CompetitionPlus.com has confirmed that recently crowned NMCA Pro Street champion Troy Coughlin will return to NHRA competition within the GSA Pro Modified series in 2010. Coughlin will be joined by nitrous doorslammer legend Rickie Smith, who in addition to serving as crew chief will also race his 1968 Camaro.

Smith confirmed that he will serve as Coughlin’s crew chief for the first official season of the NHRA GSA Pro Modified as a professional division.

“I’m excited about this,” Smith confirmed. “I’ve been friends with the Coughlin family for a while and we’ve shared some good times. They are a family that’s into racing and serious about.”

They claim to still hate each other and in 2010, they claim they are going to showcase their disdain.

A handful of prominent drag strips have expressed a serious interest to book in longtime Pro Street rivals Pat Musi and Tony Christian for match races.

A call to Musi on Tuesday revealed that at least one track has sent a letter of intent and Musi says he is in the process of contacting Christian’s representatives to see if the agreement works for his long time adversary.

“I’m trying to reach him,” Musi said. “There’s a 99.9-percent chance that this thing is going to go down.”

Representatives of Ford Motor Company are serious about their increased involvement in NHRA racing, specifically the introduction of the 2010 Ford Mustang into the Pro Stock ranks.

Mose Nowland, Ford Motor Company engine engineer, who has been with Ford since 1955, is happy to report the project is on track and exceeding expectations. Leading Ford back into Pro Stock racing is important to Nowland.

“Well, this project had a little special place for me because it’s something I thought was good for the company, and we hadn’t been doing it,” said Nowland just prior to a recent engine test. “We hadn’t been involved since the Glidden retired, and that was my last involvement.”

Second-generation drag racer Billy Glidden appears to have the same domination tendencies as his famous drag racing father following the first day of qualifying for the third annual CompetitionPlus.com War Stories Show, a month long competition to determine the best story teller in drag racing.

Glidden, who is participating in the competition for the first time, was taken aback by the commanding lead.

“I had better come up with some good stories to stay up there when eliminations begin,” said Glidden, who was working feverishly on his engines yesterday.

Racers and officials of the National Guard American Drag Racing League (ADRL) gathered for one last time in 2009 for the ADRL Racers Appreciation and Awards Gala II at the Wyndham Orlando (FL) Resort Dec. 12, to honor the series’ five world champions and bestow several special awards on participants.

Master of Ceremonies Bret Kepner provided the first “highlight” of the evening when he tripped on stage and suffered a scary pratfall immediately after being introduced by National Guard ADRL President and CEO Kenny Nowling.

“I think I broke my hip,” Kepner deadpanned when he returned to the microphone, but fortunately, the popular TV personality and drag racing historian injured no more than pride in the fall and was able to laugh it off along with about 350 relieved banquet goers.

All purses are based on a minimum of 64 cars entered in each class. Purse will be pro-rated for each car under the 64-cars-per-class entry.

Super Comp and Super Gas will be an all-run field. Random pairs for first round.

Stock/Super Stock Combo will be a maximum 128 car field.  Laddered for first round based on qualifying on current NHRA index.

The National Guard American Drag Racing League (ADRL) is pleased to announce a multi-year extension of its partnership with VP Racing Fuels that makes VP the official fuel through 2014 for the eighth-mile drag racing series.

“We’re thrilled to extend the agreement and the benefits that accompany our relationship with the ADRL,” VP Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Steve Scheidker said. “With ADRL racers constrained by relatively few rules they're constantly motivated to push the limits of their combinations, which in turn provides an excellent proving ground for VP’s leading-edge fuels.”

Additionally, the massive crowds at National Guard ADRL events offer an ideal opportunity for VP to build awareness for its newest fuels which appeal to a broader consumer base, Scheidker added.

Mail Terminal Services shipped more than 130,000 cards to troops overseas through its "Mail From Home" program during the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, announced Rodger Comstock, president and CEO of MTS. This number exceeded the goal set this year of 125,000 cards.

In all, since MTS launched the program in 2006, more than 330,000 special cards have been distributed to military personnel in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the company's support of Jack Beckman, who races the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing.

"We exceeded our high-level goal this year due to the efforts of all the people at the terminals, the fans and everyone who supports NHRA drag racing," said Comstock. "With everyone's help the program was able to put smiles and a touch of home to 125 to 130 thousand troops in Iraq and Afghanistan."

George Howard and Roy Hill Hitting The Promotions Trail in 2010

Two titans of the promoting world are coming together and at least one doorslammer racer is going to walk away with a might big payday.

Friday evening during the Performance Racing Industry Trade Show, George Howard, of Million Dollar Bracket Race fame, and Roy Hill, Pro Stock legend turned Drag Racing School instructor, announced they will team up to present the Outlaw Doorslammer Series throughout the southeast in 2010.

In at least one instance, a racer’s loyalty will be rewarded with the opportunity to race for $100,000 in a winner-take-all contest.

“We paid $50,000-to-win once and that was the largest before,” said Howard. “This is going to be a large payday for someone out there.”

In business, as in life, timing is everything.

For Roger Burgess and the rest of the Pro Modified contingent, a depressed economy and troubles back in Detroit, proved to be just the right time to push for professional status with the NHRA.

The exodus of factory support for Pro Stock teams and the sanctioning body turned out to be the foundation Burgess, founder of Get Screened America, the title sponsor of the NHRA Pro Modified division, needed to further the interest of the Pro Modified car owners and drivers.

“I viewed that as the perfect time to go directly to Tom and bypass all the intermediaries and so I did,” Burgess revealed. “I went straight to Tom. I sent him an email and said, 'Tom, I think now is the best opportunity we've ever had to make Pro Mod a class.”