Leave it to John Force, a 14-time Funny Car Champion celebrating his 25th year with sponsor Castrol, to set the tongues wagging. Force and his tuner – Mike Neff.

Waiting until late in the afternoon, 4:07 pm, Force posted a 4.79 second, 242.06 mph pass after cutting off the engine at the 800 foot mark. At the 660 foot mark Force's speed was 264.96 mph. The fastest speed to that mark clocked all day.

Driving an in-house built chassis, Force was excited about the numbers.

The 2010 picture may get clearer for John Force Racing over the course of this weekend's preseason test event at Firebird Raceway in Phoenix, Az.

JFR showed up at their first test with only three cars to test. The three Mustangs are the championship-winning Ford of Robert Hight, Ashley Force-Hood and the 14-time champion John Force.

The partnership ended before the dragster turned a tire under power.

Jessie Harris, the named driver for the Dote Family Top Fuel dragster last fall, was released on Friday in a move the team described as a “difference of operational philosophy”.

“The partnership between Dote Racing and Jessie Harris ended on Friday January 22nd, 2010 after it became apparent to us a difference in operational philosophy existed,” said Doug Foley, team manager. “This was not based on any one particular incident, but a pattern which we felt had developed over the past few weeks. We established this team with the highest standards for safety and professionalism in mind. We expect all team members to be prepared to perform their duties at all times and be respectful to all team members. Releasing Ms. Harris was a difficult decision for all parties involved. We wish her the best in the pursuit of her personal and professional goals.”

This video collection features the 1968 NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis and appears on Dawn Mazi-Hovsepian's YouTube.com video page. This vintage three-parter includes victories by Don Garlits (Top Fuel), Jack Jones (Top Gas), Walt Rhoades (Super) and Dyno Don Nicholson just to name a few. The video also includes the Winged Express, Kansas John Wiebe, Ronnie Sox, George Montgomery, Bruce Larson, Gordon Collett, Tom the Mongoose McEwen, Leroy Goldstein, Billy Kidd (Will's Fargo), Sneaky Pete Robinson, Dick Smothers, Tommy Ivo, Tom Hoover and Shirley Shahan.

The previously released Mountain Motor Pro Stock Association schedule has been revised in order to allow racers to run all available Mountain Motor events. One major goal of the MMPSA is to give Pro Stock racers the chance to compete at more events than they previously have had available. In order to accomplish this, the MMPSA chose to have no conflicting events with the American Drag Racing League, which is the only current sanctioning body to offer a Mountain Motor class.

Pete Berner has been a key player in getting the MMPSA off the ground and had this to say, “We’re really looking forward to these MMPSA events.  It will be nice to have many of the Pro Stockers racing together again since many of us have been racing on opposite circuits the last couple of years. We’re getting back to the racing basics- providing the optimum conditions for racers to do their best while giving fans an entertaining drag race. Our goals are simple but I think we’re going to see some amazing outcomes.”

In what could easily be considered the biggest news to come out of the Arabian Drag Racing League season thus far, Von Smith once again earned a spot in the history books en route to a runner-up finish during Round 5 at the Qatar Race Club with a shot-heard-round-the-world 209.43mph pass eighth-mile lap – the fastest speed ever recorded by a doorslammer. Smith, who fell to teammate Sheikh Khalid Al Thani in the final, maintained the No. 1 spot in the ADRL Pro Extreme points standings with his second-place effort, a mere two rounds ahead of Al Thani.

Hall of Fame drag racer Roger Gustin, the president and owner Autostar Productions, recently presented a check for $7,853.52 to the JEGS Foundation Racing For Cancer Research project on behalf of the Super Chevy Show circuit. Gustin met with JEGS vice presidents Jeg and John Coughlin along withTodd Iden to hand deliver a check for money collected during the 2009 Super Chevy Show tour.

Moved by the images coming out of Haiti, Steve Burns, President of VP Racing Fuels, and his wife, Sandi, have stepped up to assist a mission being coordinated by Key West, Florida pilot Freddy Cabanas. A reknowned aerobatic performer for 30 years, Cabanas will be flying supplies directly to the starving island nation with a departure from Key West scheduled Saturday morning, January 23.
 
With VP Racing Fuels covering the cost of their fuel, Cabanas and his son, Raymond, along with Todd Stuart and Les Weston, plan to fly two planes from Key West to Haiti, a nearly five-hour flight by propeller plane with a stopover in the Bahamas. Each plane will carry nearly 800 pounds of Pedialyte, pre-mixed baby formula and other food for "orphans" of the devastating earthquake. Burns and his wife, Sandi, together with Sandi’s parents, J.A. and Sue Ann Garcia, have donated an additional $2000 to help cover the cost of the supplies.

In the quickest and fastest side-by-side race ever staged by full-bodied door cars, Sheikh Khalid Al Thani prevailed with his second career Pro Extreme win in Round 5 of the Arabian Drag Racing League’s 2009/2010 race season.

Leaving with a stunning .005 reaction time, Sheikh Khalid got the jump on teammate Von Smith, who also cut an impressive .029 in the opposing lane, but managed to hold-off the hard-charging Barwa Camaro all the way down the eighth-mile, taking the win with an incredible 3.679-second, 207.59mph pass over Von Smith's own 3.684 at an other-worldly 209.43mph - the fastest speed ever recorded by a door car.

“We knew going into the final, based on the previous round, that Howard [Moon, Barwa Racing crew chief] had a 3.60 in his tune-up bag,” said Sheikh Khalid following the winner’s circle celebration. “So I knew I was going to have to be on my game at the starting line. Tim [McAmis] and I are always talking about being consistent with my driving; staging the car the same every time, doing the same length burnout, and so on. I staged as shallow as possible in the final and, like I said, we knew they’d be swinging for the fences, so I had to do my job as a driver and leave first. Beyond that, I just let the clutch out and let her eat.”

To help celebrate the 30th anniversary of Super Chevy Show, the series ownership group, SCSW, Inc., has finalized the details of its new “Shoebox Shootout” class for 2010. The heads-up class is designed to attract sedans, coupes and convertibles built from 1934 to 1962.

 “Our goal is to develop an exciting new heads-up class populated by nostalgia looking vehicles fans can relate to," Super Chevy Show series General Manager, Tom Kreager, said. "We think this will just add to the exciting anniversary season of the Super Chevy Show series. There is already a lot of excitement built for this new class."