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.

The California Independent Funny Car Association announced two major
changes effective beginning at the 39th Annual Governors Cup
Championships held at Sacramento Raceway September 19-20, 2008.These
changes will go into effect at this event and will continue through the
remainder of the 2008 Season and carry in to the 2009 season. The first
change will be to a 7.20 index. The second will be a change in the
performance correction factor to determine how a breakout run is used
in qualifying.

“Simply put, it’s time” said CIFCA president Jamie Leppenan.” Our
customers are the fans and track promoters. Over the past couple of
years track promoters have been asking us to start thinking about
running quicker. By instituting the change in the later part of the
2008 season it will give our teams plenty of time to gear up for the
change as well as give track promoters a preview of what we can offer
in 2009. The hope is to generate more races for the group.”

For the 10th straight year, four-time NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series champion
Gary Scelzi will compete in a Celebrity Modified Race at Sedalia's State Fair
Speedway on Wednesday, June 11, as part of the evening's World of Outlaws Sprint
Car series event.

For the tenth time, Funny Car veteran Gary Scelzi will race in the dirt of Sedalia. (Jon Asher Photo)

The proceeds from this 11th annual Celebrity Modified
Race and the official WOO Sprint Car race on the half-mile oval will benefit the
Michael Ross Memorial Foundation.

Ten celebrity drivers, including
Scelzi, who drives the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car for Don
Schumacher Racing in NHRA, will fight it out in IMCA Modifieds. Scelzi will also
compete in the annual golf tournament on Tuesday, June 10, with the
participating drivers and guests, and will act as Master of Ceremonies for the
charity auction that evening.

After ten races of NHRA Top Fuel competition under the Tuttle Motorsports / Vis
Viva banner, former Lucas Oil champion Alan Bradshaw and team owner Dexter
Tuttle have decided to part ways, citing "chemistry" issues with Bradshaw and
car chief, Tony Shortall.  
 
"I really felt like we had huge potential
with Dexter's race program and past successes, but unfortunately it just didn't
work out for either one of us," Bradshaw said.  
 
"Dexter and Tony had a
different view point with regard to safety equipment than I did. I want to be
perfectly clear on this point: I am not saying the car was unsafe in any way.
They met all of the minimum requirements as required by NHRA.

 
"Personally, I felt the current rules represented the minimum safety
standard, and I will always lean toward making the driver's cockpit as safe as
possible within reason - just as many other teams are currently doing for their
drivers. Since it is Dexter's operation, I have to respect his decisions but in
the end I have to do what I believe is right for me," Bradshaw
said.

E-town national
event will end his 2008 season as a driver …

Mike Ashley admitted 100% of focus
is the reason he’s decided to refocus his racing efforts in 2008. The
popular Funny Car/Pro Modified driver from New York’s Long Island will
abandon his driving aspirations in all classes to devote his time
exclusively to his growing Lend-America business.

Ashley retired from nitro racing at the beginning of the 2008 season
yet remained in competition with his part-time Pro Modified team. He
announced a trial run in Funny Car three races ago with an expiration
following Norwalk.

He made his decision not to return last week prior to the NHRA’s Chicago event.

Popular e-zine will return to independent status…

CompetitionPlus.com, drag racing’s leading Internet drag racing
magazine since 1999, has released Torco Race Fuels from their contract as the title rights sponsor. This move ends one of the most dynamic
marketing partnerships in today’s drag racing marketplace.

CompetitionPlus.com founder and publisher Bobby Bennett said this
decision is a tough one but one that will be mutually beneficial for
both parties in the long run.

“This is a tough and heart-wrenching decision,” Bennett said. “My first
and foremost concern is the health and well-being for a person I have
long considered a friend, Evan Knoll. We have gotten to where we are
today in drag racing’s Internet media because of Evan’s unselfish
support along with the hard work of our team members over the years.