Several months ago Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com was vilified by some for
reporting that the stock price of Bravo! Brands, the parent company of
Slammers milk products, was rapidly declining.  
Slammers was the primary
sponsor of Dave Connolly’s Pro Stock Chevrolet, and an associate sponsor of
Jeg Coughlin Jr’s car at the time. Shortly after our story appeared the
names disappeared from the flanks of those cars.  

Dave Gallegos, 39, of Saint Mary’s, Kansas,
acquired his IHRA Top Fuel competition license last Sunday at Milan, Michigan
behind the wheel of Mitch King’s La King’s Confectionery machine.  The former bracket racer competed for years
and before becoming a nitro crew member back in 2005.

Gallegos made some runs earlier this year in King’s “Bone
Bucket” AA/Fuel Altered during competition with the Outlaw Fuel Altered
Association. His licensing enables him to achieve a personal goal of obtaining
his IHRA Top Fuel license. 

Pat
Musi may be as far from IHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock as he can be in today’s
world, but if you ask him about his days driving one, you’ll find it is as close
to his heart as a drag racing category can
be.

Musi ran in the formative days of the format and finished runner-up twice
for the championship. In his four full-time seasons, he finished no lower than
seventh in the point standings.

“I had always read
about Ronnie Sox, Don Nicholson and Bill Jenkins and I got to race against
them,” Musi said. “That’s one thing I was always grateful for this whole deal, I
got to race them. They were tough and I was a young pup. I don’t think those
days will ever return again. It was a neat time for me.”

Musi amassed a record
of nine final rounds with three victories. One of his finer moments was
qualifying for the very first mountain motor event.

The inaugural Eric Medlen Forever Charity Golf Tournament is a sell-out
with 148 professional drivers and NHRA fans prepared to pay tribute to
the ever popular Funny Car driver, who died earlier this year after a
testing accident in Gainesville, Fla. Spectators are still welcome at
the Mountain Meadows Golf Course (across from the finish line of Pomona
Raceway). There are a few sponsorships available. Proceeds from the
event will go to DRAW and Metro Ministries, John Medlen's favorite
charity. Contact Rosalee Noble at rnoble@consolidated.net for more
information.

BARKLAGE CONQUERS THUNDER VALLEY TO MOVE TOWARDS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Cody
Barklage of Eldon, Missouri had it when it counted and made it through
three
tough rounds of racing to win the Aeromotive Nitro Coupe Challenge
during the
O'Reilly Super Chevy Show presented by JEGS at Bristol Dragway,
known as
Thunder Valley.

Cody took out Kernersville, NC racer Doug Winters in the
finals.  Winters
did Cody a favor in the semis when he defeated Tony
"Sandman" Williams of
Millington, Tennessee.  Williams is Cody's closest
rival in the championship
chase, followed by Cody's brother Zach Barklage,
who was the event's top
qualifier with a blistering 6.156 at 225.67 miles per
hour. Cody's 6.300 was
the second-fastest qualifying time and he also turned
in the fastest
Aeromotive Nitro Coupe pass with a run of 229.39 mph in the
semis.

Kenny Bernstein and the Monster Energy/Lucas Oil team are picking up
the pieces, literally, and putting together another chassis and Dodge
Charger Funny Car body for competition at the Torco Racing Fuels
Nationals, Oct. 5-7.

Legendary drivers Bernstein and John Force collided in second round
competition in Dallas, Texas.  News of the accident jammed cyberspace
for hours as fans and friends searched for information.  The accident
happened when Force’s car began to break apart and became
unmanageable.  Bernstein climbed out of his chassis without injury,
while Force was airlifted to a Dallas hospital and underwent a surgical
procedure to repair ankle, hand, wrist, and knee injuries.

“John is a good friend and we’re happy to know he is making good
progress,” said Bernstein. “We know it’s going to be a painful
recuperative process, but John is strong and determined. 

“When drivers go through an accident like this, the best thing from my
point of view is to get back in the saddle and ride the horse.  I will
be fortunate enough to be able to do that at Richmond.

“The saving grace for John is that he doesn’t remember much of the run
at all, so the vision won’t keep looping through his brain.  I remember
everything that happened, but I never want to review video footage or
photos from something like this.  I leave the review process to Jimmy
(Walsh, crew chief).  So I’m mentally prepared to get on with
qualifying.

Peggy Llewellyn admitted that Sunday in Dallas was a usual race day for her when she
started. It’s been said, it’s not how you start the race but how you
finish that counts.

Llewellyn entered the first round as a championship hopeful. She ended as a contender.

Llewellyn validated her first final round appearance with a victory.
Her success today qualified her for the Countdown to One phase of the
playoffs.

“I just started off the day the same as always,” Llewellyn said.
“George [Bryce] always came over to me and telling me to work on my
process. He always tells me to do what I can do in my lane. That’s been
it.”

“Even when I’d go to the semi-finals and do stuff here and there like
not shift the bike … and I remained calm. You try not to be nervous. I
know what it is like to go up there trying not to lose sight. You don’t
rounds when you do that. I’m working on that.”

Max Naylor has performed incredible since changing his Dodge Stratus
over to Hoosier Tires. Reportedly, at least six more drivers are said
to be testing them out.

Ron Krisher said things got pretty tough earlier in the season and had
him questioning his direction. He made a change over to an engine lease
program with Victor Cagnazzi and life has been great.

The only problem for Krisher is that he’s lacking for experience when the conditions are very good.

“We have a lot of confidence in what we’re doing now,” Krisher said.
“The thing is we know what to do with the Cagnazzi engines until we get
in the good air. We don’t have any runs in these kinds of conditions to
mix gear ratios with motor power and we suffer with that.”

NHRA.com senior editor Rob Geiger presented Whit Bazemore an
autographed copy of his new book on Darrell Russell. How did Bazemore
show his gratitude?

Bazemore said he gave it away. But, it was to a good cause.

“It was a personal dedication to me and I wanted to autograph it and
donate to D.R.A.W.,” Bazemore said. “When I found out how much money it
made for them, it just made my day that someone would be so generous
and support D.R.A.W. in that way. It shows you what the racing
community is made of.”