NHRA
Davis Opens 2011 with Semi-Final Finish
Written by Ian Tocher
SUWANEE, GA – Just a couple of weeks ago Ronnie Davis was relaxing with friends and family at the National Hot 
Rod Association’s (NHRA’s) Division 2 banquet in Jacksonville, Florida. Seated with girl friend Michelle Dearing, Mike and Lisa Greg of Tracstar Satellite Systems, Brent Fisher of Goodyear Tires and daughters Michelle and Bridget, who both flew in from Houston to join the celebration, the Suwanee, Georgia-based golf cart dealer was savoring his second NHRA Div. 2 Top Sportsman championship.
Not one to rest on his laurels, though, the man they call “The King” was back in action this past weekend in the Davis Golf Cart Sales Automatic Pro Mod class during the 7th annual U.S. Street Nationals at Bradenton Motorsports Park in south-central Florida, the first of five races he has planned over just six weekends.
FORCE, HIGHT, FORCE HOOD, NEFF, REINHART TONIGHT ON WFO RADIO
Courtesy of WFO
HOLLYWOOD, FL – John Force, Robert Hight, Ashley Force Hood, and Mike Neff with all make appearances tonight on WFO Radio following major announcements about the future of John Force Racing. In addition, the NHRA’s Alan
Reinhart will join host Joe Castello, live tonight at 7 p.m. ET on WFO Radio NHRA Tuesday. To listen live or on-demand following the show, go to WFORadio.com.
On tonight’s WFO Radio, John Force will discuss major announcements made at the John Force Racing press conference, his family’s new addition, and the formation of a new John Force Racing entertainment subsidiary.
Robert Hight, the 2009 NHRA Funny Car Champion will discuss his promotion to President of John Force Racing, his sister in law’s big announcement, and the 2011 season.
2010 Highlights, NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Series
NASCAR’s Busch to make NHRA Pro debut at Gatornationals
Courtesy of NHRA
Gainesville, FL – Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, has announced that he will be making his NHRA Full Throttle Series debut at the 41st annual Tire Kingdom NHRA
Gatornationals, March 11-13, at historic Gainesville (Fla.) Raceway.
The 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion will be competing for one of the 16 qualifying spots in the ultra-competitive Pro Stock class in the Shell Dodge Avenger for Allen Johnson and J & J Racing.
“Pro Stock is the tightest pro category as far as the elapsed time is concerned and it’s not going to be an easy task,’ Busch said. “I feel me teaming up with Allen Johnson and the Mopar folks, we’ve given ourselves the best opportunity to make the show.”
Busch spent a good part of his busy offseason testing with Allen Johnson and he earned his NHRA Pro Stock license with an impressive best-pass of 6.576 seconds at 210.43 mph at Bradenton, Fla.
NHRA CREATES NEW PROGRAM FOR 2011 SUPER STOCK AND STOCK CLASS ELIMINATIONS
Courtesy of NHRA
GLENDORA, Calif. – After reviewing feedback from the Performance Aftermarket Advisory Council (PAAC) and a majority of NHRA contingency sponsors, NHRA officials 
announced today the creation of an innovative program for Super Stock and Stock class eliminations, which will be introduced at select NHRA national events during the 2011 NHRA Lucas Oil Series season.
The new program will feature a 12-race class-eliminations schedule for Super Stock and Stock that will offer double contingency payouts at four of those events. A new bonus-points program will be instituted for the eight non-paying class-eliminations events, and season-ending contingency payouts will be awarded to two National Class Performers (stick and automatic divisions) in each category. Finally, to enhance competition in class eliminations, new stick and automatic combo classes will be created in Super Stock and Stock to group those classes that are represented by only one car.
10.0, 11.0, 12.0 INDEX CLASSES ADDED TO DIVISION 2 LUCAS OIL EVENTS
Courtesy of NHRA Division 2
Gainesville, FL – The 2011 Division 2 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series events will feature an addition of 3 select “index” 
classes to the program. All three index classes will be running for the coveted Wally trophy and will be collecting points toward the 2011 Division 2 Championship title.
Rules will parallel the popular NHRA Unleashed program and are available at www.nhraunleashed.com
· Deep staging is allowed in all index classes. Courtesy staging is not required. The tree is in Autostart mode, and will not be held to allow extra time to deep stage.
· Index classes will be laddered on a Sportsman ladder beginning 1st round.
· Index classes will be run on a Pro Tree.
· Delay boxes and/or timed throttle stops prohibited. Mechanical type throttle stops permitted. Any adjustment during the run prohibited. Timers of any kind associated with, but not limited to, fuel and/or nitrous delivery, throttle control, vehicle performance criteria, etc. are strictly prohibited. Transmission brake and two-steps are permitted.
NHRA announces plans to improve fan experience at Full Throttle events
Courtesy of NHRA
Glendora, CA – Furthering the ongoing initiative to improve the racing experience for fans at NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events, NHRA has announced a two-pronged approach to minimize excessive downtime as a
result of oildowns and track preparation.
NHRA has invested in additional trackside cleanup equipment and implemented strict oildown penalties, which will include monetary fines and championship point deductions for violations.
“We recognize that oildowns are part of racing,” said Graham Light, NHRA senior vice president of racing operations. “But we polled our fans, and they indicated that, though a part of racing, excessive downtime on the track has a negative impact on their experience. We believe the added equipment, coupled with across-the-board oildown penalties, will lead to less oildowns by all competitors, shorter downtime on the track, and a better experience for our racers and fans at NHRA national events.”
Fourth place finish highlights Troy Coughlin’s 2010 Season
Courtesy of Jegs
Delaware OH – Racing in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Series in 2010, Troy Coughlin enjoyed a lot of success as he posted a very respectable fourth place finish behind the wheel of his nitrous oxide-equipped JEGS.com 
Chevy Camaro. Racing against world class drivers all season, Coughlin’s performance was consistent from start to finish and he earned the dubious distinction of being the only driver in the class to qualify for all ten events in 2010. He also posted several semifinal finishes along the way.
“Overall, it was a pretty good year for us,” said Coughlin. “Being the only guy to qualify for every race says something not only about how competitive the series is, but also how solid our team is. Running a nitrous car, I felt like we were at a disadvantage against the supercharged and turbocharged cars but we were able to hold our own. At the last race in Las Vegas, we were sweating bullets because we struggled to qualify but we managed to get in and that helped us finish fourth.”
2011 UNLEASHED SCHEDULE “TEASE”
Written by Ray Wilkings
Los Angeles, CA – The schedule won’t be “official” until we send out a press release, but here is some long awaited information. I have six tracks committed to hosting an event this year.
I am still working on a seventh and final event in the Western U.S. We will be going to South Georgia Motorsports Park (GA), Tulsa Raceway Park (OK), No Problem Raceway Park (LA), Cordova Dragway Park (IL), Milan Dragway (MI), and Lebanon Valley Dragway (NY). These are all great NHRA member tracks that are excited to have the opportunity to host an Unleashed event. They will all enthusiastically welcome the racers of NHRA Unleashed, and I KNOW that you will support them in force.
The classes that we will be featuring for 2011 will be Outlaw 10.5, Limited Street, X275 Radial, 8.50 Index, 9.50 Index, 10.0 Index, 11.0 Index, 12.0 Index, and 13.0 Index. The 2011 NHRA Unleashed Rules will be released soon. There will be some changes in the Outlaw 10.5, and Limited Street classes to accommodate more cars. The X275 Radial class will be added, and the index classes will be updated to the 2011 NHRA Rulebook.
Schooling NASCAR’s Kurt Busch
Written by Allen Johnson
Greeneville, TN – The holiday break was a little different for me, with a lot of snow and a lot of cold weather at home in Tennessee. I had the chance to do a lot of sledding in the 
mountains near my house in Greeneville. We got about a six- or eight-incher of a storm on Christmas Eve. It was neat, but cold as heck, with temperatures around zero. There’s a mountain I can see right from my front porch, and we went up there with sleds, tubes and four-wheelers, made our own trails and just had a blast.
My wife Pam and I sort of laid back and had a quiet holiday with family. There was a lot of eating during Christmas, and of course getting to watch my grandsons get their presents was a fun time. For New Year’s Eve we really didn’t do much. Pam and I went to our country club, ate dinner and stopped at a place that had some music for a bit. We were home by 10 p.m. with some friends to watch the celebrations on TV.
