After taking out the last round of the Australian Top Fuel Championship at
Perth's Motorplex circuit, just a fortnight ago, Phil Lamattina now believes he
and his Fuchs Top Fueler can still win the 2008 Championship and aims to show
further strides at Western Sydney International
Dragway this weekend.

Lamattina made the comments ahead of this weekend's huge event
at Western Sydney International Dragway, the Summernationals, where he plans to
continue the momentum the team gained with their Perth victory - "It was our
consistency that won us the Top Fuel Spectacular in Perth. The Fuchs Dragster
was solid from the first pass and with sub five second ET's on all of our runs,
we showed just how good this car is," said Phil.

"If we have any chance
of taking on Phil Read for the championship, we have to continue to improve on
what we achieved in Perth. We honestly feel that we can still win [the
championship] and we will be giving it everything we can in
Sydney."

Nineteen of Australia's quickest Doorslammers descend on Western Sydney Dragway
(WSID) this weekend for the annual Summernationals, all keen on reining in the
quickest man - John Zappia.

Zappia leads the ANDRA Top Doorslammer
Championship in the Striker Monaro with 343 points, after two wins and a
runner-up in the first three rounds. Steve Stanic follows on 240 points, rookie
Stuart Bishop on 185 points, and a group of the heavy hitters in Gary Philips,
Ben Bray, Brett Stevens, Victor Bray and Robin Judd close behind.

The
current season has seen the Striker Monaro leading the field in qualifying,
displaying solid reliability and consistency in the low 6 '0's, and running
three stunning five second passes that wowed the crowds.

An exciting new partnership
between KDH Racing and Hedman Hedders for the 2008 Season will see both Kate and
Diana Harker using Hedman Hedders Products on their A/Fuel
Dragsters.

As a prime leader in the performance
exhaust industry, Hedman Hedders will be a proud partner of KDH Racing
throughout the twin’s busy season and both ladies are looking forward to the
opportunity of carrying Hedman quality exhaust’s on their race
cars.

The
Nostalgia Pro Comp Association returns for their third season of bringing
nostalgia racing to the Midwest.  The
NPCA has partnered with Goodguys for three of their four points meets. The
other being,The Muscle Car Reunion and Nostalgia Drags in Kansas City, MO.
Also on tap are some good old Saturday night match races at the new Muncie
Dragway and Route 66 Raceway. Full NPCA schedule for 2008 is as follows:

COMING FRIDAY, 9:00 PM, EST. ON THE HISTORY CHANNEL. 

The images still flicker across the mind’s DVD.  A
Funny Car is nose first against the right guardrail, bouncing off the concrete
as the car makes its way down Englishtown Raceway Park’s 1320-foot racing
surface – and every inch of remaining asphalt before finally bouncing into the
trees.

Johnny West would have had the best view of anyone in the
large crowd if he hadn’t been knocked out when his Banzai Chevy Beretta Funny
Car turned into a battering ram and whacked the wall not far from the starting
line in the final round.

Tuner
Donnie Bender came of age in 2007, and is now on the verge of making a
serious championship run with driver Larry Dixon, Jr. and the U.S.
Smokeless Tobacco Special.  Thanks to team owner Don “The Snake”
Prudhomme, the team has the tools with which to win.  Now it’s up to
them.

Bender had a teammate last year in tuner Mike Green and Funny Car
driver Tommy Johnson, Jr., but both are now with other operations. 
Bender is not, however, going it alone because of the tuning
arrangement Prudhomme made with independent Funny Car racer Tim
Wilkerson.  Thus far the new arrangement is working well.

The following are the pre-entries received for the 9th annual CSR Eastern Spring Test Nationals presented by Torco's CompetitionPlus.com hosted by South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Ga. 

Premiere pre-Gatornationals test at South Georgia Motorsports Park expected to yield national event atmosphere
 
A
multitude of professional and sportsman racers will converge on South
Georgia Motorsports Park [SGMP], March 6 – 8, 2008, for the 9th annual
CSR Eastern Spring Test Nationals presented by Torco’s
CompetitionPlus.com. This traditional event has become a staple of high
performance which caters to a race-hungry southern Georgia drag racing
demographic. The event traditionally opened only one day for spectators
and attracted thousands of spectators.
 
The 2008 version of ESTN promises to be the largest ever. Instead of
fans being allowed entry only for the traditional “Chicago Style”
eliminations on Saturday, the gates will be open for Friday night
testing under the lights.

Tim
Wilkerson had an abysmal 2007 season, finishing a distant 15th in the
points and only making four semifinal round appearances in 23 races. 
That’s all behind him now, and if his Winternationals performance is
any indication, this highly motivated and very popular independent
driver could be a serious contender this season.

Okay, so he lost in the first round at Pomona, just as he did last
year.  But, not only did he run harder this year, last year his season
went decidedly downhill after the Winternationals, but this year it
could be heading in the other direction.

“The (switch) to 90% is going to help us,” Wilkerson said.  “The parts
look a lot better, and thanks to NHRA for that.  That was a needed
change for this team, I can tell you that right now.”