After a whirlwind month of personnel changes in the Pro Stock
Motorcycle division, Angelle Sampey will fill the position recently
vacated by Peggy Lewellyn when team owners Karl and Kim Klement
announced they would not renew her contract in 2008. The three-time
NHRA POWERade champ Sampey will pilot their Rush Racing Products Buell
in 2008.
 
Klement Racing
signed major sponsor Rush just in time for the 2007 Countdown to the
Championship. The addition was almost in unison with the U.S. Army's
decision to abandon their Pro Stock Motorcycle marketing effort.

The timing was perfect for Rush president Lou Pringle. 

I never thought the Army would give us
such a golden opportunity." lsaid Pringle. "Given Angelle's popularity, she's
a perfect marketing tool for our products. We're very excited."
 

After three days of solid "story-telling," the readers of Torco's
CompetitionPlus.com are casting their votes for the best war stories in
the inaugural WAR STORIES Showdown presented by Mach Series
Accelerator. Later today, we will present the final two pair of the
first round. Some of these veterans are coming to the first round
loaded for bear.

The competition began on Monday and today at 5
PM, voting will end for the first two pairs of competitors. If you
haven't voted yet go to WAR STORIES Showdown . This page will have a rundown of all the match-ups, as well as links to the respective pages.

So far, here are the unofficial results -

POWERade Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. isn't wasting any time to return to
racing in 2008 as the 51-time national event winner was chosen to be a part of
Team NHRA at the third annual Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge, Jan. 3-5, in Lake
Placid, N.Y. Coughlin and four fellow drag racers will take on Team NASCAR in
the fundraising event, which raises money for the United States Olympic
Bobsledding Team.

"I'm as excited as a kid on that
first day of snow," said Coughlin, who lives in Delaware, Ohio. "I've done my fair share of sledding
over the years, even recently with my son Jeggie III, but this is a considerable
step up in equipment."

Coughlin was asked to participate by
defending event runner-up Morgan Lucas, a Top Fuel driver on the POWERade Drag
Racing Series. Sponsored in part my Lucas Oil, the Bodine Bobsled Challenge
supports Bo-Dyn Bobsleds, which has designed and built American-made bobsleds
for the U.S. Olympic Bobsled team since 1992.

If you're a fan of the classic drags, check out this 1971 footage we
found on YouTube.com from Broadway Bob Metzler's Great Lakes Dragway.
There are the heavy-hitters from back in the day including Don Garlits,
Tom McEwen, Tommy Ivo and Dick LaHaie just to name a few. 

Also, within this seven minute video, there's a great complilation of wheelstander drag races that includes one serious crash.

“Ohio Crankshaft No Box Nationals” has now become the official name of
the big money no box race in Kokomo, Indiana that is scheduled to take
place May 3rd and 4th 2008.

The agreement between Ohio Crankshaft and Triple O Promotions became
official at the beginning of December.  Scott Ray, from Ohio
Crankshaft, said, “We are happy to show our support for the grass roots
racers.”  Both companies are very excited to have the opportunity to
support such a great race.

For the next three weeks, Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com will conduct its inaugural War Stories Showdown presented by Mach Series Accelerator. The veterans of yarn spinning are paired for what promises to be a series destined to produce the finest behind-the-scenes stories.

It will be tough to top the season that GM-backed racers had on the NHRA
POWERade tour this past year, but 2008 will see several teams set on defending
their crowns and others looking to get back on top.  With Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Tony Pedregon
leading the way for Team Chevy in Pro Stock and Funny Car, respectively,
Chevrolet won the 2007 NHRA Manufacturers Cup for the 16th time in
2007, the most of any automobile manufacturer. 
Multiple victories at NHRA divisional and national races by Chevrolet’s
strong contingent of sportsman racers played a key role in a GM nameplate
earning the prestigious Manufacturers Cup for the 25th consecutive
year.

Coughlin
returned to a full season of competition in Pro Stock after nearly a year away,
but the 2000 and 2002 class champ performed like he never left and put on a
late-season surge in the inaugural Countdown to the Championship points format
to add a third jewel to his crown with the 2007 NHRA POWERade Pro Stock
title.  He joins a select group in Bob
Glidden, Warren Johnson, Lee Shepherd, Greg Anderson and Darrell Alderman as the
only Pro Stock drivers in the history of the sport to win three or more
titles.

This was
the first championship for team owner Victor Cagnazzi, and he returns a
formidable one-two punch in 2008 with Coughlin and teammate Dave Connolly in
their yellow-hued Chevy Cobalts.

Former Funny Car racer Ray "R.C."
Sherman, who piloted a long line of entries including the Black Magic
and Raybestos machines, died Dec. 18 of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease). He was 64.

He is survived by his wife Ginger and mother Alise.

Six-time NHRA Champion tells Speedfreaks.tv why he stepped away from driving again …

Kenny Bernstein said it was a personal thought process that inspired
him to step away from driving his Monster Energy drink Funny Car and
subsequently hiring veteran Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson, Jr.

That’s what the six-time NHRA POWERade World Champion told the
Speedfreaks in a recent interview. The full interview can be heard on
the Speedfreaks.tv website. Click HERE to listen to the full interview.

Even though Bernstein adamantly states in the interview that his
decision is not a retirement, he does add that the facts are the facts.

“We eliminated the word from our press release - retirement,” Bernstein
said. “We knew no one would believe it any way. I do feel that way this
minute and I don’t think that will change. There’s a big difference in
that feeling this time and that it has never been there before. There’s
that feeling and I’m going to be real frank about it, it’s kind of hard
to say it, but it’s the facts of life.