Koury Communications produces powerful motorsport artwork in print, on the web and on the race track. We specialize in interactive motorsport animation for the corporate sector. If you're interested, then you'll want to see our interactive website MotoComme, for a large dose of some of the fastest, most realistic interactive motorsports movie clips on the web. We submit our sites for an ad link exchange or for any other resource category we can fill for you. Thank you for your time.

Three days, June 9,10,11, 2000. All the Top Fuel runs, all the Funny Car runs, Gassers, Supercharged Altereds, all the A/FX-ers, Exhibition (Speed Sport Roadster) cars, all the Junior Fuelers leaving the line. All classes finals.

Two tapes... Only $20 (US) to the States, $25 (CDN) to Canada, Europe or Australia. I was on the guardrail about 180 feet from the starting line for most of the time, 800 feet out up in the stands for Top Fuel semifinals and on top of the tower for the finals.

Send orders to: Frank Kunkel, 48 Glenashton Drive, Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada L8G 4E9. Thanks.

How the heck you doin?

Word is that Frank Manzo, who was in Pomona for the Winston Banquet, put a 5.50 tuneup in Gasparelli's car just to beat Pat Austin. I wasn't there, but that's just what I hear.

Team Mission has had a photo update again, from the Mission Raceway awards banquet. There's only a few photos (so far) as my camera didn't work well in the room, as it was dark, even with the flash. Also, the Mission Raceway photo page is updated. If anyone has pics they would like to share from the banquet, please send them to me to put on the site, and or, any race car pics. Thanks.

Bob, your What's New page is five weeks old.... How new is that?

How to give a cat a pill:

(1)   Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens mouth, pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

(2)   Retrieve pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and repeat process. Remove cat from bedroom, and throw soggy pill away.

(3)   Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm, holding rear paws tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.

(4)   Retrieve pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse from garden.

(5)   Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees. Hold front and rear paws. Ignore low growls emitted by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub cat's throat vigourously.

(6)   Retrieve cat from curtain rail. Get another pill from foil wrap. Make note to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

(7)   Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw. Force mouth open with pencil and blow down drinking straw.

(8)   Check label to make sure pill not harmful to humans. Drink one beer to take taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet with cold water and soap.

(9)   Retrieve cat from neighbour's shed. Get another pill. Open another beer. Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.

(10)   Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink beer. Fetch bottle of Scotch. Pour shot, drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and check records for date of last tetanus shot. Apply Whiskey compress to cheek to disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw t-shirt away and fetch new one from bedroom.

(11)   Ring fire brigade to retrieve the cat from tree across the road. Apologize to neighbour who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap.

(12)   Tie the cat's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and bind tightly to leg of dining table. Find heavy duty pruning gloves from shed. Push pill into mouth, followed by large piece of fillet steak. Be rough about it. Hold head vertically and pour two pints of water down throat to wash pill down.

(13)   Consume remainder of Scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room. Sit quietly while Doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.

(14)   Arrange for SPCA to collect mutant cat from hell and ring local pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.

How to give a dog a pill:

(1)   Wrap it in bacon.

Click here to read the "clickable" version. Just in time for the holidays -- Don Montgomery's Hot Rod Books. We are extremely proud to offer you Don Montgomery's outstanding hot rod books. Don's books set the standard for high quality automotive books. These beautiful hard cover books make the perfect gift for the hot rod or dragster fan in your life.

Well written and packed with hard to find information and hundreds of photos. Don's books "take you back" to the heyday of American Performance cars. A racer himself, Don captures the "inside scoop" on the history of the men and women who drove these fascinating machines. Check out Hot Rod Books for more information or to order Don's books.

We have updated Wade Mahaffey's website. Wade offers unbelievably detailed ragsters and roadsters and other cool racer products. If you are looking for a high tech sportsman dragster chassis, check him out. Wade also has his amazing Corvette Super Gas roadster for sale.

Drag Racing Stories of the Day:

November 27:
How Fred Got Hooked on Drag Racing. Fred Vosk, webmaster of Bikesters, and one of the best custom painters in the sport, tells us what brought him to drag racing.

November 26:
Fuel Burndown Wars. Chuck Johnson tells about a burndown between his car and The Snake at Orange County.

November 25:
What Got Me Hooked on Drag Racing? Bill "Badco" Ott on what got him addicted to the quarter mile madness. What got YOU hooked? Send us your story and we'll publish it.

November 24:
The Spooky Story of James Dean's Porsche. Steve Grunewald contributes a creepy tale that is about a month late for Halloween.

November 23:
Big Fun Before Reversers. Bert Toulette tells what a blast it was to back up the Wheeler Dealer fueler at night.

Drag Racing Pictures of the Day:

November 27:
A Tribute to Clayton Harris. Bob Plummer with a tribute photo to a lost friend, Clayton Harris. Clayton lost his life this week in the crash of a small airplane. Clayton was at times the baddest Top Fueler in the country. In recent years, he had tuned some of the quickest Top Fuel teams in the sport. Rest in peace, Mr. Harris.

November 26:
Smax Smith Wheelin' and Dealin' in Canada. Rob Potter with a super shot of Smax Smith in the Noakes Family Dodge Challenger Funny Car. Gee, it looks like a real car!

November 25:
Girls Rock The Generations. Shirley Muldowney at the World Finals. Robert Briggs with a shot of the queen of drag racing, sponsored by a 16-year-old female webmaster who, along with all women, enjoys the benefits of Shirley's pioneering work in blasting through the barriers of sexual discrimination.

November 24:
Hot Pro Stock Action for a Cold Country. James Morgan brings some holiday warmth in the middle of a cold snap in much of the U.S.A.

November 23:
Surf's Up! The Surfers at Bakersfield '66. Chris Stinson shares a pencil drawing of the legendary fueler being push started at the 'Patch.

Drag Racing Movies of the Week:

John Ellis' Outrageous Burnout! Mark Fawcus catches European Pro Mod racer John Ellis as he aims for the starter during the burnout.

Peter Gratz's '70 Daytona Top Doorslammer. Paul Rogers, Jr., captures the outrageous Valvoline Daytona from behind on a full run at Willowbank Raceway in Australia.

Castrol re-signs Victor Bray

Castrol has announced the renewal of its major sponsorship of Victor Bray Racing for the 2000-2001 Australian Top Doorslammer Drag Racing season. The announcement marks the continuation of one of the most productive sponsorship relationships seen in Australian motorsport.

Victor Bray first joined the Castrol race team in 1995 and since then his consistency in drag racing has been second to none. Bray recently clinched the 1999-2000 Australian Championship behind the wheel of his veteran Castrol 1957 Chevrolet for a fifth consecutive title.

The quarter mile king has won every Australian Top Doorslammer Championship since the hugely popular category was created by the Australian National Drag Racing Association. He has also set and reset numerous track, national and world records. His most recent record setting performance saw Bray reclaim the mantle of the fastest sedan drag racer in the world after recording a stunning 237.40 mph [385.7 kph] pass in the opening qualifying session at round one of the new championship season held at Melbourne's Calder Park Raceway.

Racing under the Castrol banner, Bray has also won numerous awards, including being twice voted Drag Racer of the Year at the prestigious Australian Motorsport News Awards. He is also the only person to have won the Queensland Times Motorsports Person of the Year title on two occasions. Earlier this month he was also awarded the Queen's Sports Medal in recognition of his achievements in motorsport.

Victor Bray is looking forward to again racing under the Castrol banner. He commented, "We're proud to have carried the Castrol flag since 1995 and we're delighted to be continuing our relationship with the company again this year. We've had a lot of success in our time together and we're determined to win a sixth title for Castrol this season. It took until the semifinal of the last event of the year to clinch this series and it's shaping up to be an even tougher battle in 2001. Every round of racing and bonus point is going to be crucial. Our team is certainly not underestimating the job at hand."

To mark the renewal of their sponsorship relationship, Castrol and Victor Bray are running a competition inviting drag racing fans to design a new paint scheme for the 1957 Chev. The best judged entry will win a ride with Victor Bray in his burnout car and may even see their creative effort adorned across the record breaking Castrol '57 Chev in 2001.

For further information on Victor Bray and the paint scheme competition, visit the Castrol website.

Bray Wins Willowbank Bracket Race

Victor Bray returned to his drag racing roots at Willowbank Raceway when he entered the Supercharged Outlaws category at Saturday night's Travelaire Tours Season Opener.

Bray originally started racing years ago in "dial your own" handicapped categories at Street Meetings and then in the Wild BUnch before the advent of Top Doorslammer as a professional category. He showed he can still be competitive in the DYO form of racing when he drove his Castrol '57 Chev all the way through the field to win the final with a strong 6.31 second pass on a 6.30 dial-in.

He commented, "We only entered the bracket to test a few things before we go to Adelaide for the next round of the championship because it's likely to be hot down there. The forecast for last Saturday showed it would be about 30 degrees at Willowbank, so it was a good opportunity to do some runs in race conditions. The full handicap tree took a bit of getting used to again but the old Castrol Chevy kept doing the job round after round.

We top qualified and that gave us a bye in the semifinal which we really needed. The turn around time for four rounds of racing in less than three hours had the boys working their tails off. We weren't using our big speed combination so we're happy with running a 6.31 in the hot conditions. Hopefully it puts us in good shape for Adelaide. Winning the bracket was a bonus and the extra TV exposure for Castrol and all our other sponsors won't hurt either."

Bray's 6.31 victory is believed the the quickest Dial Your Own pass by a sedan in Australia, adding to his list of records and achievements. Gary Phillips was also entered in the Supercharged Outlaws with his Studebaker Top Doorslammer, but a 6.55 at 222.77 mph was defeated by Bray in the second round with a 6.41 at 220.05 mph.

Television coverage of Victor's win at Willowbank Raceway's Travelaire Tours Season opener will be seen throughout Queensland on Sunday, December 24th at Noon and Australia-wide on Foxsports at 8:30 pm (Eastern Standard Time) on Thursday night, December 28th.

Round two of the Australian Top Doorslammer Championship will be held at Adelaide International Raceway on December 16th. Victor will then return to Willowbank Raceway for round three of the series at the Castrol Summer Championships on December 29th and 30th.

Hey Bob, what's new? Hibernation comes early, eh? Do you want to wrap up the Federal-Mogul rules story? I'm sure you have lots to say. I need it by December 7th. Thanks.

Oh yeah, the last issue is out, but I've been too busy to send any issues out. Did you hear about the Mission banquet? I hear there were some very interesting "conversations" between racers and management.

Hello, this is the Domains2000.co.uk spider informing you that your domain, northernthunder.com is also available as northernthunder.co.uk. If you want to research this domain, just use the following link. This is a one time notice, there is no need to reply and you are not on a mailing list. Regards.

I am currently a crew chief looking for a Top Alcohol mechanic school that specializes in fuel systems. Do you have any resources in the state of California? Thank you.

Once again the photo page has been updated at Team Mission. I scanned a lot more photos and got them on the site today, but if you are not on there, please send it in. Or even if you have some pics that should be on the photo page, again, please send it in. It doesn't matter what kind of drag race vehicle it is, as this page is also linked with Mission Raceway.

I will update more once I get into my box of photos, since I do have lots, but I may not have yours. So please help me out if you want your car on the site. If you don't have a scanner, let me know as I can help out if you can get it to me. Just email me.

I would like to submit our site as a link to northernthunder.com. Please review our site at Balls Out Competition Gear and let us know what you think. Thank you and best regards.

Hey pal, you OK?

Hey Bob, I've been checking out your website for about a year now. You really are the voice of the racers out here. Hang in there. You're doing just fine.

New Honour for Victor Bray

Five times Australian Drag Racing Champion, Victor Bray has been awarded the "Australian Sports Medal" in recognition for his achievements in motor sport.

After receiving his award at a special presentation ceremony hosted by the Pine Rivers Council, Bray commented, "This came out of the blue but it was a nice surprise when I was told about it. Then tonight when I was up there with all these Olympians and elite athletes receiving the award I realised how significant this was for drag racing. To be recognised at the same level is just fantastic. We had a pretty awful start to this year personally with my father passing away and then Marie having a serious accident. Winning the Championship in October and now this, the year 2000 is certainly ending a lot better than it started."

The Australian Sports Medal is being awarded during the year 2000 to commemorate Australian sporting achievement and has been established as a commemorative award within the Australian honours system. The medal has been created to recognise the contributions of both current and former sports participants and for those who have provided support services to sport. The medal is a unique way for Australia to recognise the wide-ranging efforts of those who have made Australia a great sporting nation.

The Governor-General authorises all awards within the Australian honours system and nominations for the Australian Sports Medal have been recommended by the Prime Minister; Federal, State and Territory Sports Ministers; Senators; Members of the House of Representatives; or peak sports bodies recognised by the Australian Sports Commission.

Hi Bob.... Long time no hear. Is everything OK over there? Well just to let you know, we are getting closer on our search of that front engine dragster. It definitely is a Romeo Palamides built dragster, as found from the Sema tag number. Now we want to know the history of it; did it actually run or who was going to drive it?

I missed out on the Header Flames replies and can't seem to find them in the archives either. I heard there were some snide comments, but when those same people see the finished product there will be ooohhhsss and aaahhhsss. We plan on debuting it at the Vancouver Motorsport Show in March 2001, in Larry Pfister's Horsepower Heaven Showcase.

Then it's on to Bakersfield (California) to showcase it there. We will not show any pics of it until then, but just to tease you, it looks beautiful now that it's painted (Dave painted it) back to it's original colour and graphics. Wait until you see the before and after pics. It will blow your mind!

Anyway, hope all is well with you, and hope to hear from you soon. In the meantime, don't forget to check out our Team Mission website with all the news and photos from Pomona. Of course we've reported about our bracket guys racing there. But my personal highlight of the trip was seeing and meeting Shirley Muldowney in person for the first time. I have a good pic of her and I that I will cherish. She was very kind to us, and spent about fifteen minutes talking to us in cold, damp Pomona, Thursday evening. It made my weekend.

Take care Buddy.

Just wanted to wish all of you and your families a great Thanksgiving. Happy Holidays and can't wait to get back to the track in January. From all of us at Pro Race Communications and RacerPage.com.

Bob: just checking in and wanted your okay on using the Top Ten List on Santa Claus in the December issue of Quicktimes. We'll give your site credit, of course.

Joe Fuentes debuts new website: Joe Fuentes Racing.

Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Joe Fuentes has debuted his new website. The site was constructed and will be maintained by RacerPage.com Internet Services, one of drag racing's fastest growing internet companies.

Fuentes, an electrical contraxctor in Austin, Texas, hopes the website will keep his fans and friends informed on his team's progress. He also wants to convey his team's professional image on the internet. There will also be a message board added soon to maximize Fuentes' interaction with his fans.

"We are really happy with the job RacerPage.com has done for us," said Fuentes. "We hope to use this to keep our fans up to date on what we are doing with press releases, pictures, movies, and to be able to get J&D Racing memorabilia. We're going to hit a lot of races next year, so we're going to need those guys to keep the website going. We're very excited about it."

Fuentes also plans to debut websites for his two businesses, Finishline Performance and JDEA Inc. in the near future.

Click here to read the "clickable" version. We're back! Disney World was great and we had a chance to slip in a little cruise to the Bahamas to boot. We've been saving for quite some time to do this and it was a fantastic trip. The family is nice and rested and here we go for the final stretch of 2000. Hang on tight!

Our e-mail server filled up while we were gone. If you got a reject notice after sending us an email after November 15th, please send it again. We are here and ready to hear from you. Happy Thanksgiving Day to our American friends and peace to all as we enter the holiday seasons around the world.

Drag Racing Story of the Day:

November 22:
Dreams Do Come True in Drag Racing. Pat Foster tells about the green kid he took on tour who became a Top Fuel crew chief.

Drag Racing Picture of the Day:

November 22:
Bruce Sarver's Hot Wheels Funny Car. Robert Briggs caught Bruce in his new livery at the NHRA World Finals.

Drag Racing Movie of the Week:

Peter Gratz's '70 Daytona Top Doorslammer (Pro Mod). Paul Rogers, Jr., captures the outrageous Valvoline Daytona from behind on a full run at Willowbank Raceway in Australia.

For a recap of what we ran while we were on vacation, scroll down the page a bit and see the note from November 12th.

Hi there! I was wondering if you knew where I could find some JP-1 decals? I've been collecting decals for three years now and have never been able to find these. Joe Pisano died a few years ago I know, but there must be someone who has some of his old decals. Any clues would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hi, Bob. You seem to be getting busier as I've noticed fewer updates recently. Still one of my favourite sites, though. We've been very busy and even as I type this, Mark and the lads are busy assembling the engine. Hope to get in some testing before our opening meeting this Sunday. Meanwhile, I have more updates on our website, including a link to your own. Hope you're not wearing yourself out with "work". Cheers!

Just checking to see if things are all right out there on the west coast.

The latest Darwin Awards Update

The Darwin Awards, for those not familiar, are for those individuals who contribute to the survival of the fittest by eliminating themselves from the gene pool before they had a chance to breed.

1.   A young Canadian man, searching for a way of getting drunk cheaply, because he had no money with which to buy alcohol, mixed gasoline with milk. Not surprisingly, this concoction made him ill, and he vomited into the fireplace in his house. The resulting explosion and fire burned his house down, killing both him and his sister.

2. &nsbp; A 34-year-old white male found dead in the basement of his home, died of suffocation, according to police. He was approximately 6'2" tall and weighed 225 pounds. He was wearing a pleated skirt, white bra, black and white saddle shoes, and a woman's wig. It appeared that he was trying to create a schoolgirl's uniform look. He was also wearing a military gas mask that had the filter cannister removed and a rubber hose attached in its place. The other end of the hose was connected to one end of a hollow wooden tube approximately 12" long and 3" in diameter. The tube's other end was inserted into his rear end for reasons unknown, and was the cause of his suffocation. Police found the task of explaining the circumstances of his death to his family very awkward.

3.   Three Brazilian men were flying in a light aircraft at low altitude when another plane approached. It appears that they decided to "moon" the occupants of the other plane, but lost control of their own aircraft and crashed. They were all found dead in the wreckage with their parts around their ankles.

4.   A police officer in Ohio responded to a 911 call. She had no details before arriving, except that someone had reported that his father was not breathing. Upon arrival, the officer found the man face down on the couch, naked. When she rolled him over to check for a pulse and to start CPR< she noticed burn marks around his genitals. After the ambulance arrived and removed the man -- who was declared dead on arrival at the hospital -- the police made a closer inspection of the ouch, and noticed that the man had made a hole between he cushions. Upon flipping the couch over, they discovered what caused his death. Apparently the man had a habit of putting his penis between the cushions, down into the hole and between two electric sanders (with the sandpaper removed, for obvious reasons). According to the story, after his orgasm the discharge shorted out one of the sanders, electrocuting him.

5.   A 27-year-old French woman lost control of her car on a highway near Marseilles and crashed into a tree, seriously injuring her passenger and killing herself. As a commonplace road accident, this would not have qualified for a Darwin nomination, were it not for the fact that the driver's attention had been distracted by her Tamagotchi key ring, which had started urgently beeping for food as she drove along. In an attempt to press the correct buttons to save her Tamagotchi's life, the woman lost her own.

6.   A 22-year-old Reston, Virginia man was found dead after he tried to use octupus straps to bungee jump off a 70-foot railroad trestle. Fairfax Countu police said Eric Barcia, a fast-food worker, taped a bunch of these straps together, wrapped an end around one foot, anchored the other end to the trestle at Lacke Accotink Park, jumped and hit the pavement. Warren Carmichael, a police spokesman, said investigators think Barcia was alone because his car was found nearby. "The length of the cord that he had assembled was greater than the distance between the trestle and the ground," Carmichael said. Police say the apparent cause of death was "major trauma".

7.   A man in Alabama died from rattlesnake bites. It seems that he and a friend were playing a game of catch, using the rattlesnake as a ball. The friend -- no doubt, a future Darwin Awards candidate -- was hospitalized.

8.   Employees in a medium-sized warehouse in west Texas noticed the smell of a gas leak. Sensibly, management evacuated the building, extinguishing all potential sources of ignition, lights, power, etc. After the building had been evacuated, two technicians from the gas company were dispatched to the scene. Upon entering the building, they found they had difficulty navigating in the dark. To their frustration, none of the lights worked (you can see what's coming, can't you?). Witnesses later described the sight of one of the technicians reaching into his pocket and retrieving an object, that resembled a cigarette lighter. Upon operation of this lighter-like object, the gas in the warehouse exploded, sending pieces of it up to three miles away. Nothing was found of the technicians, but the lighter was virtually untouched by the explosion. The technician suspected of causing the blast had never been thought of as 'bright' by his peers.

We went to Heathcote Raceway with one thing in mind: backing the car off to get it down the track. That we did, and had fun doing so; even with a clunker in the engine bay. Got stuck on street tyres yet again as the big balonies wouldn't fit under the guards (fenders).

After qualifying we decided to give the car everything we had. Come eliminations I surprised a lot of people by losing in the first round. At 1000 feet I shut the car off and stood on the brakes right into the braking area, yet broke out by two tenths. A 1.92 sixty footer at one end and an on the brakes 75 mph at the other end needs no more explaining as far as heading in the right direction goes.

That was the last time we were to use that motor as it is now up for sale and has made way for our in-house built full race motor. Interesting to note that one competitor (and friend) of mine was redlighted three times on the day without actually moving at all. Will keep y'all posted.

Where ya been? I haven't corresponded in some time now and am just wondering if you're staying out of trouble? I'm keeping fairly busy here and working on some pretty interesting stuff right now. What's happening with your digger? Is it getting a facelift before you head out? Let me know.

Hey Bob, just wondering what's going on since you haven't called, emailed or snail mailed. Hope to hear from you soon.

Come in Bob..... from "Mission Control"..... (what an oxymoron).

NHRA already has five pro categories! If you really think that 6.30 doorslammers are going to show up 5.40 Dragsters and 5.70 Funny Cars, then you're nuts! Tom Compton told me at Pomona that they floated the idea around but met with strong opposition from both Pro Stock, and the Federal-Mogul classes!

Hi, Bob. We've updated the photo page with some pics from Pomona. The photo page has also been modified, so check it out.

Just found the Sechelt drags report. It's great; thanks for the hard work.

A new internet site providing general and commercial information about Willowbank Raceway and Championship Drag Racing has been developed in-house and launched on to the web.

Motorsports Marketing is the site of Oberg Motorsports Marketing P/L, providing information about our company's consultancy role for Willowbank Raceway, involving sponsorship, corporate entertainment, advertising sales and servicing, along with television production.

There is also information about our client championship drag racing teams such as Victor Bray Racing, Kym Petterwood's Lifestyle Motorsport and Craig Hasted's Cragar Performance Motorsport. It also contains info about the "Drag Racing" television program seen on Channel Seven and Foxsports as well as offering drag racing videos for sale.

The site will be further developed over time with new features. We hope you take a look at the site and find it of interest. Don't forget to add it to your bookmarks or links apge if you have a site of your own. Thanks.

Here's a post that I just put up at Header Flames. You wanted a hint on what was happening with us at Raisin' Hell Racing, so does this fill in any blanks?

Check out the Dragcom website. It has some interesting items about the blown alcohol classes.

Legendary Motorsport Artist, Kenny Youngblood, Launches Newly Designed Website

The nitro-powered art of drag racing's "Painter of Flames" is featured on the redesigned YoungbloodArt website, which now offers online, secure credit card purchases for many of his fine art prints and posters.

Of greatest interest to fans and collectors however, is the ability to join (free of charge) Youngblood's exclusive "Pro Collector Club", where members will get a first look at all new items, plus discounts and special offers for "members only". Another online first, is the site's "Collectors Forum" interactive message board which gives individual collectors a chance to buy or sell sold out or rare items, exchange information and discuss drag racing art.

Vickie Kluge, owner of HotRodder.com web site design services, worked closely with Youngblood in redesigning his site which has been online since 1998. YoungbloodArt.com will continue to grow and evolve as they add more pictures from Kenny's collection and complete some of the other pages.

Hi, Bob. Long time no hear.... again. I tried calling you a couple of times but I can't seem to get a hold of you and you don't ring or write. So I thought I'd try to get a response this way again. Hope everything is going okay and you reply for a change.

I need to get the 12 point nuts we used on your car. It looks like I've sold my Rodeck, so I'll be needing them to give the buyer.

Hmmm.... looks like Cayuga (Ontario, Canada) may be defunct pretty soon.

This Saturday we have our next Street Shootout at Heathcote Raceway. The brackets have no performance limitations and with our (Victorian) State Championships (at Calder Park) only three weeks away, it has been decided that we will slot in our old 1977-era motor and try for consistency over performance.

We will probably lose about 150 hp, but we need to get the car down the track run after run before we try and chase big numbers again. That was our downfall last time out: pushing big horsepower through a setup that wasn't equipped for it on an unprepared track.

With prizemoney and trophies for everyone that makes the quarterfinals and onwards, there is too much incentive to win rather than impress during qualifying only. We are hoping for decent numbers to turn up and perhaps a few challengers to our 11.2 at 120 mph.

Will it be okay to put you on my link page at Shadyside Dragway ? Thanks.

The Chamber of Commerce recently published their November/December newsletter, both in digital form and in hard copy. On the net it can be found at: Newsletter under Car Club Adds to Community. They didn't publish the photos on the 'net, but they published one of them in the hard copy. A scanned image of the article is attached. As per my request, they did give credit to both yourself and Ted Mannion. Have a good day.

I'm back from Pomona; very tired, but happy I was there. I've updated our Newsletter Page, with photos to follow in a few days. Thanks :-)

Bucky Austin finishes year with semifinal finish

Federal-Mogul Funny Car once again saw an Austin in the late rounds at this past weekend's AAA Auto Club Finals in Pomona, California. Not Pat, but "Uncle Bucky" Austin, who made it to the semifinals.

Bucky came into the event hot off a win at the Division 7 closer in Phoenix, and qualified for the Pomona field with a solid 5.746 at 248.84 mph. On his way to the semifinals, he took out Jim Bartoli and Doug Gordon with runs of 5.720 and 5.707 before meeting up with eventual winner Steve Gasparelli. In what proved to be the closest race of the weekend, Gasparelli just edged Austin by .007, with a 5.677 to Austin's right-there 5.678.

Two other B&J heavy hitters were taken out in round two. Top Qualifier Pat Austin was on the losing end of the quickest FM/FC race of the weekend in his race with Gasparelli. Austin's stout 5.622 was overshadowed by Gasparelli's out of the blue 5.592. Recently crowned Division 7 Champion John Weaver was unable to make his race with Russ Parker due to extensive damage from running off the end of the race track in his first round win. Weaver had qualified No. 3 and ran a 5.620 in round one.

How often do you update these lists? Every time I email someone about a part, it has been sold for months.

Parts breakage leads to early exit for Shields

Federal-Mogul Dragster driver and team owner Duane Shields lost in the first round of eliminations to Steve Faria during this weekend's AAA Auto Club Finals in Pomona, California. Shields was ahead of Faria to the 330 foot mark, when a relatively cheap valvetrain component broke early in the run and lead to serious engine damage by the end. Faria was able to pull away for the win with an elapsed time of 5.460 at 259.46 mph over Shields' wounded 5.753 at just 200 mph.

Shields, of Las Vegas, Nevada, qualified No. 8 with a 5.546 at 250.96 mph before meeting up with Faria. Team driver Dale Carlson did not make the field when he could only muster a 5.73 that put him as the first alternate. Shields feels if the motor would have made the run damage-free, it might have been a different outcome.

"A valve adjuster broke about 2.5 seconds into the run," said Shields. "That caused the boost to go way up in the rest of the cylinders, and it ended up pushing out the head gaskets and torching both heads. We had actually caught him by the 330 foot mark, and were still dead even with him at half track, but that's when the motor started going away. It would have been a close race if the motor would have held out."

Aside from competition goals, Shields also wanted to test his two car team in a national event environment to consider his two car options for next year. "They were really pushing the FMD's on time on Sunday, so it would have been tough with two cars," explained Shields. "I think for next year I'm going to change the gears and a few other things in the No. 2 car to make it a little bit more like mine. As far as running both cars next year, if the money is right, we'll do it. We will just have to see."

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Click here to read the "clickable" version. Farewell friends! We are on our way to the land of Mickey Mouse for ten days. That means it's time to pre-load our stories and pictures of the day. Here are enough great stories and pictures to last you through our absence. Don't read 'em all at once!

Drag Racing Stories of the Day:

November 12:
The Santa Monica Gentleman's Club and the Nitro Garage. Tom Jobe and Don Prieto combine to decode the mysterious May 1967 cover of Drag Racing magazine.

November 13:
How Do Snowmobiles Drag Race on Asphalt? Steven LaMunion introduces us to some of the technology required to go nine seconds flat on a snowmobile.

November 14:
The First Blown Funny Car Show. Bob Snayko checks in with a report of the first eight-car blown funny car meet.

November 15:
General Admission in Drag Racing: Where's the Seats? We return to the question we asked at Virginia Motorsports Park in April. Why aren't there any seats available for general admission tickets in the NHRA?

November 16:
Bud's Coast to Coast Drag Racing Adventure. Bud DeBoer tells about his 40,000 mile trip behind the wheel of the Drag News van in 1965.

November 17:
The First Funny Car? Ron Pellegrini stakes his claim with May 1965 runs in his Super Mustang.

November 18:
What Are the Main Issues in Drag Racing? (Revisited). Doug Dornbos responds to some harsh criticism of his fascinating July 1st Story of the Day.

November 19:
Trailer on the Loose! A Towing Story. Pat Foster with a tale of a wild ride home from Bakersfield in 1964.

November 20:
SoCal Funny Car shows in the Sixties. Bill Duke tells us what the very first southern California Funny Car shows were like.

November 21:
What I Love About "The Beach". Bob Van Luven highlights the best parts of "The Beach" - Lions Drag Strip.

Drag Racing Pictures of the Day:

November 12:
Dale Pulde in the Pits, 1988. Ron Dilley with a nice shot of Dale and a humurous reference to the current presidential problems in Florida.

November 13:
Ron Miller's IHRA Pro Stock Monte Carlo. James Morgan captures the IHRA star at speed.

November 14:
Danny O'Day's Superwinch '34 Ford Wheelstander. Gonzo with a nice photo art piece on history's quickest wheelstander.

November 15:
Pro SUV - is this the Future of Drag Racing? Ron Dilley with an interesting photo manipulation that could prove prophetic.

November 16:
Joe Mulligan's 6.60 Top Comp Dragster. Art Cimilluca with a shot of one of the Northeast's quickest sportsman dragsters.

November 17:
The Cargo Mate Burns Down Moroso. Gonzo provides photographic evidence that Jet Funny Car racer Kevin Sindel tried to burn down the tower at Moroso Motorsports Park.

November 18:
Kenz & Leslie's '66 Comet Cammer. Pete Garramone with a super shot of one of the earliest funny cars.

November 19:
Funny Car fun in the Northwest. Jay Mageau provides photos and a report on some Canadian Funny Car action.

November 20:
Got Milk? Russ Parker's Federal-Mogul Funny Car. Robert Briggs goes back to Las Vegas for a shot of Russ Parker's Division 6 flyer.

November 21:
Mystery Fueler at the 1970 Winternationals. Tom West provides a beautiful shot of a front motor digger at speed. But who is it?

Drag Racing Movie of The Week:
Husband vs. Wife on the Strip. Carl Witt provides footage of Top Alcohol racers Debbie and Steven Reed going at it for household supremacy.

Now for the stuff from the past week:

November 11:
Drag Racing Story of the Day: Pro Mod Champ Fred Hahn Plans for 2001. Rich Talbert reports on the Hahn - Oddy team's plans for 2001.

November 10:
Drag Racing Story of the Day: Who Was Barry Setzer? Pat Foster tells the story of how he and Barry Setzer got together to field the baddest Funny Car of 1972.

November 9:
Drag Racing Story of the Day: Bombs Away! Steve Gibbs recalls a funny episode at the US Nationals when a national anthem flyby caused a "little" concern.

November 8:
Drag Racing Story of the Day: How to Build an Amazing Wooden Model Car from Scratch. Gonzo puts together a fantastic wooden model using everyday hardware. Now YOU have to name it!

November 7:
Drag Racing Story of the Day: Drag Racing's "Forgotten" First 200 MPH Run. Harrison Inglis relates a Travis Perrenot story about the probable "real" first 200 mph run in drag racing history, with commentary by Lee Schelin and TV Tommy Ivo. Got all that?

Updated Personal Best with Steve Klemetti. Steve provides all the updates from NHRA Dallas and IHRA Rockingham.

The DRL Lists are updated. We got the updates from Danny White two weeks ago, but it took me that long to get the time to set them up and get them ready for publishing. I compared all the lists against Steve Klemetti's Personal Best columns to cross check the ET's. Everything looks great. These updates contain everything through about mid-October.

We will update the lists again for current racers after the NHRA World Finals. Of course, we CONTINUE to search through the old archives in order to continue filling out information for years past. As always, we need former (and current) racers to check out the lists with a critical eye to let us know what we've missed. Thanks.

Here's a little story that I found on the net. Would be cool if it's really true. It was written by Les Welch.

You are invited to visit MotoComme, the ultimate online interactive motorsport animation and racing resource. See how MotoComme explodes with lightning fast indy cars, drag cars, stock cars, screaming motors of all kinds, head banging rock-n-roll, valuable motorsport resources and rare downloadable racing sounds from our sound library. Take ten minutes and you'll see motorsport animation is an effective motorsport marketing tool. And it's super for proposals. Check us out.

Motorsport animation puts the awesome feeling of the pavement right inside your office, into the still of the boardroom with the wrench gripping action and skin-splitting tension a top notch motorsports animator can render. A power packed animated motorsport website custom tailored to exceed your motorsport animation needs, can be a devastating tool in your promotion campaign.

We do kicking motorsport animation. And we're here to be the best.

Al Gore and the Clintons are flying on Air Force One. Bill looks at Al, and chuckles and says, "You know I could throw a $10,000 bill out the window right now and make one person very happy." Al shrugs his stiff shoulders and says, "Well, I could throw ten $1,000 bills out the window and make ten people very happy." Hillary tosses her perfectly sprayed hair and says, "Of course then, I could throw one hundred $100 bills out the window and make one hundred people very happy."

Chelsea rolls her eyes, looks at all of them and says, I could throw all of you out the window and make the WHOLE COUNTRY HAPPY!"

My compliments on your well laid out site. I have spent quite some time looking it over. Well put together. I would like to put up a link from my site to yours (if it's OK) in my Drag Racing Links section. I'm at Feddema Racing Enterprises. Thank you.

Sorry to hear that you are burned out. I'm writing to thank you for your site, as us racers on the other side of the Rockies need their updates in an accurate and local focus. If it wasn't for racers/media people such as yourself, what forum would we have to express ourselves?

I don't think that a lot of users of your facility have any idea what kind of time it must take to do the awesome job that you've done over the past few years. I for one, think that if it's worth reading, it's worth paying for. Perhaps a members area for a small fee would add up to letting you quit that day job. Yes, an online West Coast performance magazine.

With the amount of traffic that I've heard of on your site, a small percentage of subscribers could only help to encourage your enthusiasm. If nothing else, please take this as positive feedback and please keep up the great work.

How would you like to quit your job, become your own boss, and build up enough residual income to support yourself for the rest of your life?

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Make a well-informed decision which will impact your future today. Simply click on the link to visit our Award-winning website. You will be glad you did!

All I can say is that quitting is for wimps. I work night and day to make my deal, competitionplus.com come up every 15 days and you can keep doing it. In addition to doing it, I also am a contributing writer for several printed magazines, run a PR firm with 21 clients, single parent, little league football coach and a fiancee.

From a fellow e-ziner: dust yourself off; don't be a wuss and jump back in the trenches. I don't want to hear any of this foolish talk again. You understand me? Remember, I used to do all this in addition to working a full time job, then I got the guts to jump out of there full time.

Talk like this from now on will get your name changed from Northern Thunder to Northern Powder Puff.

Shields stays No. 8; parts failure causes Carlson to miss the field

Federal-Mogul Dragster team owner and driver Duane Shields stepped up his performance on Friday's last day of qualifying, but remained in the eighth spot with an elapsed time of 5.546 at 250.92 miles per hour when qualifying concluded Friday evening at the AAA Auto Club Finals in Pomona, California. Severe tireshake caused teammate Dale Carlson not to improve on his 5.731 at 248.75 mph that he ran on Thursday, leaving him on the outside looking in, in the 17th spot.

Shields, of Las Vegas, Nevada, hurt a motor in the morning's first session and was forced to put his backup motor in for the last qualifying session. The backup block split in several places just after the launch, killing his chances of improvement.

"In the first run, we were a little bit more aggressive, and actually ran well, but the burst panel blew right before the lights," said Shields. "When we got back and looked at the motor, we discovered that the bolts had sheared off the cam. We decided to change motors, and torched the head about 200 feet into the run with that motor, and that ended qualifying for us."

"Dale's car just had too much tire shake this weekend. It shook so hard yesterday that it broke all the computer mounts, among other things. It ultimately caused our manifold problem from the last race to come back, and we knew that going into the run. We put the bigger Goodyear tires on it hoping to cure the shake, and it did, but the manifold blew the o-ring out, which let all the boost go at the end of the run, so he did not improve on his 5.73, and didn't make the field. It was on a pretty good pass, but that ended our weekend on that car."

Shields will face No. 9 qualifier Steve Faria's A/Fuel Dragster in round one today. Shields hopes to use consistency to bring him the win. "We're going to leave it pretty much like it was on the last run, explained Shields. "We want to go out there and run a low .50 and make them earn it.

The Federal-Mogul Dragsters will run their first round at 2:30 pm today. Final eliminations will follow tomorrow.

Austin takes top spot in FMFC; Strasburg in top half of FMD

B&J Transmission distributor, and former Federal-Mogul Funny Car Champion Pat Austin ran a great 5.680 at 252.52 mph to take the top qualifying spot of this weekend's AAA Auto Club Finals in Pomona, California.

In Federal-Mogul Dragster, fellow distributor Mike Strasburg lead the way for the B&J dragsters with a 5.526 at 256.41 mph to put him sixth. Other B&J racers to look for are Mark Hentges (10th), John Shoemaker (12th), and Steve Federlin (13th).

Along with Austin's low qualifying blast, recently crowned Division 7 Champion John Weaver ran a 5.692 at 251.86 mph to put him third, followed closely by recent Phoenix winner Bucky Austin in the fourth spot with a 5.746 at 248.84 mph.

The stupidty of some people in this world never fails to amaze me. This attached picture is not doctored in any way -- and was taken last week in Waldorf, Maryland by a Transportation Supervisor for a company that delivers building materials for 84 Lumber. When he saw it there in the parking lot of IHOP, he went and bought a camera to take the picture.

The car is still running as can be witnessed by the exhaust. A woman is either asleep or otherwise out in the front seat on the passenger side. The guy driving it was jogging up and down on Route 925 in the background. The witnesses said their physical state was "other than normal" and the police just shook their heads in amazement. The driver finally came back after the police arrived and was getting down at the rear to cut the twine around the load. They told him to back off until the load was taken off.

The materials were loaded at Home Depot. The store manager made the customer sign a waiver before loading. Both back tires are trashed. The rear shocks were driven up through the floorboard. On the roof are many 2x4's, 4x4's and sheets of OSL. The load isn't all that meets the eye either. In the back seat were ten 80 pound bags of concrete! They estimated the load weight at 3000 lbs.

The car is a VW Jetta with Florida plates and the guy said he headed for Annapolis, Maryland. JUST UNBELIEVABLE!

Shields sits No. 8 after day one of qualifying; Carlson No. 15

Federal-Mogul Dragster team owner and driver Duane Shields is currently qualified No. 8 in his "Team Short Line Express" dragster with an elapsed time of 5.591 at 253.04 miles per hour after Thursday's first qualifying session of this weekend's AAA Auto Club Finals at the legendary Pomona Raceway. Team driver Dale Carlson ran a 5.731 at 248.71 mph to put him in the 15th spot in the No. 2 car.

Shields, of Las Vegas, Nevada, is happy with the team's initial effort, citing that his run was on a conservative setup just to get down the track. "With the chance of rain tomorrow, the gameplan was to make a solid run we could tune from, and that's what we got," said Shields. "It was a pretty lazy run, but it didn't hurt any parts, so it was nothing to complain about. It gave us something to work with."

Shields, looking to maximize the opportunities of his two car team, used Dale Carlson's No. 2 car as a testing opportunity to see what the Pomona track could hold. Unfortunately, Carlson overpowered the track and slowed to a 5.731.

"We had his car set up a lot more aggressive than my car was," explained Shields. "It went out there and overpowered the track in the very beginning and shook the tires pretty hard. He lost a lot of e.t. right there."

In addition to the on track goals, Shields has high hopes for his two car team in the marketing arena. After one day, Shields feels the fan response looks promising. Shields said, "We had a lot of people asking about the two car idea, and what we were doing with it. I took that as a positive. The team did a great job today, everything went pretty smooth. Everybody did what they needed to do, and we are looking forward to Friday."

The Federal-Mogul Dragsters will complete qualifying today with runs at noon and 4:30 pm. The first round of eliminations will be run on Saturday, with final eliminations to conclude the event on Sunday. Stay tuned to Summit Racing's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of the racing action.

I saw the pictures of Jim and Steven Reed's Funny Car crash. I am happening to be making a site for the Reed team and was wondering if I could use the pics on the site. I will put a link to your site next to it.

Austin takes top spot in FMFC; Strasburg sits No. 5 in FMD

B&J Transmission distributor Pat Austin took the provisional low qualifying spot in Federal-Mogul Funny Car with a great 5.759 at 252.54 mph during the first day of qualifying at this weekend's AAA Auto Club Finals in Pomona, California.

Recent Las Vegas event winner Mike Strasburg led the B&J Federal-Mogul Dragsters with a 5.544 at 255.10 mph to put him fifth. Mark Hentges followed right behind him by taking the sixth spot with a 5.579 at 255.92 mph. Other B&J racers John Shoemaker and Steve Federlin follow in the 12th and 13th spots, respectively.

Along with Austin's polesitting 5.75 blast in FMFC, recent Phoenix event runner-up John Weaver currently sits in the fourth spot with an impressive 5.785 at 248.29 mph.

The Federal-Mogul Dragsters and Funny Cars will have two more qualifying shots today. The first round of eliminations will be run tomorrow, with final eliminations following on Sunday.

Have you heard about B&J's new TRIPLE SPRAG transmission? Or about their superior planetary strength? Visit their new website to find out how to get your hands on the transmission of the future.

I see that you have a new picture of your new car at the head of your web page. I would like to see a bigger picture. Could you send me one, or tell me how I can enlarge the one on your website?

Shields looking to make big impact on AAA Finals with two car team

Federal-Mogul Dragster driver and car owner Duane Shields hopes to make a big impact with his new two car team during this weekend's AAA Auto Club Finals at the famed Pomona Raceway. Shields not only wants to make an impact on his competition, but also show the marketing power of a two car team.

Shields' Team Short Line Express, based out of Las Vegas, made a strong showing at the Las Vegas Division 7 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series event, where he scored a runner-up finish, and Dale Carlson, driver of the No. 2 car, made it to the semi-finals. Shields feels that they are much better prepared for this race, and looks to have the same strong performance in Pomona.

"I think we are ready to compete full strength with both cars now," said Shields. "We usually do well at the year end race here. Both cars should be able to run mid .50's and be in the top of the pack. Maybe even a high .40 if the weather holds out. It's going to be a tough field there because you have to have 250 points just to enter. It will be a pretty exciting race."

Shields also wants to show how much of a marketing impact a two car team can make in the Federal-Mogul category. "We really have two goals this weekend," explained Shields. "The first one being our marketing side. We are supposed to have a premier pit spot in Pomona, and we are just going to try to market the two car approach as much as possible. We want to make sure we get as much exposure as we can out there with the fans, and be accessible to them."

"The second phase is to find out if we want to continue with the two car team in a long-term deal. This is a national event setting, opposed to the divisional settings we experienced at our last race, so we will have new deadlines now. It will also test our teamwork even more as well. We think we will be ready, though."

Qualifying for the Federal-Mogul Dragster begins at noon on Thursday, with two additional sessions following on Friday. Eliminations will start with the first round at 1:45 pm on Saturday, and final eliminations will follow on Sunday. Stay tuned to Summit Racing's Drag Race Central for round by round updates of all the racing from Pomona.

Hey there Bob; I've been lurking on your site since it began, and voted for you in the dotcom awards. Congratulations on the award, keep up the good work. I really enjoy you telling it how it is; there are enough NHRA "mouthpiece" sites and magazines.

But I'm going to have to ask you, as it's been almost four months since the Northwest Nationals, and you keep "teasing" us about this story you're going to write about the happenings at SIR. So when are you going to get around to publishing it? We're eagerly awaiting your editorial. Thanks again.

Just a note to say that Mission Raceway Park is launching a new website (again, LOL!), hosted by J. Glenn Miller and SuperWebHost.com, and with a little help from me. It will be connected to our Team Mission site, with lots of info. I will still do the newsletter and quick updates for both websites.

The site will be open in a day or so, but click there anyway to see what's happening. A special "Good Luck" to our Team Mission racers this coming weekend at the NHRA AAA Club Finals. Enjoy, and watch for my updates from Pomona.

I've started a section (on my website) on Fiat bodied race cars. Do you have any photos of famous, or not so famous, Fiat bodied race cars? Mondello and Matsubara, for instance?

B&J's FMD's make semis in Dallas; Austin picks up win in Phoenix

Federal-Mogul Dragster drivers Troy Buff and Mark Hentges lead the way for the B&J Transmission racers in Dallas at the rain delayed O'Reilly Nationals, while across the country it was an all B&J Federal-Mogul Funny Car battle as Bucky Austin took out John Weaver in the finals of the Phoenix Division 7 race.

In Ennis, Buff lead the way in qualifying by taking the No. 7 spot in one of the toughest fields of the year with a strong 5.547 at 254.47 mph. Hentges followed in the eighth spot with a 5.550 at 256.55 mph. In round one, B&J customers Buff, Hentges and Joe Fuentes all had bye runs, recording times of 5.516 - 257.53, 5.625 - 238.26, and 5.563 - 251.86, respectively.

In round two, Buff took out Gene Snow, but slowed to a 5.704 at only 202.94 mph when his blower belt came off. Hentges had another bye run and recorded a 5.592 at 249.95 mph. The semifinals put and end to Buff and Hentges' day, however. Buff fell to the hands of Jay Meyer's 5.488 at 255.32 mph with his own 5.566 at 257.04 mph. Hentges suffered the same fate at the hands of eventual winner Wells' 5.416 at 257.24 over his own 5.589 at 254.66 mph.

Out west at Division 7 Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series meet at Firebird Raceway, the B&J FMFC's stole the show. This time it was "Uncle" Bucky Austin in the winner's circle. In qualifying, eventual runner-up John Weaver lead the way by taking the No. 3 spot with a 5.779 at 250.13 mph. Austin followed in the eighth spot with a 5.900 at 242.19 mph.

In round one, Austin upset Larry Miner with a 5.744 at 248.25 mph, then took out Canada's Roger Bateman with a 5.723 at 248.80 mph. Weaver made his way to the finals by taking out Rod Alexander with a 5.950 at 244.07, then Bernie Harrington with a 5.811 at 248.80 mph. In the finals, it was all Austin, as Weaver experienced problems and slowed to an 8.03 at 88 mph while Austin streaked to a 5.774 at 248.83 mph.

Engine damage leads to early exit for Howard

Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Shelly Howard lost a close race in round one due to engine damage during this past weekend's O'Reilly Nationals at the Texas Motorplex.

Howard, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, qualified No. 13 with an off-pace elapsed time of 5.625 at 253.66 mph before the race was rained out two weeks ago. Howard then made a strong showing at last week's Matco Tools SuperNationals in Houston where she returned to her usual 5.4 second performances. Unfortunately for Howard, she was ahead of Wells in her first round race all the way to the 1000 foot mark when her motor let go, giving the win to Wells. Wells ran a 5.555 at 255.48 mph to her problem plagued 5.600 at 245.40 mph.

"I was ahead of David until about the 1000' mark," explained Howard. "I could feel the motor was eating itself up, but I couldn't lift at that point. It hurt the motor pretty bad; it kicked two rods out. It was just a bad weekend for us."

Looking back on her up and down 2000 season, Howard looks to 2001 to be a better year. Howard said, "We definitely hope next year is better than the year we had this year. Towards the end of this year, the car has really started to run good, so we are happy about that. I really don't like to dwell on the past, so we are just looking to next year."

For more info on the Howard team, visit Shelly Howard Racing.

Could you please add my web page to your page of links? Under "Racers - Others". The URL is: McIsaac Racing. Thanks.

Coil wire ends Fuentes day in Round Two

Federal-Mogul Dragster rookie Joe Fuentes lost what might have been a huge upset in the second round of this past weekend's O'Reilly Nationals at the Texas Motorplex.

The Austin, Texas native once again lost at the hands of this year's Division Four Champion, Jay Meyer, when his coil wire (the main ignition wire) shook off the car, rendering him powerless. Meyer had problems of his own, but much further down track when his blower belt came off. Meyer ended up with the win, coasting to an elapsed time of 5.841 at only 181.37 mph. Fuentes ran a 5.563 on his first round bye run.

"We just keep on running into problems," said Fuentes. "We hopped the car up a little more, thinking we could run another low .50. It went out there and shook so hard the coil wire came loose. That ended our weekend right there. Jay had problems of his own, and slowed down to an .84. I think I could have had him. These little problems that are biting us are happening now, but we hope to learn from them so they don't get us next year."

Looking back at this season, his rookie year, Fuentes feels he has learned a lot, and looks forward to a full schedule next season. Fuentes said, "This season turned out a lot better than we expected, and a lot better than some other people expected. We learned a lot early in the season from the Buff's, even though we parted ways with them. We decided to go on our own; you always learn more that way.

"I have to thank Ora Vasquez, Tom Conway, and the Buff's for all the help they have given us this year. My crew chief, Tony Rosillo, has done an excellent job as well as the rst of the crew: Mike Young, Dale Zellenger, Jerry Fuentes, Paige Harden, Art Ayala, and James Wortham. Without them, I couldn't have done this. We will have four motors and a lot of spares for next year. We're going to hit it hard next year with a full schedule, so I'm looking forward to it."

You've got a really good looking site. I was wondering how I could get my site listed on here as well. Would be glad to return the favor if you would send me a logo if you have one. Thanks.

Meyer closes season with runner-up finish

Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Jay Meyer closed his career best season with a runner-up finish during this past weekend's O'Reilly Nationals at the Texas Motorplex.

Meyer, of Freeport, Texas, was defeated by David Wells in the final when Wells became only the second Blown Alcohol Dragster to record a 5.3 second elapsed time with a 5.392 at 258.22 miles per hour to Meyer's off-pace 5.635 at 246.12 mph. Meyer defeated Steve Federlin, Joe Fuentes, and Troy Buff on his way to the finals, with e.t.'s of 5.452, 5.841, and 5.488.

"Since the test run they [NHRA] were going to give us before the race was rained out, we decided to leave it like it was in Houston instead of testing," said Meyer. "We didn't know how the track was going to be. We left it pretty aggressive and ran that .45 in the first round, then tried to step on it more every round, and it slowed down every round after that; we just couldn't figure it out."

Even though the season may be over, Meyer plans to work hard over the winter for the 2001 championship. "We plan to do some testing in the winter to get the beadlocks [type of rear wheel] to work," commented Meyer. "We think there is some more e.t. with the beadlocks if we can figure them out."

The year 2000 has been a career year for Meyer. Meyer will finish No. 2 in the national standings, and won his second Division Four [South-Central Region] Championship. In 16 races attended, Meyer had ten final round appearances, winning seven of them. Meyer came out of retirement at the end of 1999 to run the 2000 season.

"It was a great year," reflected Meyer. "My crew, led by Stacy McLemore, Jim Morrison, Bruce Meyer, Chris Holley, Stuart Herbst, and Dixie Meyer, all worked hard this year. We never would have been as competitive as we were without the help of our tuning consultant, Tom Conway, either. We owe him a lot of thanks.

We accomplished what we needed to in those last couple of races, and now we just need to work over the winter to get the beadlocks to work. After laying out for the last few years and to come back with a season like this with a new crew is just unbelievable. This year has just been phenomenal."

For more info on the Meyer team, visit Jay Meyer Racing.

Wells closes season with a win at Texas Motorplex

Defending Division Five Federal-Mogul Dragster Champion David Wells closed his 2000 season with a bang by winning this past weekend's O'Reilly Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. In addition to scoring his second national event win this year (third of his career), Wells became the second Blown Alcohol Dragster to record a 5.3 second elapsed time when he ran a 5.392 at 258.22 miles per hour in defeating heavy hitter Jay Meyer's 5.63 at 246 mph in the final.

Wells, who helps run his family's Blue Bunny Ice Cream plant in LeMars, Iowa, qualified No. 4 with a 5.496 at 258.52 mph [top speed of the event] and defeated Shelly Howard, Steve Faria and Mark Hentges on his way to the final with e.t.'s of 5.555, 5.490, and 5.416.

"We have been working on some different stuff that finally started to work," said Wells. "We've been able to dial it in a little bit more, and it really ran good. We were a little bit more conservative this race, and just stepped on it a little bit at a time."

The win capped off a roller coaster year for the Blue Bunny Ice Cream "Plain Vanilla" team. After losing the Division Five Championship this year, with the win at the Motorplex, Wells hopes to take the momentum into 2001.

"We've been looking for that win for quite a while now," commented Wells. "We've been shaking the tires at the last couple of races, and since we got rid of that, it has turned a whole lot of things around. We hope to be able to pick up where we left off next year, because we had to change so many things this year. We'll just hit it hard when next season rolls around."

A "clickable" version is available at Draglist Notes.

November 6
The DRL Lists are updated! We got the updates from Danny White two weeks ago, but it took me that long to get the time to set them up and get them ready for publishing. I compared all the lists against Steve Klemetti's Personal Best columns to cross check the ETs. Everything looks great. These updates contain everything through about mid-October.

We will update the lists again for current racers after the NHRA World Finals. Of course, we CONTINUE to search through the old archives in order to continue filling out information for years past. As always, we need former (and current) racers to check out the lists with a critical eye to let us know what we've missed.

Drag Racing Story of the Day: Paul Romine Wins IHRA Top Fuel Championship in Rockingham, Plus Complete Fall Nationals Results. FastNews provides the results of the final IHRA National event of the year.

Drag Racing Picture of the Day: Lizzard Man -- Matt Grillo's Top Sportsman Corvette. James Morgan captures Matt Grillo's boss '53 Corvette doorslammer at speed.

Drag Racing Movie of the Week: Europe's First Six Second Pro Stock Run. Sharkman checks in with footage of European drag racing history -- Michael Malmgren's six second Pro Stock run.

November 5
Updates are on the way! Hi gang. I just spent the last 16 hours going through and getting the latest round of updates ready to publish to the web. We will have new lists up by Sunday night. Thanks as always to Danny White and Steve Klemetti for volunteering hundreds of hours to this effort. Thanks also to all our contributors. You guys are the Super Crew.

Drag Racing Story of the Day: Two More Winston Champions Crowned in Dallas, Plus Full NHRA Results. Motorsport. com provides the results of the waterlogged Ennis event.

Drag Racing Picture of the Day: TV Tommy's Fire Burnout at Cordova! Tommy shares a super Tommy Shaw photo of one of his patented fire burnouts at Cordova Dragway in the mid '70s. Thanks to Byron Stack.

Drag Racing Movie of the Week: Fuel Funny Cars, British Style. Mark Fawcus with footage of a great side by side run by two of Europe's quickest Fuel Coupes.

November 4
The DRL is HOT! Hooray! We made it into the 100 Hot Auto Sites for the week ending November 3 (all the automotive websites are tracked each Thursday). We finished 72nd -- our highest finish yet! We finished 96th last week. We aren't ready to take on GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, or Microsoft.com, but it sure is neat being ranked up there with the Top 100 auto sites! We just had our biggest month ever, with nearly 30,000 individual readers and over 94,000 hits! I simply can't believe that many people see our humble work here. Thanks for helping to make the DRL one of the top car sites on the 'Net.

Drag Racing Story of the Day: Remembering San Gabriel's "Green Room." Fred Vosk with tales from one of the racers' favorite post-race party dives.

Drag Racing Picture of the Day: Dangerous Curves. James Morgan with a close-up photo of Ronnie Hood's sleek Corvette Pro Mod car.

November 3
Drag Racing Story of the Day: Flying Six Cylinder from Down Under. Ash McPhee fills us in on a test session with his quick six.

Drag Racing Picture of the Day: Kemper's 'Vette and DRL Signage(?) at Maple Grove. Ron Dilley with a photo of a neat doorslammer and what the wall at Maple Grove might look like if we had any money at draglist.com!

November 2
Drag Racing Story of the Day: Bring it On! A Photographer's View of Bret Kepner's "No Wheelie Bars" Idea. Tom West says, well, bring it on!

Drag Racing Picture of the Day: Tiny Dancer -- Angelle Seeling Wins the 2000 World Championship. Ron Dilley with a nice, at-speed photo of the new champ!

November 1
Drag Racing Story of the Day: Heaters, Bleachers, and Belchers. Gonzo recalls what it was like to see the drags for the first time, and it was a JET race!

Drag Racing Picture of the Day: Stock Class Chevelle Finds New Home in Sweden. Janne Kretz checks in from Scandinavia with photos and words about his '71 Chevelle.

October 31
Drag Racing Story of the Day: Gaylon Smith Doubles Up in Winning Final Paris Race of 2000. Danny White provides all the weekend's match race doorslammer action from Paris, Texas.

Drag Racing Picture of the Day: Halloween Tricks! Gonzo whips up a spooky scene of a '55 Chevy escaping the gates of the underworld! Happy Halloween!

Guys: Ralph (?) visited the old Puyallup Raceway site today. He says its all intact but somebody lives on the site and "No Trespassing" signs are all over. Here's his report:

Looking at the Terrasaver picture, 160 is the street coming in from the left where the trailers are parked. It does not go through. That triangular (sort of) building above the trailers is the police station. Go right about 2.5" from the trailers and you can see the trailer that the occupants live in. Directly above it there's another building.

One of the old boys at the show today told me that the tower is still there too. I didn't see it, but that could be it. You can see the road that we drove down cutting through the trees on the right side. There's a road going east by the right-side arrow; that's where we parked and ran through the trees (there's a path). The track starts going uphill at that point. Looks like we just missed theg ravel. I would have to say, from looking at the pic, that the trailer is a little down track from the start. I would have liked to hang around for a bit and explore, but I didn't want to get caught.

WHAT A WOMAN SAYS:

WHAT A MAN HEARS:

Could you post this small ad in your For Sale section? I'm selling my race car so that I can crew for Greg Hunter (he drove my car in 1997-98). We will be running in FM/FC with a 526 Ford Shotgun Hemi engine for power; we'll let you know more as soon as we put together a media package. Ad as follows:

FOR SALE:   7.50 - Nostalgia-type 1978 Challenger Funny Car
392 Chrysler Hemi powered; air shift automatic trans
36 x 17 x 16 tires; Les Davenport fuel system
Best ET: 7.78   Best MPH 179.00 (at 2300 feet)
also have '48 Fiat coupe body
plus enclosed 34' trailer and spares
Price: $23,000 CDN funds; Located in Medicine Hat, Alberta

I can be contacted via e-mail at the address above. Also, the car can be seen on my website.

Thanks very much. Congratulations on your third place finish in the balloting for websites. (Yes, I voted for your site).

Just wanted to drop you a note congratulating you on your finish (in the Competition Plus "Best Website" voting). Third place can be very exciting. The website I designed for Johnny Rocca, USA Racing came in third behind John Force and Scotty Cannon.

I feel great seeing the small guys such as yourself and I doing well in this industry. Send me a logo or banner for Northern Thunder and I will place it on my (1320 Web Services) site and put up a link to your site on Rocca's, Mike Stawicki's and a few more that I'm finalizing deals with right now.

Thanks for your time, and once again: Great Job!

SYMPTOM: Feet cold and wet
FAULT:        Glass being held at incorrect angle
ACTION:      Rotate glass so that open end points toward ceiling

SYMPTOM: Feet warm and wet
FAULT:        Improper bladder control
ACTION:      Stand next to nearest dog; complain about house training

SYMPTOM: Beer unusually pale and tasteless
FAULT:        Glass empty
ACTION:      Get someone to buy you another beer

SYMPTOM: Opposite wall covered with flourescent lights
FAULT:        You have fallen over backwards
ACTION:      Have yourself lashed to bar

SYMPTOM: Mouth contains cigarette butts
FAULT:        You have fallen forward
ACTION:      See previous item

SYMPTOM: Beer tasteless; front of your shirt is wet
FAULT:        Mouth not open, or glass applied to wrong part of face
ACTION:      Retire to restroom; practice in mirror

SYMPTOM: Floor blurred
FAULT:        You are looking through bottom of empty glass
ACTION:      Get someone to buy you another beer

SYMPTOM: Floor moving
FAULT:        You are being carried out
ACTION:      Find out if you're being taken to another bar

SYMPTOM: Room seems unusually dark
FAULT:        Bar has closed
ACTION:      Confirm home address with bartender

SYMPTOM: Taxi suddenly takes on colorful aspect and textures
FAULT:        Beer consumption has exceeded personal limitations
ACTION:      Cover mouth

SYMPTOM: Everyone looks up at you and smiles
FAULT:        You are dancing on the table
ACTION:      Fall on somebody cushy-looking

SYMPTOM: Beer is crystal clear
FAULT:        It's water; somebody is trying to sober you up
ACTION:      Punch him

SYMPTOM: Hands hurt, nose hurts, mind unusaally clear
FAULT:        You have been in a fight
ACTION:      Apologize to everyone you see, just in case it was them

SYMPTOM: Don't recognize anyone; don't recognize the room you're in
FAULT:        You've wandered into the wrong party
ACTION:      See if they have free beer

SYMPTOM: Your singing sounds distorted
FAULT:        The beer is too weak
ACTION:      Have more beer until your voice improves

SYMPTOM: Don't remember the words to the song
FAULT:        Beer is just right
ACTION:      Play air guitar

Virginia Motorsports Park and CompetitionPlus.com Announce Major Pre-Season Test Event To Be Held in March 2001

After a long winter's nap, the duo of Virginia Motorsports Park and Competition Plus.com E-zine plan to wake up the eastern drag racing community with an alarm that will ring with the thunder of high-horsepower machinery and a distinct smell of nitromethane in the air. The event, hosted by the Dinwiddie, Virginia facility, will signal the start of the 2001 season on the East Coast, with a testing event that will surpass all others.

This event will begin on Thursday, March 8th and conclude on the following Sunday (March 11th). Saturday will feature a special "Chicago Style" eliminations format for all professional entries ranging from the fire-breathing Top Fuel dragsters to the ultra-popular Pro Modifieds to the supercharged Funny Cars.

The event will fill the weekend formerly reserved for the Winter Nationals in Darlington, South Carolina. It will provide the staff at Virginia Motorsports Park with an opportunity to meet and greet its new IHRA family. In late June, VMP announced the switch of sanctions and will host its first IHRA Summit Drag Racing Series event on April 20-22, 2001.

VMP's Director of Marketing, Bryan Pierce, is at a loss for words when he considers the potential of the upcoming pre-season event. "This is going to be an awesome deal," said Pierce. "I think this is going to be a great opportunity to introduce the IHRA excitement to our hometown fans as well as our local media. Also I feel this is a great opportunity to usher in our new alliance with the IHRA in preparation for our national event in April.

"This warm-up is not only for the drivers, but our staff as well. It's a great opportunity for the pros and the sportsman racers to get some test runs in before the 2001 season opens up." He continued, "I am looking forward to working with the staff at CompetitionPlus.com as well as the IHRA to make this event a rousing success. I think this event will mark an alliance between three of drag racing's up and coming entities: The IHRA, CompetitionPlus.com, and Virginia Motorsports Park."

Bobby Bennett, editor of the CompetitionPlus.com e-zine, is ready to begin the 2001 season. "This event should be an effective cabin fever reliever," explained Bennett, whose e-zine recently topped the 100,000 reader mark. "When IHRA's Vice President Aaron Polburn came to me and suggested promoting such an event, I knew this would be the move to take our annual pre-season event, as well as our e-zine, to the next level. I owe a lot to him for this. Virginia Motorsports Park is a first class facility and I look forward to working with the management to make this event a memorable one."

The e-zine succesfully worked in conjunction with Darlington Dragway this past February to host the CompetitionPlus.com "Groundhog Warm-Up", presented by Majesty Homes. The format (for the 2001 event) will work in much the same fashion in that professional drivers will be afforded testing in exchange for participating in the special "Chicago Style" eliminations format on Saturday.

One major change is that Top Fuel and Funny Car divisions will join the program that consists of Pro Modified, Pro Stock and Nitro Harley. Sportsman racers will be allowed to participate as well as NHRA-sanctioned professional drivers.

Bennett is thankful that he had the opportunity to work with the fine staff at Darlington Dragway. He added, "I will always be thankful for the oppportunity to David Johnson, Johnny Rocca and Carlton Phillips afforded me. I have kept the door open that if they need any help with any future events, that my e-zine as well as my staff will be there to assist in any way we can. We had a winner in the two years that we promoted the Groundhog Warm-Up."

Virginia Motorsports Park is a state of the art facility built in 1994, encompassing 700 acres. The drag strip is concrete for the first 675 feet of the mile-long track. VMP is located 25 minutes south of Richmond, off of I-85.

CompetitionPlus.com stands as a pioneer in the drag racing publications industry as one of the first e-zines to hit the market. The Spartanburg, South Carolina-based electronic publication made its debut on September 15, 1999 and has since published 27 issues. New publications are uploaded on the 15th and 30th of each month. Harley Communications publishes CompetitionPlus.com.

For more information on the event, stay tuned to IHRA, Virginia Motorsports Park or drag racing's leading e-zine, Competition Plus. As more news becomes available, it will be posted on these websites.

G'Day Bob. Victor Bray did a number at Calder Park that took everybody by surprise. 237 + mph qualifying pass at Calder today. A record for a sedan car anywhere in the world. It was something else. Hear from you soon.

Hi, Bob. Just a note to ask you to send in your "Good Luck" wishes to our Good Luck in Pomona forum four our Team Mission racers who are going for the gold at the NHRA World Finals in Pomona.

Damien Giddens, Chris Brandt, and A.J. Boykin are the three of four winners in Division 6 to represent Canada and Team on a Mission, in their respective classes, and go for the top prize of NHRA Summit National ET Racing Series Champion.

Please send in your good luck wishes and I will take them to Pomona with me. Thanks in advance.

BRAY'S 237.40 MPH NEW WORLD RECORD

Castrol '57 Chevy driver Victor Bray, is once again the fastest sedan drag racer in the world after a stunning 6.40 second 237.40 mph [385.7 kph] pass in the opening qualifying session at round one of the 2000-2001 Australian Top Doorslammer Championship held at Melbourne's Calder Park Raceway tonight.

American racer Bill Kuhlmann had recently reset the outright record to 234.41 mph driving a nitromethane fuelled Chev. Bray was on course for an even faster run in the second qualifying session when engine damage spoiled the pass at three quarter track. Despite slowing with a dropped valve, Bray still claimed the top qualifying position on that pass with a 6.339 at 229.53 mph.

As his team raced to replace cylinder heads and a piston and con rod before the first round of eliminations, Bray commented "I really think we were on the way to the world's first 240 mph run when the valve broke. The car ran 187 at half track, which is six miles an hour faster than on the 237 pass. It was pulling so well I knew inside the car that it was going to be fast. Then it just nosed over at about the thousand foot mark. It was the one that got away."

Despite fitting a less developed set of spare cylinder heads, Bray was able to record a strong 6.330 second time at 223.88 mph [359.41 kph] in defeating Sydney's Rob Broadbent in the first round of elimination racing. Unfortunately however, Bray's Castrol Chevy bowed out in the semi-finals by just one hundredth of a second against Brisbane's Brett Stevens. Stevens went on to win the event over Andrew Searle.

"Obviously we would have loved to have won and taken all the points away like we did at this event last year, but we're not really too disappointed. It was a great race against Brett and could have gone either way. Our car is handling very well now and we know we've got a setup that will be fast all season. It's a long championship and we're going to be in there fighting all the way to win it," said Bray.

Bray's Castrol team will now undertake more testing at Willowbank Raceway before contesting the next round of the championship at the Adelaide International Raceway on December 16th. The championship points after the first round of the series are as follows:

FIVE TIME TOP DOORSLAMMER CHAMPION SETS WORLD RECORD PACE AT CALDER PARK AHEAD OF TONIGHT'S OPENING ROUND

The action is well underway this afternoon at Melbourne's Calder Park Raceway for tonight's opening round of the 2000/01 Australian Drag Racing season. Highlighting what fans can expect from the high octane drag racing tonight, five time Top Doorslammer Champion, Victor Bray from Queensland, completed the fastest ever Top Doorslammer quarter mile pass in the WORLD at a terminal speed of 237.40 mph [385.7 kph].

Bray, who drives the Castrol '57 Chevy Top Doorslammer is a favourite of drag racing fans throughout Australia and is looking forward to a strong night's competition against Melbourne rival Peter Kapiris and Queenslanders Gary Phillips, Brett Stevens and Andrew Searle, not to mention front running Western Australian racer Robin Judd and South Australian Dave Koop.

Top Doorslammers are powered by 2500 horsepower V8 engines and are a thunderous spectacle under the lights as they eliminate each other to find the first round winner of the new season. Two wheeled drag racing fans will enjoy Pro Stock Motorcycles and the Top Bike brackets, accompanied by no less than ten more drag racing brackets providing non-stop entertainment through to 10:30 pm.

Victor Bray returned to set the number one Top Doorslammer qualifying time at 4:30 pm, during the second session, held in fine conditions, with a 6.33 second elapsed time at a terminal speed of "only" 229 mph.

With just one tenth of a second separating most of the field, the stage has been set for a magnificent shootout tonight. Andrew Searle has taken the second spot with a 6.358 second ET, Peter Kapiris is third with a 6.370, and Gary Phillips making up the top five with a 6.427 second ET, identical to the time set by Brett Stevens. Koop, Judd and Broadbent made up the balance of the field.

Admission tonight is $27 for adults, $20 student/concession, children 13 years and under are admitted free. Eliminations start at 6:30 pm. Calder Park Raceway is located 20 km west of Melbourne in an easy drive along the Calder Freeway. Abundant free parking is available. The weather forecast is for a clear evening, with temperatures at 18C [65 F] at 4:00 pm, and dry.

For photos of the action taken today, visit Torque Photos.

THE EINSTEIN RIDDLE: WHO OWNS THE FISH?

Are you amongst the top 2% of intelligent people in the world? Solve this riddle and find out. Albert Einstein created the riddle in the 20th Century, saying that 98% of the world population would not solve it. Good luck. Let me know how you got on. There are no tricks; just pure logic.

In a street there are five houses in a row, painted in five different colours. In each house lives a person of different nationality. The five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke a different brand of cigarette and keep a different pet.

The question is: WHO OWNS THE FISH?

Specify his nationality, house colour, brand of cigarette and preferred beverage.

HINTS

The Brit lives in the red house.
The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
The Dane drinks tea.
The green house is on the left of the white house.
The owner of the green house drinks coffee.
The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
The man living in the centre house drinks milk.
The Norwegian lives in the first house.
The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
The German smokes Prince.
The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
The man who smokes Blends has a neighbour who drinks water.

Folks: I've never heard of this one.... Have you?

Meyer looks to close season with win

Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Jay Meyer hopes to close his career best season with a win during this weekend's resumption of the O'Reilly Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. Meyer scored a runner-up finish in front of his hometown fans in Houston last weekend, and would love to finish the year with a win in his home state.

Meyer, owner of Brazosport Equipment in Freeport, Texas, qualified No. 6 with an elapsed time of 5.520 at 253.90 miles per hour and is scheduled to run Steve Federlin in round one. Meyer defeated Federlin in the semifinals in Houston last weekend.

"We're going to continue to try some new things in Dallas," said Meyer. "We changed a lot of stuff we were afraid to earlier in the year because of the points battle with Santos. We only get one practice run, so we're not going to get too wild. I think if the air and track is right this weekend, we could possibly get down into the 5.30's with what we know now."

In addition to getting the win this weekend, Meyer hopes to get a run on next year's Championship season. "We learned a lot last weekend because we were trying new things," explained Meyer. "Even though we didn't win, I think last weekend was a really good race for us because we learned so much. We always knew we needed a little bit more to be running with Santos, and now we have had the chance to experiment. Given these last two races of the year, and testing we plan to do over the offseason, we feel we'll be ready to go for the Championship next year."

The Federal-Mogul Dragsters are scheduled to receive one warm-up run at 9:45 am Friday, with the first round of eliminations to follow at noon. Final eliminations are scheduled for Saturday. Stay tuned to Summit Racing's Drag Race Central for round by round updates from Dallas. For more information on the Meyer team, visit their website at: Jay Meyer Racing.

New look for Award Winning, Motorsports Internet Website

The popular website of Federal-Mogul Dragster driver Billy Bybee will now give racing enthusiasts an even more exciting look at NHRA Championship Drag Racing. FMD Team has been completely redesigned, with expanded multimedia sections and new interactive exhibits.

"When we first developed the site back in 1998, we had a clear goal to give race fans the best racing experience available on the web," said Bybee. "We have always strived for excellence with the website, and we even earned 'Best Racing Team Website of 1999' from the Internet Sports Award Committee. After winning the ISA award, we wanted to make www.FMDTeam.com even better, and I think the new design has accomplished just that."

The best of the old website, including the team news section, photo and sound galleries, have been combined with new features, including downloadable video clips, and an exclusive "track tour" to make the site an overall rewarding experience. The unique "track tour" allows fans to travel to race tracks around the country with the click of their mouse. Once there, they can experience a 360 degree panorama of the track, which provides an uncanny feel of realism not found in simple photographs.

Additionally, the sound and photo galleries have both been expanded, including audio from media interviews and track commentary. And finally, with the addition of the video clips, fans can now see and hear what it's like to be on the starting line with Bybee as he pilots his 3000 horsepower dragster down the track. Overall, www.FMDTeam.com should have something for everyone who enjoys NHRA drag racing.

Good morning, Bob. We thought we'd share a few new features with you at Drabike Magazine, in case you haven't noticed them.

READER SURVEY:  There is now a reader survey on the lower portion of the front/main page. This will be changed weekly, and will help us with our editorial direction by asking different questions each week. It's also fun, to find out what the readers think about different topics, or what they are involved in. We ask that you take part in these surveys, so we can better serve your needs.

DRAGBIKE CENTRAL:  We have introduced a new "community", where racers, teams and the racing public as a whole, can get free websites that are easily setup, and show the world that you are a dragbike junkie. These are full featured websites, with an automated "build" prgram that will help you set it up, without any web building experience. For more information, visit the Members page.

DESKTOP WALLPAPER:  We're now making desktop wallpaper available, so that Microsoft Windows users can display dragbike artwork on their computer screen, instead of the old boring Windows look. Check them out at the Wallpaper page.

RACESHOP QUICKPAGES:  We've come up with a new way for companies to jump on board with DRABIKE.com and begin advertising with us. These "quickpages" are mini websites, which will give a web presence to a company which does not have a website yet. For less than $1.00 per day, you can be listed in our performance directory, have a web presence you can advertise to your customers, have the ability to use the Drabike Classifieds as a commercial user, and have a starting point for more of a website in the future. Check out information on this feature, and all of our advertising packages, by visiting the Advertising Info page.

Sorry for the intrusion, but we just felt that you should know what was up with your favorite dragbike site. Thanks for making us # 1, and if you've got ideas on how to improve it, just let us know!

Congratulations Bob. Maybe now you'll have to do it full time and quit that j-o-b. Will you be getting a new, larger helmet for the next time you race? You have hinted at some coverage of the NHRA Seattle race. Is that still in the works?