For Kenny Bernstein and his Budweiser/Lucas Oil team, it will be a
bittersweet trip to the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals next weekend.  The team
is celebrating an unprecedented 30 years of sponsorship from the
Budweiser brand of Anheuser-Busch, the longest team/sponsorship
association in all of autosports.

“Sadly, this is the final year that Bud will be with our team,” said
six-time champion and team owner Bernstein.  “We will look forward to
seeing many of our friends at the racetrack.  It’s been a great ride,
but as the cliché goes, ‘all good things must come to an end.’

“We are actively searching for a replacement sponsor so that we can continue to field the team with Brandon as driver.”

Accurately tracking the weather can be the difference between winning
and losing in NHRA Championship drag racing, especially in the

Kurt Johnson andcrew chief Justin Belfance discuss race conditions prior to a run.

closely competed Pro Stock category where the cars rely on
a 500 cubic-inch naturally-aspirated engines for their source of power.
The amount of horsepower created by these engines on any given day, at
any exact location, or during any specific qualifying or eliminator
session, is incumbent on the ambient atmospheric conditions.

"We're constantly watching the weather," said Justin Belfance, crew
chief on the ACDelco Chevrolet driven by Kurt Johnson. "Other than
monitoring the track, that's how we tune our race car, and if you have
a good race track, everything else depends on the weather."

In a category where the difference at the finish line between two cars
running side by side at 210 mph is often measured in thousandths of a
second, any change in a variety of meteorological readings, however so
slight, can prompt a race team to make a number of adjustments in order
to effectively react to the new conditions.

Travis Swearingen is about to find out what it feels like to turn left—fast!

Travis Swearingen, 26, is in his first year with the National
Guard on board his 1941 Willys in the American Drag Racing League’s Pro
Extreme class, featuring the quickest and fastest full-bodied eighth
mile drag racing cars in the world.

The National Guard American Drag Racing League (ADRL) star is on his
way this weekend to visit with IndyCar Series driver Dan Wheldon and
take a few laps around Kansas Speedway.

“They’ve got this special, two-seater car and I’m scheduled to take a
ride in it on Friday morning,” Swearingen said. “It’s pretty exciting
because I’ve never even been to an IndyCar event before.”e.

The West Coast Outlaw Pro Mod Association needs everyone who is planning on attending the eighth-mile event at Barona Raceway on May 2nd to pre-register to wcopma@aol.com or call Rod Burbage at (530) 243-8300.

After a long off-season, Team JEGS racers John Coughlin and his nephew,
Troy Coughlin Jr., will finally hit the track for the first time in
2009 at this weekend’s NHRA North Central Division opener at O’Reilly
Raceway Park at Indianapolis.  John will once again be pulling double
duty as he races his JEGS.com Cobalt in Super Stock and his all-new
Mullis Race Cars built dragster in the Top Dragster division. Troy Jr.,
begins his second season of NHRA competition in Super Comp Eliminator.
 
“I haven’t raced since last season so to say that I’m ready to get back
out there would be an understatement,” said John, who is the defending
event winner in the Super Stock class. He also won the Indianapolis
Lucas Oil Series opener in Super Gas in 1994. “My new dragster should
be the fastest race car I’ve ever owned. I think it will run in the
6.60s at over 200-mph so it should be a fun ride. [O’Reilly Raceway
Park] is also one of my favorite places to race. There isn’t another
track in the country that has as much history and I have been fortunate
to win a few races there so obviously I’m looking forward to going back
there.”

When Ron Capps returns to Thunder Valley for the May 15-17 NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, he will not have to worry about those pesky left turns.

Capps, one of the drivers who participated in the Scotts Saturday Night
Special at Bristol Motor Speedway, returns to Bristol Dragway to do
what he does best, rocket straight down the legendary track on a quest
for victory. Seeing the win light is something he has grown accustomed
to thus far in the 2009 campaign.

Capps has collected three wins in 2009 and currently sits first in the
championship standings.  After snagging the first two events of the
season, Capps said he felt the weight of a giant bull’s-eye on his
back.  Add the competitive nature of the Funny Car category and it is
easy to see why he felt the pressure.

“No one had ever three-peated [at the start of the season], and there
was a lot of hoopla,” said the California native.  “One thing we found
is that a lot of guys were taking shots at us on the track. There is
something to be said about momentum, but a lot of those guys look at
you and want to get you out of the headlines.

CompetitionPlus.com reader Ernest Zamora has some good news to share
with CompetitionPlus.com readers. If you love playing NHRA’s video game
Quarter Mile Showdown on your Windows/PC and recently made the switch
over to a Macintosh computer, you can still enjoy the game thanks to a
new conversion program available.

Sheik Khalid bin Hamad Al-Thani, the 22-year old driving force behind the Al Anabi Racing empire, is featured along with with his NHRA nitro team in today's Wall Street Journal.

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Gary White and the Titan Motorsports Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 team are upbeat.

The
Florida-based group was involved in an extensive testing program prior
to the recently completed National Guard ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags V
and as White puts it “we stumbled in to something.”

The Titan
Motorsports team competes in what arguably is the most diverse class in
National Guard ADRL racing, Flowmaster Extreme 10.5. They are currently
ranked second in the Extreme 10.5 Battle for the Belts point standings
despite an early Vadosta exit.

Without divulging exactly what
they’ve found, White says it’s something very good and he’s confident
about his chances this season. .

White’s ultra-slick single
turbo 2007 Scion turned heads when it first showed up in XTF
competition and it has been at or near the top of the field since it
arrived.

The friends of Bob Hesser, a talented photographer for NHRA's Division
3 and Auto Imagery who passed away recently, are offering memorial
decals for donations to assist his family. Because of a  lack of
insurance, donations would help the family tremendously.

"Bob Hesser became a staple at all Division 3 and national events,"
said Division 3 Alcohol Dragster racer Dave Hirata. "His fine camera
work, personality and zest for the world of drag racing will be missed
by the whole community. We here at Hirata Motorsports, along with Dyno
Dave Motorsports and American Colorscans have headed up his memory
decals. We not only lost part of what makes our drag racing world go
round, but to a lot of us, a real friend."