A leading dictionary defines the word "rebound" as meaning "to recover, as from discouragement, failure, or ill health,"

Tim
Wilkerson shakes the tires and falls behind early in his only Pomona
qualifying attempt. Because of the nature of the event and abbreviated
qualifying, Wilkerson isn't overly upset at the team's DNQ. He hopes
for a return to normalcy in Phoenix. (Roger Richards Photo)

among
other references to trampolines, basketballs, and scorned lovers.  With
that first definition in mind, while also looking strictly at the
record and seeing a DNQ listed as Tim Wilkerson's result from the first
race of the year, it might seem appropriate to assume the driver of the
Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Mustang needs a rebound this weekend, at
the second race of the '09 campaign in Phoenix.  It might seem
appropriate, but the popular driver/tuner doesn't see it that way,
because the definition doesn't fit the story.

Had Wilkerson left Pomona with that same DNQ, but with four qualifying
runs on his record, he might very well feel differently, but his lone
shot at the tricky Pomona track left him much more philosophical than
frustrated, and more forward-looking than retrospective.  After all, it
was a bizarre and weather-plagued weekend for everyone, and in the end
two Funny Car teams were going to draw the short straws.  Wilkerson
just happened to be one of the two.

After the 2008 season Jim Halsey experienced, who could blame the
nitrous Pro Modified veteran for wanting to come out of the box
swinging for the fence?

If only reality would coincide with what looked good on paper.

This weekend in Valdosta, Ga., his test runs looked more like a broken
record, than a world record, on more than one occasion. But, that’s
okay; it was the first time out in a new car.

This was the routine: Launch like a banshee, lay down an incredible
60-foot clocking and at 62 feet, shake his ever-living brains out.

A source close to the situation told CompetitionPlus.com that an
announcement is forthcoming ensuring the NHRA Pro Modified series on
the tour for years to come. This announcement will reportedly come on
Tuesday.

Reportedly, a non-automotive sponsor has been procured and brings along
with it a multi-year contract, something the series has never had
before. Since 2002, Pro Modified has been fielded on a year-to-year basis.

Ashley Force Hood and her cat Simba were the focus of a photo shoot by noted photographer David Woo for his upcoming book
Top Dogs and Their Pets. The NHRA Funny Car star posed in her trademark
Castrol GTX firesuit along with a freshly bathed Simba for the upcoming
coffee table style book featuring celebrities and their pets. Simba,
always right at home at the races, kept the entire John Force Racing
family on their toes before the photo shoot running and hiding
throughout the Yorba Linda shop

“At first Simba just wanted to run around in the front lobby of our
shop. There are so many bright colorful things up there he was just
having a heyday running underneath funny cars and jumping over couches.
He just didn’t know where he wanted to go. We had to keep searching for
him and climbing under the race cars to coax him out,” said AOL’s
Hottest Athlete of 2007. “Once he got into the swing of things he tired
out a little from running around. That worked out pretty good because
we were all getting a little tired from chasing him all over the place.
It was a lot of fun.”

Andy Jensen, the man who last year turned the Pro Modified world upside-down before ADRL officials
banned his single turbo 1967 Chevrolet Camaro from the Pro Nitrous class,
is back this year with something even more radical, something he’ll
debut at this week’s Rock Batteries Spring Blast.

The Nescopeck, Pa., driver returns this week to Steve Earwood’s
Rockingham Dragway, where he was runner-up in last fall’s Dragstock V
event, with a turbocharged small block in the engine compartment of his
early model Camaro, a revamped entry in which he hopes this year to
challenge for the ADRL’s Pro Extreme title.

Kenny Bernstein was named as one of seven who will be inducted  into
the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in its annual ceremony
Wednesday, Aug. 12 at the Fillmore Theater in Detroit.

“We are very honored to have been chosen to join the elite members of
the motorsports fraternity known as the Heroes of Horsepower,” said
Bernstein.  “We have been fortunate through the years to have some
success on the racetrack and to be inducted into this prestigious Hall
of Fame is icing on the cake.”

Bernstein, a six-time NHRA champion, was the first to break drag
racing’s 300 mph barrier, and the first to win championships in Funny
Car and Top Fuel.  He holds the unique distinction of being the first
and only race team owner to have collected wins in each of America’s
three major motorsports series:  NHRA drag racing, NASCAR, and CART
(now IndyCar Series).

Brandon Bernstein will have one thought and one thought only hanging in
the back of his mind this weekend at the Lucas Slick Mist NHRA
Nationals at Firebird Raceway in Phoenix, Az.

The thought – 323 miles per hour; the mark Berstein set during the National Time Trials in January at Firebird Raceway.

Bernstein, told CompetitionPlus.com with a degree of certainty, the run felt fast.

First year Bernstein tuner Rob Flynn was skeptical of the run at first,
but the more he looked at the computer read outs and the overall
performance, the run checked out.

The run “checked out”, using youthful slang, when it’s noted Bernstein
ran five miles per hour faster than anyone had run before in the
history of recognized 1,000-foot drag racing.

South Georgia Motorsports Park will open it's gates to all racers, regardless of class, March 9 thru 12 for open testing.
 
Various professional teams have frequented the immaculate South Georgia facility for testing since it's conception in 2002, and will continue to do so throughout the offseason and into the regular season of competition.  South Georgia Motorsports Park will also open its doors to any NHRA professional or sportsman team in need of testing prior to the NHRA ACDelco GATORNATIONALS event at Gainesville Raceway (March 12-15).
 

The NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series season opener is in the books and
the winners have been crowned at Bradenton Motorsports Park.  Top
honors went to John Finke of Selkirk, N.Y., in Top Alcohol Dragster and
Mickey Ferro from Stamford, Conn., won once again in Top Alcohol Funny
Car.

Bill Evans, Miramar, Fla., worked his way from the forth spot all the
way to the Top Alcohol Dragster finals, falling just short of the
divisional win.  Finke posted a 5.378 second, 269.62 mph pass to defeat
Evans run of 5.440 seconds.

Top Alcohol Funny Car was mastered once again by Ferro, picking up back
to back divisional wins at Bradenton.  Coming out of the top qualifying
position, Ferro’s pass of 5.673 seconds, 255.39 mph gave him the win
light in the finals.  Mark Billington of Norcross, Ga., was a win light
away of the title, coming out of the third qualifying position.

None of the professional racers that experienced six days of rain
delays at the season-opening race in Pomona, Calif., had much fun, but
for rookie driver Shawn Langdon, the shortage of racing action was
almost unbearable.

"You dream your whole life about turning pro and driving a Top Fuel
dragster," said Langdon, the back-to-back Lucas Oil Series world champ
in Super Comp. "Then you finally get that chance and the lead up to
that first race is so emotional. I was really excited and pretty
nervous before the race. I couldn't sleep. You just want to do
everything right for your team. Then you finally get to the track and
all that anticipation is literally washed away by the rain. It was
tough for me to take."

The lack of racing in southern California -- Langdon made just two
passes in his Lucas Oil/Dixie Choppers dragster -- has the 26-year-old
revved up for NHRA's second stop in Phoenix. That and the fact he
tested at Firebird International Raceway just a few weeks ago and that
his main sponsor, Lucas Oil, took over title rights for the race a few
days back through its Lucas Oil Slick Mist brand.