:::::: News ::::::

SGMP NOSTALGIA EVENT

If Bakersfield
is too long a trip, or if you were rained out at Bowling
Green or Indy, come on down to South
GeorgiaMotorsports Park, Cecil, Georgia!  Entries continue to pour in from as far away
as Colorado
for the Southern Nostalgia Shootout to be held the weekend of October
27-29.  The event is billed as the
largest gathering of nostalgia cars in the Deep South.  Don’t miss these exciting cars on the only
full concrete quarter mile east of Texas.
  Famed announcer Marvin Noel will be
calling the action.

BUDANO AND SHAFIROFF WIN AGAIN

When the Budano/Shafiroff
trailer rolled into Memphis Motorsports Park

for the NMCA World Street
Finals the championship was all but locked up.

Driver Vinny Budano
readjusted his sights on winning his third consecutive race,
no small feat given the
level of competition in the NMCAPro Street ranks.

DRAG RACER ILL

A
member of our drag racing family is ailing at this time. IHRA Hot Rod (10.90)
racer Steve Corker is in a Raleigh,
North Carolina hospital suffering
from what doctors call as a bacteria infection in his lungs. The preliminary
diagnosis was pneumonia.

THE ROOMAN CHASE REPORT

The NHRA’s decision to implement a NASCAR style “Chase for
the Championship” was based on the fact that in the past some titles have been
decided by the completition of the US Nationals on Labor Day. What we are doing
here is analyzing the current point breakdown and comparing it with the new
scenario. It is ironic that last year’s Funny Car points chase was the tightest
of the modern era with three drivers vying for the title going in to the finals
at Pomona. As you will see from our calculations applying the new breakdown to
this year’s points would have one team running away with the lead at the
moment. We have counted the points scored by Jack Beckman to keep things
straight in the case of Whit Bazemore’s tally. In the case of the Pro Stock
Bikes we have added the points from Memphis to the tally so the the number of
races matches that of next year’s schedule.

TRICK OR TREAT WITH GEORGE HOWARD

One lucky racer will walk away with $100,000 if he or she
wins the big race at Montgomery Motorsports Park’s first annual Halloween
Classic, to be held over the October 27 through 29 weekend at the central
Alabama drag strip. The winning purse, to be paid out on Saturday, is said to
be the largest to be given to a single drag race winner in the Classic’s
special racing category, reserved for street- and modified, full-bodied-type
cars.

THE NHRA ADDS NEW DIVISION TRACKS

The NHRA has announced that two dragstrips have joined its member track
network.  Cordova (Ill.) Dragway Park
and Eddyville (Iowa) Raceway Park will run under the NHRA flag
beginning in the 2007 racing season.

Cordova Dragway Park
is approximately 20 miles northeast of Davenport, Iowa, and is a quarter-mile facility. 
Eighth-mile Eddyville Raceway Park
is approximately 55 miles southeast of Des Moines, Iowa.  Scott Gardner and his wife, Laura, own
and operate Cordova Dragway Park,
and Gardner is
partners with Gerald Kramer and Jerry Anglese in Eddyville Raceway Park.

CONNOLLY'S NEW COBALT

Torco's CompetitionPlus.com obtained these photos of Dave Connolly's new Bevis Built Chevrolet Cobalt.

COUGHLIN COMPLETES BEST PRO SEASON

Troy Coughlin completed his first full season in the National Muscle Car
Association's Pro Street class as the championship runner-up, the best
professional-level result of his career. Coughlin recorded his fourth runner-up
finish of the seven-race season Sunday at the fifth annual Nitto Tires World
Finals to clinch the spot in the final points standings.
 
Although Coughlin once again fell victim to newly re-crowned Pro Street
champion Vinny Budano for the third time this year with a trophy on the line, he
was all smiles as he left Memphis Motorsports Park, vowing to return with a
vengeance in 2007.
 
"This was a blast," Coughlin said. "It was easily the most fun I've had
racing. Vinny got the job done but the progress we made from the start of the
year to right now has been incredible. It's all due to my crew and the support
of my family. We closed to within a few hundredths of him and I think that says
a lot."

EVAN KNOLL NOT SOLD ON PARITY IN NHRA PRO STOCK

img_4720.jpgSponsor extraordinaire and Pro Stock team owner Evan Knoll can’t help but
have concerns about his future in Pro Stock. In a recent interview, Knoll
alluded that the NHRA Pro Stock field might just be battling for a third place
finish at best. That has him carefully examining his future in the class.

 
“I have some concerns with three cars coming out of the Cagnazzi camp and
if you ask me, it’s hard enough to put two competitive cars out there much less
three. I have some concerns. We’ll see how that works out at the end of the
year.”
 
Knoll expects the Summit Pontiacs of Greg Anderson and Jason Line to drive
to the title virtually unchallenged.
 
“I have to give it to Anderson and Line, those guys are just badass,” Knoll
said. “When you look at who they have involved in the operation – Ken Black,
Greg Anderson and Jason Line – they are rightfully ahead of everyone. That’s a
package that’s equal to a Thanksgiving dinner, you just can’t beat it. The only
thing I have…and I’m in third place…and I’m not ashamed to say it is a turkey
leg and a giblet. I still want some dressing and potatoes.

NHRA PRO MODS NOT RETURNING TO VMP

The Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals at Richmond, the second-to-last race of
the AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod Challenge, was rained out without a single car
ever going down the track. Now, it all comes down to one race, the final event
of the now nine-race season.
 
"This was an incredibly difficult
situation, very unfortunate for everyone," said series director Matthew Brammer.
"We didn't want to make everybody have to come back for the rain date next
weekend, and half the people couldn't make it anyway due to scheduling conflicts
and prior commitments. There's no guarantee what the weather will be next week,
so it was a no-win situation for everyone."
 
The solution? Double the
purse from top to bottom for the season-ending ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals
and settle everything there - one last race for everything.

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