Terry
McMillen's Top Fuel dragster broke a throttle cable in the final
roundat San Antonio Raceway. Mike Smith is the crew chief for McMillen.
(Bryan Epps)

Second-generation crewchief John Smith sat on the step of Terry McMillen’s trailer and as much as
he labored to smile, the disappointment was clearly evident. He and
his driver McMillen fell victim to the proverbial fifty-cent part in the IHRA Texas Nationals Top Fuel
final.

McMillen rolled to the starting line with a broken car and hoped for a miscue from Massey. The rookie didn’t flinch.

“The throttle cable nut fell off on the burnout or just something
happened with the throttle cable when we took it off after the burn out
stopped,” Smith explained. “The throttle cable was loose when it came
off.  We’ve got a new team and stuff will happen.”

Bryan Epps Photo

Jim Halsey considers himself a confident drag racer but up until the
time he crossed the finish line ahead of Billy Harper, he didn’t
concede the victory was his. The Street, Md.-based veteran, along with
a handful of nitrous racers, had waited a long time for what transpired
in the finals of the IHRA Texas Nationals, a nitrous winner and even
better in an all-nitrous final round.

Jim
Halsey scored the first Pro Modified victory for a nitrous car since
the IHRA Motor City Nationals in July 2006. (Roger Richards)

The last time a pair of nitrous entries battled in a final round of a
Pro Modified event was the 2006 IHRA Motor City Nationals in Milan,
Michigan. There has only been two nitrous winners in the last two seasons in IHRA competition. 

John Nobile left 500-inch Pro Stock racing long enough to win a world
championship in the fast-paced world of IHRA Pro Stock. He quickly
found out the NHRA arena has changed quite a bit during the recently completed NHRA Springnationals in Houston, Texas.
 
“It's a lot different than when we left,” Nobile admitted. “Costs have
changed, tires have changed, gear ratios are way different than when we
left but it's just a race car.  It's just like any other car.  They all
want the same thing it's just that we haven't figured that out yet, but
we will.”

One might think the pride of going 220 in an IHRA Pro Stocker would
make the process of slowing down to under 210 a tough one. The
300-cubic inch difference is something Nobile quickly notices behind
the wheel of his Loud Energy Drink-sponsored Dodge Stratus. He was the
16th qualifier.

Bryan Epps Photo

Most rookie Top Fuel drivers feel qualifying is enough of a debut experience.

Rookie? What rookie? Spency Massey drove his way to the Top Fuel winner's circle in his rookie debut. (Roger Richards)

Then again, Spencer Massey is not like most rookie drivers. He not only
qualified for the IHRA Texas Nationals in San Antonio, Texas, this weekend past, but also took out low qualifier Bruce Litton
and kept winning until he reached the final round behind the wheel of
Mitch King’s Top Fuel dragster.

Then Massey won. Yes, he won in his Top Fuel debut. He doesn't even
have his NHRA Top Fuel license but in the IHRA, he has them and the
keys to the winner’s circle.

Ron Capps, whose usual mount is the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car
in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series for Don Schumacher Racing, will compete
for the fourth straight year at the fourth annual Prelude to the Dream at Eldora
Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, on June 4.

The charity event for dirt
late-model race cars will feature over 25 world-renowned drivers as they battle
for dirt supremacy. HBO Pay-Per-View will present the event live and proceeds
from the telecast will support construction of Victory Junction Gang Camp II in
Kansas City, as well as the Tony Stewart Foundation.

Capps, who had his
best finish in the second annual event, a fourth, will battle against such
NASCAR racing icons as Tony Stewart (Eldora Speedway owner), Kasey Kahne, Kyle
Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth,
Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, Bobby Labonte and more. All will pilot 2,300-pound
dirt late-model stock cars capable of putting out over 800 horsepower.

The art of blogging has taken over the world and Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com has opted to bring you our version of Blog Central.

Blog Central will bring you a weekly update of four diametrically and
entertaining entities within the drag racing community. The mix of
three professional drag racers and a professional microphone man
promises to bring a good read every Monday, each week.

 A new car body is sparking a renewed effort in Pro Modified Racing Association action for the Terry Brown Racing team.
 
“We’ve got a new body for the car,” said crew chief Jason Greenland
recently, but he would not go into specifics, other that to say the
color is changing.
 
“It’s going to be a nice big surprise.”
 
But he did say that the car and team plan on running all of the 2008
PMRA events with the 1971 Challenger. The team placed ninth in points
in 2007.
 
“We’re going to be at every one of them,” added Greenland. “That’s our goal.”

Legendary
crooner Wayne Newton is widely known as "Mr. Las Vegas" but he might
have to lend the moniker to reigning Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin
Jr. for the April 11-13 drag race at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway.

"Las Vegas already is a very exciting town but this trip looks like it
might be extra special," Coughlin said. "We're starting it off with a
big fan party Thursday night at the Palms (the Champions Meet &
Greet from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.) and they're unveiling special gaming chips
with last year's champs on them. I'm lucky enough to be on two of the
chips, a $5 one and a $25 one. How cool is that? It's a very special
deal.

"Then we have a big race over at The Bullring Saturday night where a
bunch of us will be driving Thunder Roadsters. I've never driven one
before but we're going to give it a try and see if we can't have some
fun. Plus, we have a full slate of all the usual race weekend
activities, which certainly includes a lot of drag racing. We're going
to be busy but I can't think of a better town where you can turn up the
wick."

Team Hammonds hopes The Strip at the Las Vegas Speedway will prove to
be a good luck charm for the upcoming SummitRacing,com NHRA Nationals
competition, Apr. 10-13.   This will be the team’s third time competing
in Las Vegas.

The team holds a 1-1 qualifying record at the Sin City track.   In
2002, they made it to the second round of eliminations, where they lost
to Jim Yates, and failed to qualify in 2006.   This season, they hope
to do just as well as their first time racing there, since they are
racking up on the DNQs.

Team Chevy's Marty Ladwig started off the 2008 NOPI Drag Racing
campaign with a record-setting victory at today's NOPI Florida
Nationals. Ladwig established a new Pro FWD national elapsed time mark
and earned the season-opening win by defeating 2007 NHRA Pro FWD
champion Gary Gardella in an all-Chevy Cobalt final-round at Moroso
Motorsports Park.

"This was a fantastic weekend," Ladwig said. "We came off our win at
Pomona last season, and haven't done any testing since then or made any
changes to the Lucas Oil Chevrolet. To be able to come out here and run
as well as we did, win the race and then set the record, is an awesome
accomplishment for everyone who's a part of this team - Lucas Oil, K
& N Filters, Chevrolet, Ecotec, GM Racing - just a great group of
sponsors who make it all possible. We had top speed of the meet and low
e.t.. This team really earned this one."

Ladwig entered today's eliminator with his Lucas Oil Chevrolet
qualified in the No. 2 position and with a tough first-round opponent
in No. 3 qualifier Jason Hunt. At last April's race here at Moroso
Motorsports park, Ladwig struggled to even make it down the racetrack,
and lost in the first round, while Hunt drove his Matco Tools Chevrolet
to the event win. In today's key round-one matchup, Ladwig's Lucas Oil
Chevrolet squeezed past the Matco Tools car and crossed the finish line
with a 7.388 e.t. at 192.26 mph. Hunt's Ecotec-powered Cobalt followed
with a 7.493 second run at 196.12 mph. Ladwig's margin of victory was
.0876 of a second.