Top
Fuel driver Morgan Lucas won the NHRA vs. NASCAR portion of the fourth
annual Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge Sunday with the best time of the
weekend down Mount Van Hoevenberg -- a stunning 47.78 second run in one
of Team USA's competition Bo-Dyn bobsleds. Final-round foe Todd Bodine,
who dominated the timed portion of the event earlier in the day,
flipped over near the end of his final run to give Lucas the win.

"We finally got the win light for the NHRA," Lucas said. "It took us
straight-liners a few years but we got it done and I feel great. The
Team USA guys decided to let us drive the real bobsleds in the final
round and they are completely different than the ones we've been
driving. It was like going from a Yugo to a Ferrari; a totally
different feeling of speed.

Top Fuel driver Morgan Lucas looked exceptionally racy on the U.S. Olympic Bobsled course on Mount Van Hoevenberg Saturday,
sledding to the No. 3 qualifying position at the fourth annual Geoff
Bodine Bobsled Challenge charity race to lead the four-man group
representing NHRA Championship Drag Racing.

Making six runs from the Turn 3 starting position, Lucas posted a 52.40
in his Lucas Oil bobsled in the final session of the day, which event
organizers used to set the starting field for Sunday's action. He was
followed closely by No. 4 qualifier Jeg Coughlin Jr., who carded a
52.74 in the JEGS.com sled. Fellow team members J.R. Todd (53.14) and
Bob Vandergriff (53.22) finished in 10th and 11th place, respectively.

Aussie
drag racer Steve Reed provided a spectacular demonstration of the
safety of the sport of drag racing last night when he walked away from
a spectacular crash at round one of the ENZED International Nightfire
New Year Series at Willowbank Raceway with nothing more than a sore
tongue and two minor burns which he likens to sunburn.

Reed’s Top Alcohol Funny Car suffered an engine explosion which saw the
car quickly engulfed in flames, before it veered across the track and
into the wall at what he estimates to be 400km/h as the body flew free
from the chassis before the car came to a stop and Reed was able to
exit the car unaided.

Wins Could Set Up Marquee Semi-final Match …

John Force and Gary Scelzi have met plenty of times on the drag strip
but the opportunity is quickly approaching when the multi-time
champions could do battle in another arena.

This time winning could depend on who tells the better war story.

Both Force and Scelzi hold strong leads in the quarterfinals of the second annual CompetitionPlus.com War Stories Showdown.

This competition pits sixteen of drag racing’s finest story tellers in
competition with one another, paired on an NHRA professional
competition ladder, and contested just like a real drag race. This time
the races are not determined by who has the better reaction or clutch
combination, but by who gains the most reader votes.

Every
Friday, CompetitionPlus.com brings you our Feedback letters.
Read what our readers have to say about our feature articles and you
can even offer your opinions.

FEEDBACK FRIDAY - JANUARY 2, 2008

Brisbane drag racer escapes injury in firey crash during Top Alcohol Final

Mark Sheehan was victorious for round one of the ENZED International Nightfire New Year Series (Brock Parcell)

Rookie
driver Mark Sheehan has taken an upset victory over ‘the Master’ Gary
Densham in the USA vs AUS Nitro Funny Car Showdown, round one of the
ENZED International Nightfire New Year Series, at Willowbank Raceway
tonight.

The result, which saw Sheehan take the win from the US legend - who had
earlier in the evening clinched and reset the National time and speed
records in the class after running the first ever ‘four second’ pass
outside of North America and the first 300 plus mph run on Friday night
- will no doubt inspire a spirited rematch at Willowbank Raceway for
round two of the Series on January 16/17.

Both drivers left the line strong in tonight’s final, before the 62
year old Californian Densham found the limit mid-track as he tried to
push for a 4.80s/320mph pass to top off his impressive record-breaking
passes and had to shut off early.

The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo was an American action/adventure
sitcom that ran on NBC from 1979 to 1981. For its second season the
show was renamed Lobo. The program aired Tuesday nights, at 8 p.m.
Eastern time. The lead character, Sheriff Elroy P. Lobo, played by
Claude Akins, was a spin-off character from another television series,
B.J. and the Bear.

The first day of practice for the fourth annual Whelan Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge ended with 2008 Pro Stock champion Jeg
Coughlin Jr. on top of the timing sheet. Coughlin drove his brand-new
JEGS.com bobsled down legendary Mount Van Hoevenberg in 48.99 seconds
from the No. 4 (practice) start gate to lead a group of 12 professional
racers from NASCAR and NHRA.

"We had a chance to walk the course with cleats on our feet and I had
that 'What have I gotten myself into?' feeling again," said Coughlin,
who competed in this event for the first time last January. "But once I
got in the sled and made a run with Marine Corps Master Sergeant Frank
Bellini as my brakeman, that got the juices following again. Then we
saw our time (50.33) for that run and we knew we were real quick out of
the first few sleds down. After that, it was on.

Carl
Weisinger is best known for his highly visible World Street Nationals
in Orlando, Fla., every fall. Right now he needs your help in bringing
an envisioned project to fruition.

Competition enters the quarterfinals for the second annual CompetitionPlus.com War Stories Showdown, a competition which places sixteen of drag racing's personalities head-to-head in storytelling competition. Over the next four days, you will be presented with the first round strories of each respective contestants. They are paired on an NHRA eliminations ladder seeded by reader vote last week.

Today's competition featuresa dynamic battle between No. 8 seeded Shirley Muldowney versus top qualified John Force, No. 4 Gary Scelzi meets Chris Kaufmann.