Just one weekend after coming up short of his goal of setting the national record in Mission, B.C., NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster pilot Kevin Brown hopes to rebound during this weekend's NHRA Division 7 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, California. Brown has consistently been one of the top cars in qualifying this year, and hopes to be the top car on raceday this weekend.

Brown, from Clearfield, Utah, will be looking to fall back on the same hot weather performance he had in Bakersfield, California, earlier in the year. At that race in April, Brown qualified No. 1 with an elapsed time of 5.342 seconds at 252.66 mph on his way to a semifinal finish.

"We're looking for some solid 5.40's this weekend," said Brown. "I think the adjusted altitude will be around 2000 feet. I feel we have a combination that will get us in the .40's, and that's what I think it will take to be a player this weekend. With the hitters in Division 7, I think it will be a great weekend. I really think we have a low .40 package together here."

Brown currently sits third in Division 7 standings, and hopes to gain on points leaders Mike Strasburg and Brandon Bernstein this weekend. "Currently, we're only No. 3 by about seven or eight points," stated Brown.

"My good friend Brandon Henkelman will be there, and he's right behind us in fourth place. It's going to be a real battle. Strasburg just took over the No. 1 spot, and they're a tough bunch. Bernstein and Darien are obviously a tough bunch as well. If I can finish up in the top five this year, I'm a happy man. Coming from two years of not qualifying to being in the top five, I have nothing to snivel about there at all."

Qualifying begins on Friday at 4 p.m. for the Federal-Mogul Dragsters. Stay tuned to InsideFMRacing.com for the latest news in the Federal-Mogul Categories. For more information about the team, visit their website at JokersWildRacing.com.

After suffering a disappointing first round loss in Chicago, NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Shelly Howard rebounded to a semifinal finish during this past weekend's Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway just outside of St. Louis. With her performance in St. Louis, Howard is currently tied for fourth place in national points standings.

Howard, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, qualified her Tom Conway tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster fifth with an elapsed time of 5.451 seconds at 258.02 mph. In round one she took an easy win when her opponent Dana Stripe was shut off at the line. Howard took it in stride, running a 5.489 at 259.16 mph.

On Sunday, Howard ran a 5.479 at 261.88 mph, a career best speed, to put away Marty Thacker. Howard's bid for another win came to an end in the semifinals against eventual winner Jay Meyer, however. In a close race, Meyer took the win with a 5.460 at 256.02 mph over Howard's 5.473 at 260.21 mph.

"It was pretty much our typical routine on Sunday," said Howard. "We just tried to stay consistent. I wish I could have cut a little bit better light than I did against Meyer (.489), but Jay was running better than us, so it was his day. All in all, it was still a good weekend. The car was running good and consistent, and we're very happy about that. Tom [Conway] is a great tuner."

"We're looking forward to the rest of the year," Howard continued. "Hopefully the car will stay as consistent as it has been, and I'll be able to do my job. That's about all you can ask."

Looking back at Howard's 2001 season, at it's midpoint, has already been a career best year for Howard. In addition to being fourth nationally, Howard currently leads the points standings in Division 4 (South Central Region). Howard and team are ecstatic with the way the season has turned out for them, and look forward to the rest of the year.

"Coming into the year, I was looking forward to having a good year, but I'm extremely happy with where we are," commented Howard. "Hopefully we will be able to stay in the lead for the Divisional Championship, and if we can finish the year in the top ten, that would be really good, and the top five would be even better. You can't really complain about a year like we've had."

For more information about the Howard team, visit their award winning website at ShellyHoward.com. For more news from the world of Federal Mogul Racing, visit InsideFMRacing.com.

Former two-time NHRA Division 5 Federal-Mogul Dragster Champion David Wells made another strong step towards picking up a third championship by winning this past weekend's Division 5 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series race at Bandimere Speedway just outside of Denver. The win was Wells' second straight win in Division 5 competition, and third divisional win of the year.

Wells, from LeMars, Iowa, qualified his Blue Bunny Ice Cream "Plain Vanilla" Blown Alcohol Dragster No. 2 with an elapsed time of 5.785 seconds at 235.43 mph. In round one, Wells took out Ed Schmeekle with a 5.807 at 248.25 mph, then used a 5.833 at 245.85 mph to put away Alan Bradshaw in the semifinals.

The final round was a battle of the No. 1 and 2 qualifiers, Wells and No. 1 qualifier Mike Strasburg. The race was an all Wells affair, as he took the starting line advantage with a near perfect .404 reaction time (.400 is perfect), and never looked back, running a 5.782 at 247.25 mph to Strasburg's 5.821 at 247.02 mph.

"We went out and made a few changes here and there," said Wells. "We just did our normal deal, and everything worked out fairly well. In the first round, we had a fairly easy race in Schmeekle, who wasn't running very well, and I don't know why. Then Bradshaw goofed up a little bit with a red-light against us in the second round, so that made that one easy.

For the final, we had to step it up there a little bit for Strasburg. Mike had been running good. I stepped on it a little bit, and I stepped on the tree just a little bit, got out in front, and just hung on for the win. Everything went our way for a change, again."

With three out of the six Division 5 races completed, Wells holds a 142 point lead over the defending champ Bruce Bowler. Even with that much of a lead, Wells is quick to point out there is still a lot of racing left, and does not want to get into a 'comfort zone.'

"What we try to do is just focus on each race," Wells explained. "We try to keep the points thing out of it, because that can just turn you around. You can get too focused on the points, but you just have to be focused on winning rounds. That's what keeps you ahead of everybody. That's kind of what we have been doing. We were struggling in the beginning of the year. We didn't worry about the points deal, and just focused on getting the car to run right. We just try to keep it going down the track and winning rounds."

NHRA Federal-Mogul Funny Car driver Marc White used a little bit of luck, good driving, and solid performance to pick up his first win of the year during this past weekend's Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway just outside of St. Louis. The win was White's second national event victory of his career.

White, from Glendale Heights, Illinois, qualified the Etterman Racing 2001 Firebird third with an elapsed time of 5.749 at 250.46 mph. In round one, White dodged a bullet when his opponent Wayne Butler exploded his blower in the burnout, giving him a single. White then launched into severe tireshake, and was forced to shutoff. In round two, "Lady Luck" remained on his side when Scott Palmer broke sooner than White did during the run. White coasted to a 6.46 at 168 mph.

The Etterman Racing team stepped up to the plate for their semifinal matchup with Von Smith, however. White took a .458 to .512 holeshot off the line, and ran a 5.787 at 250.32 mph to defeat Smith's quicker-but-later 5.734 at 251.53 mph by a mere .001 of a second.

The win was sweet revenge for the Etterman team, who had just lost to Smith in the final of the NHRA Sportsman All-Stars event one week prior on a holeshot. White's final round opponent was fellow Division 3 racer Kim Fritts. Fritts gained a slight starting line advantage, but couldn't hold off White's charge of a 5.786 at 250.04 mph for the win.

"We really struggled during the first two rounds," said White. "Luckily we had a little bit of luck on our side this weekend, which we haven't had all year. In the semifinals for Von Smith, we stepped on her pretty good, and we managed to beat him. For the final, we just tried to repeat, and we won."

White and team hope the win will give them momentum going into their upcoming Division 3 races. White is currently second to Chuck Cheeseman in divisional points. "Any time you win, it's a boost to the team," stated White. "We would like to take some momentum from this race into our next race in Columbus. Also, getting some laps on some hot race tracks will help our tune-up going into those events. We'll just do like we always do, put one foot in front of the other, and do our best."

For more information on the team, visit their website at EttermanRacing.com.

NHRA Federal Mogul Dragster driver Jay Meyer nearly made it a clean sweep of the racing action at this past weekend's Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway just outside of St. Louis. The defending Division 4 Champion qualified No. 1 with a 5.428 second elapsed time, which was the quickest of the event, at 258.71 mph and used consistent 5.4 second elapsed times to work his way to the finals where he defeated Keith Stark for the win.

Meyer, who runs his construction business, Brazosport Equipment, in Freeport, Texas, came into the event after winning his last two national events. After qualifying No. 1, Meyer received a bye run in round one, where he clocked a 5.485 at 256.50 mph. In round two he took out Jeff Hamelink with a 5.504 at 234.94 mph, then coupled a near-perfect .402 reaction time (.400 being perfect) with a 5.460 at 256.02 mph to take out fellow Division 4 racer Shelly Howard in the semifinals. Stark gained a slight starting line advantage on Meyer in the final, but Meyer quickly erased that as Stark's A/Fuel Dragster started dropping cylinders. Meyer took the win with a 5.491 at 254.81 mph over Stark's 8.11 at 112 mph.

"We just tried to keep it consistent," said Meyer. "We had a tune-up from Bristol and Atlanta. We fought a data recorder problem during qualifying, and didn't have any data from when we ran that .42. But, once we ran that .42, we knew we had a baseline. We just watched the track, and did what we normally do, try to keep it consistent, and cut good lights."

"In the semifinals against Shelly, we spun a rod bearing," continued Meyer. "The boys just got after it. I can't say enough about these guys, Stacy McLemore, Jim Morrison, Bruce Meyer, Dixie Meyer and Stuart Herbst. It was my son's birthday this weekend, so it was a pretty good present. They are the greatest group of guys. I can't say enough about my tuner Tom Conway, either. It was a great weekend, we really like this place."

With the win, Meyer's fourth of the year, Meyer could possibly reenter the National Championship chase. Nonetheless, Meyer still says he's just racing for fun this year.

"As long as we stay in the top 10, have fun, and not humiliate ourselves, we'll be happy," stated Meyer. "[Rick] Santos (defending four time Champion), that guy, I'd put my money on him every time. Those guys are awesome. They might be stumbling a little bit now, but they will be back. Those guys are still the class of the field. I'm happy to still by mentioned with those guys."

Meyer was also happy to pick up the win for his new sponsor, InsideFMRacing.com, a new website featuring coverage from the Federal-Mogul classes. "We just picked up a new sponsor this weekend, InsideFMRacing.com," stated Meyer. "I think if they can get this magazine off the ground, we would be glad to help with it. It will be great to inform the fans, and I think it will be a plus to the entire class. We're just proud to be associated with that. Will Hanna [editor] is a champion in his own right, he started out doing press releases, and has really got off the ground with that. I think it will wind up being a really good deal."

For more information about the team, visit their website, JayMeyerRacing.com. For more news from the world of Federal-Mogul racing, visit InsideFMRacing.com.

NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Jay Meyer seems like a man on a mission. Not only on a mission to pick up his third straight national event win this weekend's Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway just outside of St. Louis, but to further dispel any doubt of his driving ability after suffering a horrendous crash at Houston in February. After qualifying No. 1 with an elapsed time of 5.428 seconds at 256 mph, and setting low e.t. of the first round, so far, mission accomplished.

After qualifying No. 1, Meyer was scheduled to run No. 16 qualifier Brian Badgett. Badgett could not make the call, giving Meyer a single. Meyer continued his dominance by running low e.t. of the round with a 5.485 at 256.50 mph. That run will give Meyer lane choice over his second round opponent, Jeff Hamelink.

"We're just going to leave it alone," said Meyer. "We think we have a pretty good tune-up. We haven't changed a jet all weekend. We have had a problem with our data recorder, so on that .42 we ran we didn't have any computer readout. We spun the tires a little bit out there in the middle, so we might calm it down just a touch. I think we'll be alright."

In Atlanta, Meyer's last national event, he used consistent 5.40's to pick up the win. Meyer feels that he should be able to maintain that pace tomorrow due to better track conditions this weekend.

"I think this track is better," stated Meyer. "We've been getting after it a lot more. I expected it to be not much of a racetrack, but it's a really good one. I really like it here, it's a nice facility, and it's been very enjoyable so far."

"That cold front has already moved through here, and the weather conditions are just going to get hotter, so I don't look or us to run much faster," continued Meyer. "We're just going to try to do like we did in Atlanta: be consistent, and not beat ourselves. If we run somebody where we need to step it up, then we might, but otherwise stick to our guns."

Final eliminations begin tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of the action from St. Louis.

There's a saying in drag racing, 'it takes at least one lucky round to win a race.' After losing a few close matchups at his last few races to what some may call 'bad luck,' any 'good luck' has been welcome to the Etterman Racing NHRA Federal-Mogul Funny Car team.

'Lady Luck' was with driver Marc White in his first round race against Wayne Butler. Butler exploded his blower during the burnout, giving White a single. White launched into heavy tireshake so severe that he was forced to lift, then coasted to victory.

White, from Glendale Heights, Illinois, qualified the Etterman Racing 2001 Firebird third with a solid 5.74 second elapsed time at 249 mph. White was hoping to step up in round one, but only found tire shake. White is happy to put that mistake behind them, and take a shot at Sunday's final eliminations.

"We smoked the tires on the first run," said White. "Then we analyzed the data, and ran a .77 and a .74 on the next runs. In the first round, it just blew the tires off. Luckily, our opponent broke during the burnout, so we dodged a bullet. Maybe we've found a little bit of that luck we never seem to get."

Tomorrow, Scott Palmer will be White's second round opponent. White hopes to return to his normal pace. "What we run really depends on the weather and what the racetrack looks like," said White. "Even if the racetrack is hot, we should still be able to run a high .70. Von Smith ran a .74 today, so if he can do it, then we should be able to, too."

Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com for round by round updates of the racing action from St. Louis. For more information on the team, visit their website at EttermanRacing.com.

Just a few weeks ago in Topeka, Kansas, NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Shelly Howard was not the fastest race car going into Sunday's final eliminations. Rather than trying to be the absolute fastest car on the track, her team used an attack of consistency to pick up the win. After qualifying No. 5 and winning the first round of this weekend's Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway just outside of St. Louis, Howard looks to be on the same consistent track to victory.

Howard, a registered nurse from Tulsa, Oklahoma, qualified her Tom Conway tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster fifth with an elapsed time of 5.456 seconds at 259 mph. In round one, she defeated Dana Stripe, who broke on the line, giving Howard a single. Howard made the most of her single, running a 5.489 at 259.16 mph, only .004 of a second off the quickest run of the round.

"It threw the blower belt off the car during the last qualifying session, so we lost that run as a tune-up run," said Howard. "We went up there for the first round, and I saw that Dana was having problems, and they told me that I was going to get a solo. I decided to run the car just like we had another car next to us. I wanted to cut a good light, and hit my shift points so we had some good information to tune off of."

Howard's first round time will give her lane choice over her second round opponent, Marty Thacker. Howard hopes to use the same consistency that has brought her three wins and two runner-ups to take home the win Sunday.

"We're not going to try to step it up," Howard commented. "We're just going to try to run fairly close to what we've been running, and we should be alright. Marty is a good driver, and any driver can take you out. We just have to worry about what we do, and not who's over in the other lane."

Second round for the Federal Mogul Dragsters will be run tomorrow afternoon following the first round of the pro cars. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of the racing action from St. Louis. For more information about the Howard team, visit their award winning website, ShellyHoward.com.

Coming into this weekend's NHRA Division 6 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event in Mission, B.C., Federal Mogul Dragster pilot Kevin Brown had high hopes of becoming only the second driver in the class to clock sub-5.3 second elapsed times. While the goal was in sight during qualifying, it remained just out of his reach, as engine problems slowed him on both runs.

Brown, who restores classic cars in Clearfield, Utah, qualified his "Joker's Wild" A/Fuel Dragster fifth with an elapsed time of 5.56 seconds at only 221 mph. During his first outing at Mission earlier in the year, Brown ran a career best e.t. of 5.31 seconds at over 260 mph. This weekend, Brown's problems have been associated with blown head gaskets.

"We've had a little bit of a problem torching heads," said Brown. "We've been chasing what nozzles to put in the fuel system. We're just feeling this new combination out. We feel good about it. We didn't hurt it too bad. We have parts, so we should be okay for the first round tomorrow."

Brown's first round opponent will be No. 3 qualifier Gregg Lawrence, the only other A/Fuel Dragster at Mission. Brown feels confident of his chances if he can correct his problem. "We've definitely loaded the car for bear," commented Brown. "Gregg ran a career best of a 5.38. We know that he has a little more left in it, but we think that we have a little something for him as well. It's going to be two A/Fuel cars, so we'll just battle it out."

Brown also has not given up hope of running 5.20's this weekend, as well. "I still think we have a shot at the .20's," explained Brown. "If I can make it to the second round when it starts to cool off, I think we've definitely got a 5.27-5.28 car. We have the power, and the track seems to be there. If we can get the corrected altitude down below 500 ft, we should be good to go."

Final eliminations will begin at 11 a.m. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round coverage of the action from Mission. For more information about the team, visit their website at JokersWildRacing.com

Most racers go into an event just hoping for a win, or to just go a few rounds. That's not the case for Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Kevin Brown. This weekend, Brown and team will head to Mission, B.C., for the NHRA Division 6 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event. At his last outing there, Brown ran an elapsed time of 5.31 seconds, less than .01 off of the national elapsed time record of 5.303 seconds set almost two years ago.

Brown, from Clearfield, Utah, still considers winning the race as his main goal, but feels with more experience and favorable weather conditions forecasted again this weekend, he should be able to improve on his 5.31. In fact, he feels that 5.20's aren't out of the equation as well.

"What we are really trying to do is repeat from where we left off up there," said Brown. "Last time we had minor problem in the fuel system, and I think with that problem rectified, we can move on and win the event. We would really like to get back to the performance of that 5.31 and possibly set the national record. We think that the car has it in it for sure. We're just going to go up there and have some fun."

At the last event held at Mission in May, racers encountered near perfect air and track conditions to run some of the most impressive times and speeds seen this year. With Mission's history of favorable racing conditions, Brown feels they might see those conditions again this weekend.

"It's really hard to say if that will happen again," commented Brown. "If Venus and Mars do line up again and we get those kind of conditions, who's to say we can't go out there and run a .28 or so. I think that there will be a lot of racers there capable of running in the mid to low .30's. But I definitely want to be the first one to run a .20 up there if anyone does. We're going to give it our best shot."

Brown also hopes to improve his fourth place standing in Division 7 this weekend. "We decided to skip Sacramento because of the heat and the altitude," stated Brown. "We substituted that race with the first Mission race because we knew we would see better conditions for running one of these A/Fuel cars up there.

"We didn't win the race, but did pretty well. When we got back from that race, there was close to 150 emails from the fans that were requesting us to come back up there. We hadn't planned on returning for the second race there, because we have so many races this time of the year, but we do this for the fans, and when you get something like that from the fans, you can't tell them no."

"The track there in Mission is the best I've raced at in the NHRA," continued Brown. "I'd like to go up there and see if we can't bring back home the little 'Wally' this time."

Qualifying begins at 4 p.m. on Friday for the Federal-Mogul Dragsters. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of the racing action from Mission. For more information about the team, visit their website at JokersWildRacing.com. For more news in the world of Federal-Mogul racing, check out InsideFMRacing.com

Hi Bob. Thanks for the great comments you have left on our website. It's much appreciated, but for some reason your message has been accidentally deleted. I have a copy of it so I will repost it now. Just thought I would inform you. Regards.

NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster racer Shelly Howard has had quite an up and down season. While having the best season of her career with three wins and two runner-ups, all of her wins have been followed by first round losses. Howard lost in round one of her last race, the Lucas Oil Products Nationals in Chicago, but will be looking to rebound during this weekend's Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway just outside of St. Louis.

Howard, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, currently sits fourth in national standings, and leads the NHRA Division 4 [South Central] standings. In Chicago, a part failure caused Howard to lose her first round race. At the race before Chicago, the Advance Auto Parts Nationals in Topeka, Kansas, Howard used a barrage of consistent low 5.50's to win the event. Howard hopes to find that same consistency out of her Blown Alcohol Dragster this weekend.

"You just have to start out with the best equipment you can," said Howard. "Hopefully, the equipment won't fail this weekend, and I can do my job as a driver. I can't really reflect back on Chicago, because it will interfere with what we are trying to do at this race."

The Sears Craftsman Nationals traditionally has a history of being a hot, muggy race. With the weather forecast for this weekend predicting similar conditions, Howard plans to fall back on the tuning expertise of her tuner, former World Champion Tom Conway.

"We leave it up to Tom to decide what particular tune-up to apply to the conditions," commented Howard. "He supplies the tune-up, I go out there and drive the car, and hopefully, we intersect each other with positive results."

"I think consistency is always the name of the game," continued Howard. "You can go out there and try to kill the e.t. [elapsed time] and end up knocking yourself out of a win. You have to go out there and race according to the track, and hopefully read it right."

Qualifying begins at noon Friday for the Federal-Mogul Dragsters, with one more session following at 4 p.m. Stay tuned to Howard's award winning website, ShellyHoward.com, for daily updates of the team's progress from St. Louis. For more news from the world of Federal-Mogul racing, check out the new InsideFMRacing.com

Here's what new at HotRodder.com

New News:

The Chicago Fire Fuel Altered Racing team would like to ask for your help in bringing a thief to justice. Earlier this month, their race trailer was broken into outside their shop in Plainfield, Illinois. Their spare shortblock, a KB Stage 8 hemi, complete with rods, pistons, cam, head studs and front cover assembly, as well as a pair of complete BAE dual plug fuel cylinder heads with down nozzle provisions, were taken. Also, spare Mallory ignition parts and blower pulleys and a 10-bolt supercharger manifodl are missing.

If you have any information concerning the theft or even if you know of someone who just acquired some new parts, please contact the Will County Illinois Sheriff's department or Mike Kern at (630) 241-2388. Or contact Mike Kern by email. Information leading to the arrest and conviction of these people will be graciously rewarded.

NIRA (National Import Racing Association) announced that it will be mentioned in Universal's upcoming release of "The Fast and The Furious", a summer blockbuster showcasing the import car world. The mention of NIRA is done in such a way so as to showcase the importance of racing in a legal, sanctioned environment and was a welcomed script addition.

NIRA actively supports an anti-street racing stance and through involvement with programs such as RASR (Racers Against Street Racing), NIRA believes this commitment is clearly demonstrated. See the NIRA website.

New Cars:

The newest additions to our Virtual Car Show are '73 Buick GS, '86 Jeep CJ-7, '68 and '94 Camaros, and a '93 Mustang LX. See these and over 150 more cars sent in by hotrodders around the world at Car Show. Send us your hotrod pictures at Submit Pic.

Events Around The Country this weekend:

Famous 50's 9th Annual Northeast Nationals in Catskill, New York
IHRA Amalie Oil Summer Nationals in Cordova, Illinois
Super Chevy Show in Martin, Michigan
L.A. Roadsters 2001 Roadsters Show in Pomona, California
North Jersey Street Rod Association Annual Rod Run in Boonton Township, New Jersey

View our events calendar and be sure to send us your event so it can be added.

Members of The Week:

Vickie's Monte
HotRodder.com webmistress' race car

Glen's '67 Dart GT
Glen's a good friend of mine and let me race his cherry GT when my ride was still at the shop

Slick Sites:

Now that school's out for summer, and even though most young folk are already signed up for college in the fall, we thought we'd let you know of a good list of Automotive Tech Schools. You'll find it at Truck World

The Mystery Car Part Contest: How well do you know your cars? Here's a website to test your knowledge. We've mentioned this before but it's so much fun we want all new members to know about it. Mystery Car lets you choose from 60 car parts to see if you can guess the car it comes from.

Chevy V-8 casting numbers and more at Mortec

Just last weekend, Marc White and the Etterman Racing team were fighting hot weather and track conditions at the Pontiac Excitement Nationals in Columbus, Ohio. During this weekend's Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway just outside of St. Louis, the team expects to encounter near identical racing conditions. With one of the fastest cars at the track last weekend, White feels the 'bad' conditions will play right into his hand this weekend.

The Glendale Heights, Illinois, based driver has had a year full of promise, but still has not found that elusive first win of this year. White was one of the first drivers in the class to run in the 5.60's under current rules earlier in the year, and has consistently been one of the fastest cars in the country. This weekend, White hopes to use that performance to pick up the team's first win of the year.

"The conditions should be the same this weekend," said White. "We're just going to go in there with the tune-up we started working on in Columbus for these conditions. We're going to try to maintain a consistent pace during the day, and try to do pretty well. St. Louis is just another hunk of asphalt and concrete we have to deal with, that's the way we look at it."

White used consistent 5.8 second elapsed times to pick up a runner up finish at last weekend's NHRA Sportsman All-Stars event, and a semifinal finish on Sunday. White feels that low 5.80's and high .70's will be what it takes to win this weekend.

"It may not be quite as hot as Columbus was this weekend," stated White. "Only time will tell until we get there, but if you can run mid .70's to an .80 flat or so, will be a pretty stout number down there."

Qualifying begins on Friday for the Federal-Mogul Funny Cars, with sessions at noon and 4 p.m. Stay tuned to the team's website, EttermanRacing.com for daily updates of the team's progress from St. Louis.

Thanks for the link (to the Few Moments in Hell story). I have been reading as much as possible from your page and it's all great. I love Tony Defeo's writeup about the cheap thrills fueler.

I'm planning on building an alky digger to run as a hobby. I'm glad to see with all the useless nonsense on the web that I found a page that is interesting in every way. Thanks.

Current NHRA Division 5 Federal-Mogul Dragster points leader David Wells will be looking for his second straight divisional win during this weekend's NHRA Division 5 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Bandimere Speedway just outside of Denver. Wells won the Division 5 event in Brainerd, Minnesota, two weeks ago, and would love to extend his points lead with another win on 'The Mountain.'

Wells, who helps run the family ice cream business in LeMars, Iowa, had fought tire shake problems much of the year until going to a new clutch combination in Chicago. The new combination paid off with a win in Brainerd, but the unusually high altitude of Bandimere Speedway will require drastic changes to the tune-up to adjust. Wells has a pretty good history of success in Denver, and still feels that some of his new clutch combination will work with his usual high altitude set up.

"We have a pretty good tune-up for Denver that we normally use," said Wells. "We usually do pretty well there, so we'll just have to do our normal set up there, and work with the clutch a little. Mid to low .70's is what we ran up there last year, and we'll have to see if we can't do better than that."

With warm weather forecast for this weekend, Wells feels that may make it tougher than it already is to tune for. "The weather forecast for the weekend is hot," Wells commented. "That makes that track a little greasy and hard to get down, so we'll have to see what it will let us run. With those conditions, we probably won't be able to set any records or anything. You never know. Last year when we ran there, it wasn't that hot. It's going to affect it, it's just a matter of how much."

Qualifying begins on Friday for the Federal Mogul Dragsters at 4 p.m., with two more sessions on Saturday. Final eliminations will conclude the event on Sunday. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates on the action from Denver. For more news from the world of Federal Mogul racing, check out InsideFMRacing.com

Hi Bob. I want to use this as a pic of the day. Who took the shot? Do you have the names of the ladies? Thanks.

Great News! Blackdyno.com has been fully transformed, with video from the 2001 Winternationals added. We now have a dot-com domain name, and a new site will be up very soon. We'll also be adding an online store shortly, so if you would like to sell your products in there, please email me.

We're also creating a number of sites, and they will be finished very soon. So log on to Blackdyno and tell us what you think with your comments in the guestbook. You will also be able to add your own link to the links page soon, and if you have a website, please add a link. Thank you.

Hi. Love the video clip. See you this weekend; I could be playing at the last exit (about 3900 feet from the starting line). Can you walk that far? Should have a pit bike available if you need a lift back. See you there.

Defending NHRA Division 4 Federal-Mogul Dragster Champion Jay Meyer will be looking for his third straight win on the national level during this weekend's Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway just outside of St. Louis. In addition to looking for a strong performance, Meyer will debut new a new major associate sponsor InsideFMRacing.com.

Meyer, who runs his construction business, Brazosport Equipment, in Freeport, Texas, has always liked racing in hot, muggy conditions. The veteran racer picked up wins at Bristol and Atlanta in similar conditions, and hopes to do the same this weekend.

"We're just going to stick to our normal gameplan," said Meyer. "We'll take what the track gives us. We haven't been qualifying real well, but we work on it through the race, and see what it does on raceday. We just tune it according to what the track will do. We just see what happens from there. Atlanta was a pretty hot track, and we got down it pretty good," continued Meyer. "Hopefully we can take our basic setup and apply it this weekend."

In his wins at Bristol and Atlanta, Meyer's Tom Conway-tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster used consistent 5.4 second elapsed times to pick up wins. This weekend, he feels it will take that to win.

"Looking at what they did in Columbus," stated Meyer, "Santos was running low .40's. We ran a .46 in Atlanta, then I think we could have ran a .42 or so in the final there, but it broke a rocker arm in low gear, and really hurt the time. I think if we can run that, we'll be right there with them."

Meyer, who finished No. 2 nationally last year, was picked as one of the early season favorites to give defending champ Rick Santos a run for the Championship this year. After a devastating early season crash in Houston, Meyer has rebounded with three wins, but thinks that the crash may have killed his championship hopes.

"Well, after blowing the blower off the car in the burnout in the first round in Memphis, we figured we we're pretty much dead as far as the Championship goes," Meyer explained. "We decided from there to just go to each race and see how it turns out. We're pretty much just racing for fun now, we're not real worried about the points."

In addition to just 'racing for fun' the rest of the year, Meyer is excited about signing InsideFMRacing.com as a major associate sponsor. The new website will feature exclusively coverage of the Federal Mogul Categories. IFMR's founder/editor Will Hanna is also excited about the partnership with Meyer.

"We worked a deal with Will Hanna," stated Meyer. "He's going to start a new online magazine covering the alcohol cars. We're going to run his flag for the rest of the year, and see how his magazine takes off. They are helping us out, so we're going to do the same for them."

"Meyer is one of the top competitors in the category," added IFMR's Hanna. "He's capable of winning anywhere he goes, and that's the major reason why we signed with him. We are going to do a pretty aggressive marketing push to get this site started, and we couldn't have picked a better team than Meyer Racing."

Qualifying begins on Friday at noon for the Federal-Mogul Dragsters, with one more session following at 4 p.m. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of the action from St. Louis.

InsideFMRacing.com is set to debut this weekend with the latest news in the Federal-Mogul categories. For more information on the Meyer team, visit their website at JayMeyerRacing.com.

Just one week after competing in the NHRA Sportsman All-Stars event in Columbus, Ohio, NHRA Federal-Mogul Funny Car driver Randy Fleming and team will come back to their home state of Missouri for this weekend's Sears Craftsman Nationals to be held at Gateway International Raceway just outside of St. Louis. Fleming hopes to make a strong showing not only for his hometown fans, but also for new major associate sponsor, InsideFMRacing.com.

Fleming, who runs his automotive repair shop in Independence, Missouri, fought hot air and track conditions last weekend in Columbus. With very similar conditions expected this weekend, and the assistance of veteran tuner Tom Conway, Fleming hopes to move improve on his 5.9 second elapsed times last weekend.

"We're just going to try to continue to improve on the changes we made last weekend in Columbus," said Fleming. "The more runs we make in these hot conditions, the better the car should respond to changes."

The fact that many friends and family will be in attendance will also help motivate Fleming this weekend as well. "We should have a lot of local fans and fellow racers out there," commented Fleming. "That really helps drive us. We always try to win, but more so at a close national event. It puts a bit more pressure on us, but we can handle it."

Fleming is one of the few racers in the class still running the Whipple supercharger. Many racers have stated that the Whipple is at a disadvantage to the PSI that most of the top teams this year have run, especially with the 'dog days' of summer upon us. Fleming feels that his supposed 'disadvantage' may be overrated.

"We feel that the PSI probably does have somewhat of an advantage on the hot days," stated Fleming. "But when you compare boost at the higher rpms, the boost is just the same with the Whipple. The PSI makes better boost at lower rpm than our blower does. With that in mind, we feel we can tune around our disadvantage and still run respectable numbers."

In addition to the action on the track, Fleming inked a deal with www.InsideFMRacing.com, a new Internet news site featuring coverage of the Federal-Mogul categories. Fleming is excited about the new deal, as well as IFMR's creator/editor Will Hanna.

"I think they have a good program going," Fleming stated. "Everyone on the net is looking for something focus on what's new, what's hot, and who's hot in Federal-Mogul racing. We're pleased to bring them on board."

"Randy and his team are a class act," added IFMR's Hanna. "After analyzing our options, we focused in on his team because we knew that they would do a good job of getting our name out there, and that's the name of the game when it comes to sponsoring a team. We look forward to a healthy relationship with Fleming Motorsports."

Qualifying begins on Friday at noon for the Federal-Mogul Funny Cars, with one more session following at 4 p.m. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of the action from St. Louis. Look for InsideFMRacing.com to debut this weekend with the latest news in the world of Federal-Mogul racing.

Sometimes in racing, just when you think you're about to get something figured out, something gets changed and you have to start from square one again. Such is the case for Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Sergio Recio and the rest of the class heading into this weekend's NHRA Division 5 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event at Bandimere Speedway, just outside of Denver in the Rocky Mountains. Recio made it to the semifinals of last year's race here, and hopes to improve on that this year with the aid of his new crew chief, Ora Vasquez.

Recio, from El Paso, Texas, enters this weekend's race third in Division 5 points, and hopes to gain ground on leaders David Wells and Bruce Bowler on 'The Mountain.' Bowler has elected to sit out high altitude events this year in his injected-nitro A/Fuel Dragster, leaving only Wells in his sights. Recio feels the continued research and development of his Fontana engine might give him an edge in the altitude.

"We're going to go up there a day early and make some test passes," said Recio. "Obviously, it's a 'mile high' up there, and we're going to have to make some changes. You have to put more compression in it, and change up the gears in the transmission and rearend. We're going to use that testing to try to get it lined out and see what it does."

At last years event, Recio ran in the 5.8 second zone with an older, heavier car. This year, Recio has a new generation, state of the art, much lighter Brad Hadman chassis, and veterans Vasquez and Rick Paradis calling the shots on the tune-up. Recio hopes to combine those elements into a win on Sunday.

"The Fontana has a lot of bottom end [torque]," explained Recio. "We haven't run the car at high altitude this year, just at low, sea level tracks. Ora feels pretty optimistic about it, he's been looking at some things on the computer, and where to make the changes. That's why we are going to test early, so we can analyze the data the car gives us with the new set up, and make changes accordingly."

Recio also realizes that it is relatively early in the Division 5 season, and a win here could put him in contention for the Division 5 Championship. "It's definitely something we are going to chase," stated Recio. "Now that I didn't go to Brainerd, the last race, that has really been on my mind. The reason we didn't go was that we were going to test in Las Vegas, but that did not play out. We're going to hit the rest of the divisional races. We're only 18 points out of second place, so we're hoping to jump up with this race, and see where we are at afterwards."

"We can't just go up there and qualify," Recio continued. "We've got to go up there and win some rounds."

Qualifying begins at 4 p.m. on Friday for the Federal-Mogul Dragsters. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of the action from Denver. Coming soon: Cash-n-Go Racing will debut it's new website, www.SergioRecio.com, designed and maintained by RacerPage.com Web Design in the near future!

Although NHRA Federal-Mogul Funny Car racer Marc White did not come away with the double win he had hoped for, after winning six of eight rounds in the grueling June heat during this past weekend's Pontiac Excitement Nationals at National Trail Raceway near Columbus, Ohio, White still feels it was a good race for the team.

On Saturday, White wheeled the Etterman Racing 2001 Firebird to a runner-up finish during the NHRA Sportsman All-Stars event for the third straight year, then went to the semifinals of Sunday's race, where he lost to the defending six-time World Champion Frank Manzo.

White, from Glendale Heights, Illinois, qualified third for the All-Star event with a 5.922 second elapsed time at 234.49 mph. In round one, he defeated the Division 4 All-Star representative Todd Simpson with a 5.830 at 247.11 mph, which set the stage for a showdown with Division 3 rival Chuck Cheeseman in the semifinals.

White won this race on the starting line by virtue of a huge .489 to .584 holeshot, and held on with a 5.925 at 228.92 mph over Cheeseman's quicker, but later, 5.855 at 244.21 mph. In the finals, White's fortune was reversed, as his opponent Von Smith took the holeshot victory with a 6.035 at 240.08 mph over White, who wounded an engine, and slowed to a 5.997 at 231.00 mph.

"I think it was a pretty good weekend," said White. "The track was tricky. When we got there on Friday it was 100 degrees and the track was very hot, so that made it very tough to get down the track. We had to learn how to run in the real hot weather, which is what we're going to be in for quite a while now. We're pretty happy with the way the tune-up came around on it.

"We hurt a motor in the semifinal round of the All-Star race, and it was wounded in the final. It gave up just before the finish line, so that cost us any chance of winning that race. Von Smith did a pretty good job driving, put a pretty good holeshot on me, and we just didn't have enough to make it up."

Sunday's eliminations for the national event started a clean slate for the team. White entered Sunday's show the No. 4 qualifier, and took out Jason Rupert in the first round with a 5.812 at 231.04 mph, then beat rival Cheeseman for a second time in round two with a 5.821 at 241.80 mph.

White grabbed the holeshot in his semifinal matchup against Manzo, but had to pedal the car when it launched into heavy tireshake. That was all Manzo needed to move around White with a 5.827 at 249.95 mph to White's right-there 5.885 at 245.81 mph. Manzo went on to win the race.

"Everyone was shaking the tires, along with us," explained White. "I had to pedal it, and I didn't really see much of Frank until high gear. Frank's car runs some big speed on the top end, and for some reason, our car wasn't running the big mph that it usually does. He caught me in high gear, drove by for the win, and that was it for us."

From Columbus, the Etterman Racing team will head west to St. Louis for this weekend's Sears Craftsman Nationals. White feels they will face the same hot conditions they did last weekend.

"I think St. Louis will be pretty identical to what Columbus was," commented White. "It will be a hot, muggy, greasy race track. We should have a much better start going into St. Louis than we did in Columbus, since we have a few runs under our belt under those types of conditions. I'm optimistic about the St. Louis race. I think our tune-up will be condusive to the weather and track conditions that we will see there."

Television coverage of the NHRA Sportsman All-Stars event, featuring Federal-Mogul Funny Car, will air on ESPN2 June 23 from 6-7 p.m. (EDT). For more information on the team, visit their website at EttermanRacing.com

It's not very often that a racer will go into a weekend with two races to compete in rather than one. For NHRA Federal-Mogul Funny Car driver Marc White, it's just another weekend as he prepares for this weekend's Pontiac Excitement Nationals at National Trail Raceway, just outside of Columbus, Ohio. In conjunction with that race will be the NHRA Sportsman All-Stars event which will be run during qualifying.

Two weeks ago at the Lucas Oil Products Nationals held at Route 66 Raceway just outside of Chicago, White, from Glendale Heights, Illinois, regained his early season form in the Etterman Racing 2001 Firebird. White stepped back up into the 5.6 second zone on his way to a semifinal finish, and hopes to maintain his performance advantage this weekend.

"We're excited about going to Columbus," said White. "The performance we had in Chicago was right where we wanted it to be. Obviously, the weather won't be anywhere near as good as it was in Chicago. Hopefully the new tune-up we have in the car will work good in the hot conditions that we will probably see in Columbus."

Saturday, White will face seven of the toughest Federal-Mogul Funny Car drivers from around the country during the All-Stars race. White has been the runner-up of this race for the past two years, and hopes to pick up his first All-Stars win in what may be the last running of this prestigious event. Regardless of the outcome of the All-Stars event, White and the Etterman Racing team must be ready for Sunday's race as well.

"On Saturday, our main goal is to get the car qualified for the Sunday race," commented White. "Once we do that, we kind of switch gears and try to do as well as we can for the All-Stars race. We've made it to the final round the past two years at the All-Stars race, but haven't been able to win it. We've got a good shot at doing well there. The car is running well, and we usually run pretty well there, so hopefully the trend will continue."

Even though White ran 5.60's and 5.70's in Chicago, he feels that hot and humid racing conditions this weekend will prevent those kind of times from being run. "I don't think you will see any .60's in Columbus," stated White. "I would say if you can run a .75 to an .80, that will be a pretty good number this weekend. It's usually very hot, very humid, and the race track temperature is sky high there, so it's pretty hard to go real fast there."

Qualifying will begin on Friday at noon for the Federal-Mogul Funny Cars, with another session at 3 p.m. Stay tuned to the team's website, EttermanRacing.com, for daily updates of the team's progress.

NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster driver David Wells picked up his third consecutive win at the Colonel's Brainerd International Raceway since last June during this past weekend's Division 5 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event there. With the win, the former Division 5 Champion maintained his points lead over defending champ Bruce Bowler.

Wells, from LeMars, Iowa, came into the event with intentions of developing their new clutch combination, and the results were favorable. Wells used his new Tom Conway assisted combination to qualify his Blue Bunny Ice Cream "Plain Vanilla" Blown Alcohol Dragster third with a 5.580 second elapsed time at 254.25 mph.

In round one, he took out Jeff Hamelink with a 5.567 at 254.37 mph, then took out Bowler in the semifinals with a 5.626 at 255.39 mph. In the finals, he met up with West Coast heavy hitter, and No. 1 qualifier Duane Shields. Nobody told Wells he was the underdog going into the matchup, as he took the jump off the line and never looked back for a 5.648 at 253.93 mph to 5.749 at 247.02 mph win.

"We did what we had wanted to do coming into the race: dial our new combination in more," said Wells. "We were working on the clutch area of the tune-up, moving things around a little bit because the track was giving us fits. We kept at it until we finally got the car to go down through there. We moved a few more things around, and it liked it even better. We finally got it to be consistent, so we're just moving things gently to see what it will do."

In addition to learning a new combination, Wells and team had to fight adverse track and air conditions. "The air and track weren't very good," commented Wells. "The corrected altitude was up around 3500 feet, and the track was up around 110-120 degrees. It was hot and humid the whole weekend. It's usually not that way there this time of year. It made it a little difficult to get the car go down the track. That last run, the track heated up another ten degrees, and got a little slippery, so that's why we slowed down. The main thing is that we got there first in the last round."

Even after fighting the bad conditions, Wells feels like they are starting to get a handle on the new combination, though. "It's working better," explained Wells. "We found a couple other things in there that were in the fuel system that was causing more problems, and that helped too. We're getting a handle on it. I think we'll be okay with a couple more runs."

Wells' next race will give the team another challenge, as they head west to Denver and the Rocky Mountains for Race Three of the Division 5 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series at Bandimere Speedway. The high altitude track requires a completely different setup than most tracks, but Wells feels some of his new combination can carry over. With two wins on the divisional level this year, Wells hopes to keep his momentum going into the remainder of the Division 5 season.

"This win is kind of what we needed," stated Wells. "We needed to get a handle on it before we went to anymore races. We didn't do very well at the Topeka race, but won here and in Joliet [Chicago]. With this momentum, it is a good starting point to go into the rest of the season."

"I think we can go into Denver with some of the new clutch ideas we got," continued Wells. "We'll do something different that what we did last year. The basic motor tune-up will be our usual high altitude deal, which is fairly different from what we use anywhere else."

Last year, NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster driver David Wells had a pretty successful year at The Colonel's Brainerd International Raceway; in fact it was a perfect year. Wells picked up two wins in both of his outings there, one at the Division 5 race in June, and the other at the Colonel's Truck Accessory Nationals in August. This year, Wells will be looking to keep his win streak alive during the NHRA Division 5 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event there this weekend.

Wells, from LeMars, Iowa, will come into the event utilizing a new clutch combination that he feels will help eliminate some of the tire shake problems he has had this year. Wells debuted the new combination last weekend with somewhat favorable results in Chicago. In qualifying he ran a 5.45 second elapsed time in his Blue Bunny Ice Cream "Plain Vanilla" Blown Alcohol Dragster, but fell off to a 5.58 in round one.

Wells realizes he is taking a risk, but feels with a few laps he can get a handle on his new combination. "We're going to go in with the same motor tune-up as usual, but we're going to move the clutch around a little bit and see if we can make it work like we hoped to do in Joliet [Chicago]," said Wells.

"We're going to make a few changes. This track at this time of the year will usually hold .50's, maybe we can get it to hold some .40's."

If he can't get a handle on his new combination, Wells says he will go back to his usual baseline combination. "We obviously won't throw the old tune-up out the window," explained Wells. "We're going to try this new one a little bit more, and hopefully it will keep working. I'd like to go down that road, and get things turned around a little bit. The other combination works, but it's not the right combination; it always wants to shake real hard, other than a very few places. It was time for change anyway, we had to make something different work here."

"With the basic setup, you end up with the same plate load [clutch pressure]," continued Wells. "It's just a matter of moving the clutch adjustments around."

Qualifying begins at 4 p.m. on Friday for the Federal-Mogul Dragsters, with two more sessions on Saturday. Final eliminations will conclude the event on Sunday. Stay tuned to SummitRacing.com's Drag Race Central for day by day updates on the action from Brainerd.

NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster driver David Wells may have lost the battle during eliminaitons in Chicago, but won his war on the tire shake and parts breakage problems he has had over the past few races. At this past weekend's Lucas Oil Products Nationals at Route 66 Raceway just outside of Chicago, Wells stepped back up into the 5.4 second zone in qualifying, but fell off that pace in his round one loss to eventual runner up Mike Strasburg.

Wells, who helps run the family ice cream business in LeMars, Iowa, qualified his Blue Bunny Ice Cream "Plain Vanilla" Blown Alcohol Dragster No. 6 with a 5.459 at 257.53 mph, due in part to a new clutch combination. A slight adjustment for the first round caused an adverse effect, causing the car to fall off to a 5.587 at 252.80 mph to Strasburg's 5.481 at 259.56 mph.

"We've been having severe tire shake with the same clutch set up we were using last year," said Wells. "We decided that it just wasn't going anywhere, and we needed to change something. We made a drastic change, and the car really liked that one and ran a 5.45. We tried to make another small change for the first round, but that didn't work."

"In the first round, we decided to take a shot at it," continued Wells. "We didn't have any more qualifying laps, and we knew it was a gamble, but we decided to take a shot. It didn't work. The clutch didn't lock up the entire run. It still ran a 5.58, which is okay, but it doesn't cut it when the other guy runs a 5.48."

In addition to conquering his tire shake problems, Wells also had a weekend free of parts breakage, something that has plagued Wells his past two races. "Everything worked pretty well," stated Wells. "We had a little surprise when we got home, but we had parts to fix that, and it wasn't anything real serious. Hopefully we are over that stumbling block for a little while."

With his regained performance level, Wells and the Blue Bunny Ice Cream "Plain Vanilla" team are looking forward to their next race, Race 3 in the Division 5 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series in Brainerd, Minnesota, next weekend.

"It's still going to be a little bit risky," commented Wells. "We have to skip Friday qualifying because of work commitments, so I will only get the two shots on Saturday. We'll go in with the basic setup that we ran the 5.45 with, because we know that will get down the track, and go from there. I think with a few adjustments, we can really get this thing going in the right direction."

Sir Isaac Newton stated that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Strangely, the same seems to hold true for NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Shelly Howard's 2001 season. While this year has been the best of her career, with three wins and two runner ups, every win has been followed by a first round loss.

The pattern stayed true during this past weekend's Lucas Oil Products Nationals at Route 66 Raceway just outside of Chicago. Howard came into the event hot off a win in Topeka, but lost in round one when her engine let go off the line.

Howard, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, qualified her Tom Conway tuned Blown Alcohol Dragster eighth with an elapsed time of 5.460 seconds at 259.06 mph. In round one she faced No. 9 qualifier Jeff Hamelink. Howard took the starting line advantage, but could not capitalize on it when a dropped valve caused a blower explosion at around the 100' mark. Hamelink had problems of his own, and coasted to a 6.19.

"I cut a good light, took off, it spun the tires, dropped a valve, and banged the blower," said Howard. "It was just simple as that. There really isn't much more to say than that. It was a pretty simple series of events. It was pretty costly, but we'll get it back together, and be back in St. Louis."

Howard will be hoping for another equal and opposite reaction to put her back in the winner's circle at her next race, the Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway, June 21-23.

"We'll be shooting for consistency there like we always do," commented Howard. "We try to get the car to be consistent as possible, and I try to cut good lights as a driver. Hopefully we won't have any more mechanical problems. Every time we have went out in early rounds this year, has been because of mechanical problems."

Stay tuned to the Howard Racing Team's award winning website, ShellyHoward.com for more news from the team.

After several races of fighting heavy tire shake, Federal-Mogul Funny Car pilot Marc White regained his early season form with a barrage of 5.60 elapsed times during this past weekend's Lucas Oil Products Nationals at Route 66 Raceway just outside of Chicago. White advanced to the semifinals before losing to eventual runner-up Cy Chesterman when valvetrain failure caused the burst panels to explode, slowing him enough to let Chesterman take the win.

White, who lives just down the road from the track in Glendale Heights, Illinois, qualified the Etterman Racing Firebird No. 2 with an off-the-throttle 5.703 at 241.76 mph. In round one, White used a starting line holeshot to win the quickest side by side race of the year when No. 15 qualifier Vern Moats stepped up to a 5.638 at 252.52 mph, low e.t. of the race, but was not enough to catch White's holeshot-aided 5.658 at 250.83 mph.

White stayed consistent in round two, running a 5.640 at 252.85 mph to put away Aussie Steve Harker. A broken pushrod then ended White's day in the semifinals, however. After taking a holeshot on his opponent Chesterman, White launched into heavy tireshake, and was forced to pedal the car. The engine's burst panels exploded near the 1000' mark, slowing White to a 5.784 at 238.38 mph to Chesterman's 5.706 at 250.60 mph.

"We came into the race with the set up we have been running during the first qualifying run, and wasn't happy with the car's performance," said White. "For the next lap, we just changed directions 180 degrees, put a completely different tuneup on it, and the car went a 5.70, still on an early shutoff. We knew we had something we could work with then."

"We got after it a little more in the first round, and it went a 5.65," continued White. "That made us pretty confident that we were on the right track. We were rolling along just fine, ran a .64 in the second round. Then, in the semifinals against Chesterman, it went out there and shook, and I overrevved it a little bit on the one-two gear change, and lost a pushrod, which caused the blower boost to go higher than it should, and banged the blower off of it, and that was the end of our weekend."

Even though the team did not leave the track with the win, the Etterman Racing team considers the weekend a success after regaining their early season 5.60 performance. With the regained performance, the team looks forward to it's upcoming events.

"We're very happy with the weekend," stated White. "The semifinal defeat - they are racecars, and parts break. We had a parts failure, and that stuff is going to happen. If someone else was going to win the race, we felt like they were going to have to go through us to do it. We felt we had the car to beat there that weekend. We're pretty confident that we can go into our next race and run the way we know we can, and the way we want to. We're pretty happy with the weekend over all."

The next event for the Etterman Racing team will be the Pontiac Excitement Nationals at National Trail Raceway in Columbus, Ohio, June 15-17. In addition to the regular race, White will also compete in the NHRA Sportsman All-Stars race to be held in conjunction with that event. Stay tuned to the team's website, EttermanRacing.com for the latest news from the team.

On a cold and gray weekend in the Great "WET" North, Mike Janis put his Jan-Cen Powered Weber's Mustard/Liteglow Corvette solidly in the tight Pro Mod field. Janis was awarded only one pass on Friday due to one session of qualifying being canceled.

Janis was dealt the left lane. Many of the cars were having trouble getting down the left lane and Janis was also forced to fight his way to the 1320. Running a 6.408 202.97 Janis laid claim to the number eight spot.

Saturday's first session was also delayed due to weather, but the crack IHRA track crew was able to prep a quality surface. Swapping lanes, Janis was forced to deal with the infamous Grand Bend "BUMP." Crew chief Jerry Highway was able to line Janis up for a straight pass clicking off a 6.361 - 222.16 pass. That pass was good enough for the team to move up to the seventh position.

For the Night of Fire Janis lit up his Liteglow neon causing a wave of flash bulbs from the crowd. The purple neon lights caused the smoke from his burnout to change to a tint of purple.

Prior to the final qualifying pass Tom Anderson adjusted Janis' TAE (Tom Anderson Enterprises) fuel system moments before the run. The adjustments made to the fuel System by Anderson accompanied by Highway's clutch set up rocketed Janis into the number four position with a 6.309 - 217.70 pass.

"I was forced to click her off just after the 1000' mark. She just kept heading for the wall. That's why the MPH fell off. If the weather holds out I think we can capitalize on our .990 60 ft time," said Janis.

Veteran Pro Funny car driver Paul (Z-man) Zgoda was forced out of competition in round two as Laurie Cannister and her Girl power team took the win with a 5.88 to Zgoda's 6.16. Zgoda, who qualified # 7 with a 6.13 - 231.42 pass, defeated Herb Rodgers in round 1 with a 6.09 to Rodgers' slower 6.18.

"I thought I had a chance in round two, but not having lane choice hurt. The left lane has a bad bump in it that's hard to get around. I guess I have nothing to complain about. This was the first time I even fired the motor since Norwalk last season," said Zgoda.

For more info go to www.ZgodaRacing.com and also check out his sponsors BlinkerFluid.com and Greenguy2000.com.

On a cold and rainy Friday afternoon Dave Tomasino wheeled his Jan-Cen Powered, JD 69 Camaro to the number five spot in the Top Sportsman field. Tomasino, the self employed Auto shop owner from Holley, New York blasted to a 6.69/207 pass on his only qualifying attempt Friday.

"It seems like since Mike Janis gave me a hand a few weeks back, the car reacts so much better. I spun the tires through first gear, but the car went straight. Now all we have to do is get rid of that spin and we have a good shot this weekend," said Tomasino.

The first round of qualifying was canceled due to the rainy weather. The second and only session for Friday was run between the rain drops. On Tomasino's final qualifying pass on Saturday afternoon, Tomasino was forced to shut her down early. After shaking the tires Tomasino pedaled the car but was not able to make a full pass. Due to rain, the Top Sportsman Quick Eight show was postponed till Sunday morning.

Going into the Shootout crew chief Keith Butterfield felt confident about the JD Automotive teams chances. "I know we have enough power to defeat any team out here. The trick will be getting the power to the track," said Butterfield.

Unfortunately the JD Automotive team never got the chance to make a full pass. While staging the car the clutch locked up causing the car to launch prematurely ending Tomasino's weekend. "I was bringing up the RPM's and the car just left, I really don't know why just yet. I am disappointed, but I'm really looking forward to the next event," said Tomasino.

Victor Bray is determined to win the Hog's Breath Cafe Top Doorslammer category at the Konica Winternationals to secure an unprecedented Trio of ANDRA Gold Christmas Tree Trophy's in one season. Bray has already cliamed one by driving his Castrol 1957 Chevrolet to victory in the Australian Nationals and a second by building an unbeatable lead in the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship series. He is assured of a sixth consecutive title. The Konica Winternationals will be held at Willowbank Raceway over three days next weekend (June 8 to 10) and is the final round of the Australian Championship Series.

Speaking before heading to Willowbank Raceway for his final test session before the event Bray commented, "ANDRA give out three Gold Christmas Trees each season. They're the most coveted item in drag racing and we want to be the first in Top Doorslammer to collect all three in the one series. At the half way point this season we were back in fifth place and plenty of people were writing us off.

"We came back from there with wins in Perth and at the Nationals to give us the points we needed for a sixth title and now we want to keep that run going. It's not being greedy, it's being ambitious. You have to set yourself goals in this sport and it's no use aiming low.

"Looking at the entry list I believe this will be the strongest field of Top Doorlsammers ever assembled at one event. In no particular order let's look at potential winners. There's, Judd, Kapiris, Searle, Stevens, Petterwood, Phillips. They can all run 6.2 or better but then there's a stack more breathing down our necks like Winter and Stanic. Just blink and anyone in the field can beat up on you. Who ever wins the Winternats is going to have to work for it, that's for sure."

The Konica Winternationals follows a highly successful visit to Darwin by Bray's Castrol Team during which they won an exhibition race series at Hidden Valley drag strip and then wowed the fans with Victor's awesome Castrol burnout car demonstrations at the V8 Supercar race.

Bray's final test session on Sunday will be followed by a busy week of vehicle preparation and promotional activities. Victor will be featuring on Radio Triple M in the lead up to the Konica Winternationals with major a "Rock Patrol" promotion at midday on Tuesday June 5th at the Murrarie Sports Reserve.

He will then be guest announcer at the Ipswich Events Corporation's Winternationals Carnival activities in the city mall on Thursday night which will culminate at a special "meet the fans" promotion at the Ipswich Hog's Breath Cafe.

On Friday morning Victor will be addressing a breakfast meeting of the Ipswich City Rotary Club held at Willowbank Raceway before getting down to the business of qualifying his potent Castrol Chevy.

Keep up to date with Victor’s progress at the event at his website, www.victorbray.com. For further information contact Oberg Motorsports Marketing,at oberg@eisa.net.au.

Last weekend, NHRA Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Shelly Howard used consistent low 5.5 to 5.4 second elapsed times to win the Advance Auto Parts Nationals. This weekend, she has picked up right where she left off in Topeka by running a 5.461 at 259.06 mph to qualify her fifth after the first session of qualifying at this weekend's Lucas Oil Products Nationals at Route 66 Raceway just outside of Chicago.

Persistent rain showers caused the morning's first session of qualifying to be canceled. Dense cloud cover remained in the area, holding the temperature down into the 50's.

While Howard, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, is happy with the results, the run did not come without it's complications. Howard's parachutes did not deploy, forcing her to use only her brakes to slow the car. After taking a bouncy ride through the shutdown area, Howard got the car stopped just in time, only putting the front part of her dragster into the sand trap at the end of the track.

"The car left really good," said Howard. "It had a good 60' time, then started to shake the tires and got loose. There was a pretty narrow groove out there. It ran a pretty decent time, but it may have been better if the car would have went straight and not shook. We're pretty happy with it, though."

"One 'chute was caught on the wheelie bar, and the other one did not deploy," continued Howard. "So I went into the sand trap about three feet. The car is okay, though."

The Federal-Mogul Dragsters will get one more qualifying session at 9 a.m. Rather than going into that session and trying to step up into the No. 1 spot, Howard hopes just to repeat, or improve slightly. "We just want to repeat," commented Howard. "We really strive for consistency. As far as stepping up, if our tuner Tom Conway feels that we can, then that's what we'll try for. But if we just run another .46, that will be just fine. We'll be happy with that, because I don't know what the track will be like that early in the morning. That's sort of a concern, but we'll just have to see how it goes."

Following the morning session, the Federal-Mogul Dragsters will have their first round of eliminations at 6 p.m. Stay tuned to the Howard team's award winning website, ShellyHoward.com, for a recap of the team's progress tomorrow evening.

This is just a quick update to let everyone know what I've been up to the last little while.

First the bad news. The renovation of the actual Digest is not likely to be completed until the last week of August. My university classes are keeping me very busy. (I should have my teaching certificate by the end of December.) When the renovations are complete, however, you should be able to customize the news you are interested in receiving. Hopefully this feature, one many people have asked for, will make it worth the long wait.

On the plus side, I have GREAT news for any race fan that dabbles building web pages. Our new Racing Headline service is now online. In summary, it allows you to use one line of code to add a block of headlines from your favorite series to your web page that changes automatically when new news is posted at RacingPR.

If you have a home page that you can edit, this might be a good "stop gap" feature to use until the digest is up and running again. The service is 100% free. See the Press Release below for a little more info. I hope people will be able to make use of this exciting new RacingPR feature.

'Til later, Greg "Nanook" Tjosvold

Vancouver, BC (May 25, 2001) - Racing headlines without the hassle - that is the goal of a new service available free of charge from RacingPR.com. With just one line of code, web page owners can now add an automatically updating series of headlines to their pages. Feeds are available for dozens of racing series including NASCAR Winston Cup, IRL, CART, and Trans-Am.

More generic feeds like "stock car", "drag racing" and "newest headlines (all series)" are also available. As new press releases become available, the headlines, each linked to an actual press release, automatically change.

Technical details on using the service are available at: RacingPR.

"We have been a central distribution hub of copyright free motor sports press releases since 1996," explains Greg Tjosvold, President of RacingPR, "however, until now, using the news we have available meant a web page designer actually had to retrieve and code the news into their site. For fan and corporate sites that don't have 24-hour webmasters, it was hard to keep the news fresh. With our new headline service," grins Tjosvold, "fresh is possible while the designer is sleeping."

"In addition it makes it very simple for a webmaster that runs a site with a very narrow focus to add a broader range of racing coverage without even raising a finger."

The existing feeds are available free of charge. Plans are currently underway to make custom "designed to spec" auto-headline blocks available for specific sponsors, drivers and tracks for a modest fee. These could be used to, among other things, permit PR reps to automatically update their own team website from the track using nothing more than an Internet browser.

Series, track and team PR representatives are encouraged to make their news available via RacingPR by sending their releases to post-it@racingpr.com as unformatted text within the body of an e-mail message.

Contact: Greg Tjosvold - RacingPR.com
editor@racingpr.com (no press releases please)
post-it@racingpr.com (for press releases)
Phone: 604-836-4734
Fax: 604-836-2518 (no press releases please)