Quarter-Max Chassis & Racing Components is pleased to present the
Quarter-Max Pro Stock Challenge for the 2008 IHRA Drag Racing Season.
Each pair of cars during the Friday night and Saturday night pro
qualifying sessions will have a winner. The winner of each pair will be
the car that crosses the finish line first using normal elimination
rules. Foul starts and other on-track penalties will deem the run a
loss for that driver.

Once the qualifying session is over, the quickest winner from that
session will be crowned the "Last Man Standing." This will be done only
during the Friday and Saturday night sessions. In addition to the five
bonus points available to the winner both Friday and Saturday nights,
those competing in the Quarter-Max "Pro Stock Challenge" program have a
chance to win $500 and a commemorative plaque. The money and the plaque
will be for each winner per night. A driver winning both nights'
programs will receive $1,000.

Temple Academy Raceway has a new name and a new owner for 2008. The
IHRA-sanctioned facility located outside of Academy, Texas is now Little River Raceway and owned
by 2 time NHRA World Champion Robert "Hutch" Hutchison. Reportedly, the
famous old dragstrip was ground flat two weeks ago and sealed. Those
who have run the refurbished strip say the track is getting better with
every pass. A new public address system is also in place, all the
buildings have been painted and the grounds are undergoing much needed
grooming.

The Bennett Motorsports team is nearing completion on the Pure
Heaven IV Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car.  The 1969 Camaro body arrived and
the team sprang into action with the arduous task of mounting the body
to the chassis.  With a little stretching here and there, and a bit of
fabrication know how, the body is now mounted and has gone into paint. 

Talented painter and skilled body man, Rick Prewitt, will be
applying the beautiful Kirker Automotive candy colors followed by
lettering and detailing at California Designs in Norco, California. 

With a little luck, the weekend weather forecast for Houston Raceway
Park will be sunny and dry for the 21st running of the O’Reilly Spring
Nationals. That would be just fine with Justin Humphreys and the rest
of the visiting NHRA POWERade Series drivers.
 
Rain on Friday at the last two stops (Phoenix and Gainesville, Fla.)
idled everyone at a time when competitors needed to make runs to stay
in top competitive form.  Humphreys, for example, took the new RaceRedi
Motorsports Pontiac GXP to Gainesville and – thanks to three days of
pre-race test runs – grabbed the No. 10 Pro Stock starting berth with
only two qualifying attempts. 
 
Humphreys advanced to the quarterfinals before unpredictable track
conditions and ensuing loss of traction ended his day.  But not before
he secured ninth place (137 points), marking the sophomore driver’s
third straight race in the top 10.

Pete Berner is proud to announce that Aeromotive Fuel Systems will join
him in his chase for the 2008 IHRA Pro Stock World Championship.
Aeromotive designs and builds the best fuel systems in the racing
industry and Berner is excited to have them join the growing list of
associate sponsors on the Quarter-Max.com Pontiac GXP.

"Aeromotive approached us at the test session in Valdosta and asked
about joining our team. They produce a great product and we are
grateful to have them be a part of our team," states Berner.

Tom and Ryan Martino (Youngstown, Ohio) will be leaving the 8.90 fraternity for 2008 and making the move to Top Dragster.

To ensure they make the 32 car field of Top Dragster, the Martinos have
turned to Ny-Trex Nitrous Oxide Systems of Longwood, Florida to assist
their racing program. 

 “With car counts expected to be at an all time high in 2008, Ny-Trex
has provided us with a “safe” combination that will put down strong
numbers.  With their outstanding product lines and extensive knowledge
of the nitrous industry, we are confident we will not only be in the
top half of the field, but have a consistent combination to win
rounds,” added Ryan Martino.

Bob Tasca III is not a fan of the rain. His team’s
first-year status only compounds this dislike during race weekends.

“As a new team, the one thing we cherish is run data, and to
lose four qualifying runs in the first three races of the year has not helped
us at all,” said Tasca. “One of the most important things for us this weekend
in Houston is
get all four runs in. If we can do that and do well in the race on Sunday,
we’ll go and test on Monday and hopefully come out with a lot of runs and data
to take with us into Las Vegas.”

After getting eliminated by Jim Head in the first round of
competition in Gainesville two weeks ago, Tasca looks forward to getting his
car down the track and earning a qualifying spot in the top half of the field.

Looking back over the past two years, Del Worsham has no problem spotting the moments when things went well, when he
knew
his race car was back in sync enough to win races.  Others may see a
star driver now on a winless streak lasting more than two full seasons,
but Worsham knows there have been numerous times when, but for the want
of an inch here or a foot there, he easily could have made the trip to
the Winner's Circle.  The trick of course, through good times and bad,
is to make big power while also managing to cleanly apply it to the
racing surface, and as Worsham heads to Houston Raceway Park for this
weekend's O'Reilly Spring Nationals, he feels quite confident in his
ability to put those two disparate techniques together.  It's simply a
matter of making horsepower with his special-edition K&N Filters
Impala, while he also gets it to hook-up with the track.

NHRA Pro Stock racer Tom Hammonds will kick off his national student achievement
program, Tom Hammonds Race for Achievement, on Wednesday, Mar. 26, at 2:00 p.m.
CST.  Hammonds will interact with students through
message.

When Melanie Troxel decided to forego her Top Fuel career in favor of a
Funny Car ride this year, she knew a learning curve was ahead.
 
There aren’t many physical similarities between the long, sleek cars
with the big wing and big tires on the back and the little tires on the
front and the shorter, full-bodied, usually unpredictable Funny Cars. 
But it was a challenge for which she was prepared.  Heck, if she has
any questions, she need do nothing more than look across the breakfast
table for some advice.
 
And it’s likely her husband, Tommy Johnson Jr., willingly provides the
proper answers even though she is now one of his on-track rivals.
 
Troxel displayed no first-race discomfort when she made the most of
four qualifying runs in Mike Ashley’s ProCare Rx Dodge Charger R/T at
Pomona, Calif.  She posted the third-quickest elapsed time, 4.810
seconds at 327.90 mph, the fastest Funny Car speed of the weekend.  On
race day, she did all she could to get that first round win, too,
leaving the starting line first with a .042-second reaction time –
fourth-best in eliminations – but falling short when her car lost
traction.