Continuing it's longstanding support of Professional and Sportsman racers competing in the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, JEGS Mail Order has posted more than $200,000 in NHRA Contingency prize money for the 2010 season. In addition, JEGS supports the annual JEGS Allstars Race and all three JEGS SPORTSnational events.

Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, Al Anabi Racing owner and Arabian Drag Racing League founder, invited U.S. troops to spend a day at the track near Doha, Qatar, Jan. 22. Forty servicemembers from a close by U.S. military installation received VIP tickets to round five of the Qatar Drag Racing Championship – an event that eventually revealed a record-breaking drag race.

Thani, son of the Qatar emir, is widely known and respected as "Sheik Khalid" at the Qatar Racing Club facility. Last year, he spent millions of dollars to surround himself with the best crew, cars, equipment and research available. Qatar is emerging as "a hub for motor sports," said Sheik Khalid, by attracting quality racing teams throughout Arabia and United States.

The Palm Beach Post [Fla.] has confirmed that 61-year old Jerry Baxter, of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., was killed during a drag racing accident on Saturday.

According to the report, Baxter lost control of his car and hit a safety barrier. He was flown to St. Mary's Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries.

The Attitude's CompetitionPlus.com staff extends their deepest sympathies to the Baxter family and friends.

Advertisement

Mick Snyder is always up for a good challenge.

The latest challenge for the 28-year old, NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car standout will be taming an ADRL Pro Extreme 1963 Corvette.

Snyder confirmed rumor as fact yesterday that he will be teaming up with two-time ADRL Champion Jason Scruggs for 2010 for a two-car effort. Powersource Transportation will remain Snyder’s major sponsor.

In the time it takes to pre-stage, stage and run, John Force went from being the fastest on the drag strip to being second, for the third day in a row. Moments after Force posted a 4.087 second, 308.71 mph pass, Robert Hight left the “old man” in the dust with a stellar 4.053 second, 310.91 mph pass.

Looking to best them both, Ashley Force-Hood was done by the 60 foot mark.

“I'm excited about it,” said Force when asked to discuss the run. “Last year here I couldn't get down the racetrack for three days and then we finally did. It shows the preparation of the track.”

NHRA announced today that Copart, Inc., a leading provider of vehicle auction services, has been named the Official Online Vehicle Auction of NHRA.  The agreement follows Copart’s designation last September as the primary sponsor of Kenny Bernstein Racing’s Top Fuel dragster driven by Brandon Bernstein.

“Copart is jumping into the sport in a big way, with a comprehensive program that will give them access to NHRA’s core audience at all levels,” said Gary Darcy, senior vice president of sales and marketing, NHRA.  “We have the perfect audience to align with their core business and the program will educate our fans about how Copart.com has more than 50,000 vehicles each day for sale online, and is the place for car enthusiasts and do-it-yourselfers to find a great deal on a great vehicle.”

Melanie Troxel is set to go “animal” on and off the race track in 2010.

Troxel, who will pilot both a Pro Mod and a Funny Car this season under the In-N-Out Burger banner, has made it her mission to try out an order of fries “animal style” as soon as possible.

“I'm a fan of the “animal style” burger, but what I have to admit is that I've never had the animal fries,” admitted Troxel, who resides in Indianapolis without a local In-N-Out restaurant. “So, that is at the top of my agenda when I get out there. That is something I just recently found out about.”

Anyone who believed the NHRA would tighten or at the least clarify the testing limits on Top Fuel and Funny Car teams is wrong.

Various teams acknowledged they have been informed the testing policy set in place last year would remain unchanged in 2010.

John Force, admitting he saved money in 2009 because of the policy, hadn't given the repercussions of the NHRA decision much thought, until he was asked.

“It really saved us not testing, but if we need to test we will. It's really about the economy.”