Officially, Robert “Top Gun” Hight lost the NHRA POWERade Funny Car
Championship last year by 19 points, roughly the equivalent of one
racing round. Unofficially, he lost it by .001 of a second, the margin
by which he fell short of the one per cent backup run that would have
certified a season-opening 4.646 second quarter mile as the official
NHRA national record and earned him a 20-point bonus.

Instead, Hight had to settle for posting the two quickest runs in Funny
Car history (4.646 at Pomona, Calif., and 4.636 at Phoenix, Ariz.),
winning more racing rounds than anyone else (34 rounds to 30 for
champion Tony Pedregon) and qualifying No. 1 a category-best eight
times at the wheel of the Jimmy Prock-prepared Automobile Club of
Southern California Ford Mustang.

In any other year, such a performance would have earned the 38-year-old
a championship and the accompanying $500,000 bonus. In 2007, the first
year of NHRA’s controversial Countdown to the Championship playoff
system, all it got him was a second consecutive runner-up finish, the
admiration of a growing number of racers and fans and memories of what
might have been.

Doug
Herbert, owner and driver of the SnaponFranchise.com Top Fuel dragster,
will begin the 2008 NHRA POWERade season with one goal in mind: to win
the championship, and to win it for his boys.

After tying for his career best points finish in 2007, Herbert arrived
at a preseason test session in Phoenix prepared to make a statement.
With a brand new car, a new crew chief and a positive outlook, things
seemed bound to head Herbert’s way. Then Saturday dawned, and Herbert
received the call every parent fears.

His sons, Jon, 17, and James, 12, died instantly after their vehicle
collided head-on with a second vehicle. Herbert immediately left
Phoenix to be at home with his daughter,

Coming off fresh from a superb preseason testing sequence, Morgan Lucas
is ready to reinstate his name among the 2008 title-contenders for the
prerogative to be included in the elite class of the Countdown to the
Championship.

That starts with the season-opening kick-off this weekend at the Auto
Club Raceway at Pomona’s running of the 48th annual CarQuest Auto Parts
Winternationals

His Morgan Lucas Racing team-led team reeled off consistent 4.50-passes
in Phoenix with his best of the test resulting in a run of 4.548
seconds at a speed of 329.99 mph.

Plenty of changes will greet fans, teams and drivers when the NHRA POWERade Series opens its second Countdown to the Championship at the 48th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Feb. 7-10.

The event, which will be telecast on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD, is the first in an 18-race regular season, and that’s the first change.

In 2007, drivers negotiated a three-tier season that culminated in a two-race run for the title (Las Vegas 2, Pomona 2). Now only one cut separates the championship-contenders from the spoilers, in what proves to be an eat-or-be-eaten Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend. Points will be re-set, but the drivers leading in four categories (Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle) will be given a 20-point (or one-round) bonus for their efforts in the regular season. Ten drivers in each category will make the cut, up from eight last year.

It's hard to start the
season on a roll but that's exactly the position reigning NHRA POWERade Pro
Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. finds himself in heading into this weekend's
2008 season-opener in Pomona, Calif. Just days ago in Las Vegas, Coughlin used
expert driving and a strong tune-up to log a victory at the Pontiac Showdown
test session. Added to his title-clinching win last November at Auto Club
Raceway in Pomona, Coughlin arrives at the birthplace of drag racing looking for
his third win in a row.

 "One year ago we came into Pomona with just three
races under our belts," Coughlin said. "We were basically a start-up team. But
everyone on this crew is a veteran and I think that showed over the course of
the year. To me, it's not a surprise to be running the way we are at the moment
because I see the dedication and determination of this group. It was awesome to
win the title last year but we're not done by any means."

Coughlin and
his JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt rolled to numerous milestones in 2007. Aside from
winning his third NHRA POWERade Pro Stock title of the last eight years and his
fourth world title overall (he also won the 1992 Super Gas crown), Coughlin
managed to win four races in eight final rounds during the season. The second to
last win, which occurred in Brainerd, Minn., was Coughlin's 50th overall, making
him just one of seven professional racers to reach that plateau in 57 years of
NHRA history.

After an over two year relationship with his former primary
marketing partner Jagermeister, the company made an abrupt change of plans in
late 2007. While the company still wanted a relationship with Naylor and Naylor
Racing, their reduced level of support hindered Naylor’s long term plans of
moving forward and growing his team. In what is a shock to most, Naylor
declined their offer and decided to carry on and look for another company to
co-market.

Naylor’s work ethic and overall attention to detail didn’t
go unnoticed.

It’ no surprise; he, his wife Jane and entire team promoted
Jagermeister endlessly, through numerous appearances, both on and off track
events, as well as his very popular hospitality area as it was hard to miss the
familiar orange and black.

Now on the midst of beginning his third full year in the
NHRA PowerAde Drag Racing Series, this fan favorite will be flying the colors
of a new primary marketing partner, Phoenix
based, VegasFuel Energy Drink. For Naylor, he couldn’t be happier.

He's had a good off-season he says, but Ron Capps is ready for the 2008
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series to begin at this weekend's NHRA
Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif.

Driving the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car in 2008, his
fourth year with Don Schumacher Racing, the California native is eager
to get back to the challenge of claiming his first Funny Car
championship since beginning his pro career in 1995. He'll also be
facing some changes and variables this season, in particular at this
opening event.

"It's been a great off-season," said Capps, who came off a
disappointing fourth-place finish in last year's all-new Countdown to
the Championship playoffs after leading the standings most of the
season. "We have a new sponsor on board with NAPA AUTO PARTS, which is
awesome. And sometimes you don't go very far into the off season before
you're ready to go racing again. But after last year and competing in
the Countdown to One, I really felt I needed some rest. It was pretty
grueling at the end.

Defending CarQuest Auto Parts Winternationals champion, J.R. Todd is
glad 2007 is finally behind him regardless of having a superlative
season.  He claimed two victories out of three final round appearances
and was among the elite of the first cut of the NHRA POWERade Countdown
to the Championship.

Although, he began a banner year with the Top Fuel points lead in hand,
with Pomona race wins over Melanie Troxel, Doug Kalitta, David Grubnic,
and against great friend and competitor, Brandon Bernstein in the
finals of the season-opening event.  However, it didn’t take long for
many detours to change his point of direction.  Shortly after his
season-opening win, crew chief, Jimmy Walsh departed the Dexter Tuttle
racing group and then Johnny West was tapped to lead him into another
final round and win in Houston.

He reached his third final at Topeka for the O’Reilly Summer Nationals
with then, third crew chief Kevin Poynter, which carried him to an
eighth-place finish in the POWERade Championship.

Tim Wilkerson is hopeful that it will be a good year for his Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevrolet Impala SS.

Wilkerson ended last season on a strong surge, earning a couple of No.
1 qualifying spots, numerous round wins, and several awards given for
outstanding performance. Wilk and his talented team showed that they
had his fuel coupe in top shape and a force to be reckoned with. But
it’s a new year with new rules and requirements, and Wilkerson knows
that things change quickly in his split-second world. However, he is
anxiously anticipating the new season with optimistic enthusiasm.

“I’m hoping we can start the new season, the way we left off last year,
winning a few rounds of racing,” said Wilkerson. “We had a good chance
to win that last race in Pomona last fall, but just came up one round
short. So, we’re optimistic for this year. We’ve got a new guy on the
team, so the first thing we’re going to do is get him settled in where
the car is consistent again.”

One of the rules changes for the fuel cars for 2008 is a return to
allowing them to run 90-percent nitromethane. Several years ago when
the teams ran 90 percent, Wilkerson had a firm handle on his 7,000
horsepower machine, and he’s hoping that handle will return.

The North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Fame committee
inducted five new members in Greensboro, North Carolina today. Steve Earwood
gave the opening remarks and Mark Joyce introduced the presenters.

Stephen Denton presented the first award to his father, Harold
Denton. Herb McCandless’s son Herb McCandless, Jr. also presented the award to
his father.

Long time friend and associate Thomas Popowich presented Ray
Price his award and Price nearly broke into tears as he thanked the committee
and the large crowd gathered in the banquet hall.