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!

As the 23-race NHRA POWERade tour leaves Atlanta Dragway and heads north up I-75
for next weekend's event outside St. Louis at Gateway International Raceway,
two-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Jim Yates finds himself at a racing crossroads
that many drivers have faced before, competing with others for the precious
funding that is the lifeblood for any professional racer. But the veteran
remains upbeat and optimistic as he prepares his Pontiac GTO for a racetrack
where he's had success in the past, besting Allen Johnson for the win in 1999 as
well as finishing runner-up to Warren Johnson both in 1997 and
2001.

"Contrary to some reports, I'm not quitting or retiring," Yates
said. "I want to race, (son) Jamie wants to race, (wife) Toni wants to race,
Grumpy (engine builder Bill Jenkins) wants to race. We love to race and we think
we have something good together.  Unfortunately, not only do you need half-inch
wrenches in your toolbox, you also need money in your toolbox. It's no secret
that to run at the winning level of Pro Stock it takes the proper funding and in
the past we have proven that we've got the talent to run with the best cars out
here.

"We had some very positive opportunities lined up at the end of
last year, but, unfortunately they just didn't work out. As a result, it left
our program in a hole financially.  We still love what we are doing and we are
still the same talented team that has won POWERade championships and national
event races in the past. Bill (Jenkins) continues to improve the horsepower in
our engines every week and our new Pontiac GTO is working better than ever.
We're really excited about our program and the potential we have and we'd love
to have the money to stay out here and race."

This weekend's fourth running of the annual Snap-On Nitro Champs will be the
last time that the quickest Alcohol powered Dragsters and Funny Cars are seen in
Sydney for the 2006/2007 season. As always, regardless of where these cars are
running they always put on one hell of a sho w and this weekend is definitely
not going to be an exception to that rule.

Perhaps the most exciting
thing about this class is that Dragsters and Funny Cars have the opportunity to
duke it out to determine who really is king of the sport.

According to
the racing that has already taken place this season, it would be fair to say
that the Dragsters are definitely the Kings of the Sport. This conclusion has
been the forced truth all because of the efforts of Wayne Newby, pilot of the
Gatorz eye-wear sponsored Top Alcohol Dragster.