NHRA Newsmakers: Oct. 23, 2006
NHRA Newsmakers Your inside glimpse at the world's fastest motorsport NEWS NUGGETS * FORCE FAMILY TO HEADLINE NHRA BREAKFAST AT SEMA SHOW: John Force, daughter Ashley, Eric Medlen and Robert Hight, will be among family and team members on stage during the annual NHRA breakfast at the SEMA Show, Wednesday, Nov. 1, to offer a behind the scenes look at the popular A&E reality series "Driving Force." The NHRA breakfast, which begins at 7:30 a.m. (PT) at the Las Vegas Hilton Ballroom A/B, is traditionally one of the biggest attended events during the SEMA Show. The NHRA breakfast is free to all registered SEMA Show attendees. * DRAW PARTY TO SET BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT FIELD: The eight starting positions for the $100,000 Budweiser Shootout will be finalized Oct. 26 during the Budweiser Shootout Draw Party at "The Joint," a multi-purpose entertainment venue inside the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. NHRA announced today the 15 Top Fuel drivers who will participate in the Budweiser Shootout Draw Party, which starts at 7 p.m. (PT) and will be hosted by NHRA announcer Bob Frey and Budweiser personality Katie Daryl. During the Budweiser Shootout Draw Party, first round pairings for the Shootout will be determined during a series of random drawings. Top qualifier Tony Schumacher, who earned the event's only automatic starting position by claiming 13 No. 1 qualifying positions during the Shootout season, will face the driver who wins the wild card spot for the No. 8 position in the first round of the Budweiser Shootout. Six other drivers have been guaranteed a starting spot for the Budweiser Shootout via their final qualifying position during the season series - Brandon Bernstein, "Hot Rod" Fuller, Doug Kalitta, Melanie Troxel, Dave Grubnic and Larry Dixon. As these drivers are introduced during the Draw Party, they will participate in a random drawing to determine their final starting spot from one of the available remaining positions (Nos. 2-7). Eight drivers are hoping to earn a chance at the $100,000 victory via an open wild card position, which will place that winner into the Budweiser Shootout in the No. 8 starting spot. Cory McClenathan, Morgan Lucas, Hillary Will, David Baca, Doug Herbert, Bob Vandergriff Jr., J.R. Todd, and Clay Millican are the hopefuls in contention for the wild card drawing for the No. 8 starting position. The 22nd annual Budweiser Shootout will be held on Saturday, Oct. 28 during the sixth annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with rounds scheduled for 12:30 p.m., 3:15 p.m. and 5 p.m. * SCHUMACHER, FORCE, LINE FAVORITES OF LAS VEGAS ODDSMAKERS: Tony Schumacher (3-to-1); John Force (5-to-2) and Jason Line (5-to-8) are the favorites in their respective categories to win the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, Oct. 26-29 at The Strip at LVMS as announced today by Station Casinos in Las Vegas. A full breakdown of drivers' odds in all pro categories can be found at http://www.lvms.com/news/strip_news/513637.html * 2006 NHRA XPLOD SPORT COMPACT CHAMPS CROWNED: The 2006 NHRA Xplod Sport Compact Racing Series World Champions were crowned Sunday at the year-end awards ceremony held at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, Calif. World Champions for 2006 included repeat champs Brad Personett (Pro RWD), Ed Bergenholtz (Pro FWD), Paul Efantis (Modified) and Ron Lummus (Hot Rod), and first time champ Jeremy Lookofsky (Honda Tuning All Motor). * FORMULA PROJECT TO PERFORM LIVE AT ACDELCO LAS VEGAS NHRA NATIONALS: The Formula Project, whose songs "White Line Fever" and "The Choice" (Go Hard or Go Home) are staples of NHRA's ESPN telecast, will perform those songs Sunday, Oct. 29, at the ACDelco NHRA Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at LVMS just before final eliminations begin (approximately 4 p.m. PT). WHO'S HOT! * JASON LINE: The driver of the Summit Racing Pontiac GTO has pushed his POWERade Series Pro Stock lead to 119 entering the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, Oct. 26-29 at The Strip at LVMS. With back-to-back national record performances, including the current mark of 6.558 seconds, Line has all but eliminated his closest challenger -- three-time world champ Greg Anderson -- from the championship picture. Line needs to earn 20 points more than Anderson to clinch his first NHRA Pro Stock championship crown during the weekend in Las Vegas. Line, a former dyno operator for Joe Gibbs' NASCAR team, also was the 1993 NHRA Stock Eliminator world champion. INSIDE THE NUMBERS * 27: Of the four NHRA POWERade Series world championship battles, things are tightest in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Antron Brown, who is seeking his first series crown aboard the U.S. Army Suzuki, holds a 27 point advantage over two-time defending world champ Andrew Hines, rider of the Screamin' Eagle Vance & Hines Harley Davidson. Third place currently belongs to three-time world champ Angelle Sampey, who trails by 64 on her U.S. Army Suzuki. Other series leaders include Doug Kalitta in Top Fuel, 83 points in front of Brandon Bernstein and 89 ahead of Tony Schumacher; John Force, 46 ahead of Ron Capps and 54 above Robert Hight in Funny Car; and Jason Line, 119 up on Greg Anderson in Pro Stock. COMING ATTRACTIONS * ACDELCO LAS VEGAS NHRA NATIONALS, LAS VEGAS, OCT. 26-29: POWERade Series championships are up for grabs at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, as is $100,000 for the winner of the lucrative Budweiser Shootout for Top Fuel's eight best drivers. NHRA teams will be battling hard for race victories at the season's penultimate race. * AUTO CLUB NHRA FINALS, POMONA, CALIF., NOV. 9-12: The final race of the 2006 NHRA POWERade Series season will feature champions crowned in many NHRA pro categories, as well as some of the most intense side-by-side racing of the season. National performance records also may be on the line at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California. DRIVERS TELL ALL * WJ MAKES 500TH PRO STOCK START: Six-time NHRA world champion Warren Johnson, winner of 96 career Pro Stock races, will make his 500th career NHRA start at the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at LVMS, Oct. 26-29. When asked if he sees any other Pro Stock drivers getting to that mark, W.J. says no way. "Given how the Pro Stock category has evolved, it would take a tremendous financial and emotional commitment to last that long," Johnson said. "Unfortunately, I don't see anyone with the wherewithal to stay in it for the 20-years-plus necessary. In addition, we are entering an age where the hired driver is the norm rather than the exception, making it even more difficult to get to 500 races." HE SAID, SHE SAID * SCHUMACHER PREDICTS HIS BUDWEISER SHOOTOUT FIRST ROUND PAIRING: Defending Budweiser Shootout champion Tony Schumacher offered his prediction on which driver will pull the wild card No. 8 starting spot during the Budweiser Shootout Draw Party, Oct. 26 at "The Joint" at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. "I'll say there's a 99.4 percent chance J.R. Todd will pull the No. 8 spot with the way our luck has been going," said Schumacher, who has lost to rookie driver Todd in two final rounds and in the second round at Reading. The driver that pulls the wild card starting spot will face Schumacher in the first round of the Budweiser Shootout, Oct. 28 at The Strip at LVMS. -30- For more information, contact the NHRA Communications Dept. at (626) 914-4761. To access the latest NHRA news, statistics and photos, please visit http://media.nhra.com <http://media.nhra.com/> .