GTO.  In fact, any
runs he will make will be of an instructional or celebratory nature, as he will
serve as the Grand Marshal of the inaugural GM Performance Parts LSX Shootout,
which is being held in conjunction with the National Muscle Car Association
(NMCA) World Finals this weekend at Memphis Motorsports Park in Memphis, TN. 

Despite the role reversal, The
Professor is eagerly anticipating the specialty event, which will showcase the
revolutionary block he helped design

 “Although I’m normally not a very
good spectator, I am looking forward to attending this weekend’s GM Performance
Parts LSX Shootout,” said Johnson.  “Not only will I be reunited with the GMPP
team that I worked with in the development of the block, but it will also be my
first real chance to see what kind of performance the LSX can deliver. 

BIG MONEY COMP SHOOTOUT

The Division 4 Championship and big money from the Division 4 Comp Shootout
Bonus Fund are on the line for Competition Eliminator racers during this
weekend's Division 4 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series closer at Thunder Valley
Raceway Park just outside of Oklahoma City, Okla.  The event has the racing
community buzzing as four racers still have shots at the Division 4 Championship
along with the Roof-Tec Last Man Standing Bonus that will award $8,000 to one of
the sixteen eligible drivers that goes the deepest into eliminations on Sunday. 
The Division 4 Comp Shootout will award an additional $6,000 to Comp Racers in
addition to the posted NHRA payout.
 
Defending Division 4 Champ Craig Bourgeois enters
the event with a 21 point lead over second place Scott Benham.  Joey Tanksley
trails by 32 points in third.  Young Chase Williams trails by a seemingly
insurmountable 86 points, but can add 104 points to his cause by closing the
year out with two wins. 
 
Racers in Comp Eliminator can claim points at their
best five out of the first eight divisionals they attend.  Bourgeois has
contested at seven events thus far, and can add to his total by reaching the
semifinals or better.  If Bourgeois does not improve, Benham, who has been to
five events, can overtake him with a semifinal or better showing himself. 
Tanksley can retake the points lead with a final round showing and no
improvement from Bourgeois.  Williams can take the points lead with a win and a
runner-up at his next two events, barring no improvement by Bourgeois. 
Bourgeois could clinch with a win if Benham loses prior to the semifinals.  One
race remains on the Lucas Oil Divisional schedule in Reynolds, Ga., next
weekend.

BEER NEWS AND DRAG RACING

If the nation’s brewers were racers
we’d be calling this the Silly Season, because like the game of musical chairs
that takes place when drivers flit from one team to another, the same thing is
happening in the world of beer.  While a lot of this involves NASCAR, the spill-off from the most
recent developments could have a significant impact on drag
racing.
 
In no particular order, Anheuser-Busch,
makers of Budweiser, Bud Light and Busch Beer, among numerous other brands (A-B
has been snapping up smaller brewers in the last 18 months, including Rolling
Rock and Beck’s, to name just two), announced a while back that they would be
ending their support of NASCAR’s premier support series at the end of the
current season.  Their longevity with the series has been such that it’s been known
as the Busch Series for, well, seemingly forever.
 
Nationwide Insurance has picked up the
series sponsorship for a reported $28M – less than NASCAR was originally
seeking, an indication that their once-unchallenged supremacy in all things
motorsports may not be as dominant as once
thought.
 
Meanwhile, A-B also announced they were
letting Budweiser’s “Official Beer of NASCAR” contract lapse. 
Coors picked that one up
for a cool $20M.
 
Finally, the move in driver sponsorship from
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to Kasey Khane for 2008 and beyond will probably save the
company an additional $5M to $10M per year.

PARTY TIME AT THE CHRR

What's better than one party? Two, of course, and that's what's planned for
Friday night, Oct. 12 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bakersfield, from 7 p.m.
until 11 p.m.. It's all part of the celebration surrounding the 16th annual
Automobile Club of Southern California Hot Rod Reunion, presented by Holley,
Oct. 12-14, at Auto Club Famoso Raceway.

Up first is the Hot Rod
Reunion Reception, held in the Grand Ballroom. Open to everyone at no
charge, it's a tribute to the Reunion's Grand Marshal, legendary drag racing
champion Ed "The Ace" McCulloch, and the other Honorees: John Buttera, the
drag racing team of Rocky Childs & Jim Albert, Gary "Red" Greth, Mike
Jones, and the team of Mike Kuhl & Carl Olson. Also, the Justice
Brothers Spotlight Award will be given to the 1964-65 U.S. Drag
Team.

CHRR PHOTO GALLERY ONLINE

Don Garlits is just one of the many legends that particpated in today's CHRR media day in Bakersfield, Ca.

PHOTO GALLERY 

DAVID POWERS Q&A

Team owner David Powers discusses the future of his two-car Top Fuel operation:

 

Q: Will the
Matco Tools dragster be competing at Las Vegas
and Pomona
(Calif.)?

 

POWERS:
Absolutely we will be there. We’re trying to come up with the best driver
possible that we can put in the car and have a shot at winning those two races
and helping Rod Fuller run for the championship.

 

Q: When do you
expect to name a temporary driver for the Las
Vegas and Pomona races?

 

POWERS:
Hopefully no later than the middle of next week.

 

Q: Will it be
the same driver for the 2008 NHRA POWERade season?

 

POWERS:
No.

MCCLENATHAN HEADED DOWN UNDER, CERNY TUNING

Cory McClenathan has confirmed that he will be driving a Jim Read-owned
Top Fuel car in Sydney, Australia during the weekend of December 8-9,
2007. What may not be known is that Wes Cerney will be tuning his car.

NITRO COUPE TITLE 3-WAY RACE

Slick Willie Brainerd took the win Sunday (10/7)  during the O'Reilly
Super Chevy Show  presented by JEGS - Aeromotive Nitro Coupe Challenge at
San Antonio Raceway, but  Willie couldn't gain enough ground in the points
to join Missouri brothers Cody and Zach Barklage and Tennessee's Tony
"Sandman" Williams as the front-runners for the 2007 world championship. 
After San Antonio and with just two national events to go, Cody Barklage has
a 20 point lead on Tony Williams with brother Zach 25 points behind Williams.

FLORIDA D.O.T. RACE RIG ENFORCEMENTS

As drag racers in the eastern U.S. prepare to head down to Florida to finish
off the season, they might do well to bear this in mind: the Florida DOT is
intent on enforcing section 390 of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.
While most race rigs probably already comply with this national statute
regarding commercial vehicles, a few circle track racers were caught unawares a
couple months back.

As reported in the August 22 issue of National Speed Sport News by NSSN staff
writer John Clayton, a group of racers traveling through Florida turned around
and went home, apparently facing heavy fines for not being in compliance with
commercial vehicle requirements.

According to Keith Johnson, director of the American Sprint Car Series
Coastal Region, this action nearly killed attendance for his event at Southern
Raceway in Milton, FL.

“It had something to do with the length of the trailer behind the axles,”
Johnson reported, “the (graphics) on the trailers, if you had any kind of
sponsors on the trailers…You had to have a CDL (commercial driver licenses)
whether it was their motorhome type or not… I cancelled my race there for next
year; I’m not going to go back.”

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