:::::: News ::::::

CHARGES FILED IN SELMER TRAGEDY

According to Foxnews.com, charges have been filed stemming from the
Cars for Kids charity event in Selmer, Tenn., where a professional drag
racer plowed into a parade crowd killing six and injuring 22 others
last summer.

Troy Critchley was charged with multiple felony charges, including six
counts of vehicular homicide due to recklessness and 22 counts of
reckless aggravated assault, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol. 

NEW HRP ACCESS/EXIT

HRP-highway3.jpg

Fans attending this year's NHRA Championship Drag Racing event March 27-30 at
Houston Raceway Park will have their HRP-highway2.jpgeasiest trek ever to the record-setting
southeast Texas facility thanks to the newest section of Houston's Grand
Parkway, which will basically take racing aficionados directly from Interstate
10 to the entrance of HRP's expansive resurfaced parking lots.

Whether
traveling eastbound from downtown Houston or westbound from the golden triangle,
fans can simply take Exit 799 -- Grand Parkway/Highway 99 and travel south for
less than a mile to the FM 565 Exit, which feeds directly into the facility. The
track runs adjacent to the Grand Parkway along the west side of the
parkway.

CHARLOTTE CONSTRUCTION ADVANCES

char3.jpgConstruction continues at a fevered pace at
The Dragway @ Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte in anticipation of the
track's opening and subsequent inaugural NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series event, the NHRA Carolinas Nationals, Sept. 11-14. To purchase tickets for the event, call 800-455-FANS (3267).

SPIESS SHUTTLES INTO NHRA

Steve Spiess knows what being a Pro Stock winner is about. In the
interestof fair reporting, Spiess' experience was gained racing in the
IHRA’s Mountain Motor division.

 

In this world of corporate downsizing, Spiess has downsized in his own
kind of way – under the hood. He’s replaced the 800-plus cubic inch
engine that aided him in winning the 2005 IHRA world championship with
a standard issue 500-inch powerplant.

“Everybody said it wasn't going to be easy and it's not,” Spiess said.
“We're gaining on it pretty fast and learning quickly. Everything
you've looked at in the mountain motor stuff you just do the same way
in this just not in as big of moves. There's no room for error.”

HAMMONDS RACE FOR ACHIEVEMENT KICKS OFF IN HOUSTON

Tom Hammonds, NHRA Pro Stock Car driver/owner  and retired NBA player,
will kick off his new student achievement program, Tom Hammonds Race
for Achievement, on Wednesday, Mar. 26, at 2:00 p.m. CST at The Imani
School in Houston.

“This program is a dream that has come true, and I am extremely excited
about the chance to share my message about academic excellence with the
kids,” says an elated Hammonds, “and to kick it off at The Imani School
is icing on the cake.”

SOUTHERN MOTORS TO SPONSOR MILAN DRAGWAY OUTLAW 10.5 CLASS

Southern Motors specializing in Southern collectable cars will be the title
sponsor of the Milan Dragway Outlaw 10.5 class part of the Aeroquip Heads Up Series presented
by Golf Carts Plus and Discount Tire. Look for them at many of the events this
summer at Milan Dragway. They will be bringing classic cars to display at the
events just to show a sample of the awesome inventory they keep. You will also
see them going down the 1/4 at over 200 mph on the side of Outlaw 10.5 racer
Greg Blevins.

POLICE DEPARTMENT TO HONOR JEGS

Reigning NHRA Div. 3 Top Dragster champion John
Coughlin received a departmental award from the Police Chief of
the City of Delaware (Ohio) in recognition of JEGS Mail Order's support of DPD's
fledgling K-9 program. JEGS Mail Order, a leader in the high-performance mail
order parts business, is based in Delaware and
boasts more than 350 employees, many of whom call Delaware home.

The 2007 Departmental Awards will be presented at 5:30 p.m. in room G35
of the newly-constructed courthouse located at 140 Sandusky
Street.

TWO-TIME SPORTSMAN CHAMPION ABRUZZI READY FOR 2008 CHALLENGES

Abruzzi_Camaro.jpgTwo-time IHRA World Champion Marco Abruzzi is poised and ready for his
drag race season to begin. As the owner of Abruzzi Racing
Transmissions, Marco has focused on the needs of his customers all
winter long.

“I have always said that winning any race is an accomplishment. The one
thing more gratifying than winning a race myself is watching an Abruzzi
Racing Transmission customer win. Living in Ohio, our personal race
season starts off a little late,” admitted Abruzzi. “But our season of
building race winning transmissions started early this year.”      

As the holidays came and went, so did many race transmissions. They
were shipped to customers like former World Champion and bracket racer
extraordinaire, Edmond Richardson. He came out swinging with an early
win during the IHRA Florida triple header.      

OHIO CRANKSHAFT PRESENTS JEGS PRO MODIFIED QUALIFYING BONUS

Ohio Crankshaft will award $1,000 to the low qualifier at each event on the 2008
JEGS ProMod Challenge and a season-long bonus of $10,000 to the racer who
accumulates the most No. 1 qualifier awards over the course of the
season.

The Ohio Crankshaft Low Qualifier Award offers a total purse of
$20,000 in bonus money to racers competing in the JEGS ProMod Challenge. It's
another incentive for racers to bring their best combination to each of the 10
national events on the 2008 schedule.

"We're thrilled to have Stan Ray
and Ohio Crankshaft offer up this program," said Scott Woodruff, Director of
Media and Motorsports Marketing for JEGS. "They're a heritage company in the
racing world and an extremely vital part of what we're trying to do in raising
the profile of our series. It's important to note that 100-percent of the money
he's offering up goes right back to our competitors. We're excited to have them
on board."

BEARD EARNS LICENSE

 

Image

After a successful two-year stretch as one of the top go-kart racers in
the nation, David Powers Motorsports development driver Zach Beard is
shifting his driving focus to the quarter-mile. The 17-year-old Beard,
son of fuel-tuning legend Lee Beard, earned his NHRA competition
license after wheeling Randy Meyer’s A/FD to a pass of 5.48 seconds at
252 mph March 17 at Gainesville Raceway.

Beard began racing
go-karts in 2005, winning the SIRA Super Can championship in his first
season on tour. He won on the Florida Winter Tour in 2007 and has
finished in the top five the past two seasons in the Stars of Karting
presented by IRL series. Beard also has raced Formula BMWs in Spain. He
is a junior at Covenant Christian High School in Indianapolis.

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