In the week leading up to the third annual CompetitionPlus.com War Stories we will re-publish some of the finest moments from last two years competition. You'll hear some of the finest stories laid down in competition. The program works like this: 16 figures within the drag racing community are voted on by the readers of CompetitionPlus.com to determine who they feel could tell the best story. From that voting, an NHRA professional elimination ladder pairs the contestants and they battle it out until one is left.

Today's story comes from Pat Musi, the iconic Pro Street pioneer and last year's runner-up War Stories Showdown. This story advanced Musi to the quarter-finals.

Two veteran Pro Stock racers will release the clutch on their new rides for the first time on Monday, Dec. 14. Larry Morgan will debut his new 2010 Mustang while Allen Johnson will make his inaugural laps behind the wheel of a new Dodge Stratus.

Morgan will first participate in a private Ford Racing test at South Georgia Motorsports Park [SGMP] in Valdosta for two days and then join a score of other drivers including Johnson making laps at Palm Beach International Raceway in Palm Beach, Fla.

“I can’t wait to run, I’d run the car today if I could,” said Morgan, who admitted he’s waiting on parts to arrive at his Newark, Ohio shop.

Dr. Alan Bradshaw's prescription for a down economy? Work on the things you can control and hold on to your dreams.
 
The Odessa, Texas-based doctor and former Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster champion-turned Top Fuel pilot hasn't been in the cockpit of a dragster for more than a year, but his absence hasn't slowed the fastest chiropractor in the land at all. He's even taken up dirt track racing to feed his addiction for competition and speed as well as keep his skills honed, and his most recent project involves a possible jump into another drag racing class.
 
"We're in the midst of re-building the blown alcohol Pro Mod Chevelle owned by Jeff and Casey Saldivar that we ran last year, and I'm looking to continue racing on a local level and do some quick-8 shows while I'm trying to secure marketing partners for 2010 because I've got an NHRA Pro Mod opportunity available right now with a current top-five team," Bradshaw said.

The on-track action may be over for the year, but the National Guard American Drag Racing League (ADRL) remains at full speed heading into the 22nd annual Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show Dec. 10-12, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

The American Drag Racing League and its affiliated Arabian Drag Racing League will share space this year in Booth 609 on the trade show’s main floor.

Prior to their pioneering association with ESPN, the International Hot Rod Association under the guidance of Larry Carrier and Ted Jones partnered with the Mizlou Television Network for a series of race coverage shows.

TV4U.com purchased the rights to the syndicated shows from Mizlou and in this offering, features coverage of the 1983 and 1984 IHRA Springnationals, two of the richest purse drag races in drag racing of that era.

THURSDAY, December 3: Drivers visit Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany

NHRA drivers Morgan Lucas, Erica Enders, Doug Horne, and Spencer Massey had a memorable Thursday visiting wounded military
personnel at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center and the USO Wounded Warrior Center in Germany. Landstuhl is the first major stop for wounded servicemen and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and is the largest U.S. hospital facility outside the United States.

"I think we all learned something very valuable today," said Lucas, driver of the GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster. "There is simply no way we can ever thank our troops enough for what they do for us. To meet the people we met today, some with pretty bad injuries, and see how gung-ho they are for our country makes you re-think everything. It's so humbling that these people do what they do for all of us.

"I just turned 26 and I'm the youngest guy in Top Fuel but I was older than a lot of the guys and girls in the hospital. What they do and the attitude they have at such a young age is impressive. This is the neatest thing I've ever done and we're already making plans for next year."

The fences still remain, as do dilapidated buildings, a reminder that a once proud drag strip occupied the land.

To the drag racing community, Spartanburg Dragway was just another drag strip that fell victim to a new neighborhood where the neighbors created a community around the strip and then realized that drag strips are loud.

Dick Krieger is the Southern California Drag Racing Association (SCEDA) 2009 Mickey Thompson Performance Tires and Wheels non-electronics series champion.

Krieger, 69, of Henderson, Nev., considers the SCEDA championship as another feather in the cap of a successful racing career.

Krieger began drag racing in 1964 at Niagara Falls Drag Strip located in upstate New York with a 1957 hard-top, two-door Chevrolet. After winning many races with the car he moved from New York to San Diego in 1968 and started building an Econo dragster. The former junior fuel car that he purchased with a 118-inch wheelbase, powered by a small block Chevy with Chevy 2 headers turned upside down and a one-gallon gas can for the carburetor scoop.

There is nothing quite like racing in southern Florida – especially during the month of January.

While most of the country is digging out from under buckets of snow or trying to stay warm amid treacherous temperatures, the people of south Florida enjoy mild temperatures and plenty of sunshine during the winter months.

So what better way to start the year than with a double dose of south Florida sun and fun with a pair of sportsman races promising to give drivers a well earned vacation as well as four days of track time and two shots at the 2010 Tournament of Champions.

It's nitro and tire smoke this Saturday on the Sammy and Bob Show on ESPN Radio 97.5 in Houston at 10 AM till 12 PM.