Two weeks ago, Mach 1 Air Services
Top Fuel driver David Baca went numb when he got the call that his former crew
chief and longtime drag racing friend Larry Meyer was being rushed to
Minnesota's Mayo Clinic with heart trouble. The early prognosis was that Meyer
would probably need a valve transplant.

After spending much of the 2006
NHRA season raising awareness for charities such as the Muscular Dystrophy
Association, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Mark
Hindy Charitable Foundation benefiting the children of the 9/11 disaster, and
Alex's Lemonade Stand for pediatric cancer research, Baca suddenly had a close
friend on the serious end of a health issue.

"You never want to get phone
calls like that," Baca said. "For my family, it really hit home because my
father-in-law Frank [Gau] had the very same procedure they were thinking Larry
would need done to him a few years ago. Frank came out of it okay, thank God,
but we learned back then how serious the operation can be. It's a
scare."

As it turns out, the Mayo Clinic medical staff was able to stop
the seepage in Meyer's heart valve, meaning he avoided the transplant procedure.
He's now recovering in Dallas and is expected to be back to 100 percent within
the next few months.

He's recognized more for his
sponsorship efforts but this weekend, Evan Knoll was known as a Top Fuel driver.
The former Top Alcohol Dragster driver first licensed at the same event two
years ago and was sidelined when he suffered a severe concussion just months
later in a non-racing automobile accident.

Knoll test fired his dragster for the first time on Friday
afternoon to the approval of crewchief Jimmy Walsh and a loud cheer from
onlooking fans. He operated over the course of the weekend utilizing the J.R.
Todd crew with a mix of Dale Creasy team members.

A last minute discovery of a problem with the clutch prevented a
Friday run.

When Mark and Andy Carrier, owners
of Carrier Boyz Racing and the Cory McClenathan-driven FRAM Boost Top Fuel team,
recently agreed to a new contract extension with Honeywell Consumer Products
Group, it spurred a flurry of activity focusing on the 2007 NHRA
season.

“We are very pleased to continue our relationship with Honeywell
and FRAM automotive filters, Autolite spark plugs, Prestone Antifreeze and
Bendix,” said Andy Carrier. “We continue to grow our relationship with FRAM. Our
goal is for Carrier Boyz Racing to become synonymous with FRAM.

“Our
plans for next year include adding a hospitality suite to expand FRAM’s presence
at the races.”

Here are some interesting figures
from the IHRA Northern Nationals. There were 41 Pro Mod cars in the pits, and
the average elapsed time through three rounds of qualifying for the blown cars
was 6.224-seonds, while the nitrous cars weighed in with an average of 6.270. In
the final 16-car field, the average E.T. for a blown car was 6.153, while the
average for a bottle-fed car was 6.171.

McClenathan Back in Older FRAM Boost
Top Fuel Chassis for Brainerd
 
Cory McClenathan will be driving a
different FRAM Boost Top Fuel dragster when qualifying begins Friday in
Brainerd.
 
After experimenting with a Brad Hadman chassis made from
thicker, less flexible tubing for three races, crew chief Wes Cerny, assistant
crew chief Tony Shortall and team owners Mark and Andy Carrier opted to return
to the chassis last used in St. Louis.

Paula Jo Smith, our special promotions
director at Torco's CompetitionPlus.com, and her husband Jim had a baby last
Thursday.

Carson Thomas Smith was born on August 3 at 8:14 PM and
weighed 9 pounds, 10.5 ounces and measured 21 inches.

One week after his triumphant return to the driver’s seat, Kenny Koretsky is sitting out this weekend’s O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals. Replacing him in the blue Nitro Fish/ISC Racers Tape Pro Stock Dodge is Dave Northrop.

“Everything went well for me last weekend,” said Koretsky, who made his first driving appearance since his on-track accident with Bruce Allen in October. “I was pleased with the way I drove and everything, but I just need to devote more time to my businesses right now.

Point standings (top 10) for
IHRA professional categories following the 25th anniversary Torco Racing Fuels
Northern Nationals at US 131 Motorsports Park, the seventh of 11 events in the 
2006 eMax Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1.  Clay Millican, 482; 2.  Doug Foley, 445; 3.  Rick Cooper, 386;
4.  Bobby Lagana Jr., 381; 5.  Bruce Litton, 341; 6.  T.J. Zizzo, 260; 7. 
Andrew Cowin, 240; 8.  Chris Karamesines, 230; 9.  Louie Allison, 194; 10. 
Mitch King, 157.

Nitro Funny Car

1.  Dale Creasy Jr., 466; 2.  Jack Wyatt, 450; 3.  Bob Gilbertson,
402; 4.  Vincent Arcadi, 389; 5.  Gary Densham, 322; 6.  Terry Haddock, 315; 7. 
Gary Cooper, 228; 8.  Paul Lee, 221; 9.  Doug Kalitta, 97; 10.  Mitch King, 84.

Pro Modified

1.  Glen Kerunsky, 416; 2.  Danny Rowe, 356; 3.  Quain Stott, 354;
4.  Tommy D{Aprile, 293; 5.  Mike Janis, 292; 6.  Jim Halsey, 290; 7.  Mike
Castellana, 289; 8.  Carl Spiering, 283; 9.  Steve Bareman, 263; 10.  Scott
Cannon, 253.

Alcohol Funny Car

1.  Mark Thomas, 505; 2.  Thomas Carter, 459; 3.  Rob Atchison,
458; 4.  Terry McMillen, 373; 5.  Frederick Tigges, 269; 6.  Terry Munroe, 258;
7.  Larry Dobbs, 248; 8.  Trevor Lebsack, 241; 9.  Paul Noakes, 223; 10.  Chris
Foster, 168.

The 25 th Annual Torco Racing Fuels
Northern Nationals was a weekend of firsts for Illinois-based racer T.J. Zizzo.
He claimed his first career pole position when final qualifying was said and
done and, back where he made his first IHRA appearance last season, registered
the low ET of the meet and captured his first career national event victory at
US 131 Motor sports Park.

Zizzo was the best Knoll Gas-Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro
Top Fuel car all weekend. After his Friday qualifying hit stood up he knocked
off J.R. Todd, a recent two-time NHRA national event winner, in the first round
of eliminations. He then handled Bruce Litton in the semifinals and Doug Foley
in the finals to take home his first Ironman.

(8-7-2006) - Point standings (top 10) for IHRA professional categories following the 25th anniversary Torco Racing Fuels Northern Nationals at US 131 Motorsports Park, the seventh of 11 events in the  2006 eMax Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1.  Clay Millican, 482; 2.  Doug Foley, 445; 3.  Rick Cooper, 386; 4.  Bobby Lagana Jr., 381; 5.  Bruce Litton, 341; 6.  T.J. Zizzo, 260; 7.  Andrew Cowin, 240; 8.  Chris Karamesines, 230; 9.  Louie Allison, 194; 10.  Mitch King, 157.

Nitro Funny Car

1.  Dale Creasy Jr., 466; 2.  Jack Wyatt, 450; 3.  Bob Gilbertson, 402; 4.  Vincent Arcadi, 389; 5.  Gary Densham, 322; 6.  Terry Haddock, 315; 7.  Gary Cooper, 228; 8.  Paul Lee, 221; 9.  Doug Kalitta, 97; 10.  Mitch King, 84.

Pro Modified

1.  Glen Kerunsky, 416; 2.  Danny Rowe, 356; 3.  Quain Stott, 354; 4.  Tommy D{Aprile, 293; 5.  Mike Janis, 292; 6.  Jim Halsey, 290; 7.  Mike Castellana, 289; 8.  Carl Spiering, 283; 9.  Steve Bareman, 263; 10.  Scott Cannon, 253.

Alcohol Funny Car

1.  Mark Thomas, 505; 2.  Thomas Carter, 459; 3.  Rob Atchison, 458; 4.  Terry McMillen, 373; 5.  Frederick Tigges, 269; 6.  Terry Munroe, 258; 7.  Larry Dobbs, 248; 8.  Trevor Lebsack, 241; 9.  Paul Noakes, 223; 10.  Chris Foster, 168.

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