Jeremy McComb Teams Up with NHRA Top Fuel Driver Tony Schumacher

Parallel
Records recording artist Jeremy McComb is on a winning streak. Not only
is his new single “Cold” getting rave reviews but he recently shared
the stage with another winner – U.S. Army Top Fuel driver, Tony
Schumacher.

Clay Millican is returning to Speed TV in February with another automotive production from the fertile mind of Rich Christensen.

Millican, who is keeping his regular job as driver of the
Hope4Sudan/Lend America/Nitro Fish Top Fuel dragster, is going from one
program that called for engines to blow up in the aptly named “Blow It
Up” to overseeing the building of two competitive race cars in “Drag
Race High.”

The new program focuses on a group of students from two different San
Diego high schools who are building cars to race each other.  The
construction comes in the auto shops at each school.  And Millican, who
gave the command to “Blow It Up” in his last television project, is the
Head Judge/host of Drag Race High.

The IHRA’s Nitro Funny Car class hasn’t been cancelled yet but it’s clear the class isn’t on solid ground either.

IHRA President Aaron Polburn confirmed that unless the class secures
title sponsorship he doesn’t see the eliminator remaining on their
agenda.

“The bottom line is that we need funding for the class,” Polburn
admitted. “If the funding isn’t found, we will not run the class.”

No time line has been established to determine the future of the class.

With a new team and a new car Rodger Brogdon returns to NHRA Pro Stock
action at the NHRA Virginia Nationals this weekend, and will wrap up
the 2008 season with appearances in Las Vegas and Pomona as well.
Driving for team owner Steve Kent, (with Kent Services and Trucking
sponsorship) Brogdon will be at the wheel of a 2009 Pontiac GXP with
power coming from Tom Hammonds Enterprise (T.H.E.).

The partnership with Tom Hammonds Enterprises will allow Brogdon and
the Kent Services team the ability to gain some on track time in
preparation for a full on assault at the 2009 Full Throttle Drag Racing
Series championship.

ESPN2 has announced a schedule change for the Virginia NHRA Nationals
qualifying show. The one-hour qualifying show will now air at 7 p.m.
(ET) on Oct. 11, instead of the previously scheduled 11:30 p.m. (ET).
The qualifying show will re-air on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 11:30 a.m. (ET),
immediately following NHRA Race Day. Sunday’s three-hour eliminations
coverage on ESPN2 remains the same, starting at 7:30 p.m. (ET).

Carter Machinery and JLG Industries, Inc. have partnered with David
Powers Motorsports and seven-time NHRA Top Fuel winner Hot Rod Fuller
for the third annual Virginia NHRA Nationals, Oct. 10-12, at Virginia
Motorsports Park near Richmond it was announced today. Fuller’s
Caterpillar® dragster will fly the Carter Machinery and JLG logos
during the Richmond NHRA race.

The relationship between David Powers Motorsports, Caterpillar Inc. and
the Caterpillar dealers was designed as a pilot program to increase
technician recruiting since many Caterpillar dealers around the country
are experiencing a shortage of technicians. After successful events in
several NHRA markets during the 2007 season, DPM and Caterpillar inked
a multiyear agreement last August to participate in the NHRA dealer
recruitment program.

 “The support from our Caterpillar dealers and Caterpillar allied
vendors for the NHRA racing program continues to grow and we see this
with another new dealer, Carter, being on our dragster this year,”
Fuller said. “We’re going to have some fun at our last East Coast race
of the year and go out and try to win some rounds and hopefully the
Richmond race.”

TAD Champ Reichert regains points lead with Atlanta win

Two-time defending NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster World Champion Bill
Reichert and his Rislone Engine Treatment backed team scored a clutch
win to regain the national points lead during this past weekend’s
Division 2 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Atlanta Dragway.  The
win gave Reichert a 38 point lead over second-place Jim Whiteley.
 
Reichert, who runs the family business, Reichert Racing Engines, in
Owosso, Mich., qualified his injected-nitro dragster third in the field
with a 5.527 second elapsed time at 258.17 mph.  In round one, he
defeated fellow Rislone/Bar’s Leaks sponsored racer Jeff Bohr in a
pedal-fest with an off-pace 9.701 at 119.92 mph.  In round two, the
Rislone machine returned to form to defeat Robin Samsel with a 5.281 at
273.39 mph.

Grab the family and head to Auto Club Famoso for three days of roddin’, racing and fun

The annual three-day funfest known as the California National Hot Rod Reunion, presented by Automobile Club of Southern California, returns to Auto Club Famoso (just outside Bakersfield) for
the 17th time, Oct. 10-12 .While the hot rodding/nostalgia drag racing
spectacular offers a cornucopia of things to do, here are 10 family-fun
events to consider:

1. Meet drag racing legends such as “TV Tommy” Ivo:  Drag racing icons
abound at the Reunion. “TV” Tommy Ivo, one of the most likeable and
competitive drag racers of all time (he was voted No. 25 on the NHRA’s
greatest drivers list) will have three of his most famous rides at the
Reunion. The lineup includes the four-motor Showboat from 1961 courtesy
of America’s Automobile Collection; Ron Johnson’s Barnstormer tribute
car and Tommy’s last Top Fuel dragster from 1974. Restored by Bruce
Larson, this car gave Tommy the “wild ride” of his life when it went
through the traps at Pomona, upside down, backwards and on fire—at 200
mph. Tommy walked away with only one minor scratch.

Dave
Connolly finds himself at the NHRA Pro Stock championship crossroads
this weekend.  The number of races remaining in the Countdown to the
championship has dwindled to three while his rounds behind the leader
stay the same.

“Now it’s going to take quite a feat for us to overcome five rounds in
three races, but we’ve gone on streaks like that before,” said Connolly
as he prepared for the Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park
in Dinwiddie, near Richmond.  “We’ll just try to stick our Chevy Cobalt
into as many winner’s circles as we can.”