If you were a professional drag racer in 1980, you had one key reason for traveling to race in Bristol, Tenn., you came to get paid. Thunder Valley Dragway, now re-branded as Bristol Dragway, paid like no other race track.

The IHRA Spring Nationals event rewarded its winners with the largest paydays of any national event in drag racing at the time.

An event win in either nitro category paid $20,000; while Pro Stock pocketed a then incredible $10,000.

What was the inspiration for a promoter to offer up such a monetary gold mine?

Bristol [TN] will likely never get its props when it comes to the advancement of the Pro Stock division. As much of an influence as Detroit had in the formation of the factory hot rod category, it was Bristol which took the class to the level it now enjoys.

To the right of the creek which runs through the property which is home to both the NASCAR track and the NHRA track used to stand a building where a sanctioning body executive at his wits end suggested to his boss, maybe their series ought to step outside of the conventional rules the Pro Stock division had used since its introduction. At the time, the rules package was cumbersome and considered anything but fair.

Ted Jones was the executive who suggested to the IHRA’s founder, Larry Carrier, they scrap the traditional method of factoring the different manufacturing combinations and adopt their own special breed of Pro Stock classification.

Thus was born the mountain motor Pro Stocker.

Three-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson confirmed that veteran crew chief Tommy Utt would be joining Ken Black’s KB Racing team.  Starting with this weekend’s Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, TN, Utt will be working alongside crew chief Rob Downing as they tune the Summit Racing Pontiacs driven by Anderson and teammate Jason Line in the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
 
“We weren’t really planning this move, but when Tommy became available at the last race, we thought it would be a good change,” said Anderson.  “We feel we have great team here and try to hire the people we think are the best in the industry.  We certainly consider Tommy Utt among that group, so it was a unanimous decision by everyone here at KB Racing that he would be a welcome addition.

Mike Janis hopes the second national event for his new WidowMaker Mustang is trouble free. The new Mustang, built by Dan Page Race Cars, was a strong runner in last weekend’s NHRA SuperNationals, recording a quick 5.941 elapsed time.

Janis will attest new car bugs can be a pain, especially if you lose a key element during a run. That’s what happened to the past IHRA Pro Modified champion who now competes on the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod series.

 “She shook a bit after just past 60 foot and I pedaled her,” said Janis. “She responded and was on a good run till just before the finish line when all of the sudden, BANG! So, I lifted just past the 1000 foot mark; I thought she popped the burst panel.”

It took a couple of months more than he would have liked, but Larry Morgan's Lucas Oil Ford Mustang Pro Stock car is finally running up to his expectations.

"I can't wait to get to the next race in Bristol," Morgan said of this weekend's 10th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. "I just wish we had a little more time in between to test, but we'll be ready either way."

At last week's NHRA SuperNationals, Morgan successfully qualified for a race for the first time in six events. Prior to that, Morgan, who is spearheading the development of the Ford Pro Stock engine, was having difficulty getting all the parts and pieces of his new powerplant to work together without burning up.

Scotty and Scott Cannon, along with their seven world championships worth of experience, are on the sidelines once again. The father and son Pro Modified duo were notified last evening by their major sponsor he had decided to step away from racing.

“I got a phone call from Bennie (Alfonso) saying that he would no longer be racing,” said Cannon, who was recently named as the No. 1 All-time Pro Modified driver. “We had planned to run the Northeast Outlaw Pro Modified Association’s schedule this year.”

The Cannons had teamed up with Alfonso last year to race in the North East Outlaw Pro Modified Association Series.

For many years, Roy Johnson consulted with Santa Claus to ensure his son Allen would receive just the right Christmas gift. The elder Johnson gained hours of enjoyment in watching his son play with the new toys and in some aspects, lived vicariously through him.

This time it’s Allen’s chance to watch his father play with his Christmas gift.

Allen rewarded his father for his years of hard work and support by surprising Roy, the engine builder for his Pro Stock team, with a brand-new Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak vehicle last Christmas. The duo will race together for the first time since 1981 this weekend at Bristol, the “home court” for their J&J Racing team.

Tony Pedregon his hired respected tuner Mike Kloeber to his team.  

“It is exciting to have Mike on our team, not just for this week’s race, but for many more,” commented Pedregon.   “Mike worked with us last week in New Jersey we look forward to working with him.   It will take him some time to adapt to our system, but we expect to be more competitive in a short time.”

Tim Wilkerson understands while numbers usually don’t lie, they can be deceiving. This season, he believes, is one of those instances.

Wilkerson is ninth in the NHRA Full Throttle points standings and just 18 points ahead of 10th.

“It's one thing to know in your heart that you're a little bit lost, or that the car is a long way from running right,” Wilkerson said.  “I've been there and I know what it feels like, and it really wasn't that long ago.  In 2006 and 2007 we DNQ'd seven times each year, and we only won two rounds of racing in '06; so it's still pretty fresh in my mind and I know how unpleasant it can be.  I also know what it's like when the car is running fine, or at least coming around, and you just can't seem to capitalize on it.  You feel like you couldn't hit water if you fell out of a boat.