Top Fuel Couple Sweep NHRA & IHRA Top Ten

ROCKINGHAM, NC - October 18, 2003 - Rhonda Hartman-Smith, driver of the FRAM Filters Top Fuel
Dragster,  ran  against  IHRA  Top  Fuel  Champion,  Clay  Millican,  in  the  final  round  of  Top  Fuel
eliminations at the 33rd annual IHRA Spring Nationals at the Rockingham Dragway.
       Hartman-Smith made a quick, clean run down the track in 4.707-seconds at 313.15 mph but lost to
Millican, who took the win light with a 4.653-second elapsed time at 309.34 mph.
       "The team and I were proud to showcase the FRAM Filters Top Fueler in its first final round in
Top Fuel competition," comments Hartman-Smith.  "It's been six years since our last final round match-
up and we're confident about tomorrow's race."
       Hartman-Smith  defeated  18-year-old  Josh  Starcher  earlier  today  during  round  one  of  Top  Fuel
eliminations with a 4.703-second elapsed time at 308.64 mph over Starcher's 5.177-second elapsed time
at 204.48 mph.  She continued on to her second semifinal round match-up of the season against Ken Zeal.
Although  Zeal  ran  a  quicker  elapsed  time  (4.814-seconds  at  281.09  mph  to  Hartman-Smith's  5.132-
second elapsed time at 265.95 mph), he was disqualified because his back tire crossed the center line at
the 1,000 foot mark.
       Rhonda  became  the  "Quickest  Female  on  Earth"  earlier  this  season  at  the  Lucas  Oil  NHRA
Nationals in Chicago, Illinois where she ran a 4.56-second elapsed time.  She recently re-established her
title at the CARQUEST NHRA Nationals (also in Chicago) with a 4.523-second elapsed time.
       Rhonda  competed  against  fellow  teammate  and  husband,  John  "Bodie"  Smith,  four  times  this
season  during  Top  Fuel  elimination  rounds  at  four  NHRA  POWERade  Drag  Racing  Series  events.
Rhonda and her FRAM Filters sponsored Top Fuel Dragster have a thee-to-one lead over John's Prestone
Products-backed  ride.   Both  drivers have  secured  positions  in  the  prestigious  NHRA  Top  10  points
standings in the Top Fuel category - Rhonda is currently in the number ten position and John holds the
number eight spot.

       The "Top Fuel Couple" are no strangers to IHRA final round competition.  John participated in
two IHRA Hooters Racing Series semifinal and final round eliminations, both against the reining IHRA
champion, Clay Millican.  Rhonda competed in (and won) her first IHRA race event, the IHRA Inaugural
Race in Steel, Alabama in 1994 and became the first female and youngest driver to win a national event.
She continued on to win an additional IHRA race that year in Tulsa, Oklahoma and clenched the IHRA
Rookie of the Year title.  She earned additional NHRA titles in Darlington, South Carolina and runner up
in Bristol, Tennessee in 1995.  She set the track speed record (299.90 mph) in Bristol, Tennessee in 1996
and earned a runner-up position at the IHRA race in Cordova, Illinois in 1997.

       Hartman Motorsports is a family owned and operated automotive race team competing on the
National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) and International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) circuits in the Top
Fuel category.  Virgil Hartman is the team owner and tuner on both team-owned Top Fuel Dragsters.
Rhonda Hartman-Smith, Virgil's daughter, drives the FRAM Filters Top Fuel Dragster while John
"Bodie" Smith (Rhonda's husband) drives the Prestone Products Top Fuel Dragster.