The
Series, which is headlined by the powerful Top Alcohol Dragster and Top
Alcohol Funny Car classes, features 44 races across the country
throughout NHRA's seven geographic regions. Competitors in
eight classes in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series vie for divisional
and national championships and a share of the year-end purse worth more
than $560,000.

NHRA has released the 2009 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series schedule.

In addition to the alcohol-powered categories, the Series features NHRA's Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, and

Super Street

classes. Each
division also runs a Top Sportsman and a Top Dragster series in
conjunction with its Lucas Oil events, and a Sportsman Motorcycle
Series presented by Harley-Davidson is contested in selected divisions.

2007 IHRA Rookie of the Year Jeff O’Neill will make his first Top Fuel
appearance of the 2008 campaign at this weekend’s IHRA World Finals in
Rockingham, NC. O’Neill, who piloted Bruce Litton’s second entry to a
string of successful outings in 2007 (including a runner-up finish in
his first IHRA event and a 6th place finish in the season long World
Championship points standings), was sidelined for the season when the
team was unable to secure the necessary funding to compete in 2008.

For the IHRA World Finals this weekend, O’Neill has agreed to a
one-race deal with Sipple Family Racing. Sponsorship for the event will
come from Numidia Dragway.

“I’m so excited to get back in the seat of a Top Fuel car,” exclaimed
O’Neill. “Last season was like a dream--getting affiliated with Bruce
Litton and his entire team; then having immediate success in Top Fuel,
and consistently having a competitive car all season. It all happened
so quickly and everything just fell into place. This season we haven’t
had the same opportunities, and I’ve gotten to see the other side of
it; the countless cold calls and dead ends that are part of the
sponsorship search. It’s been frustrating, but I’ve learned a lot.
We’re very close to inking a deal that will put me back in competition
next season, and allow us to do so at a high level. I cannot wait to
make that announcement!”

Ten-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Bob Glidden to compete in Nov.
20-23 Street Car Super Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway

NHRA Pro Stock drag racing legend Bob Glidden will compete in the Nov.
20-23 Street Car Super Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway. Glidden will pilot PGA pro golfer Kenny Perry's Grand Am in
the Outlaw 10.5 class.

Glidden was the scourge of the NHRA Pro Stock class in the 1980s and
1990s, winning an unprecedented 10 championships in 16 years, including
five consecutive titles from 1985 to 1989. Bob amassed 85
national-event victories before retiring at the end of the 1997 season
and is fourth on the NHRA's Top 50 Drivers Of All Time list.

John DeFlorian of Arnold, MO, has officially joined the Bankston Boys
as a third ADRL Pro Nitrous teammate to drivers Stan Allen and Tim
Savell, planning his debut with the team for next weekend in the 4th
annual LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals at the Texas Motorplex in
Ennis, TX, and continuing throughout the 2009 ADRL campaign.

NHRA has announced that the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Eastern and
Western Conference Finals will return to Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway and
Denver’s Bandimere Speedway in 2009.  Bristol Dragway will host the
Eastern Conference Finals July 9-11 and the Western Conference Finals
will be at Bandimere Speedway, July 23-25.

“Both of these tracks offer first-class racing operations as well as
the unique touches required of any facility that hosts a Jr. Drag
Racing League Conference Finals event,” said Eric Lotz, NHRA director
of Field Marketing and Contingency Programs.  “Not only do they know
what it takes to put 400 or more race cars down a track in three days,
but they know how to make these kids and their families feel welcome
and show them a good time after the racing is done.”

Gateway International Raceway is pleased to announce the hiring of Rich
Schaefer as its new drag strip manager as well as the promotion of
Brandon Mudd to director of public and media relations. Both moves are
effective immediately.
 
Schaefer, a graduate of Greenville (Ill.) High School, has a 20-year
background in motorsports promotion. He started his motorsports career
working at tractor pulls and moved on to become one of the most
respected promoters on the monster truck circuit.  Schaefer has managed
some of the biggest monster truck events in the sport working with Live
Nation, Bigfoot, and most recently Monster Truck Challenge.  Schaefer
has also worked with the Gateway International Raceway over the past
two years in several event related capacities, including event
promotion and pre-race management for both Gateway’s 1.25-mile oval and
its drag strip.

“We were searching for a drag manager with national motorsports
experience and we found one from right here in St. Louis,” GIR Vice
President and General Manager Lenny Batycki said. “Rich had been
assisting us during our major events for the past couple of years and
started working on our drag crew this summer to pass time while he was
in town between other events he was managing around the country.

During the O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Nationals, the Drag
Racing Association of Women held its annual auction hosted by Billy and
Deborah Meyer and the staff of the Texas Motorplex. During the evening,
members of the DRAW Board of Trustees presented DRAW’s Person of the
Year, Company of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year awards.

The 2008 DRAW Person of the Year award was presented to the NHRA Media
Relations Staff, which worked hard to promote DRAW by involving both
the drag racing community and the fans in NHRA Softball Classic
fund-raising activity. Even though Mother Nature didn’t cooperate and
the first ball of the softball game wasn’t even thrown out in Maple
Grove. Lachelle Seymour accepted on behalf on the staff.

When Hurricane Hanna hit the Epping, New Hampshire area during the
Amalie Oil North American Nationals IHRA officials had to adjust the
race schedule to ensure they were able to get the race in. One of the
victims was the IHRA Pro Stock Showdown.

The $100,000 Showdown, which included the top eight Mountain Motor Pro
Stock drivers in the business, was scheduled to run to completion at
New England Dragway. The first two rounds were completed at NED, but
when rain washed away the Saturday evening Night of Fire the decision
was made to move the final round to the final race on the 2008 IHRA
schedule…the IHRA World Finals at Rockingham Dragway Sept. 17-19.

The delay could possibly have been the best thing that happened to
Montecalvo. Berner was tearing things up in Epping, running a pair of
6.30’s passes during the Showdown, grabbing both Quarter-Max Pro Stock
Challenge bonuses, qualifying on top of the qualifying sheet and
ultimately winning the Ironman. It was his weekend in New England.

Spectators may have thought they were watching hot rods racing down
Gateway International Raceway’s quarter-mile, NHRA-sanctioned drag
strip Wednesday. What they were actually seeing was a glimpse into the
future; a future not beholden to foreign oil, but provided by flex-fuel
vehicles and corn-based ethanol.

The E85/Ethanol Challenge, an event hosted by GIR, the Illinois Corn
Growers Association, the American Lung Association, and 5.0 Mustang
Magazine, displayed for both private citizens and some of Illinois’ top
lawmakers how ethanol is a legitimate and less expensive choice for
American consumers.

Several E85 flex-fuel vehicles, ranging from an everyday street cars to
high-performance race vehicles, made passes down Gateway’s drag strip,
all using ethanol provided by Center Ethanol. The exhibition was an
effective one.

 “What I’m seeing is very interesting,” said Mike Campbell,
representing U.S. Congressman Jerry Costello (D-Ill.).” If you look at
the Congressman’s record, he’s been a strong supporter of renewable
fuels. We have an ethanol plant in operation right now in Sauget, his
Congressional district. I think (today’s demonstration) is one way of
showing that (ethanol is a viable fuel option). Any concept we can use
to show that any method we can use to show those thoughts that we can
produce renewable fuels and lessen our dependence on foreign oil is
always positive.”