High school students and Bay Area law enforcement officers will once
again square off on the Infineon Raceway quarter-mile drag strip, as
the popular Top the Cops™ program returns on April 1.

The Top the Cops™ program, which enters its 15th season in 2009, offers
an alternative to illegal street racing and gives teens the chance to
race against law enforcement officers, who compete in full uniform in
their official vehicles. The program also provides a unique environment
for the officers to chat with teens about safe driving and the rules of
the road.

John Zappia ran a 5.887 elapsed time at 244.56mph during qualifying at the Perth Motorplex on the weekend,
and two further fives to pick up a B Final win in a very high class Top
Competition field. The event was a chance for the Striker Monaro to
test some new parts in preparation for Round 6 of the ANDRA Top
Doorslammer Championship at Willowbank in April.

"Fast" Jack Beckman To Drive "American Revolution" Nitro Funny Car in Sacramento in April

"Fast" Jack Beckman, driver of the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services
Dodge Charger Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing in the 2009 NHRA Full
Throttle Drag Racing Series, will change pace on one of his off
weekends and drive Lee Jennings' Nostalgia "American Revolution" Camaro
at the 28th Annual Funny Car Fever at Sacramento Raceway Park on April
24-25, 2009.

Beckman recently had a chance to familiarize himself with the
Jennings-owned funny car at a test session at Auto Club Famoso Raceway,
located outside of Bakersfield, Calif., where he ran an
on-and-off-the-throttle 6.07 seconds at 224 mph.

You don’t have to go really, really fast to race in an “outlaw” class at Atlanta Dragway this year.

A new association for outlaw streeters, called Old Skool Outlaw Racing,
debuted its eliminator at the popular north Georgia track on Saturday,
March 21, with competitors racing for a $500 first-place prize and
elapsed times ranging from the high 5s to the low 6s on the eighth-mile
course.

Full Recovered From Heart Issues, Medlen Will Be In Houston …

Pulling double duty is a challenge that sophomore Funny Car driver Mike
Neff didn’t shy away from, however a return to his original role of
driving only won’t require much coercion.

This weekend in Baytown, Tex., at the NHRA O’Reilly Springnationals,
Neff’s crewchief, John Medlen, will return following a medical leave of
absence to correct coronary issues.

Where
else would you expect a man in his 60th year of drag racing to
celebrate his 75th birthday?  At a drag strip, of course, and that's
exactly what NHRA legend Jim Dunn will be doing this weekend as the
team owner/crew chief takes his Canidae Racing Funny Car team to
Houston for the 22nd annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston
Raceway Park on March 27-29. 

The excitement of Pro Mod drag racing returns to Texas this weekend as
the Get Screened America

Pro Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx
contests its second of ten events at the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals
at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas.
 
Defending event champion of the fan-favorite five-second door-slammers,
Joe Baker, said he's anxious to keep the Houston crown and get back to
the winner's circle.
 
"Houston is a great track and an awesome place to race. There's so much
history there, and the fans ... well, they're Texans - what else do you
need to say? They do everything big in Texas - and they absolutely love
Pro Mods," Baker said.
 

NHRA officials have announced that Milan Dragway in Milan, Mich., has
joined the NHRA Member Track network.  The quarter-mile facility was
originally built in 1963 and was sanctioned by NHRA until 1972. It also
ran under NHRA’s flag from 1989-2001. 

Milan Dragway will participate in the NHRA North Central Division
Summit Racing Series which will culminate with the Summit Series Finals
at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, Sept. 18-20.  The squad from
Milan won the team title at the event in 2001.

Third-year Funny Car Racer Taking His Lumps Early in 2009 …

Where does the time go?

One might find it hard to believe that perennial Funny Car championship
contender Jack Beckman is in only his third full season of driving on
the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, because he’s left quite a mark on
the sport in those forty-nine national events.

The former sportsman world champion has earned six national event wins
in 12 final rounds, set two national records (one has since been
eclipsed) and finished third in the 2008 point standings.

Pro Stock driver Dave Connolly will make his 2009 NHRA Full Throttle
Drag Racing Series debut this weekend at the O’Reilly Spring Nationals
in Houston.  But he will be driving Kenny Koretsky’s colorful Nitro
Fish Dodge instead of the familiar Cagnazzi Racing Charter
Communications Chevrolet Cobalt

Connolly, one of the category’s best, has been sidelined by the current
economic downturn for the first three 2009 Full Throttle Drag Racing
Series events, so he accepted the offer to drive Koretsky’s car.  But
not before receiving approval from Victor Cagnazzi, his team owner, and
General Motors, which supplies the Chevrolets he usually drives.