During this off-season, YouTube.com generally draws a lot of
entertainment time from bored drag racing fans. We found two drag
racing related videos that ought to warm your heart when you take into
account just how far the sport has progressed. The first video is circa
1974 with Top Fuel dragster footage reportedly shot at the legendary
Orange County International Raceway. The second features more modern
day footage.

Patrick Heywang, a valued
member of the Wilson Manifolds team, lost his life on Saturday, December 15,
the end result of a fatal automobile accident on December 9.

Heywang underwent several
surgeries during the past week and remained on life support.

“We considered Pat a
family member rather than a 15 year employee at Wilson Manifolds,” said Billy
Carroll of Wilson Manifolds. “His dedication, work ethic and input have been
instrumental to the success Wilson Manifolds has experienced since he joined
the company.  Although Pat’s primary function was in the porting room, his
contributions were felt in every service we offer.  Keith often had Pat
work on special projects because he knew Pat wouldn’t sign off on a project
that was anything less than the best in quality and performance.  Pat’s input was invaluable in our New Product
Development Engineering meetings including our nitrous products.

“Pat was one of our top
airflow engineers and he played a large part in the manifold development for manufacturers
and teams in all forms of professional motorsports. (John Force Racing, Kalitta
Racing, Dodge and Toyota
just to name a few of them)  Keith often
chose Pat to travel with him to the Talladega
test sessions with Joe Gibbs Racing to help with their restrictor plate
program, to Mooresville to assist with the Ken Black Racing Team of Greg
Anderson and Jason Line, and other private test sessions.  In addition to
the high profile teams Pat often worked with, he always enjoyed working with
the weekend racers.

BRISTOL DRAGWAY’S 2008 SCHEDULE FEATURES SEVERAL NEW
EVENTS

With the addition of a number of thrilling new events and the
return of many popular favorites, Bristol Dragway’s action-packed schedule will
keep the strip rocking in 2008 from March through September.

Bristol Dragway’s signature event, the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder
Valley Nationals presented by Q, brings the cars and stars of NHRA to town May
16-18 for one of the most anticipated races of the season.  Those in attendance
will be treated to high-speed action in Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock, as
well as many exhibition and Sportsman classes.  Among the drivers fans can
expect to see are five-time and defending Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher,
defending event champion Brandon Bernstein, and Funny Car star and 2007
Rookie-of-the-Year, Ashley Force. 

The Bristol Dragway Street Fights series returns for its
eighth year and will feature 23 events.  The Street Fights schedule changes
slightly with eight races slated for Saturdays, and the remaining events running
on Thursday evenings.  Street Fights raises the curtain on the 2008 Bristol
Dragway calendar with the season opener on Saturday, March 22.  The final Street
Fights will take place Saturday, September 11.  During the warmer months,
special summer hours at the Saturday events will give drivers the chance to race
longer into the evening. 

In 2002 a tradition began with the presentation of the first Musclecar
Madness at the York Reunion at the York Expo Center, York Fairgrounds
the second weekend of July.  The event has become a tradition, an
annual reunion for the Legends of Drag Racing and for the staff and
management of York DragOWay. The Seventh Annual York Reunion and
Nostalgia Nationals will be presented on July 11-12, 2008 with some
exciting additions of personalities, Legends of Drag Racing, legendary
race cars and participating sponsors. 
 
Joining the lineup of legends to attend the event will be Arnie
"Farmer" Beswick with one of his legendary GTO race cars, Arlen Vanke,
Herb McCandless, Sam Auxier, Jr., Bud Faubel, Ken Montgomery, Jon
Lundberg "The Voice of Drag Racing", Linda Vaughn "Miss Hurst Golden
Shifter", Jungle Pam Hardy, Joe Jacono, Jim & Alison Lee, Jack
Werst, Tom Sneden, Bob Harrop, Dave Reitz, Ed Hedrick,,Jere Stahl,
Wally Bell, Tom Raley, Ed Miller, and the list goes on and on.
 
The show will feature a special "Tribute to Oldsmobile" and an outside
display by the Ford Fairlane Club of America on Friday. A special cameo
Tribute to Elvis will also be presented on Friday evening.

Roy Johnson, engine builder and co-owner of J&J Racing, which
fields the Mopar-powered NHRA POWERade Pro Stock car driven by Roy's
son, Allen Johnson, was recently voted into the NHRA's Southeast
Division 2 Hall of Fame. [Roy] Johnson will be inducted along with
driver Billy Jacobs and veteran motorsports writer Norm Froscher in a
ceremony scheduled for Jan. 5 at Orlando's Florida Hotel and Conference
Center.

[Roy] Johnson bounced back from a heart attack suffered at a NHRA
POWERade event in February and returned at the very next race, tuning
the HEMI engines of his son Allen's Mopar J&J Racing Dodge Stratus
R/T throughout the 2007 campaign. He helped Allen qualify for the new
NHRA Countdown to 1 playoff and post a career best fourth-place finish
in the final NHRA Pro Stock standings. When Allen scored a win at the
Mopar Mile-High Nationals in July, [Roy] Johnson earned his fifth
career NHRA Pro Stock victory as a car owner.

With the final scheduled day of racing on Sunday, December 16,
Rockingham Dragway completed the 2007 season.  Starting the with the
Street Drags and Test and Tune this past January, the Dragway ran an
unprecedented 101 days of racing during this season

“We had a great year and were blessed with the best weather I have
encountered in the sixteen years that I have run The Rock”, said track
owner Steve Earwood.

“We continued with our test and tune program after Thanksgiving, a first for us, taking advantage of a very mild winter”.

Montgomery Motorsports Park promoter Jim Howard is coming out of the
gate strong for 2008 with a "Super Seven" series of races.  The series, set
to begin March 1-2, will feature points for both Pro and Footbrake. 
Howard says the exact purse structure and series sponsors will be announced
soon, but adds that one racer is guaranteed an entry into the 2008 Comp
Cams Million Dollar Race and another will win a free entry into the 3rd
Annual Footbrake Classic to be held at MMP on Thanksgiving weekend
2008.

IHRA and the Knoll Gas Nitro Jam have grown in popularity over the last few
years. Now the sanctioning body’s reach will be as broad as
ever.

From Northern Europe to the
Philippines…Algeria to Uzbekistan the Knoll Gas Nitro Jam is
receiving more worldwide exposure than ever before. IHRA’s television program,
which is broadcast on SPEED across North
America, will be seen on television in almost 50 countries all over
the world.

For the next three weeks, Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com will conduct its inaugural War Stories Showdown presented by Mach Series Accelerator. The veterans of yarn spinning are paired for what promises to be a series destined to produce the finest behind-the-scenes stories.