Last weekends Westernationals saw John Zappia give a commanding performance in the 5th Round of the ANDRA Pro Series Top Doorslammer bracket, driving Craig Pedley's Striker "Crusher" Monaro into the winner’s circle and stamping his authority on the race to the finish line for the Championship.

"The win was fantastic", said a jubilant Zap this week, "It's our first win this season, and back-to-back Westernationals wins for Zappia Racing. We worked hard for it, but our confidence was high all through the event, which saw some brilliant crew turnarounds and my driving lifting a level".

Zap picked up the Pro Auto Service and Performance $1,000.00 cheque for Top Qualifying on the Saturday night, and reset his own ANDRA Top Doorslammer National Record to 5.815 seconds.

Roush Yates Engines is expanding once again with the addition of Bucky Gregory to their Performance Parts department.  Roush Yates Performance Parts, a division of Roush Yates Engines, is a complete parts store that supplies local racers and the general public with new and used quality racing parts. 

Roush Yates Performance Parts was formed in 2008 to create efficiency at Roush Yates Engines and to aid other race teams by allowing them access to high quality parts at discounted prices.  The store features a knowledgeable staff that has been in the racing industry for many years and is proud to provide the public with the same high performance parts used in NASCAR’s top series at competitive prices.

As consumers in the industry themselves, Roush Yates Performance Parts knows the importance of getting the highest rated parts for the best value.  They are continually expanding their inventory at their 10,000 square foot facility to provide customers with the best parts possible.

The Lucas Oil NHRA Drag Racing Series and Super Gas division in particular, are sitting on a potential media home run.

To hear some of the discussions in drag racing circles, the prospect has flown over the heads of many who profess to be drag racing experts.

Celebrating its 52nd year of competition, the March Meet at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield has always been a hotspot for the sport of drag racing. As a child, 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force remembers peering thru the chain link fence as merely a spectator of the event. In 1984 he found himself on the other side of the fence, living his dream capturing his first, and only, March Meet championship. Fast forward to 2010, Force finds himself wearing yet another hat as the Grand Marshal of the storied event this weekend March 5-7.

“The March Meet is and always has been a great place for entertainment. I will see a lot of my old race buddies that I started with and raced against there,” said Force. “I have wanted to come back for a long time. 2009 NHRA Funny Car champ Robert Hight has come up here with Tom McKernan, Auto Club CEO, and they always tell me the fun I’d have. It is an honor to have the Auto Club, Blake Bowser and Famoso Raceway invite me to be the Grand Marshal.”

When Bob Floch’s legendary “Bullet Bob” Corvette coasted to a stop at the top end after suffering a catastrophic parts failure and bursting into flames at the Nitro Jam season opener at Palm Beach International Raceway earlier this year, Floch admits that he wasn’t quite sure how the team would survive.

“My initial thoughts were ‘I think we are finished and we didn’t even get started,’” Floch recalls.

The AHRA has terminated their business relationship with the principals of Thunder Road Raceway Park in Shreveport, LA. including the official AHRA sanction of the track and facility, AHRA CEO Troy Moe stated Tuesday afternoon.

Chicagoland's largest custom car show will feature Ashley Force Hood's Ronald McDonald House Charity themed NHRA Mustang Funny Car. O'Reilly's Auto Parts and South Oak Dodge will present the 48th Annual World of Wheels, March 5-7 2010, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois.   Force Hood’s Mustang will be on display as part of the Chicago BrushMaster Kustom Kulture Art Auction with all proceeds going to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana. Fans will be able to get their photo taken beside the Mustang throughout the weekend and get an up close look at one of the fastest race cars in motor sports.

Ashley Force Hood campaigned the Ronald McDonald House Charities Mustang at two events (Seattle and Sonoma) during the 2009 Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The attention the car generated for the Ronald McDonald House Charities is something Force Hood is proud to continue into 2010.

The Kon Rodz Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team is proud to announce a new marketing partnership with Bully Dog Technologies for the 2010 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing series. As a part of this agreement, the Kon Rodz team will become official distributors of outstanding Bully Dog products.

“I am so happy to have Bully Dog on board of our two-car team as a mid-level associate sponsor for the 2010 season,” noted team owner Spiro Kontos. “With the state of the world economy, to have a company like Bully Dog offer to enter into a marketing partnership with us is truly amazing and we are very fortunate to have them join our list of outstanding marketing partners. We will work very hard to provide them with an outstanding return on their investment.”

Countless racers – and the NHRA organization itself – should learn this nitro-powerful lesson from Melanie Troxel:

The Business of Drag Racing is all about building, and maintaining, one-on-one relationships.

Melanie is back where she belongs, in Funny Car, in the In-N-Out Burger Dodge Charger R/T, because she understands that BoDR 101 basic fact.

During the drag racing season at Gateway International Raceway just outside of St. Louis, there are two constants: Bret Kepner’s shorts and Eric Sanzottera’s two-wheeled domination of the Tuesday night Quick Street Bike Series.

For three straight years, Sanzottera has been the two-wheeled titan of GIR’s NHRA Drags Street Legal Style Presented by AAA, winning the class title in each of those seasons and finishing 2009 with 12 wins in 15 finals’ appearances. Anyone expecting Sanzottera to take all the credit for his success will be disappointed, however, as the first person he mentions anytime someone asks him about his abilities on the quarter mile is his brother, Rudy.