KALITTA, CAPPS AND LINE EARN WINS AT KRAGEN O’REILLY WINTERNATIONALS

Doug
Kalitta raced to his first Top Fuel victory in more than a year Tuesday
at the rain-delayed Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club
Raceway at Pomona.

Ron Capps and Jason Line also were winners in their respective
categories at the first of 24 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
events in 2009. The season-opening event, which had been plagued by
five straight days of rain delays, was finally completed under clear
blue skies.

Kalitta powered his Kalitta Motorsports dragster to a winning
performance of 3.822 seconds at 308.57 mph to take an emotional win
over top qualifier Antron Brown, whose Matco Tools dragster trailed
with a 3.847 at 307.16.

Top 10 point standings for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
following the rain-delayed 49th annual Kragen O’Reilly NHRA
Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Final-round results for the professional categories from
Tuesday’s rain-delayed running of the 49th annual Kragen O’Reilly NHRA
Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. It is the first of 24
events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in 2009.

Final round-by-round results Tuesday for the rain-delayed 49th
annual Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at
Pomona. It is the first of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag
Racing Series in 2009.

TOP FUEL

First round – Antron Brown, 4.222, 279.79 def. Steve Faria, 5.099,
155.10; Mike Strasburg, 3.997, 253.71 def. Spencer Massey, 4.195,
260.36; Brandon Bernstein, 4.758, 192.69 def. Andy Carter, foul; Tony
Schumacher, 3.845, 312.42 def. Del Cox, 4.008, 302.08; Morgan Lucas,
3.846, 310.20 def. Joe Hartley, 3.955, 307.37; Steve Chrisman, 4.086,
285.59 def. David Baca, 7.632, 93.26; Cory McClenathan, 3.934, 313.37
def. Shawn Langdon, 4.221, 217.81; Doug Kalitta, 4.648, 194.49 def. Urs
Erbacher, no time recorded.

Second round – Brown, 15.892, 26.16 def. Strasburg, no show;
Bernstein, 3.834, 311.49 def. Schumacher, 3.865, 313.44; Lucas, 3.886,
305.08 def. Chrisman, 5.159, 136.02; Kalitta, 3.826, no speed def.
McClenathan, 3.886, 296.83.

Semifinals – Brown, 3.778, 312.78 def. Bernstein, 9.268, 80.92; Kalitta, 3.825, 313.95 def. Lucas, 7.131, 100.15.

Final – Kalitta, 3.822, 308.57 def. Brown, 3.847, 307.16.

SEMA (the Specialty Equipment Market Association), issued a
statement this afternoon announcing the Cash for Clunkers program has
been withdrawn from consideration as part of the government stimulus
program. Such a program would have been detrimental to the automotive
aftermarket and restoration industry.

"We are equally pleased
that the Senate voted to include a SEMA-supported amendment to the bill
allowing taxpayers to claim a tax deduction for car-loan interest
payments and excise taxes when they buy a new car in 2009," the
prepared statement read. "We applaud lawmakers for spending taxpayer
money wisely rather than wasting dollars on programs that do not spur
car sales, reduce emissions or increase fuel efficiency.

The rain-delayed 49th annual Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals will
be completed today (Tuesday, Feb. 10) at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
The day will begin with Top Fuel quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m. PT and
will conclude at approximately 3 p.m. PT with the final rounds in Top
Fuel and Funny Car (Pro Stock's final round will be run approximately
30 minutes later).

Let the record reflect that sophomore Funny Car driver Mike Neff is in it to win it.

The idea that he’s unsponsored is a major misnomer.

“The car does have funding with it,” Neff told CompetitionPlus.com.
“Ford is one of our largest contributors and with what they give us is
more than adequate to run the car with. We’re not lacking for what it
takes to win.”

That’s why Neff, a former nitro tuner before joining John Force Racing
in 2007, says he’s planning on challenging for the title in 2009. He’s
not going to be a test car, as some suggest.

Rain continued to soak the grounds of Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
Monday, forcing NHRA officials to postpone the continuation of
eliminations for the Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals until
Tuesday. It is the fifth straight day where a series of winter storms
off the Pacific have brought heavy rain to the Southern California
region and continued to delay the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
season-opener.

The second round of Top Fuel and Funny Car eliminations will open
Tuesday’s racing, starting at 11:30 a.m., and will be followed by the
continuation of the first round of Pro Stock.

Open your newspaper
tomorrow morning, flip to the Business or Financial sections, and you’re going
to read a lot of very bad news.  Two days
ago, for example, the opening spread of USA Today’s Business section featured
something like 10 news articles.  Seven
of them referenced decreased sales and employee layoffs.

Jerry Toliver will always believe the first time he ever drove for Funny Car legend Jim Dunn will go down as a good war story.

Toliver’s Saturday qualifying run in Pomona was the first time he’d ever driven
Dunn’s car. There were no test sessions to break in the new chassis.
When he strapped in, his No. 16 qualified run was truly a maiden voyage.

“We really had no choice but to run the car to the finish line,”
Toliver admitted. “You have a job to do and you do it. I never felt
uncomfortable driving the car to the finish line.”