The sportsman national concept was developed to give sportsman
racers the chance to chase national championships in a way that is
easier on the wallet. Four racers were able to take full advantage at
IHRA’s season opening weekend at Immokalee Regional Raceway.

Drivers
had three chances to win at the weekend event, two Division 2 Summit
Pro-Am events were held Friday and Saturday before Sunday’s Sportsman
National. Peter Biondo, Tony Gray, Steve Corker and Scott Richardson
each visited the Winner’s Circle twice, Biondo in Stock, Gray in Super
Rod, Corker in Top Sportsman and Richardson in Top Dragster. Richardson
also won the Super Stock Ironman Sunday while Corker won the Quick Rod
class Friday.

“It was a bonus just doing anything good down
here,” NHRA heavy hitter Peter Biondo, a New Yorker who headed to
Immokalee to give IHRA shot, said of Immokalee. “Just to get out of
that cold weather up in New York was worth it. Needless to say I had a
blast racing with IHRA. It was a great atmosphere, the officials were
extremely nice and it was action-packed from Thursday morning to Sunday
night. After I beat Anthony Bertozzi in the third round they even
brought me some ice cream as a bonus for beating the World Champion.”

Some like him, some love him - many fear him. Brett Stevens is bringing a
serious commitment to the upcoming Summernationals at Western Sydney
International Dragway NEXT weekend (15th-16th February) with a racing outfit of
7 Group One vehicles!

Currently the Brett Stevens Racing 'super team'
amazingly leads 3 out of the 4 professional Drag Racing brackets they compete in
with Stevens himself heading Top Alcohol in his Kitten Car Care Products Funny
Car, Troy Mclean showing the way in Top Bike on his Jack Daniel's Racing Nitro
Harley, and Pete Cochrane on top of the Pro Stock Bike ladder with the S&S
Powered Buell.

With only the teams Top Doorslammers missing from the
leader board, a rigorous 3 day testing schedule for the cars was planned around
a busy calendar of exhibition events in the lead up to the
Summernationals.

However unusually wet weather has hampered the
preparations for the Queensland based team with their testing being reduced to
just one full day on the track.

The NHRA is desperately trying to find a happy medium in track prep between the nitro burning cars and the Pro Stockers.

The wicker, which it the name given the ledge on the end of the
spoiler, has been the focus of change for this season. Instead of the
3/8th inch requirement in 2007, the size has been increased to 5/8th.

Some drivers, particularly those under the GM banner, are finding this
change to be an unnecessary adjustment while a number of the Mopar
teams have noticed no difference in the manner in which their cars
handle in the second-half of the drag strip.

The following are the pre-entries received for the 8th annual CSR Eastern Spring Test Nationals presented by Torco's CompetitionPlus.com hosted by South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Ga. 

Kalbones Racing Inc. is more excited than ever about the year that
lies ahead of them.  While many new things are happening for the team’s
primary sponsor Kalbones Grill’n Sauce, the new additions for the IHRA
Alcohol Funny Car team don’t stop there.

After a fantastic debut
with driver Laurie Cannister and tuner Dale Cannister during the last
two races of the IHRA 2007 season, crew chief Mike Couch knew that
there was one last ingredient missing from the special recipe he was
brewing up for a run at the IHRA championship in 2008.

“Let’s
face it, we are dead serious about what we do.  We can do great on the
track but we really need to work on helping our sponsors.” explained
Couch. “Bottom line is that we need for our Kalbones Grill’n Sauce team
to be as professional as possible. We knew we needed to get some help
and that’s when Laurie mentioned Kathy Fisher.” 

NHRA has announced that the Youth
& Education Services (Y.E.S) program presented by the U.S. Army is
adding these program partners for 2008: the University of Northwestern Ohio, Valvoline, and Caterpillar (CAT).

Created in 1989 as a tool to connect education and drag
racing, the Y.E.S program is a one day event held at 15 POWERade Series
races. It is motorsports' first and only full-time program devoted
exclusively to educational programming. The Y.E.S. program demonstrates
to young men and women the variety of career opportunities within
motorsports, the U.S. Army and the automotive industry.

Drag racing fans who had visions of a mono-strut dragster reigning
supreme in Top Fuel might want to chalk those thoughts up to fantasy.
At least that’s how it looks for now.

Rob Flynn, crew chief for Rod Fuller, the driver who tested the
mono-strut, said that project has been put on hold until further wind
testing and certain safety aspects can be improved on.

“We need some wind tunnel testing to secure up some areas that we’re a little uncomfortable with,” Flynn said.

What is Tony Schumacher’s secret for winning a national event?

“Most of the days when we wake up and race a tough car, it builds
momentum for the day,” Schumacher said. “You qualify No. 1 and get a
No. 16 car, you tend to back it down a bit and that always comes back
to bite you.

“[Crew chief] Alan Johnson got up this morning and knew what he had to
do. We are a long way from that 90%, but we are working towards it.
We’re getting it figured out and the car is performing so consistently.
Then you get an opponent like Doug Kalitta, and when you win those
kinds of races, they shine up real nice.”

Driving a Top Fuel dragster is still a blur for Hillary Will, even
as she enters her third season. At Pomona, things got real blurry for
the former Top Alcohol Dragster standout. 

In a qualifying run Saturday, Will became the fastest female driver in the
history of NHRA drag racing with the fifth fastest (tie) lap down the
quarter-mile for any gender with an amazing speed of 334.65 mph. The booming
speed was also the fastest of the event at the Winternationals.

Reigning Australian Supercharged Outlaws Drag Racing
Champion Daniel Reed from Queensland’s Reed Racing team will be making
one last appearance in his Title winning Altered before it is taken by its new
owner after this weekend's (15th–16th February)
Summernationals at the Western Sydney International
Dragway.

Wearing his number 1 plate for the first time this
season, Daniel has had to sit out the year due to a busy work schedule as an
engine builder for the highly successful V8 Supercar team Triple 8
Racing.

However he was quick to accept the offer of making a
one off appearance in the bracket he won last year to assist with the transition
over to the cars new owner.

Although not vying for back to back Championships,
Daniel still has as much hunger as ever behind the wheel and is hoping to give
the car a fairytale farewell victory.