The inaugural NHRA Lucas Oil Cavalcade of Stars presented by Budweiser and the
Ohio Lottery kicked off Friday, May 18 with a full day of qualifying at Summit
Motorsports Park. At the end of the first day the Bader family, owners and
operators of the track, invited all racers and their families participating at
this weekend's race to a cookout courtesy of NHRA, the Bader family, and Summit
Racing Equipment, the facility sponsor.

It was an unexpected surprise for
the racers. The picnic was supplied with hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans,
potato salad and cookies and served about 1,250
people.

The idea started with Kirk Heinbuch,
Motorsports & Events Manager at Summit Racing Equipment. “We want to support
the sportsman racers who came to the track with our name on it. We’re not just
putting our name on the place, we’re a participant,” said
Heinbuch.

Top Fuel driver Melanie Troxel is an avid drag racer with a mind-set that won't
allow her to ever back off, empowering her instead to charge forward until the
race is over. That spirit led her to her first win of the 2007 season in
Madison, Ill., bringing her Top Fuel total to three in the sport's premier
class. In the days after the event, Troxel took time to reminisce about her win,
talking openly about the events that led her back to the winner's circle and the
hectic schedule that followed that winning performance.

“St. Louis is one of those races where you just don't know
what's going to happen,” said Troxel. “We weren't the fastest qualifier, but
when it comes to race day at Gateway Int'l Raceway, it doesn't really matter
what anybody ran on Friday night. It's who can handle those tricky track
conditions. We were fortunate to be able to do that better than
anyone.

No good deed goes unpunished as the Buell
riders have found out. Following Matt Smith's record-setting
performance in St. Louis, the NHRA has announced the following rule
change.  

Over
the years Matt Smith traveled many roads with his championship-winning father,
Pro Stock and Pro Mod standout Rickie Smith. This year the roles have reversed,
with the elder Smith tagging along with his Pro Stock Motorcycle-racing son.
 

“I
went everywhere I could go with him,” Smith said. “St. Louis was the first race of mine that
he’s missed this year.”

Matt
didn’t fret about his father’s absence during the NHRA O’Reilly Midwest
Nationals at Madison, Illinois,
near St. Louis.
He simply went out and claimed the maximum points allowable on the tour. Where
was dad? He was at an ADRL event at South Georgia
Motorsports Park
near Valdosta, Georgia, where he went to the Pro
Nitrous final.

The East Coast’s most prominent bracket racers convene on May 25 through May 28
at Rockingham Dragway to race not only for a cash purse but also for IHRA
Ironman trophies in the annual Memorial Weekend Bracket Nationals and North
Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Fame Race.

 The Ironman trophies
awarded during the weekend are identical to those presented at events in the
IHRA’s Knoll Gas Nitro Jam Series.  One Ironman will be awarded to the winner of
a special daily runoff between the Footbrake and Top Eliminator champions and
one will be awarded in Jr. Dragster following a special Monday runoff involving
all weekend winners and runners-up.

 As an added
incentive, a special North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Fame trophy will be
presented to the Top Eliminator or Footbrake driver who earns the most
accumulative points over the course of the Memorial weekend, part of a year-long
celebration of the sport’s rich drag racing
heritage.

Keystone Automotive Operations, Inc., the leading distributor and marketer of
specialty automotive equipment and accessories, has signed an agreement to
become the series title sponsor of the NMRA Ford Nationals and the Official
Performance Parts Supplier of the NMRA and the NMCA Muscle Car Nationals.
Keystone joins forces with ProMedia Events, producers of the leading
street-legal motorsport shows in the U.S.

Keystone will leverage the
sponsorships by providing the benefits and exposure opportunities directly to
its jobbers, who can “sponsor” the event in their area. Since Keystone is a
wholesale only distributor, the exposure associated with these sponsorships will
help drive sales to retailers in Keystone’s Performance Dealer
Network.

You could call them the "Elite Eight," you could call them the "Living
Legends," but whatever you call them, you'll not be calling them late
to the starting line as eight of the best-known, premier Nostalgia
Funny Cars run during the fifth annual Holley NHRA National Hot Rod
Reunion, presented by SoffSeal, June 15-17 at National Trail Raceway,
Hebron, Ohio.

Cagnazzi Racing and Knoll Gas Motorsports have added BlueWater
Communications Group in partnership with Cisco Systems has joined the
team as the official technology partner and associate sponsor of
Cagnazzi team driver Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Knoll Gas Motorsports driver
Dave Connolly.

Torco's CompetitionPlus.com has the first actual photos of the forthcoming RATT "Back for More" Top Fuel dragster driven by Clay Millican.