Team Hammonds hopes The Strip at the Las Vegas Speedway will prove to
be a good luck charm for the upcoming SummitRacing,com NHRA Nationals
competition, Apr. 10-13.   This will be the team’s third time competing
in Las Vegas.

The team holds a 1-1 qualifying record at the Sin City track.   In
2002, they made it to the second round of eliminations, where they lost
to Jim Yates, and failed to qualify in 2006.   This season, they hope
to do just as well as their first time racing there, since they are
racking up on the DNQs.

Team Chevy's Marty Ladwig started off the 2008 NOPI Drag Racing
campaign with a record-setting victory at today's NOPI Florida
Nationals. Ladwig established a new Pro FWD national elapsed time mark
and earned the season-opening win by defeating 2007 NHRA Pro FWD
champion Gary Gardella in an all-Chevy Cobalt final-round at Moroso
Motorsports Park.

"This was a fantastic weekend," Ladwig said. "We came off our win at
Pomona last season, and haven't done any testing since then or made any
changes to the Lucas Oil Chevrolet. To be able to come out here and run
as well as we did, win the race and then set the record, is an awesome
accomplishment for everyone who's a part of this team - Lucas Oil, K
& N Filters, Chevrolet, Ecotec, GM Racing - just a great group of
sponsors who make it all possible. We had top speed of the meet and low
e.t.. This team really earned this one."

Ladwig entered today's eliminator with his Lucas Oil Chevrolet
qualified in the No. 2 position and with a tough first-round opponent
in No. 3 qualifier Jason Hunt. At last April's race here at Moroso
Motorsports park, Ladwig struggled to even make it down the racetrack,
and lost in the first round, while Hunt drove his Matco Tools Chevrolet
to the event win. In today's key round-one matchup, Ladwig's Lucas Oil
Chevrolet squeezed past the Matco Tools car and crossed the finish line
with a 7.388 e.t. at 192.26 mph. Hunt's Ecotec-powered Cobalt followed
with a 7.493 second run at 196.12 mph. Ladwig's margin of victory was
.0876 of a second.

Former
event winners Jeff Strickland and Kevin Helms headlined the group of
nine champions who were crowned at the fifth annual JEGS NHRA Cajun
SPORTSnationals at No Problem Raceway Park. Strickland, of Red Bay,
Ala., the winner of the 2005 Belle Rose event, reached the final round
for the fourth time in five years at the special sportsman event and
claimed the win in Super Stock after Lee Sharp fouled at the start.
 
Helms,
a three-time NHRA Stock national champion who also lives in Belle Rose
and works as a track manager at No Problem Raceway, parlayed his home
track advantage into his 19th career win, beating defending Cajun
SPORTSnationals Stock champ Gary Emmons in the final round.

Spencer Massey Wins Top Fuel Ironman Six Days After Earning License

Laurie Cannister (Alcohol Funny Car), Steven Macklyn (Nitro Funny Car),
Jim Halsey (Pro Modified) and John Montecalvo (Pro Stock) also claim
titles at season-opening Texas Nationals

Rookie? What rookie? Spency Massey drove his way to the Top Fuel winner's circle in his rookie debut.

Spencer
Massey is not exactly new to this whole drag racing thing. The Fort
Worth, Tex. resident has been driving in the A-Fuel ranks for the
better part of four years, finishing as high as #3 in the world in NHRA
competition. But when car owner Mitch King was looking for a driver for
the Knoll Gas Nitro Jam season opener at San Antonio Raceway, Massey
figured now was as good a time as any to take a step up. He earned his
Top Fuel license in Houston six days prior to the event and headed to
San Antonio

Sunday's final results from the Amalie Oil Texas Nationals presented
by NAPA Auto Parts and The San Antonio Express-News at San Antonio
Raceway.  The  race is the first of 11 in the 2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam
Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Spencer Massey, 3.261 seconds, 256.26 mph def. Terry McMillen, 15.164 seconds, 59.94 mph

Final round-by-round results from the Amalie Oil Texas Nationals
presented by NAPA Auto Parts and The San Antonio Express-News at San
Antonio Raceway, the first of 11 events in the  2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro
Jam Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Mike Strasburg, 3.299, 208.04 def. Scott Palmer,
3.325, 242.02; Spencer Massey, 3.193, 264.86 def. Bruce Litton, 3.187,
264.03; Terry McMillen, 3.884, 163.65 def. Chris Karamesines, foul;
Kevin Jones, 3.411, 243.68 def. Bobby Lagana Jr., 3.909, 153.86;

SEMIFINALS -- McMillen, 3.243, 257.87 def. Strasburg, 3.339, 220.94; Massey, 3.330, 223.84 def. Jones, 3.363, 250.74;

FINAL -- Massey, 3.261, 256.26 def. McMillen, 15.164, 59.94.

Point standings (top 10) for IHRA professional categories following
the Amalie Oil Texas Nationals presented by NAPA Auto Parts and The San
Antonio Express-News at San Antonio Raceway, the first of 11 events in
the  2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1.  Spencer Massey, 112; 2.  Terry McMillen, 93; 3.  Mike Strasburg,
75; 4.  Bruce Litton, 66; 5.  Kevin Jones, 55; 6.  Bobby Lagana Jr.,
54; 7.  Scott Palmer, 51; 8.  Chris Karamesines, 49; 9.  (tie) Fred
Farndon, 10; Doug Foley, 10.

Funny thing happened on the way to a drag race for Allen Middendorf several years ago. The

Allen Middendorf visited the drags several years ago. The former motocross champion made his nitro Funny Car debut this weekend.

former motocross racer upgraded from two wheels to four; and added over 7,900 horsepower to his race vehicle.

He
debuted this weekend in San Antonio, Texas during the IHRA Texas
Nationals. Middendorf fell short of making the eight-car field, but
considering where he began, he wasn't too extremely disappointed.

“The first IHRA race I attended (as a spectator) was in San Antonio in
2003, which is why I am so excited to make my professional debut here,”
said Middendorf.  “The people in San Antonio were awesome fans and I’m
amped that I can be a part of the races here.  It was a just a dream a
few years ago when I realized that I wanted to do this.  Now here we
are, and I am revved up and ready to go.”

The race fans were lined up for an autograph and the Top Fuel driver wasn’t even competing.

Fuller interacts with the IHRA drag racing fans in San Antonio.

Hot Rod Fuller chose to spend his off-weekend away from the NHRA
POWERade tour as a special guest of Holt CAT, presenting sponsor for
the IHRA Texas Nationals.

Fuller drives the CAT-sponsored entry on the NHRA tour. He’ll be racing
next weekend in Las Vegas. This weekend was devoted to sponsor
relations.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been to an IHRA event and because I’m
not racing, I get a lot of extra time to spend with the fans,” Fuller
said, as he signed an autograph. “I’ve gotten to hang out with my old
sportsman racing friends and add in that I grew up in this part of the
country.”

Defending IHRA Pro Stock champion Robert Patrick brought out his big gun for the final session of

Robert Patrick returned to his trusted 2007 Bob Ingles engine and climbed to the top spot in Pro Stock qualifying.

qualifying during the IHRA Texas Nationals in San Antonio.
The Fredericksburg, Va-based driver brought out the same 820-inch Bob
Ingles engine he used to run a 6.266 elapsed time in Valdosta, Georgia
preseason testing.

“My team and my engine builder Bob Ingles really worked hard during the
off-season and we tested awful hard for times like this,” Patrick said.
“We had an engine in the car that we hadn’t run before and it could
have run a 6.11 or so. That’s why we put last year’s race engine in the
car.”