Clevite and Perfect Circle Provide Bearings and Piston Rings for McMillen Top Fuel Entry
Hoosier Thunder Motorsports announced today that the Amalie Oil / Torco Nitro Top Fuel dragster, driven by team owner Terry McMillen, will be outfitted with Mahle Clevite bearings and Perfect Circle piston rings for the 2008 racing season. Clevite and Perfect Circle will be major associate product sponsors....
Tags: IHRA, motorsports, Nitro, racing, Terry McMillen, Top Fuel, TorcoESPN Drag Racing Analyst Mike Dunn Feels 2008 Could Be Year for Women in Funny Car
NHRA POWERade Series Season Begins This Weekend on ESPN2
As the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season rolls to the starting line this weekend, ESPN drag racing analyst Mike Dunn feels that drag racing fans will see history made this year with the first victory by a woman in the Funny Car class.
ESPN2 will have prime-time, same-day coverage of both qualifying and final eliminations from the 48th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals from Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. Qualifying coverage airs Saturday, Feb. 9, from 8-10 p.m., while finals coverage airs the next night from 7:30-11 p.m. ESPN Classic re-airs the finals Monday, Feb. 11, at 10 a.m.
Dunn, a 22-time winner in NHRA competition during his career and one of only three drivers to score 10 or more wins in both the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes, said that the Funny Car class will be one of the most interesting to watch this season, starting this weekend at Pomona.
“You have Melanie Troxel moving over from Top Fuel to Funny Car,” Dunn said. “And obviously with Ashley Force in her sophomore season, that’s going to be a good story because I think one of them, if not both, will win a race this year. Both of them have very good race cars. They definitely have a shot.”
All eyes in Pomona will be on NHRA superstar John Force, returning from serious injuries suffered in a crash during last year’s Dallas event. Force will be trying to win his 15th NHRA Funny Car title in the 2008 season.
“The biggest story to start off the season is the comeback of John Force after that accident,” said Dunn. “He tested in Phoenix and although he’s hobbling around and still doing his rehabilitation he was able to get in and out of the car and post the quickest and fastest times for his class on the weekend, so that’s going to be a big story to watch.”
Every February since 1961, fans have flocked to Pomona for the traditional opening of the drag racing season, and second-generation driver Dunn enjoys the excitement of the event that he started attending with his father, Hall of Fame racer “Big Jim” Dunn.
“As a kid growing up in Southern California, I used to love going to the Winternationals because everybody had new equipment and new paint schemes and everybody was just excited to get the season started after the winter,” he said.
“There’s just a whole different vibe to that race than probably any other race,” he said. “It’s our second-oldest race, only to the U.S. Nationals, so it’s a big event to win and it means a lot.”
Paul Page anchors ESPN2’s coverage from Pomona, joined in the booth by Dunn for analysis. Gary Gerould and Dave Rieff report from the pits.
Rieff and Dunn also host NHRA RaceDay at 11 a.m. Sunday on ESPN2. Originating from Nitro Alley at Pomona, the show will set up that day’s final elimination action with interviews and features. An episode of NHRA Thrills and Spills airs Sunday at 7 p.m., prior to the start of finals coverage.
Visit www.espnmediazone.com for ESPN's latest releases, schedules and other news, plus photos, video and audio clips and more.
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IHRA and Fast Track Medical Response Systems Introduce Medical Bracelet to Drag Racing
The International Hot Rod Association has joined with Fast Track Medical Response Systems, LLC in implementing a new program that will greatly enhance the medical services provided to competitors, teammates and employees at Knoll Gas Nitro Jam National Events in 2008. IHRA is the first drag racing sanctioning body to implement the Fast Track Medical Response System.
Fast Track Medical Response Systems, LLC is a company that has introduced computer chip technology into the medical response arena in the auto racing community...
Tags: drag racing, IHRA, Knoll Gas, Nitro, race, racing, safetyMike Ashley to Race Developmental Car in Pomona
POMONA, Calif. -- Mike Ashley, the fastest Funny Car driver in history, will open the 2008 NHRA POWERade season in Pomona, Calif. this weekend at the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals behind the wheel of the ProCare Rx Dodge Charger R/T nitro Funny Car.
After previously announcing he would not be racing Funny Car this season, Ashley changed his decision in order to track-prove a new prototype chassis fabricated by Chuck Hase. This car is a heavy frame-rail chassis assembled with normalized tubing, in conformance to NHRA's mandated specifications.
Read full story by Matthew Brammer, of Gotham City Racing at WhoWon.com
Tags: Dodge, Funny Car, Mike Ashley, NHRA, Nitro, Pomona, Powerade, race, racingMelanie Troxel Phoenix test 2008-01-25
CHANDLER, Ariz. (January 25, 2008) - Nitro Funny Car rookie Melanie Troxel took two short blasts Friday behind the wheel of the ProCare Rx Dodge Charger at the NHRA National Time Trials at Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Ariz. On her first pass, she struggled with visibility and hit the 330-foot timing cone before coasting across the line; her second pass netted a solid launch into ...
Tags: Dodge, Funny Car, Melanie Troxel, NHRA, Nitro, race, TestingIHRA Gears Up for Most Heavily-Sponsored Nitro Jam National Event in History
As an 1/8th mile national event the length of the race may be shorter than usual, but the list of sponsors for the season-opener in San Antonio is anything but short. It also shows the strength of...
Tags: IHRA, Nitro, raceDixon, Head are quickest of cautious first day pack at National Time Trials
Two-time NHRA POWERade Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon made it the furthest down Firebird International Raceway Friday during the first of three days of preseason testing at the National Time Trials in Phoenix. Using the knowledge he gained a week ago in his first test session, Dixon did the best of taming a green FIR with his 1,000-foot squirt of 4.715 at 263.51 mph in his U.S. Smokeless Tobacco dragster.
John Force's youngest daughter Courtney also looked sharp in her first full pass in Darien & Meadows Top Alcohol Dragster, running a 5.907 at 237.30 mph. The quickest Funny Car on the property was Jim Head's 6.269 at 144.12 mph in his Toyota Solara. Most of the 14 Top Fuel racers and 12 Funny Car pros couldn't get past halftrack under power as they got their first chance at running under the new 90-percent nitro rule...
Tags: Force, Funny Car, Jim Head, John Force, NHRA, Nitro, Powerade, race, Testing, Top Fuel, ToyotaAnnual Registration Deadline Approaching
For the 2008 Knoll Gas Nitro Jam season, IHRA continued its annual Participant Registration Program. This program allows Knoll Gas Nitro Jam participants to register for the entire season and...
Tags: IHRA, Knoll Gas, Nitro