At the center of the pulse of Los Angeles'
entertainment heartbeat, the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City will be
the site where 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series world champions
will be crowned. The 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Awards
Ceremony will be held Monday, Nov. 17, 2008.

The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Awards Ceremony will feature a
pre-event cocktail reception at 5 p.m., formal sit-down banquet at 6
p.m., and an after party. The voice of NHRA, veteran announcer Bob
Frey, will serve as emcee during the evening.

Force has three decades of memories from Englishtown. (Roger Richards)

Sometimes the things you love the most serve up the biggest
disappointments.  Take John Force and Old Bridge Township Raceway Park,
site of this week's 39th annual NHRA Lucas Oil Supernationals.
 
Force fell in love with the track more than 30 years ago, back when the
late Vinnie Napp became one of the first promoters to take a chance on
a fast-talking Funny Car driver with big dreams supported by a very
thin resume.
 
Unfortunately, that love rarely has been returned.  
 
In 26 appearances in the Supernationals, Force has won just four
times.  Okay, so that's twice as often as as anyone else in the Funny
Car division.

A rumor suggested Jim Dunn, Tony Bartone and the Canidae All-Natural
Pet Food wouldn’t be in Englishtown and likely wouldn’t return until
after the NHRA Mile High Nationals in Denver, Co.

Such unsubstantiated news comes as a surprise to Dunn.

“I haven’t heard that one yet,” Dunn admitted. “We’re putting a new car
together right now as we speak. We will be in Englishtown. Never count
us out. We have a brand new Victory Race Car that will be legal for
Denver.

The IHRA has dropped their
national event at Toronto
Motorsports Park
scheduled for September 19-21, citing the facility’s failure to upgrade/improvements
at the facility. The decision was made when IHRA officials visited the facility.

“Our contract with TMP
concluded following the 2007 event and we had some facility issues we needed
addressed,” IHRA president Aaron Polburn said. “After the visual inspection
last week IHRA is not satisfied these stipulations have been met and
improvements made, so we’ve chosen to cancel the 2008 event.”

Steve Torrence, NHRA's 2005 Top Alcohol Dragster World Champion, has
been named to replace Alan Bradshaw as the driver of the Vis Viva
"Living Force Energy" Top Fuel Dragster owned by Dexter Tuttle.
Torrence will begin his driving duties at the upcoming Lucas Oil NHRA
SuperNationals in Englishtown, N.J. on June 19-22. Torrence previously
drove for Tuttle as teammate to J.R. Todd for the final 3 events of
2006. The 25 year old resident of Kilgore, Tex. is thrilled about his
return to Top Fuel and Tuttle Motorsports.

"I couldn't be more excited than I am right now," Torrence said.
"Having worked with Dexter in the past, I know the kind of team that he
runs and I can't wait to get back in his car. I'm also excited to be
representing Dexter's sponsor, Vis Viva Energy. They are a new and
upcoming energy drink and I'm a new and upcoming driver in Top Fuel,
what a perfect fit."

NHRA Pro Stock Bike world champion Matt Smith confirmed that Mike Berry
will join his team in Englishtown, NJ during the NHRA Supernationals.
Berry will replace current rider Angie McBride for a span of at least
three events.

Zach Beard, a David Powers Motorsports development driver, will make his NHRA
driving debut at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event, June 13-15, at
Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. Beard will pilot the Randy Meyer Racing A/FD in
the Top Alcohol dragster category.

“I’m extremely excited to make my NHRA racing debut,”
Beard said. “I’ve grown up around the sport and feel fortunate to learn from a
past champion like Randy Meyer. It’s a great feeling to start my drag racing
career at a first-class facility like Route 66 Raceway.”

Being a rookie in the Funny Car division of the NHRA is no easy task.

Being a rookie on a rookie team adds to the challenge.

Being a rookie on a rookie team in a year filled with chassis changes,
tire changes, testing bans, nitro issues and escalating fuel costs is a
true trial by fire. Yet, Bob Tasca isn't sweating. He's planning and
meeting each new challenge head on.

For the immediate future, Tasca's biggest obstacle is testing. Tasca needs to test just to catch up with the competition.

“Certainly with a new team and a new driver,” Tasca said when asked if
the testing ban hurt his efforts. “We don't have the run data a lot of
these teams have out here.

On June 12-15, in between the NHRA POWERade Series events national in Joliet and
Englishtown, Jeg Coughlin will be competing in the prestigious JEGS U.S. Open
Bracket Championships at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. The four-time
world champion will step out of the seat of his 210-mph JEGS.com Pro Stock
Cobalt and into his dragster and Chevy Nova bracket cars - as he competes for a share of the more than
$200,000 in prize money that is posted for the event.

“Over the past few years, the
JEGS U.S. Open has grown to become one of the sport’s premiere bracket races,”
said Coughlin. “[Promoters] Mike Fuqua and Dave Szerlag have created a great
event that not only features a huge payout, but is also a lot of fun. There’s so
much money on the line this weekend that I’m sure this race will attract a who’s
who of great bracket racers. I’d expect the competition to be extremely intense
but I’m really looking forward to it.”

The JEGS U.S. Open features
four-separate days of high stakes E.T. bracket racing, including two
$20,000-to-win events on Friday and Saturday and two more races on Thursday and
Sunday that pay $10,000 to the champion. There are numerous other special
promotions including a race for a complete Steve Schmidt-built engine and a
dragster chassis from Racecraft. Nearly 400 of the nation’s best sportsman drag
racers are expected to participate in the event, which recently moved to its new
home in Indianapolis.

The 1932 Ford Sedan of Cale, Bridgett & Carlee Kern of Bedford,
Indiana won the Goodguys 2008 Hot Rod of the Year award presented by
Hot Hues at the Goodguys 20th Hot Rod Nationals Sunday, June 8th. The
family of three had quite a weekend in Indy, having just finished a
year long thrash to build the car the night before the event began at
one o’clock in the morning.

This year’s Hot Rod of the Year competition featured twenty five eager
participants. The Goodguys Hot Rod of the Year competition is a driving
and dragstrip event held annually at the Hot Rod nationals at O’Reilly
Raceway park.  This year’s participants drove a 100 course through
greater Indianapolis which took them on a track cruise of the Indy
Motor Speedway, up to the small town of Sharpsville, Indiana then back
to O’Reilly Raceway Park for a run down the world famous Indy dragstrip.