NHRA Pro Stock driver Dave Connolly will be making his minor league
pitching debut in Duluth, Minn., Tuesday night when he

Dave Connolly makes his minor league pitching debut on Wednesday.

throws out the
first pitch for the Duluth Huskies game at Wade Stadium.

And he returns to the mound Wednesday night in Brainerd, Minn., to
deliver the first pitch prior to the Brainerd Blue Thunder game at
Stewart Mills Stadium in the second of two Charter Nights with Dave
Connolly at the ballpark.

Beginning at the next NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event in Brainerd,
Minn., Aug. 7-9, veteran nitro tuner Nick Boninfante will assume the duties of
co-crew chief on the “Big Red”, 8,000-horsepower Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster
driven by 30-time NHRA national event champion Doug Kalitta for Kalitta
Motorsports.

Boninfante begins his second stint at Kalitta Motorsports. He first worked
for the team as a clutch specialist on team owner and drag racing legend Connie
Kalitta’s Top Fuel team in 1991 and 1992. From 1993 until 1996, Boninfante
served as clutch specialist on Scott Kalitta’s Top Fuel machine and won
back-to-back world championships (1994-1995) with Scott and fellow crewmen Jim
Oberhofer, currently the crew chief on the KB Racing, LLC Top Fueler driven by
Hillary Will, Jim’s brother Jon Oberhofer, who will work alongside Nick as
co-crew chief on the Mac Tools rail, and Donnie Bender, current crew chief on
the Larry Dixon-driven Top Fuel dragster.

Andy Kelley Captures First Career Nitro Funny Car Ironman

Spencer Massey (Top Fuel), Jim Halsey (Pro Modified), Laurie
Cannister (Alcohol Funny Car) and Jeff Dobbins (Pro Stock) also claim
class championships at IHRA Torco Northern Nationals

Andy Kelley was thinking about parking his car a little early this
season. Heading into the Torco Northern Nationals at US 131 Motorsports
Park, Kelley knew his race team was up against the wall financially. He
also knew how quickly things could change.

Kelley, a Piedmont, S.C. resident, defeated Paul Lee in the Torco
Pro Nitro Funny Car final round to claim his first career national
event victory and get the financial boost he needed to be able to
compete at the Sooner Nationals later this month.

Final round-by-round results from 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:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE --
Kevin Jones, 5.003, 294.95 def. T.J. Zizzo, 8.214, 99.51; Bruce Litton,
4.815, 296.96 def. Mike Strasburg, 4.810, 305.22; Terry McMillen,
4.672, 309.98 def. Tim Boychuk, 4.795, 293.35; Spencer Massey, 4.727,
306.74 def. Bobby Lagana Jr., foul;

SEMIFINALS -- Massey, 4.782, 267.59 def. Litton, 7.345, 115.05; McMillen, 5.185, 264.60 def. Jones, 5.396, 252.76;

FINAL -- Massey, 4.741, 312.57 def. McMillen, 11.957, 82.72.

Sunday's final results from the Torco Racing Fuels Northern Nationals
at US 131 Motorsports Park.  The  race is the seventh of 10 in the 
2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Spencer Massey, 4.741 seconds, 312.57 mph def. Terry McMillen, 11.957 seconds, 82.72 mph.

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.