As the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series prepares to raise the curtain
on a new season of outstanding competition at the Auto Club Raceway in
Pomona, Calif., on Feb 8-11, four-time NHRA champion Gary Scelzi
reflects on his 2006 season attempting to defend his 2005 Funny Car
crown, all that he is thankful for, his other non-NHRA racing ventures,
and driving the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T for a fifth year with
Don Schumacher Racing.

The three-time Top Fuel (1997, '98, '00) and one-time Funny Car
champion ('05) is coming off a tough year, in which he won one national
event in three final rounds, placing seventh in the Funny Car point
standings. His season also included one DNQ (did not qualify), rounding
out his career statistics to 33 wins in 54 final rounds, 42 No. 1
qualifiers, a total offive DNQs, and a career round win-loss record of
345-174.

Mach 1 Air Services will sponsor two of drag racing's biggest stars --
Funny Car rookie Ashley Force and third-year Pro Stock racer Erica
Enders -- in 2007 and beyond. In an effort to broaden its global name
recognition in the months following expansion into Singapore and China,
Mach 1 Air Services hopes Force and Enders continue to make them the
preferred air freight forwarder in the world. "

We're thrilled to officially announce our sponsorship of Ashley Force
and Erica Enders," said Mach 1 CEO and founder Mike Entzminger. "Name
recognition is very important in our business and we're confident these
two young drivers will bring lots of positive attention to our company
and a whole lot of fun to our employees.

Penhall Company
has announced a partnership with Mike Edwards Motorsports to a
sponsorship deal for the 2007 NHRA POWERade world championship season.
The Penhall Company is recognized as one of the leading specialty
contractors in the United States. Edwards, who finished fourth in 2006,
will fly the well-recognized company logo on both his Pro Stock Pontiac
GTO and team transporter.

"By joining with
the Penhall Company, it allows us to further this team's mission of
reaching kids around the country," said Edwards. "We are honored to
represent the Penhall Company and be part of that groups marketing
strategy in the drag-racing arena and do even more to reach out to kids
through our many programs with Young Life.

It was announced earlier today during a press conference at John
Force Racing headquarters that Ashley Force will turn pro this season
and drive a Ford Mustang Funny Car for John Force Racing with
sponsorship from Castrol, Auto Club of Southern California, Brand
Source, Mac Tools and Mach 1 Air Services.

The crew chief of the new team will be Dean “Guido” Antonelli,
long-time crew member for her father's team. A little background on
Ashley. She's been racing in the sportsman ranks. Last April she earned
her Funny Car license. Since then in testing she's posted performances
of 4.809 seconds, 4.826 seconds at speeds over 320 miles an hour. Her
first NHRA event victory came in Top Alcohol dragster at the 2004 U.S.
Nationals (in Indianapolis).

She also won that year at Dallas, and also at the Auto Club Finals at
Pomona, where she shared the winner's circle with her father. It's the
only father-daughter event winners n NHRA history. In three seasons in
Top Alcohol dragster she won five times in nine final-round
appearances, finishing fourth, seventh and fifth in national points
during that time.

She'll be the 10th female to compete in a Funny Car in NHRA history.
The last female to drive a Funny Car was Cristen Powell during the 2000
season. No female has ever won or qualified No. 1 in Funny Car.

The best race day effort for a female in Funny Car was accomplished by
Della Woods in 1985 at Reading, Pa. She advanced to the semifinals of
that race where she lost to Kenny Bernstein.

Ashley will join her father John, Eric Medlen and Robert Hight on the
team that has claimed 15 NHRA world championship titles and 168
national event victories in NHRA competition since 1987. Ashley plans
to test at Las Vegas this weekend, and Phoenix the following weekend
before her official pro debut February 8, at the CARQUEST Auto Parts
NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, where she will
join her fellow Funny Car competitors as the 2007 NHRA POWERade
Countdown to the Championship begins.

We'd like to welcome Ashley to the teleconference. A little later we'll
have John Force on the call to answer some questions as well.

READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT... 

For this season’s $250,000 Summit SuperSeries, IHRA has once again
teamed with Race Tech Race Cars to provide the grand prize for the 2007
Box category World Champion.

The winner will receive a turnkey
dragster courtesy of Race Tech, constructed from the highest quality
performance products donated by some of IHRA’s contingency sponsors.
 Race Tech, of Burlington, N.C., has manufactured award-winning,
high-performance race cars and racing components for motorsports
professionals across the country for more than 15 years. Their cars
have set performance records for some of motorsports best teams and
their tradition of quality craftsmanship and dedication has earned them
an outstanding reputation in the industry.

Following almost a year of supervised testing and months of media
speculation, John Force confirmed Tuesday that his second oldest
daughter, Ashley, will move up in classification this season to drive a
fourth Ford Mustang Funny Car for John Force Racing, Inc., Castrol and
the Automobile Club of Southern California.

Ms. Force, who turned 24 last Nov. 29, will drive an 8,000 horsepower
Castrol GTX Ford prepared and maintained by first time crew chief Dean
“Guido” Antonelli who, for the last 12 years, was a member of the crew
that helped John Force win 10 of his 14 NHRA championships.

Four young female race drivers were awarded scholarships at the
four-day 12th annual LSJ Foundation Driver Development Program held in
Phoenix Dec. 8-11. The recipients were 15-year-old Chelsea Shillig,
16-year-old Kristen Daggett, 16-year-old Kerstin Smutny and Shannon
McIntosh, 17.
 
This year's group of 15 outstanding female racers from 13 states were
challenged at the four-day event, founded by former Indy 500 competitor
and motivational speaker Lyn St. James. Dr. Jacques Dallaire of
Dallaire Consulting and the Core Performance team at Athlete's
Performance in Phoenix put them through the paces mentally and
physically. They also were schooled in the business of racing by media
specialists Judy Stropus and Matthew Brammer and financial/business
expert Linda Conti. Volkswagen factory off-road race-team owner/driver
Mark Miller led a discussion on the subject of sponsorships, while Mike
Loescher of Finish Line Racing School of Edgewater, Fla., spent a day
covering chassis setup and other valuable racing and technical
subjects. The students also raced go-karts at theBondurant Super Karting School at Firebird Raceway and worked with the
Bondurant High Performance Driving School cars and instructors on the
autocross and skid pad.

JEGS Automotive Inc, an industry leader in the high-performance
mail-order parts business, has extended its sponsorship of the JEGS
Super Quick Series through 2008 and will be sponsoring a special JEGS
Showdown as part of the NHRA North Central Division's new Top Dragster
class this year. 

"My brothers and I, along with many of our
associates at JEGS, enjoy this type of bracket racing very much," JEGS
vice president John Coughlin said.  "We've sponsored the JEGS Super
Quick Series for a decade and have enjoyed our relationship with NHRA's
Division 3 a great deal.  They put on great races and we're proud to be
a part of it moving forward.  Drag racing is an important part of our
business and one that our entire organization is passionate about. 
It's an exciting time in our sport and we are happy to continue to grow
with the NHRA."

The National Street Car Association has announced the 2007 schedule for
the NSCA Drag Racing Series. This year’s schedule departs from the past
with National Trail Raceway in Columbus, OH playing host to both the
season opener and the finals. The season kicks off April 28-29 with the
first trip to the historic Ohio dragstrip. The second stop on the
schedule will be at Atco Raceway in Atco, NJ, the first of a two race
tour of the northeast. The 9th Annual Jim Sellers Memorial at Cecil
County Raceway in Rising Sun, MD in June completes that portion of the
tour and then it’s back to the midwest. In July, all the action will be
happening at the incredible US131 Motorsports Park in Martin, MI
followed by a return to the nostalgic Thompson Raceway Park in Chardon,
OH in August. The season finale finds the association back at Columbus,
OH for the 10th Annual World Finals on September 22-23.

Three-time NHRA Top Fuel winner “Hot” Rod Fuller will pilot a Top Fuel
dragster for David Powers Motorsports, team owner David Powers
announced today. Fuller will hit the track for preseason testing with
new teammate Whit Bazemore at the National Time Trials near Phoenix on
January 26.
 
“David Powers Motorsports will run two race cars, one driven by “Hot”
Rod Fuller, which will be sponsored by Valvoline for the first two
races of the 2007 season as previously committed to by the team,”
Powers said. “The other car will be driven by Whit Bazemore and
sponsored by Matco Tools. We’ll have a new modern hospitality area
flanked by both race teams that will house up to 300 guests, along with
a new tech trailer. We couldn’t be more excited about our team heading
into the season.”