Defending NHRA Division 5 Federal-Mogul Dragster Champion Bruce Bowler will be looking for his first national event win during this weekend's AutoZone Winternationals in Pomona, California. Not only will Bowler be looking for the win, but has his sights set on the National Championship in 2001.

Bowler, who resides in Denver, finished the 2000 season by qualifying No. 3 at the season-ending AAA Auto Club Finals in Pomona with a great elapsed time of 5.452 at 258.37 mph. He also picked up two late season divisional wins on his way to the Division 5 Championship in Noble, Oklahoma, and Phoenix.

"This weekend our goal is pretty pure and simple: get our first national event win," said Bowler. "We ran some 5.30's last year, and we have some new equipment we are going to try that we think will help us build more power in the motor. So, we're really looking to get into the 5.30's at around the 270 mph mark. David Baca ran in the 5.20's here last year. I think we can get there, I don't think that is out of our reach at all."

This year, Bowler plans to put more emphasis on the national event schedule to make a run at the National Championship. "Our main interest this year is to try to do better on the National level," commented Bowler. "That's where we are putting most of our energy this year. Not that we are ignoring the divisional races, because those points also add into your national standings, so those races are important too. You just have to put your mindset into that national event scene, and get used to that kind of environment and that kind of competition."

"We certainly are going to try to protect our Championship standing in Division 5," continued Bowler. "In addition to keeping the Division 5 title, our goal is to make a beeline for the World Championship this year. We know now that the car has the capability of winning wherever we go, and we're really going to put the 'full court' press on to take the No. 1 from Rick Santos."

For more information on the Phoenix Motorsports team, visit their website.

Hi Bob. I thought I would drop you a line to say Hi. I haven't heard from you for ages and I noticed that your site hasn't been updated since the 31st of December. No doubt you have been super busy packing that container to come back to Australia. How many days to go?

Federal-Mogul Dragster owner and driver Duane Shields will be looking to make a strong showing during this weekend's AutoZone Winternationals in Pomona, California with his two car Federal-Mogul Dragster team.

The Las Vegas, based team made it's two-car debut last year at the season-ending AAA Auto Club Finals in Pomona, and has high expectations for this season. Last weekend, the team raced it's No. 2 car driven by Dale Carlson at the Division 7 opener in Phoenix. Qualifying for the event was rained out, and the racers were forced into eliminations without having any qualifying runs. Tricky track conditions lead to a first round exit for Carlson. The team hopes to have a different story this weekend.

"We did a lot of work to Dale's car over the offseason to make it identical to mine," said Shields. "Last year when we debuted the team, his car has some older pieces, along with different tires, gears, and motor size. This year that is all the same as my car, so we are looking for both cars to be really competitive right off the bat. I'm looking for both cars to qualify in the top half of the field. We are going to try the new BAE billet aluminum block in my car, so we are looking forward to that as well. We really want to go some rounds this weekend."

"Also we want to get some good exposure for our new sponsors, MOSH BMX Bicycles which will be on my car, and Giant Bicycles that will be on Dale's car," continued Shields. "Short Line Express Markets are still the primary sponsor."

In addition to looking for a win in Pomona, Shields is looking for big results out of his two car team for the season as well. To honor NHRA's 50th anniversary season, Shields' car will run a special nostalgia candy color paint job for the 2001 season.

"Our primary goal this year will be to run the two car team at the national events, and to focus with my car at more divisional events," said Shields. "We really want to get more exposure for our sponsors at the national events. We will run my car in Division 6 and run Dale's car in Division 7. Our next event with the two car team will be Las Vegas."

Qualifying begins on Thursday for the Federal Mogul Dragsters at noon. On Friday, they will have two more qualifying sessions at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of the racing action from Pomona.

I represent Liberty Performance, an automatic transmission and torque converter engineering and manufacturing company located in Brookfield, Missouri. We are launching not only a nationwide sales and marketing initiative, but a worldwide one as well. We have established a relationship with a company in Germany to work with in the European market, and now we're investigating opportunities in Australia.

We're wondering if you might be interested, or know of a world-class company or individual, that would be interested in a truly "win-win" opportunity that has the potential to be financially rewarding, in opening the Australian racing market to Liberty Performance products and services. If so, please contact me. Thanks for your serious consideration and assistance.

Second year Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Joe Fuentes will be looking to pick up his first win during this weekend's season opening AutoZone Winternationals in Pomona, California. Fuentes, an electrical contractor in Austin, Texas, finished the 2000 season off strong by running low 5.5 second elapsed times at over 250 miles per hour, and looks to improve on his personal best of a 5.51 at 252 mph this weekend, in addition to picking up his first win.

"We really want to qualify on the top half of the field this weekend," said Fuentes. "This will be our first race when our tuning consultant Ora Vasquez will get to be with us at the track, so we're hoping to get some good runs in. Everything is pretty much the same as we had it in Houston and Dallas when we were running good," continued Fuentes. "The only things we are changing is a few minor tuning adjustments that Ora might make."

In addition to his goals of winning his first race, Fuentes wants to make a strong showing to start his season in the right direction. Last year, his rookie year, he only competed in eight events, and plans to run a full schedule of 18 races this year.

"The beginning of the year is basically going to be the same as last year," stated Fuentes. "I will be trying to get as much seat time as possible, and we are all still learning. The car and the crew is ready, it's just up to me now. We have the horsepower, I just need to get more adjusted to it. We are looking to make a strong showing in points this year, both divisionally and nationally."

Qualifying begins at noon on Thursday for the Federal-Mogul Dragsters, with two more sessions on Friday at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of the racing action from Pomona. For more information on the J&D Racing team, visit their website.

Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Sergio Recio had what may have been his first final round appearance taken away from him in his semifinal matchup with Brandon Henkelman during this past weekend's NHRA Division 7 opener at Firebird Raceway, just outside of Phoenix. After posting an impressive .898 60 ft time, Recio was ahead of his opponent Henkelman when the throttle cable broke on his dragster, rendering him helpless. Henkelman streaked on to an elapsed time of 5.638 at 261.78 miles per hour over Recio's coasting 6.230 at only 157.87 mph.

Due to excessive rain delays, qualifying was canceled for the Federal-Mogul Dragsters, and the fields were set according to 2000 national points standings. In round one Recio received a bye-run when scheduled opponent, and former Top Fuel driver, Marshall Topping was a no show. Recio then ran low e.t. of the second round in putting away future Top Fuel driver Brandon Bernstein's A/Fuel Dragster with a 5.603 at 253.09 mph before meeting Henkelman in the semifinals.

"It was pretty hard going into eliminations without any qualifying passes," said Recio. "Luckily we had a bye run that first round, because it shook the tires real hard off the line. After that, we just set the car up pretty conservative to get down the track. We were pretty happy with that 5.60 in the second round."

"In the semifinals, he [Henkelman] left on me, but we had an .898 60' time, so we caught up with him pretty quick," Recio continued. "Right after I hit high gear, the throttle linkage just let go, and he blew by me. I couldn't even see him until the linkage broke. We were pretty excited and wanted to make our first final round at the first race out. Things like that just happen. You've just got to accept it and go on."

After the team's career best outing in Phoenix, the Cash-n-Go team has it's hopes high for a win at next weekend's AutoZone Winternationals in Pomona, California. "Everyone is real excited about next week in Pomona," stated Recio. "My crew chief is real excited about these 60' times this car is running. He's compared those times with [Defending four time World Champion] Rick Santos, and we don't think he has run that quick to 60' with the rules changes. He feels that if he can get the tire shake out of the car, we might be able to run .40's next week. I know it's easier said than done, but I feel we're heading in the right direction.

I am a student at Barnsley College and I am currently doing an assignment where I have to design my own website. The topic I have based my assignment on is Drag Racing. Could I have permission to use some of the pictures on your website? I know Lindsay from the LA Racing team and he told me you may be able to help. Thank you.

Click here to read the "clickable" version.

Drag Racing Lists Updated. The DRL Lists have all been updated. We have 3000 new entries, both new and old. Thanks to Danny White, Steve Klemetti, and hundreds of our readers who have sent their email updates. We will update the Match Race Madness game databases this week also.

Bret Kepner: World Record Holder! From Danny White: DRL Executive Field Editor Bret Kepner set a national record in HF/Stock Automatic with an '82 Ford Escort. He set the record at 17.78 - 74.82 mph on an 18.60 index at Orlando, Florida. Danny says, "I hope he had fun tearing that thing down!" Bret credits Paul Wright and Brian Olsen Paint & Body. Congratulations, Mr. Dirt.

Drag Racing Stories of The Day

January 29
A Ride to the Top Fuel Finals. Jim Harnsberger provides a blow by blow account of his runnerup performance at the 1971 NHRA Summernationals.

January 28
Wild Willie and the Terenzio Brothers. Anthony Terenzio tells how Wild Willie Borsch came to the aid of his fellow altered racers at the Gatornationals one year.

January 27
The Mighty King Camaro. David Ray tells the tale of the loudest fuel Funny Car of them all.

January 26
Push Starting on the Dry Lakes. Dave Williams tells about his escapades in pushing 'em off on the salt.

January 25
Why Don't More Spectators Race? Tom Worthington wonders how folks can watch such an exciting sport without taking the family car out "just once."

January 24
My First Time Driving a Dragster. Travis Perrenot tells about his first ride in the family's gas dragster. He thought he would set the world on fire, but....

January 23
My Ride with the Wild Man, Wild Willie Borsch. Robert Borsch tells of a touching late night cruise with his famous dad.

Drag Racing Pictures of The Day

January 29
Jumpin' Jack Flash '40 Willys. Anni Valder grabbed a shot of Kevin Moore's immaculate doorslammer at Avon Park, Great Britain.

January 28
John Force Lays Down a Fogbank in 1996. Andy "Tog" Rogers caught the champ on a patented HUGE burnout in 1996.

January 27
The "Rakers" Fuel Dragster. Steve Gibbs with a photo and text about one of the tough regular fuel competitors at San Gabriel.

January 26
Classic S&M -- Sox & Martin's Super Stock 'Cuda. Gonzo shows off more cool photo art; this one of perhaps the ultimate doorslammer team of all time.

January 25
Austin Power! Jr. Thompson's Blown Gasser. YEAHH, baby! Paul Hutchins provides a great pit shot of Junior Thompson's Austin gasser getting some between rounds maintenance.

January 24
Jungle Fire! Jim Liberman on fire at Englishtown. Art Cimilluca passed along this great Norman Blake shot of the Jungle Man burning one up at E-Town.

January 23
The Prospector Working Out! Jay Mageau's '57 Chevy Funny Car. Jay Mageau provided this D. Sitko shot of his amazing Northwest funny car.

Drag Racing Movies of The Week

January 29
JP's Toy! Jim Pace's Blown Gasser. Dawn Mazi grabbed this footage of Jim Pace's blown gasser doing a burnout and a run at the 1999 California Hot Rod Reunion.

January 28
Pro Mod Bumper Cars. Dutch Pro Mod racer Henri Joosten provided this cool footage of him and another racer getting a little close for comfort at Santa Pod Raceway.

I know you probably get hundreds of requests to add links to your site, so here's one more. It's my personal website with full videos, pictures and links also. Glen Braid Racing. Home of Canada's Fastest Street Legal Car. Thanks in advance.

PS: Maybe even the Backfire! section would be okay for this ad.

Just a note to let yuou know we have added many updates to Awesome Burnouts, particularly in the "Members" area. We will be adding new members information throughout the week. Check back with the IBAA in the near future, as we will be adding our 2001 Schedule of Events. Thanks for supporting us.

Hi. Jim here from Spokane, Washington looking to race at your place at least once this year. Probably in Pro Gas. Driven by Darrel Passher. Would like to know about prices and camping, etc. Thanks. PS: Todd Horner told me about your track.

I can't remember if I've sent this before... if I have, I'm really sorry... sorta :-)

NAME: _____________________ (last)
  (_____) Billy-Bob
  (_____) Billy-Joe
  (_____) Billy-Sue
  (_____) Billy-Mae
  (_____) Billy-Jack
  (_____) Billy-Jefferson
(check appropriate box)

AGE: _____   SEX: M ___ F ___ N/A ___
SHOE SIZE: Left: _____   Right: _____

OCCUPATION:
  (_____) Farmer
  (_____) Mechanic
  (_____) Hair Dresser
  (_____) Unemployed

SPOUSE'S NAME: ___________________________
RELATIONSHIP WITH SPOUSE:
  (_____) Sister
  (_____) Brother
  (_____) Aunt
  (_____) Uncle
  (_____) Cousin
  (_____) Mother
  (_____) Father
  (_____) Son
  (_____) Daughter
  (_____) Pet

NUMBER OF CHILDREN LIVING IN HOUSEHOLD: _____
NUMBER THAT ARE YOURS: _____

MOTHER'S NAME: ____________________________
FATHER'S NAME: _____________________ (if not sure, leave blank)

EDUCATION:   1   2   3   4   (Circle highest grade completed)

Do you (______) own or (______) rent your mobile home?
(Check appropriate box)

Total number of vehicles that you own: _______
Number of vehicles that still crank: ______
Number of vehicles in front yard: ______
Number of vehicles in back yard: ______
Number of vehicles on cement blocks: ______

Firearms you own and where you keep them:
Truck _____
Bedroom _____
Bathroom _____
Kitchen _____
Shed _____

Model and year of your pickup: _________   194___

Newspapers/magazines that you subscribe to:
  (_____) The National Enquirer
  (_____) TV Guide
  (_____) The Globe
  (_____) Soap Opera Digest

Number of times you've seen a UFO: ______
Number of times you've seen Elvis: ______
Number of times you've seen Elvis in a UFO: ______

How often do you bathe?
  (_____) Weekly
  (_____) Monthly
  (_____) N/A

Color of teeth:
  (_____) Yellow
  (_____) Brownish-Yellow
  (_____) Brown
  (_____) Black
  (_____) N/A

Brand of chewing tobacco you prefer:
  (_____) Red-Man

Number of times you've been in a tornado: ______

How far is your home from a paved road?
  (_____) 1 mile
  (_____) 2 miles
  (_____) Don't know

I keep checking in, but no Bob "tales". Where are ya? Come on back, we're missin' ya!

Hi, just thought we'd let you know we're still alive and well. We did cash your Xmas money and bought ourselves a five-CD player. Works great, but tonight it would appear one of the speakers has blown! I wonder if some little bird was whooping it up when no one was home. We also have a new scanner, thanks to Mom's birthday gift. Can't scan directly to email yet, as there seems to be a glitch, but thought you might like this newspaper clipping of Jenny. (Scroll down to find the attachment. Can you find her? She's wearing the Wellington sweatshirt with her hand across her chest).

Oh yes, eight more working days and we should be back on Napster. Robin's scared to death we really are going to be sued by Dr. Dre. The CD burner works great, we've made lots of copies. It takes about four minutes per disc. Our CD collection is growing by leaps and bounds. Once we're back on Napster we could always work a deal on burning songs for you :-)

I'm thinking about coming over to visit you and Mom next Saturday. Will phone Mom this weekend and confirm things. TTFN.

Yo Bob. Are you still alive or did you escape to the land of OZ early ????

Hi, just thought I'd note something very quickly. Movies from now on will be using the Quicktime format. If you don't have the program, download it at Quicktime. To see if you have Quicktime already installed in your computer, I have an excellent intro movie on the enter page at DragMania.

Federal-Mogul Dragster pilot Sergio Recio will be looking to make a strong showing during this weekend's Division 7 opener at Firebird Raceway just outside of Phoenix. The El Paso, Texas native debuted a new 2000 Brad Hadman chassis at the end of last year, and hopes to get his new car lined out this weekend.

"Our goal for this weekend is to run a smooth race," said Recio. "We have a new crew, and hopefully before the weekend is out, we can run our best. We are shooting for at least a 5.52 or .53 before the weekend is out. We are all still learning," Recio continued. "We have a new car, crew and motors for this season, so hopefully it will all come together. We are excited because it looks like we have a car and team that will perform."

In addition to looking for a strong showing this weekend, Recio plans to hit the NHRA tour, and has high goals for the season as well. Recio said, "We qualified at a lot of the races we went to last year, but when that old first round comes around, we would like to go on to the second round, and on to the finals. Really, I think we are good enough this year that we can win a race.

Qualifying begins on Saturday with three sessions at 11:30 a.m., 3 p.m., and 5:30 p.m. First round of eliminations will kick off at 11:30 Sunday morning for the Federal-Mogul Dragsters.

Bob, I've gone DSL, with a new ISP, which means that the email address you have for me is a dead player. New email addresses will be: jim@mysterion.net or surfite@drizzle.com. Thanks and back to your regular programming.

Hi, Bob. I own most most of the car that Mark Brew drove last year. If you are interested in purchasing the whole car, then I can help. As you may know, it is the fastest T/AD in Australia at 5.65 - 247.39 mph, and capable of running 5.55 second passes. The package includes the race ready car with Pro1 Racepak recorder, personal computer, and the Jetsize II program. All you need that we had right there.

The price is $200,000 AUD, including spares, tuneup and spare fuel system. In U.S. dollars that $110,000. Regards.

.... your vocabulary includes these terms:

1.    LOG ON: Making a wood stove hotter
2.    LOG OFF: Don't add any more wood
3.    MONITOR: Keeping an eye on the wood stove
4.    DOWNLOAD: Getting the firewood off the truck
5.    MEGA HERTZ: When you're not careful getting the firewood
6.    FLOPPY DISK: What you get from trying to carry too much firewood
7.    RAM: That thing that splits the firewood
8.    HARD DRIVE: Getting home in the wintertime
9.    PROMPT: What the mail isn't in the wintertime
10.    WINDOWS: What to shut when it's cold outside
11.    SCREEN: What to shut when it's Blackfly season
12.    BYTE: What them darn flies do
13.    CHIP: Munchies for the TV
14.    MICRO CHIP: What's left in the bottom of the munchies bag
15.    MODEM: What you did to the hay fields
16.    DOT MATRIX: Old Dan Matrix's wife
17.    LAP TOP: Where the kitty sleeps
18.    KEYBOARD: Where you hang the keys
19.    SOFTWARE: Those darn plastic forks and knifes
20.    MOUSE: What eats the grain in the barn
21.    MAINFRAME: What holds up the barn roof
22.    PORT" Fancy Flatlander wine
23.    ENTER: Northerner talk for "C'mon in y'all"
24.    RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY: When you can't remember
25.    MOUSE PAD: That hippie talk for the rat hole

Click here to read the "clickable" version.

Drag Racing Stories of The Day

January 22
Flamin' Frank Shoots the Ditch at San Fernando. Tom Jobe with a funny, yet scary, tale of Frank Pedregon's legendary humor.

January 21
Early Don Garlits Q&A. Bill Pitts asks Jim Hill what the story was with the three seemingly identical cars that Don Garlits brought to Bakersfield in 1965.

January 20
No Electronics means No Transbrakes Too. Canadian racer Bill Arps says No Electronics classes should be just that. Do you agree or disagree? Send us your response and we will add it to his story.

January 19
Female Racer Beats Challenges on Two Fronts. Ford racer Cindy Crawford catches us up on her 2001 plans.

January 18
The Surfers Meet Kent Fuller -- The Strong, Silent Type. Tom Jobe recalls the day the chassis builder extraordinaire Kent Fuller fixed the Surfers' broken chassis and gave them all a ride in his street roadster -- all for FREE, and all without saying one word.

January 17
The Greek's Down Track Wheelies on Demand. Ron Johnson remembers the Greek pulling the wheels at will in the lights. But how did he do it?

January 16
Kapiris Flies with Rootes Blower in Western Australia. Stu Bond reports that the Aussie Top Doorslammers were rolling this past weekend and Peter Kapiris became the world's fastest Rootes blown doorslammer.

Drag Racing Pictures of The Day

January 22
Mickey Thompson's Dragmaster, 1961. Pete Garramone got this shot of M/T's machine getting some between rounds maintenance.

January 21
Mike Halloran's Vega, 1972. Tom West offers up this amazing photo of the nitro independent. Wonderful clarity and composition on this black and white classic. Thanks, Tom.

January 20
Dream Weaver -- John Weaver's Federal-Mogul Funny Car. Robert Briggs captured the Division 7 hitter at Sonoma, 2000.

January 19
Top Fuel Night Qualifying in the United Kingdom. Europe's famous Andy "Tog" Rogers joins us with a super night shot of Tommy Moller's Swedish Top Fuel entry at night.

January 18
Jim Murphy at the Hit! Nostalgia Top Fuel Dragster. Mark Hovsepian contributes one of his spectacular nostalgia dragster photos from the 2000 March Meet at Bakersfield.

January 17
A shot of one of the rarest Funny Cars in history -- the original Revellution Cuda.

January 16
John Hagen's Super Stock Plymouth. Like the rest of Chrysler's toughest Pro Stock campaigners, John Hagen cut his teeth in Super Stock. Pete Garramone captured John's great looking machine at a Colorado Division 5 event.

Drag Racing Movies of The Week

January 22
Pro Mod Bumper Cars. Dutch Pro Mod racer Henri Joosten provided this cool footage of him and another racer getting a little close for comfort at Santa Pod.

January 21
Jet Cars at Night! Paul Rogers got right between two jet dragsters on the starting line to bring us this unique perspective.

Has the voice of feature car racing in Western Canada packed it in? Enquiring minds want to know.....

Very cool site and what a great name! We'd love a spot on your links page somewhere. We are big quartermile fans and do hotrod art, graphics and illustration. Check us out at: Mad Machines. Thanks.

Hey Bob, I'm going to be in the greater Vancouver area on Thursday and possibly Friday. Do you want to meet somewhere for lunch? PS: Will bring in books and calendars.

Hello fellow car nuts out there. I'm 14 and I have a dream about starting a car magazine. Hot rods, classics, anything to do with cars, trucks, SUVs, and all the other stuff. I do need a lot of help with this. If anyone can offer pointers or suggestions, feel free to do so. I will not give up; I am determined. Thanks.

Hi, my name is Megan and I was wondering how much a drive around the racetrack would be and how I would go about booking it. Thanks.

This question was posed to some elementary school students. Here are their answers:

You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff as you. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dips coming. (Alan - age 10)

No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before and you get to find out later who you're stuck with. (Kirsten - age 10)

What is the right age to get married?

Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then. (Camille - age 10)

No age is good to get married at. You got to be a fool to get married. (Freddie - age 6)

How can a stranger tell if two people are married?

You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids. (Derrick - age 8)

What do you think your Mom and Dad have in common?

Both don't want any more kids. (Lori - age 8)

What do most people do on a date?

Dates are for having fun, and people should use them to get to know each other. Even boys have something to say if you listen long enough. (Lynette - age 8)

On the first date, they just tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date. (Martin - age 10)

What would you do on a first date that was turning sour

I'd run home and play dead. The next day I would call all the newspapers and make sure they wrote about me in all the dead columns. (Craig - age 9)

When is it okay to kiss someone?

When they're rich. (Pam - age 7)

The laws says you have to be eighteen, so I wouldn't want to mess with that. (Curt - age 7)

The rule goes like this: If you kiss someone, then you should marry them, and have kids with them. It's the right thing to do. (Howard - age 8)

Is it better to be single or married?

It's better for girls to be single, but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them. (Anita - age 9)

How would the world be different if people didn't get married?

There sure would be a lot of kids to explain, wouldn't there? (Kelvin - age 8)

How would you make a marriage work?

Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck. (Ricky - age 10)

Love your website. Check us out and please use us a link. Dawson's Demon.

Several new Federal Mogul Dragster teams will be testing this weekend at Houston Raceway Park. In addition, experienced Federal-Mogul Funny Car pilot Todd Simpson will be in attendance as well.

In the Federal-Mogul Dragster category, newcomers Erica Walsh-Credeur and Jason Canon will be trying to get valuable seat time under the watchful eye of tuning consultant Tom Conway. Walsh-Credeur is the daughter of former "Rajin' Cajun" Federal-Mogul Funny Car pilot Ron Walsh, and raced in Super Comp before stepping up to FMD. Canon has worked his way up through the Super Comp ranks as well, and will be behind the wheel of Michael Gunderson's former Division 2 Champion Blown Alcohol Dragster.

Simpson who is this past year's O'Reilly Fall Nationals Champion, will be making laps to get used to this year's new rules. Testing will be on both Saturday and Sunday, and is open to any racer on both days. For more details on testing, call Will Hanna at (979) 292-4383.

Hi Bob. My husband and I are currently looking at starting up a dragstrip in the West Kootenays in B.C. We were talking to Wayne Taylor from Sechelt and he suggested looking at your website for pictures of his dragstrip. Where can we find the August edition? Thank you.

RacerPage.com Internet Services President Will Hanna announced today that his company will come on board as a major associate sponsor to Shelly Howard Racing and Etterman Racing in 2001. RacerPage.com was an associate sponsor of Howard in 2000 as well.

RacerPage.com is one of drag racing's fastest growing Internet web page construction and marketing firms. The year old company has built such sites as ShellyHoward.com, JoeFuentesRacing.com, and MaldonadoRacing.com among others. They have recently debuted a new look for the Howard team's page, and will have EttermanRacing.com complete in a few weeks.

Hanna said, "We are pleased to be involved with championship caliber teams such as Howard Racing and Etterman Racing. We came on board last year with Shelly's Federal-Mogul Dragster team, and were very pleased with the job she did promoting our company. That is why we have extended our deal with her team, and will add Etterman Racing to our sponsorship program as well. We plan to make an aggressive marketing push to the Federal-Mogul racers this year, and I don't think we could have two better teams."

Howard, who competes in NHRA Division 4 Federal-Mogul Dragster, finished third in her division last year, and looks forward to another year with RacerPage.com on board. "We really are looking forward to getting a fresh start this year," said Howard. "We were pleased with the job RacerPage.com did with our website [ShellyHoward.com] last year, and look forward to them handling our website and public relations again in 2001. It really helps to have them run the website, because with our racing schedule, we just don't have the time. They really do a professional job."

Marc White, the driver of the Etterman Racing 2001 Firebird, is a past Division 3 Champion, and finished second in Division 3 Federal-Mogul Funny Car standings last year. "We have seen the work RacerPage.com can do, and are looking forward to having them build our website [EttermanRacing.com (coming soon)] and sponsor us this year," commented White. "Their graphic designer Rod Burke did a great job designing our 2001 paint scheme, so we are looking forward to adding them to our existing sponsors Haulmark Trailers, Michigan Kenworth, and NRC Conversions in 2001. We really think this is gonna be a great year for our team."

ShellyHoward.com, JoeFuentesRacing.com, MaldonadoRacing.com, and EttermanRacing.com are all part of the RacerPage.com Network.

Hello. I've read some of your web-furnished marketing related information as a result of an attempt to find Ernie Saxton, Joyce Julius, Jack Carbonelli and/or info about Regional Sponsors News. Nice work. If you have any numbers or names that will assist me please let me know. Thank you.

Bob, what's new? Anything I can help out with? I suggest you get your operation back to the Northwest and have some fun. It doesn't cost so much to make a few runs locally.

Just in case you weren't feeling too old today, this may change things. Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mindset of that year's incoming freshmen. Here is this year's list:

The people who were starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1982

They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagen Era and probably did not know that he had ever been shot

They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged

Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression

There has been only one Pope in their lifetimes

They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart and don't remember the Cold War

The have never feared a nuclear war

They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up

Tianamen Square means nothing to them

Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic

Atari predates them, as do vinyl record albums

The expression "you sound like a broken record" means nothing to them

They have never owned a record player

The have likely never played Pac Man and have never heard of Pong

They may have never heard of an 8 track

The Compact Disc was introduced when they were one year old

As far as they know, postage stamps have always cost about 33 cents

They have always had an answering machine. Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black and white TV

They have always had cable TV

There has always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA is

They cannot fathom not having a remote control

They were born the year that the Walkman was introduced by Sony

Roller-skating has always meant in-line to them

Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show

They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool

Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave

They have never seen Larry Bird play basketball

They never took a swim and thought about Jaws

The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as WWI, WWII and the Civil War

They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran

They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are

They don't know who Mork was or where he was from

They have never heard "Where's the beef?" "I'd walk a mile for a Camel" or "Boss, boss, de plane, de plane!"

They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. is

The Titanic was found? They thought we always knew where it was

Michael Jackson has always been white

Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America and Alabama are places, not music groups

McDonalds never came in stryofoam containers

There has always been MTV

They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter

Do you feel old yet? Pass this on to the other old fogies.

Anyway, it's that time again. Eagle Motorplex (Ashcroft, BC) Fund Raising Drive and the now famous Horsepower Heaven Xmas Tree Nationals. I have made up all the tickets for February 17th. It's to be held at Cruiser's Pit Stop Diner in Langley, BC.

The price of tickets is $25 with $5 going to a reverse draw. Bar tickets are $12 for 3. The Bench Racing starts at 6:00pm, and the Buffet Dinner will be served at 7:00pm. Tickets have been dropped at Cruiser's (50), All Parts (10), Aurora (10), The Thompsons (20), and Irene & Jerry (35), for a total of 125 tickets. Cruiser's can handle up to 225 people, so if I have to print more tickets, that would be great.

Could you do me a favour and email your racers list and if they wish for me to hold the tickets they can send me a cheque and I will mail them their tickets if necessary. We are attempting to get prizes and auction items again this year. I think everyone had a pretty good time last year, so I hope we can make the turnout even better this year.

I appreciate any help that you can give. If you've got any questions, just call (604) 852-1128, or Cruiser's Diner (604) 533-7223. Thanks a lot.

I'm looking for someone that can make me a "one of a kind" crankshaft. Can you give me a lead? Thanks.

Click here for the "clickable" version.

We're number 62! We keep climbing the ladder on the list of the internet's top auto sites. This week we came in at our highest rank ever, the big number 62. Not bad, when you consider the hundreds of thousands of auto sites out there. To see the rest of the Top 100, check out 100 Hot Auto Sites. Thanks to all our readers.

New Drag Racing Lists and Match Race Madness updates are on the way. Danny White and Steve Klemetti have sent us the latest updates. I hope to have the new lists and MRM game updates published by tonight.

RP Videos Retires. We got the following message from Ron Pollock of RP Videos the other day: "We would like to let you know that we will no longer have our videos for sale. We will be retiring in March and plan on spending time on the road. Would appreciate you removing it from your site. We would like to thank you for posting it and for the orders." As of today, all references to RP Videos have been removed from www.draglist.com. If you got a chance to get one of Ron's tapes, you were lucky. Happy retirement, Ron!

Here's the news on what happened earlier in the "week from hell."

"The Meltdown Continues"... We are still working from another computer in our home network (can you say the best investment we've made?). The folks in Microsoft Dallas are still working on what is turning out to be their toughest case in a while. In the meantime, I have to go to work during the day and that's hampering efforts a little... We tried some things last night, but no good. We'll keep working.

"Laughin' Just to Keep from Cryin'"... We got our software fixed. It turns out that there was a problem in our Windows 98 registry that messed us up pretty badly. We finally got that cleaned out and the website software reloaded, but in doing so, most of our formatting was lost. Despite a Tuesday to Wednesday all-nighter, we ran out of time to fix everything.

Got a little more rest and did a little more cleanup work on the site last night and this morning. Yeah, we are still showing "doubles" on the banners at the bottom of the page, but most everything else has been cleaned up and all the links are working. Please drop us a line if you see anything we missed. I think we are back on track, and we have a new look as a bonus.

Drag Racing Stories of The Day

January 15
Vince McMahon, Where Are You? Funny Car Match Racing Needs a Saviour. TA/FC match racer Bill Naves lays down an open invitation to fuel funny car match racing.

January 14
Isd It Time for a New Tournament Structure for Drag Racing? Doug Dornbos goes over all the potential options for making drag racing more entertaining and fair. This also appears as Doug's latest Dornbos Reviews column.

January 13
Hot Rod Furniture. Robb Lowe shows us some hot rod furniture that would look good in anyone's den. Just bring money....

January 12
Drive 'Em Like Ya Hate "em -- Pat Foster's Well-Worn Funny Car Rides. Pat tells us how he'd do WHATEVER it took to get it down the track or to get the crowd on his side.

January 11
Rocket Racing with Slammin' Sammy. New contributor, but old friend, Peter "The Madbrit" Broadribb checks in with some amazing facts about the quickest man in drag racing.

January 10
Hot Wheels Big, Up Close, and On Fire! New contributor Chuck Bills tells us about a cherished boyhood memory: the Hot Wheels Funny Car team blazing by on the top end at Seattle.

January 9
Race Us The Real Way. Jeremy Grist recalls his grandfather's tale of a meeting between blown gasser racers. Thanks to Rhonda at the Junior Thompson website. The story includes a link to a great Pete Millar cartoon.

Drag Racing Pictures of The Day

January 15
How Many Cubes? A massive Jon Kaase Ford Pro Stock motor. James Morgan with a photo and words about the effect of these monsters with gasoline and carbs.

January 14
Neon Camel '94 - The Smokin' Joe's Funny Car. Ron Dilley serves up more tasty photo art.

January 13
China Syndrome -- Al Hofmann Burns it Down. James Morgan shows Al Hofmann torching another one in his trademark days.

January 12
Super Force! Is this the new Castrol Funny Car? Ron Dilley's been playing in PhotoShop again.

January 11
The Golden Greek in 1960 -- Chris Karamesines' Chizler. Pete Garramone grabbed this shot of The Greek's Fuel Dragster at Kansas City's AHRA Nationals.

January 10
Haulin' The Groceries. Tami Brander's Pro Mod Station Wagon. Anni Valder checks in with a great rear view of Tami's neat blown Ford wagon.

January 9
Scott Weis -- Corvette on Fuel. Ron Dilley with a cool late afternoon photo of the gutsy fuel funny car independent.

Drag Racing Movies of The Week

January 15
Jet Cars at Night! Paul Rogers got right between two jet dragsters on the starting line to bring us this unique perspective.

January 14
Action from the World's Newest Strip! Peter MacGregor shows us one of the first races on the brand new Kwinana Motorplex in Western Australia.

What year did Chrysler layoff most of their workers?

Missed your always entertaining tidbits on the devil's box. I now find out you had the dreaded flu. Sorry to hear that, I've been told it's pretty nasty. Anyways, I'm in Kelowna now. Change of pace. Same weather as OZ, but without the customs hassles. I'll see you in the spring I'm sure. Until then, please note the new email address.

Afternoon, Bob. I hope that you're well and having a good weekend. Just a quick note to let you know that a number of US photographer Bob Frye's pictures from the 2000 NHRA Finals are now on-line at Tog's Drag Racing page. They're of the usual high standard; my own favourite is a great burnout picture of Bruce Sarver's Funny Car. Enjoy!

Could you please supply Davenport's current address or phone number as my JetSize software has stopped functioning. Thanks. PS: Love your website, hope you are recovering.

The new web address for Luskville Dragway in Canada is luskvilledragway.com

Hi Bob. Great site; loved the story on Ken "The Mad Canadian" Carter. When searching the net for articles on Ken Carter, all I found was your story (Kamikaze Ken), plus a couple of sites advertising films about him. I've put a story about Ken and the jump on my website. It also contains real player videos of the jump, so if you're interested, check it out. Or without flash and annoying banners, try this.

I've used a couple of photos from your site (flight trajectory and photo), so if there's any problems, let me know by email and I'll have them removed. Cheers.

Hi, Bob. I wanted to drop you a short note to let you know that things are getting very exciting in the world of IBAA (International Blown Alcohol Association) Funny Cars. Check out our "What's New" section at Awesome Burnouts to see just how lucky Western Canadian and Northwest U.S. race fans are going to be in 2001. Nostalgia funny car racing is starting to be the next "thing" in drag racing, and it is at it's strongest right here in Western Canada.

I can't remember such an original and exciting gathering of race cars in our region in a long time. Looking forward to see you all soon. Race season is just around the corner.

Hope you liked the review of Northern Thunder in the latest issue of Dragster Australia. Could you please maybe add me to your Top 10 Links page? :-)

Hi, could you please let me know what motorcycle related events are taking place at Avon Park Raceway during 2001. Thank you.

Hi Bob, I'm looking for a Top Alcohol Dragster. I want a good, reliable car used on the Federal-Mogul series, by one of the fastest teams. I want a car that does 5.30's - 5.40's in the U.S.A., because I'm going to bring it back to OZ, to hopefully run 5.50's - 5.60's. I want a complete car ready to run. Can you find me something like this? Thanks a lot Bob, and keep up the great work with the site.

Hi Bob. Long time no hear. Is your motor still running? Read the following "Letterbomb" and email me. Nothing too abusive please.

How are things in the land of the never ending rain storm? I was having a read in your Backfire! section and I had some trouble understanding what was being said. What does it mean when you say you are the only "Wedgie" in thge world. Is it a reference to how you wear your underwear and how you part your hair? The letter also said something about you having a B-1. Does that mean you have lost the other half of 'The Bananna's in Pajamas'? My four year old said he would swap his B-2 for any action figure you may have as apparently B-1 & B-2 aren't as much fun as they used to be. What do you say?

On to more serious things. I noticed you haven't updated your What's New page since December 31st. I hope you're not spending all your time training terrorists to send to Australia. I mean, our best mate Bob Jane is almost dead anyway and hardly worthy wasting your hard earned resources on.

The good news is that despite the doom and gloom, things are getting a really positive feel. I spent some time talking to one of the guys from Adrenaline motorsports. These are the ones building a new track in Melbourne. He was saying that the timing of Bob Jane's announcement couldn't have been any better. Their phone has been ringing off the hook with offers of money, support and anything else they could possibly need. What was even better, is that they don't really need anything. They are on track with all the approvals and will be starting earthworks in March 2001. That's two months time! The only real downside is that it will take 18 months to complete. But we will have another world class facility.

The other good news is that Sydney is about to make an announcement any day. Although, you probably know more about it than me. And Adelaide is close to signing a deal to lease the track to a new consortium. So all up, in less than 24 months we will have four world class facilities and one second class track to race at and an under-subscribed Top Alcohol class. Sooo, when are you coming?

Would you have any photos of the BMW 8 Series Top Doorslammer driven by Alf Sorbello a few years ago? Your help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

ROMANCE MATHEMATICS
Smart man + smart woman = romance
Smart man + dumb woman = affair
Dumb man + smart woman = marriage
Dumb man + dumb woman = pregnancy

Hi Bob. How is everything going? You're starting to worry me, and the same goes for Bill at The Grapevine. We hope all is well, but miss you guys when no updates happen.

But I do need some help though. We're looking to find Chris Karamesines' phone number or email address. We need to find out if he will be attending the March Meet in Bakersfield, and a few more questions about this nostalgia dragster Dave is restoring. The ex-Palamides 1964 front engine dragster will be on show at the March Meet, and we hope to meet people who were once involved with the late Romeo Palamides. The SEMA tag number showed it was built in Chicago, by Palamides.

Hope someone can help us with our request, and thanks in advance.

I wanted to share this information with everyone to make you aware of a new policy being implemented in Division 7. Beginning with the January 26-28 event at Firebird, Arizona, they will utilize a 16 car field.

If you are a Federal-Mogul Dragster or Funny Car (or have the email address of someone who is), please make them aware of this change. I want to make sure that everyone is aware of the payoff and points procedure prior to making the long haul to Phoenix or Tucson.

Please be advised that Division 6 (as well as every other division) will continue to run only 8 car fields. Our payout will remain the same as in 2000 with all eight qualifiers and the first alternate receiving a payout. Our format will continue to feature three qualifying sessions (weather permitting) prior to the first round of eliminations.

Should you have any questions regarding Division 7 and this new policy, please feel free to contact Division Director Brian Stickel at (626) 914-4761 or via email. Once again, Division 7 will be the only NHRA Division implementing this policy in Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series competition.

Special Live Chats in January

We've scheduled some great guests to stop by our chatrooms to visit with us and answer your questions. Mark these dates on your calendar and put a Post-It Note on your monitor so you don't miss 'em. Rodderchat.

Wednesday, January 10, 9 pm eastern time
Let's talk Bracket Racing with Todd Silvey of Drag News Magazine. Todd, along with his wife Laurie, work tirelessly to cover the sportsman racing scene in the magazine. We'll have a discussion on how bracket racing could benefit with better publicity in this information age and how the Bracket All-Star Organization, The World Drag Expo, and Drag News Magazine are working towards that goal. See the website.

Tuesday, January 16, 9 pm eastern time
Jeff Georges of Thunder Performance Engineering, whose business specialises in high-quality, custom-made wiring harnesses. Jeff will be able to answer your questions on wiring your custom rod or race car including NOS and EFI applications. Ask him about their newest product, an air/fuel mixture gauge, too. Check out their website.

Tuesday, January 30, 9 pm eastern time
Scott Abbott of Rabbit's Glassy Glass. Scott specializes in manufacturing fibreglass parts and will help you with any of your glass questions.

Here's What' New At HotRodder.com

We're setting up a new program to create a moving slide show of our Virtual Car Show cars. Check it out and see how you like it.

Win A Sweatshirt

...from the World Drag Expo being held this year in St. Charles, Illinois (near Chicago) on January 20-21. If you will be attending this expo sponsored by Drag News magazine, featuring a hardcore racer's swapmeet, manufactuer's exhibits and great seminars. Just print, fill out, and bring in the Entry Blank.

HotRodder.com's Members Of The Week

Firna Racing. This team is based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Check out their neat website and pix.

Mick's Nostalgia Performance. Crank up your computer's volume, sit back and surf through the pictures.

Favorite Classic Car

Want to learn more about your favorite classic car? Just go to our Amazon.com book rack and type in "classic car" in the search box. You'll be presented with a great list of how-to books on wiring, restoring, and buying that classic car. Check out the Book Index.

Attention Members With Websites

I'll be starting the annual house cleaning of the server and will be contacting you to see if you're still keeping up your site here or find out if you wish to have your website removed. If you don't care to keep up with a site anymore, you can still be on our mailing list to hear about what's new here at HotRodder.com.

Any idea where to buy a drag racing calendar?

Click here to read the "clickable" version.

Meltdown! We lost our primary computer at draglist.com late Saturday night. We have the front line folks at Microsoft stumped and they are bumping our problem up to the engineers on Monday morning. This caused us to miss our daily update for the first time ever on Sunday, January 7th. We are including both updates in this Monday morning update. We were able to work around the problem to some extent by accessing the main computer from another computer on our network -- hope this works.

Some of the inter-page links won't work, but all pages should be available from our home page. It will just take the good old BACK button on the browser to get there. We will clean up the site as soon as we can get our primary computer back online. Have a great week!

Pat Foster stars on Junkyard Wars! Pat Foster did a super job judging the dragster entries on The Learning Channel (TLC) show "Junkyard Wars" last night. A surprise for me was the appearance of Maryland International Raceway racer and chassis builder Rob Hamilton, who I get to see weekly during the summer. If you missed it, check out the TLC website for future play dates: Junkyard Wars.

Drag Racing Stories of The Day

January 8
'Blood Did It. Kenny Youngblood was as big a star to artists and wanna-be artists as Funny Car racers were to other fans.

January 7
Steve Collison Photo Tribute at Hot Rod Nostalgia Online. Dave Wallace and the gang at HRN have put up a great tribute page to our late friend.

January 6
Save Our Auto Mechanics Vocational Courses! Skip Murray reports that they are about to abolish Auto Mechanics at her son's VoTech school. She's asking for help in the form of letters to take to a meeting Tuesday night, January 9. Please help.

January 5
Not Once, But Twice in the Boston Shaker Funny Car. Don Roberts was there and ready to drive, but where was Kosty and the 'Shaker'?

January 4
Pat Foster Judges Junkyard Wars. Pat's big screen debut was last night on The Learning Channel (TLC). He did a great job. Yesterday, Mike Berry of the Wichita Eagle did a story on their hometown boy. Here is the story, reprinted with Mike's and The Eagle's permission.

January 3
Funny Car Rocks the Rose Bowl. Darr Hawthorne gives the stats on the AAA-sponsored Funny Car float that blew everybody's mind at the Rose Bowl parade.

January 2
Tommy Joe and Double Trouble. Gonzo treats us to another hilarious Tommy Joe Cauldwell tale.

Drag Racing Pictures of The Day

January 8
John Paris Takes a Tumble. Norman Blake captured John's legendary crash at E-Town. We can look now because fortunately, John came back to race again.

January 7
Jeff Brozovich's Trim Parts '37 Chevy Nitro Coupe. Ernie Broughton caught up with Broz and his gorgeous purple Chevy in the staging lanes a few years ago.

January 6
On The Road of Life... (with a blown VW bug). Gonzo provides a photo of a VW bug with PLENTY of "Farfugnugen."

January 5
Blair's Speed Shop Camaro Funny Car -- Front Grille Optional! Paul Hutchins captures the thundering Chevy in the pits.

January 4
Steineggar & Eshenbaugh in Pencil. Chris Stinson supplied a terrific pencil drawing from a Bill Turney photo of the fuel dragster naturals.

January 3
Skillful Hands -- Outstanding Fuel Altered Model Car. Gonzo provides a photo of Criss Webb's immaculate fuel altered model.

January 2
Johnny Rocca's Ironhorse '49 Mercury. James Morgan with a nice shot of Troy Critchley in Johnny Rocca's car. James aks, who will run the NHRA Pro Mod races in 2001?

Drag Racing Movies of The Week

January 7
Action from the World's Newest Strip! Peter MacGregor shows us one of the first races on the brand new Kwinana Motorplex in Western Australia.

January 6
300 MPH Barrier Shattered in Australia! Bret Kepner provides the stats and Carl Witt captured on video the feat Australian drag racing fans have been waiting for -- the first 300 mph pass on Australian soil.

I appreciate all the suggestions, help and input I've received in getting an association going to help the Federal-Mogul Dragster & Funny Car ranks. With the season rapidly approaching, I feel it is time to take the next step and actually form an association.

This week, I will try my best to contact all the racers I know by phone and email. Please forward this to as many alcohol racers as you know. Everyone that has a car, whether they are actively racing it or not.

I have received several ideas on how to run such an organization, but the people I have talked to via email is a very small cross-section of the actual number of cars out there. Before setting anything in stone, I would like to hear from more people.

Issues that need to be addressed are:

  
1.    Mission and focus of the association
  
2.    Structure/ staff/ president
  
3.    Duties/tasks the association needs to perform
  
4.    Dues to cover costs
  
5.    A list of prospective members emailed to me

Please be open to tell me what you think as racers, owners, crew and fans. I can be emailed at Pro Race PR or reached by phone at (979) 265-2930. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from everyone.

Hi, Bob. Please take a look at the following message and consider taking a moment to drop a note or letter of support to I'm A Racing Mom. Once again, we have to pull together....

Hi to All: Central Lakes College in Brainerd, Minnesotam is a dual campus college. It used to be two separate ones; a Vocational - Technical school and a Community College. A few years ago, the two campuses were combined into one school. Central Lakes College has decided to cut four programs, effective the spring of 2001. The reason give for these cuts is a shortage of funds, and the high cost per student to teach these subjects. The programs being cut are: graphic arts, electronic publishing, auto body, and auto mechanics.

Here in Minnesota we have a wonderful program. It allows high school students in grades 11 & 12 to attend a local college and receive college credit and credit towards their high school graduation at the same time. This is a wonderful opportunity for the young people in our community to get a two year head start on their college education, and be two years closer to entering the job market. There is no cost for tuition for the parents of these students who are attending college and high school at the same time. It gives many young people the opportunity to receive a higher education, an opportunity that they might not have gotten otherwise.

I am the parent of one of those children. My son is in the ninth grade. His dream his whole life is to have a career in Professional Motorsports. He was looking forward to taking the Auto Mechanics course when he graduates from high school. This sudden change in courses offered at our local college changes the opportunities available to our son, and many other young people in our community. It changes how we have budgeted our family income for many years, as we are now looking at funding four years of college instead of two. It now changes our son's commitment to going to college. Now he is considering not going at all.

I need the help of people involved in the industries above. I'm attending a meeting on Tuesday, January 9, with industry people and community people who want to see these courses and opportunities kept in this community. The ideas from this meeting will be brought to a member of our state legislature on Wednesday, January 10th. I need people to send me letters of why it is important to keep these courses in our community. You do not need to be a resident of Minnesota to provide your feedback. Please include your name and ties to these industries in your letter.

If you have comments on what is happening at our local college, please send them to me. My e-mail address is: I'm A Racing Mom. I will share your letters with people at the meeting on Tuesday, our local college and our state government. Thank you so much for your help and support!

Skip Murray (Tommy's Mom) - Brainerd, Minnesota

Hi Bob. Just a quick hello and hope you're recovering from your illness. Happy New Year and hope you're firing on all cylinders soon. Have just posted up some more video clips on our site if you care to look. Lots of horsepower makes this car a handful to drive at the moment until we get it dialled in. Cheers.

Would you be so kind as to list the following item in the Australian section of your For Sale section. The item that we wish to sell is as follows:

Whipple Supercharger for sale. Brand new and one of the spare units held by Bob Broadbent of the Aussie Bannanas Top Doorslammer Statesman. Price: $16,500 (AUD). Call Con Gratzias on 0412 - 619 - 552 or email for further information.

Just a couple of points of interest regarding your comments:

"He is truly one nasty piece of work. His method of doing business is not much short of fraudulent, his public manners are despicable, his personal habits are disgusting, and his motives are always completely self-centered, to the point of anal-retention. And that's just his good points! Are you starting to get the idea that I have less than no use for this pathetic excuse for a human being"

Now, while I'm disappointed with Bob's decision, the guys is a 72 year old eccentric who has just had enough. Further to that, your comments won't help the efforts of a few people who are trying hard to lease/buy the facilities from Bob and return stability to the sport nationally, asap.

Bob is the sort of guy who could take deep offence at this stuff, especially from a person who would have never met him, or raced at his tracks and one who posts images of bullet holes in his picture - that wasn't the smartest thing you've ever done, was it?

Before you mouth off from Canada and jeopardize what's trying to be done, have some consideration. Bob reads the internet as well. He may not be thought of too highly by some for what he did, but he's not stupid.

"....the ready to start construction Adrenalin Powersports Centre near Melbourne"

From Canada, tell me when they're starting construction on the Adrenalin Powersports Centre. Nearly two years ago, two members of the consortium sat in my office, showed me the plans and said they had bought the land, had all the relevant approvals and were about to begin construction for a January 2001 opening.

Today, they still DON'T own the land (albeit, they do have a caviet registered on the property, meaning they have first option to buy), they still need to go through planning permit processes (serious appeals) and they've delayed construction even further.

So, when's it all happening? My intelligence says we should try and work with Bob; lease Calder (we all know he's got the potential to shaft us, so we come prepared for that. I've known him too long....) and then hope Adrenalin gets off the ground. We can't wait over two years with nothing. The sport would die first and be too hard to resurrect.

Please think of the consequences before you type intimidating stuff.

Sorry I have not replied to your email sooner; been very busy with the racecar and work. I'm coming over to Pomona for the Winternationals; are you going? If so, I will catch up with you there. Let me know.

The problem is that I have a 350 cid, bored .030 over, with a mild cam, roller rockers and an Edelbrock Performer manifold. I have a problem with fuel. It runs rich. My carb is a 650 Holley single pumper. Also, it pops through the carb between shifts when accelerating. I have a baseplate on the intake to mate it, because I was told that the intake is made for a quadrajet. Is that true? How can I stop the popping and is there a way to turn down the mixture on a Holley carb?

Or do I have to go with smaller jets? I've rebuilt the carb. It helped somewhat but it still spits. When I let off the gas from 55 mph to go into town or whatever, it acts up like it floods or fouls out the plugs, but it clears up after I get going again. I could really use some help. No one knows what it could be. Timing or what? Thanks a lot.

Here is the new proposed 2001 Mission Raceway Park schedule, as posted on the MRP website.

Here's a fun little site to brighten up your whole day :-) It's called "Deathclock"

LUCK ELUDES BRAY AT CASTROL EVENT

Victor Bray is hoping his luck changes soon after his Castrol '57 Chevy suffered an unusual breakage on the start line during the semi-final of the Castrol Summer Championships at Willowbank Raceway last Saturday night. Bray had earlier qualified fifth in the top quality field with a 6.36 second time. He then ran 6.40 seconds at 229.01 mph [368.6 kph] for a convincing win by three tenths of a second over series leader Brett Stevens in the opening round. Bray was half a metre behind the start line, preparing to move forward and race Gary Phillips for a spot in the final when the drive shaft of his supercharger broke, leaving him stranded.

"I revved it up to clear the motor before staging and it just stopped," said Bray. "I couldn't believe it. It's just the way our luck's been running of late. You have to take the good with the bad, but it shouldn't have happened. The part that broke is designed to last a full season of racing in America where they run well over 20 events a year. We've never heard of one breaking here but we change them every six months or so anyway to be safe, but still came unstuck. It could have been worse though. There were eleven drivers entered for this event and only two scored more points than us, so that's not too bad. We may be a few spots back in the championship at the moment but the points are so close that one good win could put us in the lead.

With the final won by Andrew Searle over Gary Phillips, the three rounds of the series conducted so far have provided three different winners and has left the points score packed at the top. Just 55 points separate the first six placings. The next two rounds of the series will both be held at Perth's new Quit Motorplex on January 13th and March 4th, respectively.

The Australian National Drag Racing Association's rules provide 50% bonus points to Western Australian rounds of the series. With a maximum 330 points available, a pair of good results in Perth could see virtually any driver from the top six go in to the lead. The Championship points after three rounds are as follows:

Hi Bob; Happy New Year Mate! Hope you are feeling better, as everyone seems to be sick with the flu, me included. Yes, the digger is done. Dave is just waiting for the engine to be done. But it sure looks pretty, all new paint and chrome. The paint is the same colour as the original, and the graphics are also. We found out where the digger was built, from the SEMA tag, and it was Romeo Palamides in Chicago. We're waiting for more info from the Chicago area about the car.

Well Bob, 57 days to go eh? Wow! So when and where will you be racing downunder? How long are you staying? You must be getting a little excited now that we're in the new year. Talk at ya later, buddy. PS: If you ever want to come out to see the digger, let us know.

Please accept my sincere apologies (about saying Jim Read's 300 mph pass was the first one outside the U.S.A>). I wasn't thinking :-) Finally the monkey is off the Top Fuel back, and 300 mph chasing can no longer be used as an excuse by many. It would have been nice for Jim to wait for the opening of the Western Sydney Motorplex.

No one deserves it more than JR though, but what will he be more proud of? The Motorplex or the first 300?

Click here to read the "clickable" version.

Happy New Year to all our friends at The Drag Racing List. We've had a fantastic year of sharing drag racing memories with you. I hope everyone has a relaxing holiday season, surrounded by friends, family, health and happiness. Thanks for making us a part of your life. The Pratt Family -- Bill, Denise, Jason, and Emily.

We're number 70! We're number 70! OK, so that's usually not too much to brag about, but we are very pleased to have hit our highest finish yet on the list of 100 Hot Auto Sites. We aren't ready to take on GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, or Microsoft, but it sure is neat being ranked up there with the Top 100 Auto Sites. We just had our biggest month ever, with nearly 95,000 hits. I'm working hard to hit the big 100K in monthly hits. Thanks again to all our readers.

We need content! We are always searching for new stories of the day. If you have a drag racing memory you want to share with your fellow racers or drag fans, send it to story. We are trying to capture the flavor of drag racing from ALL perspectives, so yours is welcome. Don't worry too much about spelling, grammar, and that stuff. We can smooth out the rough edges. All stories and photos will be credited to you and we can include a link to your email address or to your website if you like. Let's make The Drag Racing List YOUR site -- send us a story!

Pat Foster on Junkyard Wars. Here's a can't-miss TV program -- Pat Foster will appear as a judge on The Learning Channel (TLC) show "Junkyard Wars" on Wednesday, January 3, 2001. The two hour show is on at 8:00 PM. Pat's segment is called "Hot Rods." The DRL is extremely proud to have nominated Pat as a judge on this show and to have provided the video clip used during his introduction. Set those VCR's. Pat says, "It should be a good chuckle to start the New Year. Enjoy!"

NITRO CHAT at www.dragster.cc. Paul Fink has put together a great Nitro Chat week at his site. Here's the lineup: