Dan Pikarsky, who has served as director of business development at
Cagnazzi Racing for the past three years, has been promoted to senior
vice president of business development.

In his new role, Pikarsky will build and oversee the operation of the
business development group and will continue his management of sponsor
relations.

Check out the rendering of the new Knoll Gas Motorsports-sponsored dragster to be driven by Clay Millican and tuned by Mike Kloeber.

After consultations with his family, sponsors and his employees, Mark
“Cowboy” Pawuk has decided to forego the 2007 NHRA POWERade Series
season. It will be the first time in 21 years that the Pro Stock
veteran’s colorful Pontiac won’t be part of the national drag racing
scene.

“This was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” Pawuk
acknowledged from his offices at Empaco Equipment Corporation in
Richfield. “What’s made it even harder for me is that our sponsors, who
have demonstrated amazing loyalty, have been so encouraging. Every
single one of them has indicated that when we return to action next
season they’ll continue to have their logos displayed on our car, and
I’m very grateful for their support.

Bruce Litton recently announced
the hiring of noted veteran Nicky Boninfante as tuning consultant and an
integral part of the Lucas Oil/Torco
Racing Fuel sponsored top fuel team.

“I can’t wait for the new season
to start”, Litton said. “Coming back from my crash in early September, we made
great progress with our back-up car at the IHRA final’s last year, with a new
Hadman chassis being built for this season and adding Nicky makes us excited
for racing to begin.  This will be a very
competitive year in Top Fuel and I feel we need to put our best foot forward to
be in the middle of a season long shoot-out.”

Drag racing team owner and driver Kenny “Captain Chaos” Koretsky has chosen Doug
Davenport as his first director of motorsports for KPK
Motorsports.
 
Koretsky’s racing stable includes a Nitro Fish Pro Stock entry and a Pro Stock
partnership with Greg Hill that has him driving Hill’s Indicom Electric/Nitro
Fish Chevrolet Cobalt.

Dick Landy, the popular cigar-chomping engine builder and driver who campaigned
a successful Dodge and Plymouth factory race cars in a variety of classes
including Pro Stock throughout the 1960s and early 70s, passed away Jan. 11 from
kidney failure. He was 69.

Our friends at General Motors are keeping mum on the subject, but could this be 2009's Pro Stock body style of choice?

Motor Mile Dragway has already started some major expansions for the
Inaugural ADRL Independence Drags coming this summer on July 6th and7th,
2007.

"We're extending the shutdown area by 300 feet to allow for some
faster track speeds," said owner David Hagan. "We're also adding an
additional 3,000 seats to accommodate additional spectators."

Throughout its rich history as a leader in drag racing competition, Chevrolet
has built a winning legacy unsurpassed by any manufacturer in the history of the
sport. Now the red bowtie will continue to raise the performance bar in NHRA
Funny Car this season with the introduction of the 2007 Impala SS beginning with
the series' first event at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona (Calif.) on Feb. 8 -
11.

Few vehicles have enjoyed the ongoing success of the Chevy Impala.
Its quiet strength is an inherited attribute that is blended into a sporty sedan
that offers stylish design, captivating performance and surprising details,
including the latest version of the legendary small-block V-8 in the Impala SS.
The legendary nameplate is ready to reaffirm the red bowtie's commitment to
excellence in NHRA Funny Car competition and continue the American Revolution
that is uniquely Chevrolet.

The first shovels of dirt have been moved as construction has begun on the new
drag strip at Mansfield
(Ohio) Motorsports
Park. Crews moved the first equipment
into position shortly after 9 a.m. Monday morning and by the end of the day, the
first layers of topsoil had been graded and moved.

“We’ve had a lot
of hoops to jump through with the Ohio EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, but
we have those issues worked out and we’re full speed ahead on construction,”
said Chris Mize, president and general manager of the oval track at Mansfield
Motorsports Park. “The first phase is simply getting the land graded, and it’s a
pretty decent sized project. We’ll end up moving over 250,000 cubic yards of
material. Just to give an idea of how much work that is, we plan on having about
10 pans out there and each one holds about 15 to 16 cubic yards of
material.”