NEWS NUGGETS
FORCE, DIXON, MANZO LEAD NHRA DRIVERS SELECTED FOR AARWBA ALL-AMERICA TEAM:
2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series world champions John Force
and Larry Dixon headline a list of six NHRA drivers named to the
American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association (AARWBA)
All-America teams. Force, a four-time Jerry Titus Award winner and
15-time Funny Car world champion, three-time NHRA Full Throttle Top
Fuel Champion Dixon and Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Top Alcohol Funny
Car world champion Frank Manzo were named to the All American First
Team. Two-time Jerry Titus Award winner Tony Schumacher and Funny Car
driver Matt Hagan were named to the Second Team, while NHRA Get
Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series world champion Von Smith
made the Honorable Mention list.
NEW OWNERSHIP: MasterCraft Safety has purchased Impact! Racing
from founder and owner Bill Simpson. The brand will now be known as
Impact! Racing by MasterCraft Safety.
SILLY SEASON BEGINS! MASSEY JOINS DSR FOR 2011 SEASON: Just
three weeks after the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club
Raceway at Pomona, the moving and shifting within the teams of the NHRA
Full Throttle Drag Racing series has begun, as Don Schumacher Racing (DSR)
announced that Top Fuel pilot Spencer Massey will drive the
Prestone/Fram dragster under the DSR banner in 2011. According to
Schumacher, the addition of Massey gives his Top Fuel program three
legitimate candidates for a championship in the coming season. Massey
joins a stellar Top Fuel program that includes seven-time world
champion and driver of the U.S. Army dragster, Tony Schumacher, and
Matco Tools dragster pilot Antron Brown, who finished in the top five
in point standings in 2010. This will be Massey’s second full season
racing in the NHRA Full Throttle Top Fuel category. In his first in
2009, Massey won two national events (Chicago, Las Vegas 2) and went on
to finish sixth in the points standings and earn the 2009 Automobile
Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award, which recognizes
the top performing rookie of the season.
DISSOLVED: Andretti Autosport and AFS Racing have ended their
successful three-year partnership, but both teams plan to field entries
in the Firestone Indy Lights Series next season.
Former Pro Stock world champions Jason Line and Warren Johnson, along
with Pro Stock driver Rickie Jones and legendary Bigfoot monster truck
driver Dan Runte, have begun a three-day Thanksgiving Week visit of the
KaiserSlautern Military Community in Frankfurt, Germany.
Jimmie Johnson came from 15 points behind entering the season finale to
claim his record fifth-straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship
Sunday afternoon at Florida’s Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Jeff Byrd, Bristol Motor Speedway and Dragway (BMS) president and
general manager, passed away Sunday following a lengthy illness. He was
60.
