To say Rickie Smith has experienced a positive day at South Georgia
Motorsports Park would be a great understand. The seven-time IHRA world
champion established a new SGMP track record on his second pass with a
6.309, 222.80 after nailing a 6.310, 222.70 with his Sonny's Racing
Engines-powered Jerry Bickel Chevrolet Cobalt. 

Could Smith dip into the 6.20s next month during the Eastern Spring Test Nationals presented by Torco's CompetitionPlus.com.

Rick Jones will campaign a new Ford Mustang sponsored by PiranaZ and Quartermax.

To no one’s surprise, Whit Bazemore
passed his much talked-about Top Fuel debut with flying colors. With a
career-best 4.507-second blast and a quarterfinal effort at the season-opening
Winternationals, Baze looked like a seasoned Top Fuel veteran behind the wheel
of his Lee Beard-tuned Matco Tools Iron Eagle dragster. Now the 20-time NHRA
Funny Car winner looks to become just the 14th driver in NHRA history
to card victories in both nitro categories. Never shy for words, Bazemore offers
his thoughts on adjusting to piloting a Top Fuel car, working alongside Rod
Fuller and Beard, and his fitness routine as he prepares for the second race on
the 23-race NHRA schedule near Phoenix, Feb. 23-25.

Q: After completing your first race in Top
Fuel, what are your thoughts?

BAZEMORE: My first thought is that
Pomona was
really good for me in terms of building my confidence as far as my ability in a
Top Fuel car goes and gaining more experience. It answered a lot of questions
for me. I was always very confident in the team and I’ve been incredibly
impressed by the guys on the team and how good they are. It’s virtually a
mistake-free organization and that’s something that’s hard to achieve. That’s
something that’s really hard to achieve. They’ve done tremendous throughout
testing and the first race. Even though we didn’t come away with a win, we came
way with the confidence and knowledge that we are capable of winning races and
we identified some areas that we’re going to work on in terms of both the
performance of the car and driver. That will make us a much stronger team going
forward.

Q: Is there any doubt that you can make
the Countdown for the Championship
and compete for the title this season after what you’ve seen so
far?

BAZEMORE: I wouldn’t say I have doubts,
but at the same time you have to acknowledge that it’s a challenge. Top Fuel,
like all the professional categories, is incredibly competitive and there’s no
room for error. You don’t want to say that you have doubts because we don’t, our
goal is to win a championship and we’re capable of doing that, but at the same
time you can’t take for granted that you’re going to be in the top eight because
there will be some strong cars that aren’t going to make the cut. You need to
work hard all season long to make sure you’re in the top eight come Indy time.

A little over two decades ago, an obscure bracket racer from Lyman, South Carolina campaigned a stout 1968 Pontiac Firebird within Greer Dragway's Super Pro division. Scotty Cannon was that driver and graduated later into the Pro Modified division, scoring six world championships in his tenure. Cannon graduated to the fuel ranks in 1999 before returning to Pro Modified in 2004.

Scott Cannon, Jr., took over for his father in 2005 as the driver of the team's Torco Race Fuels-sponsored entry. The elder Cannon returns to the fuel ranks in 2007 but not before setting his son up with a slick ride courtesy of Jim Geese and Vanishing Point Race Cars.

Ever since its introduction, the
COMP Cams® CAM HELP® technical assistance service has helped hundreds of
thousands of automotive performance enthusiasts to make informed component
selections, correct malfunctions, and get the absolute best performance
available from their engines.

Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels has just announced the launch of
a new contingency awards program for “Team M/T” racers. This revolutionary
program will provide for immediate compensation for race
winners.Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels has just announced the launch of
a new contingency awards program for “Team M/T” racers. This revolutionary
program will provide for immediate compensation for race
winners.

Typically, racers must wait to receive their prize monies in the
form of a check delivered by standard mail services. Now, Team M/T offers
winning racers the option of receiving their prize monies immediately via a
special Encompass® American Express® credit card which is credited with a
pre-set balance upon confirmation from the racing sanctioning body regarding
race results.

Rodger Brogdon is having a tremendous rookie season thus far in 2007.

Frank Parker, owner of ParkerTech Racing Services, and his driver,
Marty Nothstein, have announced that Texas Roadhouse restaurants will
be the primary sponsor of Parker’s 2007 National Hot Rod Association
Top Alcohol Funny Car team. 

ParkerTech’s upgraded Murph McKinney chassis will be topped by a 2007
Dodge Charger body, from Mopar, and driven by Olympic and World
Champion Nothstein. The Texas Roadhouse Dodge Charger Top Alcohol Funny
Car will debut February 17th at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series
Division 2 event at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Bradenton, Florida.

Alan Dobson, West Australian native and the driver of the Rapisarda Racing Top
Fuel dragster recorded the quickest run of his career with a 4.601-second pass
to claim the number one qualifying position going into tomorrow's final
eliminations of the fourth Summernationals prese nted by NRMA Motoring +
Services.

"I've wanted to make a return to Sydney and I couldn't think of
a better place to do it than at WSID - truly a world class facility," exclaimed
Dobson.

Tim McAmis Race Cars announced the implementation of their
2007 sponsorship packages with IHRA & ADRL. The program will include
contingency payouts for the TMRC line of composite bodies and also the ability
to be on the manufacturers’ midway with their new support/display trailer.