NHRA Pro Stock driver and team owner Tom Hammonds continues to rack up awards from his previous career.

The All Sports Association Hall of Fame of Fort Walton Beach, Fla. inducted Hammonds into the Past
Presidents Hall of Fame on Feb. 14. 
 

“We
are excited to have Tom Hammonds join us today, and are honored to have him
enshrined in the Hall of Fame,” said 2006-2007 All Sports President, Dennis
Chavez.  “He is the top of the top, both
professionally and personally.” 

Enshrined in the Hall of Fame, Hammonds
joined past inductees, former Major League Baseball’s  Hall Famer and four time all-star Don Sutton,
1996 Heisman
Trophy  winner 
and NFL player Danny Wuerffel, and former NFL player E.G. Green

In recent years the NHRA and team PR people have worked long and hard to generate exposure for the sport in what’s termed “non-traditional” outlets.  That generally means anything beyond sports-related publications.  The Flexjet Direct division of Bombardier produces a regular 12-page four color newsletter on the company’s jet charter and fractional ownership programs, with the latest issue including a full spread on the Jeg’s Mail Order operation.  The photos accompanying the story include a shot of a Jeg’s Mail Order race car parked next to

The Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car that Jack
Beckman races for Don Schumacher Racing in the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series will sport a red-white-and-blue Valvoline paint scheme at
this weekend's CSK NHRA Nationals at Firebird Raceway.

Beckman, who established national elapsed-time and speed records at the
season finale in Pomona, Calif., in 2006, in only his fifth Funny Car
event, will debut the Valvoline/MTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car in the
first of four venues at which a Valvoline-themed DSR car will compete
this season. DSR will also run a special Valvoline-themed car at
Bristol (Tenn.), Dallas and Richmond (Va.).

"I love the looks of the Valvoline/MTS Dodge," said Beckman, of North
Hills, Calif. "It's really cool. The crew guys call it the Captain
America car, because it definitely has a patriotic theme. Our primary
sponsor MTS (Mail Terminal Services) is very large on the side of the
car, and it looks great."

IHRA is proud to welcome NAPA AUTO PARTS as
presenting sponsor of the upcoming Amalie Oil Texas Nationals. The event is the
season opener of the Nitro Jam™ Series and will be held March 23 – 25 at San
Antonio Raceway.

“NAPA
AUTO PARTS has a long tradition of supporting
racing at all levels,” said Keith Roland, general manager, NAPA San Antonio. “As
America’s
leading automotive parts supplier,
NAPA is proud to partner with Amalie
and IHRA to bring this exciting event to San
Antonio.”

High performance lubricant manufacturer Royal Purple recently expanded its
manufacturing facility with the addition of a new 1.2 million gallon tank farm. 
The new 32-tank farm holds bulk raw materials that are needed for blending Royal
Purple’s proprietary high performance lubricants.  “The second farm will enable
us to more than double our production run in just a single shift,” says
Production Manager Leigh McClellan.

Veteran crew chief Lance Larson has joined the Lucas Oil Racing
team after a recent realignment of crew personnel after the CarQuest
Auto Parts Nationals in Pomona.

Larson reunites with co-crew chief, John Stewart on the Lucas
dragster and will become a part of the two-car tuning operation of
teammate, Melanie Troxel with Richard Hogan.

“John Stewart and I have been good friends for a long time and we raced
over at (Dean) Skuza’s and showed some success,” said Larson.  “When he
called the other day and asked if I was interested in joining the team,
I was really excited about it, but at the same time I was kind of sad
and happy because of my relationship with car owner, Scott Griffin. 
Our personal friendship was so strong.  I just felt for myself and my
future the best place for me would be with Morgan Lucas Racing.” 

 Roughly a week and a half after the resignation of the Foley &
Lewis Top Fuel team’s newly named crew chief, and after announcing that
tuning duties would be temporarily handled from within the team, a
familiar face is back on board.

Doug Foley announced today that Doug Kuch would once again be handling
the tuning duties for the Torco Mach Series Accelerator-sponsored team.

“After the Pomona race,” Foley said, “we did not want to rush into
anything before the next national event, and so decided to utilize the
talents we already have on our team. We have complete confidence in our
car chiefs, Scott Morell and Glenn Camp, but we’re real close to
debuting our second car with a new team driver and we couldn’t go too
long without filling the crew chief position. Fortunately for us, the
timing couldn’t have been better and when Doug Kuch’s services became
available, it was only natural that we re-hire him.”

Following
in the footsteps of his father [Lee Beard], Zach Beard is on the fast track to carving his
own name in the racing world. Beard, 16, is in his third season of karting.

Doug Herbert announced today that Doug Kuch will no longer be serving as crew
chief for his Snap-on Tools Top Fuel dragster.

“This was a mutual decision,” said
Herbert. “We talked and decided a change was needed. When you want a
championship like we do, sometimes things have to
change.”