The Residence Inn by Marriott in Ontario, Calif. will host a Tim
Wilkerson Fan Appreciation Night on Thursday, February 5, prior to the
Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals at Pomona Raceway.   The free
"meet and greet" autograph session with Tim Wilkerson and other members
of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Mustang Funny Car team, is
scheduled from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. in the hotel's lobby area and
will include food and drinks.  The event is open to all fans.

The Residence Inn by Marriott and Team Wilkerson partnered for a
similar fan-outreach program during the 2008 Auto Club Finals in
Pomona, and the reaction was so positive both parties wanted to
implement the program again to provide an added value to fans attending
this year's season opener, as the NHRA kicks off its 2009 Full Throttle
campaign with the historic Winternationals in Southern California.   In
addition to the complimentary autograph session, the Residence Inn is
offering a special Winternationals package for guests, including a
luxurious Residence Inn suite and a ticket to the race for both
Saturday and Sunday, all for the low price of $165 per night.

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Pro Stock driver Erica Enders is
coming to Las Vegas this weekend to test at The Strip at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway and compete in the fourth annual Las Vegas Pro Stock
Showdown.  Enders will be joined by at least 16 other drivers,
including  defending NHRA Pro Stock champion and 2008 event winner Jeg
Coughlin Jr., Allen Johnson, V Gaines, Mike Edwards, Tom Hammonds,
Jerry Haas, Ron Krisher, Rickie Jones, Bob Panella, Roger Brogden,
J.R. Carr, Frank Gugliotta, Bob Yorke, Johnny Gray, David Beckley and
Greg Stanfield.

Enders, the only female driver to reach a Pro Stock final round and
earn No. 1 Qualifier status, will drive a Ford Mustang for Jim
Cunningham, owner of Capitol Raceway in Maryland. 

“I’ll be testing (and racing) Friday and Saturday,” said Enders as she
was about to board a plane to Las Vegas this afternoon. “It’s a
full-time deal for 2009. I filled in for him at a race last year when
he had a family emergency and that’s how the business relationship
started.

Phoenix
Drag Tires, the flagship brand of Coker Tire’s Performance Division,
will support the NHRA’s Lucas Oil sportsman series  by offering
contingency prize money to those participants who win or runner up
using it’s highly successful drag tires in Lucas Oil Series divisional
competition for 2009.

Long known for it’s legendary compounds and success in getting down
difficult race tracks, Phoenix is expanding upon it’s drag tire
offering for 2009, and seeks to partner with those racers who put
performance above all else.

A
poll on CompetitionPlus.com revealed that a large contingent of the
readership (52.9%) would prefer to see the rules of NHRA Pro Stock
changed to reflect current Detroit production. This poll was inspired
by an article focusing on the 323-inch, electronic fuel injected and
turbocharged Mustang of Steve Matusek.

The current universal 500-inch displacement and 2,350 pound weight
minimum was adopted in 1982 as a means of breaking from the traditional
pounds-per-cubic inch formula used since the inception of the Pro Stock
division in 1971.

The balance of the poll choices were split as to whether the
sanctioning body should keep the current rules intact or implement a
larger displacement allowance of 650-inches or larger.

Warren
and Kurt Johnson made several test laps earlier this week at South
Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Ga., and that may serve as their
warm-up for the 2009 season.

Kurt was in his Chevrolet Cobalt decked out in ACDelco livery while
Warren made laps in a refrigerator while Pontiac GXP. Kurt ran as quick
as a 6.567 elapsed time under ideal conditions with Warren a few ticks
behind.

Former WJ crewman, Greg Anderson, was also at the test and left with
his second track record in as many weeks with a 6.559 second run at
211.29 miles per hour. The speed is a track record.

Even though he’s experienced many a season opener over the last couple
of decades, Mike Green can hardly wait for the opening round of the
2009 Full Throttle Drag Racing Series to arrive next weekend out at
Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif.

“We’re definitely anxious to get started,” said the new crew chief for
the U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster and driver Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher.
“I say let’s go racing.”

Green is about to embark on his first year tuning Schumacher’s world
championship-winning dragster. He replaced Alan Johnson who started his
own Top Fuel and Funny Car operation.

“I’m excited about the season ahead,” added the Sacramento, Calif.
native. “We’ve got a great driver with Tony and we’ve assembled a
talented group of guys to work on the car. We want to go to Pomona and
start off on a good note.”

SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association, is opposing an effort
by some Washington lawmakers to include a national car crushing program
in the upcoming economic stimulus package. Vehicles targeted for the
scrap pile will likely include Chevy Blazers, Chevy Silverados, Chevy
S-10s, Chevy Tahoes, Dodge Dakotas, Dodge Rams, Ford Explorers, Ford
F-Series, Jeep Cherokees, Jeep Wranglers and any other SUV or truck
that obtains less than 18 miles per gallon.  Under the plan, the
Federal government would pay a premium for 1999 and newer cars.

The so-called “Accelerated Retirement of Inefficient Vehicles Act” is
cash-for-clunkers with a twist. Instead of focusing exclusively on old
cars as is typical with scrappage programs, this bill will target any
vehicle with lower fuel economy ratings. Participants will receive a
cash voucher to purchase a more fuel-efficient new car or used car (MY
2004 or later) or receive credit for the purchase of public
transportation tickets. Under the legislation, “fuel-efficient” means
at least 25 percent better mileage than the CAFE standard.  It will be
illegal to resell the scrapped vehicles.  Bill sponsors want to destroy
four million pickups and SUVs over the next four years.

Defending NHRA Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher prefers to never
make a promise he cannot keep, but this time he can speak with
authority when he says the drag racing world is in for the treat of
their lives. That treat is nothing less, than the best knock-down, drag
out rivalry drag racing could hope for.

It’s Prudhomme versus McEwen, Muldowney versus Garlits and Glidden
versus Shepherd all rolled up into one 8,000-horsepower duel that’s
bound to inspire fans to buy more tickets.

Schumacher and Larry Dixon could possibly go down in drag racing history as the one rivalry to end all rivalries.

“It’s as big as anything I have been a part of in my career,”
Schumacher admitted. “I enjoyed having a rivalry with [Doug] Kalitta
because he’s a great driver. I can’t go out and say all the things
others did, like he’s [Alan Johnson] cheating and that stuff. No one is
cheating and they have a bad-ass team with a bad-ass driver and a
bad-ass tuner. Those are the kinds of teams you want to race against
and beat.”

Make no mistake about it, Schumacher always had a feeling that Dixon
would become Johnson’s driver and in getting him, Schumacher believes
his former tuner has a very talented driver.

Thursday afternoon NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon
seemed more concerned with getting proper decal placement on his
Advance Auto Parts Toyota Solara than he did with missing any of the
preseason testing and with good reason. The decals had more priority.

“We’re going to have a new look for this year and it takes a little
more time to dial-in just the right look,” Pedregon admitted, as he
talked while he worked. “I’m just running a little behind.”

Pedregon doesn’t plan to undergo any preseason testing because in his
assessment, the process produces very little positive impact on the
team.

Last year, Jeg Coughlin Jr. captured the title of the preseason Pro Stock Showdown at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

and used the momentum of that fast start to charge into the season at
full speed. Nine moths later, the 38-year-old from Delaware, Ohio, was
hoisting his fourth championship trophy.

If he could repeat that feat again this year in his JEGS.com Chevrolet
Cobalt, Coughlin would move even deeper into the drag racing history
books and further cement his status as one of the best drivers ever.