Aeromotive Fuel Systems founder and president Steve Matusek hoped to be racing in the NHRA Pro Mod series by now.

Instead, he’s still waiting for a new 500-cubic-inch Pro Stock-style motor to come from the Roush-Yates fold of NASCAR fame.

“I was talking to George Gable, the general manager over at Yates, and he said they have Justin Humphreys’ motor on the dyno now and we’re next in line,” Matusek says. “They’ve started on the block and heads and are working on it right now.

“We’re hoping that by October, maybe the end of September, we could get that new engine into the car and start testing with it. And you know how it goes, if we get out there and feel we can be competitive with it we’ll definitely take advantage of that and race it by the end of the year.”

For the employees at Kalitta Air, a worldwide leader in the air cargo industry owned by Conrad “Connie” Kalitta and based in Ypsilanti, Mich., it’s a matter of giving back to those who give so much to defend the freedoms of the United States of America. To show their appreciation to the service men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Kalitta Air employees, employees of Kalitta Charters and Kalitta Motorsports, as well as the American Legion Post 274 in Oscoda, Mich., and other private entities recently contributed over $55,000 to send them special Fourth of July care packages.
 
Kalitta, a drag racing legend and pioneer, is also the owner and founder of Kalitta Motorsports, one of the most successful professional drag racing teams competing in the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. His nephew Doug Kalitta drives one of the team’s 8,000-horsepower, nitro-fueled Top Fuel dragsters. Doug is also the owner and operator of Kalitta Charters, an air charter company specializing in executive charters, air ambulance services, and air cargo.

It's been a dozen years since decorated sportsman drag racer Gary Winkelman has owned a muscle car, but those days are over as officials with JEGS High Performance randomly selected the 62-year-old New Yorker as the big winner of its summer-long JEGS "Win This Car! Celebrating 50 Years" Sweepstakes.

As such, Winkelman will soon take ownership of a beautiful new 2010 JEGS yellow and black Chevrolet Camaro. He is planning on picking up the car July 28 from JEGS.

With one of the most star-studded Top Fuel lineups in recent memory already assembled for this weekend’s MOPAR Nitro Jam Nationals at the Grand Bend Motorplex, the recent announcement that Canada’s own Todd Paton will join the mix has only added to the intrigue as Paton, representing an entire country, takes on a contingent of American heavyweights this weekend in Grand Bend.

Representing the United States will be three former world champions in addition to the current points leader as Del Cox Jr. (’09 champ), Spencer Massey (’08 champ) and Bruce Litton (’07 champ) join current point leader Bobby Lagana Jr. as the four goliaths battling Paton and his all-Canadian team.

Even more exciting is the fact that “The Bend” is considered Paton’s home track and is the place where he, a two-time IHRA World Champion himself in Alcohol Funny Car, made his first career pass in Top Fuel. Now, several years and a thrilling career later, Paton returns to the track where it all began in front of his hometown fans.

This weekend at Maple Grove Raceway, July 17 & 18, Revell – the leader in replica plastic kits since 1945 – will provide a “Make ‘n Take” model building activity during the Super Chevy Show. This activity will allow children to come to the car show awards tent from 12-2pm on Saturday and Sunday to put together their very own model kit with assistance from expert modelers for no additional charge.

Make ‘n Take is a great way to get young people interested in the model building hobby, and adds to the entertainment taking place at the Maple Grove Super Chevy Show. The young modeler can then follow his interest in the hobby by purchasing his next kit at a local hobby dealer. With a child in his store, the dealer has the opportunity to show off other model kits, paints, tools and model building accessories to get him more engaged in the hobby. Any parent will admit wanting their children to have other activities besides playing video games or texting.

Officials at Piedmont Dragway in Greensboro, NC, announced yesterday co-owners Ron Senecal and Gilmer Hinshaw has purchased the interest in the track previously held by Bob Harris.

There’s a very short list of people in the world that can say they have drag raced for over 60 years, especially considering NHRA celebrated its 50th  anniversary in 2001.  Ora Vasquez, a member of that elite club, will celebrate his 80th birthday this Friday.

Vasquez, who many know as one of the top tuners/innovators in the alcohol classes, cut his teeth driving before moving to the ‘Crew Chief’ role.  He started racing street cars in 1949, working his way up through the ranks eventually to the Pro Comp category, where he made his final pass as a driver in 1975, running a best elapsed time of 7.17 seconds at 198.67 mph.  He continued to campaign his own car with his son Mark driving until 1990.

Funny Car legend Raymond Beadle has suffered a heart attack according to a spokesperson for the three-time NHRA champion.

Beadle underwent surgery to install stents to alleviate severe blockages and is likely to undergo more operations in the days to come. Currently Beadle is in the Heart Center at Baylor University Hospital in Plano, Texas.

We'll update you as details become available.

The staff of Attitude's CompetitionPlus.com wishes Raymond a speedy and complete recovery.

On Wednesday morning, Graham Light, the NHRA’s senior vice president-racing operations, said the sanctioning body was planning very soon to implement rules mandating Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car teams use carbon fiber brakes on their race cars. As of Wednesday morning, Top Alcohol Dragster and Alcohol Funny Car teams had the option to use carbon fiber brakes or steel brakes.

The voice on the other end of the cell phone line could have belonged to any of the hundreds or thousands of drivers who compete on the NHRA tour in both National and Divisional events on weekly basis. It was a voice of desperation.

How many have to die, was implied in every sentence.

It is a question without an answer.

No one knows how many lives will be lost in the course of the NHRA's history. Have too many been lost already? Yes. Will too many more be lost in the future? Yes. Can the number be reduced by diligent stewards of the sport?  Once again, the answer is yes.