Jack
Beckman kicked off a busy week of preparation for the NHRA POWERade
Drag Racing Series season-opening CARQUEST NHRA Winternationals by
volunteering to speak to hundreds of school children at the Etiwanda
Elementary School, on Monday on the importance of education.
 
Beckman, driver of the Valvoline/MTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car for
Don Schumacher Racing, divided his time between a group of first-
through third-graders and fourth- and fifth-graders, signing autographs
and posing with them for photos afterward.
 

SCHUMACHER, KALITTA AND ANDERSON LEAD QUALIFYING AT CARQUEST AUTO PARTS NHRA WINTERNATIONALS

Tony Schumacher picked up where he left off last season by clocking the quickest run of the day

Defending Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher raced to the qualifying
lead Thursday at the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals at
historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Scott Kalitta and Greg Anderson also were qualifying leaders in their
respective categories at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event,
the first of 24 races in the 2008 season.

Schumacher picked up where he left off last season by clocking the
quickest run of the day in his class -- a 4.513 second effort at 331.53
mph in his U.S. Army dragster.

Jerry Toliver remembers his 2004 Pomona victory as if it were yesterday.

He’s won Pomona thrice, twice at the Winternationals and once at the
World Finals. However, the 2004 conquest was special. After spending
nearly 20 months procuring a sponsor, Toliver drove Schick Razors to
victory in their maiden outing.

Toliver, the nephew of Funny Car legends Art and Jack Chrisman, beat
the likes of the rookie Eric Medlen, Cory Lee, Del Worsham and Gary
Densham for the victory.

Pomona should be interesting for the BME Engineering Team

“I will comply.”

That’s the answer Top Fuel team owner Bill Miller begrudgingly
delivered when asked if his new Top Fuel chassis will adhere to the SFI
spec enforced by the NHRA when time comes for NHRA Winternationals tech
inspection in Pomona, Ca.

What did Miller have to do to bring the chassis to SFI spec?

“We had to – from a distance of three inches back of the rear driver’s
support upright, saw the tube in half,” Miller explained. “As far as I
am concerned destroy the reliability of the car at that point. We had
to insert a tube that was machined down to slip inside the
inch-and-a-half .095 – six inches long is the tube – so you would stick
three inches in the forward tube and three inches in the rear tube.
Then you’d weld it 360-degrees in a circle then mark each end to show
the inspector where the tube stops.”

The Pro Modified Racing Association is pleased to announce Torco Racing
Fuels Ontario as the presenting primary sponsor and official fuel of
the PMRA drag racing series.
 
Now in its fourth year of operation, the Pro Modified series will be
known as “The PMRA Presented by Torco Racing Fuels Ontario.”
 
“This is terrific,” stated PMRA Director of Operations Bruce F.
Mehlenbacher. “It is an honor and pleasure to be associated with one of
the most prominent names in drag racing today. Torco has done much in
supporting the sport, and its involvement with us will take the PMRA to
a new level.”

BrandSource, the nation’s leading retailer of appliances, electronics,
furniture, and floor covering has added Whirlpool to its popular ‘Win
With Force’ drag racing promotion, and is also introducing the
BrandSource/Ford Racing Sweepstakes. What began in the fall of 2006 as
another opportunity for race fans attending the NHRA national event in
Dallas to get autographs from John Force Racing drivers and enter for a
chance to win a Mitsubishi TV has grown tremendously.

During the 2007 NHRA season, BrandSource and Mitsubishi expanded the
Win With Force promotion to thirteen NHRA national events, with a 65”
Mitsubishi TV being given away to a lucky race fan if a member of John
Force Racing won the event. Multiple time 2007 Funny Car race winner,
John Force, congratulated several BrandSource/Mitsubishi prize winners
in victory circle last season, as did teammate, Robert Hight, at the
season ending Auto Club of Southern California nationals last November.

This season fans will have even more reasons to cheer on John Force and
his Funny Car teammates; Ashley Force, Robert Hight, and Mike Neff, as
well as Alcohol Dragster competitors Brittany and Courtney Force since
Mitsubishi has returned with their TV prize, and Whirlpool, has joined
in to strengthen the promotion. Whirlpool will give away a Washer &
Dryer set if one
of the John Force Racing team cars ends up Qualified #1 for the overall
event. At sixteen selected events this season, the Whirlpool prize will
be announced at the end of the day on Saturday qualifying, then fans
will have to sit back on Sunday and watch the races unfold to see if a
member of the John Force Racing team wins in order for the Mitsubishi
TV to be given
away.

'Vis Viva' Living Force Energy drink sponsors Tuttle Motorsports and
Top Fuel driver Alan Bradshaw for the 2008 NHRA POWERade season. Vis
Viva is the flagship brand of functional drinks from the Attitude Drink
Company, Inc. located in North Palm Beach, Florida.

"We are very excited about our partnership with Tuttle Motorsports and
can’t wait to see 'Team Vis Viva' debut this weekend in Pomona," said
Attitude Drink Company, Inc. Senior Vice President of Marketing, Dan
Pikarsky. "Vis Viva is a healthful energy drink that gives you an
experience unlike anything else, and you can say the same thing about
the experience at an NHRA drag race. We chose Top Fuel because they are
the quickest and fastest cars in the professional classes. They are the
'Kings of the Sport' and that’s where we want to be."

After a very stressful and eventful month, the Champ, Matt
Smith, has finally landed a sponsor.  The
2007 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock Motorcycle Champion has been on pins and needles
for the last few weeks, wondering if he would be able to defend his title in
2008.  With the help of Kenny Korestsky’s
company, Nitrofish, Smith can now relive his dream.

“I am so relieved,” Smith said.  “You have no idea how excited I am to be back
racing.  At this point last week, all I
was going to race were the first few races, and now I am fully backed and can
go out there and try and win this thing again. 
Kenny [Korestky] is amazing.  Just
when I was about to give up, he came to my rescue.  This should be a very interesting year, and
hopefully, we can put on another great show for all the NHRA fans.”

It's almost completed, but what that means is if you have a nickel tour
of the Gainesville Raceway's huge new tower, you need to wear a hard
hat and be careful where you step inside.
   
And oh yeah, the elevator hasn't been installed yet, so for all three
floors, my guide, Executive General Manager Don Robertson, and myself
had to hoof it up those nearly 50 feet to top level of the $2 million
plus edifice.
   
Three stories?
   
Yeah, right.
   
First story of the new building, which will be dedicated before the Pro
runs at Friday's upcoming ACDelco Gatornationals, is given over to
track offices. Yeah, there are no luxury suites in the new tower, just
those rooms to house persons responsible for the conduct of races and
everyday business.