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

JOHNSON RACING FOR MINNESOTA VICTIMS

Thu, 2007-08-09 10:09

There are incidents that tug at the heart strings of the most seasoned
individuals. For Steve Johnson, witnessing the most recent tragedy in
Minnesota hit him hard, especially headed into
this weekend's NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minnesota.        

 
“When the NHRA POWERade Series travels the nation we’re all
very interested to see how much publicity the series and the competitors
generate,” he said from his race shop in Alabama.  “But, as anxious as all of us are with
producing positive results for our sponsors and the series, when you see
something like the news that came out of Minneapolis last week about the bridge
collapse on I-35, it puts everything into sharper focus, into a different
perspective.
            
“When that news broke
it stunned everyone on our race team.  Our first thoughts were, Have we lost anyone
we know?  Anyone who’s part of the drag
racing family?  But, we quickly realized
that this was about much more than drag racing.  Reading the newspaper stories, and watching
the coverage on television, you couldn’t help but notice how all of Minnesota
had suddenly become one big family, and we realized that a whole state had
become the same kind of close-knit family that all of us in drag racing feel
we’re a part of.

BRUCE NEW MCGAFFIC DRIVER

Thu, 2007-08-09 09:48
Following the resignation of former team driver Paul Lee, the J&B
Motorsports IHRA Torco Pro Nitro Funny Car team reached an eleventh hour
agreement with Michigan local Rob Bruce to drive during this past weekend's IHRA
Torco Race Fuels Nationals at Knoll Gas Motorsports Park just outside of Grand
Rapids, Mich.  Despite limited experience, Team Owners Jeff and Bonnie McGaffic
were impressed at how quickly the driver they dubbed 'Ricky Bobby' adapted to
their 8,000 HP Nitro Funny Car this past weekend.
 
As of the Thursday prior to the event, the team was
without a driver.  Fellow Nitro Funny Car and Top Fuel racer Mitch King referred
Bruce, from nearby Flint, Mich., to the McGaffic's.
 
"We tried to call several drivers to come in and
drive for us this weekend," explained McGaffic.  "None of the drivers we knew
that would fit the car were available to drive the whole weekend.  Mitch told us
about this guy Rob Bruce who lived a few hours from the track and was a
competent driver with an IHRA license and would fit the car.  We called him on
Friday and he dropped what he was doing and showed up at the track a few hours
later.  Needless to say, we were impressed with his zeal and commitment from the
get-go."
 
"We missed the Friday session getting him fitted
for the car," McGaffic continued.  "While getting things ready to go for
Saturday, he kept talking about wanting to go fast, so we nicknamed him "Ricky
Bobby."  He was a great guy and worked well with our team.  We had a lot of fun
with him."

KORETSKY SIGNS DEAL FOR READING

Thu, 2007-08-09 09:46

Ransome Cat has signed a one-race associate sponsor agreement with the Greg
Hill-owned, Kenny Koretsky-driven Indicom Electric/Nitro Fish Pro Stock Chevy
Cobalt team for the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Reading, Pa., Aug. 16-19.
Koretsky and Wendell Wigley, vice president of Sales-Construction for
Giles-Ransome, announced the transaction Wednesday.

KNOLL AND BLACK TEAM UP FOR INDY

Wed, 2007-08-08 21:52

torco_300.jpg

Evan Knoll and Ken Black
have something huge planned for the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis on Labor Day Weekend. And our brave
military personnel, as well as their families, will be the beneficiaries.

Knoll and Black are joining forces to adorn
the Top Fuel Dragster driven by Hillary Will with a special “Support Our Troops And Their
Families” paint scheme. The two say the perfect time to convey such a
message is at the largest drag race of the year in the United States.

 

Knoll currently sponsors a
dragster driven by Melanie Troxel that honors the War Veterans and the National
League of POW-MIA families. He’s joining Black in this program which supports today’s
military, and says he's the perfect man to partner with.

 

SCHUMACHER ON LARRY KING LIVE

Wed, 2007-08-08 12:10

Tony Schumacher has
learned the secret for a drag racer to be featured on CNN’s Larry King Live. One
must survive a horrific crash and live to tell about it.

With the recent horrific
crash of IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti and Jake Brown’s 45-foot skateboard
fall during the X Games, Schumacher was invited to share his experiences with
high speed mishaps.

Give credit to Schumacher’s
ace pr rep Chris Dorato for interjecting Schumacher and drag racing into the
mix.

“I like Larry King more
than most because it isn’t a disrespectful show,” Schumacher said. “The real
question is how we pull this off. It won’t be a mockery of the sports we
compete in. That’s the reason I chose to do it.”

ABRUZZI WINS MOSER AXLE MANIA

Wed, 2007-08-08 11:26

Marco Abruzzi took home $22,500 this past weekend when he defeated
Scotty Stillings in the final round of the Moser Axle Mania, the
biggest sportsman program of the year.

“I
have had the good fortune at winning some big races in my career. But this by
far takes the cake. Thank you so much to everyone at Moser Engineering and IHRA
for making this race possible,” said Abruzzi. “My
Camaro was just unreal this weekend. It was really impressive to watch a McAmis
car win the Pro Mod Shootout and then the Moser Axle Mania race,” Abruzzi said.
“I definitely want to thank everyone at Summit Racing Equipment for their
continued support, my crew and family, as well as the customers of Abruzzi
Racing Transmissions.”

FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN, FORD STYLE

Wed, 2007-08-08 09:18

Fifteen years has provided a lot of memories for Ford enthusiasts at
Bristol, but the sixteenth edition this year may have topped them all.
With some close heads up racing, dramatic story lines and fresh faces
in the Winner’s Circle, this will surely go down as one of the more
memorable events of the year.

SCELZI WEIGHS IN; SCHUMACHER CLARIFIES

Tue, 2007-08-07 14:56

After originally stating that Todd Okahara would replace Mike Neff as the tuner for Gary Scelzi and Phil Shuler would assume the sole duties as crew chief on Jack Beckman's entry, Don Schumacher has revised his plan to ensure both cars will be tuned by both. Mike Neff will remain in an advisory role. 

"Mike Neff is an extremely talented crew chief, and everyone of us at Don
Schumacher Racing wishes him well next season in his new position," said
Schumacher. "The entire DSR operation is filled with capable and talented people
and my goal is - and always has been - to promote from within the team.
Therefore, I prefer not to seek a new crew chief from outside the organization
to replace Neff.

"Todd and Phil have already demonstrated their
tremendous expertise this season by tuning the MTS Dodge and driver Jack Beckman
into one of the hottest combinations in the Funny Car class," added Schumacher.
It started back at the end of 2006, when Funny Car rookie Beckman, after joining
DSR for the last five races of the season, set both the national elapsed-time
and top speed records, qualified No. 1 once, and won once after reaching two
final rounds.

GENE WILSON - #18 MMPS ALL-TIME

Tue, 2007-08-07 12:54
Gene Wilson envisioned that one day he’d run the mountain motor Pro Stock
division. What he didn’t envision was winning a championship and beating Pro
Stock legend Bob Glidden’s single-season win record.
 
Driving Charlie Hunt’s Mercury Cougar, Wilson captured the
2001 championship by winning seven IHRA national event titles. Of the ten
events, Wilson was in the finals of eight.
 
Wilson was a fan of the big motors, and even though he no
longer drives he still keeps tabs.
 
“I got my start running Pro Stock in the IHRA and really
enjoyed my time doing it,” Wilson said. “There is something special about the
class and the people involved in it. I enjoyed those big motors. I really
enjoyed driving those cars. They represented what a man could do with a big
engine. I miss driving them. They were super fun to drive.”

JOHN NOBILE - #19 MMPS ALL-TIME

Tue, 2007-08-07 12:54
John Nobile will be the first to admit that he never dominated the IHRA mountain
motor style of Pro Stock but he definitely let people know that he was
there.
 
In the early days of his Pro Stock career, the 49-year-old
Nobile split his time and attention between the NHRA, with its 500-cubic-inch
engines, and the IHRA, where the huge 800-plus powerplants, the infamous
mountain motors, ruled the two-lane quarter-mile.  
 
“I started racing Pro Stock in the mid-1980s, and for years I
raced in both NHRA and IHRA, but that got to be pretty hectic,” Nobile said. “In
1996 I was No. 2 in IHRA championship points, and I ran a limited schedule over
there the next season, but after that I went NHRA racing for five seasons. I
actually did pretty good in NHRA during that time. In fact, in 2000 Dodge picked
us up and gave us a full sponsorship deal.

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