As racers continue to put their cars together and finish upgrades, turnouts in
all classes continue to increase. Many cars set personal bests and new track
records were set as the rain held off.

In Outlaw Big Tire, Ken Doak debuted his supercharged 1969 Camaro this
year sporting a new Hemi powerplant. Gary Naughton who is still shaking
the bugs out of Ken Doak's gold colored 67 supercharged Camaro were
both very impressive. Doak set the Big Tire track record with a 6.99,
207 and Naughton went a 7.28, 197. "Smokin" Joe Schroeder also brought
out his new supercharged Camaro with a 526 Allen Johnson Hemi.
Schroeder's day was short-lived as he would kick out the driveshaft
during the second round of qualifying. John Schroeder came out strong
the first round of qualifying but missed the remainder of the day as a
result of unknown issues. Charlie Micallef took the number one
qualifier money, but had a nitrous problem first round, which cost him
the win. James Houston was back again this month posting consisten
7.80's but his day was short-lived when he faced off against Doak who
set the track record in the first round. In the end, Doak would face
off against his other car (Naughton) and Doak coasted for the win.
Congrats to Ken Doak and his team for setting a new track record, and
for having such a successful start to the season as they were troubled
with various issues that plagued them throughout last season.

Hotly contested Pump Gas Drags to be held on Saturday, May 10.

For the fifth time racers from all across the country will gather in
Memphis, Tennessee for the coveted Hot Rod Magazine Pump Gas Drags
Championship sponsored by COMP Cams®. The Pump Gas Drags is a day long
event designed to challenge high performance street/race cars. Pump Gas
Drags participants must pass a rigorous tech inspection at COMP Cams®
and then have their fuel tanks drained and refilled with 10 gallons of
93-octane Rockett Brand “pump” gas. After this they must drive a
specified route from the facility to the Memphis Motorsports Park
without the aid of support vehicles, while stopping at several
checkpoints along the way. Only after all of this will 32 drivers
qualify to race to become the 2008 Hot Rod Pump Gas Drags Champion!

Fans arriving early for the 6th Annual Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion,
June 13-15, Beech Bend Park, Bowling Green, Ky., will get a few special
pre-event treats. On Thurs., June 12, early-bird enthusiasts can take a tour of
Holley Performance Products from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., go from there on the Heacock Classic Cruise - which also includes a treasure hunt
- and then end up at for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Holiday Inn University Plaza at 5
p.m.

"This is the
way to really kick-off the Reunion," said Tony Thacker, executive director of
the Wally
Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, producers of the 3-day event.
"Everyone participating will have lots of fun."

The day's
events begin at 10 a.m. at Holley (1801 Russellville Road) where visitors can
tour the 250,000-sq.-ft plant and see how Holley, in business for 105 years,
makes its world famous carburetors and other products. "Visitor's will also get
to see Weiand intake
manifolds, water pumps and superchargers being made and get to tour through our
engineering vehicle and engine lab where they house their chassis and engine
dynos," said Bill Tichenor, Holley marketing manager.
"Visitor's can also have a hot dog lunch be entered into a drawing for apparel
and speed parts from Holley brands. Winner's results will be posted at the
Holley racer trailer at the track."

Bristol Dragway has long been one of Cory McClenathan’s favorite places
to race but his luck at the famed Thunder Valley strip has been mixed
over the years.
 
McClenathan has experienced great success at Bristol Dragway, where the
O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals are set for May 16-18. It is,
after all, the scene of what he considers his biggest victory ever. But
he also has found misfortune, as he did in 2006 when he walked away
from a crash that occurred during qualifying.
 
“Bristol has been feast or famine for me," he said. "It's where I won
my biggest race ever. I won the Showdown (1999) there against Funny
Cars, beat Ron Capps in the final and won $200,000, probably my biggest
race ever.
 
“It's also the track I had my worst accident at ever (2006). I guess I
have something to prove now. I look forward to going there.  We’re just
hitting our stride. We have a very good race car. It goes A to B
everywhere it goes. Bristol is going to be one of those races where I
think the weather will be fairly warm and I think the FRAM car will run
good so I'm looking forward to it." 

There was a day when Tim Wilkerson couldn’t win a coin toss. Sunday in St. Louis wasn’t it and for

Tim Wilkerson won his second national event victory of the season. (Roger Richards)

that matter, none of the events in 2008 have been either.

Wilkerson has discovered a well of performance and good fortunes and he’s drawing from the reservoir on a regular basis.

“You lose your handle on what's going on with those cars and it's
really hard to get it back,” Wilkerson said. “Just through tenacity and
a lot of help from a lot of people out here, I don't think there's one
crew chief in Top Fuel or Funny Car that hasn't helped me one time or
another with some stupid question I had, they're all probably upset
about that now.”

Layoff? What layoff?

Dave Connolly didn't drive like a man who'd missed the first five races of the season. (Roger Richards Photos)

Dave Connolly didn’t drive Sunday like he gave the rest of NHRA’s Pro
Stock category a five-race head start.  His drive to a runner-up finish
in his second 2008 outing did, however, remind all his rivals that he
is back.
 
After qualifying third for the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals before a lot
of visitors from his new sponsor, St. Louis-based Charter
Communications, Connolly showed why he won eight times last year,
including this race, and is one of the category’s top competitors.
 
He defeated Ron Krisher, Allen Johnson and Greg Anderson in workmanlike
fashion to reach his 30th career title round, but a clutch problem at
the starting line against Kurt Johnson foiled his chances of winning
his 18th race.
 
The result was an uncharacteristically slow reaction time of .144
seconds, leaving Johnson with an advantage that couldn’t be overcome. 
It did, however, produce Connolly’s quickest and fastest run of the
weekend in the Charter Communications Chevy Cobalt from Victor Cagnazzi
Racing.

The first round of Pro Stock eliminations during the NHRA Midwest
Nationals in St. Louis, had a balance of the good, the bad and the
ugly. For many, the ugly outweighed the expected performance.

The
first round of Pro Stock represented the good, the bad and the ugly.
Recent Atlanta champion Mike Edwards was a first round casualty.

The good was a 6.581 elapsed time by Kurt Johnson in stopping Todd
Hoerner in the first round. Greg Anderson (6.616), Jeg Coughlin
(6.619), and Allen Johnson (6.624) all recorded impressive and quick
victories.

The bad came when both Jason Line had a mechanical failure which
resulted in his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac G6 bursting in flames
after leaving the starting line with a .007 reaction and opponent John
Nobile shook the tires and aborted the run. Nobile got back on the
throttle after Line’s plight and won his first round of competition
since returning from a tour of duty in IHRA Pro Stock.

Also falling under the bad category, through no fault of his, was when
Rickie Jones scored his first NHRA Pro Stock round win after a bout
with tire shake. He won with a 6.812 elapsed time at 205.85 miles per
hour while recent Atlanta winner Mike Edwards shook the tires and
lifted immediately.

Ever seen a horse fly? No, we’re not talking about the insect. A real life, thoroughbred horse – the four-legged can.

Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta has. In fact, the 30-time national event
winner facilitated the transportation for 14 horses to Louisville, Ky.,
for this weekend’s Kentucky Derby.

“I’ve got a contract with a gentleman who does all the race horse
movements,” Kalitta said. “We were kidding around, you know I think
with the horses if you end up not doing well you end up not getting the
jet ride home and ride home on the trailer instead.”

The winner “Big Brown” flew aboard the Kalitta Flying Services jet.

No one could forget the hot streak Hot Rod Fuller was on this time last year. This season

Hot Rod Fuller was forgotten in pre-race driver introductions.

has been a different story.

In fact, the pre-race emcee at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, Mo., forgot him during the traditional pre-race
introductions Sunday morning. Fuller ensured the announcer wouldn’t
forget him in the winner’s circle.

“It was weird,” Fuller said of the experience. “I was about to go
through the door and they stopped me and pulled me back. They told me
he forgot me. It was an honest mistake, so I figured the best way to
make them remember me was to win.”

Make no mistake, Fuller still has a chip on his shoulder after winning
five races during the first phase of the Countdown to the Championship
and then losing the points from them when the totals reset at
Indianapolis. He lost a substantial lead and despite battling back into
the lead during the final portion of the Chase, he lost the title
during the final run of the season.

Many questioned John Force’s motives last season when he proposed training former Don Schumacher Racing crew chief Mike Neff to become a driver for John Force Racing. Force simply said, “The kid’s got the look.”

Neff made Force look like a genius by reaching the final round of the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, Mo., and
taking out such notables as fellow Funny Car rookie Melanie Troxel,
Mike Ashley and teammate Robert Hight to earn a berth in the final
round against Wilkerson.

“We didn’t back our way into the final,” Neff said. “We made four good
runs and we lost on a squeaker. It was a good drag race we just came up
a little short,” said the former crew chief turned driver. “We aren’t
greedy it was a great day for us in the Old Spice Ford Mustang camp.”