The Divisional-Regional Debacle....Promotion

Easily the biggest topic in the alcohol racing world is the possibility of going to a regional series instead of divisions. Basically instead of the 7 divisions, there will be two or three regions; West, Midwest (in the 3-region format) and East. The hope is that with the consolidation of the divisions, there will be higher car counts at regional events. Another goal of the new format is to take alcohol racing away from tracks that either do not want to host the alcohol cars or do not have safe facilities to do so.

These changes are being made because no one is truly happy with the current situation. There are several contributing problems that ultimately have a domino effect. One that I like to focus on is the promotion side of it. Specifically, the promotion that one track does for their divisional race.

Aside from my hometrack, Norwalk, none of the tracks that host divisional races promote said races. They go out of their way to make their divisional race, known as the Cavalcade of Stars, one of the biggest and most successful events in a) the track's history, b) the division's history, and c) the NHRA Divisional history. The 2010 Cavalcade of Stars marked the first time that they actually had to refuse spectators from entering the gates. I don't remember the stat, but it was one of the most attended divisional races in NHRA history, if not THE most attended. The stands were absolutely packed, which is something that you never see it a divisional race.

Racer attendance is also high for the Cavalcade. There have always been full fields at the race, with at least a couple cars not making the field. D3 does have a large amount of alcohol racers compared to other divisions, but the features of the event must be a contributing factor of the event's alcohol car counts. After all, the track treats the alcohol teams like pros, compared to how other divisional tracks treat alky teams. I mean, how many times will you see an autograph session where the alcohol racers are the stars? Only at Cavalcade...

Track co-owner Bill Bader Jr. and his staff do bring in "talent" acts like wheelstanders and jets, along with fireworks, but that's part of putting on an event that will bring fans back year after year. They also provide a facility that racers, fans and their families feel comfortable going to. I've been to several tracks in the eastern U.S. and none of them even come close to Norwalk's grounds. The same has not been said about the actual track surface at times, but that has nothing to do with fan attendance.

I live within 30 minutes of the track, so I see their promotional efforts in the local community firsthand. Whether its radio and TV ads or stories in the local papers, the race is promoted in a way that such an event should be. Fans come from as far as Michigan and Pennsylvania to go to the Cavalcade, but many of them are local fans. That could partially be because there is simply nothing to do in northern Ohio (I'm allowed to say that, I live here), but the efforts of the Bader team are the #1 reason that fans come out in droves.

Ticket distribution is the last contributing factor that I'm going to go over. Tickets to the Cavalcade of Stars are passed out to attendees of prior races at SMP and to those that order tickets to the track's national event or Night Under Fire. Local radio stations, auto parts stores, gas stations, and other business receive free tickets to give away to listeners and customers. They end up making that money back in concessions and souvenir sales.

If you think about all the touches that they put in to the Cavalcade of Stars, its no surprise that the race is attended by so many fans and racers. NHRA, it's divisions, and it's tracks can't expect piles of fans if they don't promote the events. Until drag racing has the prominence that NASCAR and other major sports have, we have to do more to bring fans out to the races. Let's kick the title of "Best kept secret in sports".

A fantastic weekend at Maple Grove

I finally have enough time to sit down and right an entry for my own personal blog. After returning from Reading, I had so much to do, between school, Top Alcohol News stories, and press releases for clients. It's now Friday and the work has slowed down a bit.

One of the most exciting parts of the weekend was that it was Blake Alexander's first race competing in NHRA Fuel Funny Car. I honestly think I was anticipating it more than he was. He really impressed everyone when he went out in qualifying and ran 4.18 and 4.19, putting him at #14 (FYI-if they ever start a bracket-only Funny Car class, call up Paul Smith. He had that car consistent!). John Force came up to the car in the lanes to introduce himself and welcome Blake to the class, then congratulated Blake once he was locked in to the super-quick field. What a guy. The track couldn't hold their tune-up in the first round of eliminations, so Blake suffered a tire-smoking loss to Matt Hagan. It was still a great debut. I'm really looking forward to what he does next year. As for this year, Blake will run A/Fuel Dragster for the rest of the races; Vegas and Pomona.

The second most exciting part was seeing Brandon Booher finally get his sub-5.40 pass. Its been a goal of his since the beginning of 2010 to run a 5.399 or better. He did just that, making a 5.397 pass in the second round against Duane Shields. Though the win light wasn't on in our lane, Brandon was still very excited when we told him what it ran. He now can claim that he is the driver of the first converter-equipped car to break into the 5.30 range. Next goal-win a Wally!

I got to meet some of my Twitter followers, as well as see some that I hadn't seen since Indy. Mark (@NHRAforlife) and Mitzi (@gottagoracing) both stopped by to introduce themselves. Mitzi even brought the team a plate of lucky brownies, which quickly disappeared. Alan (@SFCSKI) and Steve (@sremerson) are a couple of my Twitter pals that I met at Indy. They're east coast-based, so they stopped by as well. Steve and his son, Steven, are huge Tony Schumacher fans. They got a pretty cool experience on Saturday, as they drove Shoe back to his hotel, then went to dinner with the multi-time Top Fuel champion. Check out Steve's blog for more on his weekend at the Auto Plus NHRA Nationals. Its always nice to meet face-to-face with some of the greatest drag racing fans out there, people that I tweet with almost daily.

My site, Top Alcohol News, has some exciting things going on. We're starting to introduce a series of Driver Blogs, written by a wide variety of Top Alcohol competitors. The first driver is Marie Ferriolo, who drives a TAFC in Division 1. Her first post is an introduction, with lots of good info on her racing career. Another new feature that we'll be launching soon is the Reader's Choice Awards. Upon the completion of the 2011 season (which is sadly coming closer), readers will vote on nominees in a variety of categories, from Driver of the Year, to Best Run of the Year. Check out Top Alcohol News for these features and more!

Well that just about wraps up all that I wanted to say in this post. Catch me on Facebook or Twitter. Thanks for reading!

Winning is Fun Pt. 2

It's been a while since my last post, I've been so busy with school and my site, Top Alcohol News. I have a lot to go over in this post, so here it goes.

It's amazing what a small world it is. It turns out that one of the A/Fuel drivers that I write for, Dave Hill, knows a team that races Pro Junior Dragster on the ADRL circuit. It also turns out that that team is 3rd in national points. Well, they were before the ADRL Ohio Drags this past weekend. The said team, Trevor Wilson's Tenneco team, invited me to stop by their pit at the race, so they could get my decals on the car and we could meet.

So I get to the track and find their pit area. We talked for a bit, Trevor put the NVW Motorsports Promotion decals on the car, then threw on his Team NVW t-shirt. Little did I know that he'd drive right into the winner's circel by the end of the night.

After two qualifying sessions, Trevor was #4. He started off elims in first round, beating Shannon Bell. He'd then run Kyle Dvorak and Kendall Thiesse, before lining up against Kaley Allen. In the end, the win light came on in our lane. After celebrating a bit on the starting line, we headed to pick up Trevor, the car, and the team's second Minuteman of the year. Once we got them, we headed down the return road, where we watched the Extreme 10.5, Pro Nitrous, and Pro Extreme finals. We also got to watch the BigFoot monster truck make a huge wheelstanding pass down the 1320.

Next was the Winner's Circle celebration for Team Tenneco. ADRL announcer Brian Olsen interviewed Trevor, before Roger Richards took some shots of the winning car and driver. T-Dog (Trevor's nickname) motioned us to join him for a couple team winner's circle photos. It was so cool to experience the whole WC deal, they really do it right in ADRL.

Trevor Wilson is now sitting atop the ADRL Pro Junior Dragster points, which means he has the #1 seed heading into the Battle for the Belts race in Texas in a month. I wish Trevor and his parents the best of luck, I can't wait to see how they do at the World Finals/BFTB race. Huge thanks to them for representing NVW Motorsports Promotion on the ADRL side!


If you've ever wanted to sponsor a successful NHRA team, but you don't own an oil operation or your dad isn't the king of a Middle Eastern country, here's a great opportunity. Brandon Booher and the AB Construction Top Alcohol Dragster team is now doing a fan sponsorship program to help get them to the Auto Plus Nationals in Reading this weekend. Basically, if you contribute $20 or more, you'll receive a used part from the car, signed by Brandon. The first person to donate $200 or more will receive one of my busted blower belts, signed by the Force sisters, Manzo, Reichert, Fast Jack Beckman, Greg Anderson, and several others. If you have a PayPal account, send your contribution to brian(at)booherconstruction. You'll receive an email on how to claim your reward. Shipping is extra if you will not be attending the Reading race.

Some more big news for me is that I'll be writing for newly licensed fuel Funny Car driver Blake Alexander. After success in the sportsman ranks, mainly Comp and A/Fuel, he's making the big move to nitro with the help of Uni-Select Auto Plus, Exide, and several other fine automotive companies. He'll be making his Pro debut this weekend at the Auto Plus Nationals, so if you're attending, be sure to stop by and see him at the Paul Smith Racing hauler. I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to do Public Relations for a Pro driver, especially at my age.

I'm planning on being in Reading this weekend, so I probably won't post until I get home on Monday or Tuesday. In the mean time, check out my news site, http://www.topalcoholnews.com/. We have some big things planned for the next week.

Thanks for reading, see you in Reading!

Another Great Year at the U.S. Nationals

It's been awhile since I've done a personal blog on here. The main reason is, well, I haven't had much to talk about. I had about a month off of races, so there wasn't much of interest for the readers of this blog. I just got back from Indy, so now I have a ton to write about!

I've been looking forward to this year's U.S. Nationals since I pulled out of O'Reilly Raceway Park last year. It really is the biggest, most competitive, most fun race in the country, maybe even the world. The car counts are huge and there are always legends and usually a few celebrities in attendance.

Thursday morning and afternoon was spent in the car, as I had a 6 hour drive to Indianapolis. When I got to the track, I spent most of the time hanging out and helping to get everything ready for the race weekend. The Big Go was my sixth race working with Brandon Booher and the AB Construction Top Alcohol Dragster team. They've been doing really well this year, so I was expecting another great finish.

The schedule for Indy is not the same as all the other NHRA national events. For TAD, we get 1 qualifying pass on Friday, 2 on Saturday, another on Sunday morning, then 1st round of eliminations on Sunday evening. There weren't really any highlights or lowlights during qualifying, so I'll skip over that. The real excitement came when we found out who we would be facing first round: Marty Thacker. If you're not familiar with the name, he's a two-time Indy winner, the defending event champion, and a multi-time Division 3 champion. Oh yeah, he's also the guy we lost to in the Norwalk final round.

To make a long story short, we got the win over Marty, 5.45 to Thacker's 5.48. The fact that a relatively new team can beat a driver that's been driving and winning since the 90's is a statement. The car shut off right after the 1,000ft mark, so Brandon could hear Marty on his tail. We had won the battle, with hopes to win the war. As the team headed down the return road back to the pits, we stopped to watch the Chase Copeland-Matt Cummings matchup. Copeland ran 5.27 in qualifying and Cummings ran in the 5.60s. The winner of this matchup would be the next victim of the Booher Racing machine. Fortunately for us, Chase dropped cylinders and lost, so we would race Matt in E2.

The reason for the car shutting off in E1 was still elusive, so our goal for the night was to find out why. The crew was up until 4:30 am on Monday morning, making changes and trying to to find the problem. They were back at it at 8 am and continued working until just before E2. We had lots of help, including the Cantrell Brothers. guys from the Peen-Rite/Maddern Racing team, and even a couple Top Fuel crew chiefs. Their help was very important to us and was appreciated very much.

We got the car started and were pretty confident about our chances in the next round. We rolled up to the lanes, prepared to be moving on to the semifinals. As Brandon pulled through the waterbox and began his burnout, Matt Cummings just sat with the car running. He didn't start his burnout until Brandon started backing up. Once he was backed up, he didn't pre-stage until after Brandon fully staged. In my opinion, Matt was either being rude and unsportsman-like, or he's a bad driver. He finally staged, the tree dropped, and they were off. When the scoreboards lit up, the win light was in our lane! Brandon ran 5.44 to Matt's 5.46, which was a big shock. We got the car hooked up to the tow vehicle and headed back to the pits to get ready for the semifinals against Duane Shields.

I was relatively confident that Brandon would pull out the win, as I should be. In the end, Duane got the win. Brandon tree'd him on the line, leaving earlier by .029. According to announcer Alan Reinhart, Brandon lost by 2-3 feet at the finish line, about a blink of an eye was Duane's margin of victory. When we got to the car in the shut down area, we found that a broken injector nozzle ended our day. The nozzle sprays fuel into the engine. When the engine didn't get that fuel, it leaned out and torched a hole in the #2 cylinder as well as the block. Despite the loss and engine damage, Brandon made racing history. His 5.42 pass was not only his career best, it was also the quickest pass by a converter car. It's so impressive what Brandon and his dad Aaron have done with their car over the past two years.

Bill Reichert ended up getting the U.S. Nationals TAD trophy this year. I had a great time and the team still did a great job. Once we got the car back to the pits and the thrashing slowed down, my dad and I went to watch the finals, really the only spectating that I did over the weekend. After that we packed up and headed back home to Ohio, arriving around midnight.

I really want to thank Brandon Booher for everything that he's done to support and promote me and my ventures. Whether it's NVW Motorsports Promotion or Top Alcohol News, he's always gotten the name out to the racing world. I'm so proud to be a (tiny) part of his team and plan on being there when he hoists his first NHRA Wally.

Thanks for reading my latest blog entry. For complete results from the U.S. Nationals, visit the Top Alcohol News site. We'll have an event wrap-up and probably a few other stories online during the week.

Night Under Fire 2011

As I expected, Night Under Fire 2011 was a huge hit. Despite an iffy forecast for Saturday afternoon and evening, the stands were packed throughout the day. In fact, it was announced during pre-race ceremonies that the Summit side of the track was completely sold out, with the Bud side almost sold out.

In my opinion, this year was the best Night Under Fire in a long time. Though there weren't 8 modern Fuel Funny Cars like in previous years, the variety of "acts" made up for it. The eight Nostalgia cars was a great addition. As a big fan of blown alcohol cars, it was cool to see 4 of the fastest outlaw dragsters race for the trophy, even better that Troy Stone won.

If you live within 250 miles of Summit Motorsports Park, I highly recommend planning on going to next year's Night Under Fire. It's one of the very last match races in the country, and certainly the only that John Force Racing still competes at. I don't know what classes/drivers/cars will be making an appearance at NUF 2012, but I can guarantee it will be a good show and I can almost guarantee that John Force will be there. Will you?

For those of you who were unable to attend this year, check out some of my photos from the race. These are just highlight photos; you can view my whole album in my Photos section on Facebook, if you're friends with me on the 'book.

Robert Hight's crew chiefs, Jimmy Prock and Eric Lane. Robert and the Automobile Club of Southern California team ended up winning the event in the modern Funny Car class.

John Force smokin' the hides before his first "elimination" run of the event. 

Jeff Arend and Robert Hight in round 1. As you can see, I'm no Mark Rebilas

Pretty cool shot of the two wheelstanders, Danny O'Day (near lane) and Richard Hutchins (far lane) in the legendary Chevy Rebellion.

 

This was probably the best part of pre-race ceremonies. John Force got on the mic, letting everyone know how excited he was about witnessing the evening's activities. It's a good thing that the FCC doesn't regulate the PA system at the track, as Force's speech was full of expletives. 

The eventual winner in Outlaw Dragster, owner of Vintage Trailers, Troy Stone. Troy beat out Mike DiDimenico, Sheldon Bissessar (who traveled from Trinidad and Tobago to race), and Paul Molnar to win his second consecutive NUF trophy. Norwalk has to be Troy's favorite track; he won the NHRA National event this year and was runner-up last year. Oh yeah, throw in a couple #1 qualifier awards too. 

Funny Car legend Raymond Beadle (middle) was in attendance with the Blue Max Nostalgia Funny Car team. Ronnie Young (left) was driving.

As always, thanks for reading! While you're here, please check out my new blog, Top Alcohol News for the latest news and points standings in the Top Alcohol categories. We're planning some big stories for the U.S. Nationals in Indy in a couple weeks.

Time for Night Under Fire!

It's almost August 11th, so that means one of my favorite motorsports events of the year is only two days away. The race I'm talking about is the Night Under Fire at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio. If you're not familiar with this speed-fest, let me fill you in.

NUF is one of SMP's premiere events that attracts throngs of fans and racers annually. Way back when it was Norwalk Dragway, the track started Night Under Fire with a couple jet cars and a few local fast cars, along with basic racing. 1994 was the first year that they brought John Force in to the mix to attract more fans. Local Funny Car racer Dean Skuza was the other Nitro Funny Car. Over the years, they've added more Funny Cars and other exhibition vehicles.

One of those attractions is Bob Motz and his legendary Jet Kenworth semi-truck. Originally, he was brought in to make a pass or two in the truck; nothing more. One year, he decided to park the truck closer to the big head-of-staging sign that's behind the burnout box. He started the truck, locked the brakes, and let the jet fuel flow into the jet engine, burning the sign until it was nothing more than a frame of orange embers. Track president and co-owner Bill Bader Jr. was not pleased, but later realized how much the fans enjoyed it. The rest, they say, is history, as it's a part of the NUF show annually. I think there were maybe two instances where the sign was not burned down.

Over the years, the Bader's have brought in several attractions to mix it up and make it an amazing event, year after year. In 2006, Ashley Force made a few passes in her Mattel A/Fuel car. In 2007, Bill Reichert (A/Fuel) and Jeff Bohr (Blown Alcohol) competed in a few match races during the event. One year, the Bar's Leaks Supercharged Thunder group was part of the show. This year, there will be four jet dragsters, two wheelstanders, and Larry McBride's Top Fuel Motorcycle. Elaine Larsen, Jill Canuso, Ernie Bogue, and Lou Pereira will make up the Jet Dragster field; Danny O'Day and Richard Hutchins will be the wheelstanders.

Along with the jets and wheelstanders, there will be an 8-car Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car field. The entry list doesn't look much different than it would in the 70's. Dale Pulde or James Day in the War Eagle, the Dick Harrell tribute car driven by Lee Paul Jennings, Ronnie Young in the Blue Max car, the Jungle Jim car driven by Jon Capps, Mike Savage's Candies & Hughes flopper, Brian Stewart in Tom Hoover's Showtime car, Doc Halladay in the Telastar, and the one and only Frank Hawley behind the wheel of the Chi Town Hustler! This is the first time that these legendary cars and drivers have been all together at a track in this area, so I'm really looking forward to this part of the show.

There's a program that's been absent at Norwalk this year, but it's coming back this weekend for the largest single day drag racer in the world. I'm talking about the Outlaw Dragster and Outlaw Door Wars program. It's basically like the NHRA's Top Dragster/Top Sportsman class, but they run the 1/8th mile heads-up, instead of the quarter mile on a dial-in. Last year, Troy Stone in the wicked Vintage Trailers dragster won. I'm not sure if the door cars ran, or who won if they did. This year, there will be four dragsters and eight door cars, I believe. You can quote me; Troy Stone is going to win Outlaw Dragster again.

The amount of cars for the modern-day Nitro Funny Car portion of the show is a little short this year, but it'll still be awesome. Robert Hight, Jeff Arend, and Ohio favorite Jim Head will be the drivers in Fuel Funny Car, along with some guy named John Force. Although they're tuned down a bit because the race isn't for points, the Nitro cars are almost always the highlight of the night. The amazing fireworks show that follows the Funny Cars is also a must-see.

Once the funny cars and fireworks are over, the real race begins. This is one of Norwalk's regular Saturday points races, one that brings in over 600 sportsman racers from all across the eastern U.S. and Canada. The sportsman points race begins after "the show" and is run until completion; usually around 12 the next day!

You can see why I and so many other Ohio race fans are drawn to Night Under Fire every year. I know I'm ready, and the racers certainly are. They've already lined up to get a pit spot, and the actual on-track racing doesn't start for another day and a half! One way or another, I'll be posting a complete event wrap-up from Night Under Fire, either on this blog or Top Alcohol News. Thanks for reading!

Top Alcohol News!

I was a little disappointed in the lack of coverage and exposure that the Top Alcohol categories receive. As a journalist and top alcohol fan, I decided to start a blog/news site to give fans, drivers, and crew members a place to check in on the latest news, interviews, and points standings. I also found it difficult to find Top Alcohol teams' websites, so I include links to all TA teams that have websites. Now you can find all of this on other sites, but you'll have to dig through articles and such about other classes. Top Alcohol News is streamlined and features strictly TA material.

I have big plans for Top Alcohol News, which I plan to carry out throughout the year. One of the big ones is to interview many of the drivers in the TA categories. Many times, the champions are the only TA drivers that are interviewed in the media. Through my experiences as a top alcohol race team crew member, I've had the pleasure to meet and get to know several of the drivers and I think the average fan should get a glimpse of the great personalities in Top Alcohol racing.

As mentioned earlier, Top Alcohol News will feature news, press releases, interviews, and multimedia throughout the season. We'll also update the points standings after each race, whether it's a divisional or national event. I'm constantly coming up with ideas for the site, so you'll never know what you'll find.

Please check out Top Alcohol News for the latest in TA news. Whether you're a drag racing fan that loves the category, or you're new to the class, I guarantee you'll have fun and learn something during your visit. It's always growing and improving, so check it out often.

Thanks for reading!

Nitro Nate

How to get started in Junior Drag Racing

After posting yesterday's blog about my crew experiences, a few readers have asked me about Junior Dragsters and how to get started. I have a few years experience with a Jr team, so I consider myself to be rather knowledgable on the topic, but I'll use a couple sites I like to use.

At many NHRA Junior Drag Racing League tracks, there are 3 age groups; 8-9, 10-12, and 13-17. The first group is restricted to running no quicker than 12.90 E.T.'s, 10-12 can run no quicker than 8.90, and 13-17 is restricted to 7.90 seconds. Some tracks run all age groups in one class, while others use the three seperate classes for the age groups, but the restrictions are in place in both instances. Junior Drag Racing uses the handicap system, so everyone is even.

Steve, to answer your first question, one of the best ways to get started in Jr. Drag Racing is to visit your local track that has a Jr. program during a Saturday points race. Many of the parents will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. Make sure you bring your child that is interested in driving, so they can get up close with the cars. They may even get the chance to sit in the car, to be sure that they're comfortable in the race car. Call or email your local track to find out when they run the Jr. Dragsters, as it can vary between tracks. My home track, Norwalk, starts Jr. time trials around 9 and the last car is usually down the track by 1:30. The NHRA JDRL has a nice page about getting started, they cover some things I might have missed. How To Get Started JDRL site

The cost of Junior Drag Racing varies widely, depending on what age group you will be racing in, if you buy a new or used car, etc. I know a family that was able to buy a complete 7.90 race car with spare parts for $4,000, used. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you can spend over $10,000 just on a brand new rolling chassis, without an engine. A great classified site that we like to look around is Racing Junk. Here, you can find hundreds of listings, from parts to complete cars.

Junior Drag Racing parents and even drivers are always very courteous and willing to help, especially when it comes to newcomers. A really fantastic forum that I participate in is Jr Dragster Plus, which includes several sections, like Classifieds and Tech help. You can get a free profile, allowing you to post and comment in all of the sections. Post your questions in any of the sections and you can expect at least one response within a day.

A great opportunity to learn for both the parent and the driver is to go to a driving school. There are only a few schools that offer Jr. Dragster lessons, and Doug Foley's Drag Racing School is one of the best. Not only will they teach the driver how to drive, they also teach the parents how the car should run and how to tune it. For $800-1,000, you'll get lessons both in the classroom and on the track. Your child will get to make a few passes in the car, after learning all of the essentials. They also offer several other courses and "experiences" in different classes. Visit their website here.

I've covered the basic essentials that you'll need to know to get started in Jr. Drag Racing. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. You can also contact any of the sources that I included, they can also be a big help. Good luck!

Thanks for reading!

Nitro Nate

My Crewing History

Many of you know that I'm a crew member on a few race teams. What you probably don't know is how I got into working on 3,000 horsepower race cars. I think it's a pretty cool story, so I'm writing this blog about it. Who knows, maybe you'll find yourself wanting to crew after reading.

Over the winter of 2009/2010, I found myself wanting to get more involved in the sport, more than just a fan in the stands. I really wanted to write for a magazine, but you don't get that kinda gig overnight. My friend had just bought a Junior Dragster and "hired" me to be a part of his crew. Because of this connection, I began doing the Jr. Dragster reporting for Summit Motorsports Park, a job I'd have for the 2010 season. This experience will pop up later in this story......

After talking with several Pro drivers like Mike Edwards and Bob Bode, I learned that the best way to get involved with the sport is to help a local race team, or a Top Alcohol team in my case. I began talks with a now-defunct local TAFC team about helping them at the Norwalk divisional. Everything was set, until three days before the event, when the driver/owner informed me that they wouldn't be competing. This left me in a difficult position. I quickly fired off an email to the Division 3, asking for an entry list for the event so I would know who else might need help. I found one of the TAD drivers, Brandon Booher, on Facebook and asked if he needed an extra hand. Luckily for me, he did.

My dad and I worked with Brandon and his all-volunteer crew for the weekend, where we both learned a lot! My dad was really there just to make sure I was safe with the team, as we had never met and I was still a bit young. He ended up doing a lot more than he expected. We really enjoyed ourselves, so we made plans to help them at the Norwalk national event as well.

If you think you have fun at a national event as fans/spectators, try attending one as a crew member! It's a great experience, one that I'll never forget. As far as racing, the team did OK, but nothing really extraordinary. We qualified somewhere between 9-13, won first round over Jared Dreher, then lost to my future PR client, Darren Nicholson. But during that weekend, I got started in something that I never thought of, something that surely changed my life. Brandon asked if I'd be interested in doing his Public Relations work for him. He had seen my writing on the SMP site and was impressed. So in a way, Brandon is responsible for the madness that is NVW Motorsports Promotion.

Fast forward to the 2010 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. My dad and I were there as crew members with Booher Racing again and I was doing PR for the 1999 winner of the event in TAD, Darren Nicholson. This was my first out of state race, so also my first time at the prestigious race. The "Big Go" is truly big. The best of the best in drag racing are racing there, and they bring their A-game. The Top Alcohol categories had over 25 entries and TAD had one of it's closest fields in the history of the class. Thus, we failed to qualify. The event wasn't a total loss, as we had fun, learned a lot, and Darren ended up going to the semi-finals.

As a crew member, I've had to chance to meet some very cool people. Just recently, I got to watch the Funny Car qualifying at Norwalk between team owners and legends, Don Schumacher and Jim Dunn. In the Booher pit area, I got to sit in on a 15 minute BS'ing session with several Top Alcohol drivers, including Frank Manzo and Mike Kosky, two of the best storytellers in drag racing. I got to stand on the line when John and Ashley Force raced each other at the 2010 Night Under Fire, right between the cars. (John and Ashley Force at 2010 NUFHere's a link to my video of the run). These are experiences that the everyday fan just doesn't get.

I'm now in my second season as a part time crew member with the AB Construction Top Alcohol Dragster team. I've also helped Cathy Belcher's Pro Ectreme team at the Norwalk ADRL event. And for a change of pace, I'm in my second season as assistant crew chief on Jacob Parker's JDP Motorsports/K&N Filters Junior Dragster. On a side note-Junior Drag Racing is the most fun you can have with a single cylinder engine. If you have son or daughter within Jr Dragster age that is into racing and you have the financial resources, I highly recommend getting into the sport, it is so choice (as Ferris Bueller would say). Working with a race team is easily the best way to involve yourself in the sport, without actually owning or driving a car. Todd Okuhara, crew chief for the Spencer Massey-driven Fram Top Fuel car, started out as a low ranking crew member, doing the dirty jobs that no one else would do. Now he's calling the shots on an 8,000+ HP engine. It's my dream to move up the ranks like he did.

I hope this blog post has inspired you to get more involved with our amazing sport. You'll never regret in and I guarantee you'll have a ton of fun. I really appreciate all of my readers and their comments, so let me know how you like the blog. If you really enjoy it, pass it along to your friends.

Thanks for reading!

Nitro Nate

Drag Racing Collectables

In drag racing, there are so many different varieties of collectables. I'm going to focus on one specific branch in this blog. Some people like to collect diecast models of the race cars, I've been known to buy a few, but I really like to collect things that you can't buy. Mostly, because they're free! I'm talking about hero cards and used parts.

Hero cards first started popping up in the mid to late 70's, usually reserved for big-name drivers with sponsors, such as Big Daddy Don Garlits and Don Prudhomme and Tom McEwen. Now, almost all of the pro teams provide hero cards to fans. Even Pro Mod and Sportsman teams have hero cards. Hero cards are really a win/win for the team and the fans. For the team, the cards help get the name of the team out to fans and potential sponsors, as well as promoting the team's current sponsors. Fans benefit because they get a free souvenir to remember their day at the track by. If the hero card is signed, it's always more valuable to me, but it can also be worth money in the future. Who knows, that driver in the back of the Top Alcohol pits might be a future Top Fuel champion.

I've been collecting hero cards since I went to my first "serious" drag race, the 2006 IHRA World Nationals, the last IHRA race at Summit Motorsports Park, Norwalk Raceway Park in it's IHRA days. I now have almost four 3-inch binders full of hero cards, starting with Top Fuel and ending with show cars. There are a wide range of autographed cards in my books, from John Force's to local sportsman driver's. It's always cool to look through the books and see how the cars, sponsors, and drivers have gotten in and out of the sport.

One of my favorite parts of working with an NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster team is that I usually get first dibs on burnt up or useless parts. One of my favorites is a set of busted blower belts from the 2010 Norwalk national event. One belt, the "Sportsman Belt" as I call it, has been signed by Frank Manzo, Bill Reichert, the Force sisters, Steve Harker, and Dave Hirata, to name a few. It also has a few Pro drivers on it, like Allen Johnson, Greg Anderson, Jack Beckman, and Kenny Koretsky. The second belt has been signed by so many drag racing personalities, there really aren't any open spots. Paul Page, Bob Bode, Jeff Arend, Morgan Lucas, Tim Wilkerson, and the #NTG favorite, Terry McMillen are some of the fantastic people that are on the belt.

In total of used parts, I have five pistons, two and a half connecting rods, two head gaskets, 4 burst panels, a few assorted Lenco/automatic transmission parts, and a "pop 'chute", the part the pops the parachutes out. One of the pistons came out of Steve Harker's TAFC engine, when he ran 5.50 at 260 mph at the 2010 NHRA Nationals at Norwalk. If you know anything about Top Alcohol Funny Car racing, you'll know that's a pass! Luckily, I didn't have to do much to come across these parts, but if you have enough time when you're at the track, ask a few of the teams if they have any bad parts. Many of the nitro teams, (besides JFR, DSR, Al-Anabi,), will have used pistons or head gaskets that they'll give you. It's instantly a cool collectable, especially if it's signed.

At the 2011 U.S. Nationals in Indy, I had the opportunity to meet one of my idols in automotive drawing and design, Chip Foose. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Chip was at the Mac Tools booth, signing a few tool boxes, then signing some Oakley posters featuring his new line of shoes. I was standing in the area when they formed the line, so I was the first fan after the Mac executives got their items signed. Chip not only signed and personalized an Oakley poster for me, he also did a quick sketch and autograph on one of my NVW Motorsports Promotion hats. Mr. Foose was one of the most humble and kind people that I've met in the industry. It was really one of the highlights of the trip. This is a kind of collectable that will probably never leave my possession, mainly because it will never be as valuable to someone else as it is to me.

Drag racing is one of the very few sports that has such a wide variety of collectables and souvenirs that fans can acquire at the track. I always love finding more collectables and hearing about the great items that other NHRA fans have. If you have some really awesome items, tell me about them in a comment, or maybe you could do a blog about them.

Thanks for reading the latest installment of my random ramblings. I'd like to congratulate fellow #NTG member Nitro John on his appearance on Joe Castello's WFO Radio Nitro Tuesday night. It was a great opportunity to promote the Nitro Twitter Group and he did a great job. I'm not really sure what my next blog will be about, so be prepared for anything!

Thanks again for reading!

Nitro Nate

Meet the Nitro Twitter Gang

I'm proud to be a part of a group that I consider to be the greatest drag racing "advocates" online, the Nitro Twitter Gang (#NTG). We're an elite gathering of die-hard drag racing fans, crew members, and drivers, including Top Fuel driver Terry McMillen, who has recently been dubbed the "poster child" of the NTG. We use various online outlets, such as Facebook and Blogspot, along with Twitter, obviously,  to show our enthusiasm for the greatest sport on the planet.

There aren't really any "gang leaders" in the Nitro Twitter Gang, but if there were, it's safe to say John Amorosano (@nitrojohn) and Steve Emerson (@sremerson) would be the leaders. They're probably the most active members, tweeting links to drag racing stories, promoting NHRA drivers' Twitter accounts, and organizing meetings at national events for NTG members. John and Steve are also two of the members that also blog. John's blog, John's Nitro World, has been online for a few months now and is one of the best NHRA blogs available. It highlights certain drivers or teams in the NHRA, many of which are part of the NTG, along with reviews of races that John attends. Steve's blog has only been online for a few weeks, so I can only write so much about it. Steve's Drag Racing Views features posts about some of the big stories in NHRA drag racing right now, like Tony Schumacher's winless streak and rookie Vincent Nobile's successful year so far. Both blogs are done very professionally and I look forward to reading their future posts.

If you're on Twitter, I highly suggest you become a member of the Nitro Twitter Gang. Basically, include the hashtag #NTG on your tweets, and you're in! If you're not on Twitter yet, you really should consider joining Twitter, as it's a lot of fun. I guarantee you'll make new friends on Twitter and with the Nitro Twitter Gang. You can find links to Steve and John's blogs, as well as their Twitter profiles on the Links section of this blog.

My next blog will either be about my trip to Murrell's Inlet, SC or the JDP Motorsports team's return to the track after a short hiatus. For those of you attending the O'Reilly Auto Parts Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, have fun and good luck!

Thanks for reading!

Nitro Nate

Winning is Fun!

Wow, I had an amazing time at Norwalk this past weekend! I was working with Brandon Booher and the AB Construction Top Alcohol Dragster team, who just happened to runner-up at the event! Well, it didn't just happen, it took a fantastic driver and crew to get there.

On Thursday night, I headed out to the track to help Brandon and his dad, Aaron, set up the pit area. We got set up and prepared the car for two rounds of qualifying on Friday. Or so we thought. Periodic drizzles and downpours wreaked havoc on the area, leaving track officials to cancel all of the day's events, including the aforementioned qualifying sessions. By Saturday morning, NHRA decided to give TAD two qualifying runs, with 1st round around 10 pm. When qualifying was all said and done, we were qualifed 7th with a 5.44 at 260 MPH, leaving us to run Robin Samsel, who qualified 10th with a 5.49.

We entered the staging lanes around 9:30, optimisticly hoping to win first round. I thought we had a pretty good chance of winning the round, considering the gap in between our qualifying ET's. Well, I was wrong! Brandon did win the round, but Robin and crew put up one heck of a fight! Robin ran a 5.38, to Brandon's winning 5.46. Now that took a serious holeshot!

Here's a summary of the rest of our eliminations:
(W) Brandon Booher (AB Construction B/AD)       0.047      5.460 259.76
(L) Robin Samsel (A/FD)                         0.127      5.389 260.31
(W) Brandon Booher (AB Construction B/AD)       0.045      5.476 259.61
(L) Dan Page (A/FD)                             0.070      5.533 263.77

(W) Brandon Booher (AB Construction B/AD)       0.023      5.497 259.26
(L) Karen Stalba (A.A. Auto Salvage A/FD)       0.142      5.574 250.64
(W) Marty Thacker (Rapid Transit B/AD)          0.048      5.403 263.26
(L) Brandon Booher (AB Construction B/AD)       0.015      6.465 107.66

It was cool to run Marty Thacker and the Rapid Transit team in the finals, mostly because we're friends with him and a few of his crew guys. We couldn't have lost to a better group!

Although we had a great weekend, easily the team's most successful in NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster competition, the motor took a serious hit. Around the 1,000 ft mark, crap hit the fan. Standing on the starting line, all we could see was the parachutes come out early, which usually means a problem with the supercharger. Upon further inspection in the turnoff area, it was determined that the rods failed, putting holes in the oil pan and block, also damaging the pistons and sleeves. It was a disappointing end to an exciting day. Now the team is forced to miss the rescheduled NHRA divisional at Norwalk, as well as the Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Brandon's home track.

Even though it was big set-back for the team, the weekend was still a huge morale boost for the whole team, especially Brandon and his dad, Aaron. The car hadn't been running well for almost a year, so the consistent E.T.'s and results were a sign of a turning point in the car's performance. The car wasn't the only thing performing well. Brandon took the holeshot in every single round, even against Marty, who cut a perfect .000 light earlier in eliminations. Without the driver doing his job on the line, we would've been packing up after Round 1.

With all that being said, winning makes racing a lot more fun! I had never experienced such a winning weekend in previous trips to the track. To be with the runner-up team at my home track's national event was such a blast. I look forward to more round wins and hopefully a few Wally's in the future! Before I end this little smorgasbord of literature, I'd like to congratulate our final round opponent, Marty Thacker and his crew, as well as Troy Stone and the Vintage Trailers Top Dragster team. Also, final congratulations to Brandon, Aaron, and the crew; Shannon Pappas, Pete Brady, and John Halloran.

Thanks for reading my blog this week, I'll post another after this weekend's NHRA Division 3 race in Norwalk. To read more on Brandon and the AB Construction team, visit www.nitronate.com/booher, www.facebook.com/booherracing, or www.twitter.com/booherracing.com. Congratulate him while you're there! Follow me on Twitter (@nitronate1320) at www.twitter.com/nitronate1320.

Thanks again for reading!

Nitro Nate

Norwalk National Event Week!

It's finally time for the race I look forward to the most, the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park. This is easily my favorite race weekend of the year because Norwalk is my hometrack and I have a lot of local friends that will be in attendance. This is also one of the few national events that I'll be attending this year, so I try to have as much fun at this race as possible. Along with the typical race activities, there are a few special parts of the event.

One of those activities that is sure to be fun is an NHRA Countdown to the Championship PS2 tournament, held by Stefan Kontos and the Kon Rodz Racing Top Alcohol Funny Car team in their pit area. If everything goes as planned, we'll be playing from 10:30 Friday night until the wee hours of the morning on Saturday. So far, the entry list includes some top alcohol and nitro crew guys, with a few possible Pro drivers attending. If you're at the track, stop by and enter the race, it'll be a good time. $10 entry fee, winner recieves $100, RU gets $25, then there are $10-20 awards for low qualifier, top speed, etc.

Another cool feature of the Norwalk event is the K&N Filters Horsepower Challenge. This is a special bonus race for the Top 7 drivers in Pro Stock, along with an eighth driver that is voted in by the fans. As of June 5th, the drivers are Jason Line, Allen Johnson, Mike Edwards, Greg Anderson, Ron Krisher, Rodger Brogdon, Shane Gray, and Erica Enders as the fan-voted driver. The winner goes home with a cool $50,000, so all of the drivers will be on their A-game, providing a great show for the fans.

One of the factors that make this race so enjoyable for myself, the drivers, fans, and anyone at the track is the hospitality and show that the Bader family puts on. I feel that they go above and beyond when it comes to promoting and scheduling all of their events, especially the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals. This year's special attractions include passes by Bob Motz's jet Kenworth and Danny O'Day's wheelstander, a Sunday pre-race concert, and the fantastic fireworks show after Friday Night qualifying. And we can't forget the famous $1 for a pound ice cream that everyone raves about.

The amount of cars on the entry lists for the race are some of the highest of NHRA national events this year. In the nitro classes, there are currently 17 drivers entered in Top Fuel Dragster and 20 in Fuel Funny Car. Pro Stock has the highest Pro counts, with 27 in Pro Stock Car and 24 in Pro Stock Motorcycle. The top Sportsman classes (Pro Mod, Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Alcohol Funny Car) have 26, 15, and 20, respectively.

All of these factors should make for another amazing weekend in "the Maple city". If you're within 200 miles of the track, I'd give the track a call, order tickets, hop in the car and head to Norwalk! If not, be sure to watch it on ESPN2, as well as the results on NHRA.com and dragracecentral.com. Check back here later in the week for another blog about the upcoming race weekend.

See ya at the track!

Nitro Nate

Wacky Weather season...

Hey folks, sorry I haven't updated the blog lately. Between school and keeping up with the race teams, I've been busy. Here in northern Ohio, we've been dealing with very rainy days that put a real damper on our racing plans. Thanks to Mother Nature, the Cavalcade of Stars divisional race at Norwalk was rescheduled for July 2-3.

Speaking of the Cavalcade, it was a great time even if we didn't get much racing in. Two of the teams I write for, Dave Hill's Nitro Fever Racing A/fuel team and Brandon Booher's AB Construction blown alcohol dragster team were in attendance to compete in Top Alcohol Dragster. I spent the weekend in Boohers' pit area as a crew member, waiting out the rain with the rest of the team. TAD only got one qualifying run in, so we spent the majority of the weekend chilling out.  It was a fun weekend thanks to good company and I'm really looking forward to the make-up date.

Over the course of the weekend, I got to speak with and get to know one of the emerging drivers in NHRA Division 3 Top Alcohol Dragster competition, Dave Hill. I've been writing for Dave since the end of the 2010 season, but I hadn't met him until the Cavalcade weekend. I don't think I've benefitted from a conversation as much as I did with my conversations with Dave that weekend. Due to the lack of on-track action, I had lots of time to listen to him talk about his history, both racing and personal. If you're ever at a race where Dave and Team Nitro Fever are competing, stop by and say hi, he's really one of the coolest guys in the pits. He also gave the JDP Motorsports Junior Dragster team a lot of ideas that we're eager to try out. Dave and his sons used to race Jr's in Michigan and Indiana, where they were very successful.

One of the main reasons that I'm anticipating the rescheduled Cavalcade weekend is because all of the teams I do PR work for will be there. Jake Parker and the JDP Motorsports/K&N Filters team and Noah Rambow and the NAPA Auto Parts junior dragster team will be racing in their weekly points race on Saturday morning, than Brandon and Dave in Top Alcohol have qualifying on Saturday and Sunday, with eliminations on Sunday afternoon. This is a rare opportunity to get the whole group together for a big photoshoot. The photos that will be taken will be used for an upcoming NVW Motorsports Promotion ad in a magazine, Drag Illustrated  probably. My friend John Stutsman will be doing the photography, as well as Chris Ternaux of RC Ternaux Photography.

Alright, enough of my random ramblings. Before I end this post, I want to mention a project that I'm working on, Nitro Cribs. It's basically MTV Cribs on NITRO. I'll get into more detail about it on my next post. Until then, keep it between the lines.

Thanks for reading!

Nitro Nate

First Post

Hey all! Thanks for checking out my blog. I'll be posting a new blog every once in awhile until the racing season starts, then I'll be posting daily. This first post will be an introduction to me.

I've been a huge car person all of my life. When I was little, rarely would you find me without a Hot Wheels car in my hands. As I grew up, I started to get into NASCAR. I never really became obsessed with the sport, but I would usually watch the races. At age 9, I caught the NITRO bug. At the time, my uncle was a truck driver for Werner Enterprises and Clay Millican was sponsored by Werner. My uncle would always send me Clay Millican t-shirts and diecasts, knowing I was a car fan. This really sparked my interest in the greatest sport on Earth, drag racing. The rest, as they say, is history.

As I grew older and my interest in the sport increased, I started going to more races and following the action closer. Fast-forward to spring of 2010. After being told by many drivers that the best way to get into the sport is to help a local team, I decided to contact a Division 3 Top Alcohol Dragster team, the AB Construction team, led by driver Brandon Booher. I offered to help them at a local divisional and they accepted my offer. That weekend, I got to learn so much about drag racing; the cars, the track, the drivers. Later on down the road, my dad and myself started to get more involved with the team, doing more at the track and traveling to out of state races. The highlight of 2010, for me, was getting to go to the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, the most legendary drag race in the world.

The things I have learned and the experiences I have had with the team have been invaluable. I am now doing public relations for them, where I get to write about drag racing, two of my passions. I have also been doing PR for a couple other Top Alcohol teams, as well as sponsorship assistance for a local Jr Dragster team. That's a brief history of me, hope you enjoyed it.

Throughout the season, I'll be filling this blog with some of my experiences with some of the teams that I mentioned in this blog. I'll also keep everyone updated on some of my projects, including Nitro Cribs, a YouTube video series that I'm running.

Thanks for reading, now I'm off to catch a new episode of America's Next Great Restaurant!