NHRA NEWSMAKERS: November 21, 2006
NHRA Newsmakers Your inside glimpse at the world's fastest motorsport NEWS NUGGETS NHRA DRIVERS TRAVELING TO GERMANY TO VISIT TROOPS: Five goodwill ambassadors from the NHRA will once again take part in a USO-sponsored trip to Germany to visit wounded American troops and Air Force/Army personnel stationed at the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC). Six-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Warren Johnson, two-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Jim Yates, Top Fuel drivers Melanie Troxel and Cory McClenathan, and Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson Jr. will represent NHRA during a post-Thanksgiving support mission to the KMC and the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC). The five drivers, along with a contingent from GM Racing, will depart the United States Saturday, Nov. 25. The group will spend three days visiting military personnel assigned to different areas of the Kaiserslautern Military Community, and will also spend a day with wounded troops and hospital staff at LRMC before flying back to the United States. The group will be based at Ramstein AFB, the largest Air Force base in Europe, responsible for the aeromedical evacuation missions that bring the wounded troops to Landstuhl hospital. As part of the troop morale tour, the drivers will be visiting Air Force squadrons on base to see how they fly and maintain their fleet. CAPPS TO LEAD THE PARADE IN EL PASO: The Sun Bowl Association has announced that Brut Revolution Dodge Funny Car Driver Ron Capps will be the Grand Marshal for the 70th annual Sun Bowl Parade, slated to begin at 10 a.m. Thanksgiving Day in El Paso, Texas. Last year, over 350,000 people attended this special event preceding the Sun Bowl, scheduled to be played Dec. 29. Capps becomes the 11th sports figure to serve as Grand Marshal of the parade, joining a group that includes sports icons Don Haskins, Bobby Dobbs, Lee Trevino, Mickey Mantle, and Don Maynard. "To be a part of a parade that is over 70 years old is a tremendous honor," said Capps, "not to mention being on a list of some pretty incredible athletes who have been part of this parade in the past. The parade is going to be very exciting for me, my daughter Taylor, my son Caden, and my wife Shelley. To actually be in a parade, and not just any parade, is a pretty big deal for all of us. I am thrilled to be a part of it with my family. "They invited the whole family to ride in the float. Helen of Troy, which owns Brut, is very involved in the city of El Paso, so for us to be part of this parade on behalf of Helen of Troy and Brut is pretty cool. We get to do the parade, then fly back home to Carlsbad, Calif., where we're going to spend Thanksgiving Day with Shelley's mom and dad." COMING ATTRACTIONS * CARQUEST AUTO PARTS WINTERNATIONALS, POMONA, CALIF., FEB. 8-11: Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) will begin defense of their 2006 NHRA POWERade Series world championships. INSIDE THE NUMBERS 13: The age of Matt Sackman who was crowned the second annual POWERade Fan Nationals champion. The Channahon, Ill., Jr. Dragster racer completed the simulated Funny Car race in 4.7 seconds to defeat 22 other national event winners at the finals held during the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif. For his winnings he took home a personalized replica champions jacket, a POWERade Fan Nationals trophy and joined the pro event winners of the Auto Club NHRA Finals in the winner's circle. WHO'S HOT! J.R. TODD: After winning three races and being runner-up once there was only thing left for Todd. The driver of the Skull Shine dragster was awarded the 2006 Auto Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award given to the top rookie driver. "To win an award that great drivers like Brandon Bernstein, Ron Capps, Gary Scelzi, Doug Kalitta, and the late Darrell Russell have won means a lot to me," said the soft-spoken Todd, of Lawrenceburg, Ind. "I just hope I can come close in comparison to those drivers." Other drivers nominated were Alan Bradshaw and Hillary Will in Top Fuel, and Max Naylor in Funny Car. Not too bad for a driver that was planning on running only 12 races in 2006. DRIVERS TELL ALL AS IF FUNNY CAR DRIVING WASN'T THRILLING ENOUGH: Tommy Johnson, Jr. was on a cruise with wife and Top Fuel driver Melanie Troxel before the Auto Club NHRA Finals when the high seas started getting a little rough. Johnson found this to be a thrilling part of the cruise. "It was a rough ride. The hangers were flying all over the place; the closet doors kept opening and shutting and making noise. To be honest, I liked this part of the trip. I didn't see too many other people enjoying it like I did, but I thought it was neat." For more information, contact NHRA Media Relations at (626) 914-4761 or visit the NHRA MEDIA CENTER online at http://media.nhra.com <http://media.nhra.com/> . - 30 - Brian Hacker Media Relations Manager, NHRA (626) 250-2424 (626) 428-0280, cell (626) 914-1491, fax