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Linda Vaughn
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Foundation to Host Linda Vaughn Roast
The Quarter Mile Foundation has unveiled plans to pay tribute to the “First Lady of Motorsports,” Linda Vaughn. The roast will be hosted at the “Sports Barn” facility at the Lucas family estate in Carmel, Indiana, Wednesday, August 29, preceding the NHRA’s Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at the Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis (August 29–September 3, 2012). The evening’s schedule will include cocktails at 6:00 p.m., dinner at 7:00 p.m., followed by the evening’s festivities beginning at 8:00 p.m.
The event will feature “roasters” from across the wide range of the North American motorsports community—drag racing, IndyCar, NASCAR—as well as the automakers and performance aftermarket companies commenting on Vaughn’s life and times and her contributions and impact upon motorsports and the performance aftermarket for the past 50-plus years. To date, the confirmed “roasters” will include Joe Amato, John Force, Don Garlits, Bob Glidden, Don Prudhomme and Jack “Doc” Watson, with NHRA event announcer, Bob Frey serving as the master of ceremonies. Other names will be added shortly.
In addition to the “Roast,” an auction of donated items from friends in the aftermarket, drag racing, IndyCar and NASCAR will be held with seating for up to 350. Tickets will be available online at the Quarter Mile Foundation website beginning June 1, 2012. The VIP/sponsor tables will be available for $2,000/table (seats 8). Non-VIP tables can be sponsored for $1,500 per table. Individual seats can be purchased for $100 each. Sponsors will receive several marketing bonuses, which will be announced shortly.
As with the Don Garlits “Rat Roast” held in Pomona, California, the event will be filmed and the DVD will be made available for purchase to the public. Proceeds will benefit both Linda Vaughn and the Quarter Mile Foundation in its quest to capture the first-person stories of drag racing’s pioneers beginning in the late ’40s through the ’80s; plus the motorsports aftermarket which was spawned from their efforts.
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| Jet-Hot Coatings is sponsoring the Autocross events at Chevy High Performance Nationals, June 1–3, 2012, at Atlanta Dragway. |
Jet-Hot Backs Chevy High Performance Nationals Autocross Extravaganza
Jet-Hot Coatings is sponsoring the Autocross events at Chevy High Performance Nationals, June 1–3, 2012, at Atlanta Dragway located in Commerce, Georgia. An autocross event challenges a driver’s dexterity and skills as he or she competes against the clock. Also pushed hard is a vehicle’s steering and braking systems as well as durability.
The Jet-Hot Autocross course will be set up in the pit area in order to accommodate a technically challenging course. Atlanta Dragway is well versed in hosting an autocross event as it has done so on many occasions since opening in 1975. The facility is home to the NHRA Southern Nationals—one of the most popular stops on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing tour. There are seven distinct categories for your GM vehicle to fit—Modern Muscle (’93–present), Street Machine (’73–’92), Muscle Machine (’55–’72), Street Rod (’54–older), Truck (any vehicle registered as a truck regardless of year), Turn and Burn, and Pro.
There will be more than 30 awards given away to the participants, including each category champion. Competitors and fans can get up close and personal with leading Pro Touring cars and drivers as they compete in the magazine shootout. Visit www.CHPNationals.com for more information on the Jet-Hot Autocross and other festivities.
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Rookie driver Geoffrey Cooley piloted the No. 22 Alumi Craft/Competitive Metals Pro Buggy to a second-place finish last Sunday at the Speedworld Off Road Park in Surprise, Arizona.
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Rookie Driver Geoffrey Cooley Remains Hot in Arizona
Rookie driver Geoffrey Cooley, 17, continues to be a front runner and championship contender in his first season of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Pro Buggy Class. Piloting the No. 22 Alumi Craft/Competitive Metals Pro Buggy, Cooley drove to the podium for the third straight time this season, coming just one step away from a win. Rounds 5 and 6 of the series took place last Saturday and Sunday at the Speedworld Off Road Park in Surprise, Arizona.
Cooley started the event by qualifying ninth on Friday with a time of 1:00.196, which was 0.514 seconds off the fast-time qualifier. The high school senior was challenged by the track conditions and seemed to have run out of speed for his streak of podium finishes. But he was able to overcome and adapt to pull off a sixth-place finish on Saturday and move one step closer to a win on Sunday, where he finished second to veteran racer Doug Fortin.
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| Nick Tyree finished in seventh place in last Sunday's round six. |
Nick Tyree Grabs Best Series Finish; Cracks Top Five
With his family-operated independent team, Nick Tyree and Tyree Motorsports continue to make gains against some of the best off-road racers in the world. Tyree qualified 15th and improved upon his speed all last weekend. In Saturday's race, Tyree battled his way up into the top five in off-road short-course racing. Tyree was running down series multi-time champion Carl Renezeder for a podium position, but ran out of laps and had to settle for a career best finish of fourth.
In Sunday's round six, Tyree remained strong with even faster lap times than Saturday's race. With a few laps remaining, Tyree was in seventh place. He dove inside two trucks and made a pass that moved him into the top five. At the same time elsewhere on the track an incident brought out the red flag and all the trucks were reverted back to the previous completed lap, meaning Tyree had to return to the seventh-place spot. With only one lap remaining, Tyree battled for the top five but fell just short to finish seventh.