After beginning the 2008 NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series as co-crew chief at Tasca Racing, Chris
Cunningham will immediately assume full crew-chief responsibilities for
Funny Car rookie Bob Tasca III.

“With his technical experience and leadership ability, I have
all the confidence in the world that Chris Cunningham will take this
team to the next level,” said Tasca. “We're a new team this year, and
we're building this thing from scratch. Chris has my full support to
lead this team going forward.”

The
Snyder Motorsports Top Alcohol Funny Car Team is elated to announce
that Powersource Transportation, Inc. has signed on as their major
sponsor for the 2008 season.  The power-only trucking company,
satisfies a unique niche within the trucking industry by providing a
power-only source for hauling empty or loaded trailers or
trailer-mounted equipment.  After sponsoring the Team in an associate
roll last year, they were excited to have the opportunity to step up to
a major roll this season.

“Skip and all the people at Powersource Transportation were great to
work with last year.  And when we were trying to figure out what we
were going to do this year, we were very fortunate to have them come
back on board to help us out.  Now we can concentrate on getting our
new car together and focus on getting them in the winner’s circle,”
said driver, Mick Snyder.

With several racing classes
making their debut in Thunder Valley, the April 4-6 Southern Outlaw Tour ’08
will provide a lot of thrills, and possibly spills, while at Bristol Dragway.

The 10.5 Outlaws possess enormous
horsepower, but because of the narrow 10.5” drag tires on which they compete,
drivers must use all of their skill to guide the cars down the strip.

Classes scheduled to compete include
Outlaw Pro Modified and Nitrous Pro Modified, Outlaw 10.5, Big Dog, 5.0, 6.0,
7.0, Limited Street, Modified Street and EZ Street.

In addition, Pro and Footbrake
bracket classes will give several local drivers an opportunity to race for the
first time during the 2008 Bristol Dragway season.

Jim Paoli, the 1970 and 1971 NHRA Division 3 Top Fuel champion and later Funny
Car racer, died April 3. 

Paoli, who was based out
of Springfield, Ill., was runner-up to Dave Chenevert in the Top Fuel final of
the inaugural Gatornationals in 1970 in his lone national event final-round
appearance.

Although the Comp Eliminator field was excused from the NHRA national
event in Houston this past weekend, the teams certainly weren’t sitting
around with nothing to do, as most were prepping for the Jeg’s Cajun
SPORTSnationals this weekend in southern Louisiana. And with a Comp
Cash Reward bonus of $3000.00 going to this weekend’s winner,
competition will certainly be fierce for the winners circle at Pat
Joffrion’s fabled No Problem Raceway.

Defending champ Craig Bourgeois would love to go to the well one more
time at his home track, but with the Comp Cash Reward bonus money and
the forecast of temps in the mid 70’s for the weekend, pulling off a
“three-peat” may not be in the cards for the nostalgia dragster driver.
Inaugural champ Michael Johnson is scheduled to be back, and with the
likes of former Indy champ Raymond Martin, recent Gainesville winner
Rodger Brogdon, and drivers like Lee Zane, Peter Biondo, Dan Fletcher
and Arnie Martel coming in from the east coast, just surviving round
one of eliminations could become a major accomplishment. Then add in
young gun Chase Williams, Florida hitter Glenn Treadwell and recent No
Problem division race low qualifier Adam Hickey in his B & B Cobalt
and you have a Comp Eliminator field that just might end up second to
none.

Palmdale, California-based Super Stock racer Mark Tallent passed away
on March 26, 2008, after fighting a bout with an aggressive form of
cancer. He celebrated his 48th birthday just three weeks prior to his
death. Tallent is survived by his parents, his wife Karen, four
children and many many friends.

"Mark loved racing - the challenge, the competition, and the
fellowship," said fellow Super Stock racer Alex Denysenko. "He worked
hard on his car, and enjoyed every second of it.  And he was also right
there with a hand to help others.  He may not have won many races over
his lifetime, but his fast, sincere smile and quick wit won him a place
in a lot of hearts."

On Saturday, April 12  Standard 1320, an internet Nostalgia drag race
group, will present its 4th Annual Drag Race and  Reunion at Speedworld
Dragstrip at Wittman Az, Northwest of Phoenix.
         
The Feature Event will be an old fashioned, Best of 3 match race,
between the front engine Nostalgia Top Fuel dragsters of  Rick
White/Chuck Neal and the Bill Botelho/Mike Patterson dragster driven by
Mendy Fry. White and Fry have been in the 5-second range and both are
250 MPH club members.

Phoenix Custom Apparel has been named as the Official Apparel Source for the
JEGS ProMod Challenge. The well-respected, Denver-based company is owned and
operated by Top Alcohol Dragster superstar Bruce Bowler and provides uniforms to
many of the top teams in motorsports.

"Their products and professionalism are second-to-none and it's a
pleasure and an honor to have them step into this role," series organizer and
driver Troy Coughlin said. "Bruce is a genuine good guy and his staff members
are always very accommodating to all of our needs. I can't count how many times
we've needed something done in a hurry and they've always delivered. There's a
reason they're No. 1 in the apparel business."

With a totally integrated system of technology and staff, Phoenix Custom
Apparel smoothly takes customers through the process of designing custom
products and digitizing corporate and sponsor logos. They then use high-tech
computerized systems to take products through pattern-making, cutting,
embroidering, decorating, and sewing. Depending on the customers needs, they
seamlessly handle embroidery, sublimation, and screen printing to serve a
variety of needs.

On April 1st while most of the general public was concerned about
having pranks pulled on them John Force Racing drivers Ashley Force and
Robert Hight were pressing the flesh as guests of FADAL at the 2008
WESTEC Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The drag racing tandem met with fans, posed for pictures and talked
about the previous weekends NHRA O’Reilly Spring Nationals at Houston
Raceway Park.

“It was surprising actually because almost every single person that
came up (to us) had watched the race. Sometimes at other shows people
will walk by and they know you are in auto racing or you do something
with cars but, they don’t follow the circuit or they don’t know when
you have raced recently,” said the 2007 Rookie of the Year and driver
of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. “All these people knew I went to the
finals and they knew everything with our team.”

Melanie Troxel will be signing autographs in a meet-and-greet session with drag
racing fans Tuesday, April 8, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Simayof Diamond Cutters and
Jewelers, located in the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian Hotel &
Casino
 
Simayof Jewelers is sponsoring the Dodge Charger R/T Troxel will
drive in the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals, April 10-13, at The Strip at Las
Vegas Motor Speedway.  Tickets to the POWERade Series event will be awarded
during the four-hour funfest.