Postition Available Competition Director / Event Supervisor

2008-11-26

The Competition Director/Event Supervisor position at the Texas Motorplex is available to all qualified candidates wanting to become a member of the Full Time Management team at Drag Racing’s leading track in Ennis, Texas. 

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Position available

Title: Competition Director/Event Supervisor

Full time position at Drag Racing’s leading track.

The Texas Motorplex seeks an individual to promote and advance the racing program at the track in Ennis, TX.  Familiarity with the racing community, race management, and event production is required.

Ability to function in a fast-paced, multi-dimensional business environment a must.

Must be proficient in computer skills, including Microsoft Office Suite, and comfortable with current electronic communications methods.

If you think you qualify, send a letter of interest outlining you qualifications, along with a resume to:

Glenn Menard, President, Texas Motorplex.

Fax:  972-878-1848; or e-mail: menard@texasmotorplex.com

Open Test & Tune Canceled

2008-11-21

2008-11-22  Saturday Open Test & Tune Canceled

Due to the cold temperatures forecast for this weekend, we are forced to cancel the Test & Tune scheduled this Saturday, November 22.  

We wish all of our racers and fans a happy Thanksgiving and holiday season this year.  We look forward to seeing everyone again in 2009 at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Autorama, February 13-15, 2009.  

NHRA POWERade Series champs are crowned; Neff is named top rookie

2008-11-17

11/17/2008

 

Tony Schumacher, who became the first Top Fuel driver in NHRA history to win five consecutive POWERade Series world championships with a record-setting season, headlined the four world-championship winning drivers crowned Monday evening during the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series awards ceremony at the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City.

Three other NHRA POWERade Series world champions – Cruz Pedregon, Jeg Coughlin and Eddie Krawiec — also were presented checks and trophies for their achievements during the 2008 POWERade Countdown to the Championship.

Schumacher received a check for $500,000 from NHRA and POWERade for winning the Top Fuel world championship. It was Schumacher’s fifth consecutive crown and his sixth title overall. Schumacher drove his Alan Johnson-tuned U.S. Army dragster to a category record 15 victories during the season and dominated competition in the 7,000 horsepower category from start to finish.

Pedregon earned his second Funny Car series crown, and first since the 1992 season, by winning the final three races of the season in the Countdown to 1 playoffs behind the wheel of his Rahn Tobler-tuned Advance Auto Parts Toyota Solara. He earned $500,000 from NHRA and POWERade for the title. 

Coughlin took his second consecutive and fourth overall Pro Stock world championship title with a solid Countdown to 1 effort, driving his Jegs.com Chevy Cobalt to three victories during the year, including a critical win at the penultimate race in Las Vegas in October. The Delaware, Ohio driver was presented a $250,000 check from NHRA and POWERade.

Krawiec earned his first NHRA POWERade Series world championship in Pro Stock Motorcycle and became the second driver in NHRA history to win a series title without winning a race during the season, joining 1979 Top Fuel champ Rob Bruins. Krawiec rode his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley Davidson to four runner-up finishes – all during the Countdown to 1 playoffs — to take home the $75,000 payday from NHRA and POWERade.

Funny Car driver Mike Neff won the $20,000 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award, which recognizes NHRA’s rookie of the year.  A panel of the nation’s most prominent motorsports journalists selected Neff, who traded in his crew chief wrench for a pair of driving gloves in 2008. He was the only rookie candidate who qualified for the Countdown to 1. His season highlights included three runner-up finishes and two No. 1 qualifying awards behind the wheel of his Old Spice Ford Mustang. It is the third time in the last four years that a driver from John Force Racing has won the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award, as Neff joins ’07 winner Ashley Force and ’05 winner Hight. Other nominees for the prestigious award included Bob Tasca in Funny Car, Steve Torrence in Top Fuel, Rickie Jones in Pro Stock and Junior Pippin in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

NHRA Full Throttle Pit Crew Challenge season awards, recognizing the most consistently quick teams during qualifying throughout the year, were presented to Schumacher’s U.S. Army Top Fuel team ($25,000) led by crew chief Johnson; Ashley Force’s Castrol GTX Ford Mustang Funny Car team ($25,000) led by Dean Antonelli; Kurt Johnson’s ACDelco Chevy Cobalt Pro Stock team ($15,000); and Andrew Hines’ Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Pro Stock Motorcycle team ($5,000) led by Byron and Matt Hines.

Chevrolet won the NHRA Manufacturers Cup for the 17th time, an NHRA record.  NHRA Pro Owner’s Cups were presented to Don Schumacher (Top Fuel); Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car); and Victor Cagnazzi (Pro Stock). Also as part of the evening, the late Scott Kalitta was honored with a moving video tribute.

Drivers in seven categories in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series also were recognized as 2008 world champions: Bill Reichert (Top Alcohol Dragster); Frank Manzo (Top Alcohol Funny Car); Dan Fletcher (Competition Eliminator); Ricky Decker (Super Stock); Lee Zane (Stock Eliminator); Shawn Langdon (Super Comp) and Brian Forrester (Super Gas).

NHRA: Krawiec takes over top spot in PSM; C. Pedregon holds onto FC lead

2008-11-16

	TOP FUEL				FUNNY CAR				PRO STOCK				PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
1	Tony Schumacher	2703		1	Cruz Pedregon	2561		1	Jeg Coughlin Jr	2523		1	Eddie Krawiec	2471
2	Larry Dixon	2445		2	Tim Wilkerson	2468		2	Greg Anderson	2487		2	Chris Rivas	2466
3	Cory McClenathan	2406		3	Jack Beckman	2457		3	Kurt Johnson	2450		3	Matt Smith	2451
4	Hillary Will	2405		4	Robert Hight	2442		4	Mike Edwards	2388		4	Andrew Hines	2334
5	Antron Brown	2370		5	Tony Pedregon	2440		5	Jason Line	2388		5	Angelle Sampey	2310
6	Rod Fuller	2368		6	Ashley Force	2385		6	Dave Connolly	2383		6	Chip Ellis	2284
7	Brandon Bernstein	2327		7	John Force	2303		7	Allen Johnson	2363		7	Steve Johnson	2283
8	Doug Herbert	2307		8	Ron Capps	2302		8	Greg Stanfield	2329		8	Craig Treble	2270
9	Doug Kalitta	2209		9	Mike Neff	2284		9	V Gaines	2234		9	Karen Stoffer	2167
10	David Grubnic	2194		10	Gary Densham	2217		10	Ron Krisher	2158		10	Matt Guidera	2156
11	J.R. Todd	983		11	Melanie Troxel	932		11	Warren Johnson	970		11	Hector Arana	743
12	Morgan Lucas	966		12	Bob Tasca III	893		12	Justin Humphreys	937		12	Mike Berry	514
13	Bob Vandergriff Jr.	842		13	Del Worsham	862		13	Jim Yates	811		13	Angie McBride	477
14	Troy Buff	478		14	Gary Scelzi	817		14	Larry Morgan	790		14	Junior Pippin	468
15	Steve Torrence	372		15	Jerry Toliver	734		15	Johnny Gray	722		15	Shawn Gann	366
16	Clay Millican	332		16	Tony Bartone	615		16	Rickie Jones	625		16	Wesley Wells	290
17	Alan Bradshaw	311		17	Jim Head	606		17	Vinnie Deceglie	300		17	Joe DeSantis	281
18	Urs Erbacher	190		18	Tommy Johnson Jr.	578		18	Max Naylor	289		18	Michael Phillips	218
19	Steven Chrisman	185		19	Scott Kalitta	311		19	John Nobile	285		19	Peggy Llewellyn	205
20	Doug Foley	164		20	Frank Hawley	235		20	Steve Spiess	246		20	David Hope	183
21	Luigi Novelli	123		21	Bob Bode	200		21	Richie Stevens Jr.	234		21	Ryan Schnitz	132
	T.J. Zizzo	123		22	Jeff Arend	188		22	Matthew Hartford	227		22	Paul Gast	94
23	Joe Hartley	115		23	Mike Ashley	87		23	Kenny Koretsky	201		23	Edward Murphy	93
24	Bruce Litton	113		25	Bob Gilbertson	62		24	Tom Hammonds	173		24	Redell Harris	80
	Tim Boychuk	113		26	Matt Hagan	61		25	Todd Hoerner	156		25	James Underdahl	51
26	Todd Paton	83		27	Mark Oswald	57		26	Dave Northrop	124			GT Tonglet	51
27	Mike Strasburg	71		28	Terry Haddock	50		27	Ben Watson	121			Fred Camarena	51
28	Pat Dakin	62		29	James Day	10		28	Bill Glidden	103		28	Michael Ray	41
	Terry McMillen	62			Mike Smith	10		29	Steve Schmidt	83		29	Darin McCurdy	40
30	Michael Gunderson	51						30	Jim Cunningham	60			Valerie Thompson	40
31	Spencer Massey	32							Lamar Swindoll Jr.	60		31	Tom Bradford	31
32	Scott Palmer	31							Gordie Rivera Jr	60		32	Buddy Robinson	30
33	Mitch King	20						33	Rob Mansfield	44		33	James Surber	20
	Arley Langlo	20						34	Kevin Lawrence	30		34	Jim Randolph	10
35	Rob Passey	10							Danny Gruninger	30			Mike Kovacevich	10
	Craig Smith	10							Bob Benza	30			Brian DeLong	10
	Ron Smith	10							John Gaydosh Jr.	30			Connie Cohen	10
	Terry Haddock	10						38	Matt Scranton	20			Mac McAdams	10
									Bob Yonke	20			Blaine Hale	10
									Lee Zane	20
									Mark Buehring	20
									Mark Hogan	20
									Rodger Brogdon	20
									Bob Panella	20
								45	Adam Flamholc	10
									Jimmy Alund	10
									Richard Sundblom	10
									Shane Heckel	10
									Rickie Smith	10
									Val Smeland	10
									Larry Nance	10
									Gene Wilson	10
									Erica Enders	10

 

NHRA: Pedregon adds win to championship; Dixon, Anderson, Rivas also score

2008-11-16

by Phil Burgess, NHRA.com

 

Cruz Pedregon probably has never experienced a day quite like he did on Sunday at the 44th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series season finale at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona where he not only clinched his second career NHRA POWERade Funny Car world championship but did so in convincing fashion by winning the event, his third straight to end the season.

A trio of drivers who finished in second place in their classes – Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and Chris Rivas (Pro Stock Motorcycle) — enjoyed some retribution for falling just short by punching home wins at the season finale. Rivas earned second place by defeating newly crowned champ Eddie Krawiec in the final round while Dixon downed Rod Fuller and Anderson beat red-lighting Kurt Johnson.

Larry Dixon

Surprisingly, the Top Fuel final-round matchup between Dixon and Fuller was just their second of the season; the first came at this track nine months earlier, when Dixon beat Fuller in the second round of the Winternationals. The result was the same nine months later as Dixon took the win, 3.833 to 3.839, and punctuated the win with a massive engine explosion and fire. Dixon was unhurt and strode off to claim his first career NHRA Finals victory.

“The car nosed over really, really, really badly on the other end and I gave me the feeling it was going to blow up, but I wasn’t at the finish line yet,” recounted Dixon. “Then I saw the win light come on and it blew up, but I saw the win light come on, and that was all that mattered. We hopped it up for the final and certainly needed it. ‘Hot Rod’ had been cutting good lights all day and their car had been running good. You can tell by the way we blew up that we left everything on the track.

“I hate finishing second [in points], but as far as the bonus money that gets passed around to the guys on the team, the difference between fifth place, where we came into this race, and second, where we finished , is monumental. We were racing to finish second, so I’m really happy for them.”

Dixon, winner earlier this in Phoenix and runner-up in Houston, Bristol, Topeka, and Reading, reached his fifth final of the season with a steady string of passes from Don Prudhomme’s Don Bender- and Todd Smith-tuned U.S. Smokeless dragster. Dixon zipped to back-to-back 3.86s to trailer Clay Millican and Doug Herbert and a 3.85 to beat Cory McClenathan in what was a battle for second place in the standings. Dixon got the nod over McClenathan’s 3.87 to earn his third career second-place finish to go with his season championships in 2002 and 2003.

Fuller had the chance to pass David Powers Racing teammate Antron Brown for fifth place in the standings by winning the event., but his day probably was already made when he upset heavily favored Tony Schumacher, the low qualifier, in the second round. Schumacher was gunning to win a record 77th round and 16th event title this season lost on a holeshot to season-long foil Fuller’s Rob Flynn-tuned Caterpillar rig. Fuller’s .043 light and 3.862 defeated Schumacher’s .062-launched 3.853 by better than a hundredth of a second. Sandwiched around that morale-boosting win were a 3.83 to 3.93 first-round conquest of Steve Torrence and a semifinal victory over European ace Urs Erbacher, 3.85 to 3.99.

Cruz Pedregon

Pedregon’s heavy lifting was done by the end of round one when losses by his closest title contenders, Tim Wilkerson and Robert Hight, secured Pedregon’s second career championship, but the driver of the Rahn Tobler-tuned Advance Auto Parts Solara wasn’t done yet. He followed with a second-round victory in a classic race with mentor and rival John Force and Force’s hired gun, low qualifier Mike Neff, then beat Ron Capps on a holeshot in the final. 4.087 to 4.078.

“I’m emotionless, I’m worn out; I’m beyond happy, beyond excited,” said Pedregon after the event. “I was so relieved and for a minute couldn’t even believe it when Tony [Pedregon] beat Hight. What a day. No way did I think the championship would be clinched in the first round. Wilkerson has been so tough all year; I don’t think anyone knew he had that in him. All of those guys deserve credit because this was a hard-fought deal to the end.

“I honestly can’t say we expected to win the race. Neff’s been running so good  — he was the No. 1 qualifier and it looked like his day – I just figured I’d go up there and leave on time and at about halftrack I’d see that red fender out there; Capps, too. Those guys are good and are overdue. I just wanted to be in the [finish line] photo shot, but we kept turning on win lights.”

Pedregon was appearing in his third straight final round after winning back-to-back in Richmond and Las Vegas to assume the points lead.

Despite the runner-up, his Finals effort had to be a bit of a salve to Capps, a three-time championship runner-up who experienced one of the toughest seasons of his great career. The driver of Don Schumacher’s NAPA Auto Parts Dodge had won at least three races in each of the previous three campaigns, but  reached the final round just once this year, in Seattle, where he lost to Tony Bartone.

Greg Anderson

Although the Pro Stock championship had been decided in Jeg Coughlin’s favor in qualifying, the battle for second place went all the way to the final where Anderson defeated Kurt Johnson. K.J. red-lighted with a -.004 reaction, but Anderson would have been tough anyway as he ran low e.t. and top speed of 6.615, 209.20.

“It was kind of a neat, neat deal coming down to the final round Kurt and I for second place,” said Anderson. “It is second place, but it was first place today. That’s the best either of us could have done. It was the highest position available, and it felt like we were going for the championship there. I love racing Kurt. We always have great battles. I wish that would have been for the championship, but second ain’t so bad. Right now, we’re going to have to be happy with that, and next year, we’ll have to try and rectify that. Maybe next year it will be Kurt and I going for the championship on the last run here.”

“I’m very proud of my guys. They stuck with me. I’ve certainly had some hiccups along the way during this Countdown, and I have nobody to blame for losing it but myself. My hat’s off to Jeg Coughlin; he did a better job during the Countdown, and he deserved to win the championship this year. I just got to try harder next year, and maybe that’s what I did wrong this year: I probably tried a little too hard and thought too much about it and put too much pressure on myself and just kind of stopped having fun racing. Today, the pressure was off, and I just came out and had fun, and, poof, the car performed great and the driver performed fine and we won a race again.”

Anderson, like Capps, had experienced a less successful season than normal, but the former three-time world champ finished the season on a high note by reaching the winner’s circle for the sixth time this season. Anderson hadn’t reached the final since July, when he won his fifth event of the season in Denver. Anderson’s Summit Pontiac GXP was the car to beat once the race got rolling, qualifying him No. 1 for the seventh time this season and carrying him to runs of 6.64 and a pair of 6.62s to defeat Richie Stevens Jr., Greg Stanfield, and Mike Edwards. His semifinal conquest of Edwards was by just .003-second as his 6.629 ran down Edwards’ holeshot-aided 6.650.

Johnson was gunning for his fourth win of the season with his ACDelco Cobalt, racing to his sixth final round of the season from the No. 3 position. He defeated Vinnie Deceglie, Rickie Jones, and Anderson’s teammate, Jason Line, to reach the money round. The victory over Line was won by a razor-thin margin of .007, 6.638 to 6.650 after Line gained a narrow .011 to .016 advantage at the green.

Chris Rivas

After having clinched his first NHRA POWERade world championship a round earlier, Krawiec’s next goal was not to become just the second driver in NHRA history to win a championship without winning a national event (Rob Bruins won the 1979 Top Fuel crown in just such a fashion), but Rivas had other ideas, bashing out low e.t. of the meet at 6.929 to defeat Krawiec’s 7.00 and earn his fourth win of the season aboard the Drag Specialties Buell. The victory lifted Rivas into second place in the points, just five markers behind Krawiec.

“We’re still not really sure where that 6.92 came from. I knew that we had left together and by the time I plugged third gear he had completely dropped back; I thought he had broken,” said Rivas, who won three of the five Pro Stock Motorcycle events in the Countdown playoffs. “We hit the rev limited at the finish line so I knew it either had been a really good run or that it had broken the transmission. We owe a great gratitude to Valerie Thompson, who let us take her fuel injection system and wiring harness off of her Buell and l t us use her laptop to tune it.

“I have no animosity about how anything turned out. I did what I was supposed to do as a rider; I took out the reigning world champ and kept him from having the number-two spot, and I feel fantastic about that.”

Krawiec had qualified the Vance & Hines Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson No. 2 behind Matt Smith and needed only to go one round further than the reigning season champ to take his crown, a task that got considerably easier when Smith’s NitroFish Buell broke in round two against Rivas. Krawiec had already defeated Peggy Llewellyn in round one, then pulled even in points with Smith by beating Chip Ellis in round two. He did that handily, and clinched the championship in the semifinals when Rivas beat Craig Treble but was unable to secure a run good enough for a potential national event backup he needed to pass Krawiec.

Krawiec did his part as well by beating teammate Andrew Hines in the other half of the semifinals. In addition to beating Smith in round two and Treble in the semi’s, Rivas had trailered Junior Pippin in round one.

Lucas Oil Sportsman event titles were won by Dave Fletcher and Lee Zane, who crowned their season championships in Comp and Stock with season-ending wins. Other titles were won by Jim Whitely (Top Alcohol Dragster), Mick Snyder (Top Alcohol Funny Car),  Byron Worner (Super Stock), Anthony Castillo (Super Comp), and David Coapstick (Super Gas).

Summit Racing Series national championships were won by Division 4′s Bart Nelson (Super Pro), Division 6′s Steve Kelly (Pro), Division 1′s Michael VanDenHeuvel (Sportsman), and Division 5′s Tom Klemme (Super Pro Bike).

 

• Thursday: Lucas cars lead Top Fuel field; Neff, Connolly, Krawiec also grab No. 1s (11/13/2008)
• Friday: Line, Troxel move into top positions; Todd, Krawiec maintain their No. 1s (11/14/2008)
• Saturday: Final day of Pomona qualifying sets the stage for dramatic Sunday finish (11/15/2008)