If you were at Maple Grove Raceway watching the Geezers at the Grove on
Sunday,  you would have never known that a tropical storm came through
the day prior.  The weather was gorgeous, and the racing was awesome!

Howard Haight, who recently returned to to New York after residing in
California for 30 years, dominated the Nostalgia Top Fuel Class with
Dave Mullett taking the number 2 spot in the Chicago-style eliminator. 
Philadelphia resident Rocky Pirrone took top honors in the Nostalgia
Funny Car class in his 1977 Trans Am Funny Car.  Keith Davidson took
second when he turned on the red light in his 1977 Monza. 

New expanded hours, including Saturday service, make it easier than ever to obtain personalized drivetrain assistance from TCI®

Just when you and your buddies were complaining about how most
companies have forgotten about the need to deliver personalized
customer service, TCI® bucks that trend by extending the hours of its
toll free TRANS HELP™ tech line service. Effective June 2, the TCI®
TRANS HELP™ tech line phone personnel will be available for longer
hours six days a week.

The TRANS HELP™ line will now be open Monday through Friday from 7am
until 8pm CST and on Saturdays from 9am until 4pm CST so that it now
matches the tech line hours of its sister COMP Performance Group™
company, COMP Cams®. That means just about any time you need
information, there will be a knowledgeable TCI® expert ready to help.

R2B2 Motors owner Roger Burgess has added NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle
rider Peggy Llewellyn to his team for three more races and announced
that R2B2 Motors will be an associate sponsor on Matt Guidera’s Mohegan
Sun motorcycle in his run for the championship.

Llewellyn’s good performance at the recent Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in
Indianapolis prompted Burgess to extend the relationship through events
at Dallas, Las Vegas and Pomona, Calif.  She finished fourth in 2007,
winning at Dallas, the NHRA race closest to her San Antonio home.

The third KB Racing Pro Stocker, driven by IHRA Pro Stock regular
Rob Mansfield and operated by the staff at Wilson Manifolds, will
compete at this weekend's NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in
Concord, NC. This agreement was reached last Friday.

The team is more determined than ever after missing the cut in Indy by a mere .003.

Mansfield knew there would be a learning curve when
the Wilson Manifolds team agreed to campaign the third car for the
Summit-sponsored KB Racing team in arguably the most competitive
division within drag racing. What surprised him is that the team was
able to run alongside the seasoned veterans of 500-inch racing.

Drag racing’s winningest driver has no plans for NHRA purchase …

John Force sounded a little disheveled when he called the offices of CompetitionPlus.com on Monday afternoon.

Okay, he sounded a lot disheveled.

“I’m just in the middle of meltdown, but I wanted to call you,” Force said, as he forgot the topic of the conversation.

Veteran racer concentrating on 2008, nothing determined for 2009 …

Del Worsham has one message to the rumor mill.

The veteran driver wants the wheel to stop spinning so he can exit.

LPE Assets, an LLC owned by Ken Lingenfelter and an affiliate of
Metropolitan Motor Sports LLC, announces today that it has acquired
Lingenfelter Performance Engineering (LPE) from an unrelated third
party. With this acquisition, Lingenfelter intends to continue and
build on LPE’s worldwide track record in performance engineering.

Lingenfelter Performance Engineering, founded by the legendary drag
racer and engine builder John Lingenfelter, is a performance tuner and
specialty automotive parts supplier located in Decatur, Indiana. LPE is
recognized worldwide as a premier tuner of domestic North American
sports performance cars, and for ultimate quality, reliability and
workmanship in products and services. LPE’s work expertise includes
premier engine modification packages, customized engine rebuilds and
related performance engineering shop work.

When Gary Scelzi left Top Fuel at the end of the 2001 season, he adamantly stated that he was done with the class.
Seven years later he doesn’t have an itch to return.

“I have no intentions to drive a Top Fuel dragster ever again,” Scelzi
told CompetitionPlus.com in an exclusive interview recently.

Scelzi’s name has popped up in rumor circles as a potential driver for
former tuner Alan Johnson’s Al-Anabi/Alan Johnson Racing dragster. He’s
honored that his name would pop up, but Scelzi quickly points out that
he’s not even in the running.

Will there be an announcement this weekend at zMax Dragway?

A rumored John Force-led power play was news to Marcus Smith
[right], CEO of SMI. Bruton Smith [left] currently has an offer to
purchase the NHRA already on the table.

Dave Despain clearly identified the mere mention as a rumor, but the
host of Speed Channel’s Wind Tunnel clearly provided the rumor fodder
for the week.

Despain reignited talk of a Bruton Smith NHRA purchase by revealing a
yet-unpublished rumor suggesting John Force had gathered $100 Million
worth of investors including late night talk show icon Jay Leno only to
be turned down because the NHRA “had an offer already on the table.”

Four Pro Modified teams have chance to win 2008 championship in tight points race
 
Once again, the champion of the Pro Modified Racing Association’s points race will not be decided until the last event of the year.
 
Since 2005, the PMRA has presented close heads-up drag racing, ending
each season with an exciting final race where the annual champion was
determined, and this year is no different.
 
For 2008, Bruce Boland of Hamilton, Ontario has paced the field of PMRA
Pro Modified teams, and presently leads with 1369 points.