 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
CLERMONT, Ind. --
As has been the case the last few years at the U.S. Nationals the early days of the event include a great number of new car, sponsor and team announcements. This year has proven to be no exception. The off-track events began on Thursday when John Force Racing held a press conference at their facility in nearby Brownsburg, Indiana. The thrust of the event was to introduce The Eric Medlen Project, a safety initiative of JFR that is housed in a brand new 48,000 square foot building that is adjacent to JFR's midwest base. John has dedicated himself, his team and his funds to developing the Funny Car of the Future. Any safety advances that are developed at the facility will be available to other teams. In conjunction with their announcement, JFR debuted an Eric Medlen tribute room in their main building. The room is extremely well done and features a collection of helmets that Eric wore over the years, as well as a framed fire suit, fire boots and driving glove of his. Equally interesting are number of framed photos, including one of Eric racing John that has nearly been covered over by hundreds of autographs. Running around the room near the top of each wall is a collection of plaques that document Eric's wins, the event and his opponent. NHRA National Event trophies donated to the memory of Eric from Ron Capps, JR Todd and John Force are also displayed. A Castrol Syntec Funny Car dominates the center of the room and a special collection of memorabilia from Eric's championship rodeo days in one corner rounds out the tribute room.
Frank Pedregon is the only driver to win it in his only appearance and just one driver has qualified for all 24 previous showdowns. For any of you that guessed someone beside John Force as that driver, welcome to the sport of drag racing. Mike Ashley has said previously that he has a strategic plan to build a world-class racing operation. On Friday he announced the next step in his plan. Melanie Troxel is going to drive a second funny car next year for the Ashley team. Mike stated that he wanted someone who would mesh well with the culture of his team and that Melanie was that person. For her part, Melanie said she considered the offer carefully, especially since her husband competes in the same class, before accepting the position. Mike added that he is currently interviewing crew chiefs for the new team and that his own funny car will run the entire tour next year, even if business commitments keep him from driving it at all 24 events.
Renowned heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar announced that they are joining David Powers Motorsports for a minimum of two years beginning in 2008 with an option for another two years after that. Interestingly, they are not joining the NHRA to try and sell more Caterpillar equipment but to recruit more techs. They see the NHRA as a technician-rich environment and they have tech jobs to fill. Rod Fuller, who leads the T/F points going into the Countdown to Four and has been working without a net (sponsorship) this year, is very pleased to have the new agreement signed.
Finally, both Bob Daniels and Dick Landy were honored during pre-race festivities Friday night. Bob, a former NHRA Division Director and IRP General Manager, passed away earlier this year. In his honor, car builder Mike Spitzer has recreated Bob's Fire Fly II, a B/Comp 1939 Fiat Topolino that debuted at the 1959 Nationals in Detroit. Dick Landy, who like Bob died earlier this year, was honored by having two of his most famous race cars, a 1968 SS/B Dodge Hemi-Dart and a 1970 Dodge Challenger, driven slowly down the return road after a moving eulogy.
|
|
Ready to take your order at 1-800-230-3030 | Customer Service 1-800-517-1035