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

SHAV GLICK PASSES

Long time Los Angeles
Times
motorsports writer Shav Glick has passed
away at his home in Southern California.
 
Friends have confirmed
that Glick’s health had seriously deteriorated in the last few weeks, resulting
in a steady and apparently inexorable decline.
 
He was
85.

 

Glick was among NHRA Drag Racing’s best
friends and strongest supporters.
  Under his leadership Southern California’s largest circulation
daily newspaper regularly covered West Coast national events and other
news.
  It was
for those reasons, as well as many others, that the Media Center at Auto Club
Raceway in Pomona had been named in his honor years
ago.

FORCE OUTLOOK BRIGHTER

JohnForceCarTransfer.JPGDrag racing champion John Force, seriously injured in a Sept. 23rd crash at
Texas Motorplex, praised the medical staff at Baylor University Medical Center
and the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation Friday and demonstrated his daily
physical therapy regimen in advance of an expected Saturday release.
 
 Force, 58, suffered a compound fracture of the left ankle, broken right
foot, broken and mangled fingers on his right hand, ligament and tendon damage
to the right knee and a badly dislocated left wrist when his drag racing Funny
Car crashed at a speed exceeding 300 miles per hour.
 
 Despite his injuries, the 14-time NHRA Funny Car Champion is expected to
fly home to Yorba Linda, Calif., Saturday, 16 days after entering physical
therapy and 27 days after suffering the worst accident of his 30-year career. 
He will receive further physical therapy in his home state in anticipation of
returning to competition in the 2008 season.

NHRA PRO MOD SHOOTOUT PAIRING CALL

First round pairings in the $50,000 ProCare Rx Pro Mod Clash will be randomly
drawn at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, Tuesday, October 23 in a live conference call open
to the first 100 fans who call in to join the conference. The dial in number and
Bridge Code will be posted on the series website, www.AMSpromods.com, on Monday,
October 22.
 
Participating in the call will be the eight drivers
qualified for the ProCare Rx Clash along with ProCare Rx Chairman and CEO Roger
Burgess. The drivers include Josh Hernandez, Tim Tindle, Jay Payne, Tony
Pontieri, John Russo, Steve Engel, Raymond Commisso, and Scott Ray. (Ray was
included in the field after it was determined that Shelly Payne, who had
qualified, would be unable to compete.)
 
"We wanted to do something fun
and let the fans listen in on the excitement, too," Series Director, Matthew
Brammer, said.

FRIDAY ROCKINGHAM QUALIFYING

A Good Start for Litton; Pulls Closer to T.J. Zizzo atop the Top Fuel Points Standings

littonDSB_7159.jpgBruce
Litton's Top Fuel Dragster didn't quite make the full distance on his
first qualifying run at the IHRA World Finals presented by The U.S. Air
Force at Rockingham Dragway Friday evening, but his engine lasted just
long enough to make him the provisional No. 1 qualifier and earn five
bonus points as "The Last Man Standing" for Top Fuel. Current Top Fuel
points leader T.J. Zizzo could only manage a fourth-place in the first
of three qualifying sessions for the IHRA finale, reducing his margin
in the championship chase to just 21 points.

In other eliminators, Pete Berner earned the "Quarter-Max Pro Stock
Challenge" bonus points to narrow No. 1-qualfier Robert Patrick's lead
in the season-long points Pro Stock battle to just 14 points; while Bob
Gilbertson, Mitch King and Rob Atchison King earned both the No.1 spot
and the bonus points in Nitro Funny Car, Pro Modified and Alcohol Funny
Car, respectively.

NEW FC DRIVER SET FOR VEGAS DEBUT

Former sportsman racer James Day will make his Funny Car debut at the
upcoming seventh annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals behind the
wheel of Dave and Lynda Smith's Funny Car. Chris Nance will serve as
Day's crew chief.

The 29-year-old Day has driven in both alcohol
categories and in Nostalgia Top Fuel before earning his Funny Car
license, an opportunity he had been pursuing for as long as he can
remember.

"This is a dream come true," Day said Day. "Struggling
to find a ride in the fuel ranks can feel like running head-on into a
brick wall, so it's great to have the chance to be part of an
up-and-coming team. We're going to try to put on a good show in Vegas
and Pomona and use the events as a tune-up for next year. We are also
using these races to entertain potential sponsors for the 2008 season."

KENNY BERNSTEIN EXTENDS NEW YORK, NEW YORK ASSOCIATION

For the third consecutive NHRA national event at The Strip at Las Vegas
Motor Speedway, Kenny Bernstein has extended his team’s official hotel
relationship with New York-New York Hotel & Casino.

GM RACERS DO GERMANY USO TOUR

For the third consecutive year, five ambassadors from the National Hot Rod
Association will take part in a USO-sponsored goodwill trip to visit wounded
American troops and Air Force/Army personnel stationed at the Kaiserslautern
Military Community (KMC) in Germany. Just days following the completion of the
43rd annual Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., on Nov. 4, six-time NHRA
Pro Stock champion Warren Johnson, two-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Jim Yates,
Top Fuel drivers Melanie Troxel and Cory McClenathan, and Funny Car driver Tommy
Johnson Jr. will depart the United States for a post-season support mission to
the KMC that will include a visit to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center
(LRMC).

WATCH VIDEO - NHRA Drivers' Group Visits Spangdahlem Air Base,
Nov. 2006 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVSkR4jCmS0

For more than 66 years, the USO (United Service Organizations) has been
providing morale, welfare and recreational services to U.S. military personnel
and their families. The USO is a nonprofit, charitable organization, relying on
the generosity of the American people to support its programs and services. The
USO will once again be providing air transportation (as it did in 2005-06) for
the group's trip to Germany, and GM Racing will ship 1,500 souvenir gift bags to
KMC for distribution during the visit. The 435th Services Squadron at Ramstein
AB will host the NHRA drivers and provide transportation and logistics support
during their three-day stay in Germany.

SPY PHOTO - FORD NITRO ENGINE

ford_nitro_engine.jpg

Here's the first look at Ford's new nitro engine. Ford's Dan Davis and
John Medlen posed beside the engine that is expected to be unveiled
soon at the SEMA show. Licensing driver Mike Neff put the engine
through its initial paces on Thursday during a test session in Las
Vegas.

MIKE EDWARDS SHOWCASES PENHALL

edwards_02.jpg

Mike Edwards Motorsports will showcase a special
commemorative Penhall Company paint scheme for the final two events of 2007.
Edwards will carry the distinctive logo and colors of the Penhall Company, that
is recognized as one of the leading specialty contractors in the United States,
to celebrate Penhall’s involvement with his team and the sport of drag racing.

“As a team we are proud to have the Penhall Company as one
of our sponsors and to compete under their brand name in Las
Vegas and Pomona
is a way for my race team to thank them for the commitment to the growth of
drag racing.

“The Penhall Company has played a major role in my team's mission of
reaching kids around the country," Edwards continued. "We are honored
to represent the Penhall Company and be part of that groups marketing strategy
in the drag-racing arena."

2008 IHRA SCHEDULE RELEASED

Eighth Mile National Event to Open
2008 Knoll Gas Nitro Jam Schedule

San Antonio Raceway will be the site
of a historical season opener for IHRA as for the first time in history a major
drag racing sanctioning body will host a scheduled 1/8th mile
national event. The Amalie Oil Texas Nationals will take place April 4-6 in San Antonio, bringing
IHRA racing to the 1/8th mile strip for the third time ever. Track
conditions caused two events on the ‘07 Knoll Gas Nitro Jam schedule to be
switched from quarter-mile events to the 1/8th mile and the response
from fans, sponsors and racers opened IHRA officials’ eyes to the possibility
of scheduling a race under this format.

“Last season we really learned
something in San Antonio,”
IHRA president Aaron Polburn said. “While the quarter-mile has been the
standard drag race for a long time, we learned an 1/8th mile
national event is a viable, exciting format. The buzz and excitement the Amalie
Oil Texas
Nationals generated caused us to take a good, hard look at this format. We’re
very excited to grow this race and build our 1/8th mile national
event slate in the future.”

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