Billy Glidden’s spare time
will be valuable in 2008 thanks to his Mickey Thompson Tires “big tire” development
assignments. Between the rigors of testing and keeping the test machine
maintained, Glidden and his wife Shannon will have little time for any other
drag racing.

At this point in the game,
Glidden can not make any promises outside of the test program whether he'll race any Outlaw 10.5.

“At the time I don’t really have any plans,” Glidden said in a recent phone
conversation. He’d just wrapped up a long stretch of road time where he was at
the Dart Machinery headquarters in Troy, Michigan assembling engines for the
tire test car as well some for the Justin Humphrey team to test. 

Being a member of the
Glidden family carries a pre-requisite of long hours in the shop and successful
results on the track. The son of Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden is truly a chip
off the old block.

Antron Brown will return to the seat of his David Powers-owned Matco Tools
dragster as NHRA preseason testing continues at Firebird International Raceway
near Phoenix, Jan. 25-30, at the National Time Trials. Brown and the Matco Tools
team last tested at Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway in
mid-December.

The immediate goal of the Lee
Beard-led team is to earn Brown’s crossover Top Fuel license. The Matco Tools
team completed Brown’s required incremental passes during a three-day test at
the storied Florida quarter mile. Brown needs only to make
two full runs to earn his Top Fuel certification required to compete during the
2008 NHRA season, which begins Feb. 7-10 at Pomona, Calif.

After finishing second in a closely contested battle toward winning his
second IHRA Championship, Pete Berner is looking forward to the 2008
season. Pete Berner Racing is welcoming Quarter-Max.com as the primary
sponsor for the 2008 and 2009 seasons with Pontiac Motorsports joining
as the associate sponsor.   Berner is excited about these additions to
his Pro Stock operation:

"It is quite an honor to be chosen to represent Quarter-Max.com and
Pontiac Motorsports. I truly have to thank Rick Jones at Quarter-Max
and Fred Simmonds at General Motors for this wonderful opportunity.  
John Waldie, president of Stratford Motor Products, was also
instrumental in bringing about this partnership.  I really appreciate
his wisdom in helping us put this together.

PartSource, the Canadian Auto Parts chain, one of the leading and
fastest-growing retail auto parts companies in Canada, has entered into
an agreement with IHRA and Live Nation – Motorsports to sponsor
“Championship Sunday” at the three 2008 Knoll Gas Nitro Jam national
events to he held in Canada. The races at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton,
Grand Bend Motorplex in Ontario and Cayuga, also in Ontario, will all
feature PartSource on the day their championships are determined.

“As one of the leading national specialty destinations for automotive
parts, PartSource caters to the auto enthusiast,” said PartSource vice
president Bruce Allen. “We also share our customer’s passion for
racing, which is why it makes perfect sense for PartSource and the
International Hot Rod Association series to come together to bring this
exciting sport to Canadian racing fans.”

PartSource has retail locations all across Canada, including Calgary,
Edmonton, Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Winnipeg, Guelph, Waterloo, Kitchener,
Cambridge, Brantford, Hamilton, St. Catharines, Oshawa, Windsor,
Barrie, Sarnia, London and Ottawa. Allen looked at the Canadian Knoll
Gas Nitro Jam events as the perfect platform to connect with car
enthusiasts.

The 2008 NHRA POWERade season will see the introduction of the Pontiac GXP in
Pro Stock competition, and drag racing enthusiasts will get their first look of
the new GXP in action at the third annual Pontiac Pro Stock Showdown at The
Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Feb. 1 -2, and then a week later at the
48th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., on Feb. 7-10.
Designing and constructing the new GXP involved an enormous investment in time
and resources on behalf of Pontiac and GM Racing, and the final racing product
combines sleek, sporty, aerodynamic features that closely resemble the race
car's Pontiac G6 GXP showroom counterpart.

Initial plans to design and
build the new GXP began approximately 17 months ago when GM Racing Group Manager
Dan Engel met with NHRA tech officials (Danny Gracia, Bob Blackwell and Don
Taylor) at the 2006 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. A white Pontiac G6
was delivered to the grounds at O'Reilly Raceway Park by a local Indianapolis
dealer, and the group from GM and NHRA began the process of marking and taping
off key areas of the production car that would be crucial to the development of
the new GXP Pro Stock Car, going over some basic styling features and getting a
rough idea of just how the race car should look. With the long wheelbase and
other inherent features of the production car, detailed planning, styling and
designing a preliminary blueprint for the Pro Stock GXP were
crucial.

Rod Fuller likes the desert, particularly the Southwest. Fuller, who
resides in Las Vegas, is the two-time defending event champion of the
Phoenix race at Firebird International Raceway. That is where Fuller
and his David Powers-owned Caterpillar team will launch their 2008
season during the National Time Trials at F.I.R.
 
Similar to spring training for Major League Baseball, Fuller and his
Rob Flynn-led crew will assault the F.I.R. quarter mile for six days of
preparation for the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season, which
begins at Pomona, Calif., Feb. 7-10, with the 48th annual CARQUEST Auto
Part Winternationals. It will be the first time that Fuller will return
to the seat of the Caterpillar rail since undergoing major
reconstructive knee surgery on Nov. 9, 2007, just five days after the
completion of the ’07 NHRA season.

“My knee feels great,” Fuller said. “I’ve had a pretty boring off
season. I had a great visit to Caterpillar’s corporate headquarters in
Peoria (Ill.) in December and went home to Arkansas for Christmas, but
otherwise I stayed at home and rehabbed my knee. It was a lot of
intense training, but it really paid off.”

The National Hot Rod Association will bring their brand of championship
drag racing to the Carolinas with a "national event" at the drag strip
currently under construction on Lowe's Motor Speedway property,
according to a track press release. An announcement of the event, set
for the Sept. 11-14 slot listed as "TBA" on the NHRA schedule, is
slated for Thursday at 11 a.m.

Parts Pro Performance Centers will be returning as the sponsor of the
Crew Chief of the Race Award at each Pro Modified Racing Association
series event for 2008.
 
“The Parts Pro Performance Centers Crew Chief of the Race Award will be
presented to the Crew Chief and the team of individuals that did an
outstanding job throughout the course of the weekend based on their
strategic planning and race day calls,” explained Kevin Dundas, General
Manager of Karbelt Speed & Custom, the Eastern Canadian Parts Pro
Distribution center. “This award is designed to bring recognition to
the hard work and dedication that crew chiefs display, whether they
made it into victory lane or simply finished strong.”
 
With "A Passion for Performance", Parts Pro Performance Centers, the
fastest-growing automotive performance parts distribution network in
North America, continues to provide the hottest products in the high
performance industry.

CIFCA completed its 23rd
season with it 2007 Awards Banquet held at the Boulder Station Hotel &
Casino. Over 100 people representing 15 teams were in attendance.

In total 18 awards were
handed out. The awards were for the CIFCA top 10 in points for the 2007 Season,
Bonus Program Awards, and awards for Outstanding Club Member Achievements. The
Award winners were: