Total prize money soars to over $1.25 million

American Drag Racing League officials announced today a significant
increase in prize money for the 2009 National Guard ADRL season which
opens in Houston on March 6-7.

"My entire team has worked tirelessly during the off season to pursue
additional partnerships to allow us to make a considerable increase to
all of our professional purses," said ADRL President and CEO Kenny
Nowling.

Drag racing series to showcase dragsters versus door-slammers
 
A new Quick 32 Sportsman-class series is being organized that will pit door-slammers against dragsters in every race day final.
 
Comprised of 16 door cars and 16 dragsters, this new Ontario-based drag
racing series will compete at 2009 races with the Pro Modified Racing
Association (PMRA) events as well as selected special events at the
Grand Bend Motorplex, St. Thomas Dragway and Toronto Motorsports Park
and offer some of the best in dial-in competition.
 
The new venture is providing a $3000 to win for each event and $5000
for the annual point award series champion, payouts which will be very
popular and should present large fields of race cars.

High performance lubricant manufacturer Royal Purple and online game
company Cie Studio have partnered to  develop a unique integration in 
Cie Studio’s popular automotive enthusiast online drag racing game and
social network Nitto 1320 Legends.  The integration is unique in that
it will provide consumers the opportunity to virtually sample and
experience Royal Purple products.

The Nitto 1320 Legends online gaming environment allows gamers to buy
virtual performance upgrades for their car(s).  Gamers then experience
the impact of the upgrades to their car’s racing performance and engine
life. The game is available as a free download to anyone via the URL
www.nittolegends.com.

Robert Hight hasn’t driven his Funny Car two feet in 2009 and he can
already tell a major difference from last year. The veteran driver for
John Force Racing spent much of his time during the off-season
fine-tuning a proven combination instead of developing one.

This off-season has been spent solely focusing on what it takes to win
a championship; a regular practice before the disasters of 2007.
Separate horrific crashes of Eric Medlen and John Force challenged JFR
to build safer Funny Cars for the future between 2007 and 2008. Those
challenges also put the team behind the eight-ball.

Hight has all the hard work behind him as he enters 2009 on a mission to win his first ever NHRA Funny Car world championship.

“I think we are in better shape as far as going out and contending for
a championship and winning races because last year was so chaotic,”
Hight admitted. “Last year, a week before we went testing in January,
we were still putting together all the cars that we had completely
redesigned. It was a total redesign of the chassis after all the
accidents we had in ’07. At that point, performance and winning races
wasn’t really the focus.

Rising drag racing star of the Arabian Gulf Region, KA Balooshi doesn’t
seem to be concerned with what kind of car he’s driving so long as it
has four-wheels and a clutch pedal he seems to find himself right at
home behind the wheel. This weekend in West Palm Beach, though, it was
Balooshi’s first opportunity at the controls of an A/Fuel Dragster.

As the sport of drag racing continues to grow in popularity throughout
the Arabian Gulf Region, the demand for top-tier racing programs and
the necessary driving and tuning talent is ever-increasing. Al Anabi
Racing team driver KA Balooshi, who currently competes in the American
Drag Racing League’s Pro Nitrous division, is being groomed to drive a
Top Fuel Dragster as part of the Al Anabi/Qatar Racing team – so, when
the opportunity to get his feet wet in the nitro ranks came about
during the Alan Johnson/Al Anabi Racing private test session at Palm
Beach International Raceway this past weekend, Balooshi couldn’t pass
it up.

With an unparalleled amount of driving and mechanical expertise at his
disposal, Balooshi was able to get up to speed as to the handling
characteristics and technical aspects of the new A/Fuel Dragster
platform quicker than could have ever been expected. The entire Alan
Johnson Racing team was on hand to introduce Balooshi to the
low-five-second, 270+mph category including NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car
superstar drivers Larry Dixon and Del Worsham, along with Alan Johnson
himself, Chad Head, veteran injected nitro tuner Tom Conway, and
Kimelyn Buff Pesz.

On Saturday night Funny Car legend John Force used his considerable
vocal talents and driving skill to help raise money for the Juvenile
Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) auctioning off a 2008 Mustang Cobra
Jet for $375,000 during the famed Barrett-Jackson Auction in Phoenix.

The Cobra Jet was one of three prototype's and was driven by John Force
in a promotional match race during the Auto Club Finals in Pomona last
year. 2008 Auto Club Road to the Future Rookie of the Year Mike Neff
also drove the vehicle during a media event centered around the Cobra
Jet in 2008

Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels will not participate as
a major sponsor of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) in 2009. Ken
Warner, VP Sales and Marketing for Mickey Thompson stated, “The tough
decision to suspend our relationship with NHRA after more than 26 years
is due to several concerns including a recent mandate by the NHRA that
Pro Stock racers will be required to compete exclusively on Goodyear
tires.”
 
Warner also stated, “The decision to compete solely on one
manufacturer's tires may ultimately diminish the level of competition
in the Pro Stock series.  The spirit of open competition drives this
sport and by limiting the racers' choice of tires, that spirit is
severely diminished.  We hope the sanctioning body revisits this ruling
and opens up the competition to manufacturers like Mickey Thompson who
are willing to put years of technology and experience into making tires
that help win races."

National DRAGSTER, the official newsweekly of NHRA, will
celebrate its 50th year of publication in 2009 with a series of
retrospective articles on the publication’s history and evolution since
its debut in February 1960.

Current staff members, several of whom have been with the publication for three decades, plan to compare and contrast National DRAGSTER’s
look, feel, and major elements over its five decades, examining areas
such as the evolution of national event coverage, cover design,
features, columns, photography, reporting, printing methods, and more.

Two-time and reigning Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series season champion
Shawn Langdon will trade in his Super Comp dragster for a Top Fuel ride
in 2009 and beyond. Pending the successful completion of the crossover
licensing requirements, Langdon plans to run the entire 2009 NHRA Full
Throttle Drag Racing Series in a John Stewart-tuned Lucas Oil/Dixie
Choppers dragster as a teammate to established Top Fuel pro Morgan
Lucas.

"We think it's time for Shawn to make the move to the top level of the
sport, and we're pleased to have him join our son, Morgan, in Top
Fuel," said Forrest Lucas, founder of Lucas Oil and who oversees his
son's operation. "He's proven to be a winner in a race car, and it will
be fun to watch him grow into his new role with our team.

"It's also important for us to have another positive role model for our
company and the sport of NHRA Drag Racing. Shawn's a great young man
that's like family to Charlotte and me, and we wish nothing but the
best for him in the days and months ahead."

Flowmaster, a mainstay of the American Drag Racing League since its
inception, has announced that it is offering a bounty of $5,000 to the
first driver competing in the Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 class who can go
quicker than 3.99 seconds and an additional $5,000 to the first driver
that can go faster than 185 miles per hour.

Both ends of the current Extreme 10.5 class record were set last
October at the Texas Motorplex. Gary White established the elapsed time
mark with a stellar 4.101-second pass while Todd Moyer's 180.45 mph
blast set the miles-per-hour standard.

For Flowmaster Senior Vice President of Marketing Richard Small, the bounty evokes memories of the past.

"The Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 class reminds me of the original 'fastest
street car' shootouts of the mid-1990s," said Small. "Back then, they
raced for satin jackets. We wanted to up the ante a bit."