This afternoon Jerry Tolliver will announce his full time
return to NHRA Funny Car competition.

Del Worsham had a forgettable 2006 season, and then had his reputation
besmirched by an errant report on another website that “accused” him of
summarily dumping team driver Phil Burkhart at the last second without
sufficient notice.  On the contrary, Burkhart’s responsibilities to the team
included the acquisition of additional sponsorship, which he was apparently
unable to secure.  When he asked Del and his father, Chuck, near the end of the
season – well in advance of the Auto Club Finals – if he was all set for ’07 he
was told that he wasn’t, that without the additional funding he was charged with
delivering they would seek a driver capable of delivering what they needed. 
Jeff Arend got the nod when he was able to secure the funding the Worsham’s
needed to be competitive.

Two-time winner Melanie Troxel is
sporting a new look this season, and not just the Vietnam Veterans/POW-MIA paint scheme
of her Skull Gear/Torco Racing Fuels dragster. Gone is her shoulder-length air
in favor of the short-and-sassy look. "For many years I've thought about cutting
my hair short," Troxel said. "I was always just too chicken to do it. But I
decided I was going to do it over the winter and I went out and did it. It was
time for a change to do something different."

Four-time
and reigning Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher raced to the qualifying
lead Friday at the 47th annualCARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals
with a performance of 4.483 at 328.30 mph at Auto Club Raceway at
Pomona.

Funny Car's Robert Hight and Pro Stock's Allen Johnson joined him on
the provisional low qualifier podium at the midway point of time
trials.

Australian Top Alcohol Dragster driver Kate Harker will team up with Team Owner
and Crew Chief, Tom Conway in 2007 to challenge the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster
Championship. This is not the first time this pair has lined up for competition,
in late 2006, Conway and Harker made three event starts and earned a semi-final
finish at the Snowbird Nationals at Bradenton Motorsports Park in
November. However, this will be Harker's first season
competing as a driver in the NHRA Lucas Oils Sportsman Drag Racing
Series.

Tom Hohmann knows how to spot them and he spotted quite of few during Thursday’s
qualifying at the NHRA CARQUEST Winternationals in Pomona, Ca. He admits that
he’s become proficient at spotting a Vietnam Veteran. After all, he is
one.

Top Fuel driver Brandon Bernstein opened the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series season Thursday at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with a class-leading
4.494-second pass at 331.61 mph in his Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster.

Two other racers with title aspirations -- Funny Car's Robert Hight
and Pro Stock's Greg Anderson -- also took early leads in their
respective categories at the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals. The
$2 million race is the first of 23 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series.

Jack
Beckman had what he hopes is his last wild ride of the season this afternoon in
his first qualifying session with the MTS flopper from Don Schumacher Racing's
stables. Beckman's car dropped a cylinder about a third of the way down the
track and caught fire.

SkyTel, a nationwide wireless service provider and division of Bell Industries,
Inc. (AMEX:  BI)
announced today that it is a primary sponsor of the SkyTel/Don Prudhomme Racing
Top Fuel dragster, driven by two-time NHRA top fuel champion Larry
Dixon.

SkyTel
is the only wireless brand sponsoring an NHRA POWERade Series team in 2007,
replacing long-time sponsor Miller Lite on
Dixon’s
car.  The alliance with Don Prudhomme
“Snake”
Racing is designed to fuel rapid growth of SkyTel’s SkyGuard™ vehicle
reassurance system.

“We
see the NHRA as a tremendous platform for building SkyTel’s brand awareness and
sales,” said Brad Richards, executive vice president of sales and marketing for
SkyTel.  “By partnering with Don
Prudhomme, we have associated our brand with not only the best team owner in the
business, but one of its finest drivers – Larry Dixon.  I have every confidence that the SkyTel
dragster will be competing for a Top Fuel championship from the very first
race.

Scott Griffin, a longtime friend of Mark and Andy Carrier, has become a partner
in Carrier Boyz Racing. 
 
The Carriers, owners of the FRAM/Torco Top
Fuel team featuring driver Cory McClenathan, have expanded their presence at
NHRA POWERade Series races this season with the addition of a hospitality area
that will be in use at all 23 events.  Griffin, of Wilmington, N.C., will
oversee hospitality in addition to working with sponsors.