Driving a Pro Stock Motorcycle is exhilarating enough without this happening.

Angie Smith was in the midst of qualify run Friday afternoon at Houston Raceway Park when her Coffman Tank Trucks Buell bike caught fire.

“My lower left leg, right by my ankle, was on fire and I used my right shoe and patted it out,” the 30-year-old Smith. “I’m not burned or anything, but my motorcycle is messed up and that hurt my feelings more than anything.”

When Smith took off from the starting line, she didn’t feel or notice any problems, at least initially.

Terry Haddock has good reason to wonder just how conservative he is going to have to be to keep NHRA officials happy. Once he figures it out, then he’ll be able to better describe the manner in which plans to race this weekend at the NHRA Springnationals at Houston Raceway Park.

Haddock suffered two catastrophic engine explosions in the first two events this season forcing NHRA officials to banish him from the series with the added requirement of clean testing passes in a supervised environment before he could return. On the same weekend of the NHRA’s 4-Wide Nationals, the veteran independent nitro racer made six consecutive clean passes ranging from a 4.22 elapsed time to 4.32.

At $5,000 per run, Haddock has paid his tribute to the NHRA for a return.

Ed Hoover spent much of Friday morning at the NHRA Springnationals, thrashing to bring his engine up to code per the NHRA rulebook.

Hoover, a GSA NHRA Pro Mod racer from Columbia, SC, was one of eleven teams flagged for infractions, the result of a spot check of rules pertaining to supercharger opening and wheelbase. He was fine on the wheelbase, but .175 of an inch to large of an opening did him in on the supercharger.

“We just had to shrink the opening a bit,” said Hoover, as he worked away. “They had a rule that I didn’t know about. The supercharger I have is about four years old. They have made some rules since I had this supercharger built.”

From “The Snake” to Grave Digger and everything in between, nicknames have a funny way of taking on a life of their own and sometimes growing into a persona larger than the individuals themselves.

And when you dig deeper into a nickname often times it reveals interesting insights into the lives and careers of many of today’s top drivers.

The Racers Edge pain management and performance chips has signed Pro Stock bike frontrunner Michael Phillips to primary sponsorship for the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Championship season, beginning this weekend at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Spring Nationals in Houston Texas.

“Michael has shown the determination needed to be a championship competitor,” said The Racers Edge owner Rodger Brogdon. “Michael over the years has put forth the hard work and determination needed to make a statement in NHRA drag racing, and we are both fortunate and proud to be able to align ourselves with such a competitor. His accomplishments with a limited budget have been outstanding and we are looking forward to being able to assist him as he reaches for the upper echelon in this year’s battle for the Pro Stock Motorcycle championship.

One race after announcing his alliance with John Force Racing, Bob Tasca III enters this weekend’s NHRA Springnationals in Houston, utilizing elements of the JFR-developed BOSS 500 engine platform.

Defending NHRA Division 3 Top Alcohol Funny Car Champion Chris Foster will unveil a new paint scheme and new primary sponsor Goodridge Hoses & Fittings during this weekend’s O’Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston Raceway Park.  The two-race deal covers next weekend’s event, along with the Division 4 opener in Dallas, Apr. 23-25.
 
Goodridge began their association with Foster last year as an associate sponsor.  For 2010, Goodridge has stepped up their involvement to become the team’s primary sponsor for three races.
 
"Goodridge is proud to be associated with Chris Foster as a primary sponsor this year," stated Jack Hastings, Director of Motorsports for Goodridge.  "For over 40 years, Goodridge has provided fluid transfer solutions to the racing markets all over the world. To continue this tradition with Champions like Chris is truly an honor."

It was 9 o’clock Wednesday morning in Texas and Steve Torrence sounded tired.

“We’ve been working hard . . . out at 5:30 a.m. and back home at 7:30 p.m.,” he said.  “We’ve been going strong and I’m a little worn out.”

Torrence’s regular job is working for his family’s oil and gas pipeline company, but he plans to take off Thursday to “relax at little” before reporting for duty at his other job – driving the Torrence Racing/Tuttle Motorsports Top Fuel dragster in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals at Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas.

Recovery from an operation that requires an incision more than 14 inches long would usually take several months, but Rick Stivers, driver of the Trane 2006 Stratus Pro Mod, is ready for action this weekend less than six weeks after emergency surgery that removed more than a foot of his colon and intestines. The Kentucky-native will compete in this weekend's NHRA Spring Nationals as part of the Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series at Houston Raceway Park outside of Houston, Texas.
 
"The doctor has cleared me to race, I've got the signed papers with me that say I'm good to go," Stivers declared. "I can be pretty stubborn, and I'm definitely a competitor, so the idea of missing more than one race because of the operation never even entered my mind. I knew I'd be in Houston behind the wheel of that Trane Stratus."