FUNNY CAR DRIVER WILKERSON GRABS NO. 1 SPOT; SCHUMACHER
AND LINE ALSO NO.1 FRIDAY NIGHT AT BRISTOL

The largest crowd in
Bristol Dragway history watched independent Funny Car racer Tim Wilkerson knock
off all the heavyweights to lead Friday's qualifying action at the seventh
annual O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Q.

Wilkerson's 4.819 at
321.42 mph placed him alongside Top Fuel leader Tony Schumacher and Pro Stock's
Jason Line on the top qualifiers podium.

Racing without the
benefit of a teammate or a big-name sponsor, Wilkerson showed the little guy can
still hang with the big dogs, if only for a day. If his run stands, Wilkerson
will have a chance at his first No. 1 qualifying award since the Brainerd race
in 2004.

"The
people are usually pretty excited when they see an independent guy run good,"
said Wilkerson, who received an ovation from his peers when he towed back to the
pits. "There are a lot of teams in the Funny Car and Top Fuel ranks that give us
a lot of help. Don Schumacher has been letting me run his blower dyno here
lately. He'll probably lock the doors now on me but I hope not. There's a group
out here that pulls for the little guy and I think that's cool."

John
Force continues to qualify well, earning the fifth spot here with a 4.853 at
292.46 mph in his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang. Daughter Ashley is 15th
with a 4.923.

NHRA, Motel 6, BRUT® and
Nitro Fish Wear have teamed up to select the Motel 6 “Ultimate Nitro Fan” at
ten events on the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series schedule.  In conjunction with the “Ultimate Nitro Fan”
experience, the BRUT® and Nitro Fish Wear teams have offered access to their
teams.  Fans can register for the
“Ultimate Nitro Fan” sweepstakes online at NitroRaceFan.com or link to the
registration Web site through Motel6.com, BrutRacing.com, Nitrofish.com or
NHRA.com.

“We’ve been involved in many
motorsports series, and it seems drag racing fans are the most passionate about
their racing,” said Eric Studer, senior vice president of marketing services
for Accor North America. “Last year’s Ultimate Nitro Fan promotion was a big
success for Motel 6 and all our co-op partners. 
This year we’ll work with our good friends at Brut and Nitro Fish.”

In advance of the Mopar
Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver,
Colorado on July 14-15, a fan
will be chosen as the Motel 6 “Ultimate Nitro Fan.”  The “Ultimate Nitro Fan” and their guest will
receive two tickets for the Saturday and Sunday of the event, a full,
NHRA-guided tour of the track and its facilities, and will meet FRAM Top Fuel
dragster driver Cory McClenathan.

Master
tuner Rahn Tobler has had an exceptional career, and in the last couple
of seasons had Doug Kalitta in the championship hunt until the last
rounds of the last races. But, circumstances change, and Tobler
departed the Kalitta Racing operation after the Gatornationals, only to
land a short time later (just in time for the Las Vegas race) at Morgan
Lucas Racing. However, mere weeks after joining the team he moved on, a
decision made by the team owner.

We caught up with him in the pits at SREMP for a few questions.

Cory McClenathan and the Scott Griffin Motorsports Top Fuel team will
have a decidedly different look in their return to Bristol Dragway for
the O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals, Friday through Sunday.

231 years ago representatives of the original thirteen colonies laid
the foundation for a country that would come to be known as the land of
the free and the home of the brave.
 
This is more than just a day to illuminate the sky with fireworks. It’s a day of reflection and honor.
 
On this Fourth of July, the family of Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com
encourages you to pause in remembrance of those brave souls who stood
up for our freedom by declaring our independence from England on this
fateful day in 1776.
 
And pause as well to remember the brave soldiers who have stood on
battlefields around the world since that day to preserve freedom for
generations to come.
 
While Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com reaches a diverse world audience it
is very important that we make it crystal clear that we have an undying
patriotism when it comes to the country we are so proud to call home. 
 
Remember our troops as you celebrate this Independence Day. Pray for them, as well as for all POW/MIA and military families.
 
We are blessed to enjoy this day of freedom, and we wish you and yours a great Fourth. 
 
Sincerely,
 
The Staff of Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com

The Drag Racing Association of Women (DRAW) continues to be the most
unheralded organization dedicated to helping the families of every
injured drag racer, yet they continue to do their remarkable work in a
sort of media vacuum. Everyone even remotely connected to the sport
understands what this remarkable group of volunteers does, yet the
media pays very little attention, and racing’s officials, while openly
supportive, have long since ceased making their annual $25,000
contribution. Without that support the efforts of the women – and yes,
there are a number of men also involved – are more important now than
ever before.

We caught up with Rosalee Noble and her husband, Terry, at the Summit
Racing Equipment Nationals at SREMP (ah, what the heck, let’s just call
it what it is – Norwalk), and got this report. Noble reports that the
group took in slightly more than $59,000 at their annual auction that
took place during the Joliet race, stating, “We were very pleased with
the results.

As Funny Car points leader Ron Capps aims to solidify a place in the top eight
for the new Countdown to the Championship playoff beginning at the U.S.
Nationals on Labor Day, his familiar Brut Dodge Charger will sport Valvoline
colors at this weekend's O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol,
Tenn.

This is the second of four venues this season at which a Don
Schumacher Racing Funny Car will carry the Valvoline red, white and
blue.

"At Valvoline we are psyched for Bristol!" said Rob Stravitz, vice
president for global brands at Valvoline. "We have NHRA Funny Car points leader
Ron Capps running the Valvoline red, white and blue paint scheme and we have all
the DSR drivers running with Valvoline.

"We also have a stellar lineup
of Sportsman racers in Valvoline colors, and we have thousands of Valvoline
consumers watching the race in the stands and on ESPN2," added Stravitz. "If
that were not enough, Valvoline is the Official Motor Oil at
Bristol."

Despite an inauspicious start to the 2007 NHRA POWERade season, Tommy Johnson
Jr. and his Don Prudhomme Racing team have the Skoal Racing Chevy Impala SS
hitting on all cylinders as they make a final push to make the final eight for
the Countdown to the Championship at this weekend's 7th annual O'Reilly NHRA
Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.  Johnson has qualified in the top
half of the ultra-competitive Funny Car field for the last five NHRA contests
including his eighth career No. 1 qualifier at Englishtown two weeks ago.  Even
more impressively, the Skoal Racing team overcame a first-round fire at
Englishtown and parlayed the season's first No. 1 qualifier into the team's
first win of the season.  Although Johnson stubbed his toe with a first-round
loss at Norwalk after qualifying fourth, the Avon, Ind., resident sits ninth in
points and likes the turnaround the team has made heading into the final six
races that det ermine the eight qualifiers for the Countdown to the
Championship.

"We're heading in the right direction," Johnson said.  "At
Topeka we went back in a different direction (with the car), and it took us a
race or two to actually get the tune-up back to where we knew how to make a
run.  We had changed so many things that it took us a little awhile to get the
thing back to where we knew how to run it.  Now, it really responds.  When (crew
chief) Mike (Green) makes a change to the car, it does what he tells it. 
Earlier in the year, he'd make a change and it really wouldn't do anything. 
Once we got the problem solved and started tuning the race car, it made all the
difference in the world.  And the better downforce (with the new Impala SS) we
have over what we had last year has allowed us to run much better half-track
speeds.  Even though we've struggled, we've learned along the way what makes
this thing tick, and we're now reaping the rewards from that.

After a
season-low points position of 15th after Atlanta, Johnson finds himself just 10
points out of the coveted elite eight and gives all the credit for the season's
turnaround to the hard work and dedication of his Skoal Racing team.

Mike
Dunn was a darn good driver when he was competing in either Top Fuel or
Funny Car, but he’s clearly found a home behind the microphones of the
ESPN network. His insightful commentary on the POWERade broadcasts has
probably expanded the sport’s reach to a new audience. We caught up
with him in the pits, figuring if he was interviewing people, we could,
like, turn the tables on him for a change.