Thursday is the beginning of a new era for NHRA POWERade Series regular Whit Bazemore.

The Indianapolis resident, a stalwart in the Funny Car category over the past decade, will be making his debut in Top Fuel when the 2007 begins in Pomona, Calif. at the season-opening CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals.

Expectations are high.

Bazemore moves to Top Fuel after a 19-year Funny Car career, where he had scored 19 victories and annually finished in the top 10 in the points standings. He combines his vast knowledge and experience with the high-budget David Powers Motorsports racing team and backing from Matco Tools. Everything is in place to make a solid run at a series title.

But back in 1990, the situation was quite different.

The Kon Rodz Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team of Spiro Kontos will be competing in a twelve-race schedule for the 2010 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. The two-car team will soon leave the friendly confines of their Barrie, Ont. shop and begin their pre-season testing in West Palm Beach, Fla. with the Roger Burgess R2B2 Pro Modified team.  The test will provide the Canadian based team’s second driver, 23-year old Cassie Simonton, an opportunity to complete her Top Alcohol Funny Car licensing procedures.

“I’m very excited for the new season to begin for our two-car team,” said team owner Spiro Kontos, the owner and operator of Recyco Environmental Inc. and Direct Waste Systems Inc. “Cassie is an amazing driver who has more courage in her little fingers than most people have in their entire bodies. She made some solid runs last season while testing in Charlotte and under the instruction of her teammate Jason McKnight and our driving consultant Laurie Cannister, we plan to give Cassie four-solid days behind the wheel. Jason will also get some seat time. I’m very proud of the work the team has done preparing for this season.”

Tonight’s final round of the USA vs AUS Nitro Funny Car Challenge at Willowbank Raceway has been concluded with a jaw dropping 320mph/513kmh pass by Australian Damien Harris, sealing the Aussie domination of the two round series over American Jack Wyatt.

Harris saved the best till last with the new speed record being set in very last run of Nitro Funny Car for the night, which also saw the West Australian alongside Queenslander Ricky Steffens set the quickest Nitro Funny Car side-by side-pass for the country as well.

Harris’ 320.66mph at 4.868 second effort combined with Steffens’ 5.164s pass – a new personal best for the driver – to better the previous side-by side-mark (also featuring Harris alongside fellow West Australian Mark Sheehan in Perth on Boxing Day) by seven one thousandths of a second.

Roush Yates Engines continues their dedication to lead in power and performance in announcing a newly-formed partnership to build race engines for NHRA Pro Stock drag racer Justin Humphreys and RaceRedi Motorsports.

Roush Yates Engines, renowned for providing winning engines in the NASCAR circuit, is once again expanding their program to encompass another form of motorsports.  This partnership with Humphreys takes Roush Yates Engines into the powerful and competitive realm of NHRA Drag Racing. They already have a history of success in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, as well as ARCA, Grand-Am and FIA GT3 competition.

IRL IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti was Saturday night's star, winning the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association's Jerry Titus Award for the second time in three years.
 
But once again, drag-racing uber-pro John Force proved he is the ultimate organizer, showman, and professional in hosting AARWBA's 40th annual All-America Team Dinner and Ceremony and celebration of 55 years as the nation's oldest and largest motorsports media organization.
 
Flanked by haulers and their Funny Car sentries (that included the boss' new fiberglass body decked with 25th Castrol anniversary livery), guests dined in the shop where crews have been preparing to send the team to its first 2010 test session, at Phoenix.

Yas Marina Circuit, the spectacular motor racing circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, has partnered with Don Schumacher Racing (DSR), winner of eight NHRA championships and 136 races, to provide two complete Top Fuel dragster teams to be based in Abu Dhabi. The cars will first compete during the inaugural International Drag Racing Festival on March 18th - 20th at Yas Marina Circuit's impressive new drag racing facility. In a separate agreement, Yas Marina Circuit becomes the first NHRA member facility outside of North America.

"Yas Marina Circuit is extremely proud to be associated with Don Schumacher Racing, the current and eight-times NHRA World Champions," said Richard Cregan, CEO, Yas Marina Circuit. "Drag racing will be a significant and exciting cornerstone of establishing Yas Marina Circuit as a world class motor racing venue. Our partnership with Don Schumacher Racing, the world's best drag racing team, will help us establish the Yas Drag Racing Centre and our Yas Drag Racing Team as serious contenders on the world drag racing stage."

Lee Beard, team manager at Don Schumacher Racing, announced today that DSR and the Motorsports Engineering program at Indiana Univ. Purdue Univ. at Indianapolis (IUPUI) have united to develop a comprehensive program to help advance the performance of DSR Top Fuel teams in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Following the trend set by IndyCar and Formula 1 teams in recent years, DSR will work with IUPUI engineering students on exclusive research-and-development projects to improve engine, clutch and chassis components, using technologies such as 3D Modeling, Finite Stress Analysis and Computational Fluid Dynamics.

An office has been set up at DSR's Brownsburg, Ind., facility where a number of IUPUI students and faculty will work closely with Beard and the other DSR Top Fuel crew chiefs.

NHRA announced today the creation of NHRA Worldwide Network, a program that will enable drag racing facilities around the world to conduct events under the NHRA banner.   By becoming a part of the NHRA Worldwide Network, a facility will be able to use the specially-designed “Worldwide Drag Racing” NHRA oval for broad promotional purposes and will be able to draw on NHRA’s decades of experience and history.

Sitting amongst those gathered to honor Robert Tasca, Sr. was a 60-year-old, 14-time NHRA Funny Car champion with tears in his eyes and the feeling of loss in his heart.

For John Force, losing Robert Tasca, Sr. is like losing his father all over again, even though no one could ever truly replace his dad.

“Tasca was the man I turned to for advice after my father died,” recalled Force. “He is the reason I am with Ford. He bled Ford Blue.”

For your Saturday afternoon pleasure, we present eight minutes of drag racing from York U.S. 20 back in the day. There's good footage, lots of gear shifting and oh yeah, sound. There's even a cameo from Jungle Pam in this Bee-On Video presentation.