Priorities are a vital concept in life and NHRA POWERade Funny Car driver Mike Ashley isn’t afraid to keep his in check.

In the midst of tight Countdown to the Championship battle and coming
off of a disappointing DNQ in Memphis, the Torco Race Fuels-sponsored
Ashley has chosen to stick to his principles this weekend.

Ashley will not race on Saturday in observance of the Jewish holiday
Yom Kippur. He will spend Saturday in prayer at a local Temple.

"Racing is not the only thing in life, and definitely not the most
important in the big picture. I take what I do on the racetrack very
seriously, but I take life even more seriously." Ashley said.

Ashley said maintaining his priorities are what make him the person he is today.
 
"I have to live what I say I believe, and for me, my faith in God and
being an example and leader in my family takes priority,” said Ashley.
“I know Evan [Knoll, owner of Torco Racing Fuels and Ashley's title
sponsor] and my other sponsors understand, the team is with me, and I'm
confident we'll perform well so it won't be an issue," he said.

Pro Modified has made a transformation of monstrous proportions since
1990s inaugural season. A class built on the competitive mix of two
diametrically opposite combinations and bearing the moniker of “run
whatcha brung and hope you brung enough,” today’s Pro Modified clearly
dictates that having nitrous in your doorslammer just isn’t enough to
run with the two major sanctioning bodies.

Many of today’s leading nitrous racers have proclaimed that for years
and while many dismissed those claims as lobbying for a rule change, it
has become clearly evident the disadvantage has been enough to keep
them away in droves.

Many nitrous racers allege the IHRA has turned a deaf ear to their
pleas and because of that they refuse to participate in what they
clearly define as an un-level playing field. Others decline to even
comment on the NHRA AMS situation.

During the 2007 season, the IHRA has rarely attracted over five nitrous
entries per event. That’s a dramatic turnaround considering that in the
first Pro Modified national event back in 1990, fifteen nitrous cars
qualified.

The nitrous cars are still in existence, but many are flocking to the
American Drag Racing League because of their willingness to split the
Pro Modified class into two entities – nitrous and supercharged.

Rockingham Dragway owner Steve Earwood announced Thursday a new five-year
contract extension that will keep the All-Harley Drag Racing Association’s
popular Screamin’ Eagle Eastern Finals at The Rock at least through the 2011
season.

 This year’s 16th
annual event, featuring the quickest and fastest Harley-Davidson motorcycles on
the planet including the 224 mile-an-hour Top Fuel Harleys, is scheduled Oct.
13-14.

 “The AHDRA Finals
always has been one of our favorite events,” Earwood said.  “(AHDRA General
Manager) Craig Tharpe and his people put on a great show and we’re pleased to be
able to guarantee our fans the best Harley show in America for at
least five more years.”

Our friends at Ford Motorsports are conducting a trivia contest this weekend and participants will have the chance to win a $100 Visa gift
card.

Five-time NHRA Top Fuel winner Rod Fuller will pilot the yellow-and-black HOLT
CAT dragster during the 22nd annual O’Reilly Fall Nationals. David Powers
Motorsports and San Antonio-based HOLT CAT have partnered for the Dallas event, Sept. 20-23,
at Texas Motorplex, it was announced today. This is the eighth time that David
Powers Motorsports and a Caterpillar dealer group have joined to back Fuller’s
car this season.

The
relationship between David Powers Motorsports and the CAT dealer groups is a
program to increase technician recruiting. Caterpillar dealers are experiencing
a shortage of technicians and NHRA drag racing offers a technician-rich
recruiting environment to find qualified candidates with experienced mechanical
backgrounds. HOLT CAT is the largest Caterpillar dealer in the nation and
operates 22 locations throughout Texas from the
Red River to the Rio
Grande.

“I’m excited to have HOLT CAT on the car at Dallas,” Fuller said. “We
seem to get to at least the semis when we have a CAT dealer on our dragster and
that’s definitely the goal this weekend. We’ve been to the semis and finals at
the Motorplex the last two years, so now it’s time for us to get into the
winner’s circle. It’s going to be warm and our Caterpillar dragster runs well in
the heat, so we’re excited to get the points lead back and lock in a spot in the
Countdown.”

George Howard of George Howard Racing announced today that he has completed
the sale of New Bama Dragway in Sumiton, West of Birmingham.  Howard said that,
as of October 1, the track will be owned by Bernie and Anne Longjohn of Los
Angeles, California.  Howard had owned the facility since 1998.

The Good Book instructs parents to raise their children in the right way and when they are old, they will not depart. Eli and Bonnie Patrick instilled solid and positive values in their son Robert – honesty and IHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock racing.

Those are two traits the second-generation Patrick proudly says he holds dear to his heart. The Fredericksburg, Va.-based driver has been on the fast track to success since entering the fast doorslammer ranks in the early 1990s.

“Where I lived the mountain motor cars were king,” Patrick said. “Growing up as a kid there were a lot of old tracks within an hour where the promoters booked in those cars. Whenever those cars came to town, because my dad had a dealership, they would display their cars at the shop. I was a starry-eyed kid. I never wanted to do anything but run like they ran. They had an impact on me. My dream was to be one of them.”

Patrick said that he dreamed one day of driving one of those IHRA Pro Stockers and his inspiration came from watching legends such as Lee Edwards, Rickie Smith, Roy Hill and Ronnie Sox.

While the NHRA event broadcasts were syndicated throughout the country,
the IHRA was on to a new deal with the Mizlou Network and then ESPN.
This one is worth watching if you prefer names like Don Prudhomme,
Raymond Beadle, Al Segrini, Connie Kalitta, Richard Tharp and Mark
Oswald.