Tim Wilkerson at the 31st Annual ACDelco Night Under Fire presented

The
31st Annual ACDelco Night Under Fire presented by Amalie Motor Oil
began with the spotlight on legends Shirley Muldowney and John Force.
The evening ended with kids showing up their parents, as Ashley Force
beat her father John, and Dan Wilkerson beat his father Tim to set up
an “all-kids” Funny Car final round. Dan Wilkerson prevailed to become
the 2008 Night Under Fire Funny Car Champion.

Opening ceremonies for the Night Under Fire, held at Summit Motorsports
Park in Norwalk, Ohio, began at 6:00 p.m. They included the
introduction of drag racing legend Shirley Muldowney who presided over
the race as Grand Marshal. The three-time NHRA Top Fuel World Champion
was treated to a standing ovation by the capacity crowd.

Ed Hoover was as angry as he’d ever been in his eighteen years of running Pro Modified.

The Trussell Motorsports team celebrates their $50,000 victory. (Roger Richards Photos)

The veteran driver from Gilbert, S.C., had driven a flawless
race during the $50,000-to-win Torco Pro Modified Shootout, and in the
final, he felt he’d messed up.

Nothing could have been further from the truth.

The NHRA Review panel which recently upheld the $100,000 fine against
Don Schumacher Racing for a fuel violation followed procedure as
defined in the 2008 rule book.

The 2008 NHRA Rule Book outlines the make-up of the NHRA Review Panel,
which consists of at least three members, all of which work at NHRA.

“Those selected did not have any role in the decision making process at
the time of the action,” NHRA Media Relations Director Anthony Vestal
said in a prepared statement. “The review panel reviewed the existing
record, including all evidence and materials submitted by the
participant and the appropriate NHRA representatives.”

Danny Waters Jr. had a goal. He qualified for the $51,000 Moser
Axle-Mania shootout that was held in conjunction with the Torco
Northern Nationals at US 131 Motorsports park and, seeing as though his
primary sponsor, Moser Engineering, was responsible for funding the
Axle-Mania program, he wanted to do well for them.

Rob Moser, Tim Irwin, Jeff Anderson and the rest of the Moser
Engineering representatives who were in attendance could not have asked
for more.

Waters drove through the deep field of the top sportsman racers in the
business, capping his huge Saturday with a huge payday. He knocked off
Gil Carty Jr. in the Axle-Mania final to claim the $22,500 first prize
and the Axle-Mania Chrome Axle trophy, edging Carty with a stout
reaction time in the 1/8th mile event.

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for
the Torco Racing Fuels Northern Nationals at US 131 Motorsports Park,
the seventh of 10 events in the 2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing
Series.  Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday.

Top Fuel -- 1. Mike Strasburg, 4.612 seconds, 326.32
mph  vs. 5. Bruce Litton, 4.704, 307.02; 2. Terry McMillen, 4.659,
316.01  vs. 6. Tim Boychuk, 4.754, 294.24; 3. Spencer Massey, 4.683,
313.88  vs. 7. Bobby Lagana Jr., 4.860, 307.02; 4. T.J. Zizzo, 4.691,
298.60  vs. 8. Kevin Jones, 4.863, 295.08.

Record Crowd sees Record-Setting Performances at US 131 Motorsports Park

Three track records fall as fields finalize for Sunday eliminations at Torco Northern Nationals

Cory Lee went into the final qualifying session and vaulted to the top on his last shot.

Cory Lee knew his team was in trouble. Following the Saturday afternoon
qualifying session they were on the bottom of the qualifying sheet and
had major problems to work through in the pits.

“We were lost,” Lee said. “We had some problems with our computer and
also had some problems with some engine parts. We had a lot of work to
do.”

The team was able to come through under pressure. They thrashed away to
get ready for the evening qualifying session, then went out and moved
to the #1 qualifying position. Lee’s 5.053 at 292.90 mph put him on the
pole and set up a first-round match-up with Andy Kelley Sunday.

Sources close to Bruton Smith have confirmed for CompetitonPlus.com
that a story appearing on another web site to the affect that Smith
would be announcing his purchase of the NHRA some time around the date
of the NHRA national event at the new track in Charlotte are just that
– rumors and nothing more.

Funny Car racer Terry Haddock emerged uninjured from a
massive starting line explosion during the IHRA Torco Northern
Nationals in Martin, Michigan. The momentum from the blast rolled the
car, fully engulfed in flames, to the 330-foot mark.  Hitting the
on-board fire system, Haddock then climbed through the escape hatch to
safety.

"I’ve been burned before and I spent a lot of time in the hospital. I knew I didn’t want to be in that situation again." - Terry Haddock (Roger Richards Photos)

“I’m not sure what happened,” Haddock said, as he surveyed the damage
to his Race Girl-sponsored Funny Car. “We are going to look on the
computer and see if we can determined what happened. Hopefully we can
find out what caused that. It didn’t throw the rods out, or put any oil
down, it just exploded the supercharger. It doesn’t make sense to me.

Terry McMillen headlines as provisional Top Fuel low qualifier

Terry McMillen followed up his Grand Bend Top Fuel victory with a provisional low qualifier.

Andy Kelley (Nitro Funny Car), Mike Castellana (Pro Modified), Tom
Carter (Alcohol Funny Car) and Jeff Dobbins (Pro Stock) also claim
provisional #1 qualifying spots at Torco Northern Nationals

Prior to the Mopar Canadian Nationals in Grand Bend, veteran crew chief
Doug Kuch joined up with Terry McMillen’s Hoosier Thunder Motorsports
Top Fuel team. Early returns are in and the numbers do not lie…Kuch has
made a world of difference.