In the music business, the concept of commercial success can be seen at least two different ways.  After years of struggling to make a name for itself, any band would love to finally earn some money in the business via commercial success.  On the flip side, many fans of lesser known bands consider the term an insult, whenever their favorite artists are perceived to have "sold out" with a more commercial sound in order to gain a wider following. Either way, it's commerce and success that are at stake.

This week, for Levi, Ray & Shoup Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson, the concept has nothing to do with music, sounds, or albums, but instead with the three most important words in real estate: Location, location, location.  This weekend, at the Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway, Wilk will be aiming for his own brand of commerce and success, in Commerce, Ga., roughly 80 miles to the northeast of Atlanta.  And the single most prime bit of real estate within the Atlanta Dragway development?  The Winner's Circle, of course.

Rodger Brogdon originally believed the Pontiac GXP he crashed in the shutdown area of Gateway International Raceway had seen its last days on the drag strip. His assessment of the shattered race car was wrong.

Within 24 hours, Brogdon and the Steve Kent Racing team will take delivery of a rebuilt race car from Jerry Haas Race Cars. He'll race the car at the NHRA Southern Nationals in Commerce, Ga., located outside of Atlanta.

Upon his own admission, Larry Dixon is a fan of Pro Mod racing.

With that in mind, Dixon went to the ADRL Hardee’s Georgia Drags in Valdosta, Ga., as a guest of Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, the owner of Al-Anabi Racing, late last month. Sheikh Khalid was making his ADRL driving debut and is racing in the ADRL’s Pro Extreme division this season.

“It was a great time,” said Dixon, who is in his second season piloting the Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel dragster and is leading the point standings. “I had a lot of fun. I also thought he (Sheikh Khalid) did very well.”

The American Drag Racing League (ADRL) is proud to announce CarSafe, a U.S. leader in extended vehicle service contracts, has been named Official Extended Vehicle Service Contract Provider for the eighth-mile drag racing series. A CarSafe marketing team will attend all future ADRL national events to promote CarSafe through several activities, including a new CarSafe/ADRL T-shirt-Give-Away program.

“This is a very exciting development for everyone at CarSafe as it represents our first motorsports marketing partnership,” CarSafe President Mark Eckman said. “We considered several options, but it soon became clear the American Drag Racing League offered the best opportunity and audience for CarSafe products.”

Mountain Motor racers have called Maryland International Raceway home for quite some time. Now the organization that features these monstrous machines will join Maryland International Raceway in a display of raw power on the quarter mile. Friday and Saturday, May 14th and 15th the MMPSA will descend upon MIR for the 32nd annual Outback Steakhouse Mountain Motor Nationals.

“The Mountain Motor Nationals is one of the longest running events in Pro Stock history,” relayed Tommy Dupree of the MMPSA. “When Royce came to us and asked if we would like to be a part of it, we jumped at the chance. He was the first track to offer us a place to race and we owe him a lot. MIR is known for the best door car racing in the country. The fans are in for a real treat with the MMPSA and the NEOPMA Pro Mods together at the same event. It will be very hard for me to not just be a spectator!”

The JEGS NHRA Pacific SPORTSnationals, which began as a showcase event for recreational drag racers, has now become one of the most highly anticipated events of the season for racers in the western United States. The fifth annual event will be held this weekend, May 14-16 at Auto Club Dragway at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., and is expected to attract more than 400 drivers competing in nine separate eliminators.

Steve Reyes has just recently completed a self-published hardcover book entitled Blood, Sweat and Nitro.  It is 120 pages with about 150 photos with the majority of photos being 6x9 while others are 4x6.  The photos are all black and white and consist of 98% that have not seen the light of day in more than 40 years.  It will be a limited release with only 250 copies available for sale at $55 plus $5 shipping.  All will be signed and numbered by Steve Reyes.  They will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis on receipt of payment.

You may be able to gather by my last name I have ties to drag racing.  What you may not be aware of is that those ties go beyond two brothers (Jim and Wayne) who are talented fuel crew chiefs and a father (Lynwood) admired and respected by competitors, team owners, track owners and operators, racing organization management, colleagues and, most definitely, by his family.  I am the “invisible” family member as my involvement in the sport focused more on race operations which did not put me in the limelight of TV cameras as my brothers nor out among the people in the groups mentioned earlier, as in the case of my dad.

Last week, reigning NHRA Competition Eliminator National Champion Bruno Massel JR was notified that WyoTech would not continue as primary sponsor after the 2010 season.

“We’ve had a successful association with WyoTech for the past nine years and while I’m disappointed that our relationship is coming to an end, I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to represent them,” stated Massel.