PEDREGON, FULLER, COUGHLIN AND ELLIS LEAD ACDELCO GATORNATIONALS QUALIFYING

Following a race in which he failed to qualify, former Funny Car world champion
Cruz Pedregon raced to the top of the 16-car starting order Friday at the
ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals.

Rod Fuller, two-time Pro Stock champ Jeg Coughlin and Chip Ellis were the
leaders in their respective categories at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
event at historic Gainesville Raceway.

Pedregon hired crew chief Wayne Dupuy in the offseason to make his hot rod
quicker. In just three races, it appears the decision was a good one as Pedregon
moved to the top position on the Funny Car ladder with a 4.792 at 295.21 mph in
his Advance Auto Parts Chevy Monte Carlo.

Mike Ashley debuted a new paint scheme on Friday in Gainesville
honoring the man who made his dream of driving a Funny Car a reality.
The eye-catching paint scheme was applied by Mark Brown and Illusions
Paint & Body.

The highly anticipated debut of the David
Powers Motorsports monostrut wing-equipped Top Fuel dragster has been put on
hold for Gainesville.

Nothing builds confidence
in a new project more than a successful first outing. Pat Musi is feeling
extremely confident after his initial outing behind the wheel of Khalil Toorani’s
new Jerry Bickel GTO.

During the recently
completed Eastern Spring Test Nationals presented by Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com
at South Georgia Motorsports Park,
Musi drove the Middle Eastern-based entry to a 6.31, 219 and later a 6.28, 225.

Officials at Moser Engineering, one of the sport of drag
racing’s leaders in the manufacturing of performance axles and rear end
components, proudly announced today the addition of Danny Waters, Jr. to its’
successful stable of sportsman thoroughbreds.

Waters, Jr., a long-time IHRA favorite hailing from
Lagrange, North Carolina joins the illustrious sportsman class champions, the
Cummings family from Hammond, Louisiana to help carry the Moser torch and
compete for an IHRA World Championship.

“We’re extremely pleased to have Danny on our team
representing Moser in the IHRA arena for 2007,” Rob Moser, company owner and
president, stated. “He has already had a great racing career with a lot more
wins in the future.

NHRA Pro Stock Champion Jason Line thinks that if conditions are right the first 210 mph pass in NHRA
Pro Stock national event competition will be run at the 38th running of the NHRA
ACDelco Gatornationals this weekend.

“The Gatornationals has a lot of
tradition and it’s a special place to win,” said Line, who won here in 2005 over
Dave Connolly.  “It should be fast there and the possibility of seeing the first
210 mph run should excite the fans.  I feel our cars are capable of that type of
number, but so are a few others.  Hopefully, it will be one of the two Summit
Pontiacs that does it first – mine or Greg’s (Anderson, teammate).”

The International Drag Racing Hall of Fame will induct 11 new members. The
induction ceremony, hosted by the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing and
sponsored by Mopar® Performance Parts, will be held on March 15 at the Paramount
Plaza Resort in Gainesville, Fla. This is the 16th year that Mopar has sponsored
the ceremony.

ESPN2’s qualifying
coverage of the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals has been moved up a half-hour, and
the two hour show will now begin at 1 a.m. (ET) on Sunday, March
18.

With only one week before the season-opening Amalie Oil Texas
Nationals, IHRA Pro Stock Standout Jeff Dobbins received the
unfortunate news that the team owners were unable to acquire financial
backing for the 2007 season.

After a five-year hiatus, the famous Racer Appreciation
Series returns to Huntsville Dragway and Montgomery Motorsports Park in
Alabama. Officially called TCI/Comp Cams presents the original Racer
Appreciation Series, the series, along with another series for heads-up racers,
promises low entries fees and high payouts, and will be played out at both
tracks throughout the 2007 racing season.

Famed racing promoter George Howard, of Birmingham, will
present bracket and heads-up action at both tracks through the year. “After
personal struggles in my life with losing my wife, I have decided to go back to
work,” he says. “The original Racer Appreciation Series put me on the map as a
drag racing promoter, and it was built as a way to support the ‘little guy’
racer. I want to see this (2007) series grow.” Howard started the original
series in 1994, at Rockingham Dragway.