Tom McKernan, CEO of Automobile Club of Southern California, and legendary voice of NHRA Dave McClelland have been named to the board of directors of The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by Automobile Club of Southern California.  

“These two iconic names in the sport of NHRA Drag Racing will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in driving the mission of the museum, as set forth by our founder Wally Parks, to celebrate the impact of motorsports on our culture,” said Alex Xydias, chairman of the seven-person board.  Tony Thacker serves as the museum’s executive director.

It ain’t over til it’s over, but if Von Smith wins again this weekend it’ll certainly be close.

With two straight wins entering this weekend’s event at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park, June 25-27, the driver of the Barwa/Al-Anabi ’68 Camaro has a chance to take complete control of the points race in the first-year NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Series.

“We’re hoping to take the positives from the last two races and carry it into this weekend and win another one,” said Smith, who already has three wins and a 92-point lead through the first six races of the 10-race Get Screened America Pro Mod Series season.

The second annual Bowling for Riley charity event hosted by Don Schumacher Racing and local Indianapolis-area NAPA distribution center was another success. NHRA drivers, sponsors and fans, along with six Firestone Indy Lights series drivers, spent the evening of May 25, 2010, at Brownsburg (Ind.) Bowl in support of Indiana's only comprehensive hospital dedicated exclusively to the care of children, Riley Hospital for Children.
 
The second annual charity bowling event generated $12,612 during the four-hour event. The proceeds were raised from lane sponsorships, entry fees, silent auction, a 50/50 raffle drawing and other donations. All 28 lanes at Brownsburg Bowl were sold out for the event.

With a new sponsor to impress, it’s probably a bit of an understatement to say the season didn’t get off to the start that either Kenny Bernstein or his son and driver, Brandon, had hoped for – three races into the 2010 season, the Copart/Lucas Oil dragster was in ninth place with just two round-wins.

So combine one of the most competitive driver/owners in NHRA and the demand to impress a new sponsor, with the undeniable fact that we are in an instant-gratification world, and you had the recipe for change.

Change for the sake of change can oftentimes have the reverse effect, but in this case Kenny Bernstein made a move that certainly has paid dividends. He elevated Todd Smith to crew chief on the Copart/Lucas Oil dragster after the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals and it didn’t take long for things to click – over the course of the last seven races the Bernstein rail has been to two final rounds (Atlanta and Bristol) and four semifinals (Las Vegas 1, St. Louis, Englishtown and Topeka) and not qualified lower than fourth at the last five races.

Andrew Hines is going to attempt to obtain a license in a Pro Stock car, but finding the right time and place to make it happen has been difficult.

Hines, who won Pro Stock Motorcycle world championships from 2004-2006, was going to make some runs in the John Gaydosh Jr. Performance Pontiac GTO at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan., May 25, but that didn’t take place because Gaydosh hurt the motor in the car in his last qualifying run at the NHRA Southern Nationals in Commerce, Ga., May 15.

“We were trying to do something around Englishtown (last weekend), but we couldn’t get anything going,” said the 27-year-old Hines. “Then, we were thinking maybe Monday (June 28) after Norwalk (Ohio), but Norwalk is not going to hold a test session now. We’re still trying to figure it out, everything is up in the air, but we will get something figured out sooner or later.”

Pro Stock racer Robert Patrick was hard at work in the pits at Bristol Dragway.

The longtime Ford racer wasn’t speaking a word to anyone. His focus was on the small metal pieces he was pulling out of a wooden box and then inserting into the carburetor of his new Mustang Pro Stocker.

After some time, Patrick finally acknowledged the presence of those around him.

John Zappia was crowned 2009/2010 ANDRA Top Doorslammer Champion last weekend, after he successfully defended his back to back title by winning the final of the Castrol EDGE Winternationals against point’s leader Robin Judd, with a 5.817 at 246.93 mph and reset the National Record with a blistering 5.805, 246.08 in his semi-final win against Ben Bray.

“I love it when a plan comes together” said a jubilant Zappia, “We set some pretty high goals going into the last event, and to almost achieve them all is a testimony to the maturity and standard of our team. We aim high, and work hard at a lot of one percent details on the car and thankfully most of them actually work”.

NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge racer Tim Tindle will sit out the remaining 2010 season. The decision was a tough one for the Santa Rosas Beach, FL., team owner who had never missed an NHRA Pro Mod event since his career began in 2007. Based on the team’s recent performance, Tindle felt it was necessary to take a step back and regroup.

Mike Edwards will lead the K&N Horsepower Challenge field as the No. 1 seed for the first time in his career as the lucrative special event takes center stage June 26 during the fourth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.

A purse of $76,000 is available for the eight drivers competing in the K&N Horsepower Challenge. The winner of the 26th annual K&N Horsepower Challenge will earn $50,000. The runner-up will earn $10,000, the two semifinalists $3,000 each, and the four first-round finishers $2,500 apiece.

Intensely focused, his eyes like laser beams locked in on his computer screen, Mike Kloeber is one of the most meticulous and uncompromising crew chiefs in drag racing.
 
He has spoken about how he'll "lie awake at night . . . thinking about how to do this right . . . and when you're not the person driving the car, you have to make absolute certain you can send it down the racetrack without hurting [the driver]."  When they earned six consecutive IHRA Top Fuel championships together, racer Clay Millican said that whatever Kloeber chose to do to his dragster, "that's what we do, because I know he has thought it out."