The Goodguys 21st Hot Rod Nationals is set to blast off June 12, 13
& 14 at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, officially kicking
off another
hi-revving trio of Midwest vintage drag races for the Goodguys. The Hot
Rod Nationals is one of the country’s largest hot rodding events as it
combines a massive car show featuring over 4,000 ’72 & earlier
rods, customs, muscle cars and classics with a weekend long vintage
drag race on O’Reilly Raceway Park’s vaunted dragstrip. Of course
vendor exhibits, a swap meet and lots more fun is on tap.

A brilliant field of twenty-four fuel cars is confirmed in the
Nostalgia Top Fuel and Nostalgia Funny Car categories. Both classes
will be run as 8-car open shows with qualifying sessions scheduled for
Friday, June 12th at 3pm and Saturday, June 13th at NOON. The first
round for both Top Fuel and Funny Car eliminations is scheduled for
3:30pm Saturday afternoon with final eliminations commencing Sunday
morning the 14th at 10am.

Bob Tasca III, driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang, will
host Eddie and Len Wood, co-owners of Wood Brothers Racing, a prominent
NASCAR team. This will mark the first time they have attended an NHRA
Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event. 

Bill Kraft Racing of Tonawanda, NY, has finished their SS/AH 1968 Barracuda.  

Kraft’s 1968 Barracuda chassis was built by F.J. Smith of Smith
Performance Specialties and will run a 438-inch Hemi.  Tuning
assistance comes from Jackson Engine Tech, Competition Transmission, as
well as Howes Racing.  Scott Jahren applied the gorgeous paint scheme
designed by Scott Brown, while lettering and striping were finished by
Dan the Sign Man.

Originally, Ron Capps, the 2009 NHRA Funny Car points leader and
four-time national-event winner this season, was planning to make a
detour to run in tonight's Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway in
Rossburg, Ohio. Instead, persistent rain has postponed that event to
Sept. 9., and Capps is turning around and heading directly to Joliet,
Ill., for this weekend's NHRA Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.

"It's unfortunate, but the bright side, and this happened a few years
ago when it was rained out, is that the rain-out date is going to be
Wednesday night, Sept. 9," said Capps. "And it happens to be right
after the biggest race on our NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
schedule, the U.S. Nationals, which we run on Monday, Labor Day, in
Indianapolis. So, I'll be able to stay in town again and cruise over
and run the Prelude. It will be held prior to what they call ‘The
World,’ which is one of the biggest Late Model races they have. It's
going to be just as big an event and we expect the weather will be good
at that time."

Paul Page, noted sports personality, walked away from drag racing to
pursue even bigger opportunities in the world of television nearly a decade ago.

Page returned to drag racing a couple years ago. The transition back to
the booth alongside Mike Dunn has not been easy. Like everything else
in the sport of drag racing, technology has brought changes to the
booth which confounded Page. While he struggled to catch up, Page found
comfort in the familiar faces within the sport.

“A lot of the faces and the people I knew were still around and that
was great,” Page said. “The sport was more professional, a lot more
showy. Everything about it was a little more glittered up.

In support of FRAM and his Don Schumacher teammate Cory McClenathan, NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Rookie-of-the-Year contender
Matt Hagan will trade the shelor.com Funny Car body for a FRAM Tough
Guard design on the Dodge Charger he will drive in this weekend's NHRA
Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill.

The Top Fuel dragster that McClenathan races for Don Schumacher Racing
will wear a different, unique design for this weekend's event at Route
66 Raceway, outside of Chicago, the details of which will be announced
later this week.

"We've been planning for some time to help provide FRAM some additional
excitement to their branding," said team owner Don Schumacher. "So,
we've come up with a special design for the Funny Car Matt Hagan drives
for DSR to help promote the FRAM Tough Guard brand and as a way to say
thanks to FRAM for their support."

If you missed our NHRA O'Reilly Summernationals photo gallery over the
course of the weekend, you can view all of the photos our staff
photographer Roger Richards shot in Topeka ranging from the
quickest of the Top Fuel dragsters to the various sportsman divisions.

PHOTO GALLERY 

John Montecalvo’s biggest news from this past weekend’s Amalie Oil
Texas Nationals at Dallas Raceway wasn’t racing; no, this news was
much bigger than that. On Sunday morning, May 31, at 4:52 a.m. the
world welcomed Vincent John Montecalvo, the first grandchild of the
champion Pro Stock racer and his wife Lois Anne. So in spite of a
rather difficult weekend at the track, Montecalvo was all smiles at the
end of the weekend.

Slightly different from the old “Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday” slogan,
seven-time NHRA Top Fuel winner Hot Rod Fuller spent last weekend
at Patten Cat’s annual ‘Red Tag’ sales event at the dealership’s
headquarters in Elmhurst, IL. Fuller had his new Vandergriff
Motorsports Top Fuel dragster on display, and spent two days greeting
Patten Cat customers as they came to the dealership to look at and buy
equipment.

The reward for Fuller assisting in a weekend of equipment sales is
getting to climb back in the cockpit of a Top Fuel dragster and make
his 2009 debut at this weekend’s NHRA National event, June 5-7, at
Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL.

Mark Benson, 54, of Springfield, Ill. passed away on June 2, 2009 at
St. John's Hospital in Springfield, after a lengthy battle with health
problems associated with diabetes.  Benson was a major part of the
Wilkerson Racing organization for many years, a founding member of the
"Wilk Warriors" group of supporters, and a dear friend to the Wilkerson
family and the entire team.

Tim Wilkerson originally befriended "Big Mark" when racing his bracket
car throughout the Midwest during the mid-80s.  Benson and friend Ron
Boyd campaigned their Benson & Boyd car at many of the same tracks
frequented by Wilkerson, and in 1991 both became crew members on
Wilkerson's Top Alcohol Funny Car.  After Wilkerson made the move to
the Nitro Funny Car class, both Benson and Boyd stayed with the
program.  Benson was also a contributing member of Daniel Wilkerson's
Top Alcohol Funny Car team, which won the NHRA Division 3 championship
in 2007.  Benson was a fixture in the Team Wilkerson pit area for
nearly two decades, and was known, respected, and loved by racers, crew
members, and friends.