ASHLEY, HERBERT, ANDERSON AND SAMPEY CLAIM NO. 1 QUALIFYING POSITIONS AT FRAM-AUTOLITE NHRA NATIONALS

Currently third in the POWERade points, Funny Car
racer Mike Ashley took a big step towards securing one of the seven
remaining spots in the Countdown to the Championship field with a top
qualifying performance Saturday at the 20th annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA
Nationals.

Ashley (4.743) and Top Fuel leader Doug Herbert (4.556) both used
their Friday night passes to wrap up their No. 1 spots at Infineon
Raceway, while Pro Stock front man Greg Anderson needed to improve to a
6.605 to stay on top. Angelle Sampey shocked the Pro Stock Motorcycle
class with her final-round run of 6.924, which came in the heat of the
day. Final eliminations begin Sunday at noon (PT) with three-hours of
television coverage provided by ESPN2 at 8 p.m. (ET).

This is Ashley's fourth No. 1 qualifying effort of the season and
fourth of his career. His Friday night run of 4.743 at 326.79 mph in
his Torco Race Fuels Dodge Charger was completely unchallenged Saturday
with the quickest run of the day John Force's 4.870 in his Castrol
High-Mileage Ford Mustang.

John Force confirmed in a statement issued on Saturday what Torco's
CompetitionPlus.com and other Internet entities has reported for days
and that is that Mike “Zippy” Neff, crew chief to 2005 NHRA
Funny Car Champion Gary Scelzi, will drive a fourth John Force Racing
Ford
Mustang next season in pursuit of the 2008 POWERade Funny Car
championship.

Don Schumacher first announced the defection in an interview with Torco's CompetitionPlus.com on Wednesday. 

 “We didn’t plan to say anything because (Neff)
and Scelzi are still racing for a title (this year), just like us,” Force said,
“But Don Schumacher (who owns the Neff-tuned Oakley Dodge) kind of announced it
to the world.

 “Our game plan was to wait until after the
season (to make an announcement) so there wouldn’t be any distractions,” Force
said, “because he has a job to do for Scelzi and Schumacher, just like I have a
job to do for my team and my sponsors. 
Bottom line, Mike Neff will drive my fourth car next year and John
Medlen will be the crew chief.”

Force
then briefly outlined the chronology of the negotiations that landed Neff a
ride in one of the most powerful race cars on the planet.

HERBERT, ASHLEY, ANDERSON AND HINES LEAD QUALIFYING AT FRAM-AUTOLITE NHRA NATIONALS

Doug Herbert raced to the qualifying lead Friday in Top Fuel at the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals.

Mike Ashley, Greg Anderson, and Andrew Hines also were qualifying leaders in their respective categories at Infineon Raceway.

Herbert posted a leading performance of 4.556 seconds at 315.15 mph
in his Snap-on Tools dragster to earn the top spot, however 10 Top Fuel
racers didn't get to run in the second session after a lengthy oil
clean-up forced NHRA officials to stop racing at the mandatory 10 p.m.
track curfew. Herbert will try to hold the position through Saturday's
action to see if he can claim his first low qualifier award in almost
two years.

"We obviously got a lucky break but luck is like a bank and it seems
like we've made a lot of deposits this year so we'll take it," Herbert
said. "It was a good run and maybe it would have been good enough any
way. Probably someone would have passed us but we'll never know now."

POWERade points leader "Hot Rod" Fuller made two runs but still
hasn't been down the track under power as of yet and is outside the
field in 18th place.

KB Racing LLC, Kalitta Motorsports, and GumRunner LLC, makers of Jolt
Energy Gum, today jointly announced from Infineon Raceway a marketing
partnership with Jolt Energy Gum as an associate sponsor on the Hillary
Will Top Fuel dragster.

GumRunners LLC, headquartered in Hackensack N.J., is the innovation of
former Colgate-Palmolive executives Kevin Gass and T. Molloy, who left
their respective positions to found the company that would become “the
world’s most useful gum company.”

Jolt Energy Gum, whose fitting slogan says “Chew More. Do More.”
contains caffeine, plus Guarana and Ginseng to give you more energy. 
Jolt Energy Gum is as safe as coffee (and arguable even safer).  The
caffeine is exactly the same molecule as in coffee.

Mike
“Zippy” Neff figured he’d better accept a driving offer from John Force Racing
because opportunities like that only come once in a lifetime. The current Don
Schumacher Racing crew chief had earlier mentioned to his employer that he had
an interest in filling the opening left in 2008 by the non-retiring,
sabbatical-invoking Gary Scelzi.

Schumacher
admitted in an interview with Torco’s ComptitionPlus.com that he didn’t know if
he could fill the vacancy with a driver who had no nitro experience, much less
alcohol racing credentials.

John
Force took that chance and made the offer. The crew chief, who answers to the
nickname of Zippy, accepted. Force committed to doing what it took to bring
Neff into the JFR fold.

Neff
now has his lifetime opportunity.

“It wasn’t like I always
thought about being a driver,” said Neff, who tuned Gary Scelzi to the 2005
Funny Car title. “I had an interest in driving and making some runs. When I was
offered the deal from John Force Racing, it interested me. It was an exciting
thing. It was hard for me to leave Don Schumacher Racing because it was such a
good place to work. I’ve always been happy and I have had no complaints. I
really like all of the people I work with and Don has always been really good
to me.

Torco's CompetitionPlus.com obtained this cell phone photo of the
remnants of Jerry Toliver's ROCKSTAR Toyota. As you can see the Toyota
Solara body was slightly modified.

If you're wondering what the latest surge at Cagnazzi Racing is, try cleaner parts in the engine. 

Ultrasonic Power Corporation, makers of the Ultrasonic Cleaning System,
becomes an associate sponsor of the Cagnazzi
Racing team.  The Freeport, Ill.
based company will supply Cagnazzi Racing with their state-of-the-art
Ultrasonic Cleaning System, which uses water-based, biodegradable,
environmentally friendly detergents instead of harsh solvents and acids
traditional systems use.

"Pro Stock is the most competitive form of
racing on the planet," Owner Victor Cagnazzi said. "We can win or lose a race
by less than a thousandth of a second, so any advantage we can get on the
track, or back in the shop is important to the team. The Ultrasonic Cleaning
System gives us one of those advantages."

The earth moved today in Sacramento, but not because of an earthquake.
Doug Herbert and the Snap-on Tools Top Fuel team fired the Snap-on Tools
dragster for DragQuake, an experiment of seismic
proportions.

Melvyn Record of Infineon Raceway had a
front row view of the action, sitting in the cockpit of the Snap-on Tools
dragster as Herbert and the Snap-on crew brought the 7,000 horsepower racing
machine to life.

As Herbert hit the throttle, members of
the local media and several fans were taken aback by the sheer power and noise
created by the powerful nitro-burning engine.

As those watching took in the excitement
of hearing and seeing a Top Fuel dragster in person, Dr. Doug Brittsan, of
Brittsan CPT, measured the movement of the earth with a mobile
seismograph.

Mitch Marlowe owner of Marlowe Racing is putting up his entire race program for
sale at the end of the 2007 Screamin’ Eagle Nitro Harley AHDRA season.