Torco's CompetitionPlus.com Photo Director Roger Richards was at the IHRA Awards Banquet in Greensboro, NC., and delivered a photo gallery of all the event's functions including the Saturday afternoon golf tournament.

2006 Awards Banquet Held Saturday Night in
Greensboro,
N.C.

Concluding a very successful season, the International Hot Rod Association
(IHRA) honored its drivers Saturday night in Greensboro, N.C., during their
annual awards banquet. IHRA crowned the fifteen professional eMax Nitro Jam™
Drag Racing Series world champions, Mr. Gasket Pro-Am Tour champions, and
recognized several special award winners.

Dale Creasy Jr.,
who won the first IHRA Nitro Funny Car world championship since the sanctioning
body stopped running the class in 1992, accepted his award with thanks to his
crew, family and sponsors. Creasy, Beecher,
Ill., finished the season No. 1 in the point
standings, a mere five points over second-place-finisher Jack Wyatt.

IHRA has announced Summit Racing Equipment as sponsor of the sanctioning body’s
Pro-Am Tour. Mr. Gasket will be the presenting sponsor of the series.

Designed to offer
semi-professional drag racers the opportunity to chase a championship without
extended travel, the Summit Racing Equipment Pro-Am Tour presented by Mr. Gasket
consists of races held in various regions throughout the country. Drivers earn
points towards Pro-Am championships, as well as IHRA eMax Drag Racing Series
championships.

Honorees were announced today for
the fifth annual National Hot Rod Reunion, Jun. 15-17, 2007 at National Trail
Raceway near Columbus, Ohio. The honorees are John Abbott, Don Cain,
Ted Harbit, Fred Hurst, and the team of Gary Rupp and Pat Dakin. Jeg
Coughlin will be the Grand Marshal, while the Justice Bros. Reunion Spotlight
will fall on Frank Hawley.

John Abbott began his long drag racing career near his Denver home in
1954. His accomplishments at the wheel of fuel dragsters include the 1977
Top Fuel title at the Popular Hot Rodding Magazine Championships, the IHRA
Spring Nationals in 1978 and the AHRA Winter Nationals in '79. He capped
his career with a victory in the NHRA U.S. Nationals, taking the Top Fuel title
in 1981 following a runner-up finish in 1980.

Don Cain's biggest win came with his Top Gas victory at the 1967 U.S.
Nationals. He won six NHRA Division 5 Championships in Top Gas Dragster.
Cain then drove a Plymouth Satellite Funny Car for the team of Pusch and
Cain match racing throughout the Midwest. He retired from drag racing in
1974 and focused his attention on street rods. After his retirement from
General Motors in 1988, he and his wife Nan opened K.C. Street Rod Parts in
Kansas City, Mo.

Cruz Pedregon Racing, Inc. has announced that veteran tuner Wayne Dupuy has
joined the Advance Auto Parts Racing Nitro Funny Car Team as crew chief for the
2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season. 

"Everyone
at Cruz Pedregon Racing is really excited to have such an experienced crew chief
like Wayne Dupuy on our side heading into the 2007 season," Cruz Pedregon,
owner/driver for the team, said.  "His
reputation on the NHRA circuit is unmatched, and he is highly regarded by
everyone that knows him.  His ability to
tune both Funny Car and Top Fuel machines is what impressed me.   We had a successful year in 2006, but always
try to assess how we can be more competitive and consistent for the next event
or season.  As part of that process, we
have to evaluate each person involved with our team to determine if changes need
to be made, and we were so fortunate that Wayne was available to join our
operation for next year, as we're definitely aiming for the championship.  We've also added an assistant crew chief,
Kevin Butterfield, which should strengthen our whole team.  Our entire Advance Auto Parts race team
welcome Wayne and Kevin to our racing family, and we look forward to working
with both of them to create winning race cars in the coming season."

ADRL Publicist Duke Ritenhouse and wife Kristen have a new member in the
family. Matthew  Craig Ritenhouse, who was born Nov. 22, 2006, at Washoe Medical
Center in Reno, Nevada.

Richie Stevens Jr. earned $25,000 for winning a round of eliminations by the
narrowest margin of victory in 2006.

Stevens defeated Jim Yates by a .0003-second
margin in the first round of Pro Stock eliminations at the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest
Nationals in Madison, Ill. in June to become the Motel 6 “Who Got the Light?”
season award winner. It was the closest POWERade Series margin of victory
recorded since 2003.

Chassis builder/IHRA Pro
Stock driver Rick Jones plans on having a two-car team in 2007, neither of
which he will drive. Jones will use the competition

“I’m not giving up driving permanently. I just want to
do a good job of taking care of my customers,” Jones said. “I feel that we
build the best race car, and we have the best customers. I want to make sure that
it stays that way. I am very excited about next year to say the least. Bonnie, Rickie and I have always wanted to
run two cars. We are putting sponsorship in place for the second car, and that
sponsor will be announced in the near future.”

Gugliotta drove for Charlie
Taylor last year and placed third in championship points standings.

NHRA drag-racing star Ron Capps, famous for
his willingness and desire to
drive just about anything on wheels if given
the chance, will compete in the
invitational Stars of Karting presented by
the IRL All-Star Kart Race in
Orlando, Fla., Dec. 14 against a star-studded
list of professional kart
racers and other celebrity racing pros.

Capps, of Carlsbad, Calif., who
drives the Brut Revolution Dodge Charger R/T
Funny Car in the NHRA POWERade
Drag Racing Series for Don Schumacher Racing,
will compete against
established kart racers as well as celebrity guest
drivers such as Indy 500
winner Buddy Rice, Indy 500 runner-up Marco
Andretti, IndyCar standouts Tomas
Scheckter and Bryan Herta, Champ Car's
Alex Tagliani, fellow NHRA Top Fuel
star Larry Dixon, and sports-car aces
Patrick Long, Wayne Taylor and Memo
Gidley, among others to be announced.