It
was a day in the summer of 1958 and Don Garlits was making a guest
appearance at Kohler Dragway in Cayuga, Ontario. Because Fred was not
old enough to have a license, his dad dropped him off at the gate. Fred
was hooked on drag racing.  Little did he know that drag racing would
eventually become a career.
 
Throughout his high school and university years, he raced as a hobby
with a variety of cars....37 Ford Coupe, 55 Chevy, and 58 Pontiac to
name a few.  His 1967 Beaumont that was raced at the Niagara Dragstrip,
became internationally known as the Canadian Chevelle.  While teaching
at Cayuga Secondary School, Fred continued his involvement with friends
who relied heavily on his automotive and drag racing knowledge and his
no-nonsense approach.
 

Former Pro Stock racer turned Pro Street legend Pat Musi confirmed with
CompetitionPlus.com that he will return to competition in 2009 behind
the wheel of a ADRL Pro Nitrous 1953 Corvette.

Musi has commissioned Don Reems to build this ultra-trick doorslammer
complete with all the bells and whistles. He’s going to need them as he
plans on shoehorning a 903 cubic inch engine between the fenders.

Tim Charlet is the quintessential drag racing fan having established
his love for the sport as a kid. A member of our Blog Central staff,
Charlet's eagerness to contribute as well as a keen view of drag racing
from a pure race fan's standpoint is the reason that
CompetitionPlus.com has chosen him to pen a monthly article called From the Bleachers.

Charlet
will write a monthly column discussing drag racing's issues from the
eyes of a race fan and where better to write these columns from than
the bleachers.

Charlet's first column can be read by clicking on the link.

TIM CHARLET - FROM THE GRANDSTANDS

Nearly 20 years ago, Darrell Gwynn was the hottest racer on the National Hot Rod Association circuit. Known as “The Kid,” the 28-year-old had raced to 28 national victories.

But in a London exhibition race, Gwynn’s dragster hit a wall in a
horrific Easter Sunday crash. He lost his left arm, was left paralyzed
from the waist down, and never raced again.

Soon after, Gwynn turned his disability into another pursuit ---
raising money for children and young adults suffering from spinal cord
injuries and debilitating disease. Gwynn began donating custom
wheelchairs, providing long-term healthcare services for new spinal
cord injury patients, and decorating pediatric hospital units.

Former Employees of Knoll Gas/Torco Race Fuels Return With Competition Race Fuels …

All Bill Card and his business associates want is a fair chance.

Card is one of a half-dozen former Knoll Gas/Torco Race Fuels employees
hoping to resurrect a familiar brand albeit under the new name
Competition Race Fuels, Inc.

He feels the hard-working employees were the victims of what he felt
was damage perpetrated by top level employees of the former Knoll
Gas/Torco Race Fuels regime.

Card and his constituents are in the early stages of what promises to
be a monumental challenge in rebuilding a positive business from bitter
ashes.

By the time the New Year’s Eve chimes reached 12, Clay Millican
finished breathing his sigh of relief.  Year 2008 was officially history.  Bring on 2009!

Millican, a fan favorite Top Fuel driver from Drummonds, Tenn., now has
a firm grip on what his drag racing future holds – competing in all 24
of NHRA Full Throttle series races.  It’s comforting because 12 months
ago he had no insight on what ’08 held.

“We are excited this year because (team owners) Mark and Lauren Pickens
said we would be running all of the races,” said a happy Millican. 
“That certainly was very comforting to know going into this New Year. 
All we had last year was craziness . . . like being told we weren’t
going to run.”

K&N Engineering has announced a primary sponsorship agreement with
three-time national champion Dan Fletcher. A 56-time national event
winner who is ranked in the top 10 on NHRA's all-time win list,
Fletcher will compete in Comp, Super Stock, and Stock during the 2009
NHRA season.

"We are extremely pleased to add Dan Fletcher to the K&N family,"
said Steve Williams, vice president of PE & RD at K&N
Engineering. "Dan is a proven winner whose record speaks for itself.
His outgoing personality has also made him one of drag racing's most
recognizable Sportsman drivers, and we believe he is a perfect
representative for our company."

Following last week’s announcement by Roger Burgess, owner of R2B2
Racing, that he was temporarily suspending racing operations, Burgess
announced today that Frank Hawley will become General Manager of R2B2
Racing.  

Hawley, who drove selected races for Burgess in 2008 as a Teammate of
Melanie Troxel is well known in NHRA Drag Racing having won two NHRA
World Championships in Funny Car and numerous National titles in Top
Fuel in addition to being the owner and operator of Frank Hawley’s Drag
racing School.

Mike Chrisman, the son of legendary drag racing pioneer Art Chrisman, has entered into an agreement that will find him

John Rodeck & Mike Chrisman (Henry Walther Photo)

behind
the wheel of a nostalgia front engine Top Fuel Dragster for the 2009
season. Ironically Mike’s competition debut will come at the historic
March Meet in Bakersfield, California exactly 50 years after his father
won the inaugural US Fuel & Gas Championships (later to be known as
the March Meet) at the same Famoso Drag Strip in 1959.

For the past 17 seasons Chrisman (who is known to his peers as ‘The
Bulldog’) has piloted a Junior Fuel Dragster that he campaigns with his
father. Racing in the ANDRA, GoodGuys/VRA, and NHRA Heritage series the
team has earned three season championships. He also holds the
unofficial low ET Saki Championship record that was set while racing in
Japan.

He was 25 when he reached motocross racing’s “retirement” age, but far removed from kicking back in an overstuffed chair.

Von Smith then doubled the number of wheels he used for racing and
slipped seamlessly into drag racing.  He began with muscle cars and
segued into a variety of racing categories – Top Sportsman, Alcohol
Funny Car and Pro Modified. 

Now, 20 years later – and without any knee surgeries that precipitated
his earlier decision to bid farewell to motocross racing – Smith and
Howard Moon, Al-Anabi Racing team crew chief and tuner, are preparing
for the 2009 National Guard American Drag Racing League (ADRL) season. 
The goal, of course, is to present team owner Sheik Khalid Bin Hamad Al
Thani of Doha, Qatar, with multiple race victories and, ultimately, the
championship trophy.

They are joined by rising star K.A. Balooshi of Dubai, who will be at
the controls of an Al-Anabi Racing Pro Mod Nitrous 1968 Chevrolet
Camaro.