A group of goodwill ambassadors from the NHRA is back in the United States
after a three-day USO-sponsored tour of U.S. Military installations, including
the Kaiserslautern Military Community and Spangdahlem Air Base. It was the
second consecutive post-season visit for the drivers, and as in 2005, the time
spent with the American troops and their families stationed in Germany was a
brief but memorable chapter in their careers they'll be talking about for a long
time.

Six-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Warren Johnson, two-time NHRA Pro
Stock champion Jim Yates, Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson Jr., and Top Fuel
drivers Cory McClenathan and Melanie Troxel (who joined the group for the first
time this year) represented the sport of drag racing during the 72-hour
troop-morale mission to Germany. The Army Special Forces Association, Randall
Shughart Chapter 64, based in Carlisle, Pa. once again served as the vanguard
for this year's visit and the 435th Services Squadron at Ramstein AB hosted the
group during its stay in Germany. The drivers distributed over 1,500 goody bags
that included racing caps, tee-shirts, racing decals and other items, signed an
even greater number of autographs and brought good cheer to everyone they
met.

Two-time Pro Stock
champion Jim Yates has informed  Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com that while he
“just heard about” Staley  being cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers NFL team, he
is confident 
they’ll continue to go forward with their planned two-car
team.  

Ohio Crankshaft will be awarding $1000 to the low qualifier at all events in 2007. 

NHRA POWERade Series world champions Tony Schumacher and John Force
were named to the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters
Association (AARWBA) Auto Racing All-America First Team.

Top Fuel runner-up Doug Kalitta and Pro Stock world champion Jason Line were named to the Second Team.

Two selections were made by the members of the motorsports press
association from each of seven categories – Drag Racing, Open Wheel,
Stock Car, Road Racing, Short Track, Touring Series and At-Large – to
complete the first team. The highest remaining vote-getters were
eligible for the AARWBA second team and honorable mention team.

Top Alcohol Funny Car national champion Frank Manzo, who had 10 event
wins – six national and four divisional – en route to his 10th Lucas
Oil national championship, was an At-Large selection on the Second Team.

Bryan Seward found it very difficult to fight back the tears on Sunday
as he won his first career Pro Modified event during the recently
completed Snow Bird Outlaw Nationals in Bradenton, Florida.

The longtime sportsman racer, who is in his fourth year of running Pro
Modified, finally raised his first trophy high into the air. The tears
began to flow freely.

“It was a sight for a 42-year old to be crying like a baby, but I just could not hold them back,” said Seward.

The dew point during final round caused the track to be very difficult
to negotiate and Seward covered “about half a mile to get the quarter
mile win.” Posting a 6.27 in his supercharged Mustang, Seward bested
the 6.36 of the nitrous assisted Camaro of Dan Bandish in the final
round and secured his first career win.

Mikres named co-crew chief of Scott Kalitta-driven Toyota Solara Nitro Funny Car

Veteran Nitro crew chief and former NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car driver
Glenn Mikres has been named as co-crew chief for the Kalitta
Motorsports-owned Kalitta Air Toyota Solara Funny Car driven by Scott
Kalitta. Mikres will assist crew chief and team owner Conrad “Connie”
Kalitta with tuning the 7,000-horsepower, nitro-fueled race car in the
2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Mikres and Connie Kalitta are
reuniting as co-crew chief and crew chief in 2007. They each served
those roles in 1988 on a Scott Kalitta-driven Funny Car as well.

“Communication with Conrad will be the key to having a successful
program,” Mikres said. “I’ve worked with Conrad in the past, and we
work well together. He knows how to make a lot of horsepower. Hopefully
he and I can work together on how to get that horsepower applied to the
track properly. I have high expectations of what we can accomplish with
our Kalitta Air Funny Car in 2007 and beyond.”

Rod Saboury sent us over the first pics of his new turbocharged Corvette. The Pro Street legend will have his car on display during the PRI show in Orlando, Florida.

Erie Educational Services Joins Team As New Major Associate Sponsor

Veteran Funny Car driver Jeff Arend has joined Worsham Racing and the Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car team for 2007, and will be the driver of the team's blue car, replacing Phil Burkart Jr., who piloted the blue CSK machine for more than three seasons. Arend began racing Funny Cars professionally in 1995, and has one career victory on his record (Maple Grove, 1996.) He has spent much of his career driving for legendary tuner and car owner Paul Smith, but did join Team CSK for one race in 2006, when he drove the team's special edition Murray's car in St. Louis.

In conjunction with Arend's appointment as the driver of Del and Chuck Worsham's blue Checker, Schuck's, Kragen car, the team also announced the addition of Erie Educational Services as a major associate sponsor. Arend was instrumental in bringing the industry leader in the area of student loan consolidation into the sport in 2006, and has nurtured the program for more than a year. The company will now be a part of the Team CSK program, and will embrace the opportunity to make Worsham Racing a key part of its marketing strategy.

Del Worsham announced the moves from the team's Orange, Calif. headquarters, and emphasized the critical need to push his program to new heights after a disappointing 2006 campaign, which saw him miss the POWERade Top 10 for the first time since 1997.

Luca
Mantovano, a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin, is the 2006 national
winner of the Castrol® SYNTEC® Outperformers™ scholarship.

Mantovano was recognized by drag
racing icon John Force during the annual Auto Club of Southern California
Finals the final event in the 2006 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

The Castrol
SYNTEC Outperformers initiative, which grew out of research that showed a
disturbing downward trend in the number of individuals opting for careers in
the automotive field, recognizes and encourages young men and women who have
demonstrated an interest and aptitude for auto mechanics.