St. Louis Teleconference: access to taped recording + transcript

The NHRA hosted a teleconference Tuesday, June 14 to preview the Sears
Craftsman NHRA Nationals June 24-26 at Gateway Raceway. The race will
mark one year since the tragic death of Darrell Russell and a segment of
the racing community closest to Darrell joined in the teleconference to
talk about Darrell and the upcoming race:

 

LARRY DIXON: Dixon, who spearheaded the movement with the help of his
wife Allison to raise more than $300,000 for the Russell family, spoke
about how blown away he was by the universal support from not only the
NHRA, but also from NASCAR, motocross and virtually every segment of the
racing community. They more than tripled their initial goal of raising
$100,000.

 

TONY SCHUMACHER: One of Darrell's closest friends, Schumacher spoke
about Darrell and safety and the pros and cons of operating multi-car
teams.

 

JOHN FORCE: One of the most vocal members of the racing community spoke
about a number of subjects including the future of his daughter, Ashley,
who is currently racing Alcohol dragsters and is being groomed for a
move to the POWERade Series in 2007. He also spoke about the
complexities of operating a multi-car team.

 

MORGAN LUCAS: The 21-year old current driver of the Lucas Oil dragster,
who shared a story about how he first met Darrell when he was just 11
years old and the fact that Russell gave and signed for him an engine
part that day that Lucas has and cherishes to this day; he also talked
about the emotion of returning to St. Louis for the entire Lucas Oil
crew (which remains intact).

 

JOE AMATO: The Lucas Oil team owner spoke fondly of Russell and his
memories and of bringing in Morgan.

 

 

Media can access a recording of the call via the web at:
https://sportssystems.spiderphone.com/5799525118

 

Media can access a recording of the call via the phone at: 1 (800)
793-6775 and enter recording code 57995 25118

 

Media can access a transcript of the call (posted by Thursday morning,
June 16) at: http://media.nhra.com/

 

 

Please call with any questions.

 

Best,

Michael Padian

NHRA Media Relations Manager

O: 626-250-2217

C: 626-278-0312