Jerry Toliver will drive the Rockstar Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car for Don
Schumacher Racing in the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, beginning at the
Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., Feb. 7-10, 2008, it was confirmed today by
team owner Don Schumacher.

A native of California, Toliver returns to his
first full year of NHRA Funny Car competition since 2004. The popular,
articulate and outgoing racer skipped the 2005 and 2006 seasons and ran all but
four national events in 2007 under his own banner with Rockstar
backing.

Rockstar, Inc., maker of Rockstar Energy Drink, returns as
Toliver's primary sponsor on the Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car, a major associate
sponsor on the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge driven by Ron Capps, and as an associate
sponsor on the rest of the Don Schumacher Racing teams.

Phil Shuler, who,
along with Todd Okuhara in 2007, tuned the Mail Terminal Services Dodge for Jack
Beckman and the Mopar/Oakley Dodge for Gary Scelzi, was named crew
chief.

Randy Beck, the son of former two time NHRA Top Fuel World Champion Gary Beck,
has been signed to drive John Rodeck’s Nostalgia Top Fuel car. Randy will pilot
the Paso Posse car as it contests the new 2008 NHRA Heritage Series.

The
Tacoma, Washington resident has served as a crew member in the past on Rodeck’s
car, but will now assume the driving chores with the departure of former driver
Jack Harris who leaves to field his own Nostalgia Funny Car. Beck’s long
standing desire to follow his father’s footsteps became a reality after
completing his driver’s training under the tutelage of funny car driver Jack
Beckman. Testing in the car will commence immediately, with a competition debut
scheduled for the 50th Annual March Meet at Auto Club Raceway in Bakersfield,
California on March 7-9.

The following are the pre-entries received for the 8th annual CSR Eastern Spring Test Nationals presented by Torco's CompetitionPlus.com hosted by South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Ga. 

In recent days Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com has received a spate of
e-mail messages via one or more e-mail forwarders who promise anonymity
to their users.  Yes, such services actually exist, enabling the sender
to write anything he or she so chooses without fear of revealing the
sender’s name and/or e-mail address.

Please be advised all messages received via forwarding services
promising the senders anonymity are, and will continue to be
immediately discarded via the “Delete” button, and will not be
published or responded to.

In days gone by various message boards and chat rooms devoted to drag
racing permitted their members anonymity, which resulted in an ever
declining quality of “discussion” that quickly devolved into personal
attacks, totally unfounded rumors and a level of animosity that was
frankly surprising in its viciousness.

Torco's CompetitionPlus.com continues to demand “real” names and e-mail
addresses on submitted comments, as without confirmation that the
sender is “real” no such comments will be published or responded to.

After spending a year trying to find an agreeable tune-up for his radical
twin-turbo-charged Pro Mod entry, veteran racer Troy Coughlin has returned his
JEGS.com Pontiac GTO to a conventional super-charged configuration so he can
chase race trophies in earnest from the start of the drag racing season.

Coughlin will keep his turbo dreams alive, but his frustrating struggle
to find success with the little-used turbo combination prompted him to make the
switch for the 2008 Pro Mod Challenge series.

"We're ready to get back to
winning races," said Coughlin, a former national event winner in the popular
class. "We have an incredible team here and these guys all sacrificed a year to
try and figure out the turbo car. It's time for us to get back out there and
have some fun. We have all the people, parts, and pieces in place to be
successful from the start.

The emotional journey that began in Indianapolis when Mike Ashley won the MAC
Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals in a charity fund-raising tribute car ended Saturday
in Scottsdale, Ariz. at the Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction. As the gavel
fell and the auctioneer shouted "Sold!" Phoenix-area construction mogul and car
collector Ron Pratte added the nitro Funny Car to his burgeoning collection at a
price of $130,000 - all going to the Eric Blake Faulkner Foundation charity to
support the Perinatal Loss Program at the St. Vincent Health System Hospital in
Little Rock, Ark.
 
Donnie and Hollie Faulkner created the Foundation in
memory of their stillborn son, Eric Blake, with the single goal of helping other
parents who suffer similar loss. The Faulkners were present at the sale of the
car along with officials from the St. Vincent's Hospital as well as Gotham City
Racing representatives. Mike Ashley was unable to attend the event because of
crucial business and team meetings, but followed the event closely on the
Internet, television and with constant calls and text messages.
 

Doug
Winters and Winters Racing are excited to announce they will be teaming up with
Performance Racing Tools (PRT) for 2008. 
PRT designed and manufactures the Safe Jack, an Air/Hydraulic Auto Lock
Jack system that provides unprecedented safety.

“We
are very pleased to have PRT join our team in 2008.  Their Safe Jack system shows how they can
deliver a superior design that incorporates safety while still being
affordable,” stated Doug Winters.

SATURDAY NOTEBOOK – Weather made for 4.40s, Short-runs highlight day

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK  – Last
chance for testing and full runs

David Allio Photo

Tony Shortall will be working with Dexter Tuttle's team as crew chief.

EVENT NOTEBOOK  

PHOTO GALLERY 

THE SHORT AND ALL OF IT –
Tony Shortall spent much of last season weathering the political
firestorm associated with the team he worked for and subsequently
defected from along with the driver. He followed driver Cory
McClenathan over to a new lease program at Don Schumacher Racing.

This season, Shortall has a change of scenery with Dexter Tuttle’s team.

“I am real excited and there was a little controversy last year, but it
was all good,” Shortall said. “Everything is fine there. I am really
excited about working with Dexter and Alan and the team. We've got a
new sponsor coming on board that hasn't been in motorsports before.
That's real exciting. We've been working a lot on that.”

Every crew chief seeks to place their signature on the tune-up of their
team. For Shortall, this is not a priority for him, considering the
team had a potent tune-up already established.

“We're taking off where Dexter ended up last year,” Shortall said.
“It's been a lot of work since Dexter found out he was going to do a
full time thing. Just preparing the car, getting it car ready, that's
taken up a majority of the time. Putting the signature on it really
hasn't happened yet. I'd like to start off, see what's here and make
some laps and just go from lap to lap before we can do anything like
that.”

Shortall has been around the sport for a while and his resume is extensive.

“I've worked for a number of teams,” Shortall said. “People ask me,
sometimes it’s easier to look out there and see who I haven't worked
for. I came up through the ranks, pretty much started draining the oil,
cleaning tires and just moved up through chief mechanic, assistant crew
chief, co-crew chief. It's been a long journey and Dexter gave me the
opportunity here. I'm really excited about it. It's just been great.”

Drag racing can be a mentoring sport, especially at the crew chief position. So who does Shortall consider as a mentor?

“Well, obviously people see me around with Wes Cerny,” Shortall said.
“Wes and I have worked together extensively. Jim Dunn. Jim and I worked
together for years; more often than not behind the scenes. I like the
old veteran guys.”

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.

The following are the pre-entries received for the 8th annual CSR Eastern Spring Test Nationals presented by Torco's CompetitionPlus.com hosted by South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Ga.