In the antithesis of his real job, NHRA Top Fuel driver Clay Millican is the
host of “Blow It Up,” a new program for SPEEDTV from the fertile mind of creator
Rich Christensen. 
 
Christensen, the man behind the successful “Pinks”
drag racing program, also on SPEEDTV, selected the exuberant, quick-talking
Millican for this new project.  The program features Millican devising a number
of ways to blow up engines in cars from an assortment of engine shops.  The
debut of “Blow It Up” is scheduled July 21.
 
“Clay is the minister of
destruction. It’s his show and his rules,” said Ray Iddings, brand manager of
Launch Hour and producer of “Blow It Up.”  “The shops bring out their finished
motors (in their cars) and Clay just punishes these cars.  We made it basically
the shop against Clay.  He’d tell them what he wanted done – from 30-second
burnouts, to launches, hot-lapping, or whatever until the engine fails.

The Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam™ Drag Racing Series will host it’s inaugural event in
Tulsa, Okla., May 25 – 27. The event, the Skull Shine Sooner Nationals presented
by Wolverine and Academy Sports + Outdoors, marks the first national event drag
race to be hosted at Tulsa Raceway Park in the modern era. (Buy Tickets: http://www.ihra.com/results/2007/nitrojam.html).

“This is an opportunity for
Oklahoma fans to see the fastest and
quickest drag racing vehicles on the planet, including 330 mph Top Fuel
dragsters and Nitro Funny Cars,” said IHRA vice president of marketing Jim
Marchyshyn. “The event brings a great package of entertainment for hardcore
motor sport fans and the casual fan. Parents will discover the Sooner Nationals
is a great place to bring the kids and enjoy an affordable day of family
fun.

COMP Cams® and
powerTV are teaming up in 2007 to bring thousands of enthusiasts extensive video
coverage of the Hot Rod Pump Gas Drags, presented by COMP Cams®. The Hot Rod
Pump Gas drags is one of the most innovative drag racing events of the year
brainstormed by the editorial staff at Hot Rod and sponsored by COMP. The drama
will unfold on Saturday, May 12, 2007, and COMP Cams® will be broadcasting
online video coverage on www.powerperformanceTV.com throughout the weekend.

The setting at
Memphis Motorsports Park will provide a perfect background for COMP Cams® first
online video broadcast on their new powerTV-supported video channel, Power &
Performance TV. As approximately 75 street racers look to end the day as the
baddest pump gas street cars in the country, Power & Performance TV will be
there to capture all of the action and to deliver that racing footage as quickly
as possible to the thousands of online enthusiasts who crave to follow along
from their home computers.

“Hot Rod Pump Gas
Drags is a great event, and COMP Cams® is really proud to be so involved with
it”, said Chris Douglas, Marketing Director of COMP. “We appreciate Hot Rods
support of the event, and the great editorial they have created around it, and
we look to help grow it by increasing the exposure of the event even more by
providing same-day online video coverage with powerTV”.

Pro Modified veteran Larry Sinke of Welland, ON, will
be competing in the upcoming Pro Modified Racing Association Series, which
takes place at Toronto Motorsports Park in Cayuga, Ontario May 19 and 20.

We’re glad to see Larry back with the PMRA,” said
Series Director Bruce F. Mehlenbacher. “He’s seasoned veteran, a good runner,
and he’s always a crowd-pleaser.”

The Hammer Racing 1967 Chevy Nova SS Pro Modified owned
and driven by Sinke is powered by a 526-cubic inch supercharged Hemi engine.
Sinke, who started racing about 10 years ago, competed in the inaugural PMRA
season, winning the Skyview Drags event in New York State.

NHRA and Bristol Dragway officials announced today that the O’Reilly
NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Q has been rescheduled for
July 6-8, 2007.

GM Performance Parts GTO driver Warren Johnson’s historic induction into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame (IMHOF) will be broadcast this Sunday, May 13 on the Speed Channel. 
 

For those who have served our nation, a grateful sport says "Thank You" 

In the 1960s, America's muscle-car craze just about guaranteed that the growing National Hot Rod Association had the attention of young men 18-30 years old. Then the Vietnam War hit and the weekend warriors became simply warriors.

That turn of events plunged the nation into protest, angst, and divisiveness. It left scars on many of those one-time drag-racing enthusiasts. A lost interest in quarter-mile competition became the least of their worries.

But NHRA team owner Evan Knoll has been able to heal some of those hurts that have lingered for nearly 40 years. One of his drivers, Melanie Troxel, is rallying America's once-maligned or forgotten soldiers this season with the Vietnam Veterans/POW MIA Dragster.

And at Madison, Illinois, last weekend, she recorded her third career Top Fuel victory but her first for the veterans in Knoll's tribute dragster. She also improved from ninth in the standings to fifth, in ideal position to qualify for the Countdown to the Championship.

The 16th Annual Doug Herbert Performance Center Open House will take place this Saturday, May 12, 2007.

Funny Car racer Ron Capps is not a man of few words. Ask him a question and you will get his deepest, most emotional and sincerest thoughts on any subject. We asked the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car points leader (after seven races) to describe what it means to him to be invited for the third straight year to compete in the Nextel Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, on June 6.