When Martin Heatherly rolled his 1967 Chevelle into his shop nearly
twenty-five years ago, he figured the old all-steel musclecar had made its last passes down the drag strip.

Heatherly, of Buffalo, S.C., is a throwback to the old school of drag
racing. He’s a dyed-in-the-wool, old school class racer who reluctantly
converted his former Super Stock/"F" entry into a Super Pro bracket
racer as the face of drag racing changed in the 1970s.

Heatherly refused to abandon his Gene Fulton-built small block and Doug
Nash four-speed, or 4+1 as the old gear-heads called it, both icons of
years passed. When most of his counterparts dummied down their motors
and went with automatic transmissions, Heatherly not only raced with
them but also won despite using an antiquated combination.

There’s
a strong likelihood at six-foot, six-inches and 280 pounds that Tyler
Brayton will never become the stereotypical Pro Stock Motorcycle rider.

However, if the defensive end for the National Football League’s
Carolina Panthers chooses to race NHRA Super Comp or Super Gas, he’s
got the right credentials. Brayton recently graduated from Frank
Hawley’s Drag Racing School with both licenses.

“It started as just a passion for old cars,” said Brayton, who is in
CompetitionPlus.com’s Spartanburg, S.C. hometown for training camp.

Sometimes the most logical decisions are the toughest to make. Just ask NHRA Pro Stock joint venture team owner Rick Jones.

Jones will embark on a new in-house engine program for 2010 and in
doing so will abandon his Mopar program for GM. His son and driver,
Rickie Jones, will pilot a new Pontiac GXP at next year’s NHRA
Winternationals in Pomona, Ca.

Together, Monte Bailey and Rick Jones, partners on several projects,
have recently purchased a former NASCAR engine building shop in
Mooresville, N.C.

NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Peggy Llewellyn, the first black woman to win a professional motorsports event (the 2007 O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec), has inked a one-year helmet sponsorship deal with Akuma Helmets, a leader in technologically advanced motorcycle helmets.

Race vehicles representing every major series that will compete at Lowe's Motor Speedway, zMAX Dragway and The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway will parade north on Tryon Street between Third and Trade Streets in Charlotte, N.C., to announce the speedway's fall Season of Speed including the NHRA Carolinas Nationals, Sept. 17 – 20. Led by Lug Nut, the world's fastest mascot, in his Legends Car, the parade will include Top Fuel racer Doug Herbert and Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Matt Smith. Also included in the parade will be the Chevrolet Cobalt of Jeg Coughlin Jr.

Auto racing’s version of “Decision 2009” is in full swing, but the
polls will close soon for the Ford Customer Service Division’s Second
Annual Funny Car Design Contest to Support Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

The candidates  - in this case, JDRF kids - are campaigning for your
vote in the final week to be featured on the Motorcraft/Quick Lane
Shelby Mustang driven by Bob Tasca III.  The Funny Car Design Contest
voting started on July 2, and runs through August 14, 2009.

Until August 14, the public is invited to visit www.jdrf.org/ford, view
more than 300 paint scheme designs, and vote for their favorite
children’s design by making a monetary donation to JDRF.

One of Salem, Oregon’s hottest summer events returns Friday Night, August 21 as the 10th annual Night of Fire Benefit Car Show will
light up the sky. The main feature of this years’ event will be a jet
car fire show as the War Hawk funny car throws out a spectacular 30
foot-long flame.

This year’s Night of Fire benefits 10-year old
Daisy Keiffer of Salem who is battling Ewing’s Sarcoma, an aggressive
form of cancer. The general public can help Daisy by attending this
family event that includes dragster fire-ups by the Capitol Auto Group racing team, hot rods, street rods, customs, low riders, muscle cars along with some antique vehicles.

Mopar®, Chrysler Group LLC’s Parts division, has announced that the
world’s fastest super stockers will once again face off during the 2009
season. The ground-pounding 800 horsepower HEMI®-powered 1968 Dodge
Darts and Plymouth Barracudas continue their 40-year domination of
NHRA’s top stock class beginning this Labor Day Weekend in Indianapolis.

The three-event 2009 Mopar HEMI® Challenge Race Series schedule will
blast off at the prestigious Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis,
Ind., Sept. 2–7.

After
scoring a surprise runner-up finish in Top Alcohol Dragster at last
year’s Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, Mike Lewis
will again drive the Conway Automotive A/Fuel Dragster when the
national event returns to Reading Aug. 20-23.
 
The team will be sponsored at Maple Grove by Kemper Equipment of Honey
Brook, Pa., a family owned company that manufactures aggregate and
mining equipment for producers in the Mid-Atlantic region. Albrecht’s
Fast Track Motorcycles of Chicago is also on board as an associate
sponsor.