NHRA POWERade Championship: Torco Racing Fuels Nationals, Virginia Motorsports Park, Oct 5-7, 2007

NHRA, VA Motorsports Park, Inet ^ | Oct 2, 2007 | FlAttorney & Co.

[flattorney]

2nd Annual NHRA Torco Racing Fuels Nationals
Virginia Motorsports Park – Richmond, Virginia
October 5 - 7, 2007

NHRA.com's Torco Racing Fuels Nationals homepage

     The NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series returned to Virginia last year with a race that shattered Pro performance barriers, especially in Pro Stock with Jason Line setting the National record that helped him capture the World Championship. This is the last 2007 “Countdown to 4 Championship” race. After this Sunday’s final elimination rounds the field of eight drivers eligible for the championship in each category - Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock - is reduced to four for the final two “Countdown to 1 Championship” races of the season. Pro Stock Motorcycles do not race this weekend and their eligible drivers for the championship was reduced to 4 at the O’Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals in Dallas, Sept 23rd.
     Peggy Llewellyn was the superstar in pro stock motorcycles at Dallas winning her first NHRA national event, she became the first black woman to win a NHRA national event, and her earned points bumped her into the final 4 drivers eligible for the championship. In her first year back to NHRA, after a five year absence due to a lack of sponsorship, the San Antonio native pulled off a hole-shot win in the semi-finals to beat Chip Ellis (#3 in points) and another incredible hole-shot win in the finals to beat Andrew Hines (#1 in points). See complete NHRA “Countdown to the Championship” information below. - FlA

Complete Event Schedule
Fri, Oct 5: Pro Qualifying Sessions at 3:30 & 6 pm
Sat, Oct 6: Pro Qualifying Sessions at Noon & 2:30 pm
Sun, Oct 7: Pre-Race Ceremonies, 10 am
Sun, Oct 7: Final Eliminations begin at 11 am

MotorSport-NHRA: Pre & Post Race Driver Interviews & News
NHRA Drivers Blogs
Virginia Motorsports Park Weather Forecast
Richmond Times Dispatch - Sports
ESPN2 TV Coverage (All Times ET)
10/06: Qualifying 7:00 - 8:00 pm
10/07: NHRA Race Day 11:00 - 11:30 am
10/07: Eliminations 7:00 - 10:00 pm
# 10/07: Repeat - Qualifying 1:00 - 2:00 am
# 10/12: Repeat - Eliminations 4:00 - 6:00 am

Paul “The Voice of NHRA” Page will anchor ESPN2’s coverage from Virginia, with outstanding color commentary and analysis by 22-time NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Car winner Mike Dunn. Gary Gerould, Dave Rieff and John Kernan will report the action from the pits. Rieff also will host Sunday’s NHRA Race Day The half-hour program will set the stage for Sunday’s eliminations with driver interviews, features and up-to-the-minute information.

ESPN NHRA homepage

[flattorney]

NormsRevenge says >> NHRA Bump.. Looking good and Good luck with the thread.

Thanks NR! Hey, for you and all the FR NASCAR people please excuse some of my NASCAR bashing comments back up the thread and any future comments I may render on the subject. I am a major NASCAR guy, going back 25 years, but I am really pissed off at the sport? currently.

[flattorney]

NHRA Ping
(Click to hear “The sound of NHRA Top Fuel Drag Racing”)

Didn’t know who all to put on the NHRA FR ping list. Please post on this thread if you want to be added or deleted from the list. Thanks

~ Final Three NHRA Championship Countdown Races ~
Oct 5-7: 2nd Annual Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals, Richmond, VA
Oct 25-28: 7th Annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, Las Vegas, NV
Nov 1-4: 43rd Annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, Pomona, CA
NHRA Television Schedule: Racing Coverage | "NHRA Race Day" Program

[umgud]

THX for the ping. Leave me on the list. I’m an old gas altered feller from the 70’s.

[South40]

by John Force

[flattorney]

Not good. Sounds like there are complications and John also has an infection. - TAB

Force Extends Rehab In Texas
from John Force Racing (JFR)
October 03, 2007

FORCE WILL STAY PUT AFTER CONSULTING WITH ORTHOPEDIC SPECIALISTS
14-Time Champ Scraps Plans to Attend TORCO Nationals at Richmond

DALLAS, Texas – John Force got a reality check Tuesday and the 14-time NHRA Funny Car Champion found he didn’t have a leg to stand on. Faced with the knowledge that he can’t put weight on a badly broken left ankle for at least 60 days and the realization that his severely damaged right knee and foot simply won’t hold him up, Force finally acquiesced to the wishes of orthopedic surgeons treating him at Baylor University Medical Center.

The upshot is that the injured icon will remain at Baylor for an undermined amount of time under the supervision of trauma specialist Dr. Michael Foreman, orthopedic traumatologist Dr. Alan Jones and orthopedic surgeon Dr. David Zehr and immediately will embark on a more intense physical therapy program. Although, with assistance, he has been up on his feet since the Sept. 23rd accident at the Texas Motorplex that left him seriously injured for the first time in his 30-year career, reports that the 125-time tour winner has been walking have been greatly exaggerated. His physical activity to date has consisted primarily of doing pull-ups with his right arm and raising and lowering his legs – all from his hospital bed, which is why, on Tuesday, drag racing’s biggest star acknowledged that while he is extremely motivated to get back in his race car as quickly as possible, he finally understands that he cannot accelerate the healing process.

“It is what it is,” Force said. “I know I said I was going to drive at Richmond (in this week’s second annual TORCO Racing Fuels Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park) and that I was going to drive at Las Vegas. That’s what I wanted to do, but the truth is I’m beat up pretty bad. I can’t do anything for myself right now plus my blood count is down. “They want me to eat, but nothing tastes right and they want me to walk on my own, which I can’t do because my right leg is so bad.” Force’s right leg initially was weakened by childhood polio and then aggravated by an accident in 1989. In the crash, the same knee was deeply lacerated, affecting the tendons and ligaments.

“I’ve had to rely on my daughter Ashley and my son-in-law, Robert Hight, to do everything for me – and I mean everything,” Force said. “I got two bad hands and two bad legs, so it didn’t make any sense to do a couple days of therapy here, a couple more in Indy and a couple more in California. “My doctors here are right up there with the best in the world for these kinds of injuries. They worked with Kenny Brack and they’ve handled PBR bull riders when they’ve been hurt. So, my new game plan is to stay here to do the physical therapy they want.”

That decision countermands Force’s earlier plan to travel to Indianapolis this week and then on to Richmond to provide morale support for Hight, who presently is second in POWERade points behind only Tony Pedregon. Instead, he will remain in Texas under the care of a trauma team that has had considerable experience with injuries like those suffered by the 14-time Auto Racing All-American when his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang literally broke in half after a tire failure.

In fact, Dr. Jones headed the team that put IndyCar driver Kenny Brack back together after he crashed heavily in a 2003 IRL race at Texas Motor Speedway. That was a determining factor in Force’s decision to stay put although he still is determined to be in Las Vegas for the Halloween weekend ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals. “I’d like to think that I’m Superman, but I’m not,” Force said. “I know I have to get stronger. I’m down probably 10 pounds (since the crash), but for years whenever I lost weight I did it the wrong way. Instead of exercising it off, I just quit eating. Well, lying here in the hospital, I realized how weak I am. I know I’ve got build myself back up if I’m going to continue to race. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

Relying on his family for support, Force said his nephew, Brian Force, will fly to Dallas to take over the heavy lifting from Hight, who has done yeoman duty as Force’s arms and legs during recovery. Enhancements to Hight’s Automobile Club of Southern California Ford Mustang should be completed Wednesday. That will make it possible for the seven-time tour winner to compete this week – but not to test. Work still is being done at McKinney Corporation on Ashley’s Castrol GTX Ford and on a third Mustang for rookie-to-be Mike Neff. Force’s car, which was to be the second to receive the latest upgrade, was pulled out of line when it became apparent that the 1996 Driver of the Year would be unable to compete this week.

Force said Tuesday that Ashley’s participation in the TORCO Nationals won’t even be considered if improvements to her car are not completed by Thursday.

In addition to his leg injuries, Force has broken bones in the fingers on his right hand and a severely dislocated left wrist. He also has skin grafts on his injured fingers. Of some additional concern is the fact that his white blood count is low [usually means an infection - TAB], a situation that ultimately might necessitate a blood transfusion.

Posted for FlA by TAB

[WestCoastGal]

Thanks for the ping. Great job on this thread with all the pics and stories.

I grew up watching some of the original top fuel dragsters. The San Fernando Valley in California was home to some of the drivers and there was also Long Beach and Fontana.

Don’t worry about bashing Nascar, some of the fans bash it now also.

Ping to ST.

[org.whodat]

The timing blocks that Kenny hit never touched John's car, and it's been confirmed by NHRA officials, Dallas track eyewitnesses, and experts that have reviewed the video footage of the accident.

And with that I disagree! Which I believe is still allowed in this country and sport!

[Jersey Republican Biker Chick]

Thanks for the ping!!

[Jersey Republican Biker Chick]

Thanks for the update on John.

He needs to take the time to heal properly. Then #15 in 2008!!!!

[SouthTexas]

Sure wish Force would pull a rabbit out of his helmet and run this weekend, but I guess I should be grateful he is still alive.

Thank you Lord for small favors (and big ones too).

[flattorney]

Great read, thanks for the contribution!

[flattorney]

Orange County (California) Register
by Damian Dottore
Oct 2, 2007

Force Might Park his Daughter's Funny Car

Modifications planned for his team's Funny Car chassis should help prevent injuries like the 14-time champion suffered. Even from his bed at Baylor University Medical Center, John Force has been working, trying to think of new ways to protect anyone who has the guts to climb into an NHRA Funny Car, one of the most volatile vehicles used in professional motor sports. Safety has become Force's mission, and his daughter Ashley might have to sit out the Torco Racing Fuels Nationals this weekend in Petersburg, Va., because of it.

Force, 58, said his Funny Car team's chassis builder, Murf McKinney, is adding an X-shaped cross member plus additional bracing to the chassis to make the car more structurally sound. If there is a tire failure, the chassis should not snap in half. - (I'm not buying that tire shake from John's deflated, but intact, left tire was the primary cause of his car to snap in half at Dallas, without warning, unless JFR had altered that chassis. I also think, based on all the behind-the-scenes scuttlebutt, that McKinney has some explaining to do) - FlA

Force won't be able to travel to Petersburg, Va., to support his Funny Car team during the Torco Racing Fuel Nationals as he had planned because he's being transferred to the rehabilitation wing of the Dallas hospital, where he likely will stay for at least a week.

Force said Robert Hight's chassis with all of the updates is expected to roll out of McKinney's shop today, so Force's son-in-law, a Funny Car championship contender, will be at this weekend's race at Virginia Motorsports Park. If Ashley Force's car isn't done, the Funny Car rookie will skip the race. "Safety is the key issue here," Force said. "You don't need four Funny Cars to win a championship. We won five with one car, so if Robert has to take it on by himself, there's no reason why he still can't win it."

Force said he eventually would like to see an IndyCar-style "tub" incorporated into the design of a Funny Car. A tub, constructed of carbon fiber, forms a protective shell that wraps around the driver. "We actually started working on that three or four months ago," Force said, "but we just got busy dealing with cockpit issues." After Eric Medlen suffered fatal head injuries in March when he crashed testing a Force-owned Mustang in Gainesville, Fla., Force and his team of crew chiefs added padding to the roll cage surrounding the cockpit. They also installed a seven-point seat belt system and began testing a new head-and-neck restraint system. "So there just wasn't any time to get the tub project completed," Force said. "And that is why I am here."

FlA says >> I only looked at the Eric Medlen fatal Funny Car crash photos last week for the first time. Wow.... NHRA has to stop jerking around and adopt a track wall SAFER barrier designed specifically for NHRA drag racing. Unfortunately it is a complicated issue.

[flattorney]

Gary "Wild Thing" Scelzi is one of a very rare group of "King of Cool" motorsports guys. Can't say enough good things about him. No one wanted to see this 4 time NHRA World Champioin leave the sport at the end of the season. His Funny Car paint jobs describes his personality to a T. - FlA

# # #

NHRA at Virginia Motorsports Park
- Gary Scelzi ended his sabbatical plans to continue thrill ride in racing
Richmond Times~Dispatch by Shawn Fenner
Wednesday, Oct 03, 2007 - 1:29 AM

Many labels can be applied to Gary Scelzi. Four-time world champion. Fan favorite. Businessman. Father. Husband. What made matters hard for Scelzi was taking each one as seriously as any other. That's why, earlier this year, he announced a sabbatical from the sport, effective at the end of this season. Citing a desire to spend more time with his wife, Julianne, and two sons, Dominic, 10, and Giovanni, 5, and feeling a need to spend more time at his family's trucking business, plans were announced for him to step out of his Dodge Charger and lead a more normal life.Thanks to a compromise of sorts among all of his life's influences, however, Scelzi recently announced that he'll be back next year for another year of quarter-mile, 330-plus mph fun.

On the surface, Scelzi has nothing more to prove in his racing life. After all, this is one of only two drivers to have won world championships in the NHRA's two premier categories -- Top Fuel and Funny Car. (Kenny Bernstein is the other). He also passed NHRA legend "Big Daddy" Don Garlits in all-time wins with 36 in Memphis this year. So what brings Scelzi and his handlebar mustache back for another year? "I love the competition. I love going 330 miles per hour," he said. "I've driven my USAC midget cars, and I can tell you there's nothing like going 0-300 MPH over a quarter-mile. "There's nothing like it. There's no ride at Disneyland that can do that."

In addition to a speed addiction, Scelzi received an assist from a rival team owner. Ken Black arranged for Scelzi to fly to about 10 races next year in his Las Vegas-based jet, thus saving Scelzi almost a full month on the road. "Ken Black actually called me and offered to fly me back and forth so I could stay at Don Schumacher Racing because he's only 40 minutes away from Fresno [by airplane] in Las Vegas," said Scelzi when he announced his return for next season. "He said he could fly me to at least 10 races. Well, 10 races to me adds up to 20 days back at work at Scelzi Enterprises, which is a month, no matter how you look at it."

Scelzi also said his relationships with his fellow drivers led him back for at least one more go. "I'm one of the few guys who can go in [another driver's] trailer and nobody throws me out," he said. "All these guys are extremely close. Whenever I have a charity event, all the guys just jump at me to help out. I don't even have to approach any of them."

Now that he's not worried about saying goodbye to his fans, Scelzi can concentrate on making up some ground in the NHRA's Countdown to One. After Sunday's finals at Virginia Motorsports Park, the top four in each of the three major classes on display here -- Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock -- will be eligible to compete for the championship in the season's final two full-field races in Las Vegas and Pomona, Calif.

Scelzi is sixth and has his work cut out for him. John Force, who is fourth, will not compete at VMP because of injuries suffered in an accident on Sept. 23 outside Dallas (Force, however, is expected to be here to lend support to his teammates). That leaves Scelzi, Jack Beckman, Mike Ashley and teammate Ron Capps fighting for the final two spots in the Countdown. "My only thought is to get into the Countown to One," Scelzi said.

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/sports.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2007-10-03-0047.html

[flattorney]

Gary "Wild Thing" Scelzi
1997, 1998, 2000 NHRA Top Fuel Champion
2005 NHRA TF Funny Car Champion

[flattorney]

NHRA - 10/3/2007

 
Official Countdown to the Championship site
News, features, standings and more

Countdown to One's Wheel of Fortune Makes its Final Stop

The NHRA POWERade Countdown to One fields in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock will be set during this weekend's Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals at scenic Virginia Motorsports Park near Richmond, Va. There are several close battles to keep an eye on. Following the race, only the top four competitors in each pro category will be eligible to win world championships during a two-race shootout in Las Vegas and Pomona, Calif.

In Top Fuel, Bob Vandergriff Jr. is 21 points behind Brandon Bernstein, who currently holds down the No. 4 cutoff position. In Funny Car, with fourth-place driver John Force on the sidelines recovering from injuries suffered in a high-speed crash at the last event, Jack Beckman, Ron Capps, Gary Scelzi and Mike Ashley are all battling for the final two spots in the top four. In Pro Stock, Allen Johnson and Jeg Coughlin hold the third and fourth place spots, but Jason Line and Kurt Johnson are looking to crash the party.

 What they're saying:
Pre-race reports

TOP FUEL
Rod Fuller
Tony Schumacher
Brandon Bernstein
Whit Bazemore
Doug Herbert
J.R. Todd

FUNNY CAR
Tony Pedregon
Jack Beckman
Ron Capps
Gary Scelzi
Mike Ashley

PRO STOCK
Dave Connolly
Greg Anderson
Allen Johnson
Jeg Coughlin
Jason Line
Kurt Johnson
Warren Johnson

Fans will remember the last race of the regular season, the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals in Reading, Pa., for the amazing Cinderella run turned in by Top Fueler Doug Herbert, who leapfrogged three drivers -- Cory McClenathan, Melanie Troxel, and Dave Grubnic -- to clinch the eighth and final Top Fuel playoff berth with his first win in more than two years.

Also at that last regular season race, Craig Treble survived as the last man in the Pro Stock Motorcycle field when Matt Guidera and the Mohegan Sun team ended the playoff bid of Chris Rivas one round short of bumping Treble. But Treble didn't survive a second bout with fate when his playoff life was again out of his hands at the final Countdown to Four race for the bikes in Dallas. There, he could only watch helplessly as upstart Peggy Llewellyn beat No. 1 qualifier Chip Ellis in the semis and three-time defending champ Andrew Hines in the finals en route to her first career win to earn the fourth and final Countdown to One berth.

The championship field was set in dramatic fashion in Pro Stock Motorcycle (the bikes do not compete in Richmond) and finalizing the four-driver fields for the Countdown to One in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock figures to provide much of the same edge-of-your-seat theatrics this weekend.

The national media was able to speak with four superstar racers this week who are all fighting for spots in the Countdown to One. Pro Stock driver Jeg Coughlin is currently in the field in fourth place but knows there are five drivers all capable of earning the final two spots up for grabs in his class. Defending Top Fuel champ Tony Schumacher is third overall, while Bob Vandergriff is just one round behind the bump in fifth. Funny Car hopeful Gary Scelzi is just five points behind fourth-place, a deficit that could be made up in qualifying at this weekend's second annual Torco Race Fuels NHRA Nationals, especially with John Force on the sidelines.

Here are a few select quotes from each driver on what they think it will take to make the cut and how they feel about the new Countdown to the Championship playoff format.

Q: What will it take for you to clinch a spot in the Countdown to One?
Coughlin: Well, it's going to take some great racing. We did some testing this past weekend down in Georgia, which should prove to give us a little more confidence going into Richmond. Ironically Richmond is the race I started back in the Pro Stock last year with Cagnazzi Racing, so that will be exciting to kind of have a one-year reunion there, and the reward we're looking for is to have a great outing. No question we have an extremely fast car and a great team, we just need to pull the strings together on that and get out there and race like we know how.

Schumacher: We need to stay focused, we need to go out and try to win this race in Richmond. We try to win every race. Unlike some of the guys that I've heard in Top Fuel lately that are focusing on one car, we focus on the race. We focus on the goal; the ultimate vision is to win the race, not to beat any individual team. It's just to win the race and win the round in front of us. It's way too easy to lose focus on what the goal is if you're focused on one car.

Vandergriff: Obviously, we need to have a great weekend. We're not just looking at Brandon per se. There're really three people in front of us that could lose first round, and if we go on to the finals or semifinals again, we could jump all the way up to second. We've got the best stuff ready and we're going to go there and try and qualify No. 1 and get the most qualifying points we can and just see if we can take it to them on race day.

Scelzi: I'm extremely excited. The bottom line is you have to do well. You don't want to go into Richmond and barely make the Countdown. You can't be lucky in Richmond and lucky in Vegas and lucky in Pomona and come out the POWERade champion. You're going to have to be good. So I like my chances. I like the way things are looking right now. You know, we just need to go there and we need to win. We need to win and we need to be in the final round, and that will take care of that. I know a lot of the teams plan on going to Vegas to test, possibly the week before, or that's definitely been talked about at Schumacher Racing, to try some things for Vegas and Pomona. I'm excited as hell about it. I'm excited as hell about having a shot at it. That's probably the biggest thing.

Q: What are your opinions on the new championship format?
Coughlin: The new points deal is extremely exciting. You look at the top four professional classes and you've got a lot of points battles going on for the Countdown to One, and I think that's exciting, and I'll tell you, I'm ready to go. Right now, I'm in fourth place. I think I'm within one round of third and within two rounds of sixth. That's the kind of points battle we're dealing with. I think we've got four of us, maybe five, vying for the last two positions for the Countdown to One. It's exciting.

Schumacher: I think all of it has been so exciting. I think what people need to know going in is when you're changing a points system, any crew chief, especially Alan Johnson, is smart enough to say, okay, where do we need to be at any point in the season and how do we get to that point. We've been trying some new parts on our car, we've taken the car out that we won the championship with last year, started in Reading and won Indy with it and had a couple parts breakages, but we're still one of the cars that have run extremely well. If we can get past that first round it seems we win the race.

In the beginning we thought, man, this is not a great deal. We didn't know if we'd enjoy it or not. But it's really been quite fun. It actually adds pressure three times. Instead of that one race at the end of the year where you're focused on, we're focused on three different sections of the season. Some of the drivers say I didn't earn it, I was given the points. Let me tell you something: I didn't ask for this. I think it's funny when I hear people talk about that they earned their championship. No, they didn't earn their championship. Read the rules. They were given to me at the same time they were given to everybody.

Vandergriff: As far as the competition side of it, it is our first time in there, but I'm not too concerned with that because it's all I've ever done my whole life is compete. I'm actually looking for the challenge. It's something I've been wanting to do my whole career, and now that it's here I'm pretty excited about the opportunity. When things get to where it's on the line and you have a chance to win and the big picture comes into play, I think everybody gets a little more excited.

Scelzi: This thing could go several different ways. We've seen how tough it's been just to qualify for an event in Funny Car. I can't remember the last time you looked and counted the cars and say, okay, who on this list is going to go home. You don't know. You can't pick a single-car team, a multicar team. There's no one safe in qualifying for an NHRA POWERade event, let alone this Countdown. It's a mess. Go out there, run the cars as hard as you can, keep your fingers crossed that there's a little luck and that you did your job and everybody on the car did their job.

What I don't like is eight drivers going from Indy to Richmond and then narrow it down to four and go from Vegas to Pomona just because…let's pick out Robert Hight out, for instance. Robert has been one of the dominant cars all year long. It would be a shame to see Robert stumble, have something break at one race and cost him a championship. It would be the same thing with Ron Capps or whatever.

Now, our team has just been hanging in there. We haven't been the dominant car, and yet we can slip in there and end up winning this whole thing by peaking at the right time. That's fun.

---

[NormsRevenge]

Hey, for you and all the FR NASCAR people please excuse some of my NASCAR bashing comments back up the thread and any future comments I may render on the subject. I am a major NASCAR guy, going back 25 years, but I am really pissed off at the sport? currently.

—

LOL

No problem, you looked a little familiar. ;-)

.. and trust me, you are not alone in wondering what the heck has Nascar done to itself the last few years.... I know it’s a business ,, a family owned and run.. now with a new sponsor.. again, the 3rd in the last 10 years.. and who knows what to expect next.. remember CoT? OOOoo.. matchbox racing. Great, for kids.. :-}

[SouthTexas]

Thought I was going to be disappointed when Scelzi gave up top fuel for funny cars. However, I was not. :)

[flattorney]

umgud says >> THX for the ping. Leave me on the list. I’m an old gas altered feller from the 70’s.

Excellent! Some wild guys for sure that drove/still drive gas and fuel altereds. I love the old floppers and altereds, but I'd be the first to admit that I don't have the cahonies to ever try and drive one, lol. I presume you know that altereds still run at All American Fuel Dragsters events.

Have you seen this site? It's not altereds but it all the old legendary NHRA floppers and drivers. I only learned about the site this week. It’s fantastic.....

70's Funny Cars
- A nostalgic look back at over 400 nitro funny cars from the 1970's

I’ll add this link for anyone that doesn’t know - - Some the greatest legends still in the sport today are in many of the old 1970-early '80's photos in the 2003-2007 annual NHRA legends photo galleries located * HERE*.

Two more links - - NHRA staff and contributors did a superb job! with their 50th Anniversary website presentation.

NHRA’s Top 50 Greatest List
2007 - As part of NHRA's 50th Anniversary celebration, a panel of drag racing experts, including print and television journalists and longtime historians of the sport, was challenged to create a list of the Top 50 drivers from NHRA's first 50 years. The results will be unveiled throughout the year on NHRA.com, counting down from No. 50 to the announcement of No. 1 at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals. Each week in this section, those on the list will be revealed along with biographies of their fabulous careers.

[B Knotts]

Please add me to your NHRA ping list.

[umgud]

I still go to nostalgia meets when I have the time. Lot’s of fun watching the old iron.