NOPI continues to add to its partnership portfolio by teaming up with Scion Corp
for the Xplod NOPI Drag Racing Series Sanctioned by the NHRA. Racing is
something that Scion does not take lightly and it shows. During the 2007 season
Scion not only took home the Pro RWD championship but also set two world records
while doing it. Being the first car in NHRA Sport Compact history to blast
through the quarter mile in less than seven seconds while clocking in at over
200 mph is something that will definitely put you on the racing world’s radar.
In the 2008 season, Scion Racing has entries in four out of five classes running
in the Xplod NOPI Drag Racing Series Sanctioned by the NHRA

"The
momentum for Scion drag racing has been building over the last few years and we
expect it to increase as we continue our participation in NOPI Motorsports,"
said Steve Hatanaka, Scion auto shows and special events manager.  "Drag racing
is an exciting motorsport.  It was thrilling to see our tC sports coupe speed
down the track and take the championship last season.  It's also a great
opportunity for Scion owners and enthusiasts to engage with our brand,
experience the cars, get close to the track and meet the drivers."    

Considering they're looking for a full-time sponsor, Doug Foley and his FX
Caprara Kia crew are doing a great job of showing their value, storming past
numerous Top Fuel heavyweights Friday night to earn the No. 5 position on the
provisional qualifying sheet of the 21st annual O'Reilly Spring NHRA Nationals.

In just his fifth run down a racetrack this season, Foley dipped into
the 4.5-second range with an impressive 4.582-second pass at 303.09 mph at
Houston Raceway Park. The run virtually assures the drag racing instructor from
southwest New Jersey a position in Sunday's elimination field.

"Now
that's exciting," said Foley, who will be forced back to the sidelines after
this event due to funding concerns. "That was a crucial run for us because we're
in Texas and our experience in this state is that you never know what the
weather will do. It always feels good to make a big run Friday night to put your
car solidly in the field, and that's especially true here in the Lone Star
State."

Patty Foster was a man’s man – but not in the sense of what used to be
called a male chauvinist pig.  Pat was the kind of guy who’d strap on a
welder’s mask at night, and a firesuit the next morning.  As a race car
driver he competed in an era when some car owners regularly said to
their drivers, “No matter what, don’t lift.”  I saw Foster live – and
come close to dying – following this credo.  When I asked him, after
he’d climbed out of another inferno in Barry Setzer’s Vega at the
Springnationals in Columbus, why he continued to drive like that, he
just winked, smiled and said “He tells me to drive it to the lights,
but it’s my decision whether I go all the way.  Gotta fix this.  We’re
running at Englishtown Tuesday night!”  Foster always went all the way,
in every aspect of his life.

Pat’s boys are terrific, but in all truth Patty himself was not lucky
in matters of the heart.  It was if the gods had said, “You’ll be a
master craftsman, a renowned racer, an envied constructor and have a
wealth of friends, but in this one area, my friend, things will not
always go your way.”

ODESSA'S BRADSHAW CLAIMS TOP FUEL'S PROVISIONAL TOP SPOT AT 21ST ANNUAL O'REILLY NHRA SPRING NATIONALS

Cruz Pedregon, Kurt Johnson and Matt Smith round out the first day's provisional No. 1's
 
Odessa,
Tex.-native Alan Bradshaw raced to the provisional No. 1 qualifying
position in Top Fuel during the first day of qualifying at the 21st
annual O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil Friday at
Houston Raceway Park.

Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Kurt Johnson
(Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) rounded out the
provisional No. 1 qualifiers through the first two of four rounds of
qualifying at the fourth of 24 races on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series.

Bradshaw powered his Vis Viva dragster to a 4.526-second
pass at 323.50 mph to put himself in an excellent position to prove
that his first career No. 1 qualifier, earned just one race earlier at
the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals, was no fluke.

The O'Reilly NHRA Springnationals in Houston, Texas marks the first time Funny Car driver Gary Scelzi will enjoy the luxury
of a round-trip private flight courtesy of team owner Ken Black,
something that was offered him for 10 events at the end of last year in
order to keep Scelzi competing while spending more time with his family
and business in Fresno.

Cinderella received her second chance at
greatness when the clock struck midnight. For Jegs NHRA Pro Modified
driver Joe Baker, the night is still young. He’s entering this
weekend’s NHRA O’Reilly Springnationals in Baytown, Texas armed with
another load of good fortune thanks to the team he knocked out in the
opening round of the NHRA ACDelco Gatornationals in Gainesville,
Florida.

The experience is mind-boggling for the current points leader and
Gatornationals champion who originally didn’t have an invite to the
race he won. Baker will drive for Gotham City Racing this weekend,
filling in for Roger Burgess, who has business commitments.

“I was very fortunate the way the situation worked out,” Baker, a
former Top Sportsman standout, said. “The way things worked out, I was
in the show for the first Pro Modified event and then I wasn’t when the
sponsorship of the series changed. Then, Roger and Mike asked me to
drive at certain events and then the invite for Gainesville came though
after I'd agreed to their request. All the planets were in a row for
sure.

Legendary Funny Car racer, fabricator,
and race car restoration guru Pat Foster died March 27 after a short
illness. A former national event winner and record holder, Foster was
known as one of the best fuel coupe drivers in history with a long
résumé of famous rides in a driving career that spanned 15 years. He
was 68.

Foster had a reputation for being able to drive anything on wheels,
and, as a renowned "test pilot" for wary owners, claimed to have driven
more than 50 race cars from 1964 through his retirement from racing in
1979. His career was saluted when he was named an honoree at the NHRA
California Hot Rod Reunion in 2001, the same year he was voted No. 68
on the list of NHRA's top drivers of its first 50 years.

Foster's greatest acclaim came during a two-year stint, 1971-73,
behind the wheel of the Vega Funny Cars of North Carolina clothing
manufacturer Barry Setzer.

Ashley Force enters her sophomore season as a Funny Car driver, but
when she fires her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang during Friday’s NHRA
O’Reilly Springnationals in Houston, Texas, she will do so as a
freshman.

Force, the daughter of Funny Car legend John Force, sat out last year’s
event following the unfortunate death of teammate Eric Medlen. She’s
run the event before as a Top Alcohol Dragster driver but not in her
current capacity.

"The first thing I'll do when I get there is get with my crew chief,
Dean Antonelli, and put together a mental game plan,” Force said. “I
know dad has run great (at Houston) and so has Robert, so it must be a
pretty good Funny Car track.  We missed the race last year, so I'm
excited about making my first (Funny Car) runs there."

Force failed to make the show in Phoenix, but rebounded two weeks ago
and advance farther than any of the four John Force Racing [JFR] teams
who qualified by reaching the quarter-finals.

Cory McClenathan ranks Houston Raceway Park
high on his favored list of tracks and the reasoning should be obvious.

McClenathan has reached the
Top Fuel final round four times at HRP, winning in 1998 and 2000 (at the
discontinued fall event) and finishing runner-up in 2003 and 2005. He also
qualified No. 1 in 2006. Reunited with former crew chief Mike Green and racing
under the Don Schumacher Racing umbrella in 2008, Top Fuel's most tenured
driver is off to a solid start this season.  

"Sometimes you go to
these race tracks where you've done well and you're not exactly sure why,"
said McClenathan. "Houston
would be one of those places for me. It doesn't matter what kind of year I'm
having. For some reason when we get to Houston
all of a sudden things turn around. We've won there a couple of times and we've
lost there in the final a few times. It's one of those places on the tour I
like strictly because we've run well there and we've enjoyed lots of
success."

Mike Ashley entered Houston Raceway Park in Baytown, Texas, four years
ago with a point to prove. He’s experiencing a bit of déja vu headed
into this weekend’s NHRA O’Reilly Springnationals.

Ashley, a two-time NHRA Pro Modified champion, wants the world to know
he’s still got the team to beat despite a two-year absence from the
class. His No. 1 qualifying effort during the recently completed NHRA
Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., went a long way to prove his point.

“I knew I had the team and car to do what we did in Gainesville,” said
Ashley, who won this weekend’s event in 2004. “I think it’s been just a
matter of getting the driver back in the routine of doing what he’s
supposed to. We left a little on the table with the run that led
qualifying but this experience was exciting and invigorating.”