:::::: News ::::::

PRUDHOMME, ARMSTRONG HONORED BY GOODGUYS

Funny Car legends Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and Dale Armstrong will serve as the
official Hot Rod Heroes of the Goodguys 8th Eagle One Del Mar Nationals, April
4-6 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Both Prudhomme and Armstrong will be on
hand Saturday, April 5th to participate in a special Meet & Greet with fans
as well as sign autographs. Fans will have the opportunity to ask questions
directly to Prudhomme and Armstrong during the Meet & Greet which is
scheduled for 11am at the Fountains inside the Plaza de Mexico.

INTRODUCING THE CAROLINAS NATIONALS

08mthh3054_lg.jpg

dragway_front_lg.jpgUnable to purchase NHRA, Bruton Smith, Chairman and CEO of
Speedway Motorsports, will own the four top facilties on the circuit with the
announcement of the construction of his fourth dragstrip, a facility already
being heralded as the “Crown Jewel” of the NHRA circuit just across the street
from Lowe's Motor Speedway. Smith estimates construction cost will run upwards
of $60 million dollars. With four facilities, Smith will now play host to five
NHRA events, or 20 percent of the schedule.

Appropriately, the NHRA has awarded Smith a premier date to
debut the as yet unnamed facility. The NHRA Carolinas Nationals to be held on
September 11 – 14 will mark the first event in the newly formated NHRA POWERade
Countdown to the Championship; a six race run among the top ten drivers in each
of the pro categories.

SCHUMACHER RIDING IN CIRCLES?

Defending NHRA POWERade
Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher was recently spotted testing a Late Model
stock car at All-American Speedway in Roseville, CA, an activity he had hoped to
keep under the radar.  In truth,
Schumacher was doing nothing more than numerous other drag racers have done for
years.

 

Before he became
legendary for Land Speed efforts and his innovative Indy cars, Mickey Thompson
was a drag racer.  Before he turned heads
at the Indy 500, Danny Ongais was a Funny Car driver, just as are Ron Capps,
Cruz and Tony Pedregon and Gary Scelzi, all of whom have been spending time
going in circles, often in “real” competition.

 

Bill McAnally’s
self-named racing operation fields a series of NASCAR-like stock cars in
northern California.  While he confirmed
Schumacher’s presence at the track, he refused to go into any detail, citing
what he believed to be Schumacher’s desire to keep the whole thing quiet.  However, when we reached Schumacher, he was
more than willing to talk about his experiences.  And besides, we had spy photos
regardless!

PSCA EVENT IN VEGAS CANCELLED

The PSCA Mickey Thompson Tires Winternationals
event scheduled for this weekend (Jan. 25-27) at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway has been cancelled due to difficult travel conditions throughout the
region.  The early cancellation was made so that racers would be spared
unnecessary risk and expense of travel in winter weather conditions.  Severe
storms in California also are affecting weather conditions in Las
Vegas.

"If the PSCA event was strictly for local racers
we would probably go ahead as scheduled and make every effort to complete the
event between rain showers," said Chris Blair, LVMS’ vice president of racing
operations.  "However, more than 80% of the participants at a typical PSCA event
live more than 300 miles from Las Vegas.  We have a lot of racers from Northern
California, Texas, New Mexico, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Colorado who are
facing nearly-impossible travel situations with a pick-up truck or RV towing a
race car trailer."

PHOENIX PHOTO GALLERY

Our staff has just arrived at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Arizona
for the NHRA Time Trials test session. We'll be adding photos to our
gallery as the event progresses.

PHOTO GALLERY 

NO FOUR-LANE CHARLOTTE

David Poole, a highly
respected motorsports journalist from the Charlotte Observer,
recently quoted a visitor’s information packet
regarding the new drag strip that’s being built by Bruton Smith next to Lowe’s
Motor Speedway.  You know, the one that
will host NHRA’s 24th race in September. (A formal press conference
will announce the already obvious on Thursday.) 
According to the information packet, “This groundbreaking new facility
will be the only 4-lane drag strip in the United
States…”

REDELL HARRIS GAINS NFL PLAYER BACKING

The New York Giants and Washington Redskins may be fierce rivals in the
NFL’s NFC East Division, but it won’t prevent Redell Harris from proudly
displaying the numbers of a prominent player from each team on his new Buell Pro
Stock Motorcycle during the 2008 NHRA POWERade Series.

 

Harris, a veteran two-wheel competitor, proudly announced
the formation of his new team, one that features his cousin, Corey Webster, who
happens to play cornerback for the Giants, and good friend LaRon Landry, the
Redskins’ free safety sensation and first team-team NFL All-Rookie Defense. 

 

“We bought two new Buells and we are definitely looking forward to this
season,” said Harris, of Baton Rouge, La. “I have been an independent rider for
10 years, but this is, financially, the best support I’ve ever had.  We also have Master P, The No Limit Records
and Lil’ Romeo, All-Pro Sports, P Miller clothing and P Miller sportswear,
Bazooka Speakers, Peterbuilt of Baton Rouge and Acura and Infinity of Baton
Rouge working with our team.

NHRA HOT ROD HERITAGE SERIES

Cordova Dragway
Park and the NHRA have announced that
a Hot Rod Heritage Series event will be held at historic Cordova Dragway Park
on Friday and Saturday, June 20-21, 2008. The event will be known as the AC
Delco NostalgiaFest of Drag Racing presented by RM Distributing and will
feature Nostalgia Top Fuel and Funny Cars as well as other nostalgia and
bracket classes.

TEXAS RACEWAY GOES ALL CONCRETE

Initial construction has begun at Texas Raceway in a multi-faceted improvement
package highlighted by an all new 1/8 mile concrete racing surface. The new
track is complemented by a fully integrated concrete guard wall barrier that
extends to 1000 ft in both lanes, along with a new burnout box. Race fan amenity
improvements include permanent rest room remodeling. Rounding out the package
are additional pit and return road paving with increased lighting for the pits
and the track.

BILLY GLIDDEN – A BUSY, BUSY MAN

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.

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