NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster driver Brandon ‘The Kid’ Lewis and the Lewis
Family Racing team have retained the services of legendary tuner Steve
Boggs for the remainder of the 2008 season.  Boggs was available after
Top Fuel racer Morgan Lucas disbanded his A/Fuel team.  Team owner Dave
Lewis quickly took advantage of the opportunity to hire Boggs, who is
considered by many to be one of the greatest tuners in the history of
the sport.  The TigerFlow Systems/Morrison Construction backed A/Fuel
Dragster team debuted with Boggs in their corner during this weekend’s
Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn.
 
Lewis, 22, of Broken Arrow, Okla., is excited about getting to race
under the direction of Boggs.  Boggs’ tuning résumé includes tuning
Mitch Myers’ A/Fuel Dragster to a World Championship in 2004, along
with tuning Joe Penland and Tony Bartone to World Championships in Top
Alcohol Funny Car.  Lucas ran a 5.16 second elapsed time last year
under the direction of Boggs, which is the quickest run by an A/Fuel
Dragster at 96% nitro.  He also has numerous other national records to
his credit.

Tony Schumacher hasn’t been spoiled by his success in 2008. Instead, it comes as a pleasant surprise.

“I’m thoroughly amazed,” Schumacher said, following Friday night’s
provisional top qualifying spot in Brainerd, Minn., during the NHRA
Lucas Oil Nationals. “This season has been amazing.”

Schumacher not only swept the most recent portion of the NHRA tour
known as the Western Swing, but now stands three races away from tying
Joe Amato’s career win mark of 52.

FORCE, SCHUMACHER, ANDERSON AND RIVAS LEAD BRAINERD QUALIFYING FRIDAY

Ashley Force's strong Friday performance put her in a good position for a second consecutive No. 1 qualifier.

Ashley Force raced to the Funny Car qualifying lead Friday at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.

She covered the Brainerd International Raceway dragstrip in 4.110
seconds at 299.40 mph in her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang as she goes for
her second straight No. 1 qualifying position of the season and works
to improve on her fourth place points position in the Countdown to the
Championship with only three races remaining in the regular season. The
Countdown to 1, NHRA's playoffs, begin with the NHRA Carolinas
Nationals, Sept. 11-14 at zMax Dragway at Concord near Charlotte, N.C.

In the shadows of the higher financed efforts of nitro racers Mike Neff
and Bob Tasca III, rookie Pro Stock racer Rickie Jones, 21, has been
hard at work establishing his value as a legitimate Rookie of the Year
candidate on the NHRA tour. 

Only three times since 1996 has a Pro Stock driver won the award and since 2004, the award has been exclusively nitro winners.

Those figures don’t faze Jones, the second-generation driver and son of
chassis building figure Rick Jones. He’s grown up around the sport and
at one time served as crew chief for his dad and raced a Top Sportsman
bracket car on the off-weekends of racing IHRA Pro Stock.

There’s no place like home and for veteran doorslammer racer Billy
Glidden, the ADRL’s Extreme 10.5 class appears to be as

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good of a home
as any.

The eldest son of Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden has driven his Pontiac
Grand-Am to victory in two of the three ADRL events he’s competed in
this year. He could easily have a clean sweep but withdrew from
competition at the ADRL event in Martin, electing not to compete in the
arm-drop competition.

“We’re certainly competitive that’s for sure,” Glidden said. “The car’s
just working really well. We were just starting to figure this car out
right when the plug was pulled on me [in NHRA Pro Stock]. Luckily, it
has been an easy transition, as dumb as that could possibly sound. We
put all of this stuff in it and obviously you make all your adjustments
for the right heights and what have you. Just small four-link changes
to try and compensate for what you’re doing and go. That’s the way it
has been.”

Glidden began the season racing his Pontiac in the 500-inch NHRA Pro
Stock ranks with the backing of tire manufacturer Mickey Thompson
Tires. He was to assist the company in developing their large tire
program.

Not many people in Colorado know of Steve Meade. After all, most of his
passions are common ones; muscle cars, motorcycles, snow boarding or
anything your typical ‘adrenalin junkie’ might enjoy.

But everyone in the city of Denver knows ‘Willie B.’ The morning show
deejay for FM rock station 106.7 KBPI, one of the most listened to
morning shows in the market.

Meade, better known as ‘Willie B,’ is one of the more than 450 racers
who will be taking their shot this weekend at trying to make the final
16 during this weekend’s PINKS All Out shoot at picturesque Bandimere
Speedway, just outside Denver.

Radio is this Kentucky natives passion, which he started at the young
age of 16 years old at a modest station known as WFMI. But his big
break came in Denver, where he’s eventually carved out a big following
in the morning and some of the cities highest ratings.

Tommy Johnson is one of the few players reprising a role in an NHRA
softball game.  Johnson will play in the NHRA Charity softball game to
be held prior to racing at the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals in Reading,
Pa.

In the early ‘90s, he played for two years in the NHRA vs. NASCAR
softball game, followed by a third year when the NHRA players faced off
against the CART drivers.

In the final battle of the motorsports stars, Johnson threw superstar
Paul Newman out at home plate during the CART game.  Newman was pinch
running for Rick Mears who couldn’t run due to foot injuries obtained
in a highly publicized racing crash.

In late July this season, Johnson visited his friend, Aaron Rowand, a
standout player on the San Francisco Giants, and had an opportunity to
participate in batting and outfield practice prior to the Giants’ game
against the Washington Nationals.  Johnson connected on 70 percent of
the pitches in batting practice.  He’s scheduled to play the left
centerfield position.

They are the pride of the Iron Range.

This is the area of Minnesota in which the father and son Pro Stock combination of Warren and Kurt Johnson were born.

Together the Johnson combination account for 134 national event wins
and this weekend, they are racing at home in front of family and
friends.

“Every year when we go to Brainerd, I get to see people I went to
school with about 40 years ago, making it an enjoyable return to my
roots, and I am truly grateful for my early existence there,” said
Warren, the elder Johnson. “Growing up in Minnesota, the one thing you
develop is a tremendous work ethic.  As a result, we primarily see
returning to Brainerd as just another race for our GM Performance Parts
GXP team.”

Just another race or not, together they have accounted for seven wins
and six No. 1 qualifying efforts. In fact, they average fifth in
qualifying since the event debuted twenty-five years ago.  

Scott Griffin has declined to speak to the media regarding recent
rumors that reported he’d filed a lawsuit against his former driver
Cory McClenathan.

Cory McClenathan isn’t talking either under the advice of his legal counsel.

That’s okay because Griffin’s attorney has no problems speaking amidst their silence.

“No lawsuit has been filed, I’ve only written a letter to Cory,” said
Clay Collier, counsel to Scott Griffin, in an exclusive interview with
CompetitionPlus.com.

John
Hagen qualified 13th in the first-ever NHRA 500-inh Pro Stock race. He
reached the semi-finals. A young Greg Anderson was his crew chief.

A fatal accident twenty-five years ago cost drag racing one the truest
good guys that ever drove a Pro Stocker. The aftermath almost robbed
drag racing of a future star.

Multi-time champion Greg Anderson had a passion for learning the inner-workings of drag
racing and John Hagen was doing an admirable job of teaching his young
apprentice more than just what it took to turn on the win lights.

“I learned a lot of family values from him,” Anderson said. “What I
really learned was the value of hard work. We didn't have the resources
so we worked very hard -- every night until about midnight in the shop
and then we'd drive all night long to get to the race track.  We did it
on a shoestring budget and he taught me what it took to compete in a
class and how hard you had to work and how you had to treat people.