Welcome to the first Insider entry of the new format. I thank you all for your understanding and encouragement following my New Year's Day announcement of a shift in format. I think the best way for me to look at this is that this space will now be more blog than column, which is the exact opposite of what I intended, but I think that by being able to post shorter multiple (on occasion) items a day covering a wide range of topics, there will always be something interesting to read here. You'll also notice that under my column heading on the home page there now is a "last update" date, too, which should alert you to new content.

Although there definitely was some general unhappiness, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of you who said that putting the original Insider format into National DRAGSTER was enough to convince you to subscribe to the magazine, and I think that once you get it in your hands, you'll be pleased with more than just that content. Again, thanks for your understanding and suggestions – one of which was to post the printed ND columns in the members-only area so that you could have the convenience of also following the column on the Web, which just might happen – and keep the ideas and good vibes coming.

Couple of quick items for you. Voting for the Most Memorable Winternationals Moment concluded when 2009 did, and the results are now final. We will begin unveiling them, in reverse order, on NHRA.com next Monday, five at a time leading up to the announcement of the top five during race week and the unveiling of the top moment during Sunday's pre-race ceremony.

Watching the voting throughout December, it was interesting to see a couple of surprise entries reach the top five, only to fall out. There were so many amazing moments to vote for that it's a shame that some of what I consider iconic moments from back in the day didn't even make the top 10 while some newer highlights did.

I think that some of you may be surprised. OK, I've probably already said too much. You'll have to wait for the first of the unveilings a week from today.

Speaking of memorable moments, Mopar released its top 10 moments of the 2000s, and I was thrilled to see drag racing not only included but dominant, with five of the top moments coming from the NHRA world. Gary Scelzi's 2005 NHRA Funny Car world championship – the first for a Dodge-bodied flopper since Frank Hawley's 1983 crown in the vaunted Chi-Town Hustler, was the top moment. Scelzi's win in the Don Schumacher Racing/Mopar Stratus ended John Force Racing's 12-year grip on the Funny Car throne.

Pro Stock racer Allen Johnson winning the 2007 Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals from the No. 1 qualifying spot was voted the No. 6 moment, and Super Stock ace Bucky Hess' victory at the inaugural Mopar Hemi Challenge in 2001 was ranked seventh. The unveiling of the new Dodge Challenger Drag Pak cars by Mopar legends Don Garlits and Judy Lilly at the 2008 Mile-Highs was ranked eighth, and Scelzi's breaking of the 330-mph barrier in his Dodge Stratus Funny Car at the 2004 event in Chicago was listed as ninth.

You can review the entire list, with more detail, here.

One more Winternationals note. I mentioned last week that the famous Howard Cams Twin Bear dual-engine wonder would be among the restored entries of the Golden 50 on display at the 50th Anniversary Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals and was rewarded by this great photo of the car, with the legendary Jack Chrisman in the cockpit, taken by devout Insider follower Rich Venza.

"I thought you might enjoy a photo I took at Island Dragway of Jack Chrisman getting ready to make a pass in the Howard Cams Twin Bear," he noted. "It must have been '62 or '63 as the plywood had been replaced with a more professional nosepiece."

Venza's plywood reference relates to the photo in my Dec. 29 column below from when the car made its debut with a very low-tech aerodynamic attachment in front of the twin powerplants.

Dennis Friend, who runs the TwoToGo.com Web site that specializes in twin-engine machines from the past, has even more photos of the Bear (as well as the Dragmaster Two Thing) here.