World renowned spinal technology company K2M, Inc. announced today a new
partnership as an associate sponsor on all four of the nitro-fueled,
7,000-horsepower race cars that comprise Kalitta Motorsports, a legendary
professional drag racing team founded and owned by drag racing icon Connie “the
Bounty Hunter” Kalitta and based in Ypsilanti, Mich., just minutes from the
Detroit city limits.

Kalitta Motorsports fields entries for Doug Kalitta, driver of the Mac Tools
Top Fuel dragster, Scott Kalitta, driver of the DHL Funny Car, Dave Grubnic,
driver of the Kalitta Motorsports Top Fuel dragster, and Hillary Will, driver of
the KB Racing, LLC Top Fuel dragster in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
that traverses the United States for 24 national events between February and
November.

The 2008 season will mark the 24th
year of competition for the Alcohol Funny Cars from the California Independent
Funny Car Association. Last year 34 active teams competed in at least one event
in the 2007 season. Looking forward to the 2008 Season, CIFCA currently has
added 3 new active teams while only losing 7th place points finisher
Chris Bennett who is moving up to Nostalgia Funny Car. In addition to the new
teams, some of the returning teams to CIFCA have made significant changes for
2008.

Monday notes from post CSK Nationals testing at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. 

AH LEAH! AGAIN -
Less than 24 hours after Jack Beckman’s Sunday Funny Car triumph in the
Checkers Schuck’s Kragen Nationals, the Valvoline/Mail Terminal
Services Dodge he drove to victory was sitting in the staging lanes at
Firebird Raceway.  But ‘Fast Jack’ wasn’t in the driver’s seat.

Hey, it’s the NHRA “Monday Nationals”, the traditional test day
following a national event, and team owner Don Schumacher was
fulfilling a commitment made to 19-year-old Leah Pruett-LeDuc, an
aspiring Funny Car driver.  Pruett-LeDuc, married just a week, is from
Cherry Valley, Calif., and while her last name is new, her driving
ambition has been with her for 11 years. 

Not many drivers leave a Sharpie pen sitting on the rear deck of the race car and encourage race fans to

Roger Richards Photo

sign their autographs. But then again, Billy Glidden is not your average driver.

“It's just appreciation from us,” said Glidden. “We started doing it 2
years ago with the black car [his Outlaw 10.5-inch tire car] in
Chicago.  With that car we always gave people the option of if we did
well they could come and take pictures with us at the end of the race. 
Most of the time we're just hoping that we can qualify.”

The new tower at Gainesville Raceway is
mostly complete, fitted with glass and adorned with sculptures of the
famed Gatornationals mascot and the NHRA logo. The ACDelco NHRA
Gatornationals, the traditional East Coast opener and the season's
first of 17 events for Pro Stock Motorcycle riders, is schueled for
March 13-16.

Jim Head is as old school as Funny car drivers come but even he can’t help but notice the power of

Roger Richards Photo

today’s primary news medium – the Internet.

Two weeks ago, Head pleaded with Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com to help
him get the word out that he’s ready to step aside and let someone have
his spot in the cockpit. He proudly proclaims some serious inquiries.

“They are all serious when they call,” Head said. “I had the word out
there, but we didn’t get as many calls as we did when the word got out
there. Now, it rings quite a bit. I don’t have a check, but the
prospects are very strong.”

Don Ness prefers a low profile when he’s making his way through the race track. He prefers to let the cars he has in competition get all the accolades

Ness has a lot going on in his shop, probably too much to be at the track, but he’s intent that customer relations and the interaction holds a high degree of importance. He’s got a couple of key projects on the jig such as a second Outlaw 10.5-inch tire car for Johnny Gray and a new Pro Stocker for Larry Morgan. In fact, he’s building six cars simultaneously.

The fast-pace of today’s Pro Stock world still impresses him after all these years. He comes to the races to keep up on the rapid progression of the class within the trenches.

NHRA has announced that O’Reilly Auto Parts has
agreed to a multiyear extension to be the title-rights sponsor of the
O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka through 2010.
O’Reilly Auto Parts has maintained the title-rights sponsorship of the
event since 2002.

"O’Reilly Auto Parts is extremely excited to have the
opportunity to continue our long-term association with NHRA and
Heartland Park Topeka," said Doug Ruble, vice president of marketing
and advertising for O’Reilly Auto Parts. "Our relationship with NHRA
has grown significantly over the years, and we welcome the opportunity
to continue this great relationship and enable our customers to the
amazing experience and excitement of NHRA POWERade Drag Racing."

Few would argue O’Reilly Auto Parts’ deep commitment
to NHRA. In addition to the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals, the
auto-parts giant maintains title-rights sponsorship of five NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing series events, in Houston, St. Louis, Bristol,
Memphis, and Dallas. Recently, O’Reilly Auto Parts signed a long-term
naming rights deal to historic O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis,
home to the largest drag racing event in the world, the Mac Tools U.S.
Nationals. O’Reilly also is the series sponsor of the successful
O’Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League, an NHRA series for youths
ages 8 to 17.

Tommy Delago knew there was going to be a period of transition when he
accepted the role as new crew chief for the Jack Beckman MTS Funny Car
team.

“It's definitely different,” admitted Delago, who tuned for Bob
Gilbertson last year. “I've been on big teams before but nothing I
guess this nice and this organized with a really good structure.  It's
a good opportunity to learn.”

Delago is quickly discovering the upside to having five other
nitro-burning teammates. Assistance is not far away if he needs it.

A
drought ended in the Arizona desert and not one drop of rain fell. The
drought we speak of was the one that has plagued Larry Dixon for 13
years at Firebird International Raceway.

“There are places that I've been racing longer and still haven't gotten
a win,” admitted Dixon. “I always enjoy coming here - especially with
Charlie Allen running the track.”

The mere mention of Allen’s name is enough to carry Dixon on a journey
down memory lane to his childhood when he accompanied his father, Larry
Dixon, Sr., a former Top Fuel driver to the racetrack.