Titan Motorsports' blog is one way the company is attracting enthusiasts to its site and staying connected with its customer base.

While you may not find yourself posting about what you had for breakfast this morning on Facebook or Twitter, your customers are likely using these services to express theirselves, receive news, review products and conduct personal research. The days when your customers would simply go to your website for the latest news and product information are long gone.

Instead, social media networks, such as blogs, Twitter and Facebook, are channeling this information out to the world at a blazing rate. From a business standpoint, social media is important—it allows you to personalize your interaction with consumers while differentiating yourself from the thousands of other businesses competing on the web.

With information being published through so many sources, it can become difficult to track content without having multiple windows scattered around your computer's desktop. Rather than devoting a full-time employee to monitor this content, there are now companies developing specialized products and services to help streamline your social media interactions and help make this sea of information manageable.

An easy and effective way to keep your customers up-to-date on new releases and company news is a blog or a web blog. One of the tools available is Word Press, which offers many great free themes and plug-ins for the ultimate customization to power your blog. WordPress can be downloaded from www.wordpress.org; installation instructions are available on the site as well. Once you’ve got your blog setup and customized to fit your brand, two simple automation techniques will allow you to broadcast your blog postings directly to your Twitter and Facebook followers.

The first service, Twitterfeed.com, exports your blog postings directly to your Twitter account simply by inputting your RSS feed and providing access to your account. A similar task can be performed on your Facebook page by entering your RSS feed in the Notes tab, which publishes a brief synopsis and thumbnail on your wall with each new blog posting.

While blog and forum postings help get news and information out, using social media to the fullest allows you to see what current and future customers are saying about your company and products. Companies are now developing products that harvest this information to allow for easy display and interaction with your social media accounts in one convenient window. One product available that can help collect and organize this information is a program called Seesmic Desktop.

After merging a similar competing product Thwirl in 2008, Seesmic was developed and improved into an easy-to-use “one-stop” console. Seesmic Desktop is a free program that coincides with Adobe Air framework allowing you to monitor and interact with multiple Facebook and Twitter accounts in one convenient window.

Accessible through both Macs and PCs, the console features various views and customizable columns to help organize your workflows. The console displays individual accounts in separate columns while offering capabilities of condensing and hiding duplicate postings. This becomes a real benefit when managing multiple accounts with the same followers.

Seesmic does more than just display your social feeds in one convenient window. Features such as integrated interest groups, trend watching, searches and notifications allow you to track topics and make for easy interaction. Interest lists and groupings allow you to easily locate your potential followers. This helps you generate a more specific group of followers to reach out to. Finding keywords in users’ postings can be saved and refreshed for instantaneous discussion updates. Users’ postings can be searched via keywords and then saved and refreshed for instantaneous discussion updates.

Scouting Twitter for user feedback on a new product, event or topic can easily be viewed in the same window. These search queries can also be saved for access and review at a later date. Alert notifications can be set to notify you of new postings and/or messages using visual or audio notifications, all of which can be customized to various levels. Postings can include automatically hosted photos and videos, as well as shortened text and integrated URL addresses. These are all useful and key features for frequent social media users.

As new platforms and technologies come to market, the need to adapt becomes an increasing challenge and a necessity to stay relative. As experiences with products and companies get reviewed by people all over the world on public forums and social media platforms, the need to quantify this data and address issues will become increasingly more difficult to manage.

The programs we use to manage these feeds will work to adapt with the changing of social environments, all while trying to remain easy to use. Keeping customers up-to-date, tracking the response to our products and services and even making sure we’re one step ahead of our competition at any given point is what ultimately makes the most of our social network. Social media is here to stay. —Baadal Deliwala, Nikki Contenti and Wes Bourne, Titan Motorsports

	Titan Motorsports' blog is one way the company is attracting enthusiasts to its site and staying connected with its customer base.

While you may not find yourself posting about what you had for breakfast this morning on Facebook or Twitter, your customers are likely using these services to express theirselves, receive news, review products and conduct personal research. The days when your customers would simply go to your website for the latest news and product information are long gone.

Instead, social media networks, such as blogs, Twitter and Facebook, are channeling this information out to the world at a blazing rate. From a business standpoint, social media is important—it allows you to personalize your interaction with consumers while differentiating yourself from the thousands of other businesses competing on the web.

With information being published through so many sources, it can become difficult to track content without having multiple windows scattered around your computer's desktop. Rather than devoting a full-time employee to monitor this content, there are now companies developing specialized products and services to help streamline your social media interactions and help make this sea of information manageable.

An easy and effective way to keep your customers up-to-date on new releases and company news is a blog or a web blog. One of the tools available is Word Press, which offers many great free themes and plug-ins for the ultimate customization to power your blog. WordPress can be downloaded from www.wordpress.org; installation instructions are available on the site as well. Once you’ve got your blog setup and customized to fit your brand, two simple automation techniques will allow you to broadcast your blog postings directly to your Twitter and Facebook followers.

The first service, Twitterfeed.com, exports your blog postings directly to your Twitter account simply by inputting your RSS feed and providing access to your account. A similar task can be performed on your Facebook page by entering your RSS feed in the Notes tab, which publishes a brief synopsis and thumbnail on your wall with each new blog posting.

While blog and forum postings help get news and information out, using social media to the fullest allows you to see what current and future customers are saying about your company and products. Companies are now developing products that harvest this information to allow for easy display and interaction with your social media accounts in one convenient window. One product available that can help collect and organize this information is a program called Seesmic Desktop.

After merging a similar competing product Thwirl in 2008, Seesmic was developed and improved into an easy-to-use “one-stop” console. Seesmic Desktop is a free program that coincides with Adobe Air framework allowing you to monitor and interact with multiple Facebook and Twitter accounts in one convenient window.

Accessible through both Macs and PCs, the console features various views and customizable columns to help organize your workflows. The console displays individual accounts in separate columns while offering capabilities of condensing and hiding duplicate postings. This becomes a real benefit when managing multiple accounts with the same followers.

Seesmic does more than just display your social feeds in one convenient window. Features such as integrated interest groups, trend watching, searches and notifications allow you to track topics and make for easy interaction. Interest lists and groupings allow you to easily locate your potential followers. This helps you generate a more specific group of followers to reach out to. Finding keywords in users’ postings can be saved and refreshed for instantaneous discussion updates. Users’ postings can be searched via keywords and then saved and refreshed for instantaneous discussion updates.

Scouting Twitter for user feedback on a new product, event or topic can easily be viewed in the same window. These search queries can also be saved for access and review at a later date. Alert notifications can be set to notify you of new postings and/or messages using visual or audio notifications, all of which can be customized to various levels. Postings can include automatically hosted photos and videos, as well as shortened text and integrated URL addresses. These are all useful and key features for frequent social media users.

As new platforms and technologies come to market, the need to adapt becomes an increasing challenge and a necessity to stay relative. As experiences with products and companies get reviewed by people all over the world on public forums and social media platforms, the need to quantify this data and address issues will become increasingly more difficult to manage.

The programs we use to manage these feeds will work to adapt with the changing of social environments, all while trying to remain easy to use. Keeping customers up-to-date, tracking the response to our products and services and even making sure we’re one step ahead of our competition at any given point is what ultimately makes the most of our social network. Social media is here to stay. —Baadal Deliwala, Nikki Contenti and Wes Bourne, Titan Motorsports

	Titan Motorsports' blog is one way the company is attracting enthusiasts to its site and staying connected with its customer base.

While you may not find yourself posting about what you had for breakfast this morning on Facebook or Twitter, your customers are likely using these services to express theirselves, receive news, review products and conduct personal research. The days when your customers would simply go to your website for the latest news and product information are long gone.

Instead, social media networks, such as blogs, Twitter and Facebook, are channeling this information out to the world at a blazing rate. From a business standpoint, social media is important—it allows you to personalize your interaction with consumers while differentiating yourself from the thousands of other businesses competing on the web.

With information being published through so many sources, it can become difficult to track content without having multiple windows scattered around your computer's desktop. Rather than devoting a full-time employee to monitor this content, there are now companies developing specialized products and services to help streamline your social media interactions and help make this sea of information manageable.

An easy and effective way to keep your customers up-to-date on new releases and company news is a blog or a web blog. One of the tools available is Word Press, which offers many great free themes and plug-ins for the ultimate customization to power your blog. WordPress can be downloaded from www.wordpress.org; installation instructions are available on the site as well. Once you’ve got your blog setup and customized to fit your brand, two simple automation techniques will allow you to broadcast your blog postings directly to your Twitter and Facebook followers.

The first service, Twitterfeed.com, exports your blog postings directly to your Twitter account simply by inputting your RSS feed and providing access to your account. A similar task can be performed on your Facebook page by entering your RSS feed in the Notes tab, which publishes a brief synopsis and thumbnail on your wall with each new blog posting.

While blog and forum postings help get news and information out, using social media to the fullest allows you to see what current and future customers are saying about your company and products. Companies are now developing products that harvest this information to allow for easy display and interaction with your social media accounts in one convenient window. One product available that can help collect and organize this information is a program called Seesmic Desktop.

After merging a similar competing product Thwirl in 2008, Seesmic was developed and improved into an easy-to-use “one-stop” console. Seesmic Desktop is a free program that coincides with Adobe Air framework allowing you to monitor and interact with multiple Facebook and Twitter accounts in one convenient window.

Accessible through both Macs and PCs, the console features various views and customizable columns to help organize your workflows. The console displays individual accounts in separate columns while offering capabilities of condensing and hiding duplicate postings. This becomes a real benefit when managing multiple accounts with the same followers.

Seesmic does more than just display your social feeds in one convenient window. Features such as integrated interest groups, trend watching, searches and notifications allow you to track topics and make for easy interaction. Interest lists and groupings allow you to easily locate your potential followers. This helps you generate a more specific group of followers to reach out to. Finding keywords in users’ postings can be saved and refreshed for instantaneous discussion updates. Users’ postings can be searched via keywords and then saved and refreshed for instantaneous discussion updates.

Scouting Twitter for user feedback on a new product, event or topic can easily be viewed in the same window. These search queries can also be saved for access and review at a later date. Alert notifications can be set to notify you of new postings and/or messages using visual or audio notifications, all of which can be customized to various levels. Postings can include automatically hosted photos and videos, as well as shortened text and integrated URL addresses. These are all useful and key features for frequent social media users.

As new platforms and technologies come to market, the need to adapt becomes an increasing challenge and a necessity to stay relative. As experiences with products and companies get reviewed by people all over the world on public forums and social media platforms, the need to quantify this data and address issues will become increasingly more difficult to manage.

The programs we use to manage these feeds will work to adapt with the changing of social environments, all while trying to remain easy to use. Keeping customers up-to-date, tracking the response to our products and services and even making sure we’re one step ahead of our competition at any given point is what ultimately makes the most of our social network. Social media is here to stay. —Baadal Deliwala, Nikki Contenti and Wes Bourne, Titan Motorsports

Defending Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher took the points lead with his win this past week at Gainesville Raceway in Florida.

NEWS NUGGETS

THE CHAMP IS BACK!; SCHUMACHER GRABS FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON AND POINTS LEAD IN GAINESVILLE: It only took three races, one No. 1 qualifier, seven round wins and a Wally at the third race of the season, but seven-time and defending Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher took the points lead with his win at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals this past week at Gainesville Raceway in Florida. It was Schumacher’s fourth win at the historic track and 62nd of his career, the most all-time in the Top Fuel category.

Even more impressive than his final-round win over teammate Antron Brown was Schumacher’s semifinal win over longtime rival, Larry Dixon, when Schumacher set a national record for speed, driving his U.S. Army dragster to a blistering 324.98-mph run.

"This is absolutely special," said Schumacher. "First of all, this is the Gatornationals; it’s Gainesville. I’ve won it four times now. But my lights have been bad at the first two races. We’ve had a car that could win, and I’ve been doing everything I can. We finally started working on it hard, and we needed that confidence; I needed that confidence again. That was perfect. It was exactly what we had to go out and do at the exact right time."

Schumacher was joined in the winner’s circle by Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

For Wilkerson, it was also the first win of the season and boosted the driver back into the Top 10 point standings in Funny Car. Wilkerson was able to hold off teammate and defending Gatornationals winner Bob Tasca in the final round to collect his 14th career win.

Line was able to hold off the hot-handed Mike Edwards to successfully defend his 2009 Gatornationals win and earn his third win at the track. The win also gave Line the boost he needed, pushing him all the way up to fourth place and into the Top 10 point standings.

Former world champion Krawiec held off Shawn Gann in the final round en route to his first win of the season at the first race of the season for the Pro Stock Motorcycle category. For more results from the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals, visit www.NHRA.com.

Mike Edwards earned his second-straight win of the season and 22nd of his career.

EDWARDS WINS DELAYED ARIZONA NATIONALS PRO STOCK TITLE IN GAINESVILLE: Reigning NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock world champion Mike Edwards defeated Bob Yonke in the final round of the resumption of eliminations for the NHRA Arizona Nationals, which were contested during qualifying at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals. It was Edwards’ second-straight win of the season and 22nd of his career.

Eliminations were held during the third and fourth qualifying rounds of the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals.

"I didn’t like waiting three weeks, but a win is a win," said Edwards. "I’m just really thankful to do it. We ran well. There were some changes in the rules, but we adapted to those, and it seems like we’ve managed to keep up."

To see more results from the re-scheduled eliminations, visit www.NHRA.com.

DRISCOLL NAMED NHRA VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: After a national search, NHRA has hired motorsports executive Tony Driscoll as vice president of sales and business development. Driscoll will be based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and will report to Gary Darcy, NHRA senior vice president of sales and marketing.

Driscoll has spent more than 10 years working in motorsports, most recently as senior director of partnership and integrated media sales for International Speedway Corp (ISC). ISC, whose primary business is the ownership and management of 13 NASCAR racetracks, is a leading promoter of motorsports activities. In his role as senior director, Driscoll was responsible for developing integrated partnership for Corporate America.

NHRA will maintain its strategic alliance with IMG, which began in 2008, as its exclusive outside sponsorship marketing agent at the league level. Driscoll will split time between NHRA’s corporate headquarters in Glendora, California, and his permanent location in Charlotte.

Coupled with IMG’s strong presences in New York, NHRA now boasts a strong sales effort presence in New York, Charlotte and Southern California.

"I’m excited to join NHRA and am anxious to get started on meeting the current partners and immediately make an impact on developing new partnerships," said Driscoll. "This is an incredible opportunity, and I believe my experience will allow me to contribute to the continued success of NHRA."

For more information, visit www.NHRA.com.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS, zMAX DRAGWAY, March 25–28: For the first time in NHRA Nationals history, qualifying and eliminations for Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle at an NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event will be conducted four-wide instead of two.

O’REILLY AUTO PARTS NHRA SPRING NATIONALS, HOUSTON RACEWAY PARK, April 9–11: The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series makes its first of two stops in the Lone Star State. Defending event winners include Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel); Ashley Force Hood (Funny Car); Ron Krisher (Pro Stock); and Craig Treble (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

SUMMITRACING.COM NHRA NATIONALS, THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, April 16–18: The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series makes the first of two stops in Sin City. Defending event winners include Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel); Ron Capps (Funny Car); and Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock).

Matt Hagan set the national record for speed in Funny Car this past week at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals.

HE SAID, SHE SAID

"I WANNA GO FAST!": Funny Car driver Matt Hagan on setting the national record for speed in Funny Car this past week at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals:

"There’s no doubt in my mind on any given day we have one of the fastest race cars out here. We just have to put a couple of laps together and make that all come together. When that happens, watch out, because we’re going to be somebody to really reckon with out here."

Eddie Krawiec

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

4: That’s the number of Pro Stock Motorcycle riders that have won the first race of the season, the NHRA Gatornationals, and have gone on and won the world championship that same year, since the race was made the first race of the season for the class in 1996. Former world champion will look to get his name on that list as he battles for his second world championship this season.

(NOTE: In 2001, the Houston race was run before the Gatornationals, and Angelle Sampey won that event, the official first race of that season for the class, then went on to win the world championship that year.)

DID YOU KNOW…

…that the upcoming NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway will be the first national event in NHRA history where qualifying and eliminations for all four professional classes will be run four-wide instead of two.

Defending Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher took the points lead with his win this past week at Gainesville Raceway in Florida.

NEWS NUGGETS

THE CHAMP IS BACK!; SCHUMACHER GRABS FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON AND POINTS LEAD IN GAINESVILLE: It only took three races, one No. 1 qualifier, seven round wins and a Wally at the third race of the season, but seven-time and defending Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher took the points lead with his win at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals this past week at Gainesville Raceway in Florida. It was Schumacher’s fourth win at the historic track and 62nd of his career, the most all-time in the Top Fuel category.

Even more impressive than his final-round win over teammate Antron Brown was Schumacher’s semifinal win over longtime rival, Larry Dixon, when Schumacher set a national record for speed, driving his U.S. Army dragster to a blistering 324.98-mph run.

"This is absolutely special," said Schumacher. "First of all, this is the Gatornationals; it’s Gainesville. I’ve won it four times now. But my lights have been bad at the first two races. We’ve had a car that could win, and I’ve been doing everything I can. We finally started working on it hard, and we needed that confidence; I needed that confidence again. That was perfect. It was exactly what we had to go out and do at the exact right time."

Schumacher was joined in the winner’s circle by Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

For Wilkerson, it was also the first win of the season and boosted the driver back into the Top 10 point standings in Funny Car. Wilkerson was able to hold off teammate and defending Gatornationals winner Bob Tasca in the final round to collect his 14th career win.

Line was able to hold off the hot-handed Mike Edwards to successfully defend his 2009 Gatornationals win and earn his third win at the track. The win also gave Line the boost he needed, pushing him all the way up to fourth place and into the Top 10 point standings.

Former world champion Krawiec held off Shawn Gann in the final round en route to his first win of the season at the first race of the season for the Pro Stock Motorcycle category. For more results from the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals, visit www.NHRA.com.

Mike Edwards earned his second-straight win of the season and 22nd of his career.

EDWARDS WINS DELAYED ARIZONA NATIONALS PRO STOCK TITLE IN GAINESVILLE: Reigning NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock world champion Mike Edwards defeated Bob Yonke in the final round of the resumption of eliminations for the NHRA Arizona Nationals, which were contested during qualifying at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals. It was Edwards’ second-straight win of the season and 22nd of his career.

Eliminations were held during the third and fourth qualifying rounds of the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals.

"I didn’t like waiting three weeks, but a win is a win," said Edwards. "I’m just really thankful to do it. We ran well. There were some changes in the rules, but we adapted to those, and it seems like we’ve managed to keep up."

To see more results from the re-scheduled eliminations, visit www.NHRA.com.

DRISCOLL NAMED NHRA VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: After a national search, NHRA has hired motorsports executive Tony Driscoll as vice president of sales and business development. Driscoll will be based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and will report to Gary Darcy, NHRA senior vice president of sales and marketing.

Driscoll has spent more than 10 years working in motorsports, most recently as senior director of partnership and integrated media sales for International Speedway Corp (ISC). ISC, whose primary business is the ownership and management of 13 NASCAR racetracks, is a leading promoter of motorsports activities. In his role as senior director, Driscoll was responsible for developing integrated partnership for Corporate America.

NHRA will maintain its strategic alliance with IMG, which began in 2008, as its exclusive outside sponsorship marketing agent at the league level. Driscoll will split time between NHRA’s corporate headquarters in Glendora, California, and his permanent location in Charlotte.

Coupled with IMG’s strong presences in New York, NHRA now boasts a strong sales effort presence in New York, Charlotte and Southern California.

"I’m excited to join NHRA and am anxious to get started on meeting the current partners and immediately make an impact on developing new partnerships," said Driscoll. "This is an incredible opportunity, and I believe my experience will allow me to contribute to the continued success of NHRA."

For more information, visit www.NHRA.com.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS, zMAX DRAGWAY, March 25–28: For the first time in NHRA Nationals history, qualifying and eliminations for Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle at an NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event will be conducted four-wide instead of two.

O’REILLY AUTO PARTS NHRA SPRING NATIONALS, HOUSTON RACEWAY PARK, April 9–11: The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series makes its first of two stops in the Lone Star State. Defending event winners include Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel); Ashley Force Hood (Funny Car); Ron Krisher (Pro Stock); and Craig Treble (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

SUMMITRACING.COM NHRA NATIONALS, THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, April 16–18: The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series makes the first of two stops in Sin City. Defending event winners include Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel); Ron Capps (Funny Car); and Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock).

Matt Hagan set the national record for speed in Funny Car this past week at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals.

HE SAID, SHE SAID

"I WANNA GO FAST!": Funny Car driver Matt Hagan on setting the national record for speed in Funny Car this past week at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals:

"There’s no doubt in my mind on any given day we have one of the fastest race cars out here. We just have to put a couple of laps together and make that all come together. When that happens, watch out, because we’re going to be somebody to really reckon with out here."

Eddie Krawiec

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

4: That’s the number of Pro Stock Motorcycle riders that have won the first race of the season, the NHRA Gatornationals, and have gone on and won the world championship that same year, since the race was made the first race of the season for the class in 1996. Former world champion will look to get his name on that list as he battles for his second world championship this season.

(NOTE: In 2001, the Houston race was run before the Gatornationals, and Angelle Sampey won that event, the official first race of that season for the class, then went on to win the world championship that year.)

DID YOU KNOW…

…that the upcoming NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway will be the first national event in NHRA history where qualifying and eliminations for all four professional classes will be run four-wide instead of two.

Defending Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher took the points lead with his win this past week at Gainesville Raceway in Florida.

NEWS NUGGETS

THE CHAMP IS BACK!; SCHUMACHER GRABS FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON AND POINTS LEAD IN GAINESVILLE: It only took three races, one No. 1 qualifier, seven round wins and a Wally at the third race of the season, but seven-time and defending Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher took the points lead with his win at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals this past week at Gainesville Raceway in Florida. It was Schumacher’s fourth win at the historic track and 62nd of his career, the most all-time in the Top Fuel category.

Even more impressive than his final-round win over teammate Antron Brown was Schumacher’s semifinal win over longtime rival, Larry Dixon, when Schumacher set a national record for speed, driving his U.S. Army dragster to a blistering 324.98-mph run.

"This is absolutely special," said Schumacher. "First of all, this is the Gatornationals; it’s Gainesville. I’ve won it four times now. But my lights have been bad at the first two races. We’ve had a car that could win, and I’ve been doing everything I can. We finally started working on it hard, and we needed that confidence; I needed that confidence again. That was perfect. It was exactly what we had to go out and do at the exact right time."

Schumacher was joined in the winner’s circle by Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

For Wilkerson, it was also the first win of the season and boosted the driver back into the Top 10 point standings in Funny Car. Wilkerson was able to hold off teammate and defending Gatornationals winner Bob Tasca in the final round to collect his 14th career win.

Line was able to hold off the hot-handed Mike Edwards to successfully defend his 2009 Gatornationals win and earn his third win at the track. The win also gave Line the boost he needed, pushing him all the way up to fourth place and into the Top 10 point standings.

Former world champion Krawiec held off Shawn Gann in the final round en route to his first win of the season at the first race of the season for the Pro Stock Motorcycle category. For more results from the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals, visit www.NHRA.com.

Mike Edwards earned his second-straight win of the season and 22nd of his career.

EDWARDS WINS DELAYED ARIZONA NATIONALS PRO STOCK TITLE IN GAINESVILLE: Reigning NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock world champion Mike Edwards defeated Bob Yonke in the final round of the resumption of eliminations for the NHRA Arizona Nationals, which were contested during qualifying at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals. It was Edwards’ second-straight win of the season and 22nd of his career.

Eliminations were held during the third and fourth qualifying rounds of the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals.

"I didn’t like waiting three weeks, but a win is a win," said Edwards. "I’m just really thankful to do it. We ran well. There were some changes in the rules, but we adapted to those, and it seems like we’ve managed to keep up."

To see more results from the re-scheduled eliminations, visit www.NHRA.com.

DRISCOLL NAMED NHRA VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: After a national search, NHRA has hired motorsports executive Tony Driscoll as vice president of sales and business development. Driscoll will be based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and will report to Gary Darcy, NHRA senior vice president of sales and marketing.

Driscoll has spent more than 10 years working in motorsports, most recently as senior director of partnership and integrated media sales for International Speedway Corp (ISC). ISC, whose primary business is the ownership and management of 13 NASCAR racetracks, is a leading promoter of motorsports activities. In his role as senior director, Driscoll was responsible for developing integrated partnership for Corporate America.

NHRA will maintain its strategic alliance with IMG, which began in 2008, as its exclusive outside sponsorship marketing agent at the league level. Driscoll will split time between NHRA’s corporate headquarters in Glendora, California, and his permanent location in Charlotte.

Coupled with IMG’s strong presences in New York, NHRA now boasts a strong sales effort presence in New York, Charlotte and Southern California.

"I’m excited to join NHRA and am anxious to get started on meeting the current partners and immediately make an impact on developing new partnerships," said Driscoll. "This is an incredible opportunity, and I believe my experience will allow me to contribute to the continued success of NHRA."

For more information, visit www.NHRA.com.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS, zMAX DRAGWAY, March 25–28: For the first time in NHRA Nationals history, qualifying and eliminations for Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle at an NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event will be conducted four-wide instead of two.

O’REILLY AUTO PARTS NHRA SPRING NATIONALS, HOUSTON RACEWAY PARK, April 9–11: The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series makes its first of two stops in the Lone Star State. Defending event winners include Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel); Ashley Force Hood (Funny Car); Ron Krisher (Pro Stock); and Craig Treble (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

SUMMITRACING.COM NHRA NATIONALS, THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, April 16–18: The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series makes the first of two stops in Sin City. Defending event winners include Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel); Ron Capps (Funny Car); and Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock).

Matt Hagan set the national record for speed in Funny Car this past week at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals.

HE SAID, SHE SAID

"I WANNA GO FAST!": Funny Car driver Matt Hagan on setting the national record for speed in Funny Car this past week at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals:

"There’s no doubt in my mind on any given day we have one of the fastest race cars out here. We just have to put a couple of laps together and make that all come together. When that happens, watch out, because we’re going to be somebody to really reckon with out here."

Eddie Krawiec

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

4: That’s the number of Pro Stock Motorcycle riders that have won the first race of the season, the NHRA Gatornationals, and have gone on and won the world championship that same year, since the race was made the first race of the season for the class in 1996. Former world champion will look to get his name on that list as he battles for his second world championship this season.

(NOTE: In 2001, the Houston race was run before the Gatornationals, and Angelle Sampey won that event, the official first race of that season for the class, then went on to win the world championship that year.)

DID YOU KNOW…

…that the upcoming NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway will be the first national event in NHRA history where qualifying and eliminations for all four professional classes will be run four-wide instead of two.

Defending Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher took the points lead with his win this past week at Gainesville Raceway in Florida.

NEWS NUGGETS

THE CHAMP IS BACK!; SCHUMACHER GRABS FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON AND POINTS LEAD IN GAINESVILLE: It only took three races, one No. 1 qualifier, seven round wins and a Wally at the third race of the season, but seven-time and defending Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher took the points lead with his win at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals this past week at Gainesville Raceway in Florida. It was Schumacher’s fourth win at the historic track and 62nd of his career, the most all-time in the Top Fuel category.

Even more impressive than his final-round win over teammate Antron Brown was Schumacher’s semifinal win over longtime rival, Larry Dixon, when Schumacher set a national record for speed, driving his U.S. Army dragster to a blistering 324.98-mph run.

"This is absolutely special," said Schumacher. "First of all, this is the Gatornationals; it’s Gainesville. I’ve won it four times now. But my lights have been bad at the first two races. We’ve had a car that could win, and I’ve been doing everything I can. We finally started working on it hard, and we needed that confidence; I needed that confidence again. That was perfect. It was exactly what we had to go out and do at the exact right time."

Schumacher was joined in the winner’s circle by Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

For Wilkerson, it was also the first win of the season and boosted the driver back into the Top 10 point standings in Funny Car. Wilkerson was able to hold off teammate and defending Gatornationals winner Bob Tasca in the final round to collect his 14th career win.

Line was able to hold off the hot-handed Mike Edwards to successfully defend his 2009 Gatornationals win and earn his third win at the track. The win also gave Line the boost he needed, pushing him all the way up to fourth place and into the Top 10 point standings.

Former world champion Krawiec held off Shawn Gann in the final round en route to his first win of the season at the first race of the season for the Pro Stock Motorcycle category. For more results from the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals, visit www.NHRA.com.

Mike Edwards earned his second-straight win of the season and 22nd of his career.

EDWARDS WINS DELAYED ARIZONA NATIONALS PRO STOCK TITLE IN GAINESVILLE: Reigning NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock world champion Mike Edwards defeated Bob Yonke in the final round of the resumption of eliminations for the NHRA Arizona Nationals, which were contested during qualifying at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals. It was Edwards’ second-straight win of the season and 22nd of his career.

Eliminations were held during the third and fourth qualifying rounds of the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals.

"I didn’t like waiting three weeks, but a win is a win," said Edwards. "I’m just really thankful to do it. We ran well. There were some changes in the rules, but we adapted to those, and it seems like we’ve managed to keep up."

To see more results from the re-scheduled eliminations, visit www.NHRA.com.

DRISCOLL NAMED NHRA VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: After a national search, NHRA has hired motorsports executive Tony Driscoll as vice president of sales and business development. Driscoll will be based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and will report to Gary Darcy, NHRA senior vice president of sales and marketing.

Driscoll has spent more than 10 years working in motorsports, most recently as senior director of partnership and integrated media sales for International Speedway Corp (ISC). ISC, whose primary business is the ownership and management of 13 NASCAR racetracks, is a leading promoter of motorsports activities. In his role as senior director, Driscoll was responsible for developing integrated partnership for Corporate America.

NHRA will maintain its strategic alliance with IMG, which began in 2008, as its exclusive outside sponsorship marketing agent at the league level. Driscoll will split time between NHRA’s corporate headquarters in Glendora, California, and his permanent location in Charlotte.

Coupled with IMG’s strong presences in New York, NHRA now boasts a strong sales effort presence in New York, Charlotte and Southern California.

"I’m excited to join NHRA and am anxious to get started on meeting the current partners and immediately make an impact on developing new partnerships," said Driscoll. "This is an incredible opportunity, and I believe my experience will allow me to contribute to the continued success of NHRA."

For more information, visit www.NHRA.com.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

NHRA FOUR-WIDE NATIONALS, zMAX DRAGWAY, March 25–28: For the first time in NHRA Nationals history, qualifying and eliminations for Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle at an NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event will be conducted four-wide instead of two.

O’REILLY AUTO PARTS NHRA SPRING NATIONALS, HOUSTON RACEWAY PARK, April 9–11: The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series makes its first of two stops in the Lone Star State. Defending event winners include Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel); Ashley Force Hood (Funny Car); Ron Krisher (Pro Stock); and Craig Treble (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

SUMMITRACING.COM NHRA NATIONALS, THE STRIP AT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, April 16–18: The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series makes the first of two stops in Sin City. Defending event winners include Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel); Ron Capps (Funny Car); and Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock).

Matt Hagan set the national record for speed in Funny Car this past week at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals.

HE SAID, SHE SAID

"I WANNA GO FAST!": Funny Car driver Matt Hagan on setting the national record for speed in Funny Car this past week at the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals:

"There’s no doubt in my mind on any given day we have one of the fastest race cars out here. We just have to put a couple of laps together and make that all come together. When that happens, watch out, because we’re going to be somebody to really reckon with out here."

Eddie Krawiec

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

4: That’s the number of Pro Stock Motorcycle riders that have won the first race of the season, the NHRA Gatornationals, and have gone on and won the world championship that same year, since the race was made the first race of the season for the class in 1996. Former world champion will look to get his name on that list as he battles for his second world championship this season.

(NOTE: In 2001, the Houston race was run before the Gatornationals, and Angelle Sampey won that event, the official first race of that season for the class, then went on to win the world championship that year.)

DID YOU KNOW…

…that the upcoming NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway will be the first national event in NHRA history where qualifying and eliminations for all four professional classes will be run four-wide instead of two.

Tyler Tanaka was appointed to the newly created position of account director for PostRelease. Tanaka has been an active participant in the automotive aftermarket for 20 years. Prior to joining PostRelease, he spent 12 years as the marketing manager for Turbonetics Inc.

Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas Inc. announced that company president Masaharu Yoshimoto will retire at the end of March and that Takashi Shimizu was appointed president, effective April 1. Yoshimoto served in numerous capacities during a 38-year career with the Toyo group of companies in the United States, Japan and in Australia, where he was managing director and CEO of Toyo Tyre & Rubber Australia Limited. New president, Shimizu, joined the company in Osaka, Japan, in 1985 and has served in the accounting and finance and planning departments. Shimizu began his tenure in the United States in April 2007 as vice president and CFO of Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp.

The NHRA hired motorsports executive Tony Driscoll as vice president of sales and business development. Driscoll spent more than 10 years working in motorsports, most recently serving as senior director of partnership and integrated media sales for International Speedway Corp. He worked in International Speedway Corp.’s corporate office since 2003 and spent the past six years working in various capacities, including director of licensing business development.

TireRack.com implemented a new enhancement to its website that will make tire buying for customers easier and more efficient. Customers can now navigate through TireRack.com’s unbiased tire performance comparisons and more than 150,000 consumer surveys and results in one place under the Tire Research tab. Previously, all three research sections were separate.

Coverking has signed a subscription agreement with Illumaware to use its Evokat 2.5 web-based data-authoring tool to manage its aftermarket data. The use of Evokat will eliminate the company’s previous practice of using a third party to manage Coverking data. According to Geoff Thompson, a consultant to Coverking’s CEO, some of the reasons why they chose Illumaware include: increased speed to market, better identification of application holes, increased sales and fewer non-damaged returns.

Deeza Chassis Parts broke ground on a new 280,000-sq.-ft. production plant in Turkey. At an estimated cost of $6 million, the new facility is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2012 and will nearly double the company's production capacity. Gokhan Kuru, president, Deeza Chassis Parts, announced that the company will also invest in new tooling for the facility. The company currently produces four million parts per year. Once the new facility is operational, the company expects capacity to initially increase to six million parts per year.

The Pine Wood Jeep CJ8 Scramble built by the team at Rugged Ridge.

The team at Rugged Ridge, a division of OMIX-ADA Inc., recently helped a local boy scout build a Pine Wood vehicle in the form of a Jeep CJ8 Scramble to compete in the Pine Wood Derby Challenge. With hopes to at least score a trophy in the Pine Wood Derby Car Show, the team was pleasantly surprised when its wooden Jeep performed better than expected in the actual races, capturing third place.

TTXGP has launched a new program, known as the TEO (Trust.eGrandPrix.Org) partnership, that is open to to all who compete in the TTXGP. The program rewards teams and owners participating in the TTXGP by providing them with a stake in the TTXGP's future. The more that teams race, the more of the ownership and rewards they can earn. Read the complete announcement regarding the new program.

Snow Performance signed an official product-sponsorship agreement with the National Association of Diesel Motorsports (NADM) and is the water-ethanol injection system of the sanctioning organization. NADM holds diesel drag racing, sled pulling, dyno competitions and other diesel events around the country while also building a membership that offers useful benefits for business members and fans.

Brenda Priddy's spy shooters caught the new MINI Cooper S testing in Europe, just a few weeks after grabbing shots of the forthcoming Clubman S.

"The biggest change is up front where we see a redesigned lower fascia that features new air intakes," Priddy says. "In back is a reworked rear bumper. Inside, we hear some of the controls may be redesigned along with upgrades in the quality of material. Modest powertrain revisions may also be in the works with a small bump in power output."

Photos copyright Brenda Priddy & Company. Reuse or reproduction without copyright holder's consent is prohibited.

Brenda Priddy's spy shooters caught the new MINI Cooper S testing in Europe, just a few weeks after grabbing shots of the forthcoming Clubman S.

"The biggest change is up front where we see a redesigned lower fascia that features new air intakes," Priddy says. "In back is a reworked rear bumper. Inside, we hear some of the controls may be redesigned along with upgrades in the quality of material. Modest powertrain revisions may also be in the works with a small bump in power output."

Photos copyright Brenda Priddy & Company. Reuse or reproduction without copyright holder's consent is prohibited.