DC: Hey Mike, do you have a second?

Mike Hill: Ye, sure. I'm just heading home.

DC: Have you been racing much?

Mike Hill: Uh…No, not really. It’s been kind of slow this year.  Things have been so tight with the fuel prices and all.  We are hitting the ADRL stuff, Macon Memorial Day Race – Automatic Promods and Outlaw 10.5s; just as much as we can. 

Tonya Pruett, Milbrook, AL, is definitely not your ordinary rookie. The lady, who is married to Big Dollar Bracket Race Winner Kevin Pruett, has been on a hot streak for five consecutive weekends, winning the last Mega 10 Series event at Chilton County Dragway, Maplesville, AL. Being a minority is often taken for granted, but the Hot Rod Princess is definitely leaving a mark in this male dominate sport.  Congratulations Tonya Pruett from DragCoverage.com!

Ashley Force put a new face on Funny Car drag racing Sunday by becoming the first woman to win a national race in a category that once was considered the last bastion of male superiority.

The 25-year-old did so with a flair for the dramatic, beating her father, drag racing icon John Force, in the final round of the 28th annual Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals to deny him his 1,000 winning round in his 500th NHRA tour event.

Her first win came in her 27th pro race and in her fourth trip to the final round. Denied in the two most recent events in the POWERade Series, first on March 30 by Del Worsham at Houston, Texas, and then on April 13 by Tim Wilkerson at Las Vegas, Nev., Ashley left no doubt this time.

With her father in a left lane that was the bane of every racer during eliminations, she sprinted down the favored right lane in 4.837 seconds at 320.36 miles per hour. Her dad was never in it, losing traction almost at the hit of the throttle and slowing to 11.223 seconds.

It was her second career win against her father, drag racing’s biggest winner, who lost the first ever meeting between father and daughter in the first round of the 2007 Southern Nationals.

Brandon Wood came from the # 16 qualifying spot to earn a runner-up against Tom"Painter" Stevenson's # 8 qualifying G/SA 1969 Nova at race 4 of the LODRS Division Two Series.

Brandon's familiar red Nova, now owned by Jim Cassels of Cairo , GA has been converted to A/SA after being a small block footbraker for the past three seasons.

photo by Marvin Smith

Photos by Roger Richards

Pro Mod veteran Troy Coughlin was shaken but otherwise uninjured after crashing hard into the retaining wall of Atlanta Dragway during Saturday's first round of eliminations in the JEGS ProMod Challenge.

The accident overshadowed an upset-filled opening round where four drivers from the bottom half of the ladder advanced. Ninth-place qualifier Roger Burgess beat Shelly Payne with a 6.08. Tenth-place Jay Payne avenged his wife's loss by beating Kirk Kuhns, 6.06 to 6.11. Eddie Ware got past a higher-ranked Mike Ashley, who encountered severe tire shake, while Tony Pontieri won when No. 5 qualifier Coughlin impacted the wall.

photo by Mitch Perkins

Agent DC had a chance to talk with Edmund "Mr.5 Speed" Hall to hear his side of the "Grudge Fest" Story.

DC: Hey Edmund, do you have a sec. for a few questions about Grudge Fest 2008?

Edmund Hall: Ye, Sure. Go ahead.

DC: So Edmund, what actually happened at Grudge Fest?

Edmund Hall: Well the race was supposed to be Promod vs 10.5 Car in 10.5 trim, with the 10.5 car getting the “hit.”  The “hit” is usually 3-tenths or better.  Well, Hill decided that he was running the “big” tires, which then put me at a disadvantage; on top of not being able to get down the track. I thought for sure that the track would stand behind the rules, but they didn’t.

For the 4th edition of the prestigious Jeg’s U.S. Open Bracket Championships presented by Racecraft Chassis, LB Trailers, and Steve Schmidt Racing Engines, the event has moved to the ultimate drag racing facility on the planet: O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis! The Jeg’s U.S. Open, which has become one of the largest and most prestigious big dollar bracket events in the country since it’s inception in 2005, can now officially be called the “Big Go” of bracket racing!

The June 12-15th weekend will host a full slate of racing featuring massive payouts, with over $250,000 guaranteed in cash and prizes! Thursday, June 12 the event kicks off with the River Parish RV’s warm-up race, which pays $10,000-to-win, with round money back to the fourth round losers. Friday and Saturday the ante increases, as competitors vie for a $20,000 winners check, with an additional $10,000 up for grabs in Sunday’s finale. All the while, the deep payback that the Jeg’s U.S. Open is known for will be in place.

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Sources tell Agent DC that Rich Christensen, from Pinks, will be arriving in Montgomery, AL on Thursday, April 23. Sources also tell agent DC that Christensen will be making an appearance at the Pre-Past-Time Show Party at "Off the Wagon," a bar located in downtown Montgomery.

26-year old racer Luke Bogacki has had some phenomenal moments in his racing career. The Woodville, Ala. racer, who is obviously no stranger to the winners circle, said he has never had a weekend quite like he did during the Race Tech Gator Cash Championships, held April 11 – 13 at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Fla. There, he drove his familiar CSR Performance Products Dragster and Mickey Thompson Tires Vega to four final rounds, one on Friday and three on Saturday.

Bogacki entered both of his competition vehicles in the $10,000-to-win Super Pro class, and his championship Vega in the Sportsman category. 19 round wins later, he took both winner and runner-up honors in the Super Pro category, and the victory in Sportsman.

Throughout the event, Bogacki was unconscious on the starting line. In Super Pro competition, he posted one .014 reaction in the Mickey Thompson Vega, and one .011 reaction in his CSR Performance Products Dragster. The remaining 11 times he left the starting line with lights in the .00’s. In Sportsman competition, which does not allow the use of a delay box, he was slightly more human; posting reactions ranging from .005 to .023 before slipping to a .039 in the final round. In the semi-finals, Bogacki used a .002 react and a 6.129 on his 6.10 target to hold off Triplett by .011 and advance both cars to the final round.

Meanwhile, in Sportsman competition, Bogacki rolled through an all-star cast of bottom bulb competitors including last year’s number two series finisher Bob George, Chip Rollins, and Brady Kelly. He then squared off with Jon Siegel in the final round. There, despite a vulnerable .039 reaction, Bogacki got the automatic victory after Siegel fouled with a -.002.

“The more this sinks in, the more amazing it is to me,” said Bogacki. “I’ve been real fortunate in racing; I’ve been able to double-up on several occasions, and I’ve run myself in the final a few times too. But to do both in one day--to not lose a round--especially against the level of competition we had at Gainesville… That’s a really special day, and the rarity and significance of that isn’t lost on me.”

Flowmaster American Drag Racing League (ADRL) presented by the National Guard announced today that its 2nd annual Shelor.com Spring Drags have been postponed from Apr. 25-26 to June 20-21. Although new tickets reflecting the June 20-21 dates will be printed and distributed, all tickets bearing the original April dates will be honored.

“Unfortunately, the entire Tulsa region has been inundated with heavy rain over the past several weeks which has left the spectator parking and overflow pit parking areas oversaturated with water and unusable,” ADRL President Kenny Nowling said. “If it were to stop raining right now and not rain again through next weekend we would still not be able to utilize a large majority of the spectator parking areas. What makes this decision so difficult, though, is the amount of work my staff and the staff at Tulsa Raceway Park have put in distributing tickets and working to establish relationships with local businesses and sponsors.

Quien, originally from Fridley, Minn., has more than 25 years of experience in the drag racing industry, including 13 years in race operations at Rock Falls Raceway in Wisconsin, 7 years with the NHRA on the national event circuit, and most recently, 3 years in race operations at Atlanta Dragway.

With his background as an engine builder, Quien has also worked with Warren and Kurt Johnson’s record-setting Pro Stock teams, and has served as a technical advisor to several racing parts manufacturers, including Barry Grant, Inc. and CV Products

The 2007 World Championship team of Barklage Racing has regrouped, rebuilt, and is ready to begin 2008.  After suffering a devastating race trailer fire at the end of 2007, many doubted the full return of Zach and Cody Barklage until late in 2008.  The team now has a new look, new second car and new crew chief to begin their season.

Zach Barklage will be behind the wheel of the teams current Pontiac GTO, but the look will be different then when younger brother Cody drove the car.  Bringing back Zach’s signature look from his Grand Am several years ago, the car now in black, has “Skully” prominently featured on the hood once again.

Cody Barklage will be behind the wheel of his Lucas Oil, 1968 Pontiac Firebird.  The new car, which was recently finished at Chris Duncan Race Car’s, is receiving the finishing touches and will soon be ready for competition.

To increase their productivity and success for the season, Barklage Racing acquired a new crew chief.  Chad Wilson, who was with the team during their most successful year of AMS competition in 2004, is back leading the team.  His impressive resume includes work on Del Worsham’s funny car team and most recently the AMS Pro Mod team. 

NHRA ENTERS INTO STRATEGIC ALLIANCE WITH IMG TO ENHANCE SPONSORSHIP SALES EFFORTS FOR THE SPORT

NHRA, the world’s largest motorsports organization, has entered into a strategic alliance with global sports and entertainment company IMG to assist the premier drag racing sanctioning body as its exclusive outside sponsorship marketing agent.   IMG will work alongside the current sales team at NHRA, led by senior vice president of sales & marketing, Gary Darcy.

 “IMG brings with it more than 50 years of leadership and innovation in the world of sports,” said Darcy.  “With strong relationships within corporate America, and abroad, we believe IMG will be able to help deliver NHRA’s unique attributes to key decision makers in the sports sponsorship arena.”

IMG will be charged with business development and securing non-endemic sponsorship to NHRA, which continues to offer the best value in terms of sports sponsorship according to a leading sports business publication.  The team will be led by George Pyne, president of IMG Sports & Entertainment.   Much of the initiative will be driven out of the New York and Charlotte offices of IMG, giving NHRA a presence in both the business and motorsports capitals of the world for the first time in its 50-plus year history.

It's not exactly 15 minutes of fame, but a lot of River Region residents will get a few moments on national television April 25 and 26 at Montgomery Motorsports Park, on North Belt Drive off the Northern Bypass.

The Speed Channel is sending a full crew to MMP April 25 and 26 to tape 10 to 12 episodes of their hit TV show "Pass Time" in which two contestants and the show's resident expert look at a car, ask the driver a few questions, and then guess how fast it can navigate the 1/4 mile MMP track.  The person whose guess is closest to the actual elapsed time is the winner of that round.

Montgomery Motorsports Park promoter Jim Howard says anyone can come and try to make the show.  "We're not just looking for professional or sportsman racers.  Folks can bring the car they drive to work in and they might find themselves in front of the cameras," he added.  Howard mentioned that everything from full-out race cars to stretch limousines to antique cars to daily drivers will be showing up to audition.  "We get to pick 80 of the 120 cars that'll make the show and we hope many of those can be from the River Region", Howard added.

Anyone interested can apply to appear on Pass Time by filling out a form on the MMP web site, mmpdragracing.com <<http://mmpdragracing.com>  or by picking up a form at the track during events Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.  The track's phone number is 260.9660.

Gates will open at Montgomery Motorsports Park at 3pm on Friday April 25 and Saturday, April 26.  MMP and Speed Channel officials will choose cars for taping by 5pm when shooting begins.  There is a nominal registration charge of $15 for each driver.  Local racing fans who want to watch two evenings of cool cars can do so for $15 per night.

To kick off the festivities, Montgomery Motorsports Park and the Speed Channel will host "Motor Madness" at Off the Wagon (62 Dexter Avenue) Wednesday, April 23 from 8pm until.The bands "Ugli Stick"  and "Chrome Heart"  will be performing.  Free tickets to the Pass Time taping as well as free tickets for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Aaron's 499 on Sunday, April 27 will be given away during the "Motor Madness" party. Speed Channel personalities Kenneth Herring and Charles Hendrickson will be on hand to talk racing with fans.

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