In its ever-broadening coverage of drag racing, Attitude Apparel’s CompetitionPlus.com will partner with Joe Castello’s WFO radio to provide a special one-hour insider’s look at the 56th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals from O’Reilly Raceway Park.
 
“The Attitude Hour,” hosted by Castello and racer/commentator Bob Unkefer, will feature information, insights and special guests including Jim Head, a former U.S. Nationals winner in both Top Fuel and Funny Car; Bill Miller, owner of Bill Miller Engineering; Warren Johnson, winner of 97 NHRA Pro Stock events including this year’s AAA Midwest Nationals at St. Louis; and Rodger Brogdon, Countdown contender in Pro Stock and owner of Attitude Apparel.

Bob Tasca and the Tasca Racing team were prepared to skip the upcoming Thursday’s test session at O'Reilly Raceway Park to prepare for the U.S. Nationals.

Then the weather changed, as did the plans to test with the Quick Lane/Motorcraft Ford Mustang to prepare for arguably the biggest race of the year – the first race in the Countdown to 1.

“Obviously, these testing day are precious commodities,” said Tasca when asked about the test. “We actually didn't make a decision to test at Indy until Sunday night for a couple reasons. Number one we didn't want to chance any rain and number two you want to pick the conditions that you are trying to learn something in. For us, it's more of a cold weather tune-up that we've been trying to chase and get ready for some of these conditions over the next six races. We'll have some hot tracks, but clearly we'll have some unbelievable conditions coming up. We were thinking of going to Charlotte the Monday after the race, but when we saw the weather forecast for Indy for Thursday – low of 58, high of 75, zero percent chance of rain – you can't pass that up.

Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Steve Johnson doesn’t have a mountain of money to fund his efforts, but he has managed to be a serious contender since 1987, and his efforts are a great illustration of making the most of what you have.

Johnson’s attitude and energy rarely wane, and his exuberant presence is most definitely contagious. A top 10 finisher on 16 different occasions, the Alabama transplant has another shot at winning his first Full Throttle Series championship thanks to two final rounds and eight top-half qualifying efforts this season -- including a career-second start from the No. 1 spot in Norwalk.

Prestolite Performance, a performance auto parts manufacturer for brands including ACCEL, Hays, Lakewood, Mr. Gasket, Mallory and QuickTime Inc., has recently purchased the new 2011 Ford Mustang for the Modern Muscle X campaign and car giveaway and is developing products compatible with this latest model.

The new 2011 Mustang will replace the current 2010 model in the MMX lineup, which currently includes the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro and the 2010 Dodge Challenger. New products customized for the 2011 Mustang have also been developed and will reach store shelves by the end of August.

“Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge are in the midst of the strongest muscle car war since the 1960s,” said Scott Stutler, product manager for Prestolite Performance. “The 2011 Ford Mustang is a strong player and we’re excited to add this car to the MMX campaign.”

As NHRA celebrates the 56th anniversary of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, the world’s most prestigious drag race is set to provide its traditional offering of the very best in speed and high performance to countless thousands of hot rodding enthusiasts. More than 850 competitors in 12 different racing categories will perform in front of the standing-room only crowd during the much-anticipated Labor Day classic.

Drag Racing’s biggest event takes place at revered O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, Sept. 1-6. It is the 18th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series for 2010 and the first of six races in the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s post-season playoffs. The race will be showcased nationwide on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD during more than 10 hours of coverage.

Each year at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil fans are offered a glimpse into the past with several exciting attractions and the 2010 edition of this legendary event is no exception.

Attitude Apparel, CompetitionPlus.com and Bill Miller Engineering will re-unite over the Labor Day weekend to provide the most comprehensive pit-to-track coverage of the 56th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals from O’Reilly Raceway Park.    
    
The team that last year broke every major story developed in the NHRA’s marquee event, this year will provide expanded coverage through individual reporters and bloggers assigned exclusively to each professional category.  

The Attitude’s CompetitionPlus.com editorial team will consist of publisher/editor Bobby Bennett, Stan Creekmore, Susan Wade and Tracy Renck, each assigned exclusively to one pro category.  In addition, Kelly Wade, widely respected for her insights into sportsman racing, will focus her talents on competition at the second level.

There are several pieces of the Pro Stock puzzle drivers and owners must put together to have success in this highly-competitive NHRA class. One major decision that has to be made is whether a team wants to lease motors or start its own in-house engine program.

The latter seems to be a popular choice of late; but it is not a simple transition to put an in-house engine program in place. It is even tougher to put one in place which produces results.

“I think you really need a two-car deal to do a good engine program, unless you have unlimited funds like say Johnny Gray has got to throw at it,” said Larry Morgan, who has been competing in Pro Stock since 1987. “I do not think a single-car team can do an engine program unless they’re pretty well set up with someone who does cylinder heads and is an engine builder.

ADRL Extreme Pro Stock points leader John Montecalvo is unapologetic about getting it on with nitrous oxide this past weekend.

In fact, he’s quite proud of it.

“We were out testing at Maple Grove (Pennsylvania) during the NEOPMA (Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association) race and some of the guys there invited us to enter their nitrous Pro Mod class,” the Center Moriches, NY-based driver explained. “They may have wished they hadn’t, though, after we made it to the final round.”

In the final results from Cecil County Dragway and the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Rich McPhillips, Phoenixville, Pa., and Frank Manzo, Morganville, N.J., took home the wins in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car respectively.

McPhillips, worked his way through the field and ran 5.575 seconds at 253.95 mph in his final round victory over Mike Kosky, Cuddy, Pa.  McPhillips won over Arthur Gallant, Boxboro, Mass., and John Finke, Selkirk, N.Y., in rounds 1 and 2.

NHRA has announced that Tire Kingdom®, a leading brand of service centers for Florida-based TBC Retail Group Inc. (TBC), has signed a multi-year contract extension to continue its title rights sponsorship of the tradition-rich NHRA Gatornationals at historic Gainesville Raceway.

In addition to title sponsorship of the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals, Tire Kingdom will be a national partner of the NHRA Youth and Education Services (YES) Program presented by the U.S. Army, utilizing its Tire Kingdom, NTB-National Tire and Battery®, Merchant’s Tire and Auto Centers®, and Big O Tires ® brands.  TBC Retail Group will also have a presence in NHRA’s Manufacturer’s Midway at a number of events on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule throughout the year.

“After its successful support of this year’s Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals, TBC Retail Group decided to extend and expand its relationship with NHRA,” said Tony Driscoll, vice president of sales and business development, NHRA.  “We are excited to have the TBC Retail Group brands associated with NHRA at the title rights level and within the NHRA YES program presented by the U.S. Army.”