Entries Flow in as Deadline Approaches

Konica Winternationals entries are continuing to flow into the Willowbank Raceway office as the cutoff date fast approaches. Entries will be accepted both at the office and over the internet up until the close of trading tomorrow, Friday the 1st. By 11.00 am Thursday, 363 entries had been processed. An increasing number of racers are now taking advantage of Willowbank Raceway’s internet site and it's online entry facility. Electronic lodgments now account for over a third of the total number of entries received.

"The internet has made things easier but we still always have a big, last minute rush," commented Willowbank’s Office Manager, Sue Emslie. "On the final day you can count on a steady stream of couriers and racers arriving at the office door. There are some guys that enter at the very last minute every time. We've had some many calls from people saying they're racing at the event who haven't entered yet.

"We know we'll be busy tomorrow. You just have to look at the entry list that's posted on the internet to realize how many are still to come. I expect we'll end up with well over 400 competitors again."

A number of Group One categories are shaping up to be the biggest and strongest for some time. Hogs Breath Café Top Doorslammer certainly falls into this category with thirteen competitors expected to be fighting for a place in the final eight who will get to take part in elimination racing on Sunday night.

Morgan & Wacker Top Bike is another extremely well supported class with thirteen riders already entered for the event. The Sarkis Brothers Racing Top Alcohol category is one that has fallen short on numbers in recent times but the Konica Winternationals looks to be reversing that trend with ten competitors now expected by the close of entries tomorrow.

With the exception of Queensland Diesel Spares Top Fuel Eliminator which will be a four car field, every other category offered is expected to be fully subscribed. The category with the greatest number of entries so far is Ultimate Financial Group Super Sedan with sixty eight.

Elapsed Times Konica Winternationals Edition Rolls off the Presses

The special 40 page Konica Winternationals edition of the Elapsed Times track newspaper rolled off the presses at Ipswich's Queensland Times this afternoon. Nine thousand copies of the popular tabloid will be distributed free to fans around South Queensland and at the raceway.

The Konica Winternationals edition contains full program details regarding the event and many pages of other related stories. It also includes photos and news from recent events, including the Triple M Australian Tin Top Titles in April.

After fighting tire shake problems at his past two events, Federal-Mogul Funny Car pilot Marc White will return to "sweet home Chicago" for this weekend's Lucas Oil Products Nationals at Route 66 Raceway just outside Chicago. After field stripping the car to the bare chassis, and carefully inspecting every part, White and team feel they have a handle on their tire shake problems, and hope to pick up their first win of the year in front of White's hometown fans.

White, from Glendale Heights, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, qualified No. 1 here at the Division 3 opener in April with a 5.68 second elapsed time in the Etterman Racing 2001 Firebird, but lost due to tire shake in the semifinal round. Two weeks ago in Indianapolis at the Division 3 race No. 2, White fought steering problems along with tireshake. The steering problem was linked to a bent steering arm, and White feels after thorough examination of the run data, he has a handle on the tire shake problem.

"Definitely the game plan is to get this car to run a little bit better than it has the last couple of races," said White. "We've been struggling, but we've been working real hard, so I'm sure we'll get it turned around. Right now the weather is pretty cool, so if it stays that way through the weekend, everybody ought to be able to run pretty well."

White also strives to put the problems of his last two races behind him, and concentrate on the race at hand. "As a driver it doesn't bother me that much," explained White. "I know that if we have the right tune-up on the car, it's one of the fastest cars in the country. So, we just have to be more attentive to what the car is telling us, and quit trying to tell it what to do. The car tells you what it wants, we just have to be smart enough to listen to it. If we do the right things, everything takes care of itself."

"As far as driving the car," continued White, "it is what it is. You just have to get in it and go. You can't be worried about what it is going to run. You just drive it as hard as you can every run. As they say, 'drive it like you stole it."

White also hopes to return to his early season 5.6 - 5.7 second elapsed times this weekend as well. "If the weather cooperates, I'm sure that the potential will be there to run 5.60's, but I think the key is to find a way to run mid 5.70's, and that ought to get you to the final round," commented White. "If you can do that, I think you will be in pretty good shape. It's nice to run .60's, but being a little more consistent than we have been is definitely the way to win races."

Qualifying will begin at 11:30 a.m. for the Federal-Mogul Funny Cars with another session following at 2:30 p.m. Stay tuned to the team's website, EttermanRacing.com, for day by day updates of the team's progress from Chicago.

High Pre-sales Indicate Bumper Attendance

High levels of accommodation bookings and ticket pre-sales have Willowbank Raceway officials confident that the 2001 Konica Winternationals is heading for another bumper attendance figure.

Official travel agent for the event, Travelaire Tours has reported a virtual sellout of available accommodation for the Queen's Birthday weekend. Rooms in the Ipswich area were all booked out months ago with motels being progressively filled in a widening circle ever since.

"We've now got people booked in as far away as Mt. Gravatt because there's simply nothing available any closer to the raceway," commented Travelaire's John Winterburn. "It's way past anything we’ve experienced in previous years and the phone still hasn't stopped ringing. We've handled bookings from every part of Australia as well as New Zealand, Canada and the USA. The interest in the Konica Winternationals just seems to keep growing year to year."

Sales of reserved grandstand seating has also outstripped previous years with the Willowbank Raceway office reporting that the steady demand for the remaining tickets will assure a sellout. The end of the grandstand nearest the start line is sold as reserved seating for the Saturday and Sunday of the event with the other end available on a first in best seated basis. The grandstand is all unreserved for Friday.

Saturday Fans in for Nationals Bonus

In addition to the dramatic final qualifying passes and SuperCharged Outlaws elimination racing, spectators attending the Ipswich City Council backed "Night of Thunder" on the Saturday of the Konica Winternationals will be in for some great bonus racing. It's all due to weather having prevented the completion of the K&N Filters Australian Nationals at Calder Park Raceway in Melbourne. Held back in March, the event was badly hampered by high winds and intermittent rain forcing racing to be called off before the winners were decided.

The Australian National Drag Racing Association, (ANDRA) has approved the completion of a number of these categories at the Konica Winternationals. The racers due to contest the various semi-finals and finals will be paired together during qualifying sessions with the result of these races deciding the Nationals winners.

In Top Fuel Eliminator the stage is set for another classic Jim Read versus Steve Read confrontation with the two veterans locked together not only in the race for the K&N Filters Australian Nationals Trophy but also the championship series. Steve Read had the upper hand in Melbourne, recording a stunning series of four second elapsed times through qualifying and racing in the Santo's Cranes dragster but Jim Read will no doubt be looking forward to running the final at Willowbank Raceway where his last pass down the track netted him the historic 301.40 mph speed at the Castrol Summer Championships.

In Top Alcohol, Sydney's Wayne Newby will be hoping he can break the virtual domination of the category by Gary Phillips in his Lucas Oils Dragster. If Phillips is successful over Newby it will virtually assure him an unprecedented seventh consecutive Australian Championship series victory.

Western Australia's Ian Ashleford will face rookie Craig Bonwick in the final of Top Bike with both aboard potent nitro methane fueled Harley Davidsons. Ashleford's six second form will see him start favorite but with the unpredictability of these bikes anything could happen.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, South Australian's Sam Scerri and Jason Lee will be continuing their good natured rivalry in yet another final round confrontation. A number of Sportsman category finals from the K&N Filters Australian Nationals will also be decided on Saturday afternoon and evening, including Competition, Super Stock, Competition Bike, Modified, Super Street and Junior Dragster.

The finals of Top Doorslamer and Pro Stock Eliminator were held in conjunction with the Triple M Australian Tin Top Titles at Willowbank Raceway in April, with Victor Bray defeating Peter Kapiris and Peter Ridgeway beating Bruce Leake, respectively.

Just one week after picking up her second career national event win, NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Shelly Howard will be looking to make it two in a row during this weekend's Lucas Oil Products Nationals at Route 66 Raceway, just outside of Chicago. Howard is currently ranked fourth in national standings, and is hoping to improve her standing this weekend.

Howard, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, once again has her sights set on the consistency that has her in the Division 4 points lead, and No. 4 nationally right now. She is also quick to realize that winning one race does not automatically mean you will do well at the next.

"The team is pumped with enthusiasm going into this weekend," said Howard. "But, I think it is self-defeating behavior to go into an event with the attitude that you're going to win this one because you won the last one. I absolutely don't feel that we are at an advantage because we won Topeka last weekend. I'm extremely happy about winning it, but everyone else wants to win as badly as I do. So we have to have the attitude to do the best we can as a team, and myself as a driver, and hope the car remains consistent."

In her victory at last weekend's Advance Auto Parts Nationals last weekend, Howard used a string of low 5.50 elapsed times to become only the second female driver in the history of the class to pick up multiple national event wins. Howard hopes to duplicate that performance this weekend, if not improve on it.

"It really all depends on the air conditions," stated Howard. "If the air is good this weekend like it was during the first part of last weekend, then we will run better. We definitely want to stay in the top half of the field. When the air gets good, you really can't run with those A/Fuel cars, so what you have to shoot for is consistency with a blown car," said Howard of her Tom Conway-tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster. "If we can run in the .40's that will be good, but if we run in the low .50's, then that's the best we can do. We just want to shoot for consistency no matter what we run."

Qualifying will begin at 11:30 a.m. for the Federal-Mogul Dragsters with another session following at 2:30 p.m. Stay tuned to Shelly's award winning website, ShellyHoward.com, for day by day updates of the team's progress from Chicago.

It has been a very up and down season for NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster driver David Wells. At his past two races in Topeka, Kansas, the former Division 5 Champion has been plagued with parts breakage problems that have lead to early round exits.

Route 66 Raceway, where this weekend's Lucas Oil Products Nationals will be held, has been a favorable track for Wells this year. Last month, Wells won the Division 3 opener there, and hopes to pick up another win this weekend.

Wells, from LeMars, Iowa, overcame a bit of adversity to pick up his win at Route 66. In the first round, a front a-frame broke off the car, taking one of his front tires with it at over 240 mph. Wells wrestled the car back under control and took the win. He then had a fuel system problem that slowed him down in the semifinal, but not enough for Dave Hirata to beat him. In the final, he pulled out the stops to run a 5.52 to defeat Shawn Bowen.

This weekend, Wells is hoping for less adversity, and more 5.4 - 5.5 second elapsed times. "We're going to go in there with our basic setup that won the race there earlier," said Wells. "We are going to keep working with our clutch setup to try to get it to come around and be consistent. That's what we are looking for: to get down the track, and run consistent."

Wells also hopes to put the parts breakage of his past two outings behind him as well. "We try to stick to the same gameplan for every race," stated Wells. "We've just been having some breakage, that really wasn't caused by anything. We went back with the exact same tune-up after we killed the first motor last weekend, and ran a .53. That tells you it's not the tune-up, just parts failure.

"The next motor was just a broke valve. Same deal, put the motor back together, same tune-up, and it went down the track. There isn't much you can do about that when it's not a problem with the tune-up. You just have to put it behind you," continued Wells. "You can't let it bother you. It bothers me about the money, but there's really nothing you can do about it. What's done is done, it's over with; it's water over the dam."

Wells feels that NHRA's national event track preparation will make it easier to run good numbers than it was at the divisional there. "It's all relative to the track what we will run," explained Wells. "That's what the trouble was last time, the track was really touchy, and you couldn't really put any power to it. At a national event, the track is usually a little better. But, in Topeka, on Sunday, the track was actually worse. You never know."

Qualifying will begin at 11:30 a.m. for the Federal-Mogul Dragsters with another session following at 2:30 p.m. On Saturday, they will have the final qualifying session, followed by round one. Final eliminations will conclude the event on Sunday. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of the action from Chicago.

This is the seventh in a series of general broadcasts leading up to the event to provide relevant information about the race meeting and associated activities to media outlets, sponsors and other interested parties.

Further information regarding the Konica Winternationals can be obtained by contacting the Willowbank Raceway office on (07) 3849 6881 or by visiting the track's website.

NSW Government Officials to Witness Konica Winternationals

With the New South Wales Government currently in the final stages of considering plans for the construction of a new championship drag racing facility in Sydney, a number of high level departmental officials will be attending the Konica Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway to gain a better understanding of major ANDRA championship events and the benefits they create for a region.

Attending the event will be Brendan O'Reilly, Director General of the Department of Sport and Recreation and Chairman of the Western Sydney Drag Strip Project Control Group. He will be accompanied by Neal Adams, Project Manager of the Western Sydney Drag Strip Project Control Group, who is ex-coordinator of the 2000 Olympic Games venues, and auditor for the Commonwealth Government in NSW as well as being involved in project management within the private sector and Phillip Keady, Director, Facility & Development, Department of Sport & Recreation who is in charge of ensuring that all NSW Government sports venues are built, managed and operated appropriately.

They will be taking the opportunity to talk to spectators and competitors alike as well as meeting Queensland State and Local Government representatives who will also be attending the event. Studies by the Economic Development Department of the Ipswich City Council have identified that Willowbank Raceway drag racing activities inject literally millions of dollars into the State and local economy each year.

Ipswich Deputy Mayor, Paul Pisasale is Chairman of the Economic Development Committee and also a board member of the Queensland Events Corporation. He is very vocal in promoting Willowbank Raceway and the Konica Winternationals and commented "Through the efforts of a small but well organized non-profit sporting body, we've watched this event grow over the years into a real powerhouse for the whole region. It's not only great for Ipswich but with the over twenty percent of spectators coming from outside Queensland it is a very significant event at a state level. This is clearly the best event of its type in the country and we'll be happy to show the New South Wales people what we've got. Then when they build their new track maybe they'll be able to hold the second best event because in Ipswich ours will always be the best."

One of the major proponents of the planned Western Sydney facility is Publisher of Dragster Australia magazine, David Cook. Speaking of the visit by the New South Wales group he said, "It's so important to the whole planning process that those in control have the opportunity to witness a highly successful event like the Konica Winternationals at Willowbank. A visit to the event last year by key representatives from the Department of Works proved invaluable in generating support for our proposal. They were particularly taken by the friendliness of everybody the spoke to and the family atmosphere at Willowbank. We're now well into the planning stages and seeing first hand how the Winternationals comes together, along with the huge crowd in the stands will give these Department of Sport & Recreation people a real feel for what we plan to accomplish here in Sydney. We're very appreciative of the assistance of Willowbank Raceway and all the various Queensland people involved in making these visits so successful."

Can anyone tell me exactly where and what associations and classes I can race my car in the USA? It's a 2200 pound Full Steel bodied 2 Door Coupe 235 c.i Inline Six Cylinder with no wheel tubs.

Best ET: 11.27 (on street tyres); Best MPH: 124.0

Bob what can you tell us on the happenings on the other side of the pond ? or is that at the pod? I hear that Bob Haffner's guy qualified third. Rain came sunday. Monday was race day. Thanx.

Coming into this past weekend's Advance Auto Parts Nationals at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas, NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Shelly Howard's main goal was consistency. Her gameplan paid off as Howard used backbreaking consistent low 5.50 elapsed times to pick up her second national event of her career, and stay in the top five in national points standings.

Howard, a registered nurse from Tulsa, Oklahoma, has had a pretty good track record at Heartland Park over the past year. At last year's Advance Auto Parts Nationals, she made it to the semifinals, then qualified No. 1 at this year's Division 5 opener on her way to a runner-up finish. This past weekend was no exception as Howard qualified No. 5 with an elapsed time of 5.464 seconds at 259.51 mph, the quickest out of any Blown Alcohol Dragster in the field, on her way to victory.

During eliminations, Howard's Tom Conway tuned dragster displayed a barrage of consistency that would make any bracket racer happy. In round one, she defeated good friend Billy Bybee with a 5.507 at 259.26 mph, then took out fellow Division 4 racer Lee Callaway with a 5.517 at 258.62 in round two. Howard kept rolling in the semifinals with a 5.511 at 256.41 mph to put away A/Fuel powerhouse Keith Stark.

In the finals, she would square off with the "Bud Prince" Brandon Bernstein's Budweiser backed A/Fuel Dragster, who was right with Howard going into the finals, running a 5.514 at 255.10 mph in his semifinal victory over Bruce Bowler. The final was Howard's race, as she lead wire-to-wire, taking the holeshot and powering away to a 5.536 at 258.02 mph over Bernstein's cylinder-dropping 5.620 at 248.39 mph.

"The car just performed consistently this weekend," said Howard. "The car ran well enough to be the quickest blown car there. The consistency was really what we were shooting for. I can't say enough about Tom Conway's tuning, because that's what was the key to winning the whole thing. We're really excited about the win."

"During the first part of the event, the air was really good, and the A/Fuel cars were running really well," continued Howard. "Then the air got a little worse, and they slowed down, and that really helped us. If the air had stayed cool, it would have favored the A/Fuel cars on Sunday."

Going into the final, Howard knew Bernstein was going to be a tough race. "We pretty much tried to stay like we were for the final," commented Howard. "We had been having bad tire shake, but we made it through it and got the car down the track."

Over the week, the Howard Racing Team will stay on the road and head for Chicago for the Lucas Oil Products Nationals to be held at Route 66 Raceway this weekend. Howard hopes to keep her momentum up and pick up another win there.

"We just want to remain consistent," stated Howard. "We have to be able to go the distance. Obviously, we're very happy about Topeka, but just because we won Topeka, doesn't mean we'll win Chicago. Every race is a new ballgame, and that's the way we have to treat it."

Television coverage featuring Federal Mogul Dragster will air on ESPN2, Monday, June 4, 6 - 7 p.m. (EST). Check local listings for exact play dates in your area. For more information on the Howard Racing Team, visit their website at ShellyHoward.com.

Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas, has not been Federal-Mogul Dragster driver David Wells' favorite track this year. After not qualifying for the Division 5 opener there last month, Wells had an expensive outing during this past weekend's Advance Auto Parts Nationals there, where he killed two motors on his way to a quarterfinal finish.

Wells, who helps run the family Blue Bunny Ice Cream plant in LeMars, Iowa, qualified his Blue Bunny Ice Cream "Plain Vanilla", Tom Conway tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster seventh with an elapsed time of 5.566 seconds at 257.53 mph. In his second qualifying session, he damaged a motor due to rod failure, then dropped a valve in defeating Jeff Hamelink with a 5.787 at only 231.52 mph in the first round.

With two motors hurt, that left the team with only enough parts to put one more motor together with a set of cylinder heads that weren't as good as his usual heads. Wells took the holeshot on his quarterfinal opponent, Bruce Bowler, but missed the tune-up for the new heads and slowed to a 5.656 at 253.47 mph to Bowler's 5.552 at 262.74 mph.

"During the second pass of the weekend, shortly after punching second gear, it broke two rods and stuck them out the side of the block," described Wells. "We put a new short block in, and the next run ran a 5.56, and everything went okay on that pass. Then the first round was about the same deal as the second pass. It went out there and in second gear and broke the head of an intake valve off, and did a bunch of damage. I had to stay in the throttle to get to the finish line first, but it really hurt the motor."

"After that run, we had to go back and do a lot of work," continued Wells. "We basically had to make one motor out of two. We had to pull a sleeve out of the first motor because it hurt a sleeve in the second one. We put another set of heads on it, and got it ready to go, and that worked pretty well, but it just fell off on the top end because the flow on the heads was different. Bruce caught me about 1100 ft, and that was it."

Even though Wells' next race, the Lucas Oil Products Nationals at Route 66 Raceway just outside of Chicago, is next weekend, Wells feels confident he will have the car ready and enough parts to be competitive for the race. Wells won the Division 3 opener there last month.

"We have the motors back together, and I have another set of heads coming," said Wells. "I think we have to switch the heads back and forth and see which ones flow the best. We'll just have to see what happens, and do the best we can. We have the same setup on the car that we won Joliet [Chicago] with on the car, just that we won't have our best two sets of heads on when we go up there next week."

Television coverage featuring Federal Mogul Dragster will air on ESPN2, Monday, June 4, 6 - 7 p.m. (EST). Check local listings for exact play dates in your area.

We have just published more photos from todays proceedings at the Main Event on our website. Cheers, Gary and Phil.

Memorial Day Greetings. Greetings to all my fellow U.S. veterans. Folks, even if you don't get out to any activities today, please take a moment to find a veteran among your friends, family, or neighbors and say, "Thanks."

DRL PR list growing! If you haven't taken a moment to respond to our recent email survey asking if you want to receive expanded Press Releases from The Drag Racing List, please do it today. Just drop us a line at PR@draglist.com and say "Send me that PR!"

I will include you on all our racer press releases, DRL sponsor press releases, East Coast match race event coverage, AND, of course, these DRL Updates. If you want to continue to receive only the DRL Updates, you don't have to do anything! I'll keep sending you only these weekly DRL Updates.

DRL Dumps the Clutter! No doubt you have noticed the myriad of pop-up windows at the DRL lately. We have dumped them all. Here's what went and why:

Recommend It was a neat idea. A little button folks could click and then recommend the site to their pals. Didn't work too well, but the button was small. THEN, without notice, they started to pop up those "Win $10,000" ads in front of our page when you logged in. Uh, 'bye...

Next up was the ALX "behind the page" pop up. This is a great idea that's not ripe yet. The deal is supposed to be like a link exchange -- for every page that pops up behind ours, the DRL pops up behind another motorsports page somewhere. Problem is, there aren't enough motorsports pages in the deal yet.

So every time the thing came up, there was no other motorsports page, just the light blue ALX page selling the feature. Our page has been seen 208 times, but ALX owes us over 10,000 displays on other sites! I pulled down the pop up until they can start to catch up on our deficit a little bit and actually pop up motorsports pages behind ours...!

100 Hot Auto Sites was a great deal and I was very proud to have reached the 58th top auto site on the 'net one week. We hovered between 60 to 90 for another few months here and there. As neat as that program was, the 100 Hot folks have sold out and now feature only the top 25 PAID sites, with no regard for ranking. I figure you can find that stuff somewhere else, so the button is GONE.

We also went the other way and added a button. At the bottom of the page, the little blue Hit Boss button beckons. It's basically a link exchange, like the Auto 1000 and Worldwide Racing 100 that appear there already. Those have some good links to check out.

Anyway, that's where the clutter went. You feel better already, don't you? I know I do.

Drag Racing Stories of The Day

May 28
Bernstein, Pedregon, Krisher, and Smith Winners At Advance Auto Parts NHRA Nationals. NHRA.com provides the results. The Bernstein/Richards train keeps rolling, Tony gets the boss again, and upsets abound in Pro Stock.

May 27
Force, Dunn, Johnson, Panella Take Top Qualifying Honors At Advance Auto Parts NHRA Nationals. NHRA.com reports big performance numbers from Topeka.

May 26
Dunn, Force, Johnson Among Top Qualifiers At Advance Auto Parts NHRA Nationals. NHRA.com provides the early qualifying tally from Topeka. How about Mike Dunn at 4.49/331 and Tony Pedregon at 324.83 mph!?

May 25
Bozzelli, Lourie Lead E-Town Sportsman Action. Billy Anderson was there and brings us the action from the Federal-Mogul categories.

May 24
The Story of the Smokin' AA/Altered. Geno Terenzio and Peter Kumble team up to tell the tale of a nifty early '70s altered that gathered lots of "official" attention because of its name and paint job.

May 23
Rich Hanna Raises the Bar in IHRA World Championship Jet Funny Car Win. Al Hanna reports that son Rich Hanna continues his dominance of jet funny car racing with new marks of 5.42 at 295 mph.

May 22
Badco Does E-Town. You've seen the official results, now experience Englishtown from Bill Ott's perspective!

Drag Racing Pictures of The Day

May 28
Smax Smith's Fuel Funny Car -- on Fire! Anni Valder caught Smax Smith's hot start to the European drag racing season.

May 27
Wild Bill Alexander Wins the March Meet. Tom West got this great shot of Bill Alexander taking the win at Bakersfield 2001.

May 26
Butterflies Wide Open, Baby! Front Engine Digger Art. Tom DeLello captures the essence of front engine dragster racing with this neat drawing.

May 25
Ivo-Zueschel at San Gabe. Steve Gibbs provides two great shots of TV Tommy Ivo in Dave Zueschel's killer fuel dragster.

May 24
Rhonda Hartman-Smith - Top Fuel Driver. Stephen Jones captures the young fuel veteran peering down the quarter in search of speed and glory.

May 23
Sweet Snow White - '57 Chevy Pro Classic. Sharkman brings us another tasty ride from the other side of the pond.

May 22
Gary Phillips Gets Doors - Aussie Top Doorslammer. New contributor Shannon Harding checks in with a shot of Aussie blown alcohol and fuel great Gary Phillips. Western Aussie announcer Stu Bond provides some words.

Drag Racing Movies of The Week

May 28
Gary Phillips 227 mph Aussie Top Doorslammer. Carl Witt captured the Aussie blown alcohol superstar getting the handle on his door car ride.

May 27
Fuel Funny Car Final -- Spuffard vs. Smith. Brian Fawcus offers this wild final from the 2001 Super Series at Avon Park, UK.

Big Weekend of Testing Coming Up

Scores of racers are expected to take advantage of the final opportunities for last minute, pre Konica Winternationals testing at Willowbank Raceway this weekend. On Saturday night the raceway will be conducting one of its regular "Test & Tune" events which will be open to all street and race vehicles as usual but Sunday will also see a separate test day set aside for Group One & Two racers only.

Willowbank General Manager, Dennis Syrmis explained, "Our regular Test and Tune events are extremely popular with up to 200 competitors attending some nights. The weekend before the Konica Winternationals you can almost guarantee we''ll have a big entry list of both street and race cars. It can involve a fairly long wait in the staging lanes some times which does not suit some of the higher class races trying to do back to back testing of tune up changes.

As a result of the number of Group One & Two racers wanting to hire the track separate to the Test & Tune we now offer a special, private test day for those competitors on the Sunday. The track is closed from the Monday before the Konica Winternationals so this is their final chance before the event."

Gates open for Saturday night's Test and Tune at 4:00 pm with runs starting from 4:30 pm. Entry fee is $26 for competitors which admits two people. Spectator admission is $10.

The Sunday session is conducted as a private, shared track hire and is open only to Group One and Two competitors who have entered the Konica Winternationals. All participants must register with the Willowbank Raceway office by Thursday May 31st. Gates will open at 9:00 am with the track open for testing from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

It is planned that only one lane of the track will be fully prepared but if entry numbers warrant it both lanes will be prepped. Cost of participation in this track hire is $275 including GST. For further details. contact Willowbank Raceway at (07) 3849 6881.

Konica Winternationals Roadshow hits Gold Coast

The Surfers Paradise Drag Racing Club's annual car show and swap meet at the Carrara Sporting Complex on Sunday May 27th was the latest stop for the Konica Winternationals promotional roadshow. Raceway staff were kept busy right from 8:00 am handling the high enquiry rate amongst the steady stream of patrons attending the show.

Marketing representative Karen Oberg commented "It was the first time we've taken our Konica Winternationals display to the Gold Coast and the response was fantastic. As you'd expect, many people were after information about ticket prices and event times etc and we also had some of the few remaining reserved grandstands seats available for sale. We gave away hundreds and hundreds of event posters and almost ran out of our second printing of the information brochure we produced. One interesting aspect was the number of people who said they'd never been to Willowbank but after becoming regular viewers of the raceway's television coverage were making plans to attend the Konica Winternationals this year."

The highly successful show was located less than a kilometre from the now defunct Surfers Paradise International Raceway where the Winternationals was born in 1968. That original event attracted 2,800 spectators with few that attended ever imagining that it was the seed from which Australia's most successful ANDRA Championship Drag Racing event would grow.

The Konica Winternationals promotional campaign is now nearing it's final phase with the television advertising schedule kicking off with Channel Seven on Thursday and Triple M's radio advertising getting underway on the weekend. Intensive promotional activities based in the Ipswich area will highlight the final week before the event gets underway on June 8th.

After entering the event with hopes of conquering his season-long tire shake problem, Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Lee Callaway found no reprieve during this past weekend's Advance Auto Parts Nationals at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas. Callaway worked his way to the quarterfinals before being defeated by eventual winner, and fellow Division 4 competitor, Shelly Howard.

Callaway, from Baytown, Texas, qualified his AllStateRV.com backed Blown Alcohol Dragster No. 13 with a tire-shaking elapsed time of 5.614 seconds at 253.09 mph. In round one, Callaway improved slightly with a 5.601 at 251.66 mph to upset No. 5 qualifier Chris Ricketts' A/Fuel Dragster.

Callaway's tire shake problems caught up with him in the second round, however, against Howard. Callaway took a sizable jump off the line with a .438 to .483 holeshot, but could not hold off Howard's 5.517 at 258.62 mph with his own 5.651 at 251.72 mph.

"We didn't have the weekend we were looking for," said Callaway. "We were having a few clutch and fuel system problems, we were having a lot of tireshake. We backed it off to try to get it down through the shake, but then it just wouldn't run the numbers."

After this weekend, Callaway plans to go a new direction from former tuner David Scheelk's tune-up. "We're going to put a different fuel system on it, and get a little assistance from someone else to get the clutch and fuel system going in the right direction," stated Callaway. "We're a little off in those departments right now."

"We might go hit St. Louis, and for sure the Denver Division 5 race," continued Callaway. "We'll just have to see how it goes."

We have just published photos from today's proceedings at the Main Event. Pictures from Saturday are also available. All can be found at our website. Cheers, Phil and Gary.

I want to find where I can buy equipment for a drag track. Starting line lights and a finish line camera. I want to open a drag track in my home town, Micoacan, Mexico. Thank you.

My name is Ray Balderson and I live in Warwick, Queensland, Australia. I have been looking through your sites and find them quite interesting. However, I think I have something in my shed that would interest you.

I have the original 1971 Dodge Charger Funny Car of Gene "The Snowman" Snow. I would like to advertise this fact and let all your followers know that this vehicle is in Australia and that it is in very good condition and could be available for sale if the price is right.

Some professional racers have asked that I begin to provide email Press Release (PR) services. I probably will begin this service for select racing teams and businesses. These emails would be sent in addition to the DRL Update emails that you receive from me already.

In order to begin this service, but not send unwanted emails, I will create an additional mailing list. People on the new list will get all my email updates, including PR for racers and businesses and match racing event coverage from Maryland International Raceway and other Eastern U.S. drag strips. People remaining on the old list will only get DRL updates, as they do now.

If you want to get both my standard DRL updates and my PR emails, please click here and type "Send me that PR!". If you do, you will get everything I send, including updates to our website, press releases on the racing teams and sponsors with which we are associated, and match race drag racing event coverage.

If you do not want to receive these additional press releases, you don't have to do anything. I will only send PR to actual news sources and to people who specifically ask for it.

Thanks for your support of Draglist.com and have a safe and fun holiday weekend.

In regard to your post about the "Future of Top Alcohol Downunder", I agree with you, but I see it as "The Future of the Sport Downunder" and this is not a time for classes to be taken out, while this sport is going through a tough time in Australia at the moment.

We need all the racers and fans support at this time, and more of a variety of cars. About five years ago, it was pretty much funny cars and dragsters. Now it's one funny car against a heap of dragsters, and a few tourists to spice up the bracket once again. How has Top Doorslammer grown to be such a popular bracket? Tourists have boosted the image.

Let's just hope that we will have more cars in this bracket again, and $100,000+ cars aren't forced to race in Group Two and Supercharged Outlaws.

Black Dyno has been updated, and will be full of multimedia resources after the Winternationals. Thanks.

Konica Winternationals Patrons to be Surveyed

Willowbank Raceway has engaged the University of Queensland's School of Tourism and Leisure Management based at the Ipswich Campus to conduct an extensive survey of patrons attending the Konica Winternationals drag racing championships on June 8th to 10th. The survey will be used to provide vital data on the makeup of the 40,000 strong crowd expected to attend and will also give organizers feed back on patron's views of the event and facility.

Willowbank Raceway President, John Winterburn said, "We're delighted to be able to do this survey with the University of Queensland. The fact that their relevant department is located at the Ipswich Campus just ten minutes from the raceway is ideal. Two previous surveys conducted in conjunction with the Ipswich City Council proved invaluable in providing extremely useful demographic information about our crowds.

For example, we were aware many people traveled from other parts of Australia for the Konica Winternationals, but we had no idea that they in fact made up almost 20% of our audience. Those surveys also quantified the economic benefits the event brought to Ipswich and Queensland by the literally millions of dollars generated through the event.

This style of demographic information has been worth it's weight in gold when dealing with Government Departments, etc. and demonstrating to sponsors the reach of our event, but we will be taking a different approach this time.

While revisiting some aspects of those areas, the new survey will concentrate much more on gaining information about what our patrons like or don't like. What they want to see more of or see changed. The consumer information we receive from this survey project will be crucial for our planning of future events. We intend to make sure we deliver what our clients, the race fans want.

Without the assistance and expertise of the University of Queensland it would be very hard to obtain this information accurately. Ultimately we can't afford to plan events based on what we assume the paying public wants to see, we have to know what they want.

The Konica Winternationals survey will also provide practical, hands on experience to students from the School of Tourism and Leisure Management working under the supervision of faculty members. Response from students wishing to be involved in the project has been extremely enthusiastic.

Retail Shop Display Material Distributed

The distribution of Konica Winternationals retail display material has commenced in earnest with event posters, bunting and information brochures being delivered to participating stores and businesses throughout the area. The Ipswich Events Corporation is conducting a major Konica Winternationals promotion as part of its Ipswich CBD marketing activities.

Customers of participating businesses are being invited to enter into the draw to win two tickets to the Bendigo Bank Corporate Club for all three days of the event. Valued at $295 each, these tickets will provide the lucky winner with two of the best seats right beside the start line at Willowbank Raceway complete with full corporate catering etc.

All participating businesses will also be in the draw for two similar tickets so this promotion really is a win/win situation for the customer and the business. The lucky entries will be drawn in the Ipswich Mall on Thursday night, June 7th, following the annual billy kart bash as part of Ipswich's Konica Winternationals Carnival celebrations.

Current IHRA Pro Mod points leader Mike Janis and his Jan-Cen powered Weber's Mustard machine are hoping to make the "home" fans proud at the Mopar Performance Parts Canadian Nationals. "I have been racing at Grand Bend for years. The people up there are great, I can't say enough about the Canadian fans, they make my team feel at home. I have had some good luck up there, including this past weekend. We were in Grand Bend for the Victoria Day Weekend. That's kind of like the Canadian Memorial Day. We were fortunate enough to run there. It afforded us some needed test runs," said Janis.

Although the Jan-Cen - Weber's Mustard team's main goal for the weekend was to test some new parts, racing always gets the competitive juices flowing. The team made it to the final round but Janis was forced to click her off early when a crosswind hit the car. Janis treed his opponent and had the other car covered at the eighth mile marker but was forced to get out of it.

"I'm not really sure what happened, I think when I passed the grandstands and hit the open area a gust hit the car causing me almost to hit the cones," said the Pro Mod Points Leader. "We had a good weekend. Our primary agenda was to test some new things, but you can bet when there's a race going we want to win. We were able to test a new SSI blower that Tom (Tom Anderson) has been working on as well as some other trick pieces. That kinda held us back from going all out in the final, but I'm pleased with our performance this weekend," said crew chief Jerry Highway.

Team Consultant Tom Anderson was also in attendance at the Grand Bend event. Anderson and his TAE (Tom Anderson Enterprises) company have been working closely with the people from SSI on their new superchargers. Anderson tested the new blower on Janis' car with positive results. Anderson also tested the new supercharger design recently on IHRA Pro Funny Car Racer John Vouros' car with equally impressive results.

One last thing folks don't miss when Mike Janis runs during the nighttime qualifying sessions. Thanks to the people from Liteglow Industries, Mike Janis will turn the night of fire into the NEON NIGHT! Get your Neon Nights T-shirts at Mike Janis' pit area at all the upcoming IHRA national events.

Just as any other sport or business, the world of drag racing has it's highs and lows. NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster pilot David Wells was reminded of that lesson at his last outing during the Division 5 race at Heartland Park, in Topeka, Kansas. Just one week after winning the Division 3 race at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago, Wells failed to qualify due to transmission problems on both of his qualifying attempts. After that low, Wells hopes to get back on the 'high side' of things during this weekend's Advance Auto Parts Nationals at Heartland Park.

The former Division 5 Champion, Wells, has spent the past two weeks inspecting his Blue Bunny Ice Cream "Plain Vanilla" Blown Alcohol Dragster to make sure mechanical problems do not sideline the team this weekend. Not only in that aspect, but Wells wants to jump back on top of the pack in Topeka.

"We're going to come in and go pretty easy," said Wells, from LeMars, Iowa. "We just want to get it down the track the first couple of runs. Once we do that, then we'll start hopping it up. We should be able to run a high .40, low .50 anyway. We'll just go from there and see what happens."

Wells feels if he can get a solid baseline in his first couple of qualifying runs, he may even be able to step up into the low 5.40's, or possibly a high 5.30. "It shouldn't be a problem to run a really good number if we can get the car to go down the track," stated Wells. "I think we have tracked down most of the problems and have them corrected, so it should be ready to go."

The Federal-Mogul Dragsters have two qualifying sessions on Friday, with the third qualifying session and first round of eliminations following on Saturday. Final eliminations will conclude the event on Sunday. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of the racing action from Heartland Park.

Take a look at our newsletter update on the Team Mission website. The photo page should be updated today or tomorrow also.

NHRA Federal Mogul Dragster pilot Lee Callaway hasn't exactly had the year he has hoped for this year. After updating his engine combination to the latest technology over the off season, he has stepped up with career best elapsed times in the 5.50's, but tireshake problems have caused a string of early round exits during eliminations. This weekend, at the Advance Auto Parts Nationals at Heartland Park, in Topeka, Kansas, Callaway hopes to turn his fortunes around, and possibly pick up his first career win.

Callaway, who resides in Channelview, Texas, hopes to break his string of first round losses this weekend in Topeka. With veteran tuner David Scheelk, who tuned Tate Branch to last year's Division 4 Federal Mogul Funny Car Championship, in his corner, Callaway is confident of his chances.

"We really want to qualify good and go a couple of rounds," said Callaway. "We haven't made it past the first round this year, so hopefully we can get past that in Topeka. If we don't hurt anything and go a few rounds, it should be a good weekend."

Callaway also feels that if he can get a handle on his clutch set up, he might be able to get rid of his tireshake problems. He also feels that Topeka's well known racing surface should allow some good numbers this weekend.

"If we can run some mid to high 5.40's, we'll be real happy with that," Callaway stated. "The air is supposed to be pretty good this weekend, and if we can get it down the track without the tireshake, I think the car has it in it."

The Federal Mogul Dragsters have two qualifying sessions on Friday, with the third qualifying session and first round of eliminations following on Saturday. Final eliminations will conclude the event on Sunday. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of the racing action from Heartland Park.

On his last run, just three weeks ago, NHRA Federal Mogul Dragster driver Sergio Recio ran his career best elapsed time of 5.59 seconds in his semifinal loss to Shelly Howard during the Division 5 race at Heartland Park, in Topeka, Kansas. With that run behind him, and new tuner Ora Vasquez, Recio hopes to make an impact on his competition during this weekend's Advance Auto Parts Nationals at Heartland Park.

Recio, from El Paso, Texas, was pleased with the career-best run, but is not content. Recio feels the 5.59 is just the threshold of what his Vasquez tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster can run. "We're still going to make quite a few changes for this weekend even though we ran that .59," said Recio. "Mr. Vasquez is helping us work on this deal, and he feels that we can run low .50's or high .40's this weekend. That's what we are shooting for."

Recio feels that if he can step up to that performance level, he can be a contender against anyone. "One of the problems we had the last time out was the motor was a little down on compression," explained Recio. "We're changing piston domes to get the compression back up. We feel since we ran that good with real low compression, we should be able to step up pretty good with more compression. We got a good car, and I'm confident we can run some good numbers this weekend."

COMING SOON: The team currently has a website, www.SergioRecio.com, under construction by RacerPage.com that should debut within the next week.

TV Brings Konica Winternationals into the Lounge Room

Highlights of the 2001 Konica Winternationals will again be featured over three one hour episodes of Willowbank Raceway's "Drag Racing" television program. The shows will be seen both free to air Queensland wide on the Seven Network and nationwide via cable and satellite on Foxsports. Like the event itself, television coverage of the Konica Winternationals has proved extremely popular, attracting large audiences for both Seven and Foxsports with both networks scheduling excellent time slots for the broadcasts.

"Drag Racing" presents a mix of racing action, profiles and behind the scenes stories that has proved extremely popular with the viewing public. Program producer Rob Oberg commented, "We started doing our own show back in 1996 and have developed its style over that time. We have to balance the program as best we can to cater for both the hardcore drag racing fan and the viewer in the lounge room who regularly tunes into the show but may have never been to a drag strip. With as many as 200,000 viewers on Channel Seven and many more through Foxsports there's obviously a lot of people who fall into this category."

"We need to inform at the same time that we as entertain to convert television viewers to race goers. Unlike a lot of sports, drag racing is far better live than on TV. We work hard to portray the power and speed of our sport but nothing can really capture the sight, sound, feel and smell of two nitro cars side by side. You just have to be track side to fully understand what it's like.

"We try to stir people's interest so they want go to the raceway to experience it for themselves. It's also important we give the sport a human face by profiling racers and including as many relevant interviews as we can. They don't need to be Group One drivers either. A recent profile we did on Super Street veteran George Wegener generated an incredible amount of positive feedback. We need to build up the profiles of more of our racers to the sort of levels achieved by Victor Bray and Jim Read. Television can certainly help to achieve that."

In addition to the Konica Winternationals, viewers through the remainder of the season will also see the Winter's Smash Repairs Track Championship Grand Finals, and for the first time, the Fast Fours and Rotaries Jamboree with this blockbuster event for pocket rockets featuring in a full episode of the program.

"Drag Racing" Seven Network Queensland Broadcast Schedule

Sunday June 24th - 1.00 pm
Konica Winternationals
Top Fuel, Top Bike, Supercharged Outlaws plus Modified, Super Sedan, Super Street finals

Sunday July 1st - 12 noon
Konica Winternationals
Pro Stock, Top Alcohol, Super Stock, Competition Bike plus Modified Bike, Junior Dragster, Super Gas Finals

Sunday July 15th - 1.00 pm
Konica Winternationals
Top Doorslammer, Pro Stock Motorcycle, Competition Eliminators

Sunday August 12th - 1.00 pm
Winter's Smash Repairs Track Championship Grand Finals
Supercharged Outlaws, Super Comp, Comp Bike Group Three Finals

Sunday August 19th - 12 noon
Fast Fours & Rotaries Jamboree
Drag racing, show & shine, sound off, Energy Release Series Final Shootout

Note: Broadcast times may alter after publication. Check your local TV guide closer to broadcast dates. Foxsports screening times will be published in the Foxsports Guides for July and August.

Even though drag racing is considered a quarter mile race in a straight line from a standing start, NHRA Federal Mogul Funny Car rookie Steve Burck is experiencing first hand the sport's 'learning curve.' After going to the semifinals at his first national event in Houston, he was unable to compete at his next event in Hallsville, Texas due to an engine malfunction. This weekend, at the Advance Auto Parts Nationals at Heartland Park, in Topeka, Kansas, Burck and his team have their eyes set on success once again.

Burck, from Corpus Christi, Texas, feels that with more runs under his belt, he should be able to step his Profax Welding Tools sponsored Avenger up in Topeka. "Since we're new at this, every track we go to we've never been to before," said Burck. "Every race is a new deal. Qualifying shouldn't be a problem. We'd really like to get into the late stages of the game, so we may have to lean on it a little bit."

With the weather forecast for this weekend projecting cool weather conditions, Burck hopes to set a new personal best this weekend. "I'd be tickled to death to run a 6.0 or even a 5.90," stated Burck. "I think the car has it in it. I think I'm ready for it. I feel comfortable and I feel capable."

"Well, most guys say they don't worry about who is in the other lane," Burck continued. "But, when you're running a roots [supercharger], and you get down to the late rounds up against some of the heavy hitters, we'll obviously have to take a shot at the tree and try to beat them there."

The Federal Mogul Funny Cars will have two qualifying runs on Friday, with the third qualifying session and first round following on Saturday. Final eliminations will conclude the event on Sunday. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of the racing action from Heartland Park Topeka.

I've noticed that on your website you don't include information on the Kirkland Lake (Ontario, Canada) races. I also heard that you are doing one in Earlton. Would it be possible to get the info on those two locations? Thank you.

Overseas Visitors Add International Flavour

The reputation of Willowbank Raceway's Konica Winternationals as Australia's premier drag racing event continues to attract an increasing number of people to the event from overseas. The 2001 event will see competitors from Canada, the USA and New Zealand taking part alongside racers from every state of Australia. International spectator interest is also high, particularly from New Zealand with hundreds of visitors heading across the Tasman.

In addition to these competitors and fans there is also welcome news of another international visitor heading to Willowbank Raceway for the 2001 Konica Winternationals with confirmation of the participation at the event of American track specialist David Johnson.

Now the manager of Red River Raceway, Shreveport, Louisiana, Johnson will be accompanied by Jerry Grantham, a track official at Red River, which hosts the International Hot Rod Association World Finals on October 12-14. The expertise in track preparation and oil down management the duo will bring to the event is expected to prove invaluable in providing suitable conditions for record setting performances.

This will be Johnson's second visit to the Konica Winternationals after working along side Willowbank track staff last June to help produce the super traction that saw world record performances achieved during qualifying before rain interrupted the event. The 6.179 second time recorded in that session by Perth's Robin Judd in his Studebaker Top Doorslammer is yet to be surpassed anywhere in the world.

Johnson and Grantham will work with Willowbank track crew leader Dale Wong and his team in the lead-up to the 2001 Winternationals to ensure the track surface receives the very best preparation possible. Throughout the event the focus then shifts to maintaining the traction and the speedy, effective clean up of any oil spills that occur through engine mishaps, etc.

Willowbank Raceway President John Winterburn commented, "The cool weather we experience at the Konica Winternationals has become legendary in the sport as being ideal for high horsepower engines. The challenge is always to provide a track surface capable of handling the exceptional power the racers can produce. Bringing the Americans over is a great investment, not only for their work during the event but more importantly for the knowledge they pass on to our permanent track crew. The ongoing benefits of this training are invaluable."

Konica Winternationals Sponsorship a Full Book

Willowbank Raceway Marketing Manager, Rob Oberg has confirmed sponsorship sales for the 2001 Konica Winternationals are a full book. He commented "Naming rights sponsors have been secured for every race category, special award and program we offer at the event. In the current economic climate where many sporting and other organizations are struggling to obtain sponsorship, we see this as a resounding endorsement by the business community of the value provided to advertisers by Willowbank Raceway and the event.

"These companies are involved with us because we provide an extremely cost effective way to promote their goods and services. The raceway is extremely appreciative of the support of our sponsors and look forward to placing their names firmly in front of the 40,000 people expected at the race meeting and the hundreds of thousands more who will watch the Konica Winternationals on television after the event."

In her last two outings in Topeka, Heartland Park has been a pretty good track for NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Shelly Howard. At last year's Advance Auto Parts Nationals, Howard went to the semifinals, and just three weeks ago at the Division 5 race here, she qualified No. 1 and went all the way to the finals before transmission failure cost her the race. With that track record, Howard hopes to keep her success alive during this weekend's Advance Auto Parts Nationals.

Howard, a registered nurse from Tulsa, Oklahoma, hopes to use consistency as she has all year to find success this weekend. She also hopes to stay in the top five in national points as well. "We hope to repeat in consistency and my performance as a driver," said Howard. "There are some quick, fast cars here, but we can concentrate on is our own operation. If we stay consistent, hopefully we can go a few rounds."

With good cool air conditions forecasted for this weekend, Howard feels that she may be able to get her Tom Conway tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster into the 5.40's. "If we can consistently run in the 5.40's, that would be nice," stated Howard. "I think consistency is more important than trying to go out there and kill the e.t. So consistent .40's or low .50's will make us happy."

For more information on the team, visit their award winning website, ShellyHoward.com. Please visit Howard's associate sponsor, RacerPage.com, drag racing's leader in website design and marketing.

Hi Bob, how the heck are you? Just a quick note to let you know the website has shifted for Benaraby Raceway. Would you mind updating your link? Thanks.

NHRA Federal Mogul Funny Car driver Marc White went to his third straight semifinal finish in as many divisional races at this past weekend's NHRA Division 3 Federal Mogul Drag Racing Series race at the famed Indianapolis Raceway Park. Between fighting the rain storms that canceled qualifying on Friday and the new surface at IRP, White feels that the Etterman Racing team fell behind the curve and never caught back up.

White, from Glendale Heights, Illinois, qualified the Etterman Racing 2001 Firebird No. 2 with a tire-shaking 6.009 second elapsed time at 228.07 mph. In round one, he defeated Jeff Lancaster with a 6.111 at 208.96 mph. White's tire shake problems were so bad in the semifinals that he was forced to lift, giving racing journalist-driver Todd Veney an easy win with a 6.027 at 238.53 mph.

"They had recently repaved the entire track," said White. "Plus Friday's qualifying was completely rained out, so there was no rubber put on the race track then. For the first run Saturday, it was pretty green, so we weren't able to make a full run because it got pretty loose at the end of the run. We were just fighting the track all weekend, then when you throw in the bad air conditions, we struggled big time this weekend."

In addition to the problems the Etterman Racing Team was having fighting the track, White feels that there may be a 'bug' in the car somewhere that he did not find. "I can't completely blame the track," White explained. "Cheeseman went out there and ran some high 5.80's, so if he can do it, we should be able to, too. I honestly feel that we have something in the car mechanically that is just a little out of whack. We've taken the car back home, and we're going to field strip it, go through it from front to back, and see if we can find something wrong. Hopefully we can find something to explain our poor performance this past weekend."

The next stop on the Etterman Racing 2001 tour will be White's home track, Route 66 Raceway, just outside of Chicago, for the Lucas Oil Products Nationals in two weeks. In April, White qualified No. 1 with a 5.68 at the Division 3 opener there. White hopes they can regain that performance level when they return for the Nationals.

"It really depends on the weather on how we will run," commented White. "The race track will be better because it will be national event quality. If it's hot and muggy, it's hard to run those kind of numbers, but the weather now is in the high 50's, so if this weather hangs around for two weeks, everybody ought to really be able to go fast. You never know. The track won't be the problem at Joliet, though."

For more information on the Etterman Racing Team, visit their new website at EttermanRacing.com.

I recently surfed to your website from the website of Ken Lowe. I just wanted to set the record straight on a number of points in your news column where it mentioned Todd Wilkes' tragic passing.

I knew Todd since early 1996 and was present at Eastern Creek Raceway on Sunday, February 25th in the grandstand right next to the speed trap.

He was not the first car down the track as stated; in fact he was about 20th. Several other cars of various performance levels had gone before him, with the highest trap speed being 131 mph, with the majority of cars between 105 - 120 mph. After the event I was able to speak to some of those participants who stated even in almost stock performance cars they had difficulty pulling up (braking) in the allotted space after their runs.

One person in a slightly modified Subaru WRX told me he was "defecating bricks" to get the car to pull up in the available distance. This is a car with maybe 300 hp at the outside and 13 second (1/4-mile) performance. Todd had around 1300 hp at the flywheel (890 at the wheels on a chassis dyno) in a potentially 9-second car and ran 174 mph through the traps.

Todd didn't brake especially late. He was on the power through the traps, went over the line, backed off and got on the brakes. There was simply not enough room to stop from that speed in the allotted room. In addition, the finish line was unclear in the minds of some competitors, judging by the number of people who braked well before, on the line, and after the line.

The question is why was a straight line speed event run directly towards a concrete wall? There was very little consideration given to safety or the "what if?" factor should one of the participant's car's be faster than the typical show car fare, brake failure, or something of that sort.

A point worthy of note: The organizers are traditionally car "show and shine" organizers. They had not catered to an event with cars in motion before. This point was observed in an interview with Chic Henry, organizer of the Australian Summernats which has taken place in Canberra for the past 14 years.

I realize you are probably just repeating what you had heard. The two main points I wanted to correct were the starting order, and the fact you wrote he failed to brake until almost at the start line. Regards.

Click here to read the "clickable" version.

Drag Racing Stories of The Day

May 21
Bernstein, Pedregon, Stevens, Hines Among Winners At Matco Tools Supernationals. NHRA.com provides the results. Bernstein continues to roll under Tim Richards' tutelage, while Tony P. and Richie Stevens garner first wins this season.

May 20
Yates Wins Holley Dominator Duel; Bernstein Among Qualifying Leaders at Matco Tools Supernationals. NHRA.com provides the details.

May 19
Bazemore, Bernstein Among Friday Qualifying Leaders at Matco Tools Supernationals. NHRA.com provides all the details from day one of qualifying at Englishtown.

May 18
More photos and notes from the U.S. Pro Stock Open. Photos you want, photos we GOT! Tim Pratt took dozens of photos at the big Pro Stock race at MIR last Wednesday night. Here are the best of them. I added some captions and away we go.

May 17
MIR U.S. Pro Stock Open Rained Out After Qualifying. Brother Tim Pratt, brother in law Derek Fender, and I were there last night as Royce Miller's nightmares with this event continued. After eight of NHRA's best qualified between 6.86 and 6.91, the event was rained out for the third time in five years. Tim took photos; Derek schmoozed with the 2nd Dimension dancers, and I wrote a few notes.

May 16
Who Was Antone Adesso and the Pig Pen Funny Car? Dale Smith reports that he's the alky match racer who set Al Hofmann on the right path, among other things.

May 15
Retro Report: The 1984 ADRA Grandantionals at Dragway 42. Rickie Howard takes us back to the first race of the original ADRA - a super national event at Ohio's Dragway 42.

Drag Racing Pictures of The Day

May 21
Kenny Bernstein is Flying High in 2001. Ron Lahr of dragshots.com got this great burnout shot of a resurgent Kenny Bernstein.

May 20
Driver's Ed - The Paul Smith Racing School Funny Car. Ron Dilley captured Canadian fuel racer Jeff Arend wheeling Paul Smith's Cutlass to some good times.

May 19
Little Old Lady Nostalgia Eliminator Roadster. Robert Briggs caught Harold Hungerford's venerable blown altered as it got ready for another quarter mile assault.

May 18
Johnny West's Banzai Chevy Beretta Fuel Funny Car. Rob Potter captured Johnny West's hard running nitro flopper at an IHRA national event in the late '80s.

May 17
Alky Funny Cars at Seattle - Christensen vs. Orr. New contributor Ralph Reiter sent us this interesting shot of Chris Christensen facing Roger Orr's seldom-seen Monza in 1984.

May 16
Sacrificing the Goat - Corvino Racing's Wheelstand. Ralph "Gonzo" Crosby shows how rear quarter panels kind of get "crinkled" on some wheels-up launches.

May 15
1979 Dodge Challenger Funny Cars -- Van Gundy and Finlay. Flyin' Phil Elliott shows that Dodge Challengers still looked good as funny cars even when the venerable model became a Japanese import.

Drag Racing Movies of The Week

May 21
Fuel Funny Car Final - Spuffard vs. Smith. Brian Fawcus offers this wild final from the 2001 Super Series at Avon Park, UK. (You need the Quicktime viewer for this one).

May 20
Lindsay Deuchar - Europe's Top Alcohol Independent. Sharkman hooks us up with a nice side by side clip of Top Methanol Dragster action.

Hi Bob. I've been following your progress with interest. I guess I'm just lucky to live in Perth, only 30 minutes from the new Kwinana Motorplex. Anyway, my thoughts on your Group One article (my opinions only) are as follows:

Top Fuel
Basically doing okay. The tracks in Sydney and Melbourne will help get the dollars back in (when they eventually happen). Pity the Aussie dollar is so low, but the racers bring it on themselves - most (and this applies to all classes) will refuse to run anything made locally, despite it generally being of equal or better quality and considerably cheaper.

Funny Car
Desperately needs to be rolled into Top Fuel, with some sort of handicap. This format has been run both at Kwinana and in the U.S. with lots of success. Without it, Funny Car will die, which is a pity because it's much better than watching Top Fuel. Fuel Altereds would be an exciting addition too; I've heard of a few current altered teams who are heading in that direction already, even without an official ANDRA class to run in.

Top Alcohol
Quite interesting, though the rules need an overhaul to get Top Alcohol Funny Car and Top Alcohol Altered competitive again. When was the last time a Rootes blown car won, I wonder?

Pro Stock
What a yawn. Why have a Group One class that's slower than half the Group Two cars? They either need 500 cubes and six second passes, or they should be put into Group Two.

Top Doorslammer
Fantastic. 16-car fields are going to be a must shortly; soon there will be about ten Top Doorslammers based in Perth alone. They're really the best of all world's - fans relate to sedans, they're loud, they go fast, you've got a passenger seat, and they don't cost that much more than Pro Stock to run. 5's at 240 mph aren't that far away either. An interesting question: would Nitro Coupes be an acceptable replacement for Funny Car? Would they fit in Top Doorslammer?

Top Bike
Also great. Seems to have a strong future, as long as they don't do something stupid, such as rule out bikes like Jay Upton's "The Edge". Young fans want to see 4-cylinder bikes (and cars) they can relate to.

Pro Stock Motorcycle

Once again, what a yawn. But then, I'm not really a bike fan, except for Top Bike of course.

On a different note, a while ago you wrote about visiting the Sainty Speed Works shop and had a bunch of photos on their second generation Billet 3-Valve to put up on your website. I was wondering if I could get a few, as I'm quite a Sainty fan and have been trying to keep track of their progress. I'm quite e eager to see how they run on alcohol; Rob Broadbent is supposed to be putting one into his Top Doorslammer shortly.

Cheers.

Good Luck downunder; I know you will accomplish what you want. Talking to some other sources on the Aussie front, I hear they have been threatening that (the elimination of Top Alcohol) for a long time. Probably just want to cut purses or something. But it is hard to compete against Pro Mod type cars, in my opinion. They're still my favourite class of car.

As for my wild weekend in Leo Grocock's Federal-Mogul Dragster, I have to tell you that driving the car was a very cool experience. After the first hit, where I whacked the throttle about six times from 400 feet to 700 feet, I didn't think I'd be able to do it. The burnouts are very cool.

Good luck down there and keep me abreast of everything. Yes, I'm still trying to come down from that first Federal-Mogul Series race at Mission too. It was best I've ever seen.

Sites of The Week:

Week of May 14th:
IdaLou Motorsports

Week of May 21st:
Performance Trends Inc.

To read more information about our current Site of The Week and to find out who all the past Site of The Week are, go to Site of The Week.

Latest News from "660 Online"

Please send us your stories and pictures. For more details, go to 660 Online.

What's New in "Links, Rings and Things"

Five new links. We now have 491 links for your enjoyment.

MB Motorsports - Your Source for Collectibles (added May 10)

Your first choice for diecast collectibles, racing souvenirs and apparel. Loaded with racing news, free newsletter, race links of all kinds. Free product search, specials and much, much more. Stop by today and see for yourself.

Honda17usmx (added May 10)

S&S Racing Team, Conneaut, Ohio. Our motocross site, track info, maps, our pics, results, updated weekly.

Dean's Race Page - Drag Racing Camaros (added May 12)

This site is dedicated to drag racing and our family operated drag race team. We run two Camaros in Sportsman and Gas classes. Sponsored by Norm's Automotive.

Firestorm Jet Funny Car (added May 15)

Firestorm Jet Funny Car based in Rotherham, England, driven by Roger Goring.

The Racers Network (added May 18)

The Racers Network is the #1 ranked site on the internet for Motorsports Classified Advertisements. Sanctioning bodies include: NASCAR, ARCA, ASA, CAER, DIRT, IHRA, IMCA, IRL, ISMA, SCCA, NHRA, SCORE, USAC, STARS, USMS, NST, NASA, Vintage, Sprint, Non-sanctioned Stock, VSCDA, and WKA Go Karts.

Keep those letters coming. See ya at the track.

Konica Winternationals Activity Guide

This guide outlines key activities held in conjunction with the event as a guide for sponsors, corporate guests and other involved parties.

Thursday, June 7

Ipswich Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry Breakfast
7:00 AM - Brothers Leagues Club - Raceview

Attended by 120 - 150 business leaders of the region, this breakfast is sponsored by the Konica Winternationals with event promotional material and a race car displayed at the venue. A representative of Willowbank Raceway will address the breakfast regarding the economic impact and benefits created for the region by the Konica Winternationals. The key guest speaker will be a board member of the Queensland Events Corporation on the subject of the role of the Q.E.C. in supporting regional events in Queensland.
Contact: Ipswich Region Chamber of Commerce & Industry - (07) 3282 8688

Konica Winternationals Carnival
5:00 PM - Ipswich City Centre

Conducted by the Ipswich Events Corporation, the Carnival runs for the entire week leading up to the event with store decorations and CBD retail promotions and competitions. In conjunction with late night trading, Thursday night is the climax of these activities with the main street of Ipswich closed off for the running of the annual billy kart bash. This involves students from surrounding schools racing self made billy karts down the Brisbane Street hill. Street entertainers roam through the crowd throughout the festivities.

At 7:30 PM, following the Billy Kart Bash, the crowds move into the Ipswich mall for more entertainment with fashion parades, car displays, celebrity driver appearances, competitions and giveaways.

At 8:30 PM, following the mall activities, a number of the celebrity drivers will be moving to the Hogs Breath Cafe in Brisbane Street. Fans in the mall will be invited to socialize with the stars at the cafe.
Contact: Ipswich Events Corporation Ltd. - (07) 3812 2974

Friday, June 8

Ipswich City Rotary Breakfast
7:00 AM - Willowbank Raceway

90 to 100 members and guests of the Ipswich City Rotary Club will meet for breakfast in the Bendigo Bank Corporate Club immediately adjacent to the Willowbank Raceway start line. The breakfast will be attended by a number of high profile drivers who will speak to the group and answer questions about the sport and the Konica Winternationals.

Day One Konica Winternationals

Gates open at 8:00 AM with qualifying action for sportsman classes of racing starting on track from 9:30. Trade displays in the concourse area will be manned from 9:00 AM. Corporate Boxes and the Bendigo Bank Corporate Club open from 11:00 AM. The main program with professional category qualifying starts from 5:00 PM and is scheduled to run through to approximately 9:30 PM.

Saturday, June 9

Day Two Konica Winternationals

Gates open again at 8:00 AM with qualifying action for sportsman classes of racing starting on track from 9:30. Corporate boxes and the Bendigo Bank Corporate Club open from 11:00 AM. The main "Ipswich City Council Night of Thunder" program with professional category qualifying and elimination racing for the Supercharged Outlaws category starts from 4:00 PM and is scheduled to run through to approximately 9:30 PM.

Sunday, June 10

Day Three Konica Winternationals

Gates again open at 8:00 AM with elimination racing for sportsman classes of racing starting on track from 9:30. Corporate Boxes and the Bendigo Bank Corporate Club open from 11:00 AM. Kids Carnival activities with entertainers, free face painting and other activities will run from Noon until 4:00 PM in the concourse area behind the main grandstand.

3:00 PM will see the presentation of Top Qualifiers medallions and other special awards by the Australian National Drag Racing Association on the start line. This will be followed at 3:30 PM by a demonstration by Brisbane Skydivers and then a parade of champions which will see dignitaries and racing champions in a convoy of open vehicles parade past the crowd behind the Ipswich Thistle Pipe Band.

At 4:00 PM there will be an aerobatics display above Willowbank Raceway by Australian Champion Pip Boreman. This will be followed by welcome speeches, official opening on the start line and singing of the national anthem by the eighty voices of the award winning Cambrian Choir. Following the official ceremonies, the main race program with professional categories and finals elimination racing for the sportsman classes will begin at 4:30 PM and is scheduled to run through to approximately 9:30 PM.

A fireworks display will signal the running of the final race of the night and the Konica Winternationals will conclude with the presentation of trophies to the event winners and runners up along with the crowning of the Australian Champion in each category.

Hi Bob, how are you doing? Things are going great here at SpeedZone. When are you off to Oz? Really sorry to hear about what's going on downunder.

On a more positive note, I started licensing in Leo Grocock's car this weekend. I made five hits and ran a best of 6.82 at 201 mph. The car had a very soft tune-up in it, but man does that six seconds go by fast. It was unbelievable. The most exciting thing I've ever done.

Talk to you later. Let me know what you are up to.

I didn't know you'd got a Funny Car.

Attracting over 40,000 spectators and up to 500 competing teams, the Konica Winternationals drag racing championships at Willowbank Raceway at Ipswich on June 8th to 10th is not only he flagship event for the sport in Australia, but also the largest drag racing event held each year anywhere in the world outside the U.S.A.

The 2001 edition will be the 34th running of this great event and will again draw competitors and spectators from every State and Territory of Australia. In addition, competitors are also expected from the USA, Canada and New Zealand, with a large number of fans crossing the Tasman to support their countrymen.

The countdown to the 2001 Konica Winternationals is now well and truly on. This is the first of what are planned to be regular general broadcasts leading up to the event to provide relevant information about the race meeting and associated activities to media outlets, sponsors and interested parties.

Further information regarding the Konica Winternationals can be obtained by contacting the Willowbank Raceway office on (07) 3849 6881 or by visiting Willowbank's website.

Konica Winternationals Overview

If you were asked to rank Queensland's biggest annual sporting events in order according to attendance numbers, what two would be at the top of your list? Would you nominate a packed house state of origin Rugby League game (38,500) or international cricket at the Gabba (37,500). Some might look to the reds at Ballymore (24,000) or maybe Eagle Farm (12,000) during the winter racing carnival, but all those answers would be wrong.

The two biggest sporting crowds in Queensland are both drawn by motorsport events. The annual Honda Indycar Grand Prix at Surfers Paradise is clearly the largest, with over 200,000 people attending the four day extravaganza on the Gold Coast, but second in the rankings would probably be a surprise to most except the more than 40,000 people who attend the event.

It's the Konica Winternationals Drag Racing Championships held at Willowbank Raceway outside Ipswich each Queen's Birthday weekend in June. Despite a low media profile, attendances at this event have been on a growth curve of over ten percent per year since the early nineties and now outstrip the additional stick and ball sports.

This year marks the 34th running of the Konica Winternationals. The event has its origins back at the old Surfers Paradise International Raceway which was then the base for the sport of drag racing in the South East Queensland area. When booming residential encroachment spelt the end for the God Coast track in the mid eighties, the Winternationals event was transferred to the new Willowbank Raceway facility at Ipswich.

Since then the event has grown from humble beginnings as a relatively low key regional race meeting into the largest and most successful drag racing event held anywhere in the world outside of the United States of America. Conducted over three days on the Queen's Birthday weekend in June each year, it has attracted over 500 competing race teams and over 40,000 people to the well equipped venue.

Most significantly for Queensland, comprehensive surveys have shown that a large proportion of patrons attending the event come from outside the region. In fact, 19% are from interstate and an additional 3% from overseas with New Zealand providing a large number of the foreign fans. These visitors fill the area's motels and accomodation houses to the brim for an average four to five night stay and inject literally millions of dollars into the state's economy.

While the Konica Winternationals means big turnover and profits for Queensland businesses, for the forty thousand fans who attend the event, it's all about the high speed, action packed racing and entertainment program which spans twelve hours a day for the full three days. It's about 5000 horsepower cars reaching speeds of almost 500 kilometres an hour from a standing start in just four seconds.

It's about riders hanging on to motorcycles at well over 300 kilometres an hour and the chance to walk up and talk to their favourite racers. Surprisingly for a major sporting venue, Willowbank Raceway is a dry track with no alcohol allowed in the public areas. This is deliberately planned to create a pleasant environment that families can enjoy. With children 13 and under admitted free and student concession, it's this family market that the racewau has successfully captured.

Opened sixteen years ago through the efforts of a small, dedicated band of enthusiasts, Willowbank Raceway has been developed progressively over the years and is now widely recognized as Australia's finest drag racing facility. The largest and most successful of the tenants in what has now come to be known as the Ipswich Motorsports Precinct, it boasts extensive pit infrastructure, expanisve grandstands and spectator viewing mound as well as the most well appointed corporate entertainment facilities of any motorsports installation in the country.

The Ipswich Motorsports precinct is council owned land occupied by a number of independent lessees operating various disciplines of motorsport. Drag racing is conducted by Willowbank Raceway Inc., which as a non-profit organization has been able to reinvest all event profits into continually improved facilities since opening day in 1985.

Like most large sporting events these days, the Konica Winternationals involves a lot more than just what happens on the field or track. Raceway Marketing Manager Rob Oberg commented about this years plans. "The core of the weekend is certainly still the final round of the Australian championship sries for every category of the sport, but the reality is we are in the entertainment business.

Rather than just a race meeting, the Konica Winternationals has developed character as an enormous event, a happening covering three days and nights that people want to be at and experience. We have to make sure that the fans from Perth or Auckland are just as keen to come back next year as the family from Ipswich.

"As a result, we are continually adding more and more ingredients into the mix to enhance the event experience for patrons. The race program this year is the best over and the off track entertainment will include a spectactular aerobatics display, sky divers, bands, a parade of champions and fireworks. Street entertainers will be moving through the crowds through the day as another new feature. We've also organized activities like free face painting, and balloons for the kids and there'll even be carnival rides. So, if over thirty six hours of racing doesn't keep people occupied there'll be plenty else for them to enjoy."

Running from Friday June 8th to Sunday June 10th, racing at the Konica Winternationals gets underway from 9:00 AM each day for the sportsman categories, with the main part of the show starting late afternoon and running into the evening. For more information or ticket sales, contact the Willowbank Raceway office on (07) 3849 6881 or log on to Willowbank Raceway.

Promotions

Willowbank Raceway was promotionally very active over the four days of the Labour Day long weekend in May at the Brisbane Hot Rod and Street Machine Spectacular held at the RNA Showgrounds. The "Konica Winternationals Show" benefitted from it's high profile position at the entrance to the pavilion, attracting plenty of interest from the big crowd attending the show.

Staff were kept busy with three day gold pass and grandstand seat sales, along with a constant stream of general enquiries. Literally thousands of ticket brochures were snapped up by patrons along with complimentary event posters. The preview range of Konica Winternationals merchandise produced by Lifestyle Australia also sold well, with many keen to be amongst the first seen wearing a 2001 Konica Winternationals polo or t-shirt. The effectiveness of the promotion was proven when the raceway office was swamped with phone bookings following the show.

The "Konica Winternationals Shop" also operated at the raceway's Coca-Cola Pro Am on May 12th and again a high level of enquiries and strong ticket sales resulted.

The next stop for the "Konica Winternationals Shop" will be on the Gold Coast for the huge annual Car Show and Swap Meet to be held at the Carrara Sports Complex on Sunday, May 27th.

Media

The 2001 Konica Winternationals will benefit from the highest level of media support in the 34 year history of the event. Willowbank Raceway has entered into a number of very strong media partnerships to support the event.

"Triple M presents the Konica Winternationals" is a phrase south east Queensland will hear a lot of in the leadup to the event. This major Brisbane radio station enjoys exceptional reach to our target demographic. An intensive advertising campaign will be supported by Rock Patrol giveaways, Triple M info line announcements and the appearance on Triple M of high profile racers.

As always, television will play a lead role in the raceway's advertising and promotional push, along with post-event exposure. With the support BTQ Seven, the Konica Winternationals television advertising campaign has been extended and will now commence on Thursday, May 31st and continue right through to race day. The number of ad spots booked is more than double previous years.

Event coverage of the 2001 Konica Winternationals will again be spread across three separate one hour episodes of "Willowbank Raceway Drag Racing" broadcast by Seven Queensland and Foxsports. The final pre-event episode of the program goes to air on Foxsports Friday May 18th at 9:30 PM and on Seven Queensland at 1:00 PM Sunday May 20th. The episode contains a major preview of the 2001 Konica Winternationals.

Ipswich newspaper "The Queensland Times" has committed to strong support of the event with numerous lead-up articles which commenced this week. A major, four page wrap around about the Konica Winternationals is planned for day one of the event on Friday June 8th. The Queensland Times on Saturday the 9th will contain a huge event insert complete with qualifying results and more from the previous day's action.

Pre-Sales

Strong pre-sales demand demonstrates the continuing popularity of the Konica Winternationals. As always, Willowbank Raceway's Corporate Centre is booked out for the 2001 Konica Winternationals while sales for the Bendigo Bank Corporate Club facility are also going well, with a sellout expected. The Travelaire Tours Start Line Club was fully booked within months of last year's event. Reserved grandstand seats have also sold well again, with only a limited number still available.

Official travel agent of the event, Travelaire Tours, reports strong interstate and overseas sales with accomodation within a 25 kilometre radius of the raceway already booked out.

Hi Bob. Greetings from Seattle. I typed "Rick Rojatt" into a search engine and found your site, but I didn't see anything on your site about him. He was "The Human Fly". Anyway, if you could tell me more about him, or perhaps how I could get in touch with him, that'd be great. Thanks.

Thanks for the info about Jack Williams. But I don't think I've told you what this is all about.

Back in the early to mid 60's, the Quarter Milers ran an unsanctioned drag strip on the Bamberton Cement Road north of Victoria (BC). Then in the late 60's a private guy built Van-Isle Dragways (NHRA sanctioned) in Cobble Hill (also north of Victoria). The Island Dragways Promoters took over Van Isle and operated it until the land was sold for residential development in the early 70's.

Many well known racers ran at Van Isle, including Jack Williams, Gary Beck, Tommy Ivo, Frank Pedregon (Sr.), Jerry Ruth and many others from the Pacific Northwest.

Some of the old Quarter Milers and Island Dragway Promoters have recently come together and we are putting on a reunion which will be held in Victoria during the weekend of September 13-15, 2002. There will be a car show featuring nostalgia drag race cars, a Friday night social where old racers can re-unite and view lots of neat nostalgia stuff and tell war stories and on Saturday night there will be a banquet and dance featuring the Time Benders, who are one of Canada's best known nostalgia bands.

We have already located some significant cars from that era and are spending lots of time looking for more old racers and their cars. We have already received interest from old racers all over the Pacific Northwest. We will soon be announcing a host hotel and there will be lots of announcements over the coming year.

if you are interested, I'll keep you on the e-mail list and perhaps you can help us find some of the old racers. Let me know.

PS: Almost forgot to mention an intersting website. Check out Quarter Milers and you will find lots of old photos of San Cobble and Van Isle Dragways. We will be setting up a drag strip reunion site in the next few months.

Hi Bob. Just stopped in to check your progress and read your latest "What's New". Are you sure these rumours are valid? I cannot remember the number of times I've heard truckloads of rubbish come from "reputable" people. Strangely enough, they always seem to surface when things are quiet and there is not much to talk about.

I did admire your honesty in your article, regarding the public seeing Top Alcohol as a slow Top Fuel. I was lucky enough to sit with industry colleagues in a corporate box at the last Winternationals. Everyone there didn't know drag racing and I was a little shocked by their perceptions. Top Alcohol was identical to Top Fuel in their eyes, only "duds" because the exhaust didn't catch fire.

The other shocker was Pro Stock. These people thought they were the same as Super Sedan but just American cars. And because the American Cars were faster, they preferred Super Sedan because at least they were Australian. The final surprise came with their impatience with oildowns. With the third arrival of the tractor came some very verbal comments. Remember that these poeple had come for free and were enjoying free beer and food, yet still complained at the lack of action.

Bob, if you get the chance, pop into a corporate box and hear what is being said. I'm sure it will peel your eyes back.

Yes, I received a ticket to go last week, so I hope the weather is fine. Will I see you there? Regards.

While the Etterman Racing Federal-Mogul Funny Car may be one of the fastest cars in the country, the team and it's driver Marc White have not had exactly the year they have wanted. Coming into this weekend's NHRA Division 3 Federal Mogul Drag Racing Series event at the famed Indianapolis Raceway Park, they hope to snap their string of semifinal finishes with a win this weekend to maintain their lead in Division 3 points.

White, from Glendale Heights, Illinois, has made it only to the semifinals at his past two divisional races. His first divisional race, a Division 2 race in Gainesville, Florida, was used mainly as a 'testing' race, so the semifinal finish wasn't that big a deal to the team.

The next divisional for the team was the Division 3 opener at Route 66 Raceway, just outside of Chicago, and White's home track. White took the No. 1 qualifying spot with an elapsed time of 5.688 seconds at 250.69 mph, but lost in the semifinals when his 2001 Firebird launched into severe tireshake. This weekend, White hopes to get things going in the right direction.

"We're going to try to do the same thing we do at every race we go to," said White. "We're going to try to get the car to run as fast as it can, but we obviously need the car to be a little more consistent. That's been our downfall. The car runs fast, but the consistency is not where we want it to be right now."

White also feels the new racing surface at IRP may be another hurdle all the teams will have to contend with. With that in mind, he is concerned that his tireshake problem may be tougher than normal to get rid of.

"Our problem in Joliet was that we just misread the race track," commented White. "Our problem going into Indy is that the track has been resurfaced, so we have no idea what to expect. With it recently being resurfaced, I don't think it will be real good. In fact, the track might be a little green. It will be an interesting race."

"We'll be happy with whatever the race track allows us to do," continued White. "We always like to think we can run 5.70's - 5.80's anywhere we go, so we'll have those numbers in our head, but if the race track won't allow those numbers, we just want to run faster than everybody else."

Qualifying will begin at 4 p.m. Friday for the Federal-Mogul Funny Cars, with two more sessions on Saturday. Final eliminations will conclude the event on Sunday. Stay tuned to www.SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of the action from Indy.

For more information on the Etterman Racing Team, visit their new website at EttermanRacing.com. EttermanRacing.com is a part of the RacerPage.com Network.

The HotRodder.com website is now all moved over to the new server. Members, please check to make sure everything is working okay on your personal site and you can login to your directory. We hope it didn't incovenience anyone too much.

Classified Ads:

Vehicles looking for new homes:
1935 Ford 4-Door street rod; 1946 Ford Coupe; 1957 Chevy 150; 1971 Dodge Demon drag car; 1951 Chevy Sedan Delivery; 1923 Ford T-Bucket; 1939 Chevy truck; late 60's front-engine dragster. Find more for sale and wanted items at: Classifieds.

Are you a little nervous about buying a car from an online ad or auction? Then you should check out Vehicle Escrow. This service accepts payment for the vehicle while the buyer checks it out. If the buyer finds that the car isn't what was promised, he gets the money back when the seller gets the car back. If the buyer accepts the car, the money is released to the seller. All for a fee, of course, but it's worth the peace of mind.

Members of the Week:

Mean Mr. Mopar with his '63 Polara.

Ronnie's '70 Chevelle page.

Check out these member's sites and send them a note to let them know you were there.

Events Calendar:

Planning your family vacation with a car show or motorsport event? Then cruise over to our Events Calendar. Upcoming events include a truck and car show in Eu Claire, Wisconsin. An ADRA race in Cordova, Illinois. Super Chevy Show at the Texas Motorplex, and the Autopilots Air and Auto Show in Riga, Latvia. To find out dates and all other info, just go to the event page. There's also a link on that page where you can submit your local event.

And I'll be in Union Grove, Wisconsin this coming weekend for the Drag News magazine Bracket All-Star race. You'll find me handing out goodie bags to all the racers. Stop in and say "Hi". If you'd like to enter that race, find the information at Drag News.

If you plan on heading to any of those events, you might find this website very helpful. This site is the #1 source for truck drivers and driver's jobs. It also has a fantastic link which lists state road conditions and construction. (Find it on the left side of the homepage). Plan your trips to avoid construction bottlenecks this summer.

Slick Site:

Someday when you have several hours to spend on the computer, surf over to the "How Stuff Works" website. This amazing site has hundreds, or probably thousands of answers to how just about everything under the sun works. No kidding! Find out how engines, brakes, cable modems, wiretapping, CDs, lock picking, video games and champ cars work. I love it.

Well, that's it folks. Until next month... I think I'm just going to give up trying to get this newsletter out at the first of the month. Heck, that's when everyone else puts out theirs anyway, so why can't I be different, right?

Hello. My name is Shaun Vermeersch, also known as the Quick Times Webmaster. I've received your request for corrections, and will make them sometime today. The website is undergoing a lot of changes right now, and it is difficult to keep some things straight sometimes. I do apologize for this mistake, as it has come about because I've been so busy in the past few weeks. The changes that I will make today, will include: spelling corrections, website descriptions, hyperlink URL's will be verified.

You may send me a description of your website, if you would like. If you choose not to do so, I will copy some information from your site to give others a brief description of your website before they enter. And thank you for noticing the title of Quicktimes homepage. It is not actually the homepage, but the navigation page. But through the process of deciding how the navigation structure should go, it hadn't been renamed yet.

May 20 - 21    27th Annual Season Opener
May 27    Test 'n' Tune & Junior Dragsters
May 28    Snap-On/VP Fuels ET Racing Series

These dates are for Sunday and Monday. Is that right? I took this from your website. I just want to doublecheck on this, for there are some friends of mine coming down from Washington. Thanks in advance.

John Vouros and his CompetitionPlus.com - Hunter Machine Firebird took a break from the Mother's Day celebrations to hit the track for some testing before the next IHRA national event. Vouros, a successful machine shop owner from Victor, New York decided to head to his home track (New York International Raceway Park) the home of the Empire Nationals for his Mother's Day test sessions.

"I know it's a holiday to spend with family, but my family understands my commitment to winning. They understand my time is limited. Between work and my home life racing has to take a part somewhere. So when the opportunity comes to better my racing team, I have to take it. Whether it's Mother's day, Christmas, or whenever. I have already made plans with my wife, Lynne, and daughters, Kasey and Heather, to spend next weekend together," said Vouros.

On this Sunday veteran crew chief Tom Anderson was able to give his undivided attention to Vouros and his CompetitionPlus.com - Hunter Machine team. Normally Anderson performs his crew chief duties with John's Funny Car, then heads over to consult on Mike Janis' Pro Mod. According to veteran tuner Tom Anderson, "Mike Janis was supposed to be here but I think he must be camping."

Vouros and Anderson decided the test sessions were needed to test their new SSI supercharger. With the competition so tight in the IHRA.com Pro Funny Car division, Vouros and his team are always looking for that extra edge. Anderson has been working closely with SSI testing new supercharger designs with great results as of late. "Since that other supercharger company came out with their new "Superman" blower last year, SSI has been working to one up them. I think they now have the Kryptonite for that Superman," said Anderson.

On the first run Vouros immediately shook the tires throwing the blower belt. The exiting belt damaged the injector hat. After assessing the damage Anderson and Vouros' creative thinking salvaged the pieces and made it possible to continue testing.

The second attempt saw much improvement. Although dealing with a slippery track Vouros was able to wrestle his way to the finish line with an impressive 5.95 - 226.35 pass.

On the third attempt, again a blower belt exited the vehicle. The car looked to be on a good pass when the belt let go about the 1000 foot mark considerably slowing the car to a 5.98 - 223 pass.

On the fourth and fifth attempts, Vouros once again had to struggle with weather and track conditions. Shaking the tires and getting sideways respectively.

"I know we didn't rotate the earth here, but I feel this test session put us in the right direction. This SSI blower puts out a lot of boost. These runs let us dial our Tom Anderson Enterprises (TAE) fuel system to the new blower. Plus, any extra seat time I can get only makes me a better driver," said the 35 year old Vouros.

"Believe it or not we learned a lot here today. The numbers might not be impressive to everyone, but that's why you test. Racing isn't just a weekend sport; it's a full time job. Days like today only make a team better on race day. We made runs today that will help us down the road," said Anderson.

Vouros currently holds the number four spot in the IHRA points chase. He hopes to improve that at the upcoming Mopar Performance Parts Canadian Nationals. The 2nd Annual Mopar Performance Parts Canadian Nationals will be held June 1-3 at the Grand Bend Motorplex in Grand Bend, Ontario, Canada.

For more information on John Vouros go to his website, a 1320 Web Services web site. And for all of your drag racing news log onto drag racing's largest internet magazine Competition Plus.

The weather is cool nights and warm days - typical. Dry as well. Looks like we'll have a great Winternationals in just a few weeks.

The Top Alcohol "situation" is pretty much as you reported, according to what I'm hearing from various parties. Not standing around waiting for the axe to fall is Mark Brew, who's putting Brackam's car back together to run for the first time this year, just to show the doubters how good the racing can be.

Just think back to last year's T/A show at the Winters -- the best of the meet. Quick numbers and close racing; it doesn't get any better than we had then; but that was not enough, if you believe everything you've been told.

Drag racing in Australia is run by a bunch of former sedan racers who think no one wants to see anything but sedans. Two years ago, the marketing manager of one of the major tracks told me that due to declining attendance numbers, the push was towards sedans (or Funny Cars) or sedan appearing vehicles. The thought was to capitalize on the success of the Group A (sports) cars.

Their position is supported by the now infamous "Ipswich Report", where a survey was done at Willowbank Raceway that showed after Top Fuel, that Top Doorslammer was the most popular class. Unfortunately the survey was done incorrectly.

Two problems occur: One, instead of doing it as an exit survey as the people went out the gate, the surveyers went into the pits to solicit the responses. Second, I'm not sure the questions were worded carefully enough, but it did not help that when the survey was done it was done in the doorslammer pit area only and didn't extend throughout the pits. I wonder why they got the response they did, eh?

Making important long term marketing decisions based on flawed data is dangerous and can cause decades of problems. Good marketing firms are very careful to gather good information, as making decisions on bad information can cause great damage.

I have to question how many people who were surveyed actually knew the difference between a Top Fuel car and a Top Alcohol car. I have some spectators confuse the "School" car for a Top Fuel car, so for the novice it is very easy to confuse similar looking cars.

Bob, the top of my soapbox is getting thin as I have been up there too long; so long that even before I speak (or write a letter), everyone already knows my position and tunes out.

Thanks a lot (for the info on torquing beadlock wheels), Bob. We ran the car on Saturday to shake out some of the bugs. The track wasn't in the best of shape; I didn't measure the surface temperature, but if felt like about room temp. The car spun hard off the line, shook and Serge lifted, then spun hard from the 1/8th mile to the end and still ran 6.38 at 218 mph.

The motor was really fat and had two holes out at the hit, but I couldn't have pushed it any harder with the track conditions. I hope it gets better, but the big problem is the dust blowing over from the pits on the top end; that's not going to get better until they fix the pits (or at least water it down).

We checked the car over, and everything looks fine, so we're ready for Spokane this coming Saturday.

Click here to read the "clickable" version.

Drag Racing Stories of The Day

May 14
Early Lineup for the 2001 CHRR Cacklefest. Steve Gibbs gives us the rundown on the legendary fuel cars that will be at the 2001 California Hot Rod Reunion, plus many enticing entries who might be there.

May 13
Pro Nitro Series to Share the Gate with "Racer Partners". The gang at Pro Nitro sent us this note to describe a unique way to distribute income to nostalgia racers that might be the wave of the future for racer payouts.

May 12
Early Match Race Funny Car Action from Phenix City. Star Racing's Jerry Battle provides photos and words of the Mr. Norm versus Tommy McNeely in 1965.

May 11
Northwest Drag Racing Reunion Coming in 2002. Rick Gonder is looking for Northwest Drag Racing heroes as he begins to pull together a major drag racing reunion for rain country racers and fans.

May 10
Fireforce Finds The Fives. Andy Marrs reports that Martin Hill recently became the first five second Jet Funny Car outside the United States.

May 9
Top 10 Reasons Top Fuel Racing in the "Golden Era" Was Way Cooler Than It Is Now. Jerry "G-Man" Gross lays down his top ten list of reasons fuel racing was more fun in the past.

May 8
Haight & Richardson Hit First Goodguys Jackpot in Las Vegas to claim Top Fuel at 1st Spring Nitro Classic. John Drummond provides all the action from Goodguys' premier nostalgia drag racing events.

Drag Racing Pictures of The Day

May 14
Judy Lilly's Super Stock Plymouth Barracuda. Pete Garramone provides another crystal clear photo, this one featuring "Miss Mighty Mopar."

May 13
Terrifying Toronado Lived Up to its Name. Paul Hutchins provides a 1966 shot of one of the most unpredictable cars in drag racing history.

May 12
Howard Haight Smokes 'Em in Las Vegas. Mark Hovsepian continues to dazzle us with absolutely gorgeous photos of the top nostalgia drag racing stars. Here's Top Fuel veteran Howard Haight winning the Goodguys Nitro Nationals.

May 11
Joe Clement Takes the Plunge and Warms It Up. Funny Car veteran Joe Clement sent along these photos from a test session in which he caught his new alcohol funny car on fire.

May 10
Blown VW -- is This the World's Baddest Bug? John Baremans sent us this shot of a wicked supercharged VW from down under.

May 9
Sunday! The Yankee Peddler versus Landy's Dodge. Joel Naprstek was there for a match race between the two A/Factory Experimental kingpins in the summer of '65.

May 8
Dave Gruzen's Blown Nostalgia Eliminator '23 Model T Hangs Out the Laundry. Jim Sorenson captured a great top end parachute shot of the cool Mosley & Gruzen blown altered nostalgia car.

Drag Racing Movies of The Week

May 14
Lindsay Deuchar - Europe's Top Alcohol Independent. Sharkman hooks us up with a nice side by side clip of Top Methanol Dragster action.

May 13
Steve Kitchen's Bad Burnout on the Bud Bike. Carl Witt gives us one for the bike fans.

Good evening, Bob. I hope that you are well. This is just a note to let you know that 146 pictures from Super Series #1 (at Shakespeare County Raceway) are now available for viewing at Tog's Drag Racing. Hope you enjoy them; look out for the shot of Smax Smith on fire and gasp with horror as Al Bates points a Fuel Funny Car at your fearless photographer.

My goodness.... featuring doorslammers??? WITHOUT blowers?? Way to Go! Haha.

Can you tell me what we are supposed to torque the 5/16" n.c. bolts to on the bead lock wheel rings? I was using 225 inch lbs. (19 ft. lbs.) but have broken a few bolts. Maybe I should use Grade 5 bolts instead of Grade 8, so they're not so brittle.

Hi, Bob. Thanks for the nice photo spread and accompanying comments... all except one of them. "Hough and Shields backing up from a burnout"... NOT! I don't take shots of cars backing up, unless the person directing the backing is worthy of a photo of her own.

Shields was indeed this far ahead in the first round of qualifying. Anyways, no big deal. See you.

Take a look at our Team Mission photo page, updated from the NHRA Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series at Mission Raceway, May 4-6. All photos taken by yours truly. Enjoy.

Hi Bob. We will be "up" for the Winternationals this year. Tony (Brooks) and I will be there. If you need a hand, don't be afraid to ask.

I paid a phone call visit to the guys at Duggans, to thank them for looking after you. Has Mr. Harrison done anything about the block(s)? I noticed your "bonus photos" has a picture of Rob's new Beretta. Looks different with the scoop to one side. But he must be making the horsepower to be competitive.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Winters. I downloaded the first startup video and it sounds tough. A different sound to a hemi (even through a video).

Mike Janis and his Weber's Mustard - Jan-Cen Racing Engines team are pleased to announce the addition of Liteglow Industries Inc. to their list of sponsors.

Team owner and Driver Mike Janis had this to say. "I'm happy to be involved with the people from Liteglow. Our racing team was looking for a unique way for us to stand out above the crowd of Pro Modifieds. I think that our teaming up with Liteglow will do just that. We plan on debuting our new sponsorship at the 2nd annual Mopar Parts Canadian Nationals in Grand Bend, Ontario, Canada. I really feel that with the help of Liteglow my team will be able to electrify the crowd."

Liteglow President Mike Krumholz also feels that this unique marketing venture will be something to see. "I am really excited about the sponsorship of Mike's team. They are looking to stand out and I can guarantee that with Liteglow's help they will. I'm looking forward to the feed back we receive on this venture. We hope that with Mike's help Liteglow can reach a broader market."

Liteglow Industries, of Pompano Beach, Florida, is a manufacturer and designer of products for the automotive and electronic aftermarket. Liteglow's product base includes an assortment of neon automobile accessories such as license plate frames, undercar neon light kits, gear shift knobs, and neon speaker rings. Also included are numerous types of fog and driving lights and other exciting items such as strobe lights, light dancers, lighted dice and blacklights.

For complete information on all new customer products by Liteglow Industries, check out their website.

Bob, I forgot to look at the Sunday pictures. Lo and behold, we are on there. Wow, I feel you have a soft spot for us to put a bracket car on your site. (LOL!)

As for me not driving on the weekend: it's nice to sit out a race once in a while, especially the big race. I seem to see more that way. I will be back racing at Mission on the 19th and 20th of this month and looking forward to it since our last race was April 21-22. One month between races is too loooong.

Well, you take care, and see you next month at the second MRP divisional event. Til then... bye bye.

Just read your report and the pictures look great. You are a great writer. I was very disappointed with the media coverage, as they hardly mentioned a race at MRP. The TV had all Don Murray on BCTV (Wednesday) and mentioned nothing of the races at Mission. All it was about was Murray and the CPSA. The only ones who really pushed it was Rock 101 and CFOX. So that's my gripe of the week.

I can't figure out if you're getting soft, or Frechette desperate. Nice job, though.

There's a newsletter update at the Team Mission website. Photos to follow later this week.

Photos taken at car shows don't usually turn out that well, but here it is anyway. I'll send you a photo from the track as soon as I get one.

We're planning to test this weekend, then race on the 19th in Spokane. We don't have any races booked until June 22, but we're hoping to get some. We'll have to decide if we want to come to Mission to test at the points race, as there's not a hope that we'll qualify unless a bunch of guys don't show up.

ATTN: The Managing Director/CEO

Dear Sir:

REQUEST FOR URGENT CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP OF THE TRANSFER OF $45,560,000.00 (USD).

I hope this letter will not embarass you since we have not had any previous communication. I got your reference from the Nigeria Exports Promotion Council (NEPC) and went further to have it confirmed by your country's trade department under private inquiry that is not related to my aim of writing you this letter.

I, on behalf of my other colleagues from different Federal Government of Nigeria owned parastatals decided to solicit your assistance as regards the transfer of the above stated amount into your bank account. This fund arose from the over-invoicing of various contracts awarded in my parastatals to certain foreign contractors some time ago.

We as holders of official positions in various parastatals, were mandated by this new civilian government to scrutinize all payments made to certain foreign contractors by the past military government and we discovered that some of the contracts they executed were grossly over-invoiced, either by omission or commission. Also, we discovered that the sum of $65,560,000 (USD) was lying in a suspense account, although the foreign contractors were fully paid their entitlements after executing the said contracts.

We all agreed that the over-invoiced amount be transferred (for our own use) into a bank account provided by a foreign partner, as the code of conduct of the Federal Civil Service does not allow us to operate foreign accounts.

However, we have succeeded in transferring some of this money, precisely $20,000,000 (USD) into a foreign account in Geneva, Switzerland last week. But unfortunately, the provider of the account has severed all forms of contacts with us as he has refused to adhere to our earlier mutual agreement insisting that the total amount be paid into his nominated bank account before disbursement will take ffect. If for $20 million we are not compensated, how can one guarantee full compensation on remittance of the balance of $45.56 million?

We are therefore seeking your assistance based on the balance amount of $45.56 million, which can be speedily processed and fully remitted into your nominated bank account. On successful remittance of the funds into your account, you will be compensated with 25% of the amount for assitance and services and 5% set aside for expenses contingency.

This transaction is closely knitted and in view of our SENSITIVE POSITION we cannot afford a slip. I assure you that this transaction is 100% risk free. We will avail you with our identities as regards our respective offices, when a relationship is fully established and smooth operation commences.

I am at your disposition to entertain any question(s) from you in respect of this transaction, so contact me immediately through my email address only, for further information on the requirements and procedure.

Please note that the DEAL needs utmost confidentiality and your immediate response by sending us your private telephone and fax numbers respectively will be highly appreciated and we will use our own share of the money to establish a lucrative firm in your country.

Yours truly, Alhaji Tanko Dangote

Well, things did not go to plan!..... Check out our sad tale of woe at LA Racing.

I'm looking for Australian two-barrel closed chamber cylinder heads for a 351 Cleveland engine. Can you help me? What is the price if you have them or where can I find them if you don't? Thank you.

How can I send a joke to a friend via email?

From hero to zero would best describe the weekend Federal-Mogul Dragster driver David Wells had at this past weekend's NHRA Division 5 Federal Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas.

Wells came into the event hot off a win at Route 66 Raceway in his Blue Bunny Ice Cream "Plain Vanilla" Blown Alcohol Dragster. With event officials canceling one of the qualifying sessions due to bad weather forecasts, qualifying was cut short to two sessions. Wells experienced transmission failures in both sessions.

"We had a transmission problem that we didn't diagnose right in the first round," said Wells, of LeMars, Iowa. "It had a second problem in it besides the one we fixed on Friday. It rolled the sprag on both runs. They kind of cut us short on qualifying, and we just didn't get back in there. We're just done for this weekend. We could have got it down through there if we had had one more run," added Wells. "We just have to pick up from here, and keep going."

Wells' next event will be back at Heartland Park Topeka, for the Advance Auto Parts Nationals to be held Memorial Day weekend.

Yeah, they (the photos I sent) took about two whole minutes to upload on my ADSL. Can't complain. I'm glad you like the pics, and I look forward to seeing them posted on your site. If you are doing a "bonus" page, how about a pic or two of the SS and Stock cars that ran the quick times? I can get them to you right away, by this evening, if you let me know what you want.

At this stage, I don't plan to be at Mission for the June FMDRS race at all, as that is our weekend in Portland for the CART race. Yes, I do all forms of motorsport, especially when national publications want stuff enough to pay me for it. Writing and taking photos of cars, racing or otherwise, is all I do. Imagine that...

Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Shelly Howard had everything going her way until about the 300 foot mark in the final round of this past weekend's NHRA Division 5 Federal Mogul Drag Racing Series opener at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas. Howard, the No. 1 qualifier, took a huge .439 to .492 holeshot against her final round opponent Bruce Bowler, but was rendered helpless when something in her transmission let go.

Howard, a registered nurse from Tulsa, Oklahoma, qualified her Tom Conway tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster No. 1 with a 5.558 second elapsed time at 254.18 mph. In round one, she ran low e.t. of the event in taking out No. 9 qualifier Randy Meyer with a 5.532 at 254.38 mph. Howard nearly duplicated that mark in the semifinals with a 5.536 at 256.36 mph to defeat Sergio Recio.

In her final round matchup with Bowler, after taking the holeshot, she had extended her lead to the 60 foot clocks before her problems set in. Bowler took the win with a 5.571 at 252.21 mph. With the starting line advantage Howard gained, she only needed to run a 5.624 to beat Bowler.

"The car was on a really good run," said Howard. "It started to shake at the top of low gear, and when I went to punch second, something let go inside the transmission and it hit the rev-limiter. It's not really a quality issue with the transmission, it's just that these things happen in racing, and it was our turn this time. It's really a shame that it had to happen then, because it was on a better run than the .53's we had run earlier. Nonetheless, we still improved our Division 4 points total, so it was not a total loss."

With the runner-up finish, Howard increased her points lead to 48 points over second place Troy Buff, with one more event in Division 4 remaining. "It really helped to get the points here," commented Howard. "The points chase in Division 4 could go down to the wire, and every little bit you gain really helps."

Howard and team will return to Heartland Park Topeka, for their next event, the Advance Auto Parts Nationals to be held on Memorial Day Weekend. With a solid baseline, Howard looks forward to returning.

"We had a pretty good race this weekend here," commented Howard. "Everything went pretty smooth until the final. We have a pretty good baseline to go by, so that is always good going into an event. It is a new race and a new ball game though. If the weather and track conditions aren't similar, we really won't be able to use much of the data we learned this weekend. That's where Tom Conway's tuning experience really come into play. We're looking forward to it."

For more information on the Howard team, visit their website at shellyhoward.com. Please visit Howard's sponsor, RacerPage.com, Drag Racing's leader in website design and marketing.

Wish I had been at Mission over the weekend. We may still come down for the show at the end of June as long as we're willing to spend the travel money, etc., knowing that there is no chance that we'll qualify. We'll have to see how the next month and a half goes.

By the way, I saw the new photos of your car. It looks really good. I'll send you some photos of ours when I can; it's all done in candy blues, yellow, orange and is pretty bright.

We're testing here this coming weekend and are going to slide down to Spokane on May 19th. Don't have anything else booked until the next points race in Mission. Of course we have nothing to do for two months, then July and August will be crazy. Good luck in Australia; I hope you get your license done and you get to do some racing.

The results, timing data and points standings after round two of the MSA British Drag Racing Championship can now be found on the ETMRA (European Top Methanol Racers Association) website. Best regards.

How do you open Larry's video ? It has a .ram extension, and is only 87 bytes in size when I download it. Do I need a special kind of software to run this?

Click here to read the "clickable" version.

DRL Reaches 136,000+ in April. More and more drag racers and fans are finding their way to www.draglist.com these days, and we are glad to have you. The independent Hitbox statistics service reports that we had 136,443 page views from 39,513 drag racers and fans. That's our biggest month ever by nearly 20,000 hits.

Thanks again for making The Drag Racing List part of your regular surfing schedule. We really appreciate it. I know that readership will start to wane a little bit now that the weather's getting better and the season has begun. But don't forget to check in with us on weekdays to see what's happening. Who knows, maybe we'll have a story on what you did during the weekend. And remember racers, we want to run your stories. Tell us how your season is coming and we'll get it up as a story of the day. See ya.

Drag Racing Stories of The Day

May 7
Dunn, Frank Pedregon, Yates, Brown and Panella Leave Georgia with Wins. NHRA.com provides final eliminations results from the 2001 Advance Auto Parts NHRA Southern Nationals.

May 6
Toliver, Bernstein, Anderson, Hines and Panella Qualify No. 1 at Advance Auto Parts NHRA Southern Nationals. NHRA.com provides final pro qualifying results from Atlanta.

May 5
NHRA Atlanta 2001 - Friday Qualifying Results. NHRA.com provides first day qualifying results from the 2001 Advance Auto Parts NHRA Southern Nationals.

May 4
Bruce Larson's USA-1 Dragfest Moves to November. Joel Naprstek reports that the East Coast's favorite nostalgia bench racing event has moved to late fall from early spring, but you still have to be there!

May 3
Tommy Ivo's Kindness. Bob Plumer describes a meeting with Tommy Ivo that shows why he was truly one of the top stars in drag racing history.

May 2
Kalitta, Capps and Anderson Win Inaugural MAC Tools NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. NHRA.com provides complete professional category coverage from Bristol.

May 1
The Scoop on the Sport's Latest Top Fueler. Dave Stevens fills us in on his and Ray Heathcoe's new fueler, currently undergoing testing in anticipation of its national event debut.

Drag Racing Pictures of The Day

May 7
Rick Johnson in the Custom Body Enterprises Dodge Funny Car. James Morgan has plenty of shots of the northeast's baddest funny car over the years. Here's one from the Rick Johnson era.

May 6
Kalitta, Prudhomme and McCulloch - Clowning Around. Greg Gage captured this terrific photo of three of the sport's legendary personalities clowning around in the pits.

May 5
Two Legends of Drag Racing - Don Garlits and C.J. 'Pappy' Hart. Dan Kaplan caught the two living legends in the pits recently and captured this priceless photo.

May 4
Little Mouse? Not in this '48 Fiat Blown Altered. Ernie Broughton caught this pit shot of a blown small block Chevy-powered '48 Fiat altered with a BIG attitude problem.

May 3
Bill Dailey's Pegasus Fuel Funny Car, 1985. Dennis Roetman provides another great Division 4 shot, this one of Bill Dailey's fuel match racer.

May 2
Secret Weapon - Army Jeep Fuel Funny Car. Daryl Huffman provides a pit shot of the funny car that thrilled fans until the NHRA banned it.

May 1
State Boy! Stan Bowman's Ohio State Patrol Fuel Funny Car. Bob Strait provides another of his outstanding Ohio funny car photos.

Drag Racing Movies of The Week

May 7
Steve Kitchen's Bad Burnout on the Bud Bike. Carl Witt gives us one for the bike fans.

May 6
Top Fuel versus Funny Car, British Style. Sharkman grabbed this footage of a fueler racing a funny car at the Santa Pod Cannonball in April.

Hi Bob. I will ahve some photos for you by mid-day tomorrow. They are primarily your favourite two classes, but if you want anything of Stock, Super Stock, Comp, Top Comp, I should have it. Let me know what you would like.

While I remember to mention it, all I'd ask is you credit me for each photo. Thanks.

A friend of mine and myself started crunching the idea of tubular valves back in high school (1991-1992). We thought we were the only one's with this concept.... guess not. We thought of some of the drawbacks of valving an engine this way, such as port velocity, timing, and torque production from one to infinite rpm.

We decided it would be best to "sleeve" the valves with a thin tube that would "time" the cycles and make port sizing functional while running, allowing for better torque production. We came up with a few more ideas that would possibly increase the functionality of this concept, but I cannot give away all the secrets. Ha Ha.

Hope you guys get the bugs worked out!

Hi, I was reading the talk about the great Ken Carter doco (documentary) "The Devil At Your Heels", and you said you wanted to get a hold of a copy of the video. Well, it was made by the National Film Board of Canada, directed by Robert Fortier in 1981 (102 minutes). So it shouldn't be too hard to get hold of, especially since you live in Canada (at least part of the time).

I just saw it in an amazing film festival here in New Zealand, "The Beck's Incredible Film Festival" (yep, lots of German lager being doused). Here's a link to the festival website.

You could contact them to see where they got their copy from. See ya.

I'm passing this on because it makes sense... what else can the average Canadian do about paying 70 cents (or more) for gasoline? The following was sent by an economist within the fuel industry. Another economics professor at "Cal" reiterated the same last week. I think it's worth trying.

Hi Bob. Your email back got scrambled. Could you resend it? Especially the part pertaining to the alky setup questions, and overbalancing. Thanks.

Wow! What a great drag site you have. The photos, the explosions, the links; my god man, (or woman) do you ever rest? (Just kidding!) No guestbook, so I just had to write and thank you for providing me a few nights or more of entertainment.

I love the drags too; I have a small site of pics but none as interesting as yours. I was just wondering, you have no site banner to have as a link, or do you? Well, if you have one I missed, please send it over, okay? Thanks.

PS: Again, thanks, your hard work is really being put to good use here.

Well Bob, thanks for all the answers (see below), especially the link. Could you add that link on your site (hope it lasts for a while) and stick something on there like "The Hottest Run Ever".

It's the only way to get 100% back; campaign for it. You know we all want faster and faster. Face it NHRA, these guys have the safest records in the business. I really was charged up about the 4.5 second runs until your note.

Thanks for giving me a bit of perspective on the sport. I may even spring for a subscription to Hot Rod. It is still the king of rags for the drag race fan.

Bob, when you say that "he backed it up within 1% at the same event", are there any other rules associated with that run? Did he run 100% nitro based on a deviation from the rule or was it always okay in 1999 to run 100% nitro? Did he have to replace or rebuild the engine after that hot a run? Do you know if he was running a Keith Black engine? Did he have a sponsor? Oil? I'm just quite curious about that run.

Non-stop drag racing action all weekend long, hosting some of the World's Fastest Pro Modified cars, as well as Pro Comp and Carl McQuillen Super Gas Series. Also featuring Super Mario vs. Phantom Het Funny Cars tearing down Cayuga's 1/4 mile at speeds over 500 kmh.

Prices: Friday $15; Saturday $35; Sunday $35; Weekend pass $60. Children under 12 free. Track phone (905) 772-0303. Cayuga Dragway.

Bob, is the Mike Dunn 5.219 ET a world record for Top Fuel? If not, can you let me know who has the fastest, officially recorded, Top Fuel ET?

Hi. Just a quick note to say we are off to Avon Park (Shakespeare County Raceway) this weekend. No idea what will happen. Check out the latest news at LA Racing.

Just one week after picking up his first win of the year, former Division 5 Champion David Wells hopes to get his second at this weekend's NHRA Division 5 Federal Mogul Drag Racing Series opener at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas.

Last weekend, Wells won the Division 3 opener at Route 66 Raceway just outside of Chicago, and will be looking to extend his early Division 5 points lead this weekend. Wells, from LeMars, Iowa, feels that he has most of the 'bugs' worked out of some of his newer parts they have tried for this season, and is looking forward to returning to Heartland Park Topeka. He also wants to win the race to keep his momentum up going into the Division 5 season.

"The early races we have ran this year were just to get ready for Division 5," said Wells. "I think we pretty well got a handle on the car now, so it's just a matter of keeping it going like that."

At Wells' last outing at Heartland Park Topeka, last year's Advance Auto Parts Nationals, Wells dipped down into the 5.40's. The Blue Bunny Ice Cream "Plain Vanilla" entry has run as quick as a 5.38 last year, and Wells feels if the conditions are right, he might be able to duplicate that performance in Topeka.

"We should be able to run 5.40's real easy, unless the weather or track gets bad," stated Wells. "Hopefully if everything goes right, we can get back into the 5.30's."

Wells also looks for it to be a tough fight with the Defending Division 5 Champion Bruce Bowler to regain the Division 5 throne. "Bruce is a tough guy," commented Wells. "They have a pretty good handle on that A/Fuel deal. It will be between them, and somebody else might step up this year, too. Billy [Bybee] is running Division 2 this year, so he's not really in the picture anymore. It's going to be a tough year as usual."

Qualifying begins at 4 p.m. on Friday for the Federal-Mogul Dragsters. They will have two more qualifying sessions on Saturday, with final eliminations concluding the event on Sunday. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates from Heartland Park.

Bob, sorry to be a pest but we made some changes to the Quick Times website and hoped to hear back from you. Sure has been quiet at Northern Thunder. You must be working lots to finance another trip downunder. If you get a minute, get back to me.

Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Shelly Howard has had her share of highs and lows this year. Both of her wins on the year have been followed with first round losses at the next race. After suffering a first round loss in Hallsville, Texas, two weeks ago following her Memphis win, Howard and her team hope to rebound with another win at this weekend's NHRA Division 5 Federal Mogul Drag Racing Series opener at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kansas. She also hopes to expand her 20 point lead over second place Troy Buff.

Coming into this weekend's race, Howard, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, has two wins, a runner-up and two-first round losses on the divisional level. Drivers in Federal Mogul Dragster can only claim points at their best five out of eight division races attended. Anything better than a first round loss this weekend will replace one of those losses towards her Division 4 points standings. She could improve her points total by as much as 48 points, with a win.

"My main focus this weekend will be to replace one of my first round losses with a better finish," said Howard. "That's really the top of our priority list right now. If we can get a win in the process, then I would be extremely happy."

Howard's last outing at Heartland Park Topeka was last year's Advance Auto Parts Nationals, where she made it to the semifinals. Howard ran in the low 5.50's (elapsed time) there last year, and hopes to get down into the 5.40's this year.

"Hopefully we can get back down into the 5.40's," stated Howard. "I don't look for us to get down into the 5.30's this weekend. I think if we can be consistent like we have the rest of the year we will be doing good. Not only do I want the car to be consistent, but I strive to be consistent as a driver. That's how we won the races we have this year: with consistency. We're not worried about going out there and setting low e.t. and killing the world. We just want consistency with a good e.t."

This will be the out of Division 4 race this year that Howard has competed in. Howard enjoys running at Topeka, and looks forward to seeing some new racers she doesn't get to see that often. "We've been to Topeka a lot over the years," commented Howard. "Other than Noble [Oklahoma], it's the next closest track to home for us. I'm really comfortable there. I've raced with so many of the people there, that it is nice to see them when I haven't seen most of them over the winter. Division 5 is a nice division to run your out of division races at."

Qualifying begins at 4 p.m. on Friday for the Federal-Mogul Dragsters. They will have two more qualifying sessions on Saturday, with final eliminations concluding the event on Sunday. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates from Heartland Park.

For more information on the Howard team, visit their website at www.ShellyHoward.com. Please visit Howard's sponsor, RacerPage.com, Drag Racing's leader in website design and marketing.

Bob, I do not know if you are the one to express my concerns to or not, but your website is the one I found. My family recently moved to Mission and it was with great anticipation I waited for the 2001 race season to begin.

I thought I would introduce my three year old daughter to the sport of Drag Racing. She has watched all forms of auto racing on television with me since the day we brought her home from the hospital.

So it was to my utter dismay the way the track has treated us to date. As you arrive at that front gate you are treated like you are trying to cross the former East German border. I can expect to pay for events, but $8 for a practice session? On that date I had friends testing at the track, but I was not allowed entry unless I paid.

The worst was today though, on May 2nd. I listened to the cars all morning at work, then took a half day off work and rushed home. Picked up my waiting daughter and her grandpa for an afternoon at the races so they could experience a little but of what to expect on the weekend with the Federal Mogul event, but what we were greeted with was "Oh, you're not racers. Well, you certainly cannot cross through these gates."

I was willing to pay to watch these guys practice. There were no explanations on whether it was an insurance issue or anything. I was not even told that this weekend was a really big event and that it would be an excellent time to introduce the family to the sport. I have read many newspaper stories about the Mission Raceway where the pleas for support of the facility are front and center.

Needless to say is that any way to attract spectator support? Well, I don't have to tell you that a certain three year old was very disappointed she did not get to see the race cars she had been hearing from our doorstep.

Anyways, thanks for listening to my beef. Maybe the hiring of a good P.R. firm might help. Thanks.

Funny Car chassis for sale or part trade for Junior Dragster. This chassis has been in storage and disassembled since last run in 1987. Chassis comes with everything to make roller and lots of extras. Have photos. This chassis is on the all time quickest list and is a Northwest chassis. $7000 (US) or part trade for Junior Dragster. Email me or call (360) 377-9168 (9-11 pm PDT). Thanks.