Coming off a strong performance at Phoenix, Tommy Johnson and the
Monster Energy Funny Car team are excited about their prospects for the
ACDelco Gatornationals in Gainesville, Florida next weekend.

“Gainesville is one of my favorite tracks on the tour,” said Johnson. 
“This track has a special place in my heart because the Gatornationals
was the first event I ever raced in.  It was 1984 and I was running
Super Gas.  There were 128 cars in the class, and we were down to six
cars, and mine broke!  I’ve been chasing a victory at this track ever
since, and this year I truly feel we have a talented team and a car
that will be right in the hunt.

“At Phoenix, I think we showed what the team was capable of.  We were
strong in qualifying and we had three very competitive runs on race
day.  I no longer have concerns about qualifying.  Now we just want to
go out and win a race.

“At the beginning of the season we set goals.  I’d like to get a win
for Kenny (Bernstein, team owner) and for Monster this season. The
sooner the better.  This team was awful close to winning more than once
last year and I’d like to help them get over the hump.  I’d like to be
in the top five at the end of the year.”

Torco's Competition Plus readers perusing the CSR Eastern Spring Time
Nationals entry list aren’t seeing things.  That is Clay Millican’s
name on the Top Fuel driver roster.

And yes, one of the sport’s most fan-friendly drivers and tough
competitors will indeed be making test runs in the ESTN, March 6-10, at
South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil, Ga., near Valdosta.   But
before your thoughts wander any farther – no, Millican will not be
racing in NHRA’s AC-Delco Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla., the
following weekend.  Or any other weekend, for that matter.

“My bosses said to go test and be prepared, so that’s what we’re doing
– getting ready to test,” Millican, of Drummonds, Tenn., said Monday,
as he took timeout from helping load the hauler.

Millican’s competitive season was put on ice when team owner Evan Knoll
took a sabbatical from team sponsorships this year.  Millican’s team,
however, remains intact and anxious to see action, albeit making test
laps at South Georgia Motorsports Park.

Randy Meyer's A/Fuel Dragster arrived at the 9th annual CSR Eastern
Spring Test Nationals presented by Torco's CompetitionPlus.com cloaked
in Dunkin' Do-Nuts. Diana Harker will share driving time over the
course of the weekend with Zach Beard, who will be obtaining his
license this weekend.

Ticket sales for the 2nd Annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals June
26-29 have been very strong, forcing Summit Motorsports Park management to
change to a reserved seating format.

In a recent announcement, track
officials said there will only be reserved seating
tickets and standing room only tickets for the event.
General admission tickets will not be sold.

Ticket sales are 30% ahead of
last year through the end of February, 2008 and track
officials are looking at a possible sell-out in the second year of the race. In
fact, the track set an all-time record for ticket sales in
February.

"We have an
obligation to our fans," said Bill Bader, Jr., president
of Summit
Motorsports Park. "We want everyone coming to the race
knowing they’ll have an assigned seat. It isn't a good experience for someone to
come to the race and have to wrestle to find a place to sit down, especially
if you're with a group of friends or your family."

Series organizers have revised the points system to be used in the 2008 JEGS
ProMod Challenge to mirror the points system used in other professional-level
classes of NHRA competition. The new points system will begin March 13-16 with
the series-opening 39th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville
Raceway.

The points per event will be awarded as follows:

ROUSH® Performance, in partnership with the Ford Motor Company, is going to
put the very last production 2008 ROUSH P-51A™ Mustang under the gavel and
spotlights of the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event at West Palm Beach,
Fla. This car,
number 151 in a limited production run of 151, will be sold on
Saturday, March 29 with proceeds going to the Salute to Education
Scholarship charity.

“Number 151 is a pretty significant car for ROUSH
considering the total inventory of ROUSH P-51A Mustangs basically sold out
within 24 hours when the dealer order banks were opened up,” said Joe
Thompson, general manager of ROUSH Performance. “Whoever ends up with this
car will truly acquire a part of ROUSH history.”

Jack Roush, the
motorsports legend, NASCAR team owner, and aviation enthusiast who owns and
flies his own World War II P-51 fighter planes, will be in attendance
personally overseeing the bidding on the highest horsepower Mustang that
ROUSH Performance has every built. He is flying in from the NASCAR Sprint Cup
race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway specifically for the auction.

Throughout its history as title sponsor of NHRA national events in Las
Vegas, NV and Gainesville, FL, automotive parts leader ACDelco has
distinguished itself by appointing dignitaries whose presence adds to
the race’s excitement.  This tradition continued today with the
announcement that legendary drag racer “Big Daddy” Don Garlits will be
the Grand Marshal of this year’s ACDelco Gatornationals, the third race
on the 2008 POWERade Drag Racing Series schedule. 

“ACDelco is keenly aware of the Gatornationals’ significance in the
motorsports community, and, as its title sponsor, we feel a
responsibility to add to its legacy,” said Paul Johnson, General
Director of the Global Independent Aftermarket for ACDelco. 
“Therefore, when considering candidates for Grand Marshal of this
year’s event, we looked for someone commensurate with this race’s long
and storied history, the ultimate Pro Who Knows. 

“Naturally, the name at the very top of our list was one synonymous not
only with this great race, but with the sport of drag racing, Florida’s
own Don Garlits.   Although he competed under the banner of an
alternate manufacturer, in the true spirit of ACDelco’s ‘all makes, all
models’ philosophy, we are honored to have “Big Daddy” join us as the
Grand Marshal of this year’s ACDelco Gatornationals.”

Jim Trace has a good problem to have. The Director of
Broadcasting/Video Communication for the NHRA has an abundance of class
drag racing videos that he’d love to market to the nostalgia starved
drag racing fans but doesn’t know where to begin.

Trace has at his and the NHRA’s disposal, a plethora of video footage
acquired when the sanctioning body reacquired the Diamond P drag racing
footage.

“We’ve got plans for the old stuff and possibly re-releasing some of the older videos,” said Trace. “That’s the plan for now.”

The NHRA took delivery of the classic footage three years ago. A lot of this footage is stored on obsolete formats.

“Some of it has to be restored,” Trace said. “We are going through the
whole organizational process with it. When we got it, it was a little
bit of everything everywhere. We had to undergo a large organization of
everything.”

WyoTech, the official technical school of NHRA, recently offered its guidance and technical know-how to Drag Race High,
a reality TV show that pits rival high school students against each
other as they build race cars. The show captured the emotion, rivalry,
and real-life lessons of preparation and competition as contestants
raced against the clock to build a race car from the ground up.

Nine weeks of classroom theory and hands-on building led two Tennessee high school teams, Fairview High School in Fairview and East Hickman High School in Lyles, to a final face-off on the quarter-mile dragstrip at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky. Judging
the winner went well beyond which team had the fastest car on race day.
Criteria included how well the vehicle conformed to the rules, which
team had the most donated parts, which team raised the most money, and
which car underwent the biggest transformation, including the quality
of the engine, bodywork, and paint.

Former series champions Josh Hernandez, Jay Payne, and Mike Ashley will lead a
talented group of 24 Pro Modified racers into the 39th annual ACDelco NHRA
Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla. The historic race, which runs from March
13-16, marks the start of the 10-race JEGS ProMod Challenge.

"The
response from the racers and the fans since JEGS took over title sponsorship of
the series has been phenomenal," series organizer and racer Troy Coughlin said.
"It's already very clear to us that we made the right move getting involved with
this popular form of drag racing. The exciting thing is we're just getting
started."

Reigning champ Hernandez, '06 titlist Payne, and two-time
series winner Ashley will be joined by former national event winners Coughlin,
Rick Stivers, Tim Tindle, Dan Rowe, Tony Pontieri, Shelly Payne, and Harold
Laird. There is also a hungry group of up-and-coming racers intent on making
their mark in the 2008 JEGS ProMod Challenge, including Roger Burgess, Raymond
Commisso, Steve Engel, Tom Gray, Roger Johansson, Mike Knowles, Kirk Kuhns,
George Landis, Taylor Lastor, Brad Personette, Scott Ray, John Russo, Carl
Spiering, and Eddie Ware.