NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Team Press Releases
IN THE NHRA NEWS…
DIVERSITY NOT A QUESTION IN NHRA POWERade SERIES:
In an article written for ESPN The Magazine, writer Ryan McGee discusses how in a time when many motorsports are working to diversify their fans and driver base, women and minorities have always played a huge roll in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Visit ESPN.com, to read more of McGee’s article.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
O’REILLY NHRA THUNDER VALLEY NATIONALS, BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY, MAY 16-18: The NHRA POWERade Series heads back to the Thunder Valley of Bristol, Tenn. for the eighth running of the event. Defending event winners include Brandon Bernstein (Top Fuel); John Force (Funny Car); and Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock). To request credentials for the event, contact Director of Media Relations Anthony Vestal at avestal@nhra.com, or click here.
O’REILLY NHRA SUMMER NATIONALS, HEARTLAND PARK TOPEKA, MAY 30-JUNE 1:
Entering the ninth race of the NHRA POWERade Series, drivers will look to gain precious points in their quest to qualify for the Countdown to 1. Defending event winners include: Brandon Bernstein (Top Fuel); Mike Ashley (Funny Car); and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock).
TORCO RACING FUELS ROUTE 66 NHRA NATIONALS, ROUTE 66 RACEWAY, JUNE 5-8:
The NHRA POWERade Series heads to “the windy city” for the 10th race of the season and second half of the regular season Countdown to 10. Defending event winners include: Larry Dixon (Top Fuel); Gary Scelzi (Funny Car); Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock); and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle). To request credentials for the event, contact Media Relations Manager Lachelle Seymour at lseymour@nhra.com, or click here.
REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED AT 300 PLUS MPH:
Last year at the season ending Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, Top Fuel pilot Rod Fuller’s dreams of a world championship went up in smoke after a first round loss in eliminations left him only able to watch as defending world champion Tony Schumacher drove past him in the point standings on the last pass of the day, winning the event and picking up his fifth world championship. Fuller got his revenge Sunday at the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals, as he drove past Schumacher in the final round of eliminations. “I kind of had a chip on my shoulder from what happened to me last year, leading the points all year long and losing to (Schumacher),” Fuller said. “It’s gratifying when you beat him.”
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
6.708: The track record for time for Pro Stock at Bristol Dragway set by Jason Line in 2006. Line ran the table that year, setting the track record for both speed and time, picking up the No. 1 qualifier and winning the event.
DID YOU KNOW…
…that some of the top drivers in NHRA will compete in the NHRA Circle Track Challenge when the NHRA POWERade Series returns to Bristol for the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Drivers will compete that Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway and fans visiting the track’s website can vote to determine the starting lineup for the event.
Erik Arneson, author of Darrell Gwynn: At Full Throttle and John Force: The Straight Story of Drag Racing's 300-mph Superstar has reached a deal with Motorbooks Inc., to write the official biography of motor sports legend Mickey Thompson. The project, already underway and endorsed by members of Thompson's family, including Mickey's children, Danny and Lyndy Thompson, is scheduled for release in the fall of this year.
"After being approached for many years by many writers regarding telling the Mickey Thompson story, my sister and I went with Erik Arneson because of his straightforward storytelling style," said Danny, who is leading an effort to complete one of his father's designs and re-capture the wheel-driven World Land-Speed Record by 2010. "Lyndy and I both took the time to read Erik's book 'At Full Throttle' and we were moved by the story of Darrell's life and the way Erik told it. We decided he was the right person to tell my dad's story."
Thompson was the consummate Southern California hot-rodder in the 1950s, before going on to become the American personification of speed, driving everything from his famous Challenger I Land Speed Record streamliner to off-road trucks across Baja.
Known for his creative mind, quick temper and eagerness to gamble, Thompson influenced everything from run-what-you-brung drag racing to the Indianapolis 500, creating performance parts, successful businesses and entire race series along the way.
It all came to a tragic end, however, when Thompson and his wife, Trudy, were gunned down in the driveway of their hillside home 20 years ago on March 16, 1988. The gruesome crime gained national attention, and the legal battles dragged on for nearly two decades, before former Thompson business partner, Mike Goodwin, was found guilty by a Pasadena Superior Court jury in 2006 of two counts of first-degree murder. The actual gunmen still have never been identified or apprehended.
"This is a story I've waited a long time to work on," said Arneson, who also serves as Vice President of Media Relations for SPEED. "Darrell (Gwynn) introduced me to the idea when we were working on his book nearly 10 years ago, and over that time, Mickey's amazing life has been reduced to a paragraph or two in stories about his tragic death. Mickey touched so much of the American motor sports landscape when it was really taking shape … and he didn't touch it gently. When Mickey was around, people knew he was there, so I expect that telling his story will be an interesting adventure."
The book will include never-before-seen photographs from the family collection.
KJ Determined to Break the Phoenix Hex
Capps Eager to Get Back to Racing