The ADRL's Extreme Pro Stock division could attract a lot of the top name IHRA Pro Stock cars for at least three races in 2008 and for a potential full tour in 2009. (Roger Richards)

ADRL President Kenny Nowling confirmed the sanctioning body is prepared
to add another item to their eighth-mile menu in 2008. Nowling added
the doorslammer friendly series will add the mountain motor division to
their line-up for at least three events in 2008 and are planning a
full-time program in 2009.

Thus is born the Extreme Pro Stock division.

“Our first priority is to build a home for the mountain motor Pro Stock
cars,” Nowling confirmed. “I love those guys and I love the class. I
think it is the right class for us now. I wasn’t so sure some years ago
and we stepped forward with the Pro Extreme Motorcycle division.”

Nowling said the first of those three events could come in Budds Creek,
Md., followed by Norwalk, Ohio, and Rockingham, NC. Of the three, only
the Norwalk event conflicts an IHRA race.

Pam and Paul Balash had their cherished 1942 Willys Coupe stolen from
the Springhill Suites parking lot in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sunday night
following the National Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, Ky.

Also stolen was their Ford 2005 F-250 diesel supercab with a matching
ARE truck cap and 26-foot enclosed trailer. The license tag on the
vehicle is carries Virginia tags labeled JRD-9121 VA. The trailer is a
2005 26-foot Haulmark Edge, white with no lettering, license 804534TR
VA.

Also inside the trailer was our EZ-GO golf cart which is painted the same color as the coupe and has white upholstery.

Emotions have run high within Canada’s drag racing community since the
IHRA’s controversial announcement last Wednesday that they will be
pulling the plug on this season’s 6th Annual Canadian Nationals
scheduled for Sep. 19-21st at Toronto Motorsports Park.

Citing non-completion of some mandatory work required for the facility,
IHRA management based in Norwalk Ohio effectively gave the race a firm
non-confidence vote. 

Following a self-imposed “cool down” period, Toronto Motorsports Park
management, including owner/operator Uli Bieri, issued the following
statements and clarifications concerning the IHRA decision.

Inside Drag Racing, a Masters TV production, will switch to Sunday
afternoon at 5:00 PM Eastern Time, beginning on July 6, 2008 on the ION
Television Network. The award-winning, weekly half-hour program makes
that move to this sought after time slot to take advantage of viewer
habits in the last two quarters of the year.

The July 6, 2008 program will highlight the radical drag racing action
of the Outlaw Fuel Altereds Association meet in Denton, Texas.

H.O. Penn CAT will partner with David Powers Motorsports and seven-time
NHRA Top Fuel winner Hot Rod Fuller during the 39th annual Lucas Oil
Products SuperNationals, June 19-22, at Old Bridge Township Raceway
Park in Englishtown, N.J.

The relationship between David Powers Motorsports, Caterpillar and the
Caterpillar dealers was designed as a pilot program to increase
technician recruiting. Many Caterpillar dealers are experiencing a
shortage of technicians. After successful events in several NHRA
markets during the 2007 season, DPM and Caterpillar inked a multiyear
agreement last August to participate in the NHRA dealer recruitment
program. H.O. Penn CAT will use this opportunity for recruiting as well
as to display its products and services available to contractors in the
region. H.O. Penn is the exclusive dealer for Caterpillar equipment
serving six locations in New York and Connecticut. Today H.O. Penn has
nearly 400 employees and an annual sales volume of over $200 million.

Laurie Cannister has scored three out of four victories in 2008 Alcohol Funny Car competition.

Laurie Cannister is doing her best to adapt to all the accolades being thrown her way in 2008. The Johnstown, Ohio-based Alcohol Funny Car racer has won four of the last six races on the IHRA tour, two of those from the No. 1 qualifying success.

Such success might leave a driver feeling invincible. Not the overly cautious Cannister.

Case in point, when revered IHRA Alcohol Funny Car icon Carol “Bunny” Burkett bestowed her prediction that Cannister would be the next female to win a championship, Cannister smiled and said thanks.

“One race at a time,” Cannister added.

NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster driver Jim Whiteley shattered both ends of
the track record on his way to collecting an impressive victory at this
past weekend’s Division 5 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at
Bandimere Speedway just outside of Denver.  Whiteley and his Norm
Grimes lead YNot Racing team lowered the track record by over a tenth
and bettered the track speed record by over seven mph.
 
Whiteley, from Grand Junction, Colo., not only became the first Top
Alcohol Dragster to run in the 5.50’s on ‘The Mountain,’ but stunned
the field 5.491 second elapsed time at 262.90 mph during Saturday
evening’s final qualifying session to qualify No. 1.  The previous
track records were a 5.604 by Richard Putz and 255.00 mph by Whiteley
that were both run last year.
 
In round one, Whiteley received a competition bye and ran another
impressive 5.511 at 261.07 mph.  Whiteley then squared off with
defending event champion and Division 5 Champion Richard Putz. 
Whiteley took another win with a 5.541 at 259.21 mph.  That set up a
final round matchup with No. 2 qualifier Ed Schmeeckle.

 Regardless of where or when on the 24-event NHRA POWERade schedule it is
achieved, whether it's the first, last, or 10th race of the season, the term
"first place" always carries with it a special ring. Coming off his second
national-event victory of the year in Chicago on June 8, that's where Team
Chevy's Kurt Johnson finds himself, and where he hopes to be when the season
comes to a close in Pomona, Calif., on Nov. 16. Given the ultra-competitive
nature of the Pro Stock category these days, the 45-year-old resident of Buford,
Ga., knows that staying in the top spot will be a difficult task.

During
the first 10 events of the 2008 campaign, the factory hot rod division has seen
eight different winners. Johnson captured his first win of the year at St. Louis
on May 4, and at Chicago, he became just the second driver in Pro Stock to win
more than once, joining Greg Anderson on the short list of multiple winners this
season.

"To come back and win two of the last four races - the car's
just been good," said Johnson. "When you go to the first nine races and have
eight different winners it shows how competitive it's been. Nobody's had the
perfect combination. There have been eight drivers, eight cars with the perfect
combination on one day, but only two of us in the last 10 races have been able
to duplicate it. It's brutal out there.

CompetitionPlus.com has confirmed with a member of Kenny Bernstein Racing management that Monster Energy Funny Car tuner Jimmy Walsh has resigned his position within the team. His replacement we are told will be Rick Cassel with assistance from Danny DeGennaro.

Sources indicate Walsh could return to the Top Fuel division with a familiar name. 

A kid with a dream, Brown realizing reality

Antron Brown returns to Etown, the site of his childhood dreams. (Roger Richards) 

Dreamers will always dream and there are some instances where those fantasies become reality.

Antron Brown returns this weekend to the place where he formed his
first visions of grandeur. The former Pro Stock Motorcycle icon turned
Top Fuel front-runner will roll through the gates of Old Bridge
Township Raceway Park a different man in some aspects.

Deep inside he’s still the same kid with an insatiable will to play the game.

“I am excited to get back to my hometown track where it all started for
me,” Brown said. “To come back to Englishtown, where I grew up watching
the Summernationals, is like a dream come true to race in Top Fuel.
There will be a lot of family and friends and Matco distributors
rooting us on. I don’t feel any extra pressure, I feel less pressure
with all the great support our team has.”