Richie Stevens and Allen Johnson fared much better in Friday’s Denver
qualifying runs in their Stratus Pro Stock cars than they did at
Thursday night’s “Rumble In The Rapids” inner tubes during sponsor
Mopar’s Big Block party in nearby Golden, Colorado.
 
Stevens came out of frigid Clear Creek with a banged-up knee after
Thursday evening’s rubber-raft race against  Don Schumacher Racing
teammates Johnson, Jack Beckman, and Gary Scelzi. Crew member Mike Gott
said Stevens was limping for awhile (not to mention shivering, because
his pal with the towel was on the opposite bank from where he exited
the water). But Gott said Stevens’ knee improved after a few beverages
later that night: “That diminished the pain.”

TROXEL, HIGHT, JOHNSON AND SMITH PACE FIELD IN DENVER
 
Denver's own Melanie Troxel picked the perfect race to lead the Top
Fuel qualifying field, racing to the top of the 28th annual Mopar
Mile-High NHRA Nationals Friday night with a 4.610 at 322.42 mph.

Roy Hill has had a change
of heart. He says he no longer yells at his drag racing school, but takes the
time to methodically explain the ins and outs of driving technique.

Those of us who have ever
been on the receiving end of one of his school tirades have a hard time
believing that. But, you have to look into his eyes to know that something his
changed his heart.

Blame it on the kids.

Hill has found solace in
working with the next generation of drag racers. The newest program at Roy Hill’s
Drag Racing School
enables parents to bring their children and their cars to Hill for orientation
and instruction.

During the annual Mopar Big Block Party, sponsors DSR, Oakley and Mopar
unveiled this tribute paint scheme to driver Gary Scelzi. Scelzi is not
retiring, he's just going on hiatus.

Beech Bend Raceway in Bowling Green, KY will light up the southern
skies with header flames on the weekend of July 28 -29 as the Nostalgia
Pro Comp Association (NPCA) comes to town for a Bowling Green Bonanza! 
The NPCA, which is the Midwest’s and East Coast’s largest classic drag
racing association, will invade the beautiful landscape of Beech Bend
Raceway (former home of the National Hot Rod Reunion). The Southern
Nationals presented by Hot Hues/DuPont Performance Coatings is the
second stop on the five race NPCA Championship Series schedule.  NPCA
President, Troy Coker says Bowling Green is our “Big Go!” “This is the
race everyone wants to attend and take home the hardware,” Coker added.

Classic drag racing will take center stage on the historic quarter mile
as a field of over 100 racers will do battle in seven different
classes.  The seven NPCA classes include everything from 1979 &
earlier Nitro Funny Cars, Front Engine Dragsters and Fuel Altereds to
1972 & earlier blown door slammers.  Saturday night, July 28th will
feature two qualifying sessions under the lights beginning at 7:30 PM,
with the second session slated to begin at 9:30 PM.  Drag racing under
the stars on a Saturday night at Beech Bend will be a ride back in time
for those who remember the “good ole days” of drag racing. 
Eliminations will start at 12:30 PM on Sunday July 29th.   

GM Performance Parts has
announced an LSX True Street Challenge that will double the purse and give a
custom winners jacket to all LS-powered cars that win a category in NMCA’s
popular True Street
class at the GM Performance Parts LSX Shootout held Oct. 11-14, 2007, at Memphis Motorsport Park.  Furthermore, if the overall fastest True Street
competitor is in an LS-powered vehicle, GM Performance Parts will double the
purse, provide a custom winners jacket and give away an LSX Bow-Tie block
valued at over $3,000! 

Knowing that there are thousands
of potential “true” street competitors with LS-powered combinations that want
to participate in the LSX Shootout, GM Performance Parts has decided to provide
some serious cash and prizes.  True
Street cars can range from mild (13, 14 or 15 seconds) to wild (9, 10, 11, 12
seconds).

Terry McMillen’s IHRA Top
Fuel victory Sunday in Edmonton produced the kind of happy ending that often
appears in Hollywood scripts but rarely in life. McMillen, who cut his teeth
driving Nitro Funny Car before taking a hiatus from the sport, has now officially
fought his way back into the fuel ranks.

 The journey back has often
been painful and the road strewn with obstacles. McMillen and wife Rhonda
suffered the loss of a son as well as Terry’s blindness from a contact lens
solution defect. That’s why he smiled wider than ever on Sunday. McMillen’s
victory was payback.

“It has been a tough road
to get to here – a horrible road,” McMillen said. “The greatest thing about
that victory is that I was able to drive in the daylight because it gets dark
for only a short time in Edmonton. That helped me to see well enough to make it
through just fine.

“This makes up for the
setbacks because we should have been racing a year ago. I underwent another
surgery a week ago and the doctors gave me medical clearance. They keep trying
to make the eye better. My eye isn’t to the level it needs to be to be
considered fully back, but it is well enough that we can do this safely.

Pro Stock driver Mike Edwards and his Young Life Pontiac team got some valued
assistance at the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway as
three young men from Young Life's Capernaum Ministries became "team members"
this past weekend as guests of Mike and his wife Lisa. The trio was at the track
Friday and Saturday for an up-close look at the inner workings of a professional
drag racing team that few get to see, and they also received a goody bag filled
with a shirt, hat and other race collectibles.  Fellow Pro Stock competitor and
defending series champ Jason Line also stopped by on Saturday morning to sign
autographs and take a few pictures to complete the fun-filled weekend. 

Young Life Capernaum Ministries is a program of Young Life established
for kids and young adults with disabilities, giving them encouragement and the
chance to have fun, make friends and have fellowship like their able-bodied
peers.

"This group's from South Carolina, and they always make a trip to
the NHRA race at Atlanta," Mike Edwards said. "We always see them there. They
just wanted to get away, they wanted a little road trip, so we invited them up
and provided for their hotel and transportation - it's a racing weekend on us.
We got them some shirts and a lot of neat stuff, and they're having a big time.
They're special people. I tell you what, you think you've got hard times, and
you see these young men, and it will make you change your attitude
fast."

Borrowing a page from father-in-law John Force's playbook,
Robert "Top Gun" Hight hopes to have new pipe beneath him this weekend in Denver. 

Although there purportedly is no difference between the
McKinney chassis the team has used the last four races and the one it
is adapting for this week's event, Hight and crew chief Jimmy Prock
agreed that it was time for a change because something has been very,
very wrong with their track record-holding Automobile Club of Southern
California Ford Mustang, the first Funny Car to break the 4.80 second
barrier at altitude.

After terrorizing the Funny Car division through this season's
first half dozen races, winning twice and posting the two quickest
quarter mile times in Funny Car drag racing history   4.644 seconds at Pomona, Calif., and 4.634 seconds at Phoenix, Ariz.   the 8,000 horsepower Ford suddenly has developed a split personality.

Hillary Will, who drives an 8000-plus horsepower Top Fuel dragster, is in the
Denver area this weekend for the 28th annual NHRA Mopar Mile-High Nationals, a
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event being run at Bandimere Speedway in
Morrison, Colo.  But while her focus will be on racing, she plans a side trip
tomorrow (Thursday) with her Grandpa, Dad, and brothers, to Greeley to visit her
heritage.

Along with her brothers, Hillary’s guide will be her Grandpa,
Connie Will, who was born in Greeley, Colo.,  in 1930 and raised in the area
before leaving at age 17 to join his father in California.  Her Grandpa was
actually, Connie, Jr. and was known during his childhood and teens as “Chipper”
or just plain “Junior.”

Chipper’s grandfather came to Colorado from
Germany in the late 1800s to work for Coors as a head brew master.  His dad
followed his dad to the USA in 1903.  In 1910, they left behind the city life,
rounded up the cows, and headed in horse and buggy about 50 miles north to what
is now the Greeley area to homestead.  Twenty years later the third generation
of the Will Family in America – Connie, Jr. or Chipper – came
along.