Pro Stock Motorcycle Champ alleges approval and then denial …

Matt Smith said he undertook the financial task of building a
different Buell body style only to have the project axed by the NHRA.
The NHRA said no such approval was given.

Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Matt Smith built a different style
Buell for competition but the new design will never see the light of
day in NHRA competition. Smith alleges he was given permission from the
NHRA and blessings by Buell to undertake the development of the Buell
1125R as a potential successor to the XB-9.

The problem for Smith is both the NHRA and Buell are saying they never approved.

“We got the approval to do everything and once we got finished, the
project got shot down,” Smith explained. “We are sitting on it right
now.”

On the heels of announcing his departure from the cockpit for the
season, Mike Ashley is preparing for his final scheduled race of 2008
in the Lend America Dodge Charger R/T this weekend at the Lucas Oil
NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway. Ashley, from Long
Island, New York, considers the venerable quarter-mile his hometown
track, and plans to celebrate the weekend with family, sponsors and
employees and guests from his company, Lend America, where he is Chief
Business Strategist.
 
"The decision to make this my last race of the season is because of my
intense desire to put myself completely behind the things I do - and
right now, in the current state of the economy, I am focusing on
growing Lend America," Ashley explained.
 
Taking the top two qualifying spots at the last NHRA event in Topeka,
Kansas, the team has proven their ability to perform in a variety of
weather conditions, and with Gotham City Racing lead driver Melanie
Troxel winning one event already this season, Team Gotham is staged to
enter the top ten and make the Countdown to One playoffs.

A disappointed Kenny Koretsky said Wednesday he will not be racing this weekend
at one of his favorite NHRA venues, Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in
Englishtown, N.J.
 
The personable fan favorite from Richboro, Pa. – about
an hour’s drive from Raceway Park – will be at the track for NHRA’s Lucas Oil
SuperNationals (Friday through Sunday) without his Nitro Fish/Indicom Electric
Pontiac GXP Pro Stock entry.  The car is undergoing repairs following Koretsky’s
accident at Topeka, Kan., May 31.
 
“I’m feeling okay,” said Koretsky, who
received numerous bumps and bruises when the car made hard contact with the
track’s concrete barriers during a qualifying attempt.  The impact damaged the
car’s front end and it was sent to builder Jerry Bickel’s shop to have the front
end replaced. 

Spinal Technology company K2M, Inc., and NHRA Top Fuel star Hillary
Will, the fastest female in NHRA history, announced that they will be
partners to promote spinal awareness and encourage contributions to
charitable healthcare hospitals at the upcoming NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series event in Englishtown, N.J., June 19-22, at legendary Old
Bridge Township Raceway Park.

K2M, along with FOCOS (Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine) and
CURE International will share signage on a special paint scheme on
Will’s 8,000-horsepower, nitro-fueled KB Racing, LLC Top Fuel dragster
for all of the 330-plus mph drag racing action on the famed
quarter-mile track in Englishtown.

K2M became an associate sponsor on all four Kalitta Motorsports race
cars at the beginning of the 2008 season to become marketing partners
with Will, Doug Kalitta, driver of the Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster,
Scott Kalitta, driver of the DHL Toyota Solara Funny Car, and Dave
Grubnic, driver of the DHL Top Fuel dragster.

Dale Creasy scored his first win of the season by dominating the Nitro Funny Car division from start to finish. (Roger Richards)

Dale Creasy Jr. was once tickled pink to qualify for an event. Once
qualifying became commonplace, getting a round win provided excitement.
Round wins turned into event wins and event wins led to the ultimate
thrill of winning championships.
There’s something about turning over two-world championships that
raises the expectation level for even the most humbled of race car
drivers. After losing in the first round twice in 2008 and reaching the
final round once, he had to counsel his volunteer crew.

“I told my guys that we aren’t doing bad, we’re just not doing what we
did last year. That was a season if you wrote it all down on paper that
no one would believe you. That’s just the way last year went for us.

Creasy won an incredible six national events out of eleven in 2007 en
route to a 23-5 eliminations record. This season was his championship
defense season.

His victory during the IHRA Torco Race Fuels President’s Cup Nationals
put him atop the championship standings for the first time in 2008.

The ADRL's Extreme Pro Stock division could attract a lot of the top name IHRA Pro Stock cars for at least three races in 2008 and for a potential full tour in 2009. (Roger Richards)

ADRL President Kenny Nowling confirmed the sanctioning body is prepared
to add another item to their eighth-mile menu in 2008. Nowling added
the doorslammer friendly series will add the mountain motor division to
their line-up for at least three events in 2008 and are planning a
full-time program in 2009.

Thus is born the Extreme Pro Stock division.

“Our first priority is to build a home for the mountain motor Pro Stock
cars,” Nowling confirmed. “I love those guys and I love the class. I
think it is the right class for us now. I wasn’t so sure some years ago
and we stepped forward with the Pro Extreme Motorcycle division.”

Nowling said the first of those three events could come in Budds Creek,
Md., followed by Norwalk, Ohio, and Rockingham, NC. Of the three, only
the Norwalk event conflicts an IHRA race.

Pam and Paul Balash had their cherished 1942 Willys Coupe stolen from
the Springhill Suites parking lot in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sunday night
following the National Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, Ky.

Also stolen was their Ford 2005 F-250 diesel supercab with a matching
ARE truck cap and 26-foot enclosed trailer. The license tag on the
vehicle is carries Virginia tags labeled JRD-9121 VA. The trailer is a
2005 26-foot Haulmark Edge, white with no lettering, license 804534TR
VA.

Also inside the trailer was our EZ-GO golf cart which is painted the same color as the coupe and has white upholstery.

Emotions have run high within Canada’s drag racing community since the
IHRA’s controversial announcement last Wednesday that they will be
pulling the plug on this season’s 6th Annual Canadian Nationals
scheduled for Sep. 19-21st at Toronto Motorsports Park.

Citing non-completion of some mandatory work required for the facility,
IHRA management based in Norwalk Ohio effectively gave the race a firm
non-confidence vote. 

Following a self-imposed “cool down” period, Toronto Motorsports Park
management, including owner/operator Uli Bieri, issued the following
statements and clarifications concerning the IHRA decision.

Inside Drag Racing, a Masters TV production, will switch to Sunday
afternoon at 5:00 PM Eastern Time, beginning on July 6, 2008 on the ION
Television Network. The award-winning, weekly half-hour program makes
that move to this sought after time slot to take advantage of viewer
habits in the last two quarters of the year.

The July 6, 2008 program will highlight the radical drag racing action
of the Outlaw Fuel Altereds Association meet in Denton, Texas.

H.O. Penn CAT will partner with David Powers Motorsports and seven-time
NHRA Top Fuel winner Hot Rod Fuller during the 39th annual Lucas Oil
Products SuperNationals, June 19-22, at Old Bridge Township Raceway
Park in Englishtown, N.J.

The relationship between David Powers Motorsports, Caterpillar and the
Caterpillar dealers was designed as a pilot program to increase
technician recruiting. Many Caterpillar dealers 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. H.O. Penn CAT will use this opportunity for recruiting as well
as to display its products and services available to contractors in the
region. H.O. Penn is the exclusive dealer for Caterpillar equipment
serving six locations in New York and Connecticut. Today H.O. Penn has
nearly 400 employees and an annual sales volume of over $200 million.