Defending NHRA Heritage Series 7.0 Pro champion Will Martin looks to clinch his second consecutive championship when he drives his Multistack.com / Prolong Blown Alcohol Funny Car at the Nostalgia Reunion contested at Sacramento Raceway. The second generation flopper pilot from San Dimas, Calif. will welcome the group from Airco Commercial Services as Major Associate Marketing Partners for this event.

“We are very happy to have the assistance of Airco Commercial Services this weekend up at Sacto,” noted Martin, who enters this event following the team’s recent victory at the last NHRA Heritage Series 7.0 Pro race, held in Las Vegas earlier this year. “Airco is based in Sacramento and is a major part of our MagLev Retrofit Contractor program at Mulitstack. Being the Director of Centrifugal Development for Multistack provides me with the opportunity to ‘talk shop’ with these guys at the races and introduce them to the power of NHRA Heritage Series racing. We are honored to have them involved with our team at this event.”

Tony Pontieri feels like he’s stared Death in the face, and he didn’t like what he saw.

“I can remember every second of it,” Pontieri says of the fiery, top-end crash he went through June 25, while qualifying for the NHRA Pro Mod event in Norwalk, Ohio.

“I remember seeing that grey concrete wall coming up and thinking, ‘So this is what it looks like to die.’ It was a weird feeling and let me know that all those guys who’ve died before doing this knew what was coming up and it’s something I hope I never have to feel again.”

Making the NHRA Countdown to the Championship can be a stressful roller-coaster ride.

It’s a ride Robert Hight knows all too well.

A year ago, Hight, who pilots the Auto Club Ford Mustang for John Force Racing, just barely qualified for the Countdown in the No. 10 spot by capturing a controversial win over John Force in the semifinals at the U.S. Nationals.

Hight’s victory also set off a firestorm between Tony Pedregon and Force because Hight’s win against his father-in-law and boss, knocked Cruz, Tony’s brother and defending NHRA Top Fuel Funny Car world champion, out of the Countdown. Force beat Cruz Pedregon in the second round.

Jack Roush, co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing and chairman of ROUSH® Enterprises, has been hospitalized following a plane crash at Wittman Regional Airport in OshKosh, Wis.

Melanie Troxel will return to the Europe for the second time this season to race in the FIA Nitrolympx, which takes place Aug. 13-15 at Germany's famous Hockenheimring.

Troxel will be piloting the same '67 Camaro she drove to the quickest and fastest run on European soil when she zoomed down the quarter-mile in 5.937 seconds at 242.42 mph (390.13 kph) on May 30 at Santa Pod Raceway in England. The Roger Burgess-owned racecar has since improved those marks to 5.911 seconds at 245.78 mph (395.52 kph) with Hasselby, Sweden's Micke Gullqvist behind the wheel when he drove it to the title of the FHRA Nitro Nationals earlier this month at the Alastaro Circuit in Finland.

"It's really exciting to be racing FIA again, even more so knowing we've got the best car on the European circuit at the moment," Troxel said. "We had just gotten the car dialed in at the end of the race in England, but our best run came on an exhibition pass. We certainly feel like we have some unfinished business to take care of over there."

Prestolite Performance, a performance auto parts manufacturer of brands including Lakewood, Mr. Gasket, Hays, ACCEL and Mallory has acquired the business of QuickTime, Inc., a leading manufacturer of lightweight bellhousings and racing accessories.

“With the combination of QuickTime and Lakewood, Prestolite Performance offers the broadest line of bellhousing applications ranging from traditional formed steel models to the latest in innovative and lightweight bellhousings for the hard core racer,” said Eric Scheinerman, CEO of Prestolite Performance. “QuickTime’s contributions will solidify our position as the industry leader and pioneer in the bellhousing market, as we continue to offer products and solutions not found elsewhere.”

The National Speed Association (NSA) Pro Stock Asphalt Snowmobile series confirmed that Autotronic Controls Corporation (also known as MSD) will be sponsoring the NSA Pro Stock race on August 7, 2010 at New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire.  There will be a $3000 purse up for grabs in the Pro Stock class and the Powersports Group at MSD will be awarding a MSD 75301 Digital-7 Programmable ignition to the event winner!

The MSD Programmable ignition is very popular among the NSA Pro Stock asphalt sleds with its ease of use and controllability.  It is a very powerful tool for tuners with launch control and also provides riders with 2-step capability.  The MSD digital ignition allows teams to program a specific timing curve for the motor which can easily be customized based on the situation.

Summit Motorsports Park’s ‘Night Under Fire’ has been aptly called the Greatest Show on Earth.  With eight Nitro Funny Cars, jet dragsters, a jet semi, a wheel stander and a brilliant fireworks show, it just may top the big top. Certainly for drag racing fans there’s no contest. This year two Mountain Motor Pro Stock cars will be added to the mix. Pete Berner will bring his Summit Racing Equipment GXP to take on Bob Bertsch in a best two out of three match race exhibition.

The two Pro Stock teams will be on hand not only to give doorslammer fans something to cheer for at the Night Under Fire but also to advertise for the upcoming Summit Racing Equipment ADRL Ohio Drags IV to be held at Summit Motorsports Park on Sept 24-25.

Since the first Ohio Drags in 2007, fans have flocked to Summit Motorsports Park to watch the insane eighth mile action. Now the thousands of Night Under Fire fans will get a little taste of the action.

Warren Johnson is the last of the old breed.  He may not be the oldest Pro Stock competitor chronologically, but in this instance “old breed” refers to that select few who have been fortunate enough to have dominated at one point or another during their careers.  Bob Glidden hung up his helmet a long time ago.  Darrell Alderman parked his Dodge when his eyesight failed (the Mopar PR people claimed it was due to a back bad, but he could no longer see the finish line, and they wanted to cover that up.).  Jeg Coughlin, Jr. is obviously still very active, but by and large, the days of total domination in the class seem to be over if for no other reason than the quality of the competition.

The term “politically correct” and Warren Johnson remain mutually exclusive.  The man speaks his mind in 2010 just as he did in 1970.  Totally unafraid of the ramifications of his words, “The Professor” has never been one to mince words with NHRA, the media or his fellow racers.  Back in the days of the long-gone Pro Stock Owners Association Johnson and Glidden both offered to fly to California and open their books for NHRA management to show them exactly how much it was costing to compete.  NHRA declined the opportunity, and by and large remains in the dark as to the rapidly escalating costs of racing in Pro Stock.  It’s a scenario they appear to relish, for without the facts and figures in front of them they can speculate as to the costs forever without having to face the harsh reality of what the racers face week to week.

On a brutally hot day in July 2010, Cliff Shipp got runner-up in a tough, big-money ($10,000-to-win) bracket race at Montgomery Motorsports Park in Alabama. Okay, so, cool, Cliff, and congrats. No big deal, right? People win and get runner-up in similar circumstances all the time.

Well, let’s see if you can do the same in the same condition and out of a similar dragster as Shipp’s. The heat most of us can stand. But when you have a bum leg, things aren’t so easy. Shipp has had this condition for several years. His left leg feels numb all the time. Hurts too. Refuses to raise right. So what did Shipp do to runner-up at Montgomery? He didn’t leave the confines of his car all day. Stayed right there in the seat the whole time. He had friends fuel him up, check tire air pressures and keep the car cool. All Cliff had to do was drive.