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

CAPPS DISCUSSES ELDORA

More accustomed to blasting down the quarter-mile at 330 mph in under five
seconds, Ron Capps demonstrated his non-drag-racing expertise by mixing it up on
the dirt with NASCAR and other oval-racing stars on Eldora Speedway's half-mile
clay oval last Wednesday in the NEXTEL Prelude to The Dream charity race.

In front of an HBO Pay-Per-View audience watching live, Capps drove the
Brian Ruhlman-owned Full Throttle Late Model Stock Car against a star-studded
field of 24 other drivers, including Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart,
Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Juan Pablo Montoya and Cruz Pedregon.

The
driver of the Brut "Test Drive" Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car at this weekend's
Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway qualified in the top 10.
With an inversion system, Capps landed on the front row for the first qualifying
heat. With lots of action in front and behind him, including Bill Elliott
spinning and Jeff Gordon scraping the wall, Capps restarted fifth after a short
caution. Fifth place would have transferred him into the top 11 of the A-main.
He held onto that spot until the final lap, when Elliott, with whom he'd had a
spirited battle, passed him then proceeded to flip over in a crash with Ryan
Newman at the finish.

FANS RACE JOHN FORCE

Want to match drag racing skills with some of the NHRA’s best racers?

It can happen starting this weekend when Ford
Racing launches a new interactive display for race fans at the Torco Racing
Fuels Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill. 

“The purpose of our new interactive display is
to educate Ford and Mustang do-it-yourself enthusiasts about Ford Racing Packs,
their performance benefits, ease of installation and available factory warranty,
“ said Jamie Allison, Performance Group Manager, Ford Racing Technology.  “Our
display provides an interactive way for consumers to engage with Ford and
Motorcraft brands through NHRA drag racing events.”

The 2,400 square foot display has three
components: the John Force Shootout, the Motorcraft Crew Chief Challenge, and a
specially-modified Mustang with Ford Racing parts and Genuine Ford Accessories.

In the John Force Shootout, consumers race against each other on a
virtual drag strip for times that are recorded for the day and measured against
an earlier time established that weekend by a member of John Force Racing:
either 14-time champion John Force, his daughter Ashley Force, or their teammate
Robert Hight. 

CAR VERSUS PLANE RACE?

In what promises to be an extraordinary showcase event pitting a NHRA Pro FWD
racecar against a competition airplane, Team Chevy's Gary Gardella and Red Bull
Air Race World Series pilot Kirby Chambliss will face-off in a series of
specially synchronized eliminator rounds that will feature Gardella's
Ecotec-powered Cobalt and Chambliss' EDGE 540. The "Air and Asphalt" media-only
event will take place at Atco Raceway on Wednesday and Thursday, June 6 – 7,
just days before the running of the NHRA Northeast Sport Compact Nationals.
Photos and video of the event can be seen on www.gmtunersource.com.

"We'll be shooting down the
quarter-mile, going through our normal routine, and it will be a little bit
different because we're either going to have the plane ahead of us or behind
us," said Gardella. "Once we start doing the burnout, they'll cue for the plane
to come in, and as he comes in, he'll start flying straight up in the air. As I
move the Red Bull Chevrolet forward into pre-stage the plane will actually start
its way down. As soon as I hit stage, he's going to do a maneuver that will take
him straight down the track and then I'll launch.

A LARGE SPORTSMAN PAYDAY


For an NHRA sportsman racer few things are more prestigious than winning the
annual JEGS Allstars event at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. A special event
that highlights the best Lucas Oil Series racers from all over the North
America, the JEGS Allstars features eight car fields of competitors in eighth
NHRA classes – Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny Car, Competition
Eliminator, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, and Super Street – and
features a total payout of more than $100,000. Competitors qualify for the
Allstars event by earning points at divisional events throughout the previous 12
months. Each of NHRA’s seven geographic divisions sends a field of eight
drivers, one per class to compete in the event. Defending event winners are also
welcomed back to round out each eight-car field.

REESE JOINS COMP CAMS

The COMP Performance
Group™ is proud to announce the hiring of Brian
Reese as Director of Business Development. As
the former Director of Engineering at SLP Performance Parts, Reese specialized
in aftermarket performance with a special focus on late-model
engines.

Reese is a graduate of
Ohio
State
University with a
Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Automotive Business Management. His
professional career started at General Motors where Reese worked in
Michigan at the
Warren
Technical
Center and Milford
Proving Grounds. After

General Motors, Reese
worked as a Research Engineer for Ohio
State
University’s Center
for Automotive Research (CAR). The OSU research led Reese to Hunt Fuel Systems
in Atlanta,
GA, where he
served as Program Manager for their then new fuel injection
division.

NORWALK GETS EXTENSION

The recent NHRA Lucas Oil Cavalcade of Stars presented by Budweiser and Ohio
Lottery at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio
was one of the largest attended NHRA divisional races in NHRA history. Following
on the success of the event, the track and NHRA today announced they have
entered into a long term sanctioning agreement for the event that will keep it
returning to Norwalk,
Ohio every year. The announcement
was made jointly by Bill Bader, Jr., president of the track, and Jay Hullinger, NHRA Division 3
Director.

The race, held May 18-20, 2007, set
numerous records for performance on the track. It was part of the NHRA Lucas Oil
Drag Racing Series counting toward both national and divisional NHRA Lucas Oil
championships.

FREE SPORTSMAN RACE IN TULSA

In an effort to thank all the sportsman racers who participate at the re-run of
the Skull Shine Sooner Nationals at Tulsa Raceway Park, IHRA will be hosting a
free race for sportsman competitors on Friday,
June 22. There is no entry fee and
the payout will be over $300,000 in national event contingency
postings.

 

“After figuring out the rescheduled date, the next thing
we went to work on is coming up with a way to create added value for all the
sportsman competitors who will be returning to the event,” said director of
competition Mike Baker. “We understand the increased costs associated with
competing on the Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am or Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam series
this year, let alone having to come back a second time.  There are a lot of sportsman teams that
braved the rain and a lot of teams who sat it out the first time that will now
be coming to Tulsa because the sportsman fields are still
open.”

 

“Our focus for the rescheduled event is
on creating a second sportsman race to help justify the travel expense and at
the same time to say ‘thank you’ to the sportsman competitors for their support
of IHRA,” said Frank Kohutek, IHRA division 4 director.  “Since most of the competition department is
made up of current and former sportsman racers, we know most every racer
concentrates on the thousands of dollars in contingency postings available at
national events. We thought that having two chances in the same weekend of
winning national event contingency would be a great way to reward the sportsman
racers for their efforts.” 

SPECIAL HELMET RAFFLE

Race fans attending the ProCare RX SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway
Park on June 22 - 24 will have an opportunity to win a piece of motorsports
history, while at the same time, say thanks to American Forces at the Landstuhl
Regional Medical Center in Germany.

The Army Special Forces Association,
Randall Shughart Chapter 64, based in Carlisle, Pa., will be raffling an
autographed racing helmet signed by 44 NHRA drivers including current and former
champions. The proceeds will be used to purchase telephone cards, clothing items
and duffle bags for use by wounded/injured personnel at LRMC.

Members of
the Randall Shughart Chapter 64 of the Army Special Forces Association travel to
LRMC via SpaceA on U.S. Air Force aircraft and distribute the items. For the
past two years, members of SFA Chapter 64 have also served as the advance team
and on-site organizers for "Operation Support Our Wounded," a post-season visit
by NHRA goodwill ambassadors Warren Johnson, Jim Yates, Melanie Troxel, Tommy
Johnson Jr. and Cory McClenathan with American troops in Germany.

WHIT BAZEMORE INTERVIEW

Whit Bazemore can be described in countless ways. He’s arguably the most
competitive driver in NHRA drag racing. He’s a loving, caring husband and
father. He’s a passionate and driven racer. Bazemore also is never at a loss for
words. Sometimes controversial, but always of strong opinion, the 20-time NHRA
winner recently completed the first third of the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series season. Eight races into his first season in the David Powers Motorsports
camp behind the wheel of the Matco Tools dragster, the veteran nitro pilot is
adjusting just fine to his new 300” ride. Yet to reach the winner’s circle in
’07, Baze and his Lee Beard-led race team have proven they have one of the elite
cars in the sport. At the Houston race in late March, Bazemore became
just the 15th racer in NHRA history to earn poles in both Top Fuel
and Funny Car. Now Baze has his sights set on becoming the 14th to
earn wins in both nitro classes. As the NHRA schedules offers up a grueling
stretch of eight races in nine weeks, Bazemore recently conducted a 10-question
Q&A. Bazemore talks about driving a Top Fuel dragster, his recent move to
Oregon and his
career goals.

FULLER SIGNS FABICK CAT FOR CHICAGO

Rising Top Fuel star Rod Fuller will be back
behind the wheel of the Fabick CAT dragster. The four-time NHRA Top Fuel winner
will pilot the yellow-and-black rail for the second time this season as David
Powers Motorsports and Fenton, Mo.-based Fabick CAT have partnered for the
10th annual Torco Racing Fuels Nationals, June 8-10, at Route 66
Raceway near Chicago. Linn State
Technical College, located in Linn, Mo.,
also will be part of the event.

 

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 Houston-based Mustang CAT during the Houston race and Fabick CAT for the St. Louis race in early
May.

Pages