Colorful NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle
racer Steve Johnson has a penchant for stepping outside of the circle but
recently he tread where no other drag bike racer has gone before. The Snap-on
Tools rider took an Indy car ride at the 2.38-mile Barber Motorsports
Park.

Johnson took a ride in the
Indy Racing Experience two-seater with former Indianapolis 500 veteran Davey Hamilton
driving.

Melvyn Record, the transplanted Englishman who wrote so authoritatively
for NHRA’s National Dragster before leaving to take a marketing
position with Infineon Raceway in Northern California in 2000, has
again moved on. He’s just been named Marketing & Sales vice
president of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey. Drag racing’s loss
is definitely road racing’s gain, as Record will do his usual
impeccable job on behalf of his new employers.

Jerry Haas may drive Pro Stockers at 200 miles per hour but he learned
a lesson about driving I-75 last Thursday. When you’re driving south,
don’t lift off the gas pedal because the slower pace does not apply to
the freeway.

Haas was delivering a new Chevrolet Cobalt for Kurt Johnson and was
slowing for traffic ahead when a driver tending to a new cell phone
rear-ended his trailer. He wasn’t hurt but is feeling the after-effects
today.

Haas said that he’d slowed to 45 mph while driving in the middle lane to fall in line with traffic ahead of him.

“It hit me so hard that it knocked the cap off of my head,” Haas said.
“The back seat of my duallie truck came flying forward. I told the
officer that he ought to be glad I am a race car driver because I know
how to react. I initially had thought a semi had run into the back of
me.”

Haas glanced in his mirrors and saw the carnage behind him.

The premiere Pro Stock and Pro Modified programs in drag racing just got a whole
lot better.

IHRA and Torco Racing Fuels, the
Evan Knoll-owned fuel company based in Decatur, Mich., have entered into a
three-year agreement that will turn the Torco Racing Fuels Pro Modified Shootout
and the Torco Racing Fuels Pro Stock Showdown into $100,000 contests that will
pit the eight top drivers in each respective class against each other with
$50,000 first prizes on the line. The runner-up will take home $20,000 while
each semifinalist will pocket $9,000. Quarterfinalists will claim $3,000
each.

The Pro Modified Shootout, which is
a point-based eight-car qualified field, will be run off at the Torco Racing
Fuels Northern Nationals held at Knoll
Gas Motorsports Park in Martin, Mich.
next August. The Pro Stock Showdown, with the same qualifying points structure,
will be run off at the Torco President’s Cup Nationals in Budds Creek, Md. Next October.

Drivers in both classes accumulate
points through qualifying position at each Knoll Gas Nitro Jam event. The
drivers must display the proper decals on their car to accumulate points. The
new Shootout and Showdown structures will be in place through the 2010 Knoll Gas
Nitro Jam season.

IHRA president Aaron Polburn is
thrilled with Torco’s increased commitment to these
programs.

After three days of
exciting racing and memories, the California Hot Rod Reunion wrapped up as the
sun set on Sunday evening.

Brad Thompson claimed the
Nostalgia Top Fuel crown by stopping Pete Kaiser in the final round. Thompson
ran a 5.721 elapsed time at 261.62 miles per hour to easily cover Kaiser’s 5.924,
228.54.

The Ford Motor Company will add some flair to this year's Warriors in
Pink campaign by enlisting celebrities to join them in the fight
against cancer by decorating and signing mini Warriors in Pink
Mustangs. These 1/18th-scale models of the recently-launched 2008
Mustang with Warriors in Pink packaging will be auctioned off on
eBay.com from October 15 -25 with all proceeds benefiting Susan G.
Komen for the Cure.

The Force family has joined the fight
against this deadly disease by adding their own personal mark on the
mini-Mustangs. For more information on the auction, please go to
www.ebay.com/warriorsinpink. John Force's wife Laurie and daughters
Ashley, Brittany, and Courtney have added their touch to each of the
cars available in this special auction.

Scruggs Doubles at World Finals; Radford, Hill,
Clark Also Score

The Flowmaster American Drag Racing League closed the books on its 2007 season
and opened up its 2008 campaign over the weekend at Texas Motorplex, with Jason
Scruggs (Pro Extreme), Dennis Radford (Pro Nitrous), Mike Hill (Extreme 10.5)
and Ron Clark (Pro Extreme Motorcycle) winning event titles Saturday night at
the AlphaTrade ADRL World Finals.

One night earlier, Scruggs, Jamie
Hancock (Pro Nitrous), Steve Gorman (Extreme 10.5), and Bill Vose (Pro Extreme
Motorcycle) earned the 2007 ADRL world championships in their respective classes
by winning their three-round AlphaTrade Battle for the Belts eliminators.

Scruggs was the only driver to double-up at the World Finals, finishing
his stellar weekend with a 3.870 to 3.933 win Saturday night over Joey Martin in
the Pro Extreme final. His closest call of the day came in the semifinals, where
Frankie Taylor ran a stout 3.81/197.05 but still lost to Scruggs' 3.79/202.88 in
what was the quickest side-by-side pass in ADRL history.

AlphaTrade ADRL World Finals results

Pro Extreme

Quarterfinals
L-Jason Scruggs, 3.792/202.58
(**Winner**)
R-Travis Swearingen, 3.917/190.40

L-Frankie Taylor,
3.829/193.38 (**Winner**)
R-Bil Clanton, 4.207/143.47

L-Bubba Stanton,
NTR/NSR
R-Mike Neal, 4.780/115.60 (**Winner**)

L-Joshua Hernandez,
3.907/192.52
R-Joey Martin, 3.940/186.92
(**Winner**)