Here's a sneak peek of the new Lil Nate Funny Car.

The IHRA Competition Department has announced the 2007 Mr. Gasket Pro-Am Tour
schedule.

Expanding upon
the successful double-event format from last season, nearly all of the 2007
races will be doubles. This allows drivers to travel to a scheduled event and
compete and earn points for two races, all in one weekend. In addition, two
venues will host an event where the points can be counted toward multiple
divisions.

“Travel costs are not going down anytime soon, so this format,
combined with the sportsman-friendly restructure of the national and Pro-Am
points system will provide incredible value to IHRA sportsman competitors and
host track operators,” said IHRA Vice President of Racing Operations Skooter
Peaco. “Creating innovative solutions to help sportsman competitors compete both
on the national and Pro-Am level is what makes IHRA uniquely different from the
mainstream.

Lee McKinney,
who was on the IHRA staff during the 2006 season, revealed in a short note that
he is retiring from the Navy and leaving the IHRA to accept a position in Irag.

Mckinney has assisted the IHRA and the track in San Antonio for the last few years while serving with the
US Navy at the Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. During 2006, McKinney was able to make use of his leave
time to attend all of the events to assist the staff.

Harley-Davidson Motor Company announced today that riders GT Tonglet and
Rich King have been released from their Screamin' Eagle Harley-Davidson race
team contracts.

Veteran AMA Flat Track racer Rich King recently completed
his seventh season with the Screamin' Eagle team, finishing fifth in the
final 2006 AMA point standings. King finished a career-best second in points
in 2001.

John Nobile’s new 2007 Ford Mustang GT will be on display in
the RAM Clutches booth #1791 at this years PRI show December 14-16 in Orlando, Florida.  Nobile’s new mount is in the completion phase
now at Rick Jones’s RJ Race Cars shop.   Torco’s
CompetitionPlus.com was able to secure this spy photo of the car fresh out of
the paint shop.

Nobile, the 2004 IHRA Pro Stock champion, is looking to
jump-start his 2007 campaign. 

The annual John Force Holiday Car Show will take place from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.,
Sunday, Dec. 3, at the team’s race headquarters in Yorba Linda, Calif., to once
again benefit the California Highway Patrol’s "CHiP’s for Kids" toy drive. The
annual activity allows race fans to tour the John Force Race Shop and Museum and
meet top NHRA drivers and take in a great car show.

Co-hosted by the Classic Cruisers of North Orange County, the annual
activity allows race fans and car enthusiasts a chance to not only tour the John
Force Race Shop and Museum and meet top NHRA drivers and racing personalities
such Force, Robert Hight, Gary Scelzi, Cory McClenathan, Del Worsham, Jack
Beckman, Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen, and Linda Vaughn, as well as Laurie, Ashley,
Brittany, and Courtney Force plus Chip Foose, AJ, and Chris from the hit TV Show
Overhaulin', but also to see hundreds of street rods, muscle cars, antiques,
classics, motorcycles, trucks, racecars, and specialty vehicles on
display.

Doug Foley recently announced the hiring of veteran Rick Cassel as
crew chief and an integral part of the Foley and Lewis Torco Mach Series
Accelerator-sponsored Top Fuel team.

“Now that I’m all healed up from our accident in September,” Foley
said, “we have a brand new Attac Race Cars chassis being readied for next
year’s competition. And now with the addition of Rick Cassel as our tuner,
we’re really excited to get back on track.”

Steve Earwood was the public relations director for the National Hot Rod
Association during its biggest growth period.  He subsequently ran the PR and
publicity operation at the Texas Motorplex and was vice-president and general
manager at Atlanta Dragway.

 He thought he had
seen it all.   He was wrong.

 “I’ve never been
through six weeks like the ones we just had,” said the man who, since 1992, has
owned and operated Rockingham Dragway.  “It was an amazing run and it tells me
that while other motor sports may be struggling, drag racing is as healthy as
I’ve ever seen it.”

Torco's CompetitionPlus.com has learned that IHRA Torco's
CompetitionPlus.com Pro Stock driver Tony Gillig will not return for
the 2007 season. He recently finished runner-up for the 2006
championship to Pete Berner.

“(Huston and I) had decided before the (2006) season had started that
at the end of the year, win, lose or draw, we were going to split the
race team up, and we did it because we both agreed upon it,” said
Gillig. “Tim had been racing for a long time before I ever came onboard
and I think he’s a little burned out. He kind of wants to take a little
breather and regroup. Maybe he’ll race again, maybe he won’t. I think
if he did we’d probably get together and do it again as a team. And I
could use some time to spend at our family business,” a pizzeria his
father and crewchief Bob Gillig founded in Lake Bluff 31 years ago.
“I’ve been working there since I was 14.”