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.

The
last time Courtney Force raced down the ¼ mile track at Houston Raceway
Park she was the last Force standing having just completed her fifth
round of racing behind the wheel of her BrandSource sponsored Super
Comp dragster. Had she been in the same category that day as her
14-time Funny Car champion father, John Force or TAD national event
winning sister, Ashley Force she would have been in the winner’s circle
with an extra round to spare.

Unfortunately
for Ms. Force five rounds of racing in Super Comp does not translate
into trip to the winner’s circle and a treasured Wally just a frantic
ride on the back of a John Force piloted scooter to the cashier trailer
as your dad joyously tells everyone he passes that his daughter was in
the money.

Here's a sneak peek of the Shell-themed dragster to be driven by Alan
Bradshaw during this weekend's NHRA O'Reilly Spring Nationals in
Houston, Texas.

Construction
moves along at a feverish pace at Lowe's Motor Speedway's drag strip.
The strip is expected to be completed late this summer in time for the
mid-September inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals.

It's been a tough 2008 NHRA season so far for Ron Capps, the driver of the NAPA
AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T, who has battled for the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series Funny Car championship right down to the final event the last three
years. After three races, he finds himself in 14th place in the standings
following three first-round losses. It's still early in the 24-event schedule,
and a third consecutive win at the NHRA Spring Nationals this weekend at Houston
Raceway Park would propel him right back in the running.

Capps, who had
entered this event the last two years in either first or second place, and left
both times as the points leader after claiming victories in both, reflects on
this season, the challenges it has presented, and what it will take to get back
on top in his quest to garner his first Funny Car championship.

"We got
spoiled a little bit with the success we've had the last three years," he said.
"At this point of the season the last two years we were leading the points. It's
been a strange beginning to the 2008 season. In particular, the rainouts we had
in the last two events, where we only had two sessions of qualifying in Phoenix
and Gainesville, really changed the weekend for all the teams. So, hopefully
we'll get more than just two runs of qualifying in at Houston.

It has been three years since Robert Hight won his first NHRA POWERade
event at Houston Raceway Park. Since that win he has racked up 100
round wins faster than any professional in the fuel categories - Top
Fuel or Funny Car –, finished No.2 in the point standing the past two
seasons and become one of the most feared Funny Car drivers of the
modern era. His meteoric rise has not come without serious heartache
though.

Hight and the rest of the John Force Racing team skipped the 20th
installment of the O’Reilly Spring Nationals last season out of respect
for their fallen teammate Eric Medlen. Following the Gatornationals
Medlen was involved in an on-track testing accident that ultimately
ended his short but exceptional life. Skipping the race was a tough
decision for everyone involved and at the end of the season Hight
looked back on his unsuccessful quest for a championship – one he fell
19 points short of – and realized nothing could have made the season
truly successful.

“Even if we had won the championship,” Hight said, “that wouldn’t have
made it a great year. In fact, there’s not much that would have made it
even a good year because we’ll never have Eric back. I miss him, miss
him like you can’t believe.”

LaHaie is Grand Marshal, Ramchargers get Reunion Spotlight for June 13-15 event

Top
drivers from every era of NHRA drag racing, an incredible engine and
transmission builder and a group of engineers that created Chrysler's
drag racing program make up the Honorees for the 2008 Holley NHRA
National Hot Rod Reunion. 

Grand Marshal Dick LaHaie, Honorees Arnie Beswick, Gabby Bleeker,
Boogie Scott, Bob Stange and Jim Walter, along with Justice Brothers
Reunion Spotlight Award winners, the Ramchargers, will be feted as part
of the 6th annual National Reunion, Jun. 13-15, 2008 at Beech Bend
Raceway in Bowling Green, Ky.  Each of the Honorees has his own
important accomplishments.

David Powers Motorsports announced today that it has partnered with the
Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino for the National Hot Rod Association’s
(NHRA) SummitRacing.com Nationals in Las Vegas, April 10-13.

Top Fuel drivers Hot Rod Fuller and Antron Brown and the DPM team will
call the Golden Nugget home during the ninth annual competition held at
the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The AAA Four-Diamond hotel in downtown Las Vegas will offer NHRA fans a
special nightly rate of $79 plus tax April 10 and 13, and $139 plus tax
April 11 and 12. Reservations may be made by calling 800-634-3454 and
asking for the NHRA Fan Rate. Fuller, the Las Vegas hometown hero, and
Brown will meet with fans and sign autographs at the Golden Nugget from
2-4 p.m. Wednesday, April 9. The Caterpillar and Matco Tools Top Fuel
dragsters will be on display at the Golden Nugget.