Two days before beginning the 2010 NHRA season, 24-time NHRA winner and driver of the Matco Tools dragster Antron Brown will visit with students at Cerritos College. The former college track star at Mercer (N.J.) Community College will speak to students at Cerritos College about education and career choices. Brown's 7,000-horsepower Matco Tools dragster also will be on display.

"I really enjoy these school visits we do for Matco (Tools)," Brown said. "I was just like many of these students not too long ago when I was a student at Mercer (Community) College in New Jersey. It's nice to give back and speak to the kids about career paths and the importance of focusing on education. These kids at the vocational schools are the technicians of tomorrow and it's great to have the chance to meet them and hopefully deliver the right message. It's great that Matco makes the vocational program a top initiative for the company."

Ever dreamed of becoming a professional racing announcer? For one lucky fan, that will become a reality as Bristol Dragway is searching for the new voice of Thunder Valley’s popular Fas Mart Street Fights. 

The hunt begins today, Feb. 2, for a new announcer to pump up the crowd during its 2010 Street Fights series in Thunder Valley.

Anyone interested in the position can submit an audition video to the Dragway staff for the opportunity to become the official announcer for this season.

The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend will present the fifth annual Las Vegas Pro Stock Showdown, paired with a new event: the Las Vegas Supreme Sportsman Series.

Many of the top names in Pro Stock racing will use the Showdown to place the finishing touches on their cars prior to the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season-opener in Pomona, Calif.

K.S. Pittman, one of the all-time greats of the legendary gasser wars of the 1960s, died Jan. 31 after a long illness. He was 82.

Mike Knowles, owner and driver of the 1963 "Blown Money" Corvette Pro Mod, is pleased to officially announce that two-time world champion tuner and former crew chief of the year recipient Chuck Ford has joined Knowles Racing taking on the responsibilities of crew chief and tuner. The agreement is exclusive to Knowles and his team.
 
"In a game that is won and lost by thousandths of a second, it's not enough to have all the best parts and be able to cut a light if you're hoping to win a championship. The Pro Mod class is way too competitive, and the new NHRA series is going to be fierce. You've got to stack as many cards in your favor as possible, and adding Chuck really sets us up for a championship run in 2010," Knowles said. "I'm ecstatic that Chuck has agreed to come on board exclusively with our team.

Throughout his 30-plus year NHRA career as a crew chief and team manager, Lee Beard has been tackling and meeting challenges.

Beard, however, says his latest task was one of his most daunting of all.

Beard recently was in charge of putting together two complete Top Fuel dragster teams for the Yas Marina Curcuit, after it partnered with Don Schumacher Racing. Yas Marina is a spectacular motor racing circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The new Top Fuel teams with drivers Tommy Johnson Jr. and Hot Rod Fuller will be based in Abu Dhabi.

NHRA will launch its 10th anniversary season with ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports television, with a primetime telecast of the most highly anticipated Full Throttle Series race in many years at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona: the 50th Kragen O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline, Feb. 14 from 8-11 p.m. ET.

Highlighting the complete 2010 schedule, released today, is a commitment to consistent broadcast times for Sunday’s race day action with 17 of the 23 events scheduled in the coveted Sunday night prime-time slot on ESPN2. Once again, the most prestigious drag racing event in the world, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, will feature more than 10 hours of wall-to-wall coverage beginning with qualifying on Sunday, Sept. 5 and concluding with a five-hour broadcast on Monday afternoon, Sept. 6 from 1 – 6 p.m.

In all, the network will dedicate more than 100 hours of original programming to the world’s quickest, fastest and most intense motorsport with live or same-day coverage of qualifying on Saturday and eliminations on Sunday. All broadcasts will be aired in high definition on ESPN2HD.

Melanie Troxel, who plans to run a limited schedule behind the wheel of an In-N-Out-sponsored Funny Car, plans to test this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The following statement is provided on behalf of Sheikh Khalid Al Thani and Al Anabi Racing.  Please direct any questions to Puvanesan Kay, Aequitas Law LLP (U.K. Barrister ) or Chris Rodi ,Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP,  (U.S. legal counsel) at  info@aequitaslaw.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

It has come to my attention that my and Al Anabi Racing's relationship with Mustafa Atat has recently been the subject of considerable discussion.  The comments centred on Mustafa's involvement in a race in Detroit, Michigan, in 2001 which resulted in the tragic death of an innocent bystander.  As a driver of the other car in that race, I understand that Mustafa has been charged with several serious crimes in the United States.

I did not come to know Mustafa until 2007 when he settled with his new family in Qatar.  I do not know exactly what happened in Detroit, and do not fully understand the details of American law.  In particular, I only recently learned that the murder conviction of the other driver in the Detroit race did not preclude Mustafa's being found guilty of that same crime, an unfamiliar notion in my country.  As such, I do not think it is appropriate for me to attempt to respond to the many allegations that have been made about Mustafa.