“Elite Eight Pro Stock Shootout” in Budds Creek a part of class sponsorship package

Elite Motorsports owner Richard Freeman recently underlined his
dedication to IHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock racing by announcing he was
forming a three-car team to pursue the 2009 IHRA Pro Stock championship.

Today he added the exclamation point.

Elite Motorsports has entered into an agreement with IHRA to become the
class sponsor for Pro Stock at all 2009 Nitro Jam national events. The
class, which will be named “Elite Motorsports Pro Stock,” will feature
an 8-car shootout at the President’s Cup Nationals in Budds Creek Sept.
25-27, the “Elite Motorsports Elite Eight Pro Stock Shootout.”

Named Official Traction Compound of ADRL As Well As Official Racing Fuel

The American Drag Racing League (ADRL) announced VP Racing has signed a
three-year extension to continue as ADRL’s Official Racing Fuel and
also entered a three-year agreement to become the series’ Official
Traction Compound supplier. 

“We are very happy to continue in our role as Official Fuel of the ADRL
and very excited about ADRL’s selection of VP’s Lane Choice 6 as its
Official Traction Compound,” said VP’s Director of Marketing, Steve
Scheidker. “It’s a perfect match, with ADRL racers known to push the
edge of the technology envelope while VP’s fuels and traction compound
are the most technologically advanced on the planet.  Based on recent
experience at the World Street Nationals in Orlando where the
LC6-prepped track yielded world records in every class, ADRL racers are
sure to thrive when they experience the superior traction afforded by
VP’s industry-leading compound.”

Gateway International Raceway is moving into new arenas of mass
communication by establishing a presence on two popular Web sites:
Facebook and Twitter. GIR reaches a young demographic with events such
as Midnight Madness Presented by Monster Energy Drink and is using
methods familiar with the internet generation in an effort to
communicate with them more effectively. The Gateway Facebook and
Twitter pages will provide users with instant updates on facility
events and cancellations, as well as providing a forum for users to
interact with one another.

Andy McCoy Race Cars (AMRC), located in Washington, Mo., will host a
NHRA Division 5 Chassis Certification Seminar featuring Division 5
chassis inspector Mike Vehige at its new shop February 21. The one-day
seminar is open to the public and is scheduled to run from 7 a.m. to 4
p.m.

The day will also double as a customer appreciation day and shop grand
opening. Andy McCoy Race Cars relocated from nearby High Ridge, Mo. and
recently moved into the 12,000-square-foot facility. The company
specializes in the fabrication of high-performance Pro Modified and Top
Sportsman drag racing components from chassis to competition-ready
vehicles.

A 2009 schedule encompassing more than 50 individual events conducted
over 96 days of racing and featuring such diverse attractions as the
38th annual IHRA Nitro Jam Spring Nationals, the ADRL’s Dragstock VI
Pro Mod challenge and the 18th annual AHDRA Screamin’ Eagle Eastern
Finals was announced Monday by Rockingham Dragway owner Steve Earwood.

“These are complex times,” Earwood said, “but people still need hobbies
and diversions and they still need to be entertained.  We think this
schedule addresses both of those areas.

“It includes a lot of racer-oriented events like the Outlaw Street
Drags Test and Tune will be a regular Saturday feature beginning Jan.
17th but it also has a balance with spectator events like the IHRA
Spring Nationals and World Finals, Dragstock and four races in the
Mickey Thompson Tires MiRock Superbike Series.”

John Zappia took his Striker Monaro Top Doorslammer to a win in the
ENZED Nightfire meeting last weekend at Willowbank International
Raceway, in a flawless display of Top Doorslammer drag racing. After
top qualifying on the Friday night with a sizzling 5.987, and resetting
the ANDRA speed record with a massive 247.66mph, Zap was set to test
the resolve and tuning ability of his competitors. But it was the West Aussie that dominated the weekend's racing.

"We are thrilled with the win", said a jubilant Zappia this week, "It
would have been easy to think we did it easy, but the amount of work
that goes into this car prior to arriving at the track for racing is
substantial. 25 years of racing experience counts at this level, and my
desire to win and be the best is pretty high".

Zap faced off against "Wild Willy" racer Sean Mifsud in Round 1, but
another "five" from the Champ was hard to beat as Zap powered Zap's Rat
to a 5.987et @ 247.39mph power run against Mifsud's 6.283et @ 228.89mph.

THE ENERGY CRISIS OF THE MID-70S FORCED THE NHRA INTO
ACTION ...


Don
Schumacher was still an active Funny Car driver when the energy crisis
of the mid-70s hit the United States with the force of a Category 5
hurricane. Thirty-five years later the owner of a multi-car drag racing
operation has a front-row seat for a crisis of another nature.

Schumacher admitted his age and single-minded interest in racing kept
him from taking the energy crisis too seriously, but now, as a seasoned
race team owner, the nation’s economic situation, which bears some
similarities to that long-ago energy crisis, has his full attention.

“In the early ‘70s, I was young and carefree to the point that I
couldn’t say I truthfully identified enough with the energy crisis,”
Schumacher admitted. “We found ways to get around it and continue to
get on down the road.”

Battle of the Titans Match Scheduled for January 12, 2009 …

Next Monday could produce one of the most voted on War Stories competitions in the history of the special event.

Gary Scelzi and John Force, two incredible story tellers, are on a
collision course during the semi-finals of the second annual
CompetitionPlus.com War Stories Showdown.

CompetitionPlus.com has learned that NHRA's official nitro supplier
VP Racing Fuels has effectively dropped the cost of a 400-pound of 100%
nitromethane to $970 a drum. This represents a nearly $500 decrease in
the price.

"Good news -- due to a dramatic reversal in the
nitromethane market, the price of VP's nitro will be reduced," VP's
Steve Burns said in a prepared statement issued to the various race
teams.

Kalitta Motorsports, a legendary professional drag racing team founded
and owned by drag racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta and
based in Ypsilanti, Mich., just minutes from the Detroit city limits,
will compete in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series with one
full-time entry, the DHL Toyota Solara Funny Car driven by Jeff Arend.
Also in 2009, Kalitta Motorsports will celebrate 50 years of drag
racing by Connie as he commemorates the golden landmark as a driver, tuner, and owner.

Jon Oberhofer and Nick Boninfante will serve as co-crew chiefs on the
nitro-fueled DHL Funny Car in 2009, replacing Glenn Mikres who was
relieved of his duties as crew chief of the DHL car after the
conclusion of last season. Arend joined Kalitta Motorsports last season
to assume the driving duties of the DHL entry after the tragic death of
Scott Kalitta as the result of injuries he suffered in a high-speed
racing accident in June in New Jersey.

Top Fuel veteran Doug Kalitta, Connie’s nephew, will compete in the
2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in the Top Fuel class on a
part-time, race-by-race basis as the team searches for full-time
primary sponsor. Doug’s Top Fuel entry will be helmed by crew chief Jim
Oberhofer and assistant crew chief Troy Fasching. Doug, a two-time Top
Fuel championship runner-up and 30-time NHRA national event winner, and
Kalitta Motorsports were notified last December that longtime backer
Mac Tools would not return as the dragster’s primary sponsor in 2009,
but will remain with Kalitta Motorsports as an associate sponsor.