Drag racing pioneer and innovator Chester “Chet” Herbert died on April 23, 2009.  Herbert, born on March 4, 1928, overcame huge personal challenges and went on to develop some of auto racing’s most significant speed components.

Growing up in Southern California’s early hot rod scene, the teenaged
Herbert had a reputation for building and racing fast cars and
motorcycles. When he was 20 years old, though, he was stricken with
polio and lived the rest of his life in a wheelchair, paralyzed from
the chest down.

Gateway International Raceway recently put the finishing touches on the most extensive drag strip renovations in years with improvements made to both the top-end emergency shutdown area and the facility’s timing system.

The following changes were made to the top end of the GIR drag strip:

    * The gravel trap length was increased by 70 feet to a total of 165 feet with a gravel depth of 22 inches;

   
* 70 feet of metal guardrails on either side of the gravel trap were
removed and replaced with 200 feet of concrete walls, measuring four
feet high, with eight-foot tall, wire-supported chain link fencing
added to the top of those walls;

    * The existing six-foot
nylon catch net was removed and replaced by two 12-foot nylon catch
nets 25 feet apart with the first catch net placed at the 25-foot mark
of the gravel trap;

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Greg Biffle intends to pull some
unusual double duty this weekend when he takes to the quarter-mile at
zMAX Dragway for Saturday's PINKS All Out.
   
Weather permitting, Biffle will qualify his familiar No. 16 Roush
Fenway Racing Ford in Talladega Saturday morning, fly to Concord, N.C.,
then bring his 2007 Shelby GT 500 to the Bellagio of drag strips to
compete in an exhibition competition that will be featured on PINKS All
Outtakes on SPEED.
   
"I am so excited about it," said Biffle, who used to drag race in
eighth-mile "grudge matches" as a teenager in Vancouver, Wash. "I've always
loved PINKS because it's fun to watch for anyone who really loves cars. It
was cool when they raced for titles and still very cool with PINKS All Out,
where they race for money.

Four-time Top Fuel champion and drag racing legend Shirley Muldowney
has joined the CompetitionPlus.com staff of columnists. Never one to
mince words, the talented Ms. Muldowney will pen a monthly column
titled "Shirley Says" in which she will discuss drag racing topics as
she sees them.

Knowing Muldowney this won't be a monthly "fluff" piece. 

Read her first column: I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT A FEW THINGS 

Sources have confirmed the NHRA had originally planned to test the
nitro engine combination with Tim Wilkerson following the NHRA
Nationals in Joliet, Ill., could test a new nitro engine combination as
early as May 4, the day following the NHRA O'Reilly Midwest Nationals
in St. Louis, Mo.

NHRA Driver Doug Herbert will make exhibition runs in his 300 mph Top
Fuel dragster at zMAX Dragway this weekend as part of the activities
surrounding SPEED’s “PINKS All Out”.  Herbert will be promoting
B.R.A.K.E.S., the safe driving organization he founded that serves as
the public service message for SPEED’s hit television show and will
have a presence at the track throughout the two-day event.

“I think it’s awesome that SPEED has asked B.R.A.K.E.S. to be a part of
their PINKS All Out show,” said Herbert.  “When PINKS visits a drag
strip, a ton of fans come out for it and the show is very exciting for
them.  I think that my team making a pass in our 300 mph Top Fuel car
will just add to the excitement.”

The 2009 Champion's prize package in the Joe's Transmission TNT Super
Series has received a boost.  The folks at Mickey Thompson Performance
Tires & Wheels are adding a set of racing slicks to the yearend
points champion's package.  "We're very excited to have Mickey Thompson
on board for the 2009 season," said Ted Barnes, TNT Series Director. 
"To have a company with its rich racing heritage partner with us is a
testament to the level of competition at TNT events.  Just look at what
the 2009 champion will be taking home!"

Officials at zMAX Dragway expect Saturday's taping of PINKS All Out to
be "all out" of grandstand tickets by Saturday morning. Advance ticket
sales have been better than expected with drag racing fans lining up to
take part in the taping of SPEED's wildly successful program and
witness history with the first-ever nationally televised four-wide drag
race.

It was supposed to be an 800-foot test lap, but it became history’s
fastest Pro Mod Extreme quarter-mile run: an amazing 256.05 mph at
5.740 seconds.

Von Smith said he was hanging on to the steering wheel with one hand
while the other hand was pulling the fuel shutoff and tugging hard on
the brake when the throttle stuck in the new Al-Anabi Racing 1968 Chevy
Camaro . . . and he was along for the harrowing ride at the Qatar
Racing Club in Doha, Qatar.

“When that happened, the force of the ‘chutes opening pulled them off
the car,” said crew member Terry Hope.  “The car was past the finish
line when the left front tire blew and the car hit the wall, then it
crossed the track and hit the other wall.”

At the end of an NHRA national event, teams are typically quite anxious
to return home.  After all, with 24 races scheduled at tracks

“Here I am in the pits at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway,
checking and topping off all the fluids.  We received plenty of
supplies and good-natured advice from our fellow competitors, most of
whom came over to give the car a look when I pulled it into our pit
area on Friday afternoon.”

across
the country, time spent with family or preparing in the shop is often
at a premium.  Therefore, within minutes of each event’s conclusion,
team transporters are headed for the highway, while drivers and other
crew members often scramble to catch the next available flight.  

However, following the conclusion of the SummitRacing.com Nationals in
Las Vegas, NV, Summit Racing GXP driver Jason Line used a rather
unorthodox method to return home.  Teaming with Summit Racing crew
chief Rob Downing and crew member Pat Topolinski, Line spent 44 hours
driving the 2,200 miles from The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to
the KB Racing shop in Mooresville, NC in his latest ride and project, a
powder-blue 1968 Chevrolet Bel Air station wagon.