Just what does it take to move a USA based Nitro Funny Car outfit 11,559 kilometers, or 6235 nautical miles, across the world to Australia for two rounds of USA vs AUS Nitro Funny Car racing at Willowbank Raceway for the International New Year Series?

The answer? A lot…just ask Jack Wyatt, who along with his crew recently spent two days packing everything for the trip into containers onto the ‘Cap Palliser’ container ship which is currently ferrying the precious cargo and Gary Densham’s Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car across the seas for the January 2 and January 16 twin-events.

This is just some of what it takes to get the operation to Australian shores:

CompetitionPlus.com reader Harold Bradey raced for many seasons at Spartanburg Dragway and admitted that he could relate strongly to Bobby Bennett's editorial It Used To Be My Playground.

Bradey, of Spartanburg, SC, raced a series of Modified Production entries at the track, the latest of which was this Stingray that he later sold to Garfield Freeman.

He sent us a few of personal photos and we felt it would be neat to do a few comparisons as well as a sampling of extra snapshots.

Triple O Promotions has announced that the 3rd Annual Ohio Crankshaft No Box Nationals will be held June 25-27th, 2010 at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

“We are thrilled about moving this race to the home of the ‘Big Go,” said Greg Dillman, who co-owns the event with Allyn Neff. “Allyn and I have been racing together; mostly competing, for many years and now we are able to move this race to a place that has been home to us for a long time.”

The first two Ohio Crankshaft No Box Nationals were held at Bunker Hill Dragstrip in Kokomo, IN. “Steve Daniels and his crew at Bunker have been great to us and guided us from what started out as just an idea to the making’s of one of the best No Box races in the Midwest,” said Neff. “We felt apprehensive about switching venues but felt it was necessary in order to build our race up to its highest potential.”

God Speed Ministry’s third annual Conference and Seminar is quickly approaching. The date is set for January 15-17, 2010 at the Courtyard Marriott in Gastonia, N.C., just a short distance away from the God Speed Ministry offices. This year the seminar will be on “Calling the Sons and Daughters of God.” Becoming a son or daughter of God has very special meaning and responsibilities along with great resources and potential. It is the desire of God Speed Ministry to equip believers to understand and be ready to fully participate in the work of God as He transforms the Church “that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27).

The Conference will begin with Open House on Friday evening at the God Speed Ministry offices. Saturday will be a full day of teaching and fellowship. The Conference will conclude with a Sunday morning worship service. The deadline to register is January 6th. To register, go to www.GodSpeedMinistry.com and download the online registration form.  Cost is only $25.

With two victories and his second Division 3 Top Dragster championship in the last three years, John Coughlin is quick to label 2009 as one of the most successful seasons of his career.

Coughlin began the season with a new dragster that carried him to numerous personal bests in the six-second zone at more than 200 mph and ended it with a thrilling victory in Las Vegas, a must-win event that secured the championship.

"Coming into this season, my goal was to win another championship," Coughlin said. "Last winter we made a lot of changes in order to make my car faster and it was. I went from running 7.20s to 6.70s; that's a big difference. It took me a while to get used to the speeds I was running but we managed to get lucky and win a few races. A couple of times, I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to pull off the championship, but it happened."

Demand to appear on PINKS: All Out, a drag racing reality show that airs on SPEED TV, resulted in phone system and Web site outages in Norwalk Monday, December 7. An estimated 9,000 racers from the Midwest United States tried to grab one of 425 available openings when they went on sale at noon at Summit Motorsports Park. The 425 openings sold out in two minutes and were only available by phone or online.

The episode of PINKS: All Out will be filmed at Summit Motorsports Park August 27-28, 2010. The reality show last filmed an episode at the track in June, 2008.

“We had a lot of people simultaneously trying to get one of these 425 racer openings,” said Bill Bader, Jr., president of Summit Motorsports Park. “We were amazed when we looked at the logs for our Web site. When you have that many people calling and using the Web site at the same time, it creates a large spike in demand on the equipment. I apologize to anyone in Norwalk that may have been inconvenienced.” Many residents in eastern Norwalk reportedly lost phone service and Internet access mid-day Monday as demand interrupted service.

Team Mopar® driver Allen Johnson's 2010 NHRA Pro Stock Mopar Dodge Avenger, revealed last month at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, will be on display this week near the Mopar Stage at the 22nd Annual Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show. Mopar will also display a number of "Moparized" vehicles and new Mopar parts in the Mopar exhibit on the PRI show floor. The trade show is scheduled to take place Dec. 10-12 at Florida's Orlando Convention Center.

George Ray, 85, owner and operator of George Ray’s Hot Rod Wildcat Drag Strip outside of Paragould, Ark, passed away on December 5, 2009.

He is survived by his wife Bonnie Ray.

Advertisement

Officials with Houston Raceway Park have announced a "$5 December to Remember" Ticket Payment Plan for drag racing fans planning on attending the 23rd annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals, which take place April 9-11.

During the month of December, race fans can purchase and print online, tickets for an initial $5 payment, per order, with a valid credit card. The balance of the ticket order will then be paid in three equal monthly installments leading up to the race.

"We want to extend to our fans during this Holiday season a great opportunity to give the gift of Full Throttle Drag Racing at Houston Raceway Park," said HRP General Manager Seth Angel. "This flexible payment plan spreads the cost of your Spring National ticket over a three-month period, making the purchase of event tickets easier to handle.

There’s no question Gordie Bonin left his mark on drag racing.

From 1972-81, the colorful Funny Car driver from Red Deer Alberta won his share of national events and he was constantly setting the miles-per-hour record, which prompted other drivers to give him the nickname “240 Gordie.”

These days, the 61-year-old Bonin no longer has his foot on the gas pedal as he just taking it easy.

“I wasn't doing anything (in terms of racing), I just go to a few races just to hang with old friends,” said Bonin, who is living in Deer Park, Wash., just north of Spokane. “I go to national events in Seattle, Las Vegas, Joliet, and Pomona  when I can; and hang with my old friends -  (John) Force, Cory Mac, Todd Okuhara, Cory's crew chief; the Pedregons; to name a few. These days it's all about visiting pals, on and off the track. I'm blessed to have had fans that have turned into good friends over the years; so there's always someone to visit with.