WHITELEY, PAYNE LEAD FIELDS IN LAS VEGAS

In the first rounds of qualifying at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing
Series Spring Shootout presented by Torco Race Fuels, Top Alcohol
Dragster driver Jim Whiteley, Grand Junction, Calif., and Top Alcohol
Funny Car pilot Jay Payne, Claremont, Calif., took the No. 1 qualifying
positions in their classes.

Whiteley outran the field with a pass of 5.346 seconds at 270.16 mph. 
The defending Lucas Oil Pacific Division Champion is followed by Shawn
Cowie of Delta, B.C., CAN., in second and Courtney Force, Yorba Linda,
Calif., in third, running 5.730 seconds at 255.63 mph.  Force is the
daughter of NHRA Funny Car standout John Force.

Payne made a 5.637-second, 254.38 mph run to take the pole.  Payne has
seven funny car division championships to his name including 5 in a row
and is the reigning NHRA Southeast Division Champion.  Sean O’Bannon
sits in the No. 2 position with a run of 5.644 seconds, 254.18 mph and
last week’s Summit Racing.com NHRA Nationals winner Tony Bartone is 4th
in the eight-car field.

Former NHRA Lucas Oil National Champion Dean Carter of Glendale, Ariz.,
leads the Comp Eliminator field followed by Justin Lamb of Henderson,
Nev., and Randy Goff of Las Vegas in the number six and tenth spots
respectively.

PATRICK NETS PROVISIONAL EXTREME PRO STOCK POLE AND RECORD

Taylor, Balooshi, Naiser and Jackson lead respective divisions

Extreme
Pro Stock racer Robert Patrick wouldn’t say that he entered this
weekend’s ADRL Hardee's Georgia Drags with a chip on his shoulder, but
did admit that he had plenty of incentive to turn up the wick during
provisional qualifying.

Joining Patrick atop their respective fields were Frankie Taylor (Pro
Extreme), Khalid Al-Balooshi (Pro Nitrous), Jeff Naiser (XTF) and
Broderick Jackson (Pro Extreme Motorcycle).

In Houston, the driver of the Purvis Ford Shelby Cobra from
Fredericksburg, Va., experienced a less than spectacular season opener
and on the day after that frustrating loss, he blew up the team’s brand
new experimental engine.

That’s why Patrick came out of the gate swinging this evening as he
drove his way to an early lead in qualifying with a 4.072 elapsed time
at 176.03. Not only does his run stand as the first day leader of
qualifying but also represents both ends of new world records if he can produce the
required one-percent back up.

XTF Racers Mike Hill and Mike Conover crashed during Friday afternoon time trials.

Hill launched hard and about 200 feet into the run encountered severe
tire shake. The car got loose and Hill apparently overcorrected sending
the car up onto two wheels and into Conover's lane. He then struck
Conover's car in the quarter-panel before impacting the wall and
sliding to a stop on his side.

‘Flat Stanley’, the title character of the 1964 children’s book by Jeff
Brown, had an exciting weekend at the recent Summitracing.com Nationals in Las
Vegas, Nevada.

In the days leading up to the ADRL’s Safety-Kleen Dragpalooza V at Houston Raceway Park, Charles Carpenter spoke of wanting to experience deja vu of his breakthrough win in Houston in 2007.

Carpenter definitely felt deja vu, but unfortunately it was more
reminiscent of one of the lowest points in his career, a devastating
crash in 2004, instead of one of the highest points.

Scotty and Scott Cannon had a simple plan headed into the ADRL Hardees Georgia Drags in Valdosta, Ga.

They would drop in to Mooresville Dragway, make a few laps with the
Modzilla/Cannonball Racing team, try out some new parts and pieces,
then head to South Georgia Motorsports Park.

It was a good plan with high expectations. If only fate saw it the same way.

“Benny Alfonse has given us the resources for a first class season, and
we want to deliver,” Scotty said, speaking of the new team owner who
recently purchased his race operation.

“We recently tested Mooresville Dragway and tried out some new parts
and pieces. On our third pass we encountered a broken piece of Mike
Janis’ header on the track and prematurely ended our test session.”

Andy Kelley will race at the NHRA Summit Southern Nationals in
Commerce, Ga., thanks to a one-race sponsorship from Atlanta-based
Serenity Limousine Service.

Serenity Limousine, a luxury
transportation company, owned by former NHRA Top Fuel racer and current
Hedman Husler Hedders general manager and director of motorsports Chris
Vandergriff, plans to take advantage of the big stage to promote his
thriving limousine business.

Kelley’s J. Ed Horton-fabricated
Dodge Stratus Funny Car will be wrapped in a special edition Serenity
Limo and Hedman Husler theme for the event.

Shannon Jenkins will have his nitrous injected Camaro at the ADRL Hardees Drags in Valdosta, Ga. Whether
it rolls out of the trailer at South Georgia Motorsports Park [SGMP]
remains to be seen. However, what is certain is Jenkins will be leading
the four-car Al Anabi Racing charge into the second event on the
ten-race National Guard ADRL Series.

Jenkins will fill the primary role of crew chief this weekend,
wrenching Mike Castellana, K.A. Balooshi, Rickie Smith and Burton
Auxier. This appointment comes one race after the multi-time Pro
Modified world champion and touted nitrous expert drove his way to a
semi-final finish at the ADRL Dragpalooza V event at Houston Raceway
Park.

Jenkins, nicknamed the Iceman, got a head start on his new role by
orchestrating a successful test session recently at Gainesville
Raceway. Of the four cars, it was Balooshi that soloed the best for the
new maestro with a 3.88, 194 mph lap.

On April 5, 2009, Jeff Miles was witness to something he’s never seen in drag racing before.

The owner of Carolina Dragway in Jackson, S.C., contends that his track
played host to only the second known “TIE” drag race in the history of
the sport and he’s got the time slips to prove it.

“When I saw the win lights on both sides I thought the stupid computer
had messed up,” Miles said. “That was my initial thought and I did some
investigation and started adding some numbers, I realized this was not
something out of the norm.