Two weeks after scoring the first national event win of his career, Randy Eakins
continued to climb the Top Alcohol Dragster championship points standings with a
strong semifinal finish at the 9th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals in Las
Vegas. Eakins, 39, drove the Canidae All Natural Pet Foods/Red line Oil A/Fuel
dragster to six consecutive NHRA round-wins before being halted in the
semifinals.

The Edgecombe Racing team worked hard to battle through
electrical issues that plagued their nitromethane-burning dragster throughout
the weekend, and they managed to qualify in the top half of the 16-car field and
go rounds in eliminations. Eakins posted a 5.63 elapsed time in the first round
to defeat a tire-smoking Johnny Ahten. His round two matchup paralleled the one
from his Houston win in which he defeated 2007 Top Alcohol Dragster world
champion Bill Reichert on a holeshot. This time he raced 2007 Super Comp world
champ Shawn Langdon, who qualified No. 1 behind the wheel of Morgan Lucas’
dragster, and again it was decided on the starting line as Eakins cut a superb
.011 reaction time and won with a 5.73 over Langdon’s superior 5.69.
Back-to-back wins were not in the cards, however, as Eakins’ engine dropped
cylinders in the semifinals and he lost to Jeff Isbell, who ran a solid 5.47 and
became another first-time winner after defeating Jim Whiteley in the final
round.

In
an initiative to demonstrate its commitment to young adults who share a
passion for cars and vehicle care, Valvoline has announced
a scholarship program to aid students in pursuit of an automotive
technical career.

Former Funny Car driving
veteran turned nostalgia flopper tuner Cory Lee wouldn’t mind batting 1.000
this weekend at the IHRA Spring Nationals in Rockingham, North Carolina.
He could very well pull off the feat this weekend.

Jeff and Bonnie McGaffic
re-enlisted Lee to pilot their Metalwood Bat-sponsored Monte
Carlo nitro Funny Car and consider last season’s runner-up finish
in Rockingham.

Drag racing superstar Jeg Coughlin Jr. proved he can turn left last
Saturday night during the special "NHRA Stars in Short Track Cars"
charity event at The Bulling at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Driving a
1,200cc Thunder Roadster for the first time, Coughlin finished fourth
in an all-star field of drag racers, some of whom had prior short-track
experience.

"I was pretty happy with the effort," said Coughlin, a four-time NHRA
champion with 52 national event wins. "I went into this deal with zero
experience and an open mind. We wanted to have some fun and entertain
the fans that came over from the drag strip and I think we accomplished
that. We had a ball and I'd love to do it again.

"We had some time to test on Friday night. Roger Hocking and Ron
McIntire, who graciously let me drive one of their team cars, told me I
just needed to trust the car and push it to the limit. I went as fast
as I felt I could go and his guys were all pretty pleased. They told me
I was running a good line. I would like to thank Brian Claas for his
expertise and assistance because it was very very helpful!."

Tony Pedregon, Whit Bazemore and Marty Nothstein will all compete in popular race

Two-time NHRA POWERade Series world champion Tony Pedregon will give
turning a try as he joins some of the biggest names in sports and
entertainment at the annual Pro/Celebrity race at the Grand Prix of
Long Beach on Saturday, April 19 at 11:40 a.m.

Pedregon will be competing against the likes of Drew Lachey and Wilmer
Valderrama among the celebrities and Craftsman Truck Series champion –
and defending Pro/Celebrity champion – Mike Skinner among the Pros.
Also competing in the Pro category will be fellow drag racers Whit
Bazemore and Marty Nothstein.

IHRA Pro Stock World Champion Robert Patrick enters Rockingham Dragway
for this weekend’s IHRA Spring Nationals in a different mindset from
the last visit. Patrick entered last season’s IHRA World Finals
trailing a championship battle he’d led most of the year and squandered
during an off weekend at the previous event. The anger was channeled
into motivation and as a result, the Purvis Ford/Easy Care-sponsored
driver left with his first career world championship.
 
Patrick enters this weekend with every reason to be angry but unlike
last season, he shoulders no blame this time, nor does he point a
finger, as parts attrition rolled the quickest naturally aspirated Pro
Stocker through the beams drawing a red-light start at the IHRA Texas
Nationals in San Antonio, Texas. He entered eliminations as the No. 1
qualifier.
 
“Just a simple malfunction in the car,” Patrick admitted. “You are
always going to have those things from time to time in drag racing. If
you cannot learn to adjust to those things, this sport will stop being
fun. They are going to happen and if you cannot accept that, then
you’re in the right sport.”

Having been given an extra week to prepare courtesy of a
weather-related delay, Team JEGS drivers John and Mike Coughlin are
anxious to kick off the 2008 North Central Division season during this
weekend’s Lucas Oil Series event at O’Reilly Raceway Park at
Indianapolis. The Coughlin brothers, who each won a Division 3
championship last season, will once again be competing in three
classes; John in Top Dragster and Super Stock and Mike in Top
Sportsman. 
 
“I had a chance to race in Orlando [Fla.] a few weeks ago just to shake
off some of the rust so I’m feeling pretty comfortable right now,” said
John. “I have a new Undercover Chassis dragster that I’m racing in Top
Dragster and it has already shown a lot of promise. I’ve also got my
Chevy Cobalt in Super Stock and it’s already proven itself as a great
race car. I just need to do my part as a driver and we’ll be
successful.”
 
Mike Coughlin recently made his 2008 season debut at the recent JEGS
Cajun SPORTSnationals in Belle Rose, La., and although he lost early in
eliminations, he was very encouraged by the results.

A tradition in the Pro Modified Racing Association will once again be held this year.

Ven Eman's Aruba Tourism-sponsored Pro Stock team held an open house on Wednesday, April 16, 2008, for the hundreds of race fans seeking a tour of what promises to be the first of many race teams expected to migrate to Union County in South Carolina. Local officials have rolled out the red carpet in an effort to make the Union County Industrial Park the southern equivalent of Brownburg, Indiana.

Whit Bazemore loves his fans, but with all due respect to them, he’s
content spending the time with his family and watching the drags from
his home in Eugene, Oregon. This is why Bazemore points out there’s no
truth to a rumor circulating which suggests he will be a teammate in
the near future to Tim Wilkerson.”
 
“No truth to that one,” Bazemore said.

“I called Tim to congratulate him on winning the race, but that one
certainly didn’t come up,” he added. “We talked all about kids growing
up and how time flies, but driving – that one didn’t come up.”