The bond between J.R. Todd and the late Eric Medlen grew a little tighter
Wednesday with the announcement that Kevin Poynter is joining Todd’s SKULL Shine
Top Fuel team as car chief.
Poynter, who served as Medlen’s Funny Car car
chief at John Force Racing, was released so he could work with Todd and Tuttle
Motorsports. 

At the recent IHRA Spring Nationals at Rockingham Dragway,
two of the busiest individuals in the professional pits were South Carolina’s
John “Bodie” Smith and his wife, Rhonda Hartman-Smith. While Smith spent much
of his time running between Michael Gunderson’s Top Fuel area and Jon Capps’
Nitro Funny Car pit, Hartman-Smith expended nearly as much energy entertaining
eight-year-old daughter Megan and chasing toddler son Dylan.

In 1999, circle track standout Tony Stewart attempted to race 1,100 miles on Memorial Day weekend by competing in the Indianapolis 500 during the day and the Coca-Cola 600 at North Carolina’s Charlotte Motor Speedway at night. His attempt at the “double” was fairly successful as he finished in the top 10 at both races.

The 2007 NPCA season got off the ground under sunny skies at
O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis
this past weekend and as always a good time was had by all involved. Having an
especially good weekend was the Stardust team of Justin Grant as the stunning
Barracuda consistently made strong runs with Joe Haas at the wheel. Tom Motry
was handling the tuning and the best run of the day was a 6.599 at 216.27 mph
in a final round solo after Anthony Bronge’s altered broke.

Mike Schuenke had
entered his stunning blown big block Bantam in Pro Comp 2 but out of the
trailer he carded a 7.092 that put him at the head of the Pro Comp 1 pack.
After matching that number in the second qualifying session and carding a
consistent 7.109 in the opening round of eliminations Schuenke fell off to a
7.154 in the final as 2006 season champion Richard Edwards trophied again with
a 7.090.   

J.R. Todd’s name has
surfaced in connection with a future Funny Car ride but there’s one problem –
no one has asked him if he wanted to.

“A couple of the top seats
in the class have opened up,” Todd said. “They have contacted me about it. If
someone was to, it would be worth looking into. I don’t know. I’d consider it.”

Todd’s name has surfaced
as a possible addition to the John Force team and although Force praised the
talented Top Fuel driver, he pointed out that Todd would be a worthy candidate.
His name has also floated in certain circles as a potential Gary Scelzi
successor.

Four-time NHRA Top Fuel winner Rod Fuller will
compete behind the wheel of the yellow-and-black Caterpillar dragster for the
second time this season. David Powers Motorsports and Fenton, Mo.-based Fabick
Cat have partnered to back the Fuller-driven rail during the 11th annual
O’Reilly Midwest Nationals, May 4-6, at Gateway International Raceway, team
owner David Powers announced today. Linn State
Technical College, located in Linn, Mo.,
also will be involved during the weekend.

The
relationship between David Powers Motorsports and the Cat dealer groups is
designed as a pilot program to increase technician recruiting. Caterpillar
dealers are experiencing a shortage of technicians, and NHRA drag racing offers
a technician-rich recruiting environment to find qualified candidates with
experienced mechanical backgrounds. Fabick Cat is
the authorized dealer for Caterpillar equipment, prime and stand-by power
systems, parts and service, compact construction, and rental equipment for 99
counties in southern Missouri and Illinois. David Powers
Motorsports partnered with Caterpillar and Houston-based Mustang Cat during the
Houston NHRA event in late March.

“After the great success with the Caterpillar program in
Houston, we’re now to do our second venue, this
time in St.
Louis,” Powers said. “For all the parties involved,
Caterpillar and Fabick Cat, our hopes are to create the same result that we
experienced for Mustang Cat. We learned from the Houston event and we have a few new ideas for
this program.”

New interactive area will allow visitors to watch while cars are being restored

"Museums shouldn't be dusty places full of stuff just sitting around,
kind of like an abandoned yard sale. Museums should be lively,
interactive places where old stuff is used to learn new things." Those
are the words of Tony Thacker, executive director of the Wally Parks
NHRA Motorsports Museum, presented by the Auto Club of So. Calif.
That's why he's excited about Wally's Garage, the just-opened
interactive area within the Museum.

According to Thacker, "the idea behind Wally's Garage was to have
a place in the Museum where our staff could work on vehicles that needed
minor restoration and where, when appropriate, the public could come and
watch and be involved. They can ask questions but not lift wrenches!"

The 2007 National Street Car Association season is off and running, and we have photos to prove it!