Mike Neff Pomona Advance

John Force RacingNeff Pre-Race PackageEvent: 49th annual Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals, 1st of 24 events in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.Site: Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Pomona, Calif.Dates: Feb. 5-8, 2009 * * * *NEFF READY TO GET BACK TO TRACK“I feel a whole lot better going into this season than I did last season. I feel a lot more comfortable. Now I can try and start concentrating on being a better driver. Now that I am more familiar with everything you try and do those little things that make a good driver.�??– Mike Neff * * * *The DriverMike Neff, 42, driver of the John Force Racing Ford Mustang, is entering his second season with high expectations. In his rookie year he reached three finals, was No. 1 qualifier twice and finished in 9th place in the Countdown to 1championship race. Neff took over the driving duties for the late Eric Medlen, who succumbed to injuries sustained in a testing accident in March of 2007. A racing veteran Neff grew up in Hemet, Calif., racing dirt bikes and off-road trucks. * * * *Mike Neff By the Numbers:1 – Qualifying position the last time Mike Neff raced at Auto Club Raceway, 2008 Auto Club Finals2 – Number of times Neff was the No. 1 qualifier in ‘08, including last race of season at Auto Club Raceway3 – Number of JFR drivers who have been named Auto Club Road to the Future Award winners, most recently Mike Neff was honored as the professional rookie of the year (Robert Hight, 2005 and Ashley Force Hood, 2007) * * * *Track Records:Top Fuel – 4.428 seconds by Tony Schumacher, Nov. ’06; 334.65 mph by Schumacher, Feb. ’05.Funny Car – 4.646 seconds by Robert Hight, Feb. ’07;and 333.66 mph by Jack Beckman, Nov. ’06.Pro Stock – 6.616 seconds by Greg Anderson, Feb. ’08; and 209.39 by Anderson, Feb. ’08.(*performance records will not be officially recorded in Top Fuel and Funny Car at this event)Race Schedule:Thursday-Pro Qualifying               2:30 p.m.Friday – Pro Qualifying:              2:30 p.m. Saturday – Pro Qualifying:               noon and 3:30 p.m.Sunday – Pre-race:                       10:00 a.m.Final eliminations:          11:00 a.m. * * * *Team PR and Marketing Contacts:Dave Densmore, PR                           Elon Werner, PR                                
Denswood Sports                               John Force Racing, Inc.               214-244-0008                                      214-244-1184 denswood@aol.com                          Elon@johnforceracing.com       Chad Light                                            Kelly AntonelliJohn Force Racing, Inc.                      John Force Racing, Inc.714-921-8123                                      317-858-8900Chad@johnforceracing.com            Kelly@johnforceracing.comSponsor PR Contacts: Rick Lalor                              Lori Anne Gola                     Kevin KennedyAuto Club of SC                   BP Lubricants                       Ford Racing                
714-885-2085                      973-633-2393                      313-203-7108lalor.rick@aaa-calif.com    lorianne.gola@bp.com      kkennedy@pcgcampbell.comMIKE NEFFNEFF READY TO GET BACK TO TRACKPOMONA (February 3, 2009) --- The last time Mike Neff raced at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona he was the No. 1 qualifier and had the strongest Funny Car of the day on Sunday. Unfortunately a malfunction in the timing box derailed the 2008 Rookie of the Year’s quest to end the season on a winning note.As the 2009 Full Throttle Drag Racing Series gets underway this weekend the second year driver knows that expectations are still high and he feels better about being behind the wheel of his John Force Racing Ford Mustang.“I feel a whole lot better going into this season than I did last season. I feel a lot more comfortable. Now I can try and start concentrating on being a better driver. I am more familiar with everything.  I’ll be working on those little things that make a good driver better like staging shallow, being smooth and having good reaction times,�?? said Neff. “Last year was so overwhelming everything was new and it was hard to be able to concentrate on all the little things. I was just concentrating on the big things like keeping it in the middle of my lane and just trying to get it to the other end.�??With three final round appearances in 2008 Neff is gunning for his first win and he knows that it will be a tremendous accomplishment as well as an emotional event.“That will be a great moment (the first win) when we can do that. It will be awesome for me, but more for (crew chief) John Medlen and this team. Since the loss of Eric and everything they have been through it will be real special. The biggest thing is for John Medlen and Eric Medlen. We want to try and carry on where Eric left off and he was a winner. I think it will be a real emotional thing but also a great thing for this whole team,�?? added Neff.A new season means every team has a shot at the Full Throttle Championship and Neff knows his team will be right in the mix. Last year as the only rookie to make the Countdown to 1 he was in more of a support role for his John Force Racing teammates. This year the first race of the year has the former crew chief ready to go.“I feel good about going to Pomona. We ran really well there at the Auto Club Finals. We accomplished what we needed to testing in Phoenix. It looks like the weather conditions are going to be cool so I expect Pomona to be a real fast field. I know these Ford Mustangs make a lot of power and I am really excited to get back to Pomona and try and pick up where we left off,�?? said Neff.  ####Did you know…           When Neff does capture his first win for John Force Racing he will become the seventh different drivers to have won Funny Car races on the NHRA tour – John Force, Tony Pedregon, Gary Densham, Robert Hight Ashley Force and the late Eric Medlen.            A strong 2008 rookie season for Neff allowed him to continue another John Force Racing tradition becoming the third John Force Racing, Inc., driver in four years to win the Auto Club’s Road to the Future Award as the NHRA Rookie of the Year following Robert Hight (2005) and Ashley Force (2007).-www.johnforceracing.com-