Ken Black did his best, earlier this season, to dispel the misnomer
that his pockets were endless, but with little luck. Sometimes actions
speak louder than words.

Black confirmed with CompetitionPlus.com recently that he’s
scaled back personnel and remains 99.9% percent sure that he’ll be
parking the Top Fuel team for 2009 unless funding arrives prior to the
season opener in Pomona come February.

A third Pro Stock for his KB Racing remains possible, but that is
contingent on certain monetary arrangements coming to pass. If that
program comes to pass, the level of personnel could return to
pre-layoff levels.

Black is just one of the many drag racing movers and shakers feeling the pinch of a sluggish U.S. Economy.

“We are just trying to be a little smarter with our money,” Black
added. “We’re trying to get rid of some used parts and others that were
just gathering dust.”

Anna Lisa Smith, 25, daughter of auto racing mogul Bruton Smith,
was involved in a single car car accident on Wednesday morning close,
Charlotte's WCNC.com reported.

She was listed in serious condition at Carolinas Medical Center.

Smith was involved for a decade in equestrian competition and was
introduced to the NHRA at the opening event of SMI's new dragway in
September. She is in the early stages of preparing for a drag racing
career behind the wheel of a Top Fuel dragster.

The IHRA is putting to rest the rumors surrounding having full 16-car
qualified fields in Pro Stock and Pro Modified at every 2009 IHRA Nitro
Jam event.

“We took a big step by offering our Pro Stock and Pro Modified teams
free car and driver entries as well as three free crew entries, but
somehow there has been some mystery surrounding 8 car fields and that
is not what we are doing in 2009,” IHRA vice president of racing
operations Skooter Peaco said. “We received such positive response to
our complimentary car and driver program. If we were to cut the Pro
Stock and Pro Mod fields it would have been a step backwards.”

“We heard the rumors about us cutting the fields, but that was
something that was thrown out several months back in a national track
operator meeting as a way of making sense out of event budgets,” Peaco
continued. “Everyone involved understands this is a financial
situation. After covering millions of dollars of sponsorship monies due
our racers that never materialized, we have had to rework our national
event models to make sure that no matter what happens, everyone will be
paid. Our Pro Stock and Pro Mod classes are the quickest and fastest in
drag racing…we want to build these programs, not cut them.”

Sanctioning Body Reportedly Owed $764K From San Antonio Raceway …

The IHRA has filed papers against Zimmer-Zampese and Associates (a.k.a.
San Antonio Raceway) demanding payment of $764,000 allegedly owed for
the 2008 national event as well as canceling a ten-year contract with
the sanctioning body in Houston Federal Court, this according to a
newswire for lawyers.

BrakeSafe Expected to Fill Jegs Void Pending NHRA Approval ...

Pro Modified may have gained a reprieve for 2009 pending a sponsorship
deal expected to finalize by the end of the week, this according to
Matthew Brammer, sponsorship agent for BrakeSafe Rear-End Collision
Avoidance System, proposed sponsor for the series.

“It's no secret that I love Pro Mod racing -- I was the Series Director
for what, three years before this year?” Brammer said. “It's also no
secret that I have been working with a company, BrakeSafe Rear-End
Collision Avoidance System, and we have put together not only a Funny
Car sponsorship of Matt Hagan but also expressed great interest in
working within the Pro Mod Series as a sponsor.

NHRA POWERade Series Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher has been
named the 2008 DRIVER OF THE YEAR, it was announced by Barry
Schmoyer, president of the Driver of the Year Foundation, based in
Sarasota, Fla.

Schumacher, from Chicago, had a dominating season behind the wheel of
his U.S. Army dragster and becomes only the third NHRA driver to win
the DRIVER OF THE YEAR award in its 42-year history. Funny Car icon
John Force also won the prestigious award in 1996 and Pro Stock great
Greg Anderson claimed the trophy in 2004. Other past winners have
included such racing greats as Mario Andretti, who was the first winner
in 1967, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Darrell
Waltrip.

Schumacher raced to 15 victories and won his fifth consecutive and
sixth overall NHRA POWERade Series world championship crown during a
record-breaking 2008 season. He was also named the DRIVER OF THE YEAR
third quarter winner.

One of the biggest names in Australian Drag Racing, Brett Stevens,
today announced he will retire from full time race driving and cease
operating his team at the end of 2008 after a long and highly decorated
career.

Stevens, 43, leaves the sport as one of the most successful and
influential professional racers in it’s history. Over a career spanning
18 years, he has multiple National Championships, World Records,
National Records and Strip Records to his and his team’s name.

In addition to his on-track presence, Stevens also single-handedly
changed the face of the sport with his new levels of showmanship and
professionalism off the track that have helped make him into an
Australian motorsport icon.

In the week leading up to the second annual CompetitionPlus.com War Stories we will re-publish some of the finest moments from last year's contest. You'll hear some of the finest stories laid down in competition. The program works like this: 16 figures within the drag racing community are voted on by the readers of CompetitionPlus.com to determine who they feel could tell the best story. From that voting, an NHRA professional elimination ladder pairs the contestants and they battle it out until one is left.

Today's story comes from Steve Earwood, a former NHRA publicist and current owner of Rockingham Dragway.

For the third straight year, NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car driver Ron
Capps will be competing in the All-Stars Karting Classic during the
Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show at the Orange County
Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., on Thursday, Dec. 11.

The third annual event, organized by the Stars Of Karting in
conjunction with the PRI show, will be held on a newly redesigned
seven-turn purpose-built track adjacent to the convention center and
will be covered by Fox Sports for 2009 airing. Lap times are expected
to be in the 19-to-22-second range. Admission is free to anyone with a
PRI show credential.

Capps will again drive for the Motorama Kart Parts-Birel team and will
join drivers from other motorsports disciplines, such as Ryan
Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, Jamie McMurray, Scott Speed, Buddy Rice,
his Motorama Karts-Birel teammate Vitor Meira, Michael Valiante, AJ
Allmendinger, Ed Carpenter, Cristiano Da Matta, Townsend Bell, Joey
Hand, Jan Heylen, Nelson Philippe, Alex Lloyd, Oswaldo Negri Jr. and
Raphael Matos in 25-lap prefinal and 40-lap main events.

When Mike Ferderer, the final competitor eligible to leapfrog Brian
Forrester in the season-long standings and steal the 2008 Lucas Oil
Super Gas championship, was defeated in round two of the NHRA World
Finals in Pomona, Forrester let out a sigh of relief followed by a
scream of exhilaration.

“I was actually by myself, in my truck, parked out on some back road in
the middle of nowhere,” explained Forrester. “And I was listening to
the NHRA web cast on my lap top over the internet, and when Leo Taugher
announced that Mike had lost, I was just in total shock,” he said.

At that late point in the season, Forrester was done accumulating
points toward the Lucas Oil title. He finished his points-earning
season weeks prior, at the Silver Dollar Raceway Division event, atop
the national leader board with 633 points and was left to sit and await
his fate as a long list of top contenders took their shot at overtaking
his total.