Team Press Releases

HOUSTON, Texas (February 16, 2010) – After nearly a three-year hiatus from drag racing, racer Jonathan Johnson returns in 2010 with backing from long-time sponsor Bar’s Leaks and the company’s Rear Main Seal Repair product line. Johnson and his wife, Katie, have teamed with former USAC Midget car owner Corky Wheeler to form Johnson & Wheeler Racing under Johnson’s current JKJ Motorsports banner. After finalizing their plans, the team promptly prepared the new car and equipment, and thus, have launched their new web site, which can be found at JKJ Motorsports | Welcome!, as well as their new Facebook fan page. “JKJ Motorsports has always had the ability to keep our marketing and design in-house,” states Katie Johnson. “Even when...

[coverattach=1]Pomona, Calif. – There are several certainties in life for NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster competitor Johnny Ahten. First is his dedication to family and friends, second is devotion to his job as a fire-fighting specialist in Los Angeles County. Finally is the fact, the Lucas Oil / Island Renovations A/Fuel Dragster team learns from their mistakes. After qualifying in the 3rd position for the 50th Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals contested this past weekend in Pomona, Calif., the Ahten Racing team began their quest to capture the team’s first NHRA National Event ‘Wally’ in the first round versus number 14 qualifier, Mike Austin. Ahten left the starting line with a stellar 0.019 second reaction time, nearly four...

PHOENIX (Feb. 15) -- Top Fuel driver Morgan Lucas had an interesting problem on his hands at last weekend's season-opening drag race in Pomona, Calif. -- his 8,000-horsepower GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster was making too much horsepower. Imagine that. After two great passes in qualifying, a 3.823 at a career-high 316.90 mph and a 3.830 at 309.91 mph, Lucas was poised to challenge for the title of the historic Winternationals. But his Gecko-adorned rail got a little too chippy on raceday and he ended up spinning his tires at mid-track during an opening round tilt against Troy Buff, ultimately putting him on the sidelines earlier than expected. "The car is an animal," Lucas said as he prepped for this weekend's 26th annual...

Bradenton FL - Duane Shields likely surprised some loyal fans and even a few competitors by not competing at the 50th Anniversary NHRA Winternationals. Shields was still in the driver seat though, just not in California. Instead, the Nevada based racer was in Bradenton Florida for the first Divisional event of the year. “We certainly wanted to be a part of the Winternationals but racing in Florida almost assured us a spot in the Jegs All Star race (to be held later this season in Chicago) and we have a divisional race scheduled in Gainesville next weekend. This way we don’t have two races in a row on opposite sides of the country” Shields said. The down side to racing in Florida was the cold track conditions that lasted most of the...

POMONA, Sunday: Ever since Shane Gray was a little boy, he loved Pro Stock cars. And even though his well-known dad, Johnny Gray has driven everything from Sprint Cars to Funny Cars, Gray could only see Pro Stock for himself. And today that dream came true as he made his first Pro Stock start at the 50th annual NHRA Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals at the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. “I need to thank my mother and dad for putting me in this position,” expressed Gray, “and my very competitive, loving, caring wife for being right here and pushing me. She’s as competitive or more than I am, so it takes a combination of both of us to keep me whipped up into shape.” Gray was in great shape for his first appearance in the...

After qualifying ninth for Sunday’s final eliminations of the 50th annual Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals, Jason Line and the Summit Racing team looked to repeat their winning performance from a year ago. To do so, however, they knew they would need to more closely match their race car to the tricky surface at The Auto Club Raceway, with their assignment further complicated by being delegated to the less-preferred right hand lane for their first round encounter against starting-line specialist Greg Stanfield. Finally, as the first pair of Pro Stock cars to run in final eliminations, they would not have the benefit of making final adjustments based on the performance of others. Even so, the KB Racing crew responded by posting the...

[coverattach=1]Pomona, Calif. – Don’t blame 23-year old Danny Gruninger if he’s excited for the next NHRA event to start. After incrementally increasing the USRECOGNITION.COM PRO STOCK DODGE’s career best elapsed time in 3 out of 4 qualifying attempts at the season opening NHRA Winternationals, the Denver, Colo. based team can’t wait for their next race in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The team began their qualifying effort on Thursday afternoon with a solid 6.69 second elapsed time which stood as the 15th quickest elapsed time in the Pro Stock class this day. “The air was very good on Thursday, hovering around 2000 foot corrected altitude,” noted driver Danny Gruninger. “We put together a solid base line tune up...

POMONA, Sunday: Johnny Gray put his beautiful Pro Stocker in a good qualifying position on his last attempt yesterday. He thought that saving his best until last meant that the Gray Motorsports Pontiac GXP was finally getting rid of all the new car bugs. He hoped that in eliminations today at the 50th annual NHRA Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals his improved performance would continue. But that wasn’t the case. In the first-round of eliminations, Gray encountered some problems and his 6.717 at 205.88 mph wasn’t enough to put away his opponent, Rodger Brogdon, who laid down a 6.651. “We were light on the clutch and the motor ran away and then when the clutch tried to catch up with it, the motor had such a run at it that it...

[coverattach=1]Pomona, Calif. – They say that Rome was not built in a day; well ‘they’ were absolutely right. When Ron August Jr. and the Lescure Company (Lescure Company - Complete Mechanical Services since 1947) Top Alcohol Funny Car team entered their 2008 Ford Mustang bodied Funny Car for the 50th running of the NHRA Kragen O’Reilly Winternationals held in Pomona, Calif., their intention was to compete side-by-side with some of the best TAFC teams in drag racing. After a round one exit on Saturday afternoon, the Pleasanton, Calif. based team realizes their quest to regain the performance this car once had will take patience and time. The team hit Auto Club Raceway Thursday with a renewed attitude, new parts and even a new...