No. 1 seed Billy Glidden and No. 9 qualifier Bill Doner lead their respective “races” in first day eliminations at the third annual CompetitionPlus.com War Stories Showdown.

The unique storytelling competition assembles 16 of drag racing’s best yarn-spinners in an eliminations style competition to determine the grand champion. Readers determine the best stories of each “race” and inevitably have a hand in determining the champion.

Continuing a multi-year effort to offer guests a first-class experience, the owners of Houston Raceway Park will soon christen a 12,000 square foot, state-of-the-art "Tower Club" that will instantly become the premiere starting line facility in drag racing.

Already nearing completion, the deluxe permanent structure on the west side of the conventional tower suites will transform a regular day at the drag races into a VIP experience for race fans, with numerous amenities never before offered at the track.

"We're shooting for the stars with this building and we think fans are really going to respond favorably to what we're doing," said General Manager Seth Angel. "In the past, we had a huge tent for our Darrell Russell Top Eliminator Club and it was very successful, but there were things our guests suggested to us in order to make it better and we listened. Ultimately, our customers need to be happy and we think the Tower Club will exceed all of their wishes.

Recently Frank Hawley, founder and instructor of Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School, was invited to speak for a group of NASA employees of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

The offer to conduct a lecture was extended to Hawley after Chip Kroll, a NASA engineer attended a Super Class at Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School’s Gainesville, Florida location in June.

In his free time, Kroll races the Friday Night Street program at Baytown, Texas and attended Frank Hawley’s class while working to acquire his NHRA license. After the lecture he decided the topic may be appropriate for colleagues at work and approached management about how to invite Hawley to talk to them.

As an organization, they are large in numbers, fervent in their loyalty, and completely unofficial, but the group known as Wilk's Warriors is clearly among the best known in the fan-friendly world of NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing.  This band of supporters, many of whom live in Central Illinois and rightfully consider themselves to be the core group of Tim Wilkerson backers on the planet, will host a reception for their favorite Funny Car driver on January 9, in Springfield, Ill., to both look back on a great 2009 while also looking forward to an exciting and successful 2010 season.

Fans of all ages are encouraged to attend, and according to Warrior leader Dan "Dozer" Hough, the informal occasion is planned as a simple "mix and mingle" affair, allowing fans and friends to socialize as a group, with the Levi, Ray & Shoup Funny Car team in attendance.

After reviewing the run data collected during the 2009 season, and consulting with the Sportsman Racer Advisory Council as well as the Stock/Super Stock Committee; the NHRA Technical Department will reduce all indexes for Stock and Super Stock by 3-tenths, for 2010. Below is a revised AHFS explained, due to the change.

Sometimes drivers compete in a variety different classes for years before they find their drag racing niche.

That wasn’t the case for Rob Atchison.

Nearly his entire racing career, which began in 1995, Atchison has been piloting an Alcohol Funny Car.

“My dad (Bob) was drag racing in the late 1950s, early 60s, so it has kind of been in the family blood,” the 34-year-old Atchison said. “I made my first pass in ’95 and I just fell in love with drag racing the second I hit the throttle.”

Brian Gahm and Doug Kirk might as well be brothers, and even though they have different bloodlines, they are their brother’s keeper.

“He and I are like two brothers,” said Kirk, following a final round in Rockingham where they raced. “We talk every day. We race together. We travel together. We vacation together. Everything we do, we do together.”

That’s why when Kirk, from Lenore, WV, and his family were stranded due to severe weather; it was Gahm who fought the elements to help not only his stranded friend but members of that community stranded without power or heat in the dangerously cold weather. The unselfish Kirk asked for help for his community first.

VP Racing Fuels has announced the expansion of its Technical Support group. “VP’s strength has always been its leading edge technology and dedication to R&D, much of which has been conducted right alongside racers on their dynos and at the track,” said Steve Burns, VP’s President and CEO. “But because we can’t be everywhere at once, we want to make sure that technical support for all our other customers remains just a phone call or e-mail away.”
 
“You won’t find another fuel company offering this level of support, which will be yet another point of differentiation that will set VP apart,” Burns continued. “Customers can now easily tap into the specialized expertise needed to ensure they not only select the best fuel for their application, but tune their engine to achieve the maximum performance of which that fuel is capable.”

Originally published in May 2002, this story is one of those stories that went largely unreported by the leading print magazines of the era. CompetitionPlus.com, in just its third year of publication, did a little digging and hunted down a few of the key figures and all who we talked to swear this is how the story went down. One person, and we'll not call any names, says it didn't happen, but we'll stand by our story is its written. - Editor

There are some combinations that were always an institution in drag racing. For instance, we could always automatically assume that Bill Jenkins was a Chevrolet man, that the talented “Dyno Don” Nicholson was pretty much a Ford man at heart, and we always picture Ronnie Sox in a Mopar. In the same vein, we could always associate Bob Glidden with a Ford-powered entry. Sure there were the flirtations with a Chevrolet in 1976 at Indy, and the record-setting season of 1979 in a Mopar, but for the most part the cagey veteran from Whiteland, Ind., was always a dyed-in-the-wool Blue Oval man.

However, a little over two decades ago, unbeknownst to many Pro Stock aficionados, the Hoosier nearly ended up in an Oldsmobile as part of a revered Hurst/Olds project. Just what changed his path at the last minute? That answer may never be fully revealed on the record, but the word on the streets is that the folks at Ford objected, and at contract time they flexed their muscles by strongly suggesting that their star driver “cease and desist.”

If you missed Michael Knight's Race Reporters internet radio show last Wednesday then you missed a good one.

CompetitionPlus.com Senior Editor joined Knight in his final show of the year to discuss the ins and outs of the 2009 season. If you take the time to listen, it will be worth the investment.

LISTEN TO THE SPORTS REPORTERS

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