Only a few individual seats remain for the Don Garlits Rat Roast, a special charity event to honor the greatest driver in NHRA history and celebrate his 80th birthday. The list of roasters and individuals anticipated to attend reads like a Who’s Who of NHRA Drag Racing.

The event will be held Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Sheraton Fairplex in Pomona beginning at 6 p.m. It is one of the many activities planned during the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries, Feb. 9-12 at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Proceeds from the Don Garlits Rat Roast will benefit Quarter Mile Foundation, whose mission is to collect and archive the history of drag racing and related aspects of the high-performance aftermarket, focusing on capturing the first-person, oral histories of the surviving pioneers and legends.

Tickets are only $80 per person and include dinner and entertainment by a lineup of roasters that is sure to bring out never-heard stories and accounts of the early days of drag racing as well as of many of “Big Daddy’s” most famous exploits. NHRA announcer Bob Frey is hosting the event.

To purchase one of the few remaining individual tickets, log on to www.NHRATix.com, click on the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries Tickets link, and scroll down to the Don Garlits Rat Roast link. VIP tables are sold out.

The cockpit of a 7,000-horsepower nitro-burning Funny Car isn’t exactly where you’d expect to find a young woman, but that’s exactly where you’ll see rookies Courtney Force and Alexis DeJoria, two of the most intriguing rookie drivers in NHRA history, at the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season opener, the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries, Feb. 9-12 at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Morgan Lucas (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), and Jason Line (Pro Stock) are the defending winners of the first of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series for 2012. The race will be televised by ESPN2 and ESPN2HD.

Force, the youngest daughter of Funny Car legend and 15-time NHRA world champ John Force, will follow in her father’s and sister Ashley Force Hood’s tire tracks when she takes her first laps down the track in NHRA competition in her brand-new Traxxas Ford Mustang during the season-opening weekend. The popular young driver, who is already well-known by fans and acts like a seasoned veteran with the media, tested her Mustang throughout last season and during the off-season to prepare for her new job.

“I’m much more comfortable with it [Traxxas Ford Mustang] now,” the 23-year-old Force said. “Just having seat time has taught me a lot. We have a new chassis, a new car, a whole new team onboard, as well as [crew chiefs] Ron Douglas and Scott Wible tuning my car. It took a couple days, but that’s what test 'n' tune is all about. It definitely went well. I think by the end of testing, we definitely got our stuff together, and I think we got our car figured out and ready for Pomona. I’m very excited.”

DeJoria, who competed in the league-minimum four races at the end of last season to maintain her rookie eligibility, will join Force on the track behind the wheel of her Tequila Patron Toyota Camry under the watchful eye of veteran Funny Car pilot and rookie crew chief Del Worsham.

Like Force, DeJoria, daughter of famed entrepreneur John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of Paul Mitchell Hair Care Systems and Tequila Patron, doesn’t appear to be your typical race car driver. The 34-year-old single mother and self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie has gained tons of experience during her Sportsman days in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series and is well-prepared for her first full season in the NHRA Full Throttle Series.

“I’m very excited to be racing against these teams and drivers that I’ve been watching on TV for so long,” DeJoria said. “Our class is so competitive, and I love that. It’s going to be fun to go up against not only Courtney, but a couple of other Funny Car rookies like Blake Alexander and Todd Lesenko as well. I know everyone’s going to have a field day with the whole ‘me vs. Courtney’ thing, but I welcome it. I’m a competitive person by nature, and I’ve been working and preparing for this season for a very long time. I’m definitely ready for it.”

Both DeJoria and Force will enter the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals with the same goal: to qualify for the first race of the season as a first step in a larger goal of trying to earn the coveted Auto Club Road to the Future Award, NHRA’s prize for the season’s top-performing rookie driver. The Auto Club Road to the Future Award has been presented to some of the sport’s most popular stars over the years. These two aren’t the only candidates, but they will certainly be two of the most closely watched rookies.

While the rookies look to make an impact in the sport, reigning Funny Car world champ Matt Hagan will try to defend his first series title as he takes the controls of his Aaron’s/Mopar Dodge Charger R/T for the 2012 season. His teammates Ron Capps and Jack Beckman will be among many drivers in the division working to earn a first Funny Car world championship. Courtney’s teammates, John Force, Robert Hight, and Mike Neff, also will look to make their own impression starting at the season opener as well as Jeff Arend, Cruz Pedregon, Tony Pedregon, Bob Bode, Tim Wilkerson, and Bob Tasca III.

* SCHEDULE: NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series qualifying sessions are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Thursday Feb. 9, and Friday, Feb. 10. The final two qualifying sessions are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11. Final eliminations will begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 12.

* TICKETS: For tickets for the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries, call NHRA, 800-884-NHRA (6472) or log on to www.NHRATix.com.

* ON TV: ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 11 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 11. ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise a three-hour-and-a-half-hour eliminations show at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 12.

* LUCAS OIL SERIES: The O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries also will feature competition in seven categories in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, where some of the future stars of the NHRA Full Throttle Series are born. Lucas Oil Series qualifying begins at 8:15 a.m. on Feb. 9. Lucas Oil Series eliminations begin at 8:15 a.m. on Feb. 10 and continue Feb. 11 and Feb. 12.

After racing to victory at the season-opening O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries in 2011, Funny Car driver Robert Hight has his sights set on another trip to the winner’s circle during this weekend’s race at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. With winning on his mind and a new season of competition looming, Hight says he’s also looking forward to the opportunity to mingle with fans during a pre-race appearance on behalf of NHRA series sponsor Full Throttle Energy Drink.

The day before qualifying begins at the 52nd annual race, the 2009 Funny Car champion will take time to spend with fans during an appearance on behalf of the NHRA series sponsor. The driver of the Auto Club Ford Mustang for John Force Racing will sign autographs and greet fans from 6 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the G&M Oil at 14454 Foothill Blvd. in nearby Fontana, Calif.

The event will include free samples of Full Throttle Energy Drink, which will be distributed by brand ambassadors from 5 to 7 p.m.

“It has been a long off-season, and I am ready to get back to the track with my team and my Auto Club Ford Mustang Funny Car,” said Hight, who finished fourth in the Funny Car points standings in 2011. “I know the fans are just as excited as we are to get the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing season started, so I am looking forward to spending some time with them in advance of the NHRA Winternationals.”

Continue to check NHRA.com for the dates and locations of other Full Throttle Energy Drink driver/rider appearances and sampling events throughout the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season.
 

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.
 

Today’s announcement extends what has been a long-term relationship for NHRA with all three entities. ESPN International is broadcast in 169 countries and territories to more than 44.7 million viewers. TSN has been NHRA’s exclusive broadcast partner in Canada and plans to broadcast nearly 70 hours of final-round coverage of 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events. American Forces Network, in 175 countries and U.S. territories, will continue to make NHRA programming available to U.S. Armed Forces television stations outside the United States. Combined, NHRA reaches 207 countries and territories across the globe with a potential reach of 51.4 million households.

Of course, NHRA’s international reach goes beyond its broadcast partners. NHRA sanctions seven member tracks in Canada, offering many of its popular grassroots Sportsman racing programs. NHRA’s Canadian member tracks are in Luskville, Que. (Luskville Dragway); Napierville, Que. (Napierville Dragway); Cayuga, Ont. (Toronto Motorsports Park); Sparta, Ont. (St. Thomas Dragway Park); Medicine Hat, Alta. (M.H.D.R.A. Dragstrip); Mission, B.C. (Mission Raceway); and Saskatoon, Sask. (Saskatchewan International Raceway). Holding NHRA member track status in Puerto Rico is Puerto Rico Int'l Speedway in Salinas. 

In 2010, NHRA announced the creation of NHRA Worldwide Network, which enables drag racing facilities around the world to conduct events under the NHRA banner. Since inception, Yas Drag Racing Centre, on Yas Island off the coast of Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain Int'l Circuit in Sakhir, Kingdom of Bahrain, have joined NHRA Worldwide Network. 
 

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season celebrates Nitro Generation, a tribute to the many families who have made NHRA the world’s largest motorsports sanctioning body. It is a celebration of the generations of racers who have produced raw emotion and drama while in pursuit of race victories and world championships. And it is the fans who have across many generations shared their love of NHRA with their families and friends. ESPN’s coverage during each of the 23 races will highlight Nitro Generation, both in the pits and the grandstands, in search of answers to the question: Do you have the Nitro Gene?

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series television schedule features Sunday night prime-time slots on ESPN2 or ESPN for nearly every event. All six of the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship playoff events are scheduled to offer eliminations coverage in prime time. The NHRA works with ESPN each year to provide qualifying and finals programming with the best possible air times. The prestigious Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, Aug. 29-Sept. 3, will again feature 11 hours of wall-to-wall coverage, including complete coverage of final eliminations on Monday, Sept. 3, from noon to 6 p.m. ET.

In all, the network will dedicate more than 100 hours of original programming to the world’s quickest, fastest, and most intense motorsport, with live or same-day coverage of qualifying on Saturday and eliminations on Sunday. All telecasts will be aired in high definition on ESPN2HD or ESPNHD. ESPN2/ESP2NHD and ESPN/ESPNHD are available in nearly 100 million households nationwide.

The shows are developed by the production team at ESPN, which has been producing NHRA programming since 2001. Paul Page returns to call the action as host alongside former drag racer Mike Dunn, who will provide expert analysis and insight. Each show will feature three pit reporters in 2012. Dave Rieff and Gary Gerould will return as pit reporters at all 23 events. Veteran announcer John Kernan, who joined the NHRA telecast team in 2007, will split duties as the third pit reporter with Jamie Howe. A familiar face in the NHRA pit area, Howe served as a pit reporter on the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series telecasts on ESPN2 in 2011.

The telecasts will feature competition from all four classes in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series: Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle.
 
In addition to coverage on ESPN2 and ESPN, NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing will be aired and distributed internationally through ESPN International. ESPN International is available to more than 35.6 million homes in 161 countries and territories around the world. The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series also is broadcast in Canada on TSN.

In addition, U.S. troops and their families serving around the world in 175 countries and Navy vessels at sea can watch NHRA through the American Forces Network.
 

All systems are go for the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries, the kickoff to the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, with perfect weather forecast for Feb. 9-12 and track conditions in prime shape at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

According to forecasts from The Weather Channel, all four days of the annual season opener will enjoy sunshine and mid- to low-70-degree temperatures, perfect record-breaking conditions for the scores of racers eager to get their seasons off to a fast start and for fans to enjoy the excitement and action that only NHRA Drag Racing provides.

The NHRA Safety Safari presented by AAA will spend the better part of a week grooming the historic dragstrip for the event. Qualifying begins Thursday, Feb. 9, with final eliminations set for Sunday, Feb. 12. Tickets can be purchased online at www.NHRATix.com/.

“Conditions are always good at Pomona; it’s always a fast track, and the forecast is certainly conducive to great runs,” said NHRA Senior Vice President-Racing Operations Graham Light. “We saw some tremendous performances from the teams during preseason testing, and with dry air and low humidity, we should see record-setting times. We’ve got full fields in all of the Full Throttle classes. It should be an excellent show."

The event will be filled with drama and excitement, including the Professional debut of Courtney Force, youngest daughter of 15-time NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car champ John Force; two new drivers for the powerhouse Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel team; the return of former Pro Stock champ Jeg Coughlin Jr.; and so much more.

Additionally, a special Don Garlits 80th birthday Rat Roast charity event will be held Saturday evening, Feb. 11, at the Sheraton Fairplex. Individual tickets for the Don Garlits 80th birthday Rat Roast are $80, with a limited number of 10-people VIP tables available for $2,500. To buy tables to the event, contact Rachelle Litwin at NHRA, rlitwin@nhra.com or 626-250-2269. For individual tickets, log on to www.NHRATix.com and click on the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals ticket page and scroll down to the Don Garlits 80th Rat Roast link.

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.
 

The last time he was at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Snap-on Tools Toyota Funny Car pilot Cruz Pedregon came very close to winning what would have been his third championship. With a return to the venerable facility just around the bend for the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries – an event Pedregon has won three times in three categories – his confidence is high.

The off-season was eventful for the Brownsburg, Ind., transplant: the hiring of a comfortingly familiar crew chief, an extension of support from a major backer, and rejuvenated family ties have positioned Pedregon for what he hopes will be a year of celebration, from beginning to end.

"Like most off-seasons, it's been a lot of nose to the grindstone," said Pedregon. "I didn't take any long vacations or anything like that, and it felt good to be working with Lee [Beard, crew chief] and the team and getting everyone on the same page. It was important for me to be there. Lee is a new face with a lot of ideas and a lot of thoughts, and he is just a fun guy to be around. He's probably the first guy in a long time that I've been able to work with who is as good of a friend away from the track as we are on it."

The timing for the partnership seems fitting; Beard contributed to Pedregon's first Funny Car world championship in 1992, and this season marks the 20th anniversary of the accomplishment – as well as Pedregon's 20th year of competition in the category.

It's early yet, but already the team has begun to jell under the combined influence of Beard and Pedregon. The preseason test session in Palm Beach, Fla., produced a pleasing 4.06, 4.09, and a "soft, easy 4.12," according to Pedregon.

The nine total hits provided opportunity to sort out and solidify changes made in the engine department and gauge where they stand before hitting the road for an event that Pedregon first won in a Top Alcohol Dragster in 1989. The next season, Pedregon returned to Pomona and got the job done in a Top Alcohol Funny Car, and in 1995, he beat Chuck Etchells in a nitro Funny Car to add a third Winternationals trophy to his mounting collection.

"I remember it like it was yesterday, every detail of each one of those wins. Pomona is special to me," said Pedregon, who was raised in nearby Torrance, Calif. "I still have family there, and it's a home track. Coming in there this year, we have expectations. We had a good season last year – not a great season, but good. So what we want to do is get a good start, hopefully even win the thing, and then come back there in the fall and put the icing on the cake."

Team owner, team manager, driver, and sometimes crew chief Pedregon believes that with the addition of the vastly experienced Beard, his load of responsibilities will lighten a bit beginning in Pomona, and he will have more time to enjoy sponsor commitments such as ride-alongs with Snap-on franchisees as well as focus more on driving and the competition, two things that have held his interest for more than two decades.

"Having a little less on my plate is going to be a breath of fresh air," said Pedregon.

While the West Coast launch of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series beckons, even more excitement is slated as the year unfolds. In Gainesville, at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals, Pedregon is scheduled to debut an all-new Toyota Camry body, and he will proudly pilot the brand in Englishtown at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, where Toyota has entered into a title-rights agreement as sponsor of the 43rd annual Toyota NHRA SuperNationals, May 31-June 3.

"I think it's great that Toyota has dipped their toe in little by little with NHRA," said Pedregon. "Having a major auto manufacturer support race teams and events is a very good thing for the sport, and the timing is right. I'm sure looking forward to running that new Camry; from what I'm told, it's going to be fast and better than we've ever had, and hopefully we'll be even more on par with some of the other manufacturers."

Pedregon's Toyota will continue to be backed by Snap-on Tools, which recently renewed with a multiyear agreement, and many longtime sponsors will remain in place in 2012, including Sioux City Truck and Trailer and Herzog.

Pedregon, surrounded with support from every angle, believes that he is fortunate to have a great group of people to work with, from the office to the hospitality team, and his race team is one that he respects both personally and professionally. He says that he has worked with some really good guys but calls Beard "arguably the best crew chief I've ever had." The ducks are in a row.

"I'm actually in better physical shape than I have been," added Pedregon. "I'm excited, I'm having fun again, and I'm absolutely confident. NHRA has weathered the storm with the economy, and I'm seeing more excitement with new drivers coming out – Courtney Force and Alexis DeJoria – along with the veterans we've raced for years.

"And I'm looking forward to working with my brother [fellow Funny Car driver] Tony again. He's going to be a threat this year, and we're back to helping each other and sharing like brothers. Our dad always told us, 'You guys help each other.' We're getting back to that, and I'm excited. These are the best times for me. It's going to be a great 20th anniversary, and it would just be so fitting to cap this big year with a championship."

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.
 

Dollar General, the nation’s largest small-box discount retailer, will become the title-rights sponsor of the annual NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event in Topeka. The Dollar General NHRA Summernationals will be held May 18-20 at Heartland Park Topeka. For tickets, log on to www.NHRATix.com.

Dollar General boasts more than 700 stores in and around Kansas and intends to conduct in-market store activation programs for the event. In addition to promotional rights, Dollar General will receive broadcast elements, display space and signage on-site at the event, pre-event customer activities, and corporate hospitality. It represents Dollar General’s first involvement in NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing.

“Having Dollar General as title-rights sponsor of the Dollar General NHRA Summernationals in Topeka affords NHRA and Heartland Park Topeka with a great opportunity to reach and expose NHRA to a broad audience,” said Gary Darcy, NHRA senior vice president of sales and marketing. “To partner with a retail outlet like Dollar General is a great way to deliver the NHRA message to a broad audience, and we look forward to activating the sponsorship in the marketplace.”

Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based Dollar General Corp. is the nation’s largest small-box discount retailer, making shopping for everyday needs simpler and hassle-free by offering a carefully edited assortment of the most popular brands at low everyday prices in small, convenient locations. Dollar General ranks among the largest retailers of top-quality brands made by America’s most-trusted manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark, Unilever, Kellogg’s, General Mills, and Nabisco.
 

When one thinks of success at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in the Top Fuel category, the name Schumacher soon follows. Schumacher has collected six wins at this historic track, which ties him for the most in the category with famed Top Fuel driver “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, and of those six, two are O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals titles. But after a rocky 2011 season in which Schumacher raced to seven final-round appearances but went winless for the season -- the first time in 10 years that he has done so -- he enters the 2012 season at the same track where he collected his last win 22 races ago.

Q: Tony, this had to have been the longest off-season for you and your team. Talk a little bit about what you and crew chief Mike Green have been able to do during this off-season to get ready for 2012.

Schumacher: What we haven't had to do is polish our trophies; it was a rough year [laughter]. Even looking back, we did a heck of a job. We had some amazing runs, ran fast. We got beat on some close races.

Our [Don Schumacher Racing] shop, we can look at Mike Green being my crew chief, but all the guys work so hard in the off-season. As long as it does seem to take to get back after a season like we had, we're looking forward to getting going. Those guys came up with some great things. We tested very well. Hopefully we get a chance to use all the stuff we developed.

But we're going to go out and win. Everyone on this call, all the drivers know at some point there's going to be adversity, and we had it last year. We had to get through it because a lot of teams probably would have gone out and fired a lot of guys. That's not how we act. Mike and I get along so good. The nine guys that build the car are phenomenal in developing and working.

We just had to look back on it and say, "Tough breaks, lost four-thousandths of a second, had some amazing battles." The teams we raced did a heck of a job when we raced them. All in all, we performed very well. We just have to do better this year. We're not used to getting beat. Something we'll have to get through, except not let it happen again.

Q: With all the competition that seems to be coming in the Top Fuel category, do you feel this is going to be the most highly competitive class of 2012?

Schumacher: Oh, you know, Pro Stock, Funny Car, Top Fuel, the last two years have been so incredible, it's hard to say that we're going to be more competitive. Pro Stock, like we were running last year, they've been doing that for years and years where there's a whole group of cars that can run within a hundredth of a second. The guy who leads first wins.

Top Fuel right now, it's fun to race. There was a time when our car was a tenth of a second faster than everybody. I was going to win the race unless something dramatic happened. It's not like that anymore. You have to be a machine out there. There are so many great cars.

There are five Army cars. The Army car was the only one at one point. Then DSR put two more. There's a handful just with that similar tune-up going fast. Then a whole bunch of other cars that are running pretty darn close.

I love it. You've got to show up and bring your A game. I do 200 speeches a year to kids. This is an amazing thing to be able to talk to these young kids and say, “See this car behind me? That is an A game car.” I ask the kids, “Who had a test this week?” I ask, “How many of you studied so much that you were going to get an A?” All their hands go down.

At some point, you have to figure out how to get an A. You don't bring a B attitude to this race. Anymore, you have to have everything and a little bit more to win these races.

It's awesome. I've said this for years. I don't race because I need that trophy; I race because I need the competition. I love a good battle, and right now we have it. All four of our classes, the bikes, too, I would be proud to be an NHRA fan right now, pay my money, sit in the stands, because I'm going to get one heck of a race.

Q: Obviously, there were a lot of changes in the off-season with Alan Johnson's Al-Anabi team. You guys have held steady. Do you think that continuity going into this year will be an advantage for you, especially early in the season?

Schumacher: I have no doubt about it. Alan had some wild changes over the course of the winter. Some of them were quite surprising. I think, like I said, getting through the adversity that we did last year, Spencer [Massey] getting another year under his belt, and Antron [Brown], too, our cars are going to perform pretty well.

Alan is going to have his work cut out for him with new drivers. His cars are very difficult to drive. They're very fast. Very critical to keep them in the center of the racetrack or put them where Alan would like them. [Shawn] Langdon is a phenomenal driver; we're going to have to see how it plays out. It's going to be difficult for them because both those guys are going to feel pressure they've never felt before. Our guys are just going to motor on.

Everyone is status quo in our camp. Our guys are getting better at working together. Our crew chiefs are getting better at working together. We're going to be a tough one to beat.

That being said, Alan Johnson is still Alan Johnson. We have a killer respect for each other, all of us. It's going to be a tough battle right to the end.

Again, I love racing. I love racing in this situation. I love the fact that there are other great cars that can beat me. It makes me step up and be a better driver.

Any of the drivers that you happen to have online today, we've all been in these situations. We're three of the few out there that just love being in good competition.

I liked the trophies, don't get me wrong. I like the trophies a lot more that were tough to earn.

Q: Your other two drivers are the toughest guys you have to beat at this point; do you feel that way?

Schumacher: Absolutely. I've said that for a long time. Take those two guys away, and I'm world champ last year, and I didn't win a race because of those guys. They beat me more than anybody else.

That's fine. It's a great situation to know that if you win a championship, you had to beat those guys. No one laid down. No one had team orders. There was no easy way to do it.

I will beat the Matco car and the FRAM car if I'm going to be a champ. We have different sponsors. I'm not trying to win it for all the same names on the side. I drive the Army car. Antron drives the Matco car. Spencer drives the FRAM car. Matco wants to win. FRAM wants to win. Army wants me to win.

It's pretty cool that when it comes down to the end, you get called the champ, you can look back and say, "I earned that. It was a good battle, and I had to dig deep to get it."

Q: If you wanted a perfect season, how would you describe it for 2012?

Schumacher: Oh, gosh. We win the championship. I'll start backwards. It comes down to the last run again. It's a battle to do it amongst my three cars with the two Al-Anabi cars following. That's perfect. We're allowed to use our new Top Fuel canopy design; we go out and win a bunch of races.

But I don't want it to be a runaway. I never have. As cool as it is to win, it is amazing when it's those good, close races that just make you have to really sit up in the seat.

Most of you guys have seen the Top Fuel dragster canopy design. I really like that just for safety. The thing that makes a successful year is when all the drivers that start end up finishing at some point, that no one is hurt or injured. We're going awful fast out there. It's great to know that guys like my dad are out there working hard to make the cars go faster but safer at the same time.

Last year, if you would have asked me at the beginning, I wouldn't have said a successful season is winning one race. We have to win. We have to show we're the team we've always been. We expect to win. In the off-season, we do what it takes to win.

We have some great, great people, very hardworking men. We've got to go out and win. We're used to it. We're not used to going out and having a season like we did last year. As good as we were running, we had no lucky breaks. We need to pull some of those in for our sake this year and give the Army back what they're expecting.

After an impressive 2011 showing that included a win in Dallas and final-round appearances in Gainesville and Englishtown, along with a third-place finish in the points standings, Pedregon, a two-time Funny Car world champion, is ready to power his Snap-on Tools Toyota Camry back into title contention. Pedregon has competed in a final round at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona an impressive five times, but his last Winternationals win was in 1995.

Q: Both you and your brother Tony have had some extensive changes made to both teams over the off-season. How are you feeling heading into 2012?

Pedregon: Feeling great. We brought Lee Beard onboard, who comes over from the Don Schumacher team. Been there for many years. We're looking forward to tapping into some of his knowledge. He's a smart guy anyway.

I think he's one of those guys that he came to the right place. I think you have to have the right fit, with Lee, to maximize his knowledge. I really feel like we hit a home run in getting Lee onboard. He and I go way back. We raced together back in the Joe Gibbs days with the McDonald's sponsorship teams.

You know, I know his personality. I know his knowledge. I just can't wait to get out there and start to race. I'm looking forward to it.

Q: With the strength that you came on last fall, does that give you an incentive starting into the season?

Pedregon: Of course it does, yeah, absolutely. For some reason, I don't know what it is about the late season for us, but we kind of gain a momentum. It's been that way forever with me. We don't do anything different. It just works out that way.

Obviously, it's important to get a fast start. We're going to try to get a faster start. Again, we're not changing a lot with the car. People will be surprised. I'm sure people are thinking Lee is going to come in and change a bunch of stuff. Obviously, he recognized we had a fast car. We had the quickest average elapsed time of any Funny Car.

We looked at the areas that needed improvement, blower technology, different things like that that Lee brought. We're trying not to change the way we apply our race strategy. Lee and I are going to be together in the room mixing it up making sure we come up with a game plan that will allow us to come out there and beat these guys. They're not getting slower. They're getting stronger every year. They have crew chiefs stacked like cord wood over there. Our experience is strong, and I feel good.

Q: You're a Hispanic driver. You've been racing for a lot of years. You could run for president of Mexico and win and do a better job. Have you seen an increase of Hispanic fans in NHRA because of your involvement?

Pedregon: I think so. Especially when you look at Southern California; different markets like maybe Houston, even Gainesville, you get a lot of Hispanics, Puerto Rican Hispanics, Denver. Depends on different regions.  But definitely I notice. I don't know how much credit we can take for it. The sport is exciting, all the different classes. So, you know, I don't know how you quantify that.

Of course, we're a little biased. We'd like to think we had a little bit to do with it. It's been a pleasure for me and honor for me to be in that role. It's something I never thought about. My dad was a racer. My brother and I, we just wanted to race. We've been given some great opportunities. We've had some great sponsors. The market side has opened some doors for us. Being Hispanic has some advantages.

What I'm trying to do now as an owner, I'm trying to get more Hispanic crewmembers on the team. Driving is a very hard thing to attain, as you can imagine. It's like being in a pro sport of any kind. It's hard to do. You get a lot more nos than you do yeses. I'm trying to give people opportunities that are doing a tech school or something, just really try to give them opportunities. I think that's going to grow the sport in the future. I think when Tony and I hang up our gloves and helmets, I don't see anybody coming up. I think when my driving days are over, I'll bring a Hispanic driver along and give him that opportunity.

But I think it's just great that you see the growth that we have through the years.

Q: With the addition of Lee in the off-season, has that allowed you to change your focus, focus more on the driving aspect of the car?

Pedregon: I think so. I've had a pretty full plate. Time will tell. I think Lee does some of the things that I'm really not that good at or things that I don't really have the time for. That's working alongside each and every crewmember on the team, organize and make sure they're doing the job.

Lee is real good about showing different people what to do so they can move around if they choose to. I think from that standpoint I'll be able to, yeah, step back. Like Tony said, these cars are running so close nowadays, I've got to be sharper, I've got to be better than I was last year.

Without a doubt, Lee is going to provide that opportunity for me because, like I said, the guys have raised their game. There are some guys out there, that's all they do, that's all they think about. They're sharpshooters. We've got to go out there and be as good as them if not better. But you've certainly got to be on time.

Q: Did doing everything yourself last year, where you finished in the points, give you any extra sense of pride knowing you had been the one calling the shots and driving, chasing the sponsors?

Pedregon: You know, it did in a way. No doubt about it. We all like that. There's ego involved. But I did it out of necessity. I didn't have a budget to go out and hire a crew. Even if I had the budget, a lot of these guys that are really good, they're not going to leave their team. They shouldn't. They should be loyal.

I did it out of necessity. I thought, "If I'm going to go down, I'm going to go down swinging."

I did have good guys, Danny, who moved on to John Force's team. He did a good job. I was surrounded by good guys. I'm not taking all the credit. It was tough, though. I'd get in the car. I was joking with guys like Tim Wilkerson and Mike Neff. I'm thinking, “Did I open that flow enough? Should I change the timing map? Is that air pressure right for these conditions? Did I put the wing right?” There are so many things.

I got tattooed a couple times. I felt like Lee fit the bill perfect. He does things the way I want them done. I don't have to look over his shoulder. He does things the way I feel things should be done.

Yeah, I don't have any excuses now. If I go out there, I feel like I can put in the effort that it takes, like Schumacher said, you have the car, then you have the driver. What's great about the driver, and even Jeg, Jeg is one of the best, you have to have the driver contribution and the car contribution. It's a combination of the two that equate to wins and losses.

The driver should matter. He's like the quarterback, the trigger man. The fans look for the driver. So you should have to earn your keep in that seat.

Perhaps one of the most exciting drivers to be returning to Auto Club Raceway at Pomona is four-time Pro Stock world champion Coughlin. After sitting out all of the 2011 season, he has returned to the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series with a new car and an entirely new engine shop. Coughlin will enter the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season behind the wheel of the JEGS.com Mopar Dodge Avenger. He enters the Winternationals with a record of six wins at the historic track, two being Winternationals titles.

Q: You have a brand-new car with a brand-new team. How are you feeling going into next week's event?

Coughlin: We're feeling fantastic. Much like the teams you talked to, Tony and Cruz today, a lot of exciting stuff happening in the off-season for us. Our off-season has been slightly more than just the Pomona couple months' span. We started JNR Racing Engines back in April time frame, down in Mooresville, N.C. Roy Simmons and Nick Ferri, both well-known names in the Pro Stock world, head up the engine-development side. Later, we partnered with the Chrysler Corp., Dodge and Mopar branding in particular, started assembling a team.

When we went to our first test session a few weeks back, we went with a new transporter, a new car, a new engine, new parts. Everything was brand-new. It was probably the first time in my career that's ever taken place.

Everything went really well in testing. We accomplished quite a bit in just two days at Palm Beach [Fla.]. We're ready to do some more testing this weekend in Las Vegas before we head to Pomona for a great start to the 2012 season.

Q: With all the domination that the KB Racing team has had over the past two years, starting off with a brand-new program, how competitive do you feel you can be this year, or is this more of a building year?

Coughlin: Well, we certainly look to start off about where we left off, which was a top couple teams.

Pro Stock seems to go in phases where some teams dominate. We certainly had our run since 2000 where we've won a couple of championships. KB has won a handful with Jason [Line] and Greg [Anderson] and Mike Edwards as well.

There are a lot of extremely good teams out there right now, between the ones we mentioned, the Johnson family, the list goes on and on.

I think our goal with putting this team together is everyone on this team has been a world champion at one point in time in their career. There's a lot of experience, a lot of respect for one another that we've been able to assemble.

We're looking to hit the ground pretty darn hard and compete for round-wins and race wins right up front. We have yet to kind of race in a crowd, so to speak, and I think we'll get a taste of that this weekend at our preseason warmup at Las Vegas. The true test will be in Pomona in just two weeks.

But, yes, we're certainly looking to build our program. By the looks of our numbers that we ran in Palm Beach, it looks like we're going to be pretty close coming right out of the chute, which is pretty exciting. I know Nick and Roy with this new Hemi powerplant is all new to them. I think we're going to come out pretty strong and certainly improve from there.

Q: You've been driving GM powerplant Pro Stock cars all along. Now you're in a Chrysler. Is there a different way that the engine feels or accelerates at different places in the track with the Hemi?

Coughlin: I wouldn't say too much from the seat of the pants. Feel is different. Good question. When Roy or Nick are working on the dyno, we can see the torque is in a little different spot and the horsepower is in a little different spot. From their standpoint, they've been able to manipulate some things with their tune-up to garner more horsepower.

But as far as saying I feel it from the pants, it seems like this Dodge wants to rev a little higher than the GMs did. But we're just really getting our feet wet with it. Probably be able to tell with a little more runs under my belt. I've really just made seven runs to date.

I hadn't sat in a Pro Stock car in over a year and a half since Pomona 2010. There were a few questions in my mind before I did the first burnout and launch. We were looking to make a half-track run. We were successful with that. Started gathering that data to start tuning the Hemi engine in.

It's certainly been a learning curve, but I think we'll feel a little bit more of that power, and I'll have more information for you within the next week or two.

Q: With the JEGS-sponsored car and the Summit cars of Anderson and Line, how real is that rivalry for the parts stores?

Coughlin: I suppose it's what you make of it. We're pretty friendly competitors when it comes to the racetrack and the business world. I think sometimes you get poked at to try to get a rivalry going.

At the end of the day, it's a pretty small world. We're dealing with a lot of the same vendors; we're dealing with a lot of the same fans and customers out there. Our goal is to get out and entertain the fans that are physically at the Full Throttle events and also enjoying it on ESPN.

I wouldn't say there's too much rivalry personally. But I have heard that maybe they get little bonuses for beating the JEGS cars, but that's just hearsay.

Q: I'll admit I was prodding you.

Coughlin: We can handle it [laughter].

Q: Being away like you were and coming back, what is your feeling coming back into Pro Stock?

Coughlin: I got to sit on the sidelines and watch the action for the season. I enjoyed tuning in on Saturdays and Sundays, following it on the Internet.

Definitely coming back in, the game has definitely tightened up a little bit more through the '11 season. In our case, we assembled a team really from top to bottom. I'm really looking forward, from a behind-the-wheel standpoint, to getting back out and rubbing heads with some of these guys and gals again.

Being out of the seat for a year, I was out of the seat in Pro Stock, I still raced some, made close to 500 runs last year, mainly in what they call high-stakes bracket racing. Had a great season, probably one of my top five seasons in my career. So the competitiveness and the drive, I was challenged pretty much week in and week out last year. From that standpoint, I feel I'm as ready as ever.

I did take a season off in 2006, which was probably one of my best seasons ever in my life behind the wheel of race cars, came out swinging in '07 and '08, winning championships. Maybe we'll carry some of that momentum off of the idle season. If our performance is where we expect it to be, as you just heard, the driver needs to get in and make his contribution and make things happen.

Again, I'm really looking forward to the start of the season, excited we don't have to wait long between Pomona and Phoenix to get one under our belt. We're ready to go.

Q: [To all] Newer, less experienced drivers would be distracted by everything that is around the Winternationals, all the things going on with their teams. You three guys are extremely experienced. I'm wondering, starting with Cruz because you're in charge of the whole team, is it a distraction coming to the first race of the season having to worry about how the team is put together, how things are working, all the little stuff that becomes routine once you get into the season? Is the distraction coming from the team or are there no distractions, you just get in the car and drive?

Pedregon: No, there are a lot of distractions out there. There are always distractions with family and tickets. It's like we're all in the ticket business when racing comes along. You all know how that goes.

It's one of those things. You have to do the job, put the distractions either before or after the race. It's no more or less.

I think the testing helped myself out with Lee. We were fumbling around for a little bit. One thing about Lee, one of his strengths is his management style, his ability to really get the guys organized and in a routine right away. I'm anticipating a smooth Winternationals.

Obviously, we have to make some runs to get the car dialed in. But I feel good. We're not making a lot of changes. Clutch program we have had has been good. Kind of like Jeg said, we can hit the ground running fast.

Anybody tells you there are no distractions, they're lying to you.

Coughlin: I can kind of pick it up from there as well. From a team owner's standpoint, there are certainly plenty of vulnerabilities and distractions in that case. I think the team that communicates the best on a regular basis sometimes will feel like we're overcommunicating.

When you get into the heat of battle, you're at the races, being pulled from two or three different directions, that's when the team needs to be at its strongest.

Quite frankly, we have a much smaller team than on the Top Fuel and Funny Car side. I think there are seven of us in total that will be more or less hands-on with the JEGS car at Pomona. So we've spent some time preparing for Pomona in December and January both at a conference-room table, just trying to talk through what the potential issues could be, what the potential distractions could be. At the end of the day, what's our focus, and it is to perform at 100 percent.

In any of these Professional classes, in the bikes as mentioned earlier, too, we're racing for thousandths of a second. Any little distraction from any one of those seven people on our team can allow us to not perform to that level.

The bottom line is we're there to perform well for JEGS and the Chrysler Corp. We're also there to give the fans on hand a great show and the viewers that are watching a great show. We would all agree that the Countdown in 2011 was extremely exciting. Built an unbelievable amount of excitement to crown the champions. Here we are in 2012, and everybody is tied for first again, and we've got to earn our berth into the Countdown format. It's going to be a regular season, if you will.

Pomona can't come quick enough for us. We're ready to go mentally and physically. Just can't wait to see a lot of the new teams out there, the new colors, all the excitement within the NHRA. It's going to be awesome.

Schumacher: I could say exactly the same thing, all the business that goes into it, at the end, when it's time to start the cars, you forget about all that stuff.

I loved the big moments that we've had in the past. Our car and our team seem to be better when there's all kinds of stuff happening around it, pressure, all that. So it doesn't bother me one bit.

I think the fact that the pressure is starting to build because we didn't win a race last year, that's going to be more of a focus than what sponsor is on the side of the car this year, who owns, runs.

When the car starts, I sit in it, I forget about all that stuff. Jeg and Cruz might have a little bit more to deal with. I've never seen those guys crack under pressure. You're probably asking the wrong three guys about the pressure of the season.
 

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Cars from Don Schumacher Racing and John Force Racing will be prominently displayed at two leading tourism destinations across central Indiana leading up to Super Bowl XLVI.

NFL fans who touch down at Indianapolis Int'l Airport will be greeted by the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford driven by John Force and the Auto Club Ford Mustang driven by Robert Hight. Both cars competed in the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. One car will be on display at Concourse A and the other at Concourse B, and both will be highly visible to those arriving in the city. The displays will feature custom welcome signage and information about the Big Go, the prestigious Mac Tools U.S. Nationals held at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis during Labor Day weekend.

DSR and JFR cars will also be on display at the Super Celebration Site at Metropolis Mall in Plainfield, Ind., in Hendricks County. Both the NAPA Funny Car driven by Ron Capps and the 2010 John Force Castrol GTX 25th anniversary Ford Mustang will be a focal point of the 18,000-square-foot Super Celebration Site display.
 
At the Super Celebration Site, fans will not only be able to see the Funny Cars, but also be able to race an IndyCar simulator and test their football skills on the NFL Blitz video game. Metropolis Mall will also house a replica Izod IndyCar featuring the decals of the Baltimore Ravens as part of the Super Cars promotion. For more information on the Super Celebration Site, log on to www.tourhendrickscounty.com/supersite.

“Having the Super Bowl in Indianapolis is an enormous thrill for all of us who live and work here,” said Mike Lewis, vice president of Don Schumacher Racing, based in Brownsburg. “Considering the culture of auto racing in Indiana, it only makes sense for industry leaders like Don Schumacher Racing to become involved in Super Bowl activities. We hope NFL fans will want to experience our brand of 320-mph excitement at some of the 23 NHRA events around the country.”

"Having my hot rods on display as part of the Indianapolis Super Bowl events is great for the NHRA and my sponsors like Castrol, Ford, Auto Club, Traxxas, Mac Tools, and BrandSource. I put the John Force Road Show together to spread the gospel of NHRA, and you aren't going to get a bigger crowd than Indianapolis this week,” said 15-time Full Throttle Series champion Force. “I played football growing up, and to have my Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang Funny Car, my 25th anniversary Castrol Funny Car, and Robert Hight's Auto Club Ford Mustang on display at the airport and the Metropolis Mall is pretty cool."

“When we first heard we would be a Super Celebration Site and featuring a Super Car, we knew we had to showcase our own NHRA Super Cars as part of the festivities,” said Jaime Bohler Smith, associate director for the Hendricks County Convention and Visitors Bureau, the group overseeing the site. “Our hope is that guests coming to see the big game will come back and join us for the Big Go [the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway] right here in the motorsports capital of the world,” she added.

The cars at the airport will be continuously on display, and those at Metropolis Mall will be on display from Feb. 2 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Feb. 5 from noon to 4 p.m. Metropolis Mall is on the eastern edge of Hendricks County, minutes from downtown Indianapolis.

Mark Lyle, longtime starter in NHRA’s Division 6 and a certified team member of the NHRA Safety Safari presented by AAA, has been named the official NHRA chief starter, one of the most storied positions in all of NHRA Drag Racing. There have only been two chief starters in the sport’s 60-plus-year history, Buster Couch (1955-1996) and Rick Stewart (1996-2011).

Beginning at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Feb. 9-12, Lyle will command the best view in the facility, standing alongside every kind of drag racing vehicle, most notably the 7,000-horsepower Top Fuel and Funny Car machines featured in NHRA’s marquee Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

“It is simply the highest honor anyone in my position can have,” said Lyle, who resides in North Bend, Wash., with his family. “I really have to thank Kenworth Northwest for being flexible with my NHRA work schedule over the years and for allowing me to pursue my dream. To follow in the footsteps of two iconic and legendary figures in NHRA history is beyond words. I am looking forward to sending off the first pair in Pomona.”

Lyle has worked in the automotive industry his entire professional career, all the while spending countless weeknights and weekends perfecting his craft on the starting line or working as a safety team member in the sport he has loved since his youth. He started as the official starter at Pacific Raceways in 2000 and since then has been a certified team member of NHRA’s Division 6. He was named the official starter of the division in 2005. Lyle worked alongside recently retired NHRA Chief Starter Stewart at many national events the last several years.

“Throughout his time as a starting-line official, he has demonstrated the characteristics necessary to take on this very important position on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series circuit,” said Graham Light, NHRA senior vice president of racing operations. “He always has safety first and foremost in his mind and strives to be fair and just in his decision-making.”
 

Cory McClenathan, a four-time championship runner-up, will partner again with veteran Australian car owner Santo Rapisarda for the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season and a shot at making the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

McClenathan, one of Top Fuel racing’s most experienced competitors, and the team will test the Santo’s Cranes entry this weekend in Las Vegas in anticipation of launching their season at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries in Pomona.

The duo partnered for five races in the last half of the 2011 season and qualified three times with the new team.

“The plan is to step up our program this year and stay in the top 10. Our initial plan is to go hard the first 12 to 13 races and then assess where we are. If we’re in the top 10 or close to it, we’ll keep going. By then, I should have been able to find the funding to keep the car out there.

“We ran in the .80s last year, not bad for a car that didn’t have all of the latest tricks, and we weren’t hurting anything, so we feel confident we can press the tune-up harder and get into the mid- to low 3.80s fairly easily,” said McClenathan.

McClenathan finished second in the Full Throttle points standings in 1992,1995, 1999, and 2000 and was a top-four finisher in 2008 and 2009. He has 38 wins, 34 in Top Fuel, in which he has raced since 1991. Before turning Pro, McClenathan won four races in the Top Alcohol Dragster class with his Mac Attack entry.

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

Summit Racing Equipment has expanded its involvement with NHRA and will become the title sponsor of the Summit Racing NHRA King of the Track program.

The Summit Racing NHRA King of the Track is a special event that is offered to all NHRA member tracks across the country, Canada, and Puerto Rico as a special event for their bracket racers and their bracket racing programs. Each track will have the option to host one Summit Racing King of the Track event each year. The event will feature a runoff between individual class winners, with the coveted NHRA Wally being awarded to the Summit Racing King of the Track winner at each NHRA member track.

“The NHRA King of the Track program is a great opportunity to support bracket racers and tracks across the country in addition to our Summit Racing Series,” said Jim Greenleaf, Summit Racing’s motorsports and events manager. “The program allows the tracks to put together an exciting weekend of racing as racers compete for the title King of the Track.”

The program is just one of several specialty race programs offered to NHRA member tracks that also include the National DRAGSTER Challenge and the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Challenge. 

The sponsorship extends Summit’s involvement in NHRA; the company is also the title sponsor of the NHRA Summit Racing Series, which culminates in the crowning of Summit Racing Series national champions. Summit is also the title sponsor of NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events in Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Norwalk. Summit also is the primary team sponsor for the Ken Black Racing Pro Stock team, featuring drivers Greg Anderson and Jason Line.
 

Racing Electronics, the worldwide leader in providing radio communications products to the motorsports industry, has renewed its official sponsorship as the official radio communications provider of NHRA.

For two decades, Racing Electronics has been the official radio communications sponsor of the world’s largest motorsports sanctioning body, providing handheld radios, headsets, mobile units, ancillary products, base radios, antennas, on-site setup and support for NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events, divisional NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events, NHRA’s owned and operated facilities, and broadcasting.

“Racing Electronics has been a long-standing official sponsor of NHRA, providing a much-needed service to the league, the race teams, and our fans,” said Gary Darcy, NHRA senior vice president of sales and marketing. “This agreement ensures Racing Electronics will continue its involvement in the sport for years to come.”

In addition, Racing Electronics has a major presence at the NHRA Manufacturers Midway at NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events, providing on-site sales, rentals, and service for scanners, headsets, and communication needs for NHRA race teams and fans.

“Since 2004, we have valued our official sponsorship with NHRA,” said Bruce Silver, president and CEO of Racing Electronics. “Because of our success in the sport, it was a logical decision to renew our agreement early. Moving forward, we intend to extend our relationship with the teams and the fans with our newly launched scanner-rental program.”

Racing Electronics has been in the racing industry for 24 years. What began as a hobby in 1988 has grown to become the world leader in race communications. Racing Electronics is a manufacturer and supplier of a complete line of race communication products and accessories, providing its customers two-way radios, scanners, headphones and headsets, as well as a complete selection of accessories and sportswear and a guide listing the year’s races and scanner frequencies for specific events.

The O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries will mark Courtney Force’s Professional debut in the Traxxas Funny Car, the latest jewel in a racing dynasty started by her father, John Force, who has dominated the class for more than two decades and won 15 NHRA Full Throttle championships and 133 national event titles.

She also has to follow in the footsteps of her sister Ashley Force Hood, who in just four seasons of nitro Funny Car competition won the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals twice and finished in the top 10 all four times, including a career-best second place in 2009.

Pressure? What pressure?

Fortunately for Courtney, she has her big sister’s experience to rely on. Force Hood says she knows how  Courtney must feel because she went through it in 2007, and that experience allows her to advise her sister. Force Hood modestly chalks up her success to “just really good luck,” but the bar she set for Courtney and other women is admittedly high.

“There were no other girls in the class at the time I started, and honestly, I don’t think people expected very much of me,” she said. “There were so many people worried that I wouldn’t be strong enough to drive it. They were going to be surprised if I even did halfway decent. Now, I think the expectations Courtney is going to face are going to be higher.

“I’m nervous for Courtney because so much is going to come at one time. You try to prepare as much as you can, but nothing prepares you for it all. She’ll have some ups and downs over the next few months; that’s all just part of it. There’s no new driver who doesn’t go through that. The best mind frame is to put the past in the past, and every run is a new one and a chance to improve. You can’t improve if you start at the top, so it was good to go through it.

“But she has a good team, great equipment, and great sponsors to fund the car, but you still have to get the experience. The worst thing you do is to get mental about yourself worrying what everyone else is thinking. A good goal is just to learn and not repeat mistakes. If I could take something I did wrong and learn from it, then I would become a better driver, and I wouldn’t care what people thought if I made a mistake. I hope that’s how she looks at it.

“The best thing I had was the support of my team. We all made a lot of mistakes together, and we all supported each other. They never talked bad about me or made fun of me behind my back. That helped me, too. You can’t get into a car thinking that your crew thinks you’re a crappy driver because that’s all you’re thinking about. I always got in with my guys telling me, ‘This is going to be a great run; it’s going to be a great day,’ and that always gave me confidence. I’ve worked with Ron [Douglas, crew chief], and I’m sure he has put together a good group of guys to back her. Dad’s always taught our teams that if the driver messes up, you need to support them, or if the crew messes up — if there’s a mistake in the pits or the tune-up is completely off — we drivers stand behind our teams. It’s a two-way street. It really works out well, and it’s an enjoyable environment.”

Courtney is the first to admit that she has a battle ahead of her.

“There’s definitely some pressure,” she said. “I have some big shoes to fill, and I’m still learning every time I get in the seat of that car. It’s going to take some time. I hope I can prove myself to them and show them how bad I want this. I had great teachers with my dad and Robert [Hight] and Ashley and Mike Neff, so I have to take my time and learn. I hope to do as well as Ashley did her rookie season. I’m very excited. I’m going to work hard for my new team and do the best I can because I’m definitely motivated. I’m driven to win.

“I knew even when I was little that I wanted to be a race car driver, but it’s crazy that everything has fallen into place. You dream about it as a kid, and you wait and wait and work your whole life to get to that point, and here it is.”
 

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is set to launch Feb. 9-12 in Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries, and race fans heading to Auto Club Raceway at Pomona will get the first look at what promise to be interesting storylines: New drivers, new sponsors, new teams, and new rivalries will make the annual season opener a can’t-miss event.

For starters, the Winternationals, the first of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series for 2012, will mark the Professional debuts of two new nitro-racing pilots on two high-profile teams: Khalid alBalooshi on the Al-Anabi Racing Top Fuel team and Courtney Force, 15-time champ John Force’s youngest daughter, who will enter the family business in 2012 as driver of the Traxxas Ford Mustang in the Funny Car class.

Courtney Force, daughter of 15-time NHRA champ John Force, will make her Funny Car debut in Pomona in her Traxxas Mustang.

alBalooshi, who won the 2011 NHRA Pro Mod Series world championship, will take over the reins of the Al-Anabi Racing team gold dragster that was wheeled to the championship last season by Del Worsham. alBalooshi, whose machine will be tuned by 2010 Top Fuel championship crew chief Jason McCulloch, licensed impressively with a series of 3.8-second runs during winter testing.

The 23-year-old Force also completed her licensing runs during the winter with 4.1-second clockings in her new Traxxas Mustang. Ron Douglas, who has worked on her father’s cars, and Scott Wible will tune the new entry. A winner in the Top Alcohol Dragster category in Seattle in 2009, the second-generation driver joins a team full of talented and experienced drivers to aid her progression, including her famous father, NHRA’s all-time win leader, and team drivers Robert Hight and Mike Neff.

alBalooshi and Force will be among the front-runners for the $20,000 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award, which annually salutes the year’s top rookie racer, and they’ll be getting stiff competition from another first-year nitro pilot, Alexis DeJoria. DeJoria, daughter of Paul Mitchell Hair Care Systems and Patron Tequila owner John Paul DeJoria, competed impressively at the final four events of the 2011 campaign, allowing her to maintain her rookie eligibility and perhaps giving her a head start on her first-year peers. DeJoria’s new Tequila Patron Toyoya Camry will be tuned by Worsham, who is making his transition from the cockpit to the crew chief’s chair after announcing his retirement from driving after last year’s championship, and managed and operated by Kalitta Motorsports. Like Force, DeJoria has a recent Seattle Sportsman win under her belt, having won in the Top Alcohol Funny Car class last year shortly before her transition to nitro.

The Al-Anabi team’s second dragster also has a new wheelman in Shawn Langdon, who left Morgan Lucas Racing during the winter and takes the roster spot previously occupied by 2010 champ Larry Dixon. Brian Husen, who wrenched Worsham to the title last year, will be Langdon’s new crew chief. Langdon, a native of Mira Loma, Calif., who is still searching for his first Top Fuel victory, was runner-up at the Winternationals last season. In his four final rounds, he has one other runner-up finish in Pomona (2010 Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals). The pressure surely will be on the two new Al-Anabi pilots to match the successes of their predecessors the last two seasons.

Seven-time NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel champ Tony Schumacher will be seeking to regain his crown after a frustrating and winless 2011 season.

The Al-Anabi duo is sure to feel the heat from the three-car Don Schumacher Racing Top Fuel operation, which includes seven-time former champ Tony Schumacher, perennial top 10 finisher Antron Brown, and former rookie of the year Spencer Massey, who finished second to Worsham in last year’s standings.

Schumacher will be eager to put 2011 in the past after the 67-time winner failed to score a victory during a season for the first time since 2001. The driver of the U.S. Army dragster advanced to seven final rounds and claimed six No. 1 qualifying positions but didn’t an event.

Brown made a strong run in the Countdown to the Championship as he pursued his first NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series world championship in his Matco Tools dragster. He finished the season third, and his six victories no doubt provide a ton of momentum heading into the 2012 campaign, in which Brown is expected to be one of the front-runners in the category again.

All eyes also will be on their DSR Funny Car teammate Matt Hagan as he begins his first title defense after winning last year’s dramatic Full Throttle championship battle. The Virginia cattle farmer and Aaron’s Dream Machine/Mopar Dodge Charger team will have their hands full this season as the number of teams that have committed to running a full season has increased this year, meaning that there will be no easy races for anyone.

In addition to trying to fend off his DSR teammate Jack Beckman, who finished second in the standings last year, Hagan will be battling against a determined team from John Force, anxious to get back the crown that the multi-car team has owned for much of the last two decades. Force himself may be the hungriest, but 2009 season champ Hight and tuner/driver Neff last year won a combined 10 of 22 events in their Ford Mustangs.

Pro Stock also will have its share of story lines, the most intriguing being the return of former Full Throttle champ Jeg Coughlin Jr., who sat out last season. The versatile second-generation driver returns to the factory hot rod wars with a new JEGS Dodge Avenger and a new engine program to take on the juggernaut KB Racing team of Jason Line and Greg Anderson, winners of the last two season championships. Line is the defending world champ, and Anderson claimed his fourth world championship crown with an inspired run to the title in 2010. The team has a successful record at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Anderson has nine victories at the track, including four at the Winternationals, and Line is the defending Winternationals winner and won the event in 2009.

The highly anticipated season begins Feb. 9-12. For tickets, log on to www.NHRATix.com or call 800-884-NHRA (6472).
 

NHRA introduced two of the most intriguing rookie drivers in the history of the sport to the national motorsports media today during a press conference conducted as part of the NASCAR Sprint Media Tour hosted by Charlotte Motor Speedway. The legendary multipurpose motorsports facility annually hosts two NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events at its spectacular zMAX Dragway.

Rookie Funny Car drivers Alexis DeJoria and Courtney Force, both an important part of NHRA’s Nitro Generation theme for 2012, joined NHRA President Tom Compton during the season-preview press event, which was held in front of more than 100 of the nation’s top motorsports journalists.

DeJoria, daughter of famed entrepreneur John Paul DeJoria, will drive the Tequila Patron Toyota Camry, and Force, youngest daughter of 15-time NHRA world champ John Force, will pilot the Traxxas Ford Mustang. The two drivers will be among the top contenders for the prestigious Auto Club Road to the Future Award, which annually recognizes NHRA’s top-performing rookie driver.

The two drivers fielded questions from reporters about the challenges and expectations for their upcoming seasons and posed for photographs alongside a specially wrapped Funny Car that featured the NHRA Nitro Generation design. NHRA also showed a high-energy video to the media that focused on the thrilling 300-mph performances, powerful side-by-side racing, and close finishes that make NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing one of the most intense motorsports attractions on the planet. 

Later in the afternoon, many of the journalists attending the weeklong media tour will participate in an NHRA Full Throttle Media Challenge Drag Race at zMAX Dragway. Media members will race in identically prepared street-ready Ford Mustangs, and DeJoria and Force will serve as driving coaches. DeJoria and Force also will race in the stock Mustangs in an exhibition prior to the media challenge race.

The highly anticipated rookie battle begins Feb. 9-12 at the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California. The tradition-rich race is the first of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series for 2012. For tickets, log on to www.NHRATix.com or call 800-884-NHRA (6472).

The opening race for the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Ddrag Racing Series season is still two weeks away, but Tim Wilkerson has already improved in one area from 2011. He and his Levi, Ray & Shoup team took their Shelby Mustang Funny Car to South Florida last weekend, where they participated in a "spring training" test session. Last year, the LRS team stayed home and prepared for the season in the shop, forgoing the shakedown runs that others found useful.

At the same time, during the recent test session, Wilkerson exhibited one bit of forced behavior that many would be hard-pressed to recall having seen, when he skipped a couple of laps because of a nasty head and chest bug that tested him as much as the weekend tested his car and crew. In the end, Wilk and his team made a series of successful runs, all with planned early shutoffs, and the work was important to the crew, which features three new members. The illness, however, was something Wilk found to be no fun whatsoever.

"Terrible timing, on my part, but it's hard to schedule exactly when you're going to get sick," Wilkerson said. "It started out like any head and chest thing, but by the time we got down to Florida, it was whipping me pretty good, and not only did I feel lousy, but I really didn't have a lot of energy either. That's OK, though, because the race car doesn't care how you feel, and we all needed the practice. There are going to be days during the season when you don't feel 100 percent, and you have to gut it out, but since it was just a test session, I didn't feel too guilty about packing it in early each night so I could get some rest.

"I'm feeling better now, and we even stopped at Taco Bell on the way home from the St. Louis airport, so I must be improving. Nothing sounded good for four days because I couldn't taste anything, but a couple of tacos with some hot sauce hit the spot. We'll get back to work on all the parts and pieces, and we expect to get after it pretty hard out in Pomona for the Winternationals."

The conditions and track surface in Florida were conducive to big performance, and many of the top teams in the sport were there, putting up impressive numbers. Wilk, however, is a believer in sticking to the program and staying within the plan, so he is not easily seduced by the allure of hitting home runs when they don't count. Hence, all of his successful runs were clicked off a couple of hundred feet short of the stripe.

"You can sift through the records in every major sport, and you won't find any important statistics that ever happened in the preseason," Wilkerson said. "For us, the key was seeing how the new car reacted at the hit and how it went down the track while we worked on our tune-up a little bit. Getting the guys some game-type repetitions servicing the car was really important, too, and that's just the equivalent of getting in shape. We made three runs that all would've been in the 4.10 to 4.12 range if I would've stayed in it, so we weren't the fastest guys there, but we were consistent.

"We legged a few down there to 800 feet or so, and it was running great, and everything looked good. I don't think we would've learned much more by running it out the back door, but that's always been one of the ways we keep a lid on costs around here. You can do a lot of damage in those last couple of hundred feet, even if you don't do anything wrong, so we try not to tempt fate down there until it counts.

"It was a real success for us, and just about every Funny Car and Top Fuel team got some solid work in. Some of those guys were definitely swinging for the fences, and there were some big runs made, but I feel good that we were there, and we worked the kinks out a little. We're definitely in better shape going into this season than we were last year, so hopefully that will help us get off to a better start. On top of that, I can taste and smell again, so I must be getting better, and I'm glad to get that junk out of the way before the season starts."
 

NHRA has signed a multiyear agreement with Traxxas, the leading manufacturer and seller of high performance radio-controlled vehicles. The agreement designates Traxxas as the Official Radio-Controlled Performance Products of the NHRA and will fully integrate the Traxxas brand into all aspects of NHRA, including extensive multimedia rights, broadcast elements, and a strong on-site presence, including interactive displays, signage, and entertainment features.

The sponsorship includes new Top Fuel and Funny Car specialty race-within-a-race programs, both sponsored by Traxxas. The specifics of the specialty programs, including locations for each event, will be announced at a later date. Traxxas will provide $260,000 to fund the two programs, and the Top Fuel and Funny Car specialty-race winners receiving $100,000 each.

“Traxxas comes to NHRA not only as marketing partners, but as longtime fans of the sport,” said Mike Jenkins, owner and president of Traxxas. “The extreme horsepower, speed, and excitement of NHRA Drag Racing is a great match for the performance we build into our radio-controlled products.”

Fans attending 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events will easily see the Traxxas presence throughout each racetrack. An interactive display within Nitro Alley will allow fans the opportunity to test drive one of the many premium radio-control vehicles the company has to offer. In addition, Traxxas will conduct trackside entertainment during the event to showcase the excitement, durability, speed, and maneuverability of its radio-control vehicles. Also, Traxxas signage will be seen on the on-site video screen.

“The program with Traxxas is one of the most comprehensive and extensive official sponsorships in NHRA Drag Racing,” said NHRA President Tom Compton. “As part of this sponsorship, we are very pleased to introduce two new specialty programs for Top Fuel and Funny Car. These two programs, which pair the best of the best in the two top classes, will be extremely popular with the fans and bring added excitement to the race weekend.”

As part of the agreement, Traxxas will have a major role during NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series telecasts on ESPN, including advertising both in the qualifying and eliminations shows, with broadcast enhancements including an in-show sponsor feature and race ticker. Traxxas will maintain a significant presence on NHRA.com and plans to provide outreach to NHRA members with special members-only offers.

Earlier this month, Traxxas announced it will become the primary sponsor for Courtney Force, who will make her debut in the Funny Car class in 2012 in a Traxxas Ford Mustang. The much-anticipated arrival of John Force’s youngest daughter to the Funny Car category will result in one of the more exciting Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award battles in NHRA history.


The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets

It's hard to imagine a drag racer with five world championships and a whopping 67 national event victories being anything but comfortable in a race car, yet 41-year-old Jeg Coughlin Jr. admitted to being a little edgy at the start of his preseason test session in South Florida.

"I had a nervous couple of days leading into this deal," Coughlin said. "There was so much going on in my head. I told Dad [Hall of Famer Jeg Coughlin Sr.] that I must have had a million questions I needed answered before we got started. Fortunately, everything went great. That number probably went down to four after the first pass."

Although Coughlin successfully raced a variety of Sportsman cars in 2011, he hadn't dropped the clutch on a 1,400-plus-horsepower Pro Stock car since November 2010.

In addition to his return to a Pro Stock cockpit, Coughlin has made the switch to a Dodge Avenger powered by the first handcrafted engine produced at JNR Racing Engines, a facility that he and his brothers partially own with Nick Ferri and Roy Simmons.

"It was our first time out with the new car, the first on-track test, and the first action with this particular group working together under race-like conditions," Coughlin said. "I have to say, everything went about as good as it could have gone. We're all pretty pumped up."

The only Pro Stock car on the property, Coughlin and crew made seven passes, most to half-track or 1,000 feet. They ended their time in South Florida with two full pulls, both of which showed 6.61 at 210 mph on the time slip.

"The first goal was getting the car to go straight, and Tomi [Laine, crew chief] figured that out right away," Coughlin said. "Roy was there from the engine shop, and he was busy with the new motor. When you have new cylinder heads and manifolds, it requires new carb settings. We ran those 6.61s without leaning on it at all, so obviously, factoring in the conditions, we can say mission accomplished on several levels.

"Being a brand-new team, we need to build up our race inventory. We scrubbed in some tires and broke in a bunch of clutch discs. We want to get as much done as we can before the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series starts Feb. 9."

The JEGS.com/Mopar Dodge Avenger crew will next test in Las Vegas the weekend before the season opener to work out any last-minute changes.

"We've developed a tuning window," Coughlin said. "Next time, we'll push it and get as ready as we can be for the real deal. Then we're going to get after it in Pomona and see where we stack up. I'm very optimistic."

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets

On the heels of his breakthrough first NHRA Top Fuel victory late last season in Dallas, Bob Vandergriff Jr. is moving forward with an impressive initiative that may put as many as three cars on the track this season.

Already widely rumored but recently confirmed, Vandergriff will put highly regarded talent J.R. Todd into the seat of a second C&J Energy Services dragster for a number of races this year and is working to secure a ride for sidelined three-time NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel champ Larry Dixon.

“We currently have [Todd] slated to drive at least three to four races and are working on increasing that to around 10 to 12,” said Vandergriff. “I am waiting to hear back on approvals for the increased funding.”

Todd’s car will run in C&J Energy livery when it debuts in Houston in late April and at other events but will be backed by a “brand-new sponsor to the sport” for the NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka in mid-May.

Todd burst onto the Top Fuel scene in 2006 with a trio of victories, beginning at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver, where he upset then reigning season champ Tony Schumacher in the final round. He beat Schumacher again in the final in Sonoma and added a third win in Reading and a runner-up at the fall Las Vegas event. He added two more wins and a runner-up in 2007 – when he finished a career-high seventh in points -- and added his final win to date in 2008, in Dallas, where he again beat Schumacher for the money. He last competed in 2009 during a three-race stint that ended at the year’s Sonoma event.

Dixon, who parted company with the Al-Anabi team this winter, has aggressively been seeking a ride for this season but is expected to begin the year on the sidelines, though he has announced that he will be in Pomona, networking and spectating, during the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries season opener. Dixon won season championships with Don Prudhomme in 2002 and 2003 and with Al-Anabi in 2010. He has 62 wins.

“I’ve got a lot of lines in the water, and whichever one bites is what I’m going to go with,” said Dixon. “Bob and I have talked, and I know he’s got a few companies he’s talking to, and if it makes sense for everybody, we’ll definitely go down that road. Right now, I’m also working on trying to put my own team together for 2013, but if Bob was able to put a deal together to make something happen this year, I’d definitely consider it. Bob has definitely shown that he can put together a team that can win.”

“I'm excited about trying to bring Larry Dixon to our team,” said Vandergriff. “I think his credentials are a big asset and bring credibility to our program and what we are trying to build. He provides me another great fit with our team, and we are working hard together to present that program to various agencies and companies right now. Between J.R., Larry, and myself, I would have the drivers to compete against [Don Schumacher Racing] and [Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi Racing]. Now it's just up to me to go find the funding.”

Vandergriff’s season already is off to a flying start as he tested well in Florida with two 3.82s and two 3.83s, all at more than 322 mph. He also recently renewed his major associate sponsorship with Caterpillar for the 2012 season.

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.
 

FRAM Group has renewed its official sponsorship agreement with NHRA. As part of the multitiered contract, FRAM automotive filters has extended its designation as the official filter of NHRA, and sister brand Prestone will continue its status as the official antifreeze/coolant of NHRA.

Both the FRAM and Prestone brands have been major sponsors of NHRA dating back as far as 1985. As NHRA official sponsors, the FRAM and Prestone brands will receive visibility at all NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events.

“The FRAM and Prestone brands have been synonymous with NHRA for more than 25 years,” said Gary Darcy, NHRA senior vice president of sales and marketing. “We value this long-standing relationship, among the longest in NHRA’s history, and their commitment and dedication to the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.”

As official sponsor, the brands will have a major presence in the ESPN2 telecasts each race weekend via commercial inventory and in-show sponsor features. In addition, the brands will be showcased on site at the events with display space, signage, and bannering rights, commercial inventory and features on the trackside JumboTron and inflatables around the event facility. Both FRAM and Prestone will maintain their current level of participation in NHRA’s Contingency Program. FRAM and Prestone intend to activate their NHRA involvement by utilizing the official logo on select products.

“Our relationship with NHRA and the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series continues to be great for our business and our brands,” said James Cito, director of motorsports, FRAM Group. “We had a great 2011 with Spencer Massey taking us to the finals, and we’re excited about an even stronger NHRA program in 2012.”

In addition to their involvement with the league, FRAM and Prestone are the primary sponsors on the FRAM/Prestone Top Fuel dragster driven by Massey.
 

Former NHRA Full Throttle world champs Robert Hight in Funny Car and Tony Schumacher in Top Fuel posted the best numbers in a marathon Florida preseason test session that for some teams spanned five days as teams geared up for the NHRA Full Throttle season-opening O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries in Pomona, Feb. 9-12.

Hight recorded a best of 4.034 seconds at 316.67 mph Saturday in his Auto Club Ford Mustang, and Schumacher clocked a best of 3.76 with his U.S. Army dragster. Hight also posted a 4.071-second run at 315.49 mph.

“We’re really learning a lot,” said Hight. “We’ve got Ron Armstrong here helping us; kind of a new addition to our brain trust, and when you’re not tuning a car, you look at things a little differently. He really looked at some things and brought them to Jimmy’s [Prock, crew chief] attention, and man, it’s fixed this thing, so along with some of the new things that we haven’t run yet, I’m excited. Right now, pretty much everybody’s done testing, and we’re leaving here with low e.t. and top speed."

Hight’s teammate, fellow championship contender Mike Neff and driver of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, clocked a trio of impressive runs with passes of 4.058, 311.63; 4.076, 310.13; 4.088, 310.34; and 4.116 at just 282.07 mph.

Rookie Courtney Force, at the wheel of her primered Traxxas Mustang, squared off with her famous father during testing. (Ron Lewis photo)

John Force’s Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang received a major overhaul in the off-season, and according to crew chief Dean “Guido” Antonelli, the only two parts that carried over into 2012 from last season were the short block and Force. Throughout the day, Force’s Mustang stepped up in performance as the team worked through a number of issues. Force made a strong run with a 4.106 at 310.55 mph Friday.

The training of rookie driver Courtney Force continued as she made half-passes to again acclimate herself to her Traxxas Ford Mustang Funny Car and get used to the power of the Boss 500 motor. The highlight of her weekend came while squaring off against her famous father Saturday. Both cars launched hard but smoked the tires. In a dramatic pedalfest, the elder Force got to the finish line first as both Ford Mustang drivers were on and off the throttle going down the track.

Don Schumacher Racing’s seven-car contingent tested for six days.

DSR's Jack Beckman, in the Valvoline NextGen Dodge Charger R/T, was the second-quickest Funny Car driver during the test session with a best pass of 4.037, 312.35, a career best for last year’s second-place finisher. Crew chief Rahn Tobler was pleased with the outing, which closed with an impressive 4.09 at just 305 mph on seven cylinders.
 
"We're very encouraged after the whole week,” he said. "In the daytime we ran well, and we ran well at night. We're very happy. And the work is just beginning. We changed a lot of things when we came here, so we need to get more spares of that and configure our spare car to match this car."
 
Reigning NHRA Full Throttle champ Matt Hagan’s Aaron's Dream Machine Dodge Charger R/T recorded a 4.062, 315.71 best in five days. Hagan and crew chief Tommy DeLago were pleased with their efforts, which culminated Saturday with a 4.123 at 307.23 mph.
 
"We learned everything we needed to, and the guys have worked so hard this week. There really wasn't anything else for our Aaron's Dream Machine team to accomplish," Hagan said. "I'm really happy with this new chassis DSR has put out here for us. It's worked really well."
 
DSR's Johnny Gray also found the 4.0-second range with his Service Central Dodge Charger R/T with runs of 4.084, 312.06 and 4.085, 311.99.
 
"This gets you back up to speed," said Gray. "When you don't drive these cars for a few weeks, you get behind; the car starts running you down the racetrack. You come out and make a few runs, and you get your brain back up to speed and get everything back in focus. Your brain starts keeping up with your car."
 
Ron Capps made it four for four for DSR floppers in the 4.0s after booting his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger R/T to a 4.092, 308.92 Saturday. 

Two-time Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon had a best run of 4.068, and Bob Tasca III also was impressive with a pass of 4.098, 308.64.

Former NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel world champ Schumacher, who did not win an event title last season, led the way with his Mike Green-tuned U.S. Army dragster, clocking a best effort of 3.761, 324.28.

"We've run pretty good," Green said. "We've tested everything on our list, and most of it worked. Things look really good. That certainly motivates us more. We have something to prove. It wouldn't matter if we didn't win any races as long as we win the championship. That's our goal. But winning races is part of it, and we plan to win a lot of races this year."

Spencer Massey’s FRAM dragster ran a week’s best of 3.792, 309.84. Massey, who won four races last year in his first season with DSR, drove a new chassis in Florida. It was the first one built for him by DSR.
 
"The plan was to just get down the racetrack," Massey said. "We've tested all week long and learned exactly what we needed to on the FRAM dragster. We didn't try anything new or exciting because what we had last year was obviously good and did an awesome job. We just want to get back on a streak like what we had in the middle of the year when we went 40 runs without smoking the tires. We're ready to go to Pomona right now. We could load up and go straight there and qualify. We're ready for it."

Teammate Antron Brown’s Matco Tools/Aaron's Dream Machine entry also was in the 3.7-second zone with a 3.794, 323.27.
 
"Overall, we had a great week down in South Florida," said Brown. "We just kept getting stronger as the testing went on, and I think my crew did a great job. It's time to go to work, and I'm ready. I feel really good, real relaxed."

Doug Kalitta ran 3.82, 3.83, and 3.84 before turning his Jim Oberhofer-tuned car over to Kalitta Racing teammate Dave Grubnic, who powered it to an impressive 3.78. Bob Vandergriff Jr. made a nice set of passes in his C&J Energy Services entry, including a pair of 3.8s and a pair of 3.83s, all at more than 322 mph. Also on hand Saturday were Terry McMillen, Hillary Will, and Clay Millican.

The Al-Anabi and Morgan Lucas Racing teams tested earlier in the weekend. Rookie Top Fuel pilot Khalid alBalooshi ran a best of 3.794 at a whopping 324.20 mph in the Al-Anabi gold entry, and Langdon’s silver entry ran 3.784 at 322 mph. Langdon also ran 3.817, 3.822, and 3.823. Lucas’ GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster made 15 passes and a number of runs between 3.79 and 3.82 under the guidance of crew chief Aaron Brooks, and new teammate Brandon Bernstein ran a 3.83 four times during the test as well as  3.84 and 3.86 with new crew chief Joe Barlam wrenching the MavTV/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster.

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

There was a collective sigh of relief throughout Greg Stanfield’s engine-building shop Thursday when Kenny Koretsky and JD Coffman officially announced plans to continue supporting Stanfield in his bid for the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock championship.

Koretsky’s Nitro Fish Gear and Coffman’s Coffman Tank Trucks also were the primary backers of the Bossier City, La., driver last season.

“I get to go racing one more year,” said an elated Stanfield, “and I am excited because our race team is still together. We have been working overtime at the shop so we will be ready to go testing in Las Vegas before the [season-opening O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA] Winternationals at Pomona [Feb. 9-12].

“We’ll be starting the season with our old Nitro Fish/Coffman Tank Trucks GXP,” he continued, “but we will be switching to a new Camaro after a few races. We are really looking forward to getting the Camaro, but our GXP ran well at Pomona last year.”

Stanfield was a finalist at both 2011 races at venerable Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. He turned back all challengers at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals in November to end the season on a winning note. He began the year with a runner-up at last year’s Winternationals and finished seventh in series points. His best performance was in 2010 when he was second to Greg Anderson.

“Greg has a good team. They know how to race,” commented Koretsky. “I’m looking forward to the season. I hope we have a good one. I am also happy because crew chief, Eddie Guarnaccia, decided to stay with Greg and the team.”

This will be Stanfield’s 11th Pro Stock season and his third with Koretsky.

“We are pleased to have Kenny and Nitro Fish onboard this season,” said Coffman. “We also have added support from Lucas Oil and Wix Filters. We are looking forward to getting back to the track. We hope to start where we left off -- with a win.”


The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

The thrilling excitement and heart-pounding action of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series returns to historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona for the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries Feb. 9-12.

NHRA’s tradition-rich season-opening event will be every NHRA fan’s first opportunity to see all of the new cars and new paint schemes for the 2012 season and meet all of the drivers who will be racing at speeds of more than 320 mph in an attempt to join the prestigious list of O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals champions. A win at this event can mean great momentum as drivers pursue NHRA Full Throttle world championship glory during the 23-event season that crisscrosses the United States. The event will be televised on ESPN2HD.

All of the biggest stars in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series will be on hand to blast their way toward the finish line and keep the fans on the edge of their seats. Seven-time Top Fuel world champion and two-time Winternationals winner Tony Schumacher will again be behind the wheel of his famed U.S. Army dragster. After going winless in 2011, Schumacher will be more determined than ever to get back on the winning track. Several of his archrivals, including defending race winner Morgan Lucas, Antron Brown, Brandon Bernstein, and Spencer Massey, will be in the mix and focused on mounting a championship charge.

In Funny Car, five-time Winternationals winner John Force will introduce a fourth member to his race team as his youngest daughter, Courtney Force, 23, will take to the track for the first time in a 7,000-horsepower Ford Mustang in official NHRA competition. Popular Virginia cattle rancher Matt Hagan returns to defend his world championship title from last season in his Aaron's/Mopar Dodge Charger. Meanwhile, a host of hungry competitors will try to start the new season with a victory at the Winternationals, including Robert Hight, Mike Neff, Ron Capps, Cruz Pedregon, Jack Beckman, and rookie Alexis DeJoria.

Defending Pro Stock world champion Jason Line, the two-time and defending winner of this event, will lead the 200-mph factory hot rods into action. To win the event for a third time, he’ll have to hold off Greg Anderson, Erica Enders, Mike Edwards, Allen Johnson, Vincent Nobile, and Jeg Coughlin Jr., who will make his much-anticipated return to action after sitting out the 2011 season. 

As always, fans will have the opportunity to interact with their favorite drivers as they’re granted an exclusive pit pass to the most powerful and sensory-filled motorsports attraction on the planet.

Pro qualifying begins on Thursday, Feb. 9, with the first session at 1:30 p.m., followed by another session on Friday, Feb. 10, at 1:30 p.m. The final two qualifying sessions will take place Saturday, Feb. 11, at 11 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 12.

To purchase general-admission, reserved-seat, or Top Eliminator Club tickets, log on to www.NHRATix.com or call the NHRA Ticket Sales Center, 800-884-NHRA (6472). Tickets for children 12 and younger are free with any paid adult ticket.

“We believe this program is a fitting way to honor and recognize the stars of NHRA over the last seven decades,” said NHRA President Tom Compton.  

The program is for non-active participants in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The permanent credential provides admission to the 23 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events in 2012 with access to the racer section of the grandstand and the sponsor-viewing area typically located near the starting line of the racetrack.  

Eligible drivers can apply for the NHRA National Event Winners Hard Card by sending an email to Laura Sarmiento, lsarmiento@nhra.com. Eligible drivers wanting to pick up their hard cards at Will Call during the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries, Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, must submit their request no later than Jan. 23. Those who received hard cards as part of this program last year will need to reapply this season.

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

NHRA and JEM Sportswear have announced that premier retailers Nordstrom and J.C. Penney will be stocking the hugely popular NHRA Originals vintage T-shirts for boys. This follows the NHRA Originals vintage men’s shirts that debuted to rave reviews at Target Stores nationwide in fall 2011.

“We believe very strongly in the value of the NHRA brand and the mainstream appeal of our vintage designs, and the extremely successful launch of this program validates that sentiment,” said Gary Darcy, NHRA senior vice president of sales and marketing. “Moving forward now, we are enthusiastically looking forward to sharing these classic NHRA Originals with a whole new set of potential fans who shop at Nordstrom and J.C. Penney.”

NHRA and JEM Sportswear are not just expanding the footprint of the program; they are also expanding the line, unveiling seven more NHRA Originals T-shirt designs. In maintaining the look and feel of the original line, these new T-shirts will utilize many of the iconic symbols and figures that have made NHRA Drag Racing such an integral part of the American culture for more than half a century.

“We knew that these classic symbols of NHRA Drag Racing would resonate with a number of retailers, and the recently introduced designs demonstrate the sell-through power of these timeless and iconic marks,” said Jenni Gold, JEM Sportswear creative director.

Currently available in all 114 Nordstrom stores nationwide is the NHRA retro logo of the national championship drag races in Indianapolis in 1961. Featuring a front-engine dragster, the design harkens back to the first national event in NHRA’s history and is available in boy's sizes, small to extra-large.

With an anticipated on-floor date of March 2, J.C. Penney intends to make available six designs specifically targeted toward the youth market in 54 stores nationwide. The designs feature three NHRA-themed shirts: two NHRA generic designs, featuring a classic Top Fuel dragster and a piston-driven finish-line drag racing team theme, and a design of the NHRA World Finals from the mid-'70s.

The other three T-shirts focus on one of the most memorable head-to-head rivalries in the sport’s history, between Don “the Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “the Mongoose” McEwen. The classic “Snake” and “Mongoose” logos are featured on two shirts, and a third depicts a typical old-school event poster touting a “Snake" vs. "Mongoose” match race at a fictional raceway.

In 2012, JEM Sportswear and NHRA will continue to roll out other designs and products through these and other retail outlets.

Spencer Massey remembers a little more than a year ago when he walked into the sprawling Don Schumacher Racing headquarters. He was a little in awe of the 120,000-square-foot shop, home of the biggest team in NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing. He was like a kid at a new school on his first day.
 
The 29-year-old from Fort Worth, Texas, would have been excited to be walking into any shop as a Top Fuel dragster driver after spending the 2010 season mostly on the shelf, one season removed from winning two Top Fuel titles and the NHRA's top rookie honor. He signed to join DSR in December 2010 and has only gained speed since.

"I was just happy to be out there again, let alone on such a great team," he said of DSR and co-crew chiefs Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler.
 
"Everybody expected us to do well," said Massey, and he and the FRAM/Prestone team didn't disappoint. Last year, they won four times and finished second in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel standings.

Turn the clock forward to January 2012, and Massey is like a kid in a candy store after completing a season driving the FRAM/Prestone Top Fueler to four wins before being edged out by now-retired Del Worsham for the Top Fuel championship.

Today, he hangs out with teammates as if he's known them for years. His near constant smile, outgoing personality, and ability to do mechanical work on a 300-mph dragster nearly as well as he can drive one has helped teammates treat him like an old buddy.

"A year ago, I was new to the team and didn't really know anyone. Now it's like I've always been part of the family," he said before heading south to testing in Florida this week.
 
"We're coming off a great year and don't plan on changing anything. We're treating this season like we never had an off-season and want to just pick up like last year never ended."
 
Except for moving up one spot in the final standings.

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

The NHRA Tech Department has approved a body design for the '12 Camaro SS for use in NHRA competition. The new Camaro bodies were developed and will be constructed by Five Star Race Car Bodies, and they are tentatively scheduled to make their debut at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals March 8-11.

The approval of the Camaro was the final step in the process of making the new body legal for NHRA competition. According to NHRA Tech Director Bob Blackwell, ”NHRA has an established set of standards regarding the minimum width, height, and other critical dimensions for all Pro Stock bodies, and the final version still has to retain the essential body lines and design features of the Camaro. All of these steps have been completed, and the various Pro Stock chassis builders are now taking orders from a number of the General Motors teams.”

General Motors participated in the project by sending a stock Camaro body to Five Star from which molds were made and provided the necessary wind-tunnel time.

Among those who will be fielding new Camaros this year are Greg Anderson and Jason Line from the Summit Racing Equipment-sponsored Ken Black Racing team.

“We’re very thrilled with the opportunity to race muscle cars again in Pro Stock,” said Anderson. “It goes back to what that they ran when Pro Stock first started. We’re sure that the fans will be excited as well.”


The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. has expanded its participation in NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing by becoming the title-rights sponsor of the event at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown. The 43rd annual Toyota NHRA SuperNationals will be held May 31-June 3.

“Toyota is proud to expand its NHRA involvement with this title-sponsorship initiative,” says Les Unger, Toyota national motorsports manager.

In addition to becoming the sponsor of the Englishtown event, Toyota will have an advertising presence in the ESPN2 broadcasts of NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing with commercial inventory, an in-show sponsored feature, and race ticker. Toyota will also increase its national footprint in the sport and expand its on-site display visibility at various races.

“Toyota’s increasing involvement in NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing is a clear indicator of the return on investment at both the league and team level,” said Tom Compton, NHRA president. “Toyota has a proven track record around sponsorship activation, and to have their involvement as an event-rights sponsor of one of the most prestigious stops on the NHRA Full Throttle Series is very exciting.”

Toyota’s involvement in NHRA began in 2002 with the arrival of the Celica-bodied Funny Car. The manufacturer’s first win came two years later, in February 2004 at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. The program has since risen to new heights; in the past three years, Toyota-sponsored cars have earned multiple NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series victories in Top Fuel and Funny Car, as well as the NHRA Top Fuel Full Throttle world championships in 2010 and 2011. In 2008, Cruz Pedregon won the NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car world championship in a Toyota Camry Solara.

Toyota sponsors three Top Fuel teams and three Funny Car teams. Al-Anabi Racing, Don Schumacher Racing, and Morgan Lucas Racing will field Top Fuel dragsters for drivers Khalid alBalooshi, Shawn Langdon, Morgan Lucas, Brandon Bernstein, and Antron Brown. Cruz Pedregon Racing, Tony Pedregon Racing, and Kalitta Motorsports participate in the Funny Car class. An all-new '12 Toyota Camry Funny Car body will be showcased by four drivers: Cruz Pedregon, Jeff Arend, Tony Pedregon, and 2012 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award candidate Alexis DeJoria.

Aaron's has extended its partnership with Don Schumacher Racing through the 2012 season and will be the primary sponsor for NHRA Funny Car champion Matt Hagan's Dodge Charger R/T. Aaron's will be the primary sponsor for Hagan at 13 NHRA national events and the primary sponsor on Antron Brown's Top Fuel dragster for four events during the 23-event NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season.
 
"It's really exciting to kick off the season as the champion with Aaron's on our car," Hagan said. "They have the Lucky Dog, and I sure hope he brings me some luck."
 
DSR will sport Aaron's colors for 17 events, which is two more than last year. In 2011, Aaron's debut drag racing season produced five NHRA event titles when Aaron's split time between Jack Beckman's Funny Car and Brown's Top Fueler. Beckman won three titles for Aaron's, and Brown won twice; they combined to reach the championship round eight times.
 
"We enjoyed amazing success with our DSR partnership in our first year working together," said Ken Butler, Aaron's chief operating officer. "We came so close to winning the Funny Car championship with Jack and the Top Fuel championship with Antron and are really looking forward to what 2012 will bring us."
 
DSR owner Don Schumacher decided to move Aaron's from Beckman to Hagan.
 
"It was strictly my decision," Schumacher said of the move to pair Aaron's with Hagan after DieHard moved from primary to an associate sponsorship role on Hagan's car.
 
Other associate sponsors for Hagan's Charger will be Mopar and Freightliner.

Beckman, who placed second to Hagan in the 2011 championship race, will display sponsorship from Valvoline NextGen this year on his Dodge Charger R/T.
 
"There are wonderful people at Aaron's, and I'm glad they're still with DSR," Beckman said. "Don is brilliant with how he runs the biggest team on the NHRA tour and has been able to sustain it out here for a decade and win nine championships. He does the right thing for our sponsors and marketing partners."

Hagan's relationship with Aaron's started with the last two races of the past season when his Charger's quarterpanel was adorned with the logo for Aaron's Inc.'s RIMCO Custom Wheels Tires Accessories and More.
 
Hagan and other members of the DSR organization will begin 2012 by testing Jan. 17-21 in south Florida in preparation for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season opener Feb. 9-12 in Pomona.


The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

Drag racing’s biggest birthday party is about to happen ... and it will be BIG!

The greatest driver in NHRA history is celebrating his 80th birthday. And to mark the occasion, a special Don Garlits 80th birthday Rat Roast charity event will be held Saturday evening, Feb. 11, at the Sheraton Fairplex during the weekend of the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries, Feb. 9-12 at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. 

The Rat Roast is being presented by NHRA, and proceeds will benefit the Quarter Mile Foundation, whose mission is to collect and archive the history of drag racing and related aspects of the high-performance aftermarket. The Quarter Mile Foundation focuses on capturing the first-person, oral histories of the greatest pioneers and legends of the sport.

“There is a need to preserve and archive the history of drag racing through video, and the Quarter Mile Foundation has been working diligently the last 18 months to put these pioneers on video,” said Traci Hrudka, chairman of the Quarter Mile Foundation. “Proceeds raised will further the production of the Project 1320 documentary centering around the history of the sport as told in the words of the pioneers.”

The Rat Roast charity is sure to be a can’t-miss event as the scheduled participants reads like a Who’s Who of drag racing’s past. Those scheduled to roast the legendary Garlits include Art Chrisman, Sid Waterman, “TV Tommy" Ivo, Ed Pink, Don “the Snake” Prudhomme, Carl Schiefer, and Dave McClelland.  The lineup of roasters is sure to bring out never-heard stories and accounts of the early days of drag racing as well as many of “Big Daddy’s” most famous exploits.

The event will be held at the Sheraton Fairplex, on the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, home to the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals, and include silent and live auctions including one-of-a-kind memorabilia items. Individual tickets for the Don Garlits 80th birthday Rat Roast are $80, with a limited number of 10-people VIP tables available for $2,500. To buy tables to the event, contact Rachelle Litwin at NHRA, rlitwin@nhra.com or 626-250-2269. For individual tickets, log on to www.NHRATix.com and click on the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals ticket page and scroll down to the Don Garlits 80th Rat Roast link.

The Quarter Mile Foundation, formed in March 2010, is recognized as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational charity organization. The foundation has captured more than 100 interviews and 120 hours of the sport's pioneers on video telling the stories of drag racing’s humble beginnings and the creation of one of the largest motorsports in the world. 

Amalie Oil Co. has announced that it has increased its investment and added a one-year extension on its contract with NHRA Top Fuel driver Terry McMillen. The new agreement will keep McMIllen and Amalie partnered through the 2013 NHRA season and mark the 13th year of Amalie’s marketing partnership with McMillen and his Elkhart, Ind.-based team.

“We’re proud of our relationship with Terry McMillen and the work he does for our company,” said Dennis Madden, Amalie senior vice president of sales and marketing. “Terry not only helps us reach our domestic distributors but our international distributors as well. We can’t think of a better way to showcase the quality of Amalie Oil than through NHRA Top Fuel Drag Racing.”

McMillen, who reset his personal-best elapsed time and speed records during the 2011 campaign, believes that Amalie’s continued commitment will help his team grow.

“I’ve never felt more energized than I do right now,” McMillen said as his team prepares for a test session Jan. 20-21. “With the additional support from Amalie and our other marketing partners, we’re going to have the opportunity to make some significant changes to our team, changes that we think can make us a more competitive car week in and week out over the course of the NHRA Full Throttle schedule.”

The additional funding will be put to use right away with more full-time crewmembers and a consultant. “I’ve always felt like we had a solid core group of crewmembers,” McMillen said. “This will give us the opportunity to give them some help in the form of additional full-time staff.

“We’ve been coming up with a game plan and going over things at the shop. Hopefully this will be our breakout year.”
 
The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

Tap It Brewing Co. will be the primary sponsor on the Jim Dunn Racing Funny Car for the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season.

Tap It Brewing Co., located on California's central coast, makes fine handcrafted ales artfully brewed in a variety of flavors from bold and intense to cool and refreshing.

Jim Dunn is one of the pioneers of NHRA Drag Racing. He began his career as a competitor in 1950 when the popularity of the sport was starting to take hold on local strips throughout Southern California. Throughout the years, the acclaimed driver/crew chief/team owner has accumulated numerous wins and performance records and in 2001 was named to NHRA's all-time Top 50 Drivers list.

“We're proud to have Tap It Brewing team up with us for the 2012 season," said Dunn. "We have been in NHRA Drag Racing for a long time, and we know what it takes to make the sponsor experience highly successful. Our car and crew are seasoned veterans, and we're all looking forward to kicking off the season and showcasing our partnership with Tap It Brewing and all of our sponsors."

"The shift in American beer tastes continues to head more and more toward micro and handcrafted beers," according to Tap It Sales Manager Robert Garcia. "Our teaming up with Jim Dunn Racing is the perfect opportunity for us to expose the Tap It Brewing name to millions of NHRA fans and distributors around the country, and we're excited to be onboard.”

Todd Lesenko will be behind the wheel when the Jim Dunn Racing/Tap It Brewing Funny Car lines up to kick off the season at the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Feb. 9-12.

"We're extremely pleased to have signed Todd on as our driver of the Tap It Brewing Funny Car," said Team Manager Jon Dunn. "Todd is a great addition to the team. Fans and sponsors alike are going to enjoy watching Todd race this year, and he will do a great job on and off the track representing Jim Dunn Racing as well."

Along with Tap It Brewing, team sponsors for 2012 include Canidae Natural Pet Foods, Lincoln Technical Institute, Kymco, Moon, Lucas Oil, Bumper to Bumper, Lescure Fuel Oil Equipment, Fountain Tire, Blaze Technical Services, Antrim Construction, Ashton Transport, and Active Group.

If you have the Nitro Gene, then you will be more than happy to kick off the 2012 season by honoring the families that make NHRA Drag Racing what it is today in a very special track walk featuring some of the most familiar faces in the NHRA on Sunday morning before the pre-race ceremony. Many families of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series that were featured in 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Real Families Calendar will be participating in the Track Walk Sunday to kick off the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. The defending winners of the event that will be broadcast on ESPN2 include Morgan Lucas (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), and Jason Line (Pro Stock).

This year’s calendar, which was put together by two-time Full Throttle Funny Car champion Tony Pedregon’s wife, Andrea, features many families that compete in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, including the Aranas, Coughlins, Enderses, Grays, Johnsons, Krawiecs, Lines, Nobiles, Smiths, Bernsteins, Cappses, Dixons, Forces, Hights, Lucases, Pedregons, Tascas, Vandergriffs, and Worshams. This limited-edition 19-month calendar will be available for purchase at the Winternationals as well as at  www.TonyPedregon.com.

The Pedregon family

“I am very excited to participate in the Track Walk at the Winternationals and create further awareness and funding for children’s cancer through sales of the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Real Families Calendar,” Andrea said. “This is an awesome opportunity from the NHRA that will definitely help my charity reach our fundraising goal. Many of my friends featured in the calendar are looking forward to joining me for the event and will be bringing their family as well.”

All of the proceeds raised from the sales of the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Real Families Calendar that features many of the families involved in the great sport of NHRA Drag Racing will benefit children’s cancer research. Andrea established her nonprofit charity to channel her passion for helping others who are affected by unfortunate circumstances. The Andrea Pedregon Charity Foundation Inc., A Spark Of Hope, has financially supported charities such as Smile Train and Locks of Love through trackside events, including live auctions and The Real Housewives of NHRA Drag Racing 2011 calendar that raised more than $40,000 for melanoma research.

“All of the support I receive for my events and projects comes directly from drag racing fans, drivers, and sponsors,” Andrea said. “It always amazes me how much we can give back as a community.”

The Coughlin family

NHRA prides itself on being a family-oriented sport, and thanks to the many great families involved in NHRA Drag Racing like the Pedregons and the rest of Nitro Generation, it is something that NHRA can continue to do.

Earlier in the Winternationals weekend, after the Friday qualifying session, the Night of Champions will be held at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California and will showcase a handful of the sport’s toughest competitors. The evening will feature a question and answer session and an autograph session with the drivers. It is free to the public and starts at 6 p.m. Log on to museum.NHRA.com for details.

Throughout the weekend, there will also be a display of nostalgia Cacklefest cars, a display of all the 2011 Twilight Cruise winners from the Parks NHRA Museum, and a Jr. Dragster display in honor of the 20th anniversary of the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League.

The 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries will mark the beginning of the NHRA’s 20-city tour across the USA. NHRA will crisscross the country in an effort to spread the Nitro Gene to rookie fans and veteran fans alike while competitors focus on the 17-race regular season in hopes of qualifying for the Countdown to the Championship, the six-race playoffs in which the top 10 competitors battle it out for the 2012 Full Throttle championship.

Put on The B.R.A.K.E.S., a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to teen safe driver training, will host its inaugural Southern California Benefit Dinner Feb. 24 at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by the Automobile Club of Southern California in Pomona. The night will include a special program, dinner, cocktails, silent and live auctions, and celebrity guests. All proceeds from the dinner will benefit Doug Herbert's Put on the B.R.A.K.E.S., which provides free hands-on driver training to teens.

"The dinner will be our largest fundraiser on the West Coast, and we look forward to hosting our NHRA friends and fans as well as all our B.R.A.K.E.S. supporters. This will be a great night where attendees can mingle with NHRA celebrities and raise money for a great cause. With the support of Tom Compton and the NHRA, B.R.A.K.E.S. has trained nearly 1,000 teens in the Southern California area. This is a great way to promote the NHRA message that racing is for the track and safe defensive driving is what needs to be done on the street,” said Herbert, NHRA driver and founder of B.R.A.K.E.S.

“We applaud the efforts of Doug Herbert and the B.R.A.K.E.S. program to educate teenage drivers on safe and responsible driving,” said NHRA President Compton. “The success of this inaugural benefit dinner will be important to ensure the program’s viability in Southern California for years to come."

Since 2008, B.R.A.K.E.S. has trained more than 3,000 students from 19 states and two countries. The program has a waiting list of several hundred students. "Our goals are to double the number of teens we train in 2012, alleviate the waiting list, expand into other states, and be nationwide within the next three to five years," said Herbert.

Those interested in sponsoring or attending the inaugural Southern California Benefit Dinner at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona should log on to www.putonthebrakes.org or call the B.R.A.K.E.S. office, 704-720-3806.

Those interested in attending the B.R.A.K.E.S. Teen Pro-Active School Driving School at Fairplex in Pomona Feb. 25 or Feb. 26 should log on to www.putonthebrakes.org.
 

The Automotive Distribution Network has announced that it will sponsor NHRA Top Fuel competitor Clay Millican and his dragster through its Parts Plus brand for the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
 
“After the positive response to our sponsorship of MPE Motorsports and Clay Millican for 12 races last year, we’re committing to the full 23-event NHRA slate for 2012, providing extensive marketing support and pitside hospitality packages at tracks nationwide,” said Mike Lambert, Automotive Distribution Network president. “Hospitality ensures that our Parts Plus members and jobbers, as well as our manufacturer partners serving as associate sponsors, maximize our promotional efforts on a local basis to effectively reach the end user – the professional who throws away the box.”

Starting with the season opener in Pomona, Parts Plus affiliates will benefit from promotional product tie-ins and will have the opportunity to host the Top Fuel show car and driver at their businesses. The Parts Plus logo and vibrant orange-and-red color scheme will be prominently featured on the dragster and the transporter as well as on the driver and crew uniforms and the team’s vans, trucks, and chase cars. Logos featuring select manufacturers also will be included on the Parts Plus dragster as associate sponsors.
 
“I’m thrilled that Parts Plus is onboard for the whole season,” Millican said. “Their support has generated excitement for our team as we gear up for 2012 with two brand-new cars and all the parts and pieces we need to compete at a championship level.”

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

Traxxas President Mike Jenkins, Courtney Force, and crew chief Ron Douglas

The announcement was part of a wide-ranging press conference at John Force Racing headquarters in Yorba Linda, Calif., that also solidified the team’s 2012 driver and crew chief lineup and addressed other future plans.

Courtney, who for the last four seasons learned how to deal with all of the off-track aspects of professional racing and has proven herself a skilled interviewee, a reality TV star, a spokesperson for Ford Motor Company’s Driving Skills for Life program, a national marketing contest winner, and a fan favorite, finally will get a chance to show what she can do on the track.

“For Traxxas, Courtney represents more than just a female driver on the track. The family that she comes from has been racing, and she’s been a part of racing all of her life. She’s not just another girl at the racetrack; she’s a girl that has real DNA and John Force DNA embedded in her, and it shows,” said Mike Jenkins, Traxxas president. “Take a couple of minutes and talk with Courtney; you’ll see the competitiveness that comes out in that girl. She’s going to represent our company and our brand. She’s been a top pick for us for a very long time -- we’re proud to have her on.”

Following the family path Although their personalities are exceedingly different, Courtney Force followed older sister Ashley Force Hood’s lead in developing her current career path. Like Ashley, she took auto shop as one of her high school electives, was a cheerleader at Esperanza High School, graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in communications, and was a star of the A&E real-life series Driving Force, which last aired in 2007. Moreover, like her sister, she learned drag racing basics in a Super Comp dragster, honed her skills in a Top Alcohol Dragster, then tested for a full year in a BrandSource Ford Mustang Funny Car. That training complete, she now is focused on making her own way to the top of her chosen sport, especially after being identified as one of the “most promising newcomers” in professional sports by ESPN The Magazine’s NEXT poll.

After winning an NHRA national event in the Top Alcohol Dragster class and earning Top Agent honors in the marketing contest that fueled Ford’s Fiesta Movement introduction in 2010, Courtney spent last season testing in a Ford Funny Car after selected NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series tour events.

In anticipation of her pro debut, she will continue to test this month in Florida in a Traxxas Ford Mustang prepared by veteran crew chiefs Ron Douglas and Scott Wible.

“Courtney proved she has the same competitive drive that’s made her father successful, working her way through the Super Comp and Top Alcohol Dragster ranks,” said Jamie Allison, director of Ford Racing. “We’ve only seen a small portion of what she’s capable of achieving, [and] we’re happy to welcome her officially as a member of the One Ford Funny Car team in 2012. It’s something we’ve all anticipated, and we are very excited and happy to have her on the Ford team.”

“I’m excited to finally be getting ready for my first professional race,” said Courtney, who hopes to compete for the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award, which identifies the season’s top rookie on the NHRA’s 23-race Full Throttle tour. “This is what I’ve always wanted to do, and to have had my sister Ashley, my dad, brother-in-law Robert Hight, and Mike Neff teach me makes it that much better. I have had the best teachers. I’m just going to learn all I can and see where it takes me.”

Although she was successful in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series for Sportsman drivers, winning in the Top Alcohol Dragster class in Seattle in July 2009, she admitted to some trepidation after initial laps in her BrandSource Funny Car.

“Steering the car was one of the biggest changes for me,” she said of the differences between a 270-mph dragster and a 315-mph Funny Car. “You don’t want to oversteer in a dragster, [but] then you get in a Funny Car, and you almost have to oversteer to keep the car going straight. There’s just a lot more manhandling of the Funny Car than there used to be in the dragster, but it’s definitely been fun.”

Courtney acknowledged that she is excited not only about competing against her father and other teammates, but also against Alexis DeJoria, another female driver who made her Pro debut late last season.

“Watching Alexis last year just made me that much more eager to get out there with her because she’s having fun with it, and she’s done really well. I can’t wait to get out on the track and start making laps and promoting my great sponsors Traxxas, Ford Racing, Castrol, Auto Club, Mac Tools, and BrandSource.”

Force with crew chief Ron Douglas

Douglas, who helped direct Ashley Force Hood to second- and third-place finishes and back-to-back Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Funny Car titles in her two most recent seasons in the NHRA Full Throttle Series, will try to work the same magic this year with her sister Courtney. Sharing tune-up responsibilities with Douglas will be veteran Wible and a crew consisting of Kyle Darr, Steve Easton, Mark Freidenfelt, Dustin Johnson, Chris Kullberg, Robert Proctor, and Brad Robinson.

With 19 years of experience working with some of the most productive teams and well-known drivers in drag racing, nine as crew chief, Douglas brings a wealth of knowledge to his new role, including victories with three drivers in two nitro categories. Douglas, who has worked at Don Schumacher Racing and Doug Herbert Racing and for two-time NHRA Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon, provided additional crew-chief experience that supported battery-mate Dean “Guido” Antonelli when the two hooked up to combine to make Force Hood a legitimate title contender.

“The preparation of the car is our No. 1 priority,” Douglas said. “We want to make sure the product is right before we ever take it to the starting line. We make sure the car is prepared properly and safely – that’s priority one. Then we’ll decide how we want to attack the racetrack.”

Force beefs up the brain trust; Brittany to test in Top Fuel
Unwilling to accept his team’s 2011 results as just an unexpected bump in the road, John Force also made a series of aggressive off-season moves designed to return his namesake team to its customary position atop the NHRA Funny Car standings.

Force will start the 2012 season with a beefed-up brain trust of crew chiefs and mechanics who will race four Ford Mustang Funny Cars under the John Force Racing Inc. banner instead of the three with which they finished the 2011 season and will expand the racing technology and safety program at JFR working with Ford Motor Company.

“Racing provides a platform for technology transfer and R&D between the track and production vehicles,” said Ford’s Allison. “Ford has a longstanding relationship with John Force Racing and the NHRA on safety, which is one of Ford’s pillars.”

Returning for 2012 will be Force and his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, 2009 series champion Robert “Top Gun” Hight and his Automobile Club of Southern California Ford Mustang, and 2011 regular-season champion Mike Neff behind the wheel of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang.

While Courtney will be following in the footsteps of her father and older sister Ashley Force Hood in the Funny Car division, 25-year-old Brittany Force will start the season as test driver in the BrandSource Top Fuel dragster utilizing the JFR-built Ford Boss 500 nitro motor that powers the JFR Funny Cars. Later in the season, the team will evaluate the three-rail dragster and see what the future holds for Brittany.
 
In addition to the on-track additions, John Force Racing is investing more than a million-dollar build-up at the Brownsburg, Ind., facility and new personnel for research and development to work with Ford engineers and technicians. Force is in negotiations with an additional number of technical experts who could lend their expertise to the JFR team. The new personnel along with much-needed and appreciated assistance from Ford Motor Company will continue to keep JFR dominating on the track and building safer race cars and dragsters.

In the off-season, Force bulked his staff by hiring Danny DeGennaro, Dickie Venables, and Scott Wible to work with existing crew chiefs led by the JFR braintrust of Jimmy Prock, Neff, Dean “Guido” Antonelli, Ron Douglas, and Hall of Famer Bernie Fedderly, who has more round-wins in nitro racing than anyone else in NHRA history.
 
The on-track lineup includes Neff, who now serves as both driver and crew chief on the Castrol GTX Ford after winning two NHRA championships as crew chief alone; Prock, who engineered Hight’s 2009 title; Eric Lane, Prock’s right hand for the last 10 years; and Antonelli and Douglas, whose collaboration on Force Hood’s car produced back-to-back victories at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.
 
With Hight working his day job as president of JFR, the company also signed new partnership agreements with Freightliner Trucks and Flow International along with a sponsorship extension with the Automobile Club of Southern California, which has served as the primary sponsor on Hight’s Ford since he made his Professional driving debut as the NHRA rookie of the year in 2005.
 
Although 2011 was just the fifth season in the last 22 in which a JFR Funny Car driver did not win the championship, it otherwise was a very productive year for the sport’s most successful team. JFR drivers won half the races contested (11 of 22), led the points at the end of the regular season, and placed two of three drivers in the top five in points. Nevertheless, Force, who has won at least one tour event in 24 seasons, an auto racing record, is totally focused on reclaiming the title won last season by Matt Hagan.

“Our primary job is to win championships,” said the 133-time NHRA tour winner, “and when you don’t win, you have to look at where you can improve. I’m expanding my brain trust with more engineers and new technology. That’s why we brought Danny DeGennaro in and brought Dickie back because he knows how we work. I am also looking for some additional support that will work to just bring us ideas we can implement in testing that will continue to keep us at the top of the sport.”

About Traxxas

Traxxas successfully created, manufactured, and marketed the first ready-to-run radio-controlled vehicles for the car enthusiast and today is the world leader in the category. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Plano, Texas, Traxxas pioneered a new breed of car, one that incorporated the hobby-class benefits of replaceable parts, performance enhancements, and a high-quality component radio system with the convenience of a beautifully painted, professionally built ready-to-race performance product that could be driven and enjoyed immediately.
 
“Traxxas is a company that can easily align with John Force Racing -- the overall energy of the team; the brutal, fire-breathing horsepower that they make; and the sheer dominance they have had amongst their competition. As a company, we at Traxxas are performance first in everything we do, from our newest 100-mph supercar to how we support our customers. It’s all about performing at our best and exceeding the expectation of our customers and race fans. We are proud to have Courtney piloting the Traxxas Funny Car, and we are excited to see that Force DNA come to life at over 300 mph. Prepare yourselves for the next generation of Force, with an injection of Traxxas adrenaline.” said Mike Jenkins, Traxxas president.

Traxxas’ newest product, the electric-powered XO-1, defines the pinnacle of a whole new segment as the world’s fastest Supercar, a radio-controlled vehicle capable of reaching 60 mph in 2.3 seconds and 100 mph in 4.92 seconds. It’s this level of extreme performance that has served to reinforce Traxxas’ continued dominance of the radio-control marketplace.

While Traxxas will serve as primary sponsor of Courtney’s Ford, the Traxxas name also will appear on the other three Ford Mustangs in the John Force Racing stable.
 
The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

After Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GXP driver Greg Anderson earned his fourth world title in 2010, he was hearty in defense for much of the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season and fueled with resolve, but in the end, it was teammate Jason Line who produced an extraordinary year from day one to day last and secured his second Pro Stock championship and another big trophy for the Ken Black-owned team. Sure, there are mixed emotions for a driven competitor like Anderson who has amassed 70 event wins in an already long and successful career, but the bottom line is that the team got it done, and now it's yearning for more.

For Anderson, the beauty of the Summit-backed team is that it is truly one team with multiple race cars as opposed to separate teams under one umbrella with individual tuners, crewmembers, and agendas. Each car receives equal attention from a complex brain trust that includes veteran crew chief Rob Downing at the helm and noted tuners Tommy Utt and Jeff Perley bringing a plethora of expertise to the table. The cars in the Summit stable aren't in competition with one another, but that doesn't exactly eliminate the competition between the drivers.
 
Line humbled his teammate fast at the start of the season, beating Anderson en route to victory at the season opener in Pomona and continuing to bully his buddy on the racetrack as he earned the win over him in the final at the next event in Gainesville. The two would meet six times in eliminations during the season – four in all-Summit finals – and Line would come out ahead in each encounter but one, at the historic Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.
 
"The good thing about this team here is that for the most part, we can put our egos away and be happy for the other guy when he wins," said Anderson. "But at the same time, does it sting personally? Sure it does. You're a racer, and every racer wants to win. It's a good day when one of the KB Racing cars is in the winner's circle, but when it comes down to it, each driver has to have that will to win. It doesn't matter if it's your mother in the other lane; you have to want that win."

Anderson wanted it bad all season, and although he was more than happy to see the points lead in the hands of his teammate for the greater good of KB Racing, there was undoubtedly relief in returning to the top and scoring his first victory of the season at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at Charlotte's zMAX Dragway.
 
Line was back in the lead in short order, and one of the two Minnesota-born, factory-hot-rod-piloting brethren owned the precious perch at the conclusion of every race of the season but one; 2009 world champion Mike Edwards took the reins after winning in Sonoma.
 
The tally at season's end showed 11 wins (five in eight final rounds for Anderson, six in eight for Line), nine No. 1 qualifier awards (two for Anderson, seven for Line), and the national e.t. record back in the team's possession after Line raced to a 6.477 on the way to the win in Reading. The exceptional cumulative numbers don't tell the story, though, of a stunning turn of events as the Countdown to the Championship unfolded.
 
In Norwalk during the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals, Anderson made history as he claimed the title in the prestigious K&N Horsepower Challenge for the fourth time – the most victories in the special competition of any driver. From there, he got scary, qualifying No. 1 and beating Erica Enders on a holeshot at Route 66 Raceway in Chicago and reaching four consecutive finals: Anderson won in Sonoma from the No. 2 spot, qualified on the pole in Seattle before forfeiting to Line in the closing act, then won back-to-back races (again from the second qualifying position) in Brainerd and Indianapolis at the final event of the regular season. The reigning world champion was to enter the playoffs in the lead, and how bright the future looked.
 
"I really felt going into the Countdown that I was in as good a shape as I've ever been," said Anderson. "Everything was really rolling smoothly, and even though Jason had a great car all year long, it seemed like leading up to the Countdown, all the mojo just kind of fell my way. I kept saying that we were peaking at the right time – which we were – but when it came to Countdown time, it was for all the marbles, so I told myself that I had to do an even better job."
 
In Charlotte, at the first race of the Countdown, Anderson was wound up to go far but lost, shockingly, on a holeshot in the first round. Another gut punch followed with a first-round holeshot loss in Dallas, and from there, he simply could not regain his footing. Though he posted semifinal finishes in Reading and Las Vegas, the last three races of the year were essentially decided at the starting line – and not in Anderson's favor.

"I got out of my game plan and trusting my car, my crew guys, my engine, and just racing and having fun," he admitted. "When I got beat in Charlotte, it was like a bullet to the heart. Then we pick up and have to go to Dallas the very next weekend, and I can remember telling myself, 'All right, that's it. I can have zero more mistakes from here on out. I've got to do something special.' That was completely the wrong thing to do. I put too much pressure on myself and wanted to manufacture wins, and you just can't do that. It snowballed, and I basically augured myself into the ground."
 
The bright spot for the four-time world champion (2003-05 and 2010) is that the title stayed in the KB Racing camp, and even brighter is the thought that the 2011 Countdown is behind him. Calling the last six races a "valuable learning experience," Anderson says that all he has to do is look in the mirror to figure out what to fix because the cars, engines, and crew are all in fine working order and improving all the time.
 
Indeed, the hum of intent and momentum has steadily emanated from the Mooresville, N.C., race shop since the trucks returned from Pomona in November in preparation for keen competition and another strong defense of the team's title in 2012. The reappearance of another world champ, Jeg Coughlin Jr. – in a Dodge this time – isn't sneaking up on them, either.
 
"We know that's going to be a great program and that they are very talented people with plenty of resources behind them," said Anderson. "All we can do is focus on making our own program better. We expect everyone in the class to improve -- that's what you have to think like -- and we're digging as hard as we can to make some gains because we don't want to get passed by.
 
"2011 was a great year for KB Racing, but now isn't the time to rest. Our team has 100 reasons to smile, and we are happy, but we are focused. Everybody says that you can't win them all, but I'd sure like to prove that theory wrong. Eleven is great, but we want 23."

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series champs Matt Hagan and Del Worsham were named to the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) All-America Race Team at AARWBA's annual awards dinner held in Indianapolis Sunday evening. This honor was voted on by members of the media, and the two drivers were chosen as part of the prestigious First Team. This was the first time that both drivers have been named to the First Team and follows their championship seasons in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Hagan, in just his third full season of Funny Car competition for Don Schumacher Racing, was selected to the First Team because of his two wins, four No. 1 qualifying positions, and his national-record-setting pass of 3.995 at the second Charlotte race.

“It is such an honor to be recognized by members of the media and to be voted into the All-America Race Team by AARWBA members,” said Hagan. “To be included on a team with these champions from other major racing series in the U.S. is very humbling. This has been a whirlwind year for me and the DieHard/Shelor Motor Mile Dodge Funny Car team. We struggled early on, we kept our focus and came out on top. It’s great to be rewarded, and I’m happy to share this honor with crew chief Tommy DeLago and the rest of the DSR crew.”

Worsham, who recently stepped out of the driver’s seat to become the crew chief for Alexis DeJoria, added this award to his list of accomplishments in his 25-year driving career. His eight wins and three runner-up finishes during his return to Top Fuel with Al-Anabi Racing helped secure his first Full Throttle championship and his inclusion in this select group.

Hagan and Worsham join John Force, Tony Schumacher, Larry Dixon, Don Garlits, Don Prudhomme, Ronnie Sox, and many other NHRA racers to be honored by AARWBA since the inception of the organization in 1970.   

Antron Brown and Jason Line were named to the Second Team in the drag racing category, and Frank Manzo was named to the Second Team At Large category.

Also honored during the evening were Will Power and Dario Franchitti in Open Wheel; Bryan Clauson and Kyle Larson in Short Track; Austin Dillon and Andrew Davis in Touring Series; Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart in Stock Car Racing; the duos of Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas and Chris Dyson and Guy Smith in Road Racing; and Josef Newgarden and Patrick Long in At Large.
 

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

Josh Comstock, president, CEO, and chairman of C&J Energy Services, primary sponsor of Bob Vandergriff Racing’s NHRA Top Fuel team, rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange Friday. C&J Energy Services began trading on the NYSE under the symbol CJES in July 2011.

Headquartered in Houston, C&J Energy Services began its involvement with the Vandergriff team during the 2009 season, starting with a limited role as a primary sponsor at selected events. C&J stepped up to become the primary sponsor of the team for the full season in 2011, a season that included Vandergriff’s first Top Fuel win, which occurred in C&J’s home state at the AAA Texas NHRA Fall Nationals in September.

Vandergriff was in attendance for the ceremony.

“It was quite an honor for me and my wife, Marisa, to be guests of C&J Energy Services and their lead banker for the IPO, Goldman Sachs, at the New York Stock Exchange,” he said. “It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences that you hope to attend someday.”

C&J Energy Services will again be the primary sponsor of Bob Vandergriff Racing in 2012. The win in Dallas, plus strong finishes at the final four events of the 2011 season, have the team ready to challenge for a spot in the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship.

C&J Energy Services is an independent provider of premium hydraulic fracturing, coiled tubing, and pressure pumping services with a focus on complex, technically demanding well completions. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion.
 

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

HipLink Software, a technology leader in platform software for enterprise notification used in incident response and emergency notification, will become the primary sponsor for Henkelman Motorsports. The team will field an A/Fuel Dragster in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series and at NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events in 2012 in preparation for a transition to Top Fuel in 2013.

Tuning duties will be shared by recognized Top Fuel tuner Rick Henkelman and 2011 Lucas Oil Top Alcohol Dragster championship tuner Dana Hopewell, with Garrett Bateman handling the driving duties.

“We are extremely excited to be teaming up with Henkelman Motorsports for 2012 and beyond,” said Pamela LaPine, CEO of HipLink. “The level of quality players involved in this program made our selection process for sponsorship an easy one. We weighed a number of marketing vehicles for 2012 and felt that NHRA Drag Racing provided us the unique level of exposure we were looking for. Steve Strope did an incredible job readying our brand for NHRA Drag Racing, and we are already eyeing a migration to Top Fuel. We look forward to competing and to entertaining our clients and partners in this high-profile sport."

Custom-car builder Strope of Pure Vision is part of the team and managed the design process for the race car personally. He has appeared regularly on car and racing television shows, including the critically acclaimed RIDES.

“My goal was to illustrate the power of HipLink’s communications software with the speed of NHRA Drag Racing,” he explained of his design. “The HipLink DNA is fully integrated into the look of the dragster, with some hot rod flare from Pure Vision. It’s been great to work with HipLink and with Henkelman Motorsports. We expect great things from this team, and I look forward to being at the track with the organization as time permits."

Top Fuel certainly is not a new class to owner and co-crew chief Henkelman. With numerous No. 1 qualifying efforts and NHRA national event wins in Top Fuel and the Lucas Oil Series, Henkelman is eagerly looking toward picking up where he left off.

“I can’t tell you how honored I am to return to the sport and bring a sponsor like HipLink into NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing,” he said. “These guys are accustomed to winning and really belong in the sport. In addition, many of my longtime associate sponsors such as NGK, ARP, and ClearBoost oil immediately got behind our program. Dana Hopewell's involvement was actually the final decision-maker for me to come back to the sport I love. With Dana, anything is possible. The last time I was at the track was at the Sonoma national event tuning for J.R Todd. We put it on the pole with a 3.811 and went to the semifinals. Developing power is something I really enjoy, and working with Dana again makes me confident that we will be competitive."

Henkelman Motorsports, HipLink Software, and Pure Vision will be unveiling the car at the 2012 Grand Nationals Roadster Show at the Fairplex in Pomona at the end of January. The team will test in Las Vegas before competing at the season-opening O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries in Pomona in February.

As mobility plays a larger role in all organizations, consolidated communication from a unified framework is essential. Hiplink Software has been developing communications and alerting platforms since 1993 and handles the central communications responsibilities for customers that include Wells Fargo, Cablevision, Kaiser, and Verizon Wireless and partners including AT&T, Spillman, and Motorola. 

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

NHRA Top Fuel racer Doug Herbert will be inducted into the North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Fame in Greensboro, N.C., Jan. 13, joining other legendary racers, including Ronnie Sox, Rickie Smith, and Roy Hill.

"It's an honor to be inducted in the Hall of Fame," Herbert said. "To join some of my racing heroes is quite an honor, and I am really looking forward to it. When I initially heard of my induction, my reply was, ‘Hey, I have not retired yet!’ but I was assured that being inducted into the Hall of Fame does not mean that you are retired; it just means that you have contributed significantly to the sport of drag racing, and that I am happy to accept.

"I would like to thank all of the fans and the induction committee for giving me the opportunity to be involved with the Hall of Fame. Right now, I am actually working on sponsorship to get the DougZilla Top Fuel dragster back on the track in 2012, and I hope to be able to make an announcement soon. Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is a great way to start out 2012”.

North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Fame organizer Steve Earwood said, “Doug Herbert is not only the most accomplished Top Fuel racer to reside in North Carolina with 30 national event wins in the NHRA and the IHRA series, he also is one of the state’s most proficient drag racing entrepreneurs. Operating Doug Herbert Performance Parts in Concord, Doug has helped and sponsored the sport’s grassroots. Doug has been a responsible corporate steward as well with his creation of the nonprofit organization B.R.A.K.E.S., a program to train and to educate teenagers on the importance of safe driving, a project he has tirelessly worked on since the traffic accident of his two sons, Jon and James, in 2008. He certainly is a worthy addition to the North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Fame.”

Herbert’s father, Chet, and aunt, Doris Herbert, are both members of Don Garlits’ International Drag Racing Hall of Fame.
 

Like a chess master maneuvering pieces for battle, Al-Anabi Racing team manager Alan Johnson continued his preparation for the 2012 season by setting his final driver/crew chief tandems for the upcoming NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series campaign.

After completing a rare December test session and reviewing the data, Johnson has decided to pair newly licensed rookie nitro driver Khalid alBalooshi with 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel championship crew chief Jason McCulloch on the gold team, and new team driver Shawn Langdon, who will be competing in his third season in the class, will be paired with 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel championship crew chief Brian Husen on the silver team.

With both the Al-Anabi silver and gold teams featuring new drivers in 2012, Johnson added last month’s test session to provide an opportunity for alBalooshi to get his license, test parts, and begin building the relationships necessary to compete in NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing. The session also allowed Johnson to think about the different experience levels and personalities and the new team dynamic.

“Jason McCulloch is our most experienced crew chief, so we decided it would be best to pair him with our rookie driver so that Jason can work with alBalooshi to make him as comfortable as possible,” Johnson said. “We also felt Shawn Langdon and Brian Husen would work well together, so it all just worked out nicely. We feel this arrangement will allow both teams to get up to speed in the least amount of time. Our December test, while primarily planned for alBalooshi to get his license, turned out to be quite helpful in making our personnel decisions.”

Pursuant to NHRA requirements, alBalooshi worked through the licensing procedures completing passes of short and intermediate lengths before making two full 1,000-foot passes to earn his Top Fuel license, completing runs in 3.86 seconds at 319 mph and 3.85 seconds at 318 mph.

Team manager Alan Johnson

“We don’t usually consider testing in December, but given the circumstances, we felt we should get a head start on the 2012 season,” Johnson said. “We are very pleased with alBalooshi’s progress in adapting to the Top Fuel car. Now with the licensing procedure behind us, we can get him back to West Palm Beach [Fla.] in a couple of weeks for more experience driving one of the world’s fastest cars.”

“I am very happy to have my [Top Fuel] license,” alBalooshi said. “From where I started my racing career, it was a big jump to drive Top Fuel. I never thought Top Fuel was possible until three years ago when I tested A/Fuel Dragster in West Palm Beach. I could not have done it without the Al-Anabi team behind me. I am very happy to have the opportunity, and the team took such good care of me that it I did not have time to be nervous. The team did a great job instructing me from the beginning of the process. I relied on the team and all of my years in racing to keep me calm.

“Every detail is taken care of. I am so happy with my firesuit and all of the safety equipment from Stand 21, and I thank Stand 21 for all of the help because I feel safe in the car. I need to continue making more runs to figure out what I need to change and how I can get better in the car. Thanks to Sheik Khalid and Alan Johnson for this opportunity, and thanks to everyone on the Al-Anabi team for making me feel so welcome and comfortable.”

Langdon made multiple runs in the Al-Anabi silver car in the low- to mid-3.80-second range. His best run was 3.799 seconds at 317.79 mph.

“It felt really good being in the car,” Langdon said. “There’s a lot of things that were new to me, but also a lot that were the same. It was mostly trying to get acclimated to the car and the procedures the team uses. It took a little getting used to. They run the car really aggressive, and they run the car pretty hard. I got my career-best 3.79 in the first couple of days, and I’m excited to get back to West Palm this month for preseason testing so we can keep bettering that career best and get ready for Pomona [the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries].”

“The December test also gave us an opportunity to give Shawn Langdon a few runs in his new car,” Johnson said. “After all, once the racetrack has been prepped, testing two cars is actually better than just one. We were able to let Shawn get acquainted with his car and our team as well as test a few new parts we did not have the chance to try during the 2011 season. Last month’s test was a vital step for our new-look Al-Anabi Racing team.”

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

NHRA has announced the first official doubleheader NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event in history, scheduled for the week following the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Int'l Raceway in Phoenix.

The NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series doubleheader will consist of a standard race on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 23-24, followed by a regional NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event featuring Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 25-26.

“This format provides a huge benefit to the Sportsman racer,” said NHRA Pacific Division Director Mike Rice. “Specifically, it helps reduce travel costs by allowing racers to compete in two races in one weekend. And for those Sportsman racers who decide to race in the NHRA Arizona Nationals the previous weekend, it provides an opportunity to compete in three points events in a 10-day window. I would like to thank Charlie Allen and his team at Firebird Int'l Raceway for their assistance and willingness to make this concept become a reality for the Sportsman racers.”

NHRA has never officially scheduled a doubleheader Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event. However, it has happened out of necessity due to rain reschedules. If proven successful and a financial benefit to the racer as it is intended, the doubleheader concept could be implemented at other events in the future.

Brandon Bernstein has been selected to drive the MavTV/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster for Morgan Lucas Racing in 2012 and beyond. Bernstein's dragster, the same one driven by Shawn Langdon the last three years, will be tuned by longtime MLR crewmembers Joe Barlam and John DeFilippis.

"Brandon Bernstein is the total package," Lucas said. "He brings an amazing presence, a professional attitude, and a tremendous fan following to this race team, not to mention his obvious ability behind the wheel of a Top Fuel dragster. He's the perfect choice to fill the seat and represent our sponsors."

Added MavTV President Bob Patison, "Brandon Bernstein is a solid choice to pilot the MavTV Top Fuel dragster. His professionalism and proven record of success on the track are exactly the attributes a sponsor wants in a driver. Brandon will be a great ambassador for MavTV, a network featuring the best in movies, sports, and variety programming."

An 18-time national event winner, Bernstein already ranks fifth among active Top Fuel drivers in total number of victories and is tied for 10th with legend Shirley Muldowney on the all-time class list.

"I'm honored to have this chance to drive for MavTV, Lucas Oil, and Morgan Lucas Racing," Bernstein said. "It was a stressful holiday season, to be honest, as I assessed the limited opportunities out there. It wasn't much fun, until today.

"Racing with my dad was a dream come true, and now I have a very unique chance to race with my second family -- Forrest, Charlotte, and Morgan Lucas. We raced with the Lucas Oil brand on our cars for many years, and it’s great to come back into the fold. I feel an immense amount of gratitude to them for giving me this chance."

Aside from MavTV and Lucas Oil, the car will be branded with ProtectTheHarvest.com, an initiative spearheaded by Forrest Lucas. More details on specifics of the various sponsorship arrangements are forthcoming.

"Drag racing requires a lot of its drivers," Morgan Lucas said. "The part where you're actually driving the car is only a small piece of what it takes.

"Brandon has such a well-rounded vision of how to meet the demands of high-profile brands like MavTV, Lucas Oil, Toyota, GEICO, and all the other companies that support Morgan Lucas Racing. He also knows how to interact with the media and the fans. He's a real pro, and that was a big part of why he was selected. The fact we're longtime friends also was important. Brandon's a family man with strong values. He's the perfect choice to drive this car."

Bernstein said that his longtime friendships with Morgan and Barlam is making the transition to his new team an easy one.

"I've known these guys a long time," the 39-year-old said. "Morgan and I grew up out here together, and I remember bugging Joe back when he was a crew guy on the McDonald's car. I was probably 14 years old at the time, but he was always cool to me, and we've remained in touch. It's a very comfortable feeling here.

"Joe and John have been working overtime with Morgan's crew chiefs [Aaron Brooks and Rod Centorbi] to make these two dragsters identical. We're going to take things to a new level this year."

Lucas and Bernstein will begin testing for the upcoming season on Jan. 16 in south Florida.
 

The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season kicks off Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona with the 52nd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries. Click here to get your tickets.

Based in Dallas-Fort Worth, Global iPrint offers a number of printing services, including offset printing, digital printing, large-format printing, mailing services, bindery, specialty finishing, and distribution. As the preferred printer, Global iPrint will provide a wide array of services to the world’s largest motorsports sanctioning body. “Given the enormous printing needs of NHRA throughout the year, Global iPrint will be able to provide professional and timely printing capabilities for all of our applications,” said Tony Driscoll, NHRA vice president of sales and business development.

As part of the multiyear agreement, Global iPrint will provide exclusive incentives and programs for NHRA sponsors, teams, and members in hopes of fully integrating its capabilities into the NHRA Drag Racing community. Global iPrint will receive advertising in National DRAGSTER as well as introductions by NHRA to the entire racing community.

“We are excited to get involved with all aspects of NHRA’s business,” said Brian Rozansky, Global iPrint president. “Our mission is to create an atmosphere to encourage teamwork and challenge our people to consistently meet and exceed the expectations of our clients. Our core team has been involved in all facets of the printing industry since the early '70s, and we want to bring our expertise, technology, and industry innovations and advances to bear on behalf of the NHRA community.”

The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America has released the list of drag racing finalists who are candidates to be inducted into its class of 2012. Six-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Warren Johnson heads the list, which also includes three-time NHRA Funny Car champion Raymond Beadle, the owner/driver of the Blue Max Funny Car; Funny Car builder and component designer John Buttera; pioneering Funny Car driver Jack Chrisman; announcer Dave McClelland; and engine builder Ed Pink. Inductees will be announced early in 2012.

Eligibility for induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame is extended to any person who has driven, piloted, owned, designed, built, supported, maintained, prepared, or promoted motorized vehicles in pursuit of speed, distance, or other records. An inductee must have been retired for at least three years or must have been engaged at the top level of his or her area of motorsports for at least 20 years. Inductees are characterized by their desire to win, mastery of their field, and the courage to innovate.

A panel of historians, retired competitors, journalists, and prior living inductees vote for the final selections. Each inductee receives the Hall of Fame's prestigious Horsepower award -- an original bronze statuette created by Ann Arbor, Mich., sculptor Michael Curtis.

The list of previous drag racing inductees is a Who’s Who of the sport: Wally Parks, Don Garlits, Shirley Muldowney, Don Prudhomme, Bob Glidden, Connie Kalitta, Keith Black, Bill Jenkins, Art Chrisman, Don Nicholson, C.J. Hart, Danny Ongais, Tom McEwen, Eddie Hill, Ed Donovan, Joe Amato, Tommy Ivo, Chris Karamesines, Buddy Martin, Ronnie Sox, John Force, Kenny Bernstein, Dale Armstrong, and Ed McCulloch.
 

JANUARY

Jan. 5: O’Reilly Auto Parts named title-rights sponsor of Seattle, Chicago events

Jan. 6: Al-Anabi names Husen as Worsham Top Fuel crew chief

Jan. 6: NHRA to move Tech Department to Indianapolis

Jan. 9: Lucas Oil Products acquires naming rights to NHRA-owned Indianapolis facility

Jan. 11: Service Central Racing partners with DSR, Gray on new Funny Car

Jan. 19: NHRA announces plans to improve fan experience at Full Throttle events

Jan. 21: Enders coming back home to Cagnazzi Racing for 2011 season

Jan. 24: NASCAR’s Busch to make NHRA Pro debut at Gatornationals

Jan. 24: NHRA creates new program for 2011 Super Stock, Stock class eliminations

Jan. 25: Force Hood expecting first child, will sit out 2011; Neff back behind wheel

Jan. 26: Special activities to highlight Pomona launch of NHRA 60th Anniversary season

Jan. 27: NHRA unveils its 60 Greatest Moments; fans to determine greatest moment

Jan. 27: Collier named GM of Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis

Jan. 31: Candlewood Suites joins Kalitta Motorsports in IHG’s first NHRA sponsorship

FEBRUARY

Feb. 3: NHRA Unleashed expands to seven events, including in Midwest, on West Coast

Feb. 5: Uni-Select to be Reading sponsor, official auto-parts store of Atlanta Dragway

Feb. 5: Summit Racing, Genuine Hotrod Hardware to sponsor Humphrey again

Feb. 8: Lincoln Technical Institute named official technical school of NHRA

Feb. 9: Prudhomme named one of the coolest athletes in Southern California in Los Angeles Times story

Feb. 10: Tri-Cities Ford Dealers announce sponsorship of NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals

Feb. 11: Rislone Fuel Injector Cleaner to back Dunn’s Funny Car

Feb. 12: Worsham earns Top Fuel license

Feb. 15: NHRA announces special free hard-card program as part of 60th Anniversary celebration

Feb. 16: Aaron’s partners with Don Schumacher Racing

Feb. 19: Racer magazine readers name Force 2010 Racer of the Year

Feb. 21: Vandergriff to run full 2011 season for C&J Energy Services

Feb. 24: Visit Myrtle Beach named sponsor of NHRA Four-Wide Nationals

Feb. 27: Season-opening wins go to Lucas, Hight, Line in Pomona

MARCH

March 2: Peterson promoted to vice president of racing administration

March 4: Parts Plus to sponsor NHRA Top Fuel driver Millican for 12 races

March 10: Legendary racers Garlits, Gwynn renew rivalry in Match Races for a Cause at Gatornationals

March 11: Record book takes a beating in Gainesville

March 12: Gainesville Raceway dragstrip named 301 Bernstein Way in honor of Bernstein’s milestone speed

March 13: NHRA dedicates section of grandstand at Gainesville Raceway in honor of Garlits

March 13: Line doubles, Worsham wins in Top Fuel at Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals

March 17: Rampy grabs 75th NHRA national win at JEGS SPORTSnationals

March 21: NHRA extends marketing partnership with American Honda

March 22: IHG’s Candlewood Suites named preferred hotel of NHRA

March 22: K&N partners with NHRA, Ford for 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge

APRIL

April 1: NHRA launches 60th Anniversary sweepstakes

April 3: Hight takes points lead with Vegas win; Brown, Edwards also score

April 8: Coughlin brothers announce new Pro Stock engine business

April 12: New Tree implemented for VisitMyrtleBeach.com NHRA Four-Wide Nationals

April 14: NHRA Classics logo T-shirts available at select Target, Walmart stores

April 17: Worsham, Beckman, Anderson prevail in Charlotte

April 19: Mopar becomes title-rights sponsor for Jr. League Western Conference Finals

April 27: Aerospace Components named title sponsor for NHRA Unleashed

April 28: Richards joins DSR, will tune Capps’ Funny Car

MAY

May 1: Nobile scores first; Worsham, Arend, Hines also win Houston titles

May 2: “Snake,” “Mongoose” feature film moving forward

May 4: White named NHRA director of engineering

May 15: NHRA, Red Cross raise more than $10,000 for tornado-stricken Southeast area

May 15: Brown, Beckman, Line, Tonglet take Atlanta victories

May 17: Former Top Fuel racer James Warren, voted to NHRA Top 50 list, dies

May 22: Massey, Hight, Gray collect victories in Topeka

May 29: Worsham entertains Coca-Cola 600 fans with pre-race burnout

May 31: Big crowds, excitement greet JFR at Indy 500 weekend

JUNE

June 1: Bahrain Int’l Circuit latest to join NHRA Worldwide network

June 2: Castrol extends sponsorship with 15-time champion Force

June 5: Massey, Neff, Johnson, Smith capture SuperNationals victories

June 10: DiGiorno pizza to support Fuller’s 2011 return to NHRA events

June 10: NHRA Harley-Davidson Racing Nitro Exhibition added to Bristol

June 19: Dixon, Hight, Edwards crowned champions in Bristol

June 20: Enders wins fan vote, earns final spot in K&N Horsepower Challenge

June 22: NHRA, Summit announce long-term extension of Norwalk title rights

June 25: Anderson wins fourth K&N Horsepower Challenge

June 26: Points leaders Worsham, Neff lead Norwalk winners

June 28: Force, Anderson nominated for Best Driver ESPY award

JULY

July 9: Division 4 claims sixth JEGS Allstars team championship

July 10: Neff nets Ford’s 200th Funny Car win; Worsham, Anderson, Tonglet also score in Chicago

July 24: Worsham, Neff first to clinch Countdown playoff berths

July 24: Force gets on the board in Denver; Massey, Edwards, Stoffer also get mile-high wins

July 30: Force claims NHRA record 139th No. 1 qualifying position

July 31: Brown, Capps double up for DSR; Anderson, Tonglet also score in Sonoma

AUGUST

Aug. 7: Worsham, Wilkerson, Line collect Seattle victories

Aug. 9: Lucas Oil to support legend Karamesines

Aug. 11: NHRA, Lucas Oil Raceway donate Indy tickets to area first responders

Aug. 16: Jacob John Hood born to Ashley Force Hood and husband Danny

Aug. 21: Gray nets first Pro win; Brown, Anderson, Tonglet also victorious in Brainerd

Aug. 24: Versatile drag racer McCulloch inducted into Motorsports Hall of Fame of America

Aug. 30: UMB Bank introduces affinity-card program as part of sponsorship with NHRA

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 2: Muldowney receives Women in the Winner’s Circle Foundation Pioneer Award

Sept. 3: NHRA dedicates Indy Top Eliminator Club grandstand in honor of Shirley Muldowney

Sept. 4: Worsham, Neff lock up top nitro playoff seeds

Sept. 4: Historic Lucas Oil Raceway dragstrip named Bob Glidden Drive

Sept. 5: Brown, Neff, Anderson, Arana collect Indy gold

Sept. 5: NHRA remembers 9/11 at Mac Tools U.S. Nationals

Sept. 7: Complete Motorola NHRA Live Timing unveiled

Sept. 8: NHRA announces 2012 Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule

Sept. 16: Hagan makes history with first three-second Funny Car pass

Sept. 18: Hagan caps dominant weekend with victory; Brown, Johnson, Krawiec also score

Sept. 21: DeJoria debuts new Tequila Patrón Funny Car at star-studded event in Dallas

Sept. 25: Vandergriff’s first Top Fuel win highlights Dallas finals

Sept. 25: Bernstein, Force members of 2012 International Motorsports Hall of Fame class

Sept. 29: Force honored as Great Sports Legend

OCTOBER

Oct. 3: Line wins, resets record; Massey, Hight, Arana also score in Reading

Oct. 5: TBC Retail Group, Big O Tires brand become title sponsor of fall Las Vegas event

Oct. 12: NHRA Originals vintage T-shirts on sale now in Target stores nationwide

Oct. 16: Rookies Nobile, Arana continue to amaze; Dixon, Beckman also score in Phoenix

Oct. 17: Force to be honored, Ultimate Force Car Show added to Finals

Oct. 21: 20th anniversary California Hot Rod Reunion takes place

Oct. 29: Balooshi clinches Get Screened America Pro Mod championship

Oct. 30: Worsham, Capps, Edwards, Krawiec win on drama-filled day in Vegas

Oct. 30: Line clinches second NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock championship

Oct. 31: NHRA, Summit Racing Equipment announce extension of title-rights sponsorships in Las Vegas, Atlanta

NOVEMBER

Nov. 1: Four-time NHRA Pro Stock champ Coughlin to return with new Mopar

Nov. 2: Nitro Generation introduced at NHRA Breakfast at SEMA Show

Nov. 7: NHRA, Summit Racing Equipment extend sponsorship of NHRA Summit Racing Series

Nov. 8: Scott, Doug Kalitta inducted into Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame

Nov. 9: Stewart era as official NHRA starter comes to a close

Nov. 13: NHRA dedicates Auto Club Raceway at Pomona Top Eliminator Club grandstand in honor of Force

Nov. 13: Force’s improbable 15th Funny Car title is fans’ choice for NHRA’s greatest moment

Nov. 13: Worsham, Hagan, Krawiec clinch 2011 NHRA Full Throttle championships

Nov. 13: NHRA Summit national champions crowned

Nov. 13: Ford wins 2011 NHRA Manufacturers Cup

Nov. 13: Worsham, Hagan celebrate titles with finale wins; Stanfield, Hines also score

Nov. 15: Bernstein retires from NHRA Drag Racing

Nov. 21: 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel champion Worsham retires

Nov. 29: Brooks, Centorbi will tune GEICO/Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster

Nov. 30: Snap-on extends sponsorship of Cruz Pedregon, Snap-on Funny Car

Nov. 30: Worsham joins Kalitta Motorsports as Tequila Patrón Funny Car crew chief

DECEMBER

Dec. 2: First issue of Destination Force graphic novel available

Dec. 4: DeGennaro joins JFR, Venables set to return

Dec. 9: NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series 2012 schedule announced

Dec. 11: GEICO renews with Morgan Lucas Racing through 2014

Dec. 12: Alan Johnson Racing, Dixon agree to ‘mutual separation’

Dec. 13: Langdon joins Al-Anabi Racing team

Dec 14: NHRA Pro Mod champ alBalooshi named Al-Anabi Top Fuel driver

Dec. 19: Hometown fans celebrate Hagan's Funny Car championship

Dec. 21: Fans break through 300,000 mark on NHRA’s Facebook page

Dec. 22: Virginian wins Ford Focus in NHRA 60th Anniversary Sweepstakes

The Brian Husen-tuned dragster got off to a blistering start and set the pace in the competitive Top Fuel class almost from the opening green light in Pomona.

After reaching the semis at the O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals, the Husen-tuned, Worsham-driven Al-Anabi dragster found the Winner’s Circle at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals to assume the points lead, a lead they would maintain for the remainder of the regular season.

They would win five more regular season races to enter the Countdown as the dominant team not only in Top Fuel, but in the entire NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

They made it out of the first round at 20 of 22 races, but one of the two first-round slipups came at the first race of the Countdown – against Bob Vandergriff – and that almost derailed their hopes.

The Al-Anabi team dropped to third place and was as low as fourth place before rallying to win the last two races – wins that included defeats of his chief competition, Spencer Massey – to reclaim the top spot and win the championship.

When the year was over, the Husen-Worsham Al-Anabi dragster reached half of the season’s final rounds (11), qualified No. 1 at a third of the races (7), and racked up a gaudy 53-14 round-win record.
 

Recognized for years as one of the elite drivers in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, Del Worsham had an opportunity on the biggest of stages in 2011 to prove it and he came through in impressive fashion. The performance earned him the acknowledgement of the NHRA fans as the 2011 Fan Choice Awards’ Driver of the Year.

After leading the Top Fuel category for most of the regular season, he slipped up a bit at the start of the Countdown and entered the season’s penultimate race in fourth place. He had no room for error and indeed he did not err.

He advanced through to the finals at the Big O Tires NHRA Nationals, but was matched up against points-leader Spencer Massey. He was trailing at the time by 22 points so the race meant he would enter the finals either trailing by two points or 42 points.

His .061 reaction time was .013 better than his season average (.074) and he needed every last bit of that improved performance as he clipped Massey by just .001-second at the stripe.

It was déjà vu all over again two weeks later in Pomona, except this time Worsham and Massey met in the semifinals. Worsham was even better on the tree in Pomona, leaving with a .050 reaction time, and once again he needed it all as he beat Massey to the finish line by .004-second this time.

Overall during the Countdown, Worsham was better than his .074 average in 13 of his 17 passes, including all four at the Auto Club NHRA finals.

And it wasn’t just in the Countdown: Worsham was, from the start of the season, best-in-class. He reached the final round at 11 of 22 races – winning eight times – and he earned seven No. 1 qualifiers.
 

If you take the definition of "Upset" as it is in the dictionary – “defeating a team that is considered more formidable” – then it’s hard to argue with the Fans’ choice of Bob Vandergriff Jr.’s first career win as the 2011 Upset of the Year.

A secondary definition of “upset” is an “unexpected” result and Vandergriff’s win at the Texas Motorplex certainly qualifies – you would be hard-pressed to have found a soul who was there that day at the Motorplex who had money on the C&J Energy Services dragster.

After all, not only was he racing as an independent against the powerful teams from Alan Johnson Racing and Don Schumacher Racing, he also owned the dubious distinction of being the NHRA driver who’d been to the most final rounds (13) without ever tasting victory.

Couple that with the fact that he’d only qualified eighth that day, and he would have to defeat seven-time world champ top-qualifier Tony Schumacher in the quarterfinals, No. 4 qualifier Brandon Bernstein in the semifinals, and then-points-leader Spencer Massey in the finals, and it was an uphill climb – an "upset" – of really epic proportions.

Tomorrow we will unveil the Driver of the Year. The nominees were Spencer Massey, Del Worsham, Matt Hagan, Robert Hight, Vincent Nobile and Greg Stanfield.
 

Matt Hagan and the DieHard team have created some of the most memorable Moments in the short history at zMAX Dragway, although up until September, 2011 they were for all the wrong reasons – as in, they had created some of the sport’s most spectacular explosions there at zMAX Dragway.

But when the DieHard team with Tommy DeLago tuning returned in Sept., 2011, they created the kind of historic Moment that will remembered forever – they became the first Funny Car team to break the four-second barrier – and that was the 2011 Fan Choice Awards’ “Moment of the Year.”

The 3.995-second blast down the Bellagio of Drag Strips narrowly defeated Bob Vandergriff’s memorable run back up the track at Texas Motorplex, a spontaneous reaction to his first career win after 13 runner-up finishes.

The long history of this great sport has been defined by the barriers of time and speed that have been pursued since its founding in 1951 and in 2011 the top Funny Car teams were in hot pursuit to be the first in the fours.

When conditions were just right -– as they were in Topeka and a handful of other tracks during the 2011 season –- the buzz for the first sub-four run in Funny Car grew. One such ‘perfect’ session came to fruition in Charlotte in September and the DieHard team delivered the goods.

What’s more, this Moment carried significance that far exceeded simply earning the historic distinction of being the first in the fours. Hagan entered the Auto Club NHRA Finals with a one-point lead over Jack Beckman, a 26-point lead over Cruz Pedregon and a 34-point lead over Mike Neff so the 20 bonus points he earned for setting the national record were a major boost in his run to the NHRA Full Throttle Series championship.

Tomorrow we will unveil the Upset of the Year. The nominees were Spencer Massey’s stunning DNQ at Phoenix, Tony Schumacher not winning a race, Bob Vandergriff’s first career win, and Shane Gray’s upset of Greg Anderson that derailed GA’s title run.
 

For most of the 2011 season, Del Worsham’s dogged two-decades-long pursuit of an NHRA championship, one that included more than 30 wins and five Top-5 finishes, seemed to be right on track.

And then it didn’t. What was shaping up to be a great ending to a storybook career went terribly sideways at the start of the Countdown. Leading in the points all year, he lost his way and was as low as fourth place with two races to go.

With no margin for error, and matched up against one of the best leavers in the sport (Spencer Massey), Worsham came through in the most clutch way to possible to finish the year with back-to-back wins to earn his first NHRA Full Throttle Series championship. The seemingly scripted finish was the 2011 Fan Choice Awards “Story of the Year.”

Regarding Worsham’s margin for error, consider that he defeated runner-up Massey by one-thousandth of a second in the final-round at the penultimate race, the Big O Tires NHRA Nationals, and by four-thousandths of a second in the semifinals at the season’s final race, the Auto Club NHRA Finals. If either of those results was reversed, Massey would have been the 2011 champion.

When you think about it, it’s truly an amazing thing to digest. By a mere five-thousandths of a second, the combined margin of victory of those two races, his fate – as well as that of his opponent (Massey) was determined.

For Worsham, the win put a bow on his decorated career with the one thing that had eluded him – an NHRA Full Throttle Series championship – while Massey was, by the thinnest of margins, left to start the climb all over again.

Adding to the drama of that moment was the fact that one of NHRA’s most popular and well-regarded drivers proceeded to announce his retirement from racing at the conclusion of the season.

Worsham was, from the start of the season, best-in-class. He reached the final round at 11 of 22 races – winning eight times – and he earned seven No. 1 qualifiers.

Tomorrow we will unveil the Moment of the Year. There were six nominees including Matt Hagan breaking the four-second barrier, Bob Vandergriff’s celebration “lap” at the Texas Motorplex, and Del Worsham and Matt Hagan’s championship-clinching passes.
 

Ford Racing is keeping the pedal to the metal in the off-season with the inaugural Tournament of Ovals on Facebook. Fans have been voting for their favorite Ford Racing driver in bracket eliminations and 15-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force has emerged as the drag racing champion and will face drifting champion Vaughn Gittin Jr. in the semifinal round. Voting will be conducted one day only: Dec. 23.

Force defeated Pro Stock driver Larry Morgan in this first round before upending family friend and competitor Bob Tasca III in the second round. Force faced one of his toughest match-up in round three versus Stock racer/automotive journalist Evan Smith. It took a late rally to move Force to the semi’s where he will face Gittin Jr.

Fans can vote through their Facebook account here: http://www.facebook.com/OfficialFordRacing?sk=app_190322544333196

If Force advances he would face either NASCAR’s Matt Kenseth or the winner of the Sport Car final between racers Scott Maxwell and Billy Johnson in the over-all Tournament of Ovals finals.
 

Bo Moxley, 58, of Independence, Va., has won the Grand Prize in NHRA’s 60th Anniversary Sweepstakes, a 2012 Ford Focus Titanium 5-Door.

The NHRA 60th Anniversary Sweepstakes was a year-long promotion that ran in conjunction with many special events during NHRA’s 60th Anniversary celebration. In addition to the Grand Prize winner, 60 First Prize winners earned a pair of tickets to an NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event of their choice, while 200 Second Prize winners received a limited edition NHRA 60th Anniversary Full Throttle Series T-Shirt.

“All of us at Ford Racing are thrilled for Bo and his family, and know they will enjoy their new 2012 Ford Focus,” said Tim Duerr, Motorsport Marketing Manager, Ford Racing.  “We were excited to partner on this sweepstakes with NHRA in its 60th year as we celebrated our own 110th anniversary season.  It’s efforts like this that help us reach out with great partners in racing and reach the race fans in a meaningful way for everyone involved.”

The 2012 Ford Focus Titanium 5-Door, with a retail value estimated at $24,000, is a stylish hatchback that doubles as a luxury car in a small package. Moxley plans to take ownership of his new Ford Focus Titanium at Huff Ford in Wytheville, Va.

“I haven’t won anything before, so this really means the world to me, it’s a real blessing,” said Moxley, a former drag racer who competed regularly at local tracks in Virginia and North Carolina throughout the 1970s and ’80s. “I have been an NHRA fan all of my life and we attend races in Bristol and Charlotte when we can. The two cars that I own both have over 200,000 miles on them, so winning this Ford Focus couldn’t have come at a better time for me and my wife. We’re both thrilled. We want to thank NHRA and Ford for offering this great sweepstakes program.”

Throughout its 60-year history, NHRA has been a sport defined by its barrier-breaking moments, from Kenny Bernstein’s 300-mph run in Gainesville in 1992 to Matt Hagan’s 3.995-second pass at zMAX Dragway in 2011.

So it’s only fitting that in this era of social media, when NHRA fans have become such an integral part of the success and growth of the sport, that they get in on the action, and they did exactly that Tuesday by achieving their own milestone moment when they broke through the 300,000 mark on NHRA’s Facebook page.

NHRA debuted its Facebook page in March 2009, and right from the outset, it became a popular gathering place for its highly engaged and highly social fan base. The fans showed up early and often to discuss and debate the NHRA issues of the day, to get exclusive NHRA content delivered right to their desktop or handheld device, and to have the chance to communicate in a direct and candid way with the sanctioning body.

With the benefit now of almost three years of hindsight, it’s clear that Facebook has really been the ideal platform to give a voice to one of the most passionate fan bases in sports, and it’s really no surprise then that it has grown as quickly as it has.

NHRA’s fans numbered 26,000 by the end of 2009, and they broke through the 100,000 barrier in July 2010. In March 2011, NHRA’s Facebook page celebrated its two-year birthday by adding its 200,000th fan, and just nine months later, it is celebrating a Merry Christmas by adding its 300,000th fan.

What’s more, NHRA fans are among the most engaged fan bases in sports, and on Facebook, they interact with content posted on the NHRA Facebook page at a rate that is more than five times greater than peer Facebook pages in the 100,000 to 500,000 range.

NHRA is looking forward to using Facebook to build an even stronger and more personal relationship with its fans in 2012 and beyond. And as good as that is, "stuff" is always good too, so fans can expect plenty of giveaways as well.

To help kick off the 20th Anniversary celebration of the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League, NHRA has announced that the Western Conference Finals and Eastern Conference Finals will once again return to Bandimere Speedway in Denver and Bristol Dragway in Bristol for the 2012 season.

The NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Western Conference Finals will head back to Bandimere Speedway, June 28-30, and the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Eastern Conference Finals will take place one month later, July 26-28, at Bristol Dragway.

As part of the 20th Anniversary celebration of the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League, both tracks will also host activities and events throughout the weekend in addition to the racing action that will occur on the track.

“It’s hard to believe that 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the Jr. Drag Racing League, a program started to introduce NHRA Drag Racing to young people around the country,” said NHRA President Tom Compton. “We want to thank our NHRA member track network for their support of this very important program that has become the proving grounds for future stars in NHRA.”

The Western Conference Finals has been held at Bandimere Speedway since NHRA adopted the Eastern/Western format in 2000, and Bristol Dragway first hosted the Eastern Conference Finals in 2004. Nearly 1,000 kids compete for individual and team honors at the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Eastern and Western Conference Finals, with nearly $100,000 in savings bonds given away at each event, including a $5,000 savings bond and an NHRA Wally champion's trophy to each individual winner.

“The growth of NHRA Championship Drag Racing starts with today’s youth, and we congratulate NHRA on 20 years of the Jr. Drag Racing League,” said John “Sporty” Bandimere III, executive vice president and general manager of Bandimere Speedway. “Over the past 20 years, we have seen Jr. racing become more intense and competitive and in turn develop some of drag racing’s top drivers. The competition, friendship, and camaraderie that comes from the Western Conference Finals makes hosting the event an honor, and we continually look forward to playing host to our racing family.”

“We are proud that the Jr. Drag Racing League Eastern Conference Finals once again will take place in Thunder Valley,” said Julie Bennett, vice president of Bristol Dragway. “Imagine the excitement of these kids knowing their first national event win could take place at a track with the history and tradition of Bristol Dragway. These drivers are our future, and we can’t wait to show them a good time here in Bristol.”

The arrival Christmas shopping is also a not-so-subtle reminder to NHRA’s Professional racers that the 2012 season will soon begin. Although the Feb. 9 opening day of the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries is more than a month away, most Top Fuel and Funny Car teams with championship aspirations are already thrashing away to be certain everything will be in prime condition for the season opener or even the essential Jan. 20-21 Winter PRO Warm-up preseason test sessions in Florida.

Steve Torrence, who is eagerly awaiting his first full season at the controls of his Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. Top Fuel dragster, is definitely planning ahead.

“We’re doing everything we possibly can to get the shop up and running,” said Torrence of his fledgling team. “There’s still a lot to be done to get it operating at the capacity we’d like it to be. Richard Hogan [crew chief] has been at the shop [in Brownsburg, Ind.] for a week, and the guys are doing well.

“Heck, we’ve been working night and day since we started this team to get where we are, and we’re still working as hard as we can. We want to be on par with the Alan Johnsons and Don Schumachers of NHRA racing, so we need to work as hard as they do.”

Those two multicar teams are very worthy of Torrence’s respect. They have dominated the Full Throttle Top Fuel championship battles for the last eight years with Tony Schumacher winning six consecutive titles (2004-09) and Johnson’s Al-Anabi Racing drivers Larry Dixon (2010) and Del Worsham (2011) wrapping up the last two.

Torrence placed eighth in 2010 in his first full season of competition and, after a slow 2011 start, embarked on a five-month project of building his own race team. What began in an empty shop in Brownsburg soon became a thriving race shop and a primary stop for many delivery trucks as the crew thrashed to turn this project into an on-track reality.

He was sidelined for 10 races (from May to September) as the new dragster was bought, built, and buttoned up in anticipation of many 300-mph runs.

The car was finished in time to make its September debut in Dallas, near Torrence’s hometown of Kilgore, Texas. Torrence qualified a respectable 13th and ran 301.67 mph.

That was followed by an outstanding outing in Phoenix, where he again qualified 13th and won the first two rounds to advance to the semifinals at Firebird Raceway for the second consecutive year.

With Hogan and the crew gleaning more tuning information with each 1,000-foot lap, the qualifying performance jumped up five notches to eighth place with a 3.856-second time at 317.49 mph in Las Vegas, but a planned race at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals in Pomona was scrubbed because the team’s trailer was too long.

“We had a little misfortune getting into California for the Finals,” Torrence commented. “We could’ve made it to the track, but we were delayed, so actually getting to the track and getting the car ready for qualifying would have made qualifying a long shot. Because we weren’t in any points battle, we just decided to turn around and go home.”

Torrence and the crew will launch their new year at the Florida test sessions before heading west.

“Our goal is to have a good tune-up so we can go to the Winternationals and have a car that can compete for the win,” Torrence said.

They hope all the new equipment and the hard work that went into it culminates in a performance that will have them in the points battle all season.
 

Herzog Contracting Corp., a nationwide business focused on railroad construction, transit services, civil construction, and railroad services, will continue its involvement as an associate sponsor with the teams of former NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car champs Tony and Cruz Pedregon in 2012. The company has been a part of the Pedregon Racing operations since 2004.

“Herzog is once again looking forward to leveraging the NHRA brand of excitement to our customer base and employees,” said Stan Herzog, CEO of Herzog Contracting Corp. “Tony and Cruz professionally represent NHRA and Herzog in a level of integrity and sportsmanship that we are proud to be associated with and put our name on their equipment.”

“Our partnership with Herzog has always been an important part of our program,” said Tony Pedregon, a 43-time winner in the Funny Car division. “Our personal friendship has also developed over the years with the many Herzog customers and guests that come to the track.”

“It's an honor to bring back Herzog for a seventh season,” said Cruz Pedregon. “Stan Herzog has shown incredible support that has allowed us to do many things which have led to championships for both myself and Tony. Their contractors and customers throughout the country have come out to the track to support us and the NHRA. Stan's friendship means a lot, and we're hoping to pay him back by winning another championship in 2012.”
 

More than 1,000 fans and friends celebrated Matt Hagan's 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car championship at the special event hosted by Shelor Motor Mile in his hometown of Christiansburg, Va., Friday, Dec. 16.

Hagan, who raced the DieHard/Shelor Motor Mile Dodge Charger R/T for Don Schumacher Racing to his first series title, was awed by the large crowd that turned out in his honor. "It was huge to have all these folks come out and support us and have a good time," he said. "It blew me away to know there was that big of a fan following in Christiansburg and the surrounding areas. I had folks coming from Tennessee and even Maryland. It was truly special to be able to get together with them and celebrate."

Hagan signed autographs and posed for photos for well over six hours, next to the actual DieHard/Shelor Motor Mile Dodge Charger he drove to his national-record-setting 3.995-second lap and the championship. "I signed from 4 o'clock to 9 o'clock non-stop and it was wonderful," he added. "I didn't even get to eat until later. Luckily, there were still some leftovers. I was able to enjoy myself, did a lot of hand-shaking and posed for pictures."

One of the highlights of the evening was when Hagan was presented a signed Virginia Tech University football helmet by Bud Foster, Defensive Coordinator at Virginia Tech. "They gave me a helmet with all the head coaches' signatures on it. It was incredible. What a great honor," he said.

Hagan will be honored on Jan. 8 in Indianapolis for his selection to the First Team of the American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) All-America Auto Racing Team in the Drag Racing category.
 

It's been one month since Matt Hagan claimed his first NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car championship, at the young age of 28. We sat down with the driver of the DieHard/Shelor Motor Mile Dodge Charger R/T at his Virginia cattle farm to talk with him about his stellar season driving for Don Schumacher Racing, his work on the farm, his family, and his goals for the future.

Racing in only his third full season in the NHRA Funny Car class for multiteam owner Don Schumacher, Hagan scorched the country's dragstrips by winning twice, qualifying No. 1 three times, and finishing runner-up two times. He was the first to break the Funny Car three-second barrier, blasting to a stunning national-record-setting 3.995 seconds at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte. At the same fall event, he established the fastest speed in NHRA history of 322.27 mph.

He didn't stop there. At the season finale in Pomona, he avenged his painful loss of the title to John Force last year when he upset his DSR teammate Jack Beckman in the quarterfinals and outran two-time Funny Car champion Cruz Pedregon in the semifinals to score his first world championship. He went on to win his second race of the season and fifth of his short career by posting a track-record performance of 4.009 seconds at 317.79 mph to hold off final-round opponent Robert Hight in the quickest side-by-side race in Funny Car history. Hight trailed with a 4.031, 318.92.

Hagan became the second-youngest Funny Car champion in NHRA history. Frank Hawley is the youngest, capturing the championship at age 26 in 1982, the year that Hagan was born. Hagan is the 13th driver to win a Funny Car crown in the class' 38-year modern-era history.

1. Has it finally sunk in that you are the 2011 NHRA Funny Car champion?

A: Well, I tell you, it's pretty amazing to just hear people say that. And it probably won't really sink in until I get back out in the race car and get my seat in the car. It's just been great back here at home, with my family and everyone, and it's been great to share it with them.

2. After such a devastating loss in 2010, did you and crew chief Tommy DeLago approach the 2011 season any differently?

A: Yes and no. We had a game plan. Tommy had a game plan, let me put it that way, to go testing during the regular season and then run what he was comfortable with in the Countdown. We didn't exactly set the world on fire during the regular season, but we were trying to learn new stuff with new equipment. Tommy's game plan really seemed to work out.

3. You're the second-youngest driver to have won the Funny Car championship since Frank Hawley won it at 26 in 1982, coincidentally the year you were born. Do you feel the face of NHRA racing is changing with more younger drivers coming in to challenge for the title?

A: Absolutely. This sport is growing every day, and there are many up-and-coming stars in NHRA, and it has to have a younger face eventually to grow. There are a lot of guys who have been out here for a long time -- hey, I'm rooting for them, don't get me wrong -- but there's always a new kid who's got spunk and is ready to go. And I'm sure in a few years, we'll see some new kids come into this thing. It's about marketability and being able to be marketed, to be able to sell and promote a product for your sponsor and to show them a return on their investment. It's no different than other motorsports where these younger kids are coming in and they're growing a relationship with sponsors, and I think there will be long future commitments.

4. John Force seemed to have fallen off during the Countdown this season, but another young John Force Racing driver, Mike Neff, was nipping at your heels. To what do you attribute your success over Neff?

A: Our DSR team cars are really stepping up. To be honest with you, I was more worried in the Countdown about our own team cars. You look at Johnny Gray who didn't even make the Countdown who probably would have won the championship if he had. And Jack Beckman who finished second in the world. I was more worried about them and Ron Capps than I was about the JFR cars. I think that Don Schumacher has really taken this program to the next level. His R&D program has just been huge. He has taken all the right steps to put his teams in a place that I guess John Force was several years ago to win as many championships as he has. You definitely have to give Neff a lot of credit. He won five races during the regular season, and he struggled when he came into the Countdown. The guy is a great driver, he's a great tuner, he's got two championships under his belt as a tuner. And I'm sure in the near future, he'll get his driver's championship. But we're really glad that it worked out in our favor this year.

5. You had two other DSR team drivers vying for the same title in the Countdown, while the third, Johnny Gray, didn't make the Countdown. How did you interact with all of them during the Countdown?

A: It was really difficult because they're your friends and your buds. And something that was really tough for me was when Johnny Gray beat us in Phoenix during the Countdown. We wouldn't have wanted it any other way because he had a better car and deserved to win. But when I crawled out of the car, I could see how it upset Johnny to beat me because he wants the team to do well, win the championship, and he knows he wasn’t in contention. But you could also see that he is a competitor. He didn't do anything to drive it out of the groove or red-light or do whatever to let us win. We're out here to win, he's out here to win, so it's really tough with our teammates because they're not going to give you any breaks. You have to earn everything you get out here with DSR. It's no different than being an individual team when you put the body down and pre-stage the car. At the end of the day, you share a cold beverage with your teammates, but when you crawl in the car, it's anybody's ball game.

6. How did you deal with that loss to Gray?

A: It was tough to have Johnny take us out and see Jack win against Johnny in the final in Phoenix and take over first place. You're kind of thinking, "What's going on here?" But truly, I learned after talking to Johnny's crew chief, Rob Wendland, that their intention was to try to beat Jack too. It's kind of tough when you're in that situation because you want to win so bad, and you're up against a team who's not in the hunt, and you think to yourself, "Maybe we can get around this guy, especially since he's a teammate and he's not in contention," but it just doesn't happen that way over here. We're digging deep every race to make sure that we can turn the win light on even against our own teammates. We have to step up, and it makes it even harder because they have the same equipment we do, and they have the potential to run just as well as we do.

7. Were there moments of frustration throughout the year when you thought you had no chance of winning the title?

A: I thought that if we didn't move around before the Countdown came in when it got hot that they were going to brand the No. 5 on us. Obviously, as a driver and a competitor, and even Tommy as a crew chief, we want to win as many races as we can, but in the regular season, sometimes we had to take a step back and say, "Hey, we're not used to running this combination, this is not working the way it should be out here and setting the world on fire. That's something that we're learning. So you have to take a step back and take a deep breath and say, "All right," and reevaluate what you're doing. Obviously, it is to win as many races for the sponsors. But taking this regular season and trying to learn something for 2012, '13, and '14 to help better the car, sometimes you have to learn new combinations and try new things. So, it is frustrating sometimes, but when you take a deep breath, sit back, and you say, "Well, this is what we accomplished and this is where we're going to be in the future and this is the direction we're going to work towards," it makes sense. As frustrating as it can be sometimes and you become narrow-minded and shortsighted, you have to look at the bigger picture, and I think Tommy DeLago has been doing that all along.

8. Who would you give the most credit to for your success this year?

A: The guys who work on the race car. They're putting together the race car, and they have so many opportunities to mess up, just like Tommy and me, and they were flawless all year long. I love these guys because the guys are the same age, and they're like family. I'm around them just as much or more than my family. They are the real heroes in the story. They don't get to be in the limelight. As the driver, I come in late and leave early, and these guys come in early and stay late, and they're the ones who put this car together and bring it out and make sure we have a phenomenal hot rod at the racetrack and it goes up to the starting line and starts.

9. You lost 37 pounds at the beginning of the season. How did that help your performance?

A: Obviously, when you lose weight, you're lighter, and it allows you to move weight around in the car. Also, it makes you mentally focused, and physically, you're feeling better. It's a positive all around. Tommy was able to move some weight around when we needed to gain traction. You move it around to help the car get up on the tire. So it can't hurt anything. You also become more marketable, in my opinion, by looking better. All that goes hand in hand, and it's just a good thing to do, and I want to lose another 10 pounds give or take. I'm 202 right now. I put on 5 pounds during the season, and I want to be about 190 to 195 pounds before the 2012 season starts in Pomona.

10. Who has been your mentor in the sport?

A: I've got a lot of great teammates, and I think that Tony Schumacher really has been a big influence on me this year. In fact, the last three years. He's always been kind and always shared techniques, trying to help me out. He watches me stage the car and gives me pointers here and there and some different things that I can do away from the track as far as my mental game goes to get prepared for each race. I also have great guys like Ron Capps I can go to with technical questions and off-track advice. And then Shirley Muldowney has been like the best cheerleader I could ever have. She's given me a lot of hoorah, saying "You can dig deep, you can do this." That's been great as well.

11. You've been named to the First Team of AARWBA's (American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association) All America Team. How does that make you feel?

A: It's phenomenal. It's definitely an honor. I'm looking forward to getting to the dinner in Indy on Jan. 8 and having some fun and celebrating. It's nice that it's in Indy. I'll be able to come in and see my guys at DSR in Brownsburg and have some fun right before we go to the first race next year in Pomona.

12. How are things on the farm? Has anything changed now that you're a world champion? Has your farm grown in the past year or so?

A: My wife [Rachel] and I are still buying some land here and there. We have about 1,000 acres that we own or lease. We're working hard at that, and we're still feeding close to 300 mama cows on the farm, and we'll have somewhere around 600 or so head at any given time on the farm. It's funny, I told my dad [David], "It's awesome to win No. 1 in the world," and I told him things were going to change. And the second day I'm home on the farm, and I see a tweet on my phone, and it's Ron Capps. He and I are great buddies, and he's done a really good job. He tweeted that he was in Hawaii about ready to go to a luau. And I said to my dad, "Hey, Capps is in Hawaii and heading to a luau and then to a fan cruise, and I'm heading out to feed the cows. I want to get on his program." It was all in fun.

13. Do you associate with other farmers in your area or belong to any groups dedicated to farming?

A: No, not really. There's a bunch of dairy farmers in the Christiansburg area, and I grew up helping out on their farms when I was younger. My boy, Colby, is not quite old enough to be a member of the 4-H Club, but at age 6, we plan on enrolling him next year. I'd like to get my young'uns (Penny Louise is 2) involved in that, to have some fun there, and to learn to be hands-on with these cattle. I think that will go over well.

14. Now that you've won a championship, are you satisfied?

A: Well, no. I can see why Force has 15. It just makes you want it that much more. As bad as it is to say you're greedy, it makes you greedy. Even after we won the championship, I still wanted to win the race [in Pomona at season finale]. That meant as much to me as anything, to be able to win the final and put an exclamation point on this season. Everybody remembers the last race, and they've got all off-season long to think about who won that race, how they did it, how it went down, and who won the championship. So it was big for me for us to go out there, win the championship, and win the race.

15. Talk about your family life. Are you treated any differently now that you're a world champion?

A: There's a lot of pats on the back. As for my family, it's the same old routine. They're excited for me, they're happy for me, but it's back to business. My wife is going to graduate from nursing school this spring, and she's been focused on that, so there hasn’t been that much time to celebrate. She's into the books and studying. I think we're enjoying having won the championship as much as we can and moving forward.

16. Do people recognize you in airports or in stores?

A: More and more it's starting to get like that. It's kind of funny. Obviously, the longer your career, the more folks have the opportunity to recognize you. I can remember when I first started I couldn't hand out a hero card at the races, much less get someone to take it if I signed it. And now there's a big line when I come to the ropes. For all my fans who support me, I can't say thank you enough.

17. Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

A: It's really tough to say because being young in the sport, you get the opportunity to deal with some great sponsors, and you really want to grow something with them, like Tony Schumacher has done with the Army for so many years. He hasn't had to jump around with 10 different sponsors in 10 different years. They have something good there, and the Army keeps coming back because he's done a great job for them. And that's what I want to do in the future. I want to grow a strong relationship with a sponsor that will last for a very long time. Trying to hustle every year, trying to keep ourselves out here, is just too hard to do. More times than not, you're not going to be successful because it's survival most of the time. For me in the next five years, I'd love to be racing, but in reality, it's very tough to do. You have to stay ahead of the game, and you have to secure solid sponsorship, and I think by being with DSR, it puts me a step or two ahead of the rest.

18. You'd like to win more championships, correct?

A: Absolutely. That's the name of the game, and that's why we work so hard.

19. Will you ever consider getting into a Top Fuel car or trying to race in other series, such as IndyCar or sports-car racing?

A: I've been asked that many times. I would definitely consider racing a Top Fuel car, but after being in a fuel Funny Car, and those cars are so aggressive and so fast, it kind of spoils you. I've never been in a Top Fuel car or warmed one up, so I can't comment. But I'm sure it wouldn't be comparable to racing a fuel Funny Car after all these years. Funny Cars suit me. It's nice to be able to to manhandle a Funny Car and put it where I want it, get that adrenaline rush, take control of that wheel, and make it go to the other end.

20. What is the ultimate pinnacle in life you'd like to achieve?

A: I'd like to have a good life, enjoy the ride, enjoy what's happening, enjoy the opportunities that come along. Great people are made out of great moments, and I think you have to see what comes your way in life, whether it's on the racetrack or not. Don't take anything for granted, and don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Be grateful for the opportunities that are there.
 

Khalid alBalooshi, the 2011 NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series champion, has been named the new driver of the Al-Anabi Racing gold Top Fuel dragster. alBalooshi, who replaces retired driver Del Worsham, began his tenure in the Al-Anabi Top Fuel car with a test session this week in Florida. Shawn Langdon, driver of the Al-Anabi silver Top Fuel dragster, is also participating in the test. 

Prior to this week’s test session, alBalooshi had never driven a Top Fuel dragster. During the test, he completed his Top Fuel license runs with a 1,000-foot pass of 3.86 seconds at 319 mph. 

“I like driving the Top Fuel car and learning what is going on with the car step by step. The car is perfect. Alan [Johnson] and all of the crew are taking good care of me; they are paying close attention to where I need help. They are making sure I am comfortable in the car and checking on every detail, and that is very important to me. I appreciate everyone doing this for us. Going from 3,000 horsepower in Pro Mod up to 8,000 horsepower in Top Fuel is a big jump. In Top Fuel, you go faster and faster. It is a big difference. It is much faster from start to finish line than Pro Mod; the feeling is just so much faster. 3.86 at 319 mph is not bad; it is very good. I would like to thank Sheik Khalid and Alan Johnson for giving me this opportunity.” 

During the 2011 drag racing season, alBalooshi, 32, won the NHRA Pro Mod championship and the 2011 Arabian Drag Racing League Pro Mod championship, scoring at five of the season’s seven races in Qatar. In addition, he finished second in the American Drag Racing League Pro Mod points standings. Last year, he earned Qatar’s Arabian Drag Racing League Pro Mod championship, winning four of the eight races. 

The Dubai, United Arab Emirates, native has won 158 races in the Pro Mod, Outlaw, and Super Street classes combined. He began his career as a professional driver in October 2001 and has reached a top speed of 319 mph. Currently living in Dubai, alBalooshi plans to relocate to the United States.  

Roger Burgess, right, congratulated Khalid alBalooshi after he clinched the 2011 NHRA Pro Mod title in Las Vegas in October.

alBalooshi is not the first rookie driver that Al-Anabi team manager Johnson has brought into NHRA Drag Racing. In 1997, he fielded the Team Winston Top Fuel dragster with rookie driver Gary Scelzi. The team won 11 races and the NHRA Top Fuel championship that year. The Johnson-Scelzi duo also earned the championship in 1998, winning six races.  

“Khalid alBalooshi has been a star within the Al-Anabi Racing organization for many years,” said Alan Johnson Racing team owner and Al-Anabi Racing team manager Johnson. “We at Alan Johnson Racing welcome him to our Top Fuel team with great excitement. Balooshi is a true competitor that has made the commitment to race Top Fuel and compete at the level of excellence we expect at Al-Anabi and AJR. Though Balooshi is a Top Fuel rookie, he has extensive drag racing experience, and we look forward to watching him learn to compete at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series level.

“When we started this team, we said that one of our goals was to promote international drag racing awareness, specifically in the nation of Qatar. Now we have a driver who has won a championship in Qatar competing in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Balooshi driving the Al-Anabi Top Fuel car will further that goal while galvanizing the reality that drag racing is becoming an international motorsport that appeals to many different cultures throughout the world.”
 

Shawn Langdon has joined the Al-Anabi Racing team, replacing Larry Dixon in the Al-Anabi silver car that Dixon drove the last three seasons. With driver Del Worsham’s retirement on Nov. 21 and the team’s mutual separation with Dixon Dec. 12, Al-Anabi Racing still has one seat to fill as the team plans to field two Top Fuel cars for the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season.

“This is probably one of the biggest moments of my life and the biggest moments of my racing career,” said Langdon, who begins his Al-Anabi Racing employment immediately. “To get a phone call from Alan Johnson is probably one of the best phone calls you’ll ever get, but it’s a little intimidating, too. To get a call from the guy that runs such a high-caliber team, that’s one of the best tuners in the sport and that’s won 10 Top Fuel championships is a very big honor. I’ll be proud to fly the maroon colors for the country of Qatar, and I want to thank Sheik Khalid (Al-Anabi Racing team owner Sheik Khalid al Thani), Alan Johnson, and everyone at Al-Anabi Racing for the opportunity. Hopefully, we can keep that No. 1 on one of the Al-Anabi cars for years to come.”

Langdon, 29, comes to Al-Anabi Racing from Morgan Lucas Racing, where he drove the last three years beginning with his rookie season in 2009. In his 69 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series starts, he has four runner-up finishes but has yet to win his first race. He finished ninth in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel points standings this year, fifth in 2010, and ninth in 2009. He won the NHRA Lucas Oil Super Comp championship in 2007 and 2008. The Mira Loma, Calif., native lives near Indianapolis.

“All of us at Al-Anabi Racing and Alan Johnson Racing are excited to welcome Shawn to our team,” Alan Johnson Racing owner and Al-Anabi Racing team manager Johnson said. “We look forward to sharing with Shawn the elements of our organization that have helped us win races and championships. Shawn’s dedication to driving race cars at the highest level will be a great addition to the team of crewmembers that will prepare his car with that same enthusiasm. Shawn has yet to win a Top Fuel race, but we are confident if we provide him with a championship-caliber car, he will find a way to win.”
 

Dixon joined the Al-Anabi Racing team when it was founded in 2009. He finished second, first, and fourth in his three seasons at Al-Anabi Racing, winning 19 races. He is a three-time NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel champion. The reasons leading to this mutual decision are private team matters; no further information will be provided, and no interviews will be granted.

“Larry has been an integral member of Al-Anabi Racing for the past three seasons,” Alan Johnson Racing team owner and Al-Anabi Racing team manager Alan Johnson said. “He was instrumental in our successes, including winning our first NHRA Full Throttle championship in 2010. He represented Al-Anabi Racing, Full Throttle, and the NHRA as a great champion.

“As difficult as some decisions can be, there are times when they become necessary but can be best for everyone involved. I am proud to have raced with Larry, and I have great respect for his driving ability. I know I speak for everyone at Al-Anabi Racing when I wish him all the best.”

“I enjoyed my three seasons driving the Al-Anabi Top Fuel car," Dixon said. “We had a lot of wins, and definitely the highlight was the NHRA Full Throttle championship last year. I have many fond memories of working with Alan, Jason [McCulloch], and our crew, but I am anxious to see what the future has in store for me. I want to thank Sheik Khalid, Alan, and everyone at AJR for my time there and wish them all the best.”

With driver Del Worsham’s retirement Nov. 21, Al-Anabi Racing must now fill two driver’s seats as the team will field two Top Fuel cars for the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season. Additional announcements will be forthcoming.

Insurance giant GEICO has renewed its agreement with Morgan Lucas Racing and NHRA Top Fuel driver Morgan Lucas for three more years.

GEICO joined Lucas' drag racing team in 2009, a career-best season for the 28-year-old from Brownsburg, Ind., that featured three victories and a berth in the Countdown to the Championship. The former Sportsman star has become a fixture in the elite top 10 ever since, representing GEICO at more than 20 NHRA Full Throttle national events each year.

"I know without question we have the best sponsor in the world," Lucas said. "GEICO is a true partner in every sense of the word, and their understanding of motorsports and drag racing in particular is unparalleled. It's very simple -- we could not do this without GEICO. Quite frankly, we wouldn't want to race without them. We've become so close to so many people within the organization. They are part of our family."

Lucas is the youngest son of Forrest and Charlotte Lucas, the founders of Lucas Oil Products. GEICO and Lucas Oil are partners in numerous sporting entities, including the GEICO Endurocross Series presented by Lucas Oil and the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series presented by GEICO.

"There's a lot of synergy between my parents' company and GEICO," Lucas said. "This will continue to grow in the years ahead, and we couldn't be happier about that.

"To have a three-year commitment in the current financial climate speaks volumes about GEICO's tremendous support. It lets all of the guys on this team and their families know they have a long-term place to call home."

GEICO's renewed support of Morgan Lucas Racing comes on the heels of the team's signing of crew chief Aaron Brooks and assistant tuner Rod Centorbi, who joined the group in late November.

"It's a fresh start for us all the way around," Lucas said. "Everyone is super pumped up to put our dragster on top of the drag racing world. Winning races and contending for the Full Throttle championship is the best way for us to show GEICO how much they mean to us."

Lucas has 14 national event victories in 21 final-round showings.

NHRA has announced the 2012 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series schedule, which includes the expansion of the tradition-rich March Meet at Auto Club Famoso Raceway to a four-day event. Entering its fifth season, the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series, one of the fastest-growing touring series in motorsports, features Nostalgia Funny Cars and Top Fuel dragsters and is quickly becoming a fan-favorite series among drag racing enthusiasts across the United States.

The season-opening March Meet will be held March 1-4 at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield. The event swaps spots in 2012 with the Arizona Fuel & Gas Championships, March 17-18 at Speedworld Dragstrip in Northwest Phoenix.

“The break with the three-day-race tradition was done for racers and fans alike,” said Blake Bowser, vice president and general manager of the Kern County Racing Association, operator of Auto Club Famoso Raceway. “A four-day race program will allow us to run all the classes, which fans and racers want, plus it gives us some wiggle room in case weather becomes a factor.”

In total, the 2012 schedule features 11 events and will end in the same spot it begins, Auto Club Famoso Raceway, with the California Hot Rod Reunion presented by Automobile Club of Southern California, Oct. 19-21.

In addition to the season-opening and season-ending races at Auto Club Famoso Raceway and the second event of the season at Speedworld Dragstrip, the series will make stops at Firebird Raceway in Boise, Idaho; The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Sacramento (Calif.) Raceway; and Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky., for the Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion presented by AAA.

A new addition to the 2012 schedule is the return of the famed Funny Car Fever event, June 15-16 at Sacramento Raceway. The return of this fan-favorite race gives Sacramento Raceway three events on the 2012 schedule.

The NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series consists of two nitro categories, Nostalgia Top Fuel and Nostalgia Funny Car, and two groups of additional classes. Group 1 is made up of A/Fuel, Jr. Fuel, and 7.0 Pro, and Group 2 comprises Nostalgia Eliminator I, Nostalgia Eliminator II, Nostalgia Eliminator III, A/Gas, B/Gas, C/Gas, D/Gas, and Hot Rod. Drivers in each class will run a combination of events in which they will score points toward the championship.

The NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series was developed in 2008 to help preserve NHRA's rich history and tradition while providing racing opportunities for those enthusiasts who enjoy nostalgia drag racing competition.

As a way of embracing the voice of one of the most engaged and passionate fan bases in sports and reliving so many of the great moments from NHRA’s unforgettable 60th Anniversary season, NHRA is set to launch the second annual NHRA Fan Choice Awards, a year-end recognition of outstanding performance as voted on exclusively by NHRA fans.

The NHRA Fan Choice Awards will include five categories, and fan voting will be conducted from Monday, Dec. 12, to Thursday, Dec. 22, on NHRA.com. The winners will be announced on the final five weekdays of the year, Dec. 26-30, on NHRA’s Facebook page to allow fans the chance to immediately react to/debate the outcome of each category.

In addition to being invited to exclusively select these year-end honors, NHRA fans who participate in the voting will be automatically entered into a drawing to win two final-eliminations tickets to the race of their choosing. They will also be given a coupon code to save $2 on the purchase of the just-released Wild Rides 2.

The five categories for the NHRA Fan Choice Awards are as follows:
• Story of the Year (voting Monday, Dec. 12-Tuesday, Dec. 13)
• Moment of the Year (Wednesday, Dec. 14-Thursday, Dec. 15)
• Upset of the Year (Friday, Dec. 16-Sunday, Dec. 18)
• Driver/Rider of the Year (Monday, Dec. 19-Tuesday, Dec. 20)
• Team of the Year (Wednesday, Dec. 21-Thursday, Dec. 22)
 
The winners will be announced, one per day in the same order they were voted on, Monday through Friday, Dec. 26-30.

The winners of the inaugural NHRA Fan Choice Awards in 2010 were:
• Story of the Year: John Force comes back to win record 15th title
• Moment of the Year: John Force defeats Matt Hagan in final at second Las Vegas event
• Upset of the Year: Rookie LE Tonglet wins Pro Stock Motorcycle title
• Driver/Rider of the Year: John Force
• Team of the Year: Castrol GTX Ford Mustang
 

Shelor Motor Mile will celebrate DieHard/Shelor Motor Mile Dodge Charger R/T driver Matt Hagan’s first NHRA Funny Car championship by throwing a party on Friday, Dec. 16, for fans, media, competitors, and anyone else wishing to attend.

The celebration will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Event Centre, 1655 Roanoke St., Christiansburg, Va., and will include free food and beverages, free autographed posters, free photo opportunities with world champion Hagan, and free collector’s cards.

“This is a great opportunity for us to celebrate our first championship with our friends, fans, and even fellow competitors,” said Hagan, who, at 28, became the second-youngest NHRA Funny Car champion when he claimed the crown at the final event of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in November. “It’s finally sinking in that we’re the 2011 Funny Car champions, and we want to share that feeling with all our friends.”

Every year since 1998, ESPN The Magazine has recognized an elite group of emerging athletes to watch in the year ahead -- athletes it calls NEXT. They are competitors not only on the cusp of stardom, but also on the verge of transcending their sports. This year, John Force Racing driver Courtney Force is in the motorsports group, going head to head with Darrell Wallace Jr. (NASCAR), Chase Elliot (NASCAR), Ryan Truex (NASCAR), and Josef Newgarden (IndyCar) as the NEXT big driver in motorsports.

“This is really a big honor. I honestly didn’t know I was being considered as one of the NEXT athletes. I am really excited about my future and getting on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series full time,” said Force, winner of the 2009 Seattle NHRA national event in the Top Alcohol Dragster category.

“The chance to race with my father, John Force, is exciting but I also want to chart my own path. [Older sister] Ashley [Force Hood] has been a big help, and she has been a great person to lean on and get good advice. I want to make my current fans proud to be my fans, and I want to try and introduce a new audience to NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing. It is a great sport, and I am looking forward to having a long racing career.”

Force has spent the 2011 season testing her BrandSource Ford Mustang Funny Car with plans to race full time in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in 2012. An official announcement about her future has not been made by JFR. She began her racing career in the Super Comp ranks in 2006 and has steadily moved up through the ranks, following a similar career path as Force Hood, a four-time Funny Car national event winner, including at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil in 2009 and 2010.

Voting for the NEXT athlete competition ends Dec. 18. To vote, log on to  http://espn.go.com/espn/next2012/story/_/id/7303218/courtney-force-chase-elliott-espn-mag-next-issue.
 

What is the one thing that would be better than a stocking full of gifts? How about a stocking full of NHRA-themed gifts?

To help turn that dream into a reality for its nitro-addicted fans this holiday season, NHRA has announced the launch of the inaugural Give the Gift of NHRA week, a fan-friendly program that will include a series of specially discounted offers to help fans share their (NHRA) holiday cheer.

NHRA’s Give the Gift of NHRA week kicks off with the one thing that every NHRA fan wants in his or her stocking – tickets. There are two offers, and each offer includes a free NHRA-themed beanie valued at $20. Use offer code christmas to activate the tickets offer.

• O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals (Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona): Only $89 – a savings of $17 – for two (2) GA Saturday or Sunday tickets (fans can upgrade to reserved seats for $99) plus the free $20 beanie. https://tix.extremetix.com/Online/NHRA-Winternationals-Tickets?SalesRef=NHRACOM

• Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals (March 8-11 at Gainesville Raceway): Only $99 – a savings of $21 – for two (2) GA Saturday or Sunday tickets (fans can upgrade to reserved seats for $109) plus the free $20 beanie. https://tix.extremetix.com/Online/NHRA-Gainesville-Tickets?SalesRef=NHRACOM

With tickets in hand, every fan needs to have his or her gear as well to wear to the race, so NHRA has teamed up with NitroMall to provide free ground shipping on all purchases of $30 or more made at NitroMall.com on Tuesday, Dec. 6 (enter FREESHIP30 at checkout to receive discount).

Understanding that the passion of fans doesn’t subside when the final pair goes down the track, NHRA has added two other offers – a $5 discount on full NHRA membership on Wednesday, Dec. 7 (promo code FBGIFT5), and a 25 percent discount on all DVDs (excluding Wild Rides 2) on Thursday, Dec. 8 (promo code DVD25) – to ensure that fans can fuel their nitro addiction from the comfort of their homes throughout the entire year.

The NHRA membership is truly an NHRA fan’s best friend throughout the year. In addition to weekly issues of National DRAGSTER, membership includes full access to the event audiocasts and Motorola Live Timing as well as member discounts and perhaps the most important element of all: the official NHRA membership card (and pin and decal) that allows fans to show off their NHRA pride. http://store.nhra.com/shop-by-department/membership/

The DVD offer is a great way to cap off this inaugural week of NHRA gift-giving because there are so many great selections to choose from – from The First Fifty Years to Decade of Dominance to the years in review from Drag Racing ’86 to Drag Racing ’89 – and because the 25 percent discount is so robust. And what NHRA fan doesn’t have room for an NHRA DVD in his or her video library? http://store.nhra.com/shop-by-department/dvds-and-multimedia/nhra-dvd/

Please note these details for each offer:
• Tickets: One gift item per account; beanie supplies are limited; NHRA reserves the right to substitute a gift item of equal value. An order fee of $9 will apply to each package purchased to cover shipping and handling.

• Membership: Valid on new one-year NHRA membership. No limit. Not valid on associate or JDRL membership. Offer expires Dec. 31. Not valid with any other offer. Prices slightly higher outside USA. Prices and benefits subject to change.

• DVDs: Excludes Wild Rides 2. Offer valid through Dec. 15.
 

Crew chief Danny DeGennaro has joined John Force Racing Inc., and Dickie Venables, who helped Tony Pedregon win a pair of NHRA Funny Car championships, is set to return to JFR as part of the crew chief brain trust that includes Jimmy Prock, Mike Neff, Dean “Guido” Antonelli, Ron Douglas, and Bernie Fedderly.

DeGennaro most recently tuned side by side with Cruz Pedregon, who finished in third place for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car title, and will assume a similar role on a JFR Ford Mustang Funny Car.  With DeGennaro, Pedregon started from the No. 1 position a category-best six times in 2011 and won the Countdown to the Championship event in Dallas. 

First hired by Prock to work on Joe Amato’s Top Fuel dragster in the mid-1990s, the 36-year-old DeGennaro also spent time at Kenny Bernstein Racing, where, in 2007, he worked with Jimmy Walsh on the Monster Energy Funny Car.

Venables, whose resume includes stints with some of the top teams in the sport, including Joe Gibbs Racing, Don Schumacher Racing, Al-Anabi Racing, and Kalitta Racing, was co-crew chief in 2003 when Pedregon won the NHRA championship at the wheel of the JFR-owned Castrol Syntec Ford.

After leaving JFR, he and Pedregon won a second championship in 2007. He subsequently worked with Del Worsham at Al-Anabi Racing, Morgan Lucas at GEICO Powersports, and Johnny Gray at DSR.

The son of Dick Venables, who drove Top Fuel dragsters for partner Buggs Threadgill in the 1960s, the younger Venables developed his skills working initially with Rahn Tobler on Shirley Muldowney’s championship-winning Top Fuel dragsters. He then worked for 1989 Top Fuel champion Gary Ormsby, Pat Austin, Don “the Snake” Prudhomme, Connie Kalitta, Whit Bazemore, and Cory McClenathan.

“The opportunity to work with Dickie again is exciting,” said Force of Venables’ return. “I’m expanding my brain trust with more engineers and new technology, and getting someone with Dickie’s experience is important because he knows how we work.

“My interest in getting back together with Dickie also has to do with the opportunities for longevity at JFR, which is important because that helps keep the continuity of our program building.

“Danny is another great addition, and he has been in our Brownsburg [Ind.] shop this past week working with Jimmy on some exciting developments for 2012. We are expanding and looking at running a Top Fuel dragster with the Ford BOSS 500 engine, where they have experience,” Force said, “but we also want to strengthen our run for an 18th NHRA Funny Car championship.”

Venables’ input could prove invaluable should the team opt to launch a Top Fuel dragster effort in support of the world’s fastest female schoolteacher, Force’s third daughter, Brittany.

“What got me started in the whole thing was my dad racing Top Fuel,” acknowledged the 47-year-old Venables. “He used to drive in the ‘60s, and he had cars all the way up to 1980. I was always around, [and] that’s what got the hook set.

“The summer of my junior year in high school, after [Tobler] had already gone to work for Shirley, he offered me a job to help them during the summer. So naturally, I jumped at the chance. Once I graduated high school [Houston, Waltrip High School], I went right to work for Shirley.”

As a crew chief, Venables has won 19 NHRA tour events, the most recent a 2011 Top Fuel victory with Lucas at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

The first edition of Destination Force, a graphic novel produced by John Force Entertainment, will be available on Dec. 2 in advance of the 14th annual John Force Racing Holiday Car Show this weekend.

Destination Force is inspired by the life of 15-time NHRA Funny Car champion John Force and written by two-time Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil Funny Car champion Ashley Force Hood in collaboration with Jule Selbo, Bob Engels, and Josh Miller. The graphic novel is illustrated by Doug Sirois.

“My dad, in addition to being one of the winningest drivers in motorsports history, is also one of the most energetic, entertaining, and bigger-than-life personalities in the sport of NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing. We joke that it’s like a tornado when he arrives, and craziness usually follows. The fans love how outgoing and outspoken he is, and his passion for drag racing shows in all that he does,” said Force Hood, John Force Entertainment president.

“In 2007, we learned what he was really capable of. He had the worst crash of his career when his Funny Car broke in half and tumbled over and over through the finish line at over 300 mph. It was a miracle he survived, and doctors worried he’d never walk again,” said Force Hood, a first-time graphic novelist. "But to watch his recovery, his return to the Funny Car, and a few years later, his amazing comeback as he won his 15th NHRA championship on the last day of the 2010 season, we realized the true meaning of Super Man! This was the inspiration of this graphic novel series.”

In his 30-plus years of racing, Force has had amazing stories from his early days in racing, his time in Australia, and the crazy predicaments he’s gotten himself into (and talked himself out of). The Destination Force story lines will be based loosely on real stories from his past. As Force is known to say, he doesn’t lie, he embellishes, and with this graphic novel John Force Entertainment hopes to entertain fans with tales from the man, the myth, the legend that is John "the Brute" Force.

The first issue of Destination Force is available now for preorder and will be in the John Force Racestation retail store this weekend on Dec. 4 at the Holiday Car Show. The first edition will cost $5 per issue, and a limited number of autographed issues will be available for $15. Online orders can be placed at www.johnforceracestation.com.

Snap-on has extended its sponsorship of Cruz Pedregon and the Snap-on Funny Car for an additional three years. The 2012 season will mark Pedregon’s 20th year driving Funny Cars as well as the 20th anniversary of his first world championship.

As part of the sponsorship agreement, Pedregon will partake in franchisee ride-alongs where he visits with Snap-on customers at their shops. He will also continue to host hospitality events for Snap-on franchisees and customers during race weekends and make personal appearances on behalf of the company. In addition, Snap-on will sponsor Pedregon’s dirt track car in such events as the prestigious Prelude to a Dream charity race.

“The 2012 race season will be Snap-on’s 20th year of association with Cruz Pedregon, and we are thrilled to officially extend our relationship,” said Yvette Morrison, vice president of marketing, Snap-on Tools Group. “Every time Cruz rides along with one of our franchisees or visits a customer’s shop, we receive phenomenal feedback. He has developed a tremendous rapport with them, and we are looking forward to expanding those relationships over the next three years.”

Pedregon, a two-time world champion, finished the 2011 season third in the NHRA Funny Car points standings. He posted his 29th Funny Car victory with a win in Dallas. The Snap-on Funny Car also finished second on two occasions and reached the semifinals at seven additional races.

The Snap-on Funny Car will enter the 2012 campaign with a new crew chief as the highly respected Lee Beard takes the helm. The 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season begins Feb. 9-12 with the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries in Pomona.

“I want to thank Snap-on for their continued commitment and support of our race team,” said Pedregon. “We have had a great partnership with Snap-on, and I look forward to many years to come. From the executives and associates to the franchisees, everyone I have ever come across from Snap-on is committed to excellence. It is a privilege to be associated with such a first-class company.”
 

2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel champion Del Worsham has joined the Kalitta Motorsports team as the crew chief for Alexis DeJoria and the Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car team.

Having completed his career-long goal of winning an NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series world championship as the driver of the Al-Anabi Top Fuel dragster, Worsham, a 41-year-old resident of Villa Park, Calif., decided to move on to a new challenge in his racing career after 21 years behind the wheel.

“I started working on Funny Cars before I was 10 years old,” Worsham said. “My dad [Chuck] and I tuned our family-owned Funny Car from 1990 until I joined the Al-Anabi team in 2009. Dad and I won 22 races together, so hopefully I can draw from that experience and knowledge in this next phase of my career.

“I’m really excited to be working with Alexis. She’s an extraordinary talent with a great desire to win. When she got her license to drive nitro cars, she did it in my car, and I could tell right away that she was going to be a winner in the nitro Funny Car class. Technically she’s a rookie, but she already drives like she has years of experience with these cars and a tremendous amount of respect for the car and its power, and that’s very important.

“I wouldn’t take this position with Kalitta Motorsports and the Tequila Patrón Funny Car team if I didn’t think it’s going to be a winning combination. I think Alexis is going to be a winner and ultimately an NHRA champion someday. I’m also really looking forward to working with Connie [Kalitta, team owner and drag racing legend]. Connie knows more about nitro motors than anyone on the planet, and getting to work with him is truly an honor.”

Kalitta, too, is excited about the opportunity to work with Worsham. “Del’s a racer’s racer. He’s just one of those rare guys with a complete knowledge of all things having to do with a race car. I’m sure he’s going to be a great addition to the Patrón team and our entire Kalitta Motorsports operation.”

DeJoria, who competed at four NHRA national events in the fall of 2011 for Kalitta Motorsports after five successful years of driving in Top Alcohol Funny Car, will vie for the 2012 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award for NHRA's top Full Throttle rookie driving the 7,000-horsepower, 300-mph Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car at all 23 events of the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. She is thrilled to have Worsham calling the shots on her nitro-fueled hot rod.

“Del has been my mentor since I started driving a nitro car,” said DeJoria, a 34-year-old resident of Venice, Calif. “He not only knows how to tune them, but he obviously knows how to drive them, and that kind of experience is immeasurable. With the addition of Del as crew chief to our Tequila Patrón team, hopefully we’ve put together all the right pieces to have a very strong team, and I can learn so much from him from his two decades of driving experience.”

Respected tuners Aaron Brooks and Rod Centorbi have taken over tuning duties on Morgan Lucas' GEICO-sponsored Top Fuel dragster. Both men have extensive experience in drag racing, most notably alongside multitime world champion Alan Johnson.

Brooks will head the operation. His most recent stint came at R2B2 Racing, where he tuned the In-N-Out Funny Car driven by Melanie Troxel and the Rite Aid flopper of past world champion Frank Hawley.

Before working at R2B2, Brooks tuned Del Worsham in the Al-Anabi Racing Funny Car. He also served as assistant crew chief to Gary Scelzi when he won the 2005 title with Don Schumacher Racing. Brooks spent his formative years working for four-time world champion Don "the Snake" Prudhomme.

"Aaron's worked with some amazing drivers in the past, and he brings a lot of experience to our team, especially for a younger guy," Lucas said of the 38-year-old from Hemet, Calif. "He's someone we want to grow with, and I'm really excited he's joined our organization."

Fresh off winning the 2011 Top Fuel title with Al-Anabi Racing driver Worsham, Centorbi also brings a wealth of experience to his role of assistant crew chief. The 20-year pro served in the same capacity at Al-Anabi, both on Worsham's dragster and Funny Car. He also worked with Brooks at DSR when he took care of the cylinder heads on Scelzi's hot rod.

"Rod's skill set is significant," Lucas said. "The fact he's coming off a championship-winning season is really invigorating for everyone in the shop. It makes it real. I know he and Aaron will be able to turn this team around quickly, and we cannot wait to get started with them. The off-season will go by in a flash, I'm sure."

Lucas tuned his own car during this year's six-race Countdown to the Championship with mixed results. He said that the hiring of Brooks and Centorbi would allow him the necessary time to take care of other things vital to the operation of a modern-day race team.

"We have a tremendous relationship with GEICO, and I want to be there for them 100 percent," Lucas said. "It's also very important to represent my mom and dad's company, Lucas Oil, and the hundreds of associates they have working for them around the world.

"I really enjoy the time I get to spend with the fans. I also like the interaction we have with the media, including all our friends at ESPN. Having Aaron and Rod lift the tuning responsibilities off my shoulders will allow me the time to focus on all these things."

Spectator admission is a new $10 unwrapped toy. Last year, tens of thousands of people wandered through one of the largest collections of vintage cars, trucks, and street rods. Throughout the day, toys, stuffed animals, and games poured into the JFR shop as fans toured the shop and John Force RaceStation.

The car show is open to all sports cars, street rods, classics, trucks, muscle cars, and exotics. There will be plenty of vendors, and this family-friendly event will have something for everyone. The featured vehicles this year are Pontiacs.

Unique display cars include:
• The crashed Funny Car from Force’s wreck in 2007 at Texas Motorplex
• Two Batmobiles
• Mike Ryan’s Freightliner race truck
• Speed Demon 462-mph Bonneville car
 
Meet NHRA stars Force, Robert Hight, Mike Neff, Ashley Force Hood, Brittany and Courtney Force, plus Jack Beckman, Tom “the Mongoose” McEwen, Linda Vaughn, “Queen of Cars” Genevieve Chappell, George Barris, and Santa Claus.

Fans will be able to tour the John Force Race Shop and Museum. Music will fill the air from the Chris Anderson Group, Lil Mo & The Dynaflos, and Scot Bruce’s Tribute to Elvis.

Directions: Take the 91 Freeway (in Yorba Linda), exit at Weir Canyon North, turn right on Savi Ranch Parkway, and follow the signs for parking. John Force RaceStation, 22722 Old Canal Road, Yorba Linda, CA 92887.

For entry registration, call 714-921-8123, ext. 205, or download an entry form at www.JohnForceRacing.com or http://johnforce.com/HolidayCarShow2011/JFR_drive2011HolidayCarShow_v3.pdf.

A rare combination of talent and motivation that only comes along once in a generation, Peter Biondo added another chapter to his already impressive résumé this season by winning the 2011 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Super Gas championship. Biondo has now won six national championships and joined a short list of racers who have claimed that honor in three classes.

Ironically, Biondo had rarely given any thought to racing in the Super Gas class much less pursuing a championship, but an opportunity presented by his close friend and fellow champ Anthony Bertozzi proved to be too good to pass up. Driving Bertozzi’s ’63 Corvette roadster, Biondo claimed a win the second time he drove the car at the fall Charlotte event in 2010 and quickly realized that  it could be the start of something good.

“I do like diversity, as far as all the different body styles, which is part of what attracted me to Super Gas,” said Biondo. “I’ve pretty much just concentrated on Super Stock and Stock, but last year before Indy, Anthony told me, ‘I bought a Super Gas car. It’s here whenever you’re ready.’ Once I tried it, I took a liking to it.”

Committed to driving the car for the 2011 season, Biondo wasted no time establishing himself as the early championship favorite. While most of the country was still in hibernation, Biondo headed south for the season-opening Southeast Division Lucas Oil Series events in Bradenton, Fla., and Gainesville and claimed back-to-back wins, grabbing a points lead he would never surrender.

“Up until that point, I was not really planning on chasing points in either class,” said Biondo. “Then we go to Florida, and I win three races in two weeks between Super Gas and Super Stock. At that point, it was kind of obvious that I needed to keep following it. It would have been hard to fold that hand.”

Though Biondo’s final points total represents a monster season, he admits that there were challenges along the way. By midseason, he began to feel that the car had lost some of its consistency, so Bertozzi purchased a new engine, one that allowed the car to run 9.90s at more than 170 mph.
 
“That turned my season around,” said Biondo. “I got beat early a few times, including a loss to Mike Sawyer in the third round at Englishtown [NHRA SuperNationals], and we started to figure there was something wrong with the car. It just wasn’t as consistent as it had been. We were struggling to dial it, and Anthony said, ‘Tell me what we need to do, and we’ll fix it.’ At the next race, we’ve got a brand-new engine, and I’m running 172 mph. The car picked up 10 miles per hour, and it was so much more consistent than it had been. That was the key to the championship right there. That goes to show you what kind of a guy Anthony is. He provided everything we needed to be competitive.”

Down the stretch, Biondo regained his form; he grabbed a win at the Division 1 Lucas Oil Series event at New England Dragway and scored again at his home track, Old Bridge Township Raceway Park. At that point, Biondo had already posted a gaudy points total, yet he knew his lead was not safe.

“Every time I started to think I was in good shape for this championship, someone would put together a great race and almost pull even with me,” Biondo said. “When I won Englishtown, [Division 5 racer] Mike Wiblishouser went a bunch of rounds in Earlville, Iowa, and was right behind me. There was never a time when I felt like I was totally in control of it.”

In his final points-earning opportunity, Biondo padded his lead when he won the Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals in Reading, claiming his seventh national event win at Maple Grove Raceway since 1995. Despite a season that included five wins, Biondo still had to wait until the final weekend of the season to clinch the title, and even then, he was forced to take matters into his own hands before he could be assured of the top spot.

Towing west to the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals in Pomona, Biondo’s primary challenger was fellow Division 1 racer Mike Sawyer, who needed to advance to the semifinal round to take the lead. Having already lost the Super Stock championship two weeks earlier in Las Vegas, Biondo followed Sawyer to the staging lanes and defeated him in one of the most dramatic races of the season.

“Everyone told me that all the pressure was on him, but I was feeling it, too,” said Biondo. “That could have backfired if he’d beaten me, and the way he had been driving, I knew he would have been more than capable of winning enough rounds to pass me.

“Even the strategy of trying to race him was a gamble. I know he usually waits a while to go to the lanes, so I was waiting around, and then I saw his car drive by. I actually missed him by one spot, and then they pulled his father [Ray] for the bye run, and that put Mike and I together in the second pair. It was definitely a chess game.”

With his latest title, Biondo has now joined the short list of racers who have won national championships in three classes, a list that includes just David Rampy, Scotty Richardson, and Jeff Taylor. However, Biondo is not sure if he’ll defend his title because he’s also debating a return to Stock, in which he won the 2005 national championship.

“I will have a tough decision next year because I really miss my ’69 Camaro [Stocker],” said Biondo. “Out of all the cars I race, that is the most fun to drive. I’m going to think about it for a few weeks and then decide what to do. For now, I can’t say thanks enough to Anthony Bertozzi and [crew chief] Rodney Eades; to my girlfriend, Emily Lewis; to my father, Sam; brother, Sal; sister, Krista; the crew at Biondo Race Products; Phil Monteith; Tom Dauber; Rich Schreiner; Tom Kurucz; Kyle Seipel; and [Stock champ] Joe Santangelo. They all made this possible for me.”
 

Today, Rickie Jones, driver of the Summit Racing Chevy Camaro Pro Nitrous Pro Mod, wraps up Team Summit’s visit with a look at the final day’s activities:

This is my second year taking part in the Summit Racing troop visit to Ramstein AB, and once again it has proven to be quite an experience. Even though I was a little more prepared after being here last year, I continued to be amazed by the tremendous people we come in contact with during our visits, and thank Jim Greenleaf and everyone at Summit for allowing me to be a part of this. Of course, it also doesn’t hurt when you’re making the trip with Jason Line, Greg Anderson and Dan Runte – they’ve made it fun.

Jason Line and Greg Anderson with Line's second cousin, Molly Anderson, outside the Auto Skills Center at Ramstein AB.

Anderson signs an autograph for a young fan at the KMCC while the Armed Forces Network tapes the proceedings.

Line signs an autograph and posesfor a picture with a young airman at the KMCC.

Our day started with a quick trip to the 86th Services Squadron Auto Skills Center, which is commonly referred to as the hobby shop. On the outside it looks like your standard repair shop, complete with bays and lifts. However, instead of being staffed with technicians wrenching on cars, individuals on the base can bring their cars and rent the stalls to perform their own repairs or modifications, using the tools and lifts on hand, with the added benefit of having an on-site parts department and someone to ask for advice. After being welcomed by Colonel Alcott, we spent some time talking to the staff and some of the customers who stopped by, signing autographs and giving out goody bags.

One of the more interesting visitors was Jason’s cousin Molly Anderson, who he met during our visit one year ago. She had heard we would be at the base and wanted to make sure and stop by to say hello. During the course of the conversation, it came up that she shared the Line family trait of a heavy accelerator foot, and wanted to proudly show him “Rory”, her Mazda RX-8. Once Greg and Jason went out to see the car, she also tried to see if they would be interested in going on a ride on the Autobahn, which they unfortunately had to turn down, as we needed to head to our next appearance.

From the hobby shop, we took the 25-minute drive to the Sembach base to visit the 21st Operational Weather Squadron, where we were greeted by Lt. Colonel Wall, who gave us a very thorough introduction to his squadron before taking us into the bustling operations center. This center is one of only seven of its type in the world, covering quite a bit of territory, including the Eastern seaboard and Europe among others, with the primary responsibility for tracking and forecasting the weather, not only in support of any military activity or important flights, but also to provide as accurate a picture of conditions for anyone who might need it. In addition, this facility serves as a training center as they instruct the next generation of forecasters.

The first thing that strikes you when walking into the operations center is just how young the staff is (even younger than I am!), something confirmed by Lt. Col. Wall. Apparently, most of them are first-year airmen, each of which has gone through a rigorous eight-month training schedule including courses in physics and thermo dynamics before they can even get close to the floor. However, standing there watching them work, you could see just how good they are.

This particular stop was right up my alley, as I have always been fascinated by weather. Living in Illinois, we see our share of severe weather, and I have always felt that if I had not become a racer, I probably would have become some sort of storm chaser, so to be able to see how these airmen did their jobs was fascinating. It was great to have a chance to talk to them about their work, and we ended up spending a good amount of time there before heading out for lunch, stopping at a small restaurant named Big Emma’s, which is known in the area for their huge serving sizes, a report that proved to be quite accurate. Jason also got a kick out of it because his daughter is named Emma.

From lunch, we headed over to the Kaiserslautern Military Community Center, better known as the KMCC, which is a mall attached to our hotel on the base which looks a lot like one you would find back in the States. However, in this case, only members of the military and their families are able to shop there. We were set-up in the entrance to one of the primary stores, where we spent the next few hours signing autographs and handing out goody bags to the kids and their parents as they came in.

At the same time, we were also interviewed by the Armed Forces Radio Network, talking about ourselves, our trip and the reason we were there. As an added bonus, AFN also had a video crew, and we were each able to tape a holiday greeting that they will be playing on the base throughout the months to come, which ended up being a fitting end to our 2011 trip.

We’ll be heading to the Frankfurt airport early tomorrow morning to head home, with the six of us taking various flights throughout the morning and early afternoon. Although it’s been a fun week, and I’m glad we made the trip, I have to admit I am ready to get home. In the meantime, I would like to once again thank the members of our military for everything they do, and hope we were able to put a smile on your faces over the last few days, just as you did for us. I would also like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving, and the very best of holiday seasons.

 

Previous posts:
Team Summit Germany troop visit blog – Day 1
Team Summit Germany troop visit blog – Day 2
Team Summit Germany troop visit blog – Day 3

John Force answered any questions about his level of commitment to winning another NHRA Funny Car championship by undergoing post-season surgery to repair a damaged right knee originally injured playing high school football.
 
Following the 2011 NHRA season and championship banquet, Force checked into Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles for a procedure to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his throttle leg that he reinjured in a 2007 crash in Dallas and subsequently aggravated with the exercise regimen he adopted in its aftermath.
 
“This knee never affected my driving, but it became more of a nuisance the past year because I was working out and irritating it,” Force said. “It began to affect my everyday life, [so] the timing was just right to get back to normal. I had polio as a kid, and then I banged my knee up playing football.
 
“I had the crash in Dallas, and then I started working out,” explained the Hall of Fame owner and driver. “When I met with my doctors, who were the same guys that worked on Kobe Bryant [the L.A. Lakers all-star], they said this would get me back to 100 percent. I told them I still have championships to win and grandkids to chase around, and I have to be back in the seat for testing and for Pomona [the season-opening O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona] in February.
 
“I am doing what the doctors are telling me to do. I learned that from my doctors at Baylor [University Medical Center in Dallas, where he spent a month of rehabilitation after the crash]. I am getting electroshock, and I am walking around a little. I’m not going to overdo it, but I also see these NFL players get the same surgery and then get back out on the field,” said the 15-time series champion.
 
“All I need to be able to do is drive my hot rod. It’s not like I have to run down the track and tackle Matt Hagan to win the championship,” joked Force.
 
The 62-year-old icon is rehabbing the knee at his home with special equipment designed to fast-track his recovery. He expects to be back in the cockpit of the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang for preseason testing in West Palm Beach, Fla., Jan. 20-21.
 
“I still have a lot of racing in me, and I wanted to be the best that I could be for my team and my sponsors: Castrol, Ford, Auto Club, BrandSource, and Mac Tools. They’ve been there for the good times and the bad. Hopefully, we can give them a lot more good times in 2012.”
 
Although he made the Countdown to 1 playoffs last year, won the Mopar Mile-High Nationals at Denver, Colo., and secured his 27th straight Top 10 finish, Force lost more racing rounds than he won for just the second time in 27 years (14-21).  He will start the new season four round wins shy of a career record 1,100.
 

NHRA has just released its second installment of the Wild Rides DVD series, putting NHRA race fans front and center for some of the wildest and most explosive action from the last few years. Bill Stephens returns to host the action-packed 60-minute presentation, giving insight and review to what happens when the “untamed personalities and unforgiving attitudes” of drag race cars show their wild side.

While most “thrills and spills” highlights packages cater to the nitro-burning cars, Wild Rides 2 covers all four NHRA Full Throttle classes in separate chapters, and fans of Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle surely won’t be disappointed as there’s enough racecar-flipping, rider-dumping action for the fans of gas and carbs as there are body-blasting blower bombs and fire-spewing fuelers.

Driver interviews with the subjects help the viewer not only understand what went wrong, but take you along for the ride to understand what was going through the driver’s mind before, during, and after the wild ride. Among those featured are Kenny and Brandon Bernstein, who relive their respective over-the-guardwall Top Fuel incidents at the 1993 Winternationals and 2003 Englishtown event; Cory McClenathan, who candidly talks about his wide top-end rides at Rockingham in 1993 and Bristol in 2006; Pro Stock’s Allen Johnson, who relives his wide barrel-rolling top end crash at the 1999 Gatornationals; Ron Krisher who covers his trio of wild top-end Pro Stock crashes (Pomona 2000, Seattle 2005, Indy 2006); Cruz Pedregon, who talks in detail about his numerous top-end fires, including “the scariest ride of my life,” a body-destroying, guardwall-bashing wild ride in Las Vegas in 2003; and Del Worsham, who painfully remembers the 1994 fire in Englishtown that left him with third-degree burns on his hands.

Although there are no incident-recollection interviews for any of the multitude of Pro Stock Motorcycle wild rides – riders being pitched off of wiggling bikes, bailing out just before striking the guardwall, or taking a tumble in the sand trap – reigning Full Throttle champ Eddie Krawiec and class icon Steve Johnson talk about the difficulties and intricacies of riding the two-wheeled machines.

There’s also a nice segment on pedalfests, with detailed commentary from Antron Brown explaining the thinking, timing, and decisions that drivers need to make to “tame these spinning beasts” when their machines lose traction, and plenty of unannounced between-chapters crashes, smashes, bangs, and booms.

The entire 60 minutes are not just filled with crashes. There’s an abundance of archival footage tracing the lineage of the classes and of the sport’s safety, as well as a lot of artistic footage of all classes, including some really nice low-angle slow-motion footage that shows wheelie bars slapping the ground, tires wrinkling, and cars launching. There’s also plenty of in-car action, including not-to-be-missed footage of Bernstein as he tries vainly to correct before crashing in Pomona and of the infernos raging inside the cockpit of Pedregon’s flopper.

Stephens’ writing and delivery are colorful, and a great soundtrack of racing-inspired songs serves as a fine backdrop. You’ll want to add this one to your holiday shopping list. Race over to NHRADVD.com and get on board for more Wild Rides.
 

Today, 2011 NHRA Pro Stock champion Jason Line, a former member of the United States Air Force, takes you through Team Summit’s Tuesday’s activities:

As you read in Dan Runte’s column yesterday, during our visit to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center on Monday, we were able to see the embodiment of the tremendous spirit, dedication and passion of the young women and men serving in our armed forces. Today, however, we were able to experience a completely different, yet equally impressive facet of our military’s power.

Tech Sergeant Frost of the 52 CMS Propulsion Flight explainis the intricacies of the F-100 jet engine to the Team Summit drivers during their visit to Spangladhem Air Base.

Members of the 52 CMS Propulsion Flight unit with the Team Summit drivers.

An F-16 engine with afterburner glowing in the test bed of one of the Spangladehm "hush houses," with the Team Summit drivers underneath (yes, underneath) experiencing the power.

At the "hush house" testing facility

The crew from the training facility hangar with the Team Summit drivers in front of the F-16 fighter jet.

Our day got off to an early start with a quick breakfast at our hotel before we piled into our tour bus and took a 90-minute drive on the famous Autobahn to the Spangladehm Air Base. Immediately upon our arrival, the unmistakable sound of jet engines pierced the air, and we were treated to an impromptu air show as numerous A-10 Warthogs and F-16 fighters launched on their morning maneuvers.

Upon meeting up with our on-site contact, we headed over to the 52 CMS Propulsion Flight building, which is the centralized engine repair facility servicing 108 F-110 & 47 T34 engines for the Spangladehm & Aviano air bases worth an estimated 547 million dollars. We were then introduced to Tech Sergeant Frost, who took us through a very detailed tour of their immaculate facility, showing us numerous engines in a wide range of repair, from totally disassembled to ready to be reinstalled in an airframe. Naturally, as an engine builder, this was right up my alley.

As part of his presentation, Sgt. Frost explained that the F-110 engines were used specifically in the F-16 fighter, and that among the many parts these extremely intricate engines were 1,014 turbine blades that combined to produce over 30,000 pounds of thrust. He also used another disassembled engine to show us the elaborate array of spray nozzles which produce the powerful afterburner. He mentioned that each engine had a life span of approximately 4,000 cycles and that to assemble one unit from the ground up to fully operational, including testing, would take approximately 16 days. Considering just how complex this unit is and the demands that are placed upon it, that’s quite remarkable.

To illustrate some of the challenges the team faces in their everyday operation, they showed us one engine which they had nicknamed the “Dirt Devil”. Apparently, the plane in which it was mounted had suffered a failure in the nose gear, which allowed to engine to ingest a ton of dirt, creating incredible damage. Even though the initial disassembly was almost halfway completed (with the core severely damaged), there was still an incredible amount of dirt still to be removed. Even so, the crew was confident this unit would be fully repaired, recertified and back in the air in a very short period of time – as I said before, remarkable.

However, it was our next stop that provided us with the day’s signature moment. From the maintenance facility, we proceeded over to the jet-engine equivalent of a dyno room, affectionately known as the “hush house”. There, we had the pleasure of meeting Tech Sergeant McClure and Chief Master Sergeant Green, who promised to give us a display of power unlike any other we had seen. We proceeded into the building, stepping into the soundproof control room where through the protective glass we could see a F-110 engine mounted securely on a platform in the test bay, idling at a relatively low speed, which they told us they would be running through the paces shortly.

This is where it gets good. We were offered the opportunity to experience the power of a fully operational F-16 engine first-hand – by sitting underneath it! Naturally, the four of us jumped at the opportunity, putting on the necessary hearing protection as provided by our hosts and then scrambling into position under the engine while the technicians ran through four power cycles right above our heads as we looked at the flames raging from the afterburner.

I know it is hard to tell from the attached picture, but believe me - Greg, Dan, Rickie and myself are all huddled underneath there having a ball. It certainly was not what I had in mind for the day’s activities when I got up this morning, but I’m both thrilled and honored that we were allowed to do it – as Greg put it, it puts our Pro Stock motors in a completely different perspective. They also allowed us to stand in other safe areas of the bay while they ran additional tests, allowing us to take numerous amazing pictures and videos. It is something I know none of us will soon forget.

After a quick stop for lunch, we headed over to the Brick House, which is the community center at Spangladehm, for a quick autograph session, during which we were each interviewed by the Armed Forces Network. In addition, we taped a holiday message to the troops, thanking them for their service and wishing them the very best in this holiday season, a tape which we hope they will be playing extensively over the next few weeks.

Our final stop at Spangladehm was at another training facility hangar, where a fully operational F-16 fighter and an A-10 Warthog “tank buster” were parked, along with a wide variety of armament, which Tech Sergeant McGuire very kindly and carefully took us through, allowing us to get an up-close and personal view of these two most impressive machines. The pride that these young men and women take in their work is not only obvious, but truly deserved. We then thanked our gracious hosts for an informative and entertaining day and boarded our bus back to Ramstein, where we had an enjoyable dinner before turning in for the night.

We have one final day here in Germany, with another full schedule planned, so I invite you to come back tomorrow as one of my travel mates puts the finishing touches on our 2011 tour. As you can tell from today’s activities, you never know what we’ll be up to, and we look forward to bringing it to you. In closing, I would just like to thank all the brave young men and women we have come across over the last few days, and thank them for their tremendous service. Have a great evening.

Previous posts:
Team Summit Germany troop visit blog – Day 1
Team Summit Germany troop visit blog – Day 2

In today’s installment, Dan Runte, driver of the Bigfoot monster truck and the only non-drag racer of the group, offers his perspective on Team Summit’s second day at the Ramstein facility:

(Above) Team Summit drivers listen to RN Dee Dee Price in the ICU at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. (Below) The drivers pose for a photo with a soldier during the autograph session in the cafeteria at the LRMC.

Team Summit drivers with the staff of the Wounded Warrior Center at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

Today’s activities really drove home the reason for our visit, as we spent the morning and early afternoon visiting the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, giving us a chance to meet some tremendous men and women. We started by visiting the ICU, where we were once again greeted by Dee Dee Price, an RN we met during our visit last year who has worked in this 12-bed unit for six years. She indicated that the ICU had been extremely busy since the summer, and quickly brought us up-to-date on the condition of several of the patients currently there.

In listening to her speak, we were not only struck by the incredible challenges of these people’s work, but even more impressed by the incredible passion, spirit and dedication of every person working that floor, knowing that every one of their patients receives the best care possible beyond that of their medical needs – truly a remarkable feat.

Although visits are fairly restricted in this environment, we were fortunate enough to spend a little time with a young soldier named Brandon, who just had arrived over the weekend and hailed from Virginia. Fortunately, once he saw my drag racing cohorts, he was more than ready to talk about the track outside Richmond, and we ended up having a great and animated conversation before having to move on.

Our next stop after the ICU was the 23 Delta wing, where a patient’s average stay is only two and a half days before being transferred either back home or to another floor for additional treatment. As Lt. Lewis took us in to see several patients, we also had the pleasure of meeting Major Favor, the head nurse, who pointed out how monitoring the caretakers’ health was equally important to avoid Secondary Traumatic Stress – perfectly understandable, given the circumstances. She told us of the various exercises and team building activities they do to try and help her staff deal with the tremendous challenges they face every single day – something I believe very few people even consider when thinking about the job these people are doing.

We then visited two other wings, 10 Delta and 13 Delta, visiting with both American and NATO personnel before heading down to the cafeteria, where, after a quick lunch, we signed autographs and handed out goody bags for several hours to the troops as they came down to eat, which proved to be a nice way to wrap up our time at the LRMC.

Ironically, during our time in the cafeteria, we were able to see a few familiar faces from our visit of a year ago, including Command Sergeant Major O’Neal, who not only stopped by to thank us for coming back, but also told us of sending his father to last year’s Atlanta NHRA race and the tremendous time he had. Naturally, between Greg, Jason and Jim Greenleaf from Summit, they made sure to let him know to contact them if he wanted to come to a race in the future, which actually may happen, as he is returning stateside in April.

We then went on to the USO’s Wounded Warrior Center, which is a small recreational facility located a short distance from the LRMC. It gives recovering patients not requiring hospitalization a place to go and relax, watch a movie, check e-mail, play a video game or just enjoy some company. We spent a little time there talking to the staff and any soldiers who stopped in, handing out more goody bags while eating a race car designed cookie the staff made while we were there.

We then wrapped up our day by stopping by the 86th CASF, which stands for Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility, whose primary purpose is to coordinate the safe transportation of any and all patients – in fact, as our host Major Schultie explained, the Ramstein CASF, is actually the world wide hub, with over 128,000 patients moved since its opening in 2003. Their primary goal is to get the injured personnel to a safe environment as quickly as possible, with everything revolving around the patient. The CASF also includes the only USO facility embedded in a base, where the staff, led by Karolina Wignal, plays a vital role in the transportation procedure, giving those in transition somewhere to relax while they await their flight.

As you can imagine, it was a busy and emotional day for all of us, but one that we all agreed was extremely rewarding. We felt privileged to spend time with the brave young men and women of our armed forces, and were blown away by their tremendous spirit, dedication and drive – truly a remarkable bunch and we feel so fortunate to be here with them.

Tomorrow we’ll be leaving Ramstein for the day, heading up to another facility in Spangladehm to visit with the troops there and seeing what promises to be some interesting demonstrations, and we’ll get one of our drag racing authorities to come back and tell you all about it. Until then, have a great evening.

Previous posts:
Team Summit Germany troop visit blog – Day 1

With his 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel championship in hand, Al-Anabi driver Del Worsham has to retire. Having fulfilled his career-long goal of an NHRA championship, Worsham decided to call it a driving career.

Worsham finished his 21-year driving career with 33 victories, having won 25 in Funny Car and eight this season in the Al-Anabi Top Fuel dragster. His 2011 title was his first in NHRA but his second overall; he won the 1992 IHRA Funny Car championship as well.

“I’ve been thinking about retiring for a while. After winning the Full Throttle championship last week, I made my final decision, and it was 100 percent my decision. It wasn’t easy; it was sad, but at the same time, I am comfortable with it. I enjoyed driving the Al-Anabi Top Fuel car this year, but it really is the right time for me to retire. I’ve driven for a long time, and I’m just ready to move to the next chapter of my career. 

“I am so thankful for the opportunity [team owner] Sheik Khalid and [team manager] Alan Johnson gave me to drive the Al-Anabi Top Fuel car this year. They believed in me, and that’s something I’ll never forget. I appreciate [crew chief] Brian Husen and our entire Al-Anabi Racing team, and I thank them for everything they did for me. I’d also like to thank my dad, my wife, my entire family, and all my friends and fans for 21 years of support while I was driving.” 

Worsham is one of only five drivers to lead the points standings in both Top Fuel and Funny Car, and he is one of just 15 drivers to win races in both categories. He made 456 starts in his career as a driver, and his 25 Funny Car wins place him seventh on the NHRA’s all-time Funny Car wins list. The 1991 NHRA rookie of the year made his first start at the 1990 NHRA Winston Finals in Pomona and made his final start at the same racetrack. One week ago today, Worsham was officially crowned the 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel champion.

In his driving career, Worsham collected 33 NHRA national event wins and is one of just 15 drivers to win races in both Top Fuel and Funny Car.

“We are definitely sorry to see Del retire, but we support his decision and wish him all the best,” said Al-Anabi Racing team manager Alan Johnson. “Not only did Del do a fantastic job driving and winning a championship, he helped make racing fun. I cannot imagine the last three years without Del’s enthusiasm to compete and his dedication to the entire Al-Anabi Racing team. He will be missed dearly. 

“Del wanted to win a championship, and I am so happy we were able to help him achieve that goal. It’s nice to see someone go out on top because so few people have that opportunity. I’m happy for Del and his family. There’s no doubt we will find a capable driver to pilot the Al-Anabi Gold Top Fuel car for 2012, but we will never be able to replace Del Worsham, either on or off the track.”

Worsham joined the Al-Anabi Racing team when it was founded in 2009 after driving for his family-owned Funny Car team since 1990. In 2009 and 2010, he drove the Al-Anabi Racing Toyota Funny Car but joined his teammate in Top Fuel prior to the 2011 season. The search for his replacement will begin immediately so that everyone will be in place when the two-car Top Fuel team resumes competition in 2012.

In today’s edition, Greg Anderson, driver of the Summit Racing Equipment Pro Stock Pontiac, weighs in on the team’s trip overseas, as well as Team Summit’s first day in Germany:

Our trip got started on Saturday morning when Jason and I flew from Charlotte to Washington-Dulles, where we met up with Jim Greenleaf from Summit as well as our guides for the week, Wayne Reed and Dieter Protsch. From there we boarded a United 777 for the nearly eight-hour flight to Frankfurt, where we would meet up with Dan and Rickie, who were coming in on a separate flight from Chicago.

The Team Summit members looking at a massive crankshaft in front of an equally large locomotive inside the Sinsheim museum.

European drag race cars om display.

I was actually surprised at how full the plane was, but fortunately it proved to be an uneventful flight. Knowing we had a full week ahead of us, we tried our best to get some sleep on the flight, with varying degrees of success. Once we arrived in Frankfurt, we cleared customs, caught up with Dan and Rickie and met up with Silvio, our Armed Forces Entertainment appointed driver for the week, who took us out to our bus.

I have to say none of us expected to see the vehicle that awaited us. Not only was it a full sized bus, but it had an interior suited for a band or other group, including a rear lounge and bunk beds – quite the set up. Although we were told that we would be swapping this vehicle out for another later in the day, but it still gave us quite a laugh, with several of our weary travelers taking advantage of the sleeping quarters during the one-hour drive to Ramstein on the Autobahn, as well as subsequent drives throughout the day.

Once we arrived at the base, we checked in at our hotel for the stay, the Ramstein Inn, which is located right across from the airfield, where we took a little time to clean up and have a quick bite before heading out to our first activity. With no official meet and greets on our schedule for Sunday, we were taken over to a very unique transportation museum in the town of Sinsheim, which was about an hour’s drive from the base.

To be honest, I have never seen such a diverse collection in one place. The first thing you see as you pull in the parking lot are all the planes mounted on the roofs of the various buildings, including a Concorde and TU-144 supersonic jet liners, both of which people can climb up into. In addition, they have several huge buildings packed with everything from an extensive collection of military equipment including tanks and other armored personnel carriers to massive locomotives to high-end collector cars and race cars from every form of motorsports, including drag racing. It was extremely interesting and a pleasant and relaxing way to spend the afternoon.

Our final stop for the day was for dinner at a little restaurant near the base called Maxi’s, where we enjoyed wienerschnitzel and potatoes served with three sauces, which was delicious. It was a fun evening, with everyone having a great time before heading back to our hotel to bunk in for the night.

Tomorrow our activities start in earnest, as we will spend the first of three full days visiting with the troops. We have an early start in the morning, meeting for breakfast at 7:00 before heading to our first stop, the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center to spend some time with some truly deserving people, signing autographs handing out goody bags and spreading some cheer wherever we can. It promises to be a fun day, and I know one of my fellow drivers will be back here tomorrow to tell you all about it. Have a great day!