NHRA has announced the continuation of its relationship with the
American Forces Network (AFN) to deliver the unique sights and sounds
of NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing to the men and women stationed
overseas.

"NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing programming increases our ability to
provide our worldwide American Forces Network audience with the best
sports coverage from back home,” said Larry Marotta, Chief of
Television at the AFN Broadcast Center.  “We are delighted by the
generosity of the NHRA and proudly welcome their excellent programs to
our showcase of American television.”

Tom “the Mongoose” McEwen, Walker Evans, Frank Kurtis, and Malcolm Smith have been nominated for the 10th Annual
Justice Brothers-Shav Glick Award which recognizes those who have made distinguished contributions to motorsports in California.

Named in honor of Shav Glick, who passed away in 2007. Glick was a
long-time motorsports writer for the Los Angeles Times and a member of
the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.

After
completing the best season of his drag racing career, Terry McMillen,
driver of the Amalie Oil Top Fuel Dragster, is making plans for an even
bigger 2009 season. McMillen made five final round appearances with two
wins in IHRA competition in route to a third place finish in
championship points. He also competed and qualified in two NHRA events,
including the 13th spot in the fastest field in NHRA 1,000 foot history
during the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.

"We've been blessed with some of the best partners in the business,"
McMillen said from his Indiana race shop. "It's no secret that this is
probably the toughest economy that most people have faced in their
lifetime. It's been tough on racers, race teams and on families all
over the world. Our partners have remained solid through this down
period and we're focused on helping them grow even more during 2009."

Veteran drag racer Troy Coughlin will race for two world championships in 2009 and with a massive 830 cubic inch powerplant under
the hood of his brand-new Jerry Haas-built JEGS.com Pontiac GXP, he's
certainly going to have the horsepower to get it done.

Coughlin plans to contest the National Muscle Car Association's Pro
Street category as well as the American Drag Racing League's Extreme
Pro Stock class. The classes are similar enough that he can use the
same racecar in both sanctions, and with only one conflicting date
between the NMCA and ADRL, he'll have a chance to race in 16 of 17
events.

Eleven wins over the past three IHRA season gave Dale Creasy, Jr. two consecutive World Championships. He's hoping the number eleven is his lucky number.

Creasy will undergo his 11th surgery today to repair damage to the leg
he injured during a July '08 race in Edmonton. Through it all, Creasy
remains upbeat. "I'm not going to let it whip me," he said before the
surgery. "I'm looking forward to going back to Edmonton and whipping
that track. We were leading that race when the transmission failure
happened. Our team deserves to go back out there and beat that track.
The great fans in Edmonton and drag racing fans from all over the world
have shown so much support to me during this time. I'm determined to
get back out there as a way to say thank you to them."

Petition drive sends the ADRL back to Georgia on April 10-11

American Drag Racing League officials announced today that round number
two of the 2009 National Guard ADRL tour, will take place at Cook
County Georgia's South Georgia Motorsports Park (SGMP) located in
Cecil, Georgia on April 10-11.

In doing so, it gives the phrase "back by popular demand" a whole new meaning for the National Guard ADRL.

When the 2009 National Guard ADRL event schedule was being drawn up,
ADRL officials had looked to expanding the tour into Florida. But late
last week, a package filled with a petition containing over 6100 names
of south Georgia and north Florida race fans arrived at the ADRL's
O'Fallon headquarters. It had ADRL President and CEO Kenny Nowling
placing a phone call to SGMP general manager Tim Fleming.

Drag racing promoter Dave Hance shattered both ends of the quarter mile Drag Radial World Record this past weekend while competing
at the U.S. Street Nationals in Bradenton, Fla. On two separate passes
Dave ran the record setting performances, a 6.93 ET and a 223.07 mph
blast behind the wheel of his 1993 Stock Suspension Ford Mustang on DOT
radial tires minus wheelie bars.

After a mishap during the Shakedown at E’town event, the car was
repaired in three weeks. In a few short months, all memories of the
mishap proved to be distant.

Following Mike Ashley Racing's recent acquisition of the Matco Tools
Top Fuel team, driver Antron Brown has received a contract extension
through the 2010 NHRA season, team owner Mike Ashley announced today.
 
"Antron (Brown) is the face of our organization at Mike Ashley Racing,"
Ashley said. "He's the centerpiece of our racing program and one of the
most marketable drivers in NHRA drag racing. Antron is embraced by the
Matco Tools distributors and we couldn't have a better spokesperson for
our race team. He will continue to do an excellent job both on and off
the race track for Matco Tools and Mike Ashley Racing."

Phoenix Tests Leave the AJ/Al-Anabi Team As The Funny Car to Beat …

Del
Worsham is reveling in the fact the only pressure on his shoulders now
is driving the Alan Johnson/Al Anabi Funny Car and even then, that’s
doesn't appear to be much pressure.

Instead of constantly keeping tabs on the bottom line from a team
owner’s standpoint and making the tuning decisions as the self-imposed
crew chief, he’s now challenged with the one task that has always
appealed to him the most – driving.

“I’m really enjoying myself a lot,” Worsham said. “It’s different, a
lot of the pressures I had with my own team are gone now and it’s
great. It’s cool. It’s everything I expected it to be.”

Rookie of the Year Candidate Gunning for His Place …

Matt
Hagan knew the moment he signed on with Don Schumacher Racing to drive
a Funny Car his career would change forever; he just didn’t have an
accurate assessment of how much. Instead of the hoping, guessing and
being spread thin, he’s got the security of stability, a benchmark for
the multi-car teams he’d battled hopelessly as a single-car independent.

The end result on Sunday at the Firebird Raceway National Time Trials
was a career-best elapsed time with a run of 4.091 seconds, 305.56 mph,
placing him third quickest for the weekend. Hagan notched six passes in
two days.