Dave 'Grumpy' Wilson, the2003 FIA European Top Methanol Dragster and MSA British Drag Racing Champion, and the American Car Imports Racing team are headed back to the United States for the second part of their Winter Tour.

Wilson drove the ACI Racing TAD into the 5.3-second zone at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals last November. The team were especially proud of this effort as it was not only a personal best, but the third quickest supercharged car on the grounds that weekend.

The team hopes that pre-season test sessions and national event experience will help refine the combination and push deeper into the 5.3-second zone.

"We have a very busy schedule planned", says Wilson, who tested in Las Vegas and Phoenix before heading to Pomona for the K&N. "We go home to England for 10 days after Pomona and then we fly back to the USA to collect the truck and head East to continue our journey."

The team hasn't been idle since returning home to England after the Finals. The highlight of Wilson's 30-year career was standing on stage at the FIA award ceremony in Monaco to take his place among the world's elite of motorsport, where the ACI display car was on display alongside the F1 Ferrari of Michael Schumacher.

The ACI Racing team plans to attend five events in six weekends: The Lucas Oil Divisional event at Firebird on March 12-14, the Mac Tools Gatornationals March 18-21, Lucas Oil Divisional event in Tucson March 26-28, the NHRA Summitracing.com Nationals in Las Vegas April April 1-4, and finally the O'Reilly Spring Nationals in Houston April 15-18.

"After the Houston event we are three quarters of the way back to the East Coast," said Wilson. "We'll put the car on the boat and come home ready for the FIA Main Event at Santa Pod Raceway in England, and the title defense will definitely be on."