For drag racing veteran Scott Kalitta, driver of the 7,000-horsepower,
nitro-fueled DHL Funny Car, this weekend’s annual running of the Checker
Schuck’s Kragen NHRA Nationals at Firebird Int’l Raceway in Phoenix, Ariz., has
the potential to be cause for multiple celebrations in the desert.

This Sunday, as final eliminations of the Checker Schuck’s Kragen NHRA
Nationals will be thrilling race fans with the most exciting form of auto racing
in the world, Scott’s dad and Kalitta Motorsports patriarch Connie “the Bounty
Hunter” Kalitta, a drag racing icon, will also be celebrating his milestone 70th
birthday at the place where he is most widely known and comfortable – the race
track.

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. 

Chock full of bad memories; this year could provide a reversal of fortunes

Some memories are just better forgotten. Easier said than done when
you’re NHRA Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson and the subject of the 2007
Checker Schuck’s Kragen NHRA Nationals comes up in conversation.

In one weekend, Johnson not only failed to qualify for the only time in
the 2007 season but also sat helplessly as his father and engine
builder Roy Johnson was transported to the hospital, the victim of a
near-fatal heart attack while working at the track.

With his father by his side, Johnson views his return to this year’s
Checker Schuck’s Kragen NHRA Nationals, scene of one of the worst
weekends of his racing career, as a time of rebirth and celebration.

“We’ve got Dad an appointment early Thursday morning with the people
who saved his life. They’re going to check him out and give him a
physical,” said Johnson of his father, who had to be rushed from the
track last year to a local hospital and was shocked back to life by
doctors. The elder Johnson didn’t miss a beat, however, and was back
turning the wrenches on his son’s Mopar/J&J Racing Dodge Stratus
R/T Pro Stock car at the next event, the NHRA Gatornationals.

NHRA Funny Car racer suprisingly rewarded Ford engineer with Winternationals trophy

Robert Hight surprised Ford engineer Niranjan Singh with his winning trophy at Pomona.  

Niranjan Singh immersed himself in the
technology associated with developing a safer NHRA Funny car chassis.
The racing engineer, who toils under the Ford Racing Technology
umbrella, did so without regard to gaining personal recognition.

Instead, he remained adamantly dedicated to protecting NHRA POWERade
Funny Car drivers from the same harmonics issue that killed Eric Medlen
last March.

Singh helped the John Force Racing team re-design its chassis for the
2008 season, and has been instrumental in developing additional safety
features for all the nitro Funny Cars.

Because of the relentless dedication Singh gave to the project, JFR
driver Robert Hight deemed it necessary to reward the behind-the-scenes
player.

Hight surprised many by giving his winning trophy to Singh.  The most surprised was the engineer himself.

NHRA Pro Stock champion
aims for win No. 53 in Phoenix

There’s usually no
second-guessing in the winner’s circle. That’s why Greg Anderson knew bringing
out his new Pontiac GXP at the season-opening NHRA Winternationals in Pomona,
California two weeks ago was the best decision.

Never mind the fact
Anderson had a less than satisfactory period of time to cultivate the new
Pontiac, he couldn’t be stopped on Sunday in Pomona.

"We had doubts
whether we should bring the new GXP to Pomona or not because we didn't feel we
had enough time to prepare a new car," Anderson confirmed. "We had a
great test session at Las Vegas at the Pontiac Pro Stock Showdown and we
learned a lot of stuff about it. Obviously it's going to be a great hot rod.
It's already looking fantastic and it should only get better. My hat's off to
the boys at Pontiac - they built that beast.

Mick Snyder and the Snyder
Motorsports Top Alcohol Funny Car Team is gearing up for the 2008 season and
they are proud to announce that Lucas Oil, Jeg’s, The Winning Team and Spitzer
Enterprises will be on board.  In what has been a whirlwind off-season full of
surprises, the Team has been busy trying to prepare for what they hope will be
their most successful season yet.

Since entering the Top Alcohol Funny
Car class full time in 2004, the Team has earned 3 Division 3 Top Alcohol Funny
Car Championships and 3 Top 10 finishes.  In an up and down season last year,
the Team finished 2nd in the Division 3 championship chase and earned
its 3rd straight Spitzer Low Qualifier Series
Championship.

TASCA EXCITED FOR ROUND TWO OF
RACING THIS WEEKEND AT FIREBIRD

Bob Tasca III can’t wait
for this weekend. The freshman Funny Car driver gained his license at Firebird
International Raceway just three weeks ago.

In Tasca’s world, three weeks
can be a lifetime – especially when you qualify for your first event, win your first
round of competition and sit fifth in the NHRA POWERade point standings.

“I’m excited to get back
to Phoenix, particularly with the tune-up we
have in the race car coming out of Pomona,
“ said Tasca. “We learned a lot at our test in Phoenix and we have high expectations for the
weekend.”

The three week journey for
Tasca, from licensed to unlicensed, Phoenix to Pomona and back to Pomona, has provided
a pressure cooker situation at times for the Motorcraft-sponsored driver and his
newly assembled crew led by Mike Kloeber.

“There’s no question that
first event had everyone on overload,” said Tasca. “We went into the event a
little uncertain on our tune-up, but now the team and my crew chiefs have a
chance to make decisions off of those solid runs.

More runs will only make the new Ford Boss 500 Nitro Engine Better

The Ford Boss 500 engine made its competition debut two weeks ago at
the NHRA POWERade season-opener at Pomona in Mike Neff’s Old Spice
Funny Car Mustang. Crew chief John Medlen says he was very encouraged
by what the new engine showed.

“We were extremely pleased with the overall package,” said Medlen. “The
durability appears to be up.  The performance is certainly there.  I
think one of our biggest wrestling matches [that] weekend was getting a
grasp on the power.  The power level is up.  So, we’re very pleased so
far.”

At this point in the game, Medlen says they’ll improve the Ford Boss 500’s performance as they gain experience.

Winning should never make a driver nervous, especially a three-time
world champion. But winning the NHRA Winternationals two weeks ago left
Tony Schumacher feeling a bit nervous.

The kind of success Schumacher experienced in the Pomona season-opener
gave cause for concern. Quite simply, Schumacher is largely considered
to be a late bloomer in the championship chase.

“I began to think that this is not typical of how we begin a season,”
he said with a chuckle. “We usually start slow. Suddenly, the tables
were turned. I really didn’t know how to deal with that.”

Schumacher has a unique tradition going on. If he loses in the first or
second round (at least in the last three seasons), he usually thunders
to a championship ten months later.