When
Virginia Tech graduate Kevin Futrell and his girlfriend, current VT student
Jennifer Marshall, made plans to attend the IHRA Spring Nationals with
Jennifer’s best friend Matt Gwaltney, they never imagined they would attend the
race without him.

Gwaltney, of Chesterfield, Virginia, was a student at
Virginia Tech and one of the 32 victims who lost their lives in the massacre
last week.

“This is our second time out to the races; we were here at
Rockingham for last year’s race and had a real good time, so we wanted to come
back,” Futrell said. “But with the events of last week, we’re a man
short.”

How lasting are first impressions?
 
Rookie Pro Stock driver Bill Windham
will be doing whatever he can – beginning this weekend at Atlanta Dragway – to
wipe away any negatives lingering from his breath-taking qualifying attempt at
Las Vegas two weeks ago.
 
He wasn’t trying to emulate famed stunt driver
Joie Chitwood during his precarious two-wheel, left-and-right-side qualifying
run at Las Vegas.  Windham, after all, did all the right things to keep the
shiny side up on the Big-O Tires Chevy Cobalt.  The car did not suffer any
defects and the run received ample television playtime. 

The recent tragedy on the
campus of Virginia Tech University hit close to home for Radford, Virginia’s
Matt Hagan. The sophomore Pro Modified driver’s shop is located only ten
minutes from the site of the massacre.

“It’s unbelievable that something
like that can happen in such a small community like that,” Hagan said. “When
something like that happens, you immediately think that it only happens in the
big cities. It just goes to show you that evil can happen anywhere. When you
think of all the lives that one incident touched … it hits your heart. It’s a
bad situation for everyone involved. You never know when people set their minds
to do bad stuff like that. You just can’t stop them. You can take all the guns
away but the truth is that that people kill people.”

Terry
Munroe made an interesting and unusual choice when it came to spending his prize
money after taking the Alcohol Funny Car win in San Antonio last
month.

Munroe purchased a ’29 Ford coupe over the Internet after months
of searching for just the right one. This one is a ready-to-roll rat rod,
complete with primer, a raucous old Oldsmobile engine, and a very chopped
top.

WYATT WINS THIRD STRAIGHT IN
ROCKINGHAM WHILE HONORING VIRGINIA TECH

Zizzo (Top Fuel), Cannon Jr. (Pro
Modified), Montecalvo (Pro Stock) and Thomas (Alcohol Funny Car) also claim
Ironmen at IHRA Spring Nationals

Rockingham Dragway has two events on the IHRA Nitro Jam™ season schedule.
Jack Wyatt probably wishes it was more.

Wyatt, from Corydon, Iowa, won
his third national event in as many attempts at the fabled quarter-mile strip in
southern North Carolina, defeating Jon Capps in the final round to capture the
Knoll-Gas Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Funny Car Ironman. Wyatt swept both
events in Rockingham last season as well, winning in the spring and the
fall.

It was even more special for Wyatt as he painted a tribute to the
Virginia Tech shooting victims on his car for the weekend.

Point standings (top 10) for IHRA professional categories following the Spring
Nationals presented by Advance Auto Parts and Castrol at Rockingham Dragway, the
second of 12 events in the $19.5 million 2007 Knoll - Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing
Series

Sunday's final results from the Spring Nationals at Rockingham Dragway. 
The  race is the second of 12 in
the $19.5 million 2007 Knoll - Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series

Point standings (top 10) for IHRA professional categories following the Spring Nationals presented at Rockingham Dragway, the
first of 12 events in the $19.5 million 2007 Knoll - Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing
Series -

The quickest nitrous run of qualifying (a 6.168) was not the talk of
the weekend. The talk was largely centered around a testing lap two
days before the event.

Once again, Shannon Jenkins and the Awesome Motorsports team have given hope to
nitrous fans everywhere. After countless hours of off season research and
development and testing throughout the beginning of the season, Jenkins uncorked
the first 6.0-second nitrous pass in history while testing at the newly
resurfaced Darlington Dragway on Wednesday.

“The Iceman” piloted teammate
Mike Castellana’s brand new Jerry Haas-built ’07 Western Beef Mustang to a
6.080, 231 MPH blast in the heat of the day.

SATURDAY - CAPPS CLAIMS TOP
SPOT IN ROCKINGHAM

Foley, Cannon Jr., Munroe and Mansfield
also qualify at the top of their classes in front of one of the largest crowds
in Rockingham Dragway history