Hooters Bike Night: Douglasville
March 31, 2010

It was a reunion of sorts for the biker community in Douglasville. Familiar faces everywhere! Since a local watering hole had closed down and taken away the favorite hang out on Thursday nights, Hooters is destined to become the new one. Handsome Roy Glenn of the Glory Hounds Band was solo and singing for the crowd that night. Lots of giveaways, contests, good food and good friends.

Photos of the evening by Fred Hanyon, MSA

AHDRA: Cajun Nationals

Screamin' Eagle Performance Parts Cajun Nitro Nationals at No Problem Raceway
March 27-28, 2010

Beautiful weekend in Louisiana for the Cajun Nitro Nationals.

Photos and captions
by Brian Williams for MSA

Force, McClenathan, Edwards and Smith race to victory in inaugural NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMax Dragway
CONCORD, N.C. – John Force continued his resurgence and made history Monday, March 29th, by racing to victory at the rain-delayed NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. It was the second win of the season for the 60-year-old Funny Car icon, who increased his series points lead to 89 over his rivals. Force, a 14-time world champion who suffered career-threatening injuries in a spectacular crash in Sept. 2007 in Dallas and endured one of the worst competitive seasons of his storied career in 2009, has returned to his familiar position as a championship-challenger this season.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Spoiler Test At Charlotte Motor Speedway 
* Teams Ready For Transition From Wing To Spoiler
* Drivers Cite Stability, Good Looks As Spoiler Positives

Wednesday, March 24th, the second day of a two-day NASCAR Sprint Cup Series test session at Charlotte Motor Speedway ended with resounding validation as teams prepare to transition from the wing on the rear of their cars to a spoiler. Photos: Rhonda McCole, MSA

Senoia 1st Practice on Dirt:
All the photos

It was a beautiful day south of Atlanta for the Senoia Raceway Practice Day. It was free admission for spectators and they filled up the stands to get a first-hand look at how cars handled on the 3/8 mile oval - on DIRT. The infield was packed with race teams and haulers. There is another practice day on March 27th and addmission is free again if you want to come down and check it out. www.newsenoiaraceway.com Photos by Fred Hanyon, MSA

Jimmie Johnson does a burnout for his No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet pit crew after earning his 50th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win. Credit: Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Johnson Gets First Win At Bristol, 50th Overall
By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

In a milestone race Sunday, March 21st, at Bristol Motor Speedway, Jimmie Johnson—the last driver third-place finisher Kurt Busch wanted to see win the race—took the checkered flag for the 50th time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup career in the Food City 500.

Taking four tires on his final pit stop on Lap 484 of 500, and fortuitously drawing the outside lane for a restart on Lap 491, Johnson surged past four cars that had taken only right-side tires and passed runner-up Tony Stewart for the lead on Lap 494.

The Atlanta Cops and Rodders Car Show: March 20th
Hosted by the Atlanta Police Department, it was a Car and Motorcyle Show, for all classes of Cars and American or Metric Motorcycles, Retired and Active Emergency Vehicles, plus a Driver Safety Fair for Drivers of all ages, especially Teen Drivers. There were vendors that cater to Car and Motorcycle Enthusiast. The Drivers Safety Fair had exhibitions, demonstrations, and actual driving tests and a prize to all Teen drivers that complete all the events. All proceeds from the Cops & Rodders event benefitted Georgia Special Olympics. You missed a beautiful day to the Atlanta Expo Center and a lot of beautiful cars. Photos by Fred Hanyon, MSA

'Happy Race Car' Helps Hernandez Lead ADRL Qualifying
Local favorite Joshua Hernandez of nearby Conroe, Texas, leads the Pro Extreme field at Houston Raceway Park (HRP), Baytown, TX after three of four scheduled qualifying sessions for the American Drag Racing League's (ADRL's) season-opening Universal Technical Institute Dragpalooza VI presented by Safety-Kleen are in the books on Friday, March 19th.

Also on top of their respective classes are Burton Auxier in Pro Nitrous, reigning Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 World Champion Spiro Pappas, Ashley Owens in Pro Extreme Motorcycle and Extreme Pro Stock racer Cary Goforth.

Get the Thrill of your life with a Dragster Rides session

Ever wonder what it's like to experience the rush of driving a Top Fuel Dragster down the strip? Well, you don't have to wonder any more. Dragster Rides of Fayetteville, GA frequents your favorite dragstrip and gives you the opportunity to suit up, climb in and strap your self behind a trained driver.

You need to visit their web site and see the in-car video of a ride down the strip.

Will Power Wins IRL Season-Opener

SAO PAULO, Brazil, March 14, 2010 -- Will Power made a late overtaking move to take the lead from Ryan Hunter-Reay to win the rain-shortened IndyCar season-opener on the streets of Sao Paulo. The Australian passed the American with three laps to go, clinching the inaugural Sao Paulo Indy 300 for his second career victory.

THE INAUGURAL INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA: Danica Patrick, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, and all of Indy's finest will be in town April 9-11. Get your tickets now to see them live at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL. www.barbermotorsports.com

March 5-7 Bikeweek Nationals
South Georgia Motorsports Park, Valdosta, GA

AMA DRAGBIKE returned to South Georgia Motorsports Park for the Bikeweek Nationals, the first stop in the eight-race motorcycle drag racing championship series. The top motorcycle drag racers in the country battled it out for the coveted AMA Dragbike #1 plate. Photos by Brian O. Williams, MSA

** Pick up the March issue of Motorsport America for a $5 off coupon on tickets to the upcoming AMA Drag Bike event at Atlanta Dragway, April 10-11. Click here for a location nearest you.

Augie 'Grills Em' In Gresham Motorsports Park CRA 125 Season Opener

Augie Grill dominated the Champion Racing Association (CRA) Super Late Model season opening event at Gresham Motorsports Park Saturday, March 13th, in Jefferson, GA..

The Hayden, AL driver served notice early that he would be the driver to beat posting fast time in qualifying with a 16.169 second tour of the GMP half-mile oval. Grill started third on the 26-car starting field after the post-qualifying inversion and wasted little time moving to the front taking the lead from Ryan Lawler on Lap 16.

NHRA Gatornationals: Gainesville, FL
Sunday, March 14, 2010
by Pete McCole, MSA Correspondent (Photos by Rhonda McCole, MSA)

Tony Schumacher added yet another impressive NHRA Top Fuel win to his resume with a victory over teammate Antron Brown in Sunday's 41st Annual Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.  Tim Wilkerson beat out Bob Tasca III to top the Funny Car division, while Jason Line topped Mike Edwards in the Pro Stock final. Eddie Krawiec took top honors in the Pro Stock Motorcycle final over Shawn Gann.  

After setting the record for the fastest top speed with a record-setting run of 324.98 mph in the semifinals, Schumacher clocked in at 322.04 mph in the finals to notch his 62nd finals victory and his fourth in the Gatornationals. 

"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. It was a perfect win for this team. This is something we needed to do. Now we're in the points lead and that's important as we go to Charlotte for the four-wide race." 

Driver Profile: Sean Rayhall
Age: 15
Birthday: 03/10/95
Hometown: Winston, GA
Sean ran formula cars from the age of 12. He has broken many records across the U.S. in Formula cars and G.T. cars. As an Open-Wheeled specialist, Sean moved to Legends racing series. Young Rayhall comments " I love the Legend racing. It is very competitive and is a good starting point to my dream, NASCAR."

Daytona International Speedway: Daytona 200

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Graves Motorsports’ Josh Herrin held off fellow Yamaha rider Dane Westby to win the 69th Daytona 200 AMA Pro Racing Daytona SportBike event on Friday night, March 5th, at Daytona International Speedway.

The 19-year-old rider from Dublin, Ga., received plenty of pressure from the hard-charging Westby, who was riding for Project 1 Atlanta, in the closing laps of the 57-lap event but was able to pull away for a 7.964-second victory. Photos by Brad Chase, MSA

It's Your Opinion: Keselowski's flip

What do you think about Edwards causing Keselowski to flip during the race? Eye for an eye after what happened at Talladega? Should Edwards be suspended, fined or worse? What do you think of the 3 race "probation" that was handed down by NASCAR officials?

Click here for an opinion poll and more photos by Tom Francisco of the spectacular crash - frame by frame.

Atlanta Motor Speedway:
Kolbalt Tools 500
Sunday - March 7th
by Pete McCole, MSA Correspondent

Kurt Busch posted his second straight Atlanta Motor Speedway victory with a dominating performance in Sunday"s Kobalt Tools 500 to score his 21st career NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in a wild double-overtime session set up by Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski"s terrifying wreck in the closing laps. Busch"s no. 2 Dodge rocketed through the middle of the field on the first green-white-checkered to take the lead moments before the yellow flag flew again, setting up another three-lap shootout. On the restart, Montoya spun his tires, allowing Busch to jump out to an insurmountable lead and easily beat Kenseth to the checkered flag. See photos by MSA Staff

Atlanta Motor Speedway:
Camping World Truck Series
Saturday - March 6th
by Pete McCole, MSA Correspondent

Kevin Harvick claimed his seventh career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory with a dominating victory in Saturday"s E-Z-Go 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. 

Driving for his own Kevin Harvick, Inc. team in a Chevrolet Silverado sponsored by the race sponsor, Harvick led two times for 100 laps " including the final 56 - to beat out Kyle Busch for his third consecutive NCWTS victory dating back to the end of the 2009 season. Photos by MSA Staff

Atlanta Motor Speedway:
Qualifying
Friday - March 5th
by Pete McCole, MSA Correspondent

Dale Earnhardt Jr. notched his first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole since 2008 with a record setting pace in Friday night"s qualifying session for Sunday"s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Earnhardt posted a top speed of 192.761 mph in the no. 88 Amp Chevrolet, clocking the fastest qualifying speed ever for a Sprint Cup car in the Car of Tomorrow era, besting the previous record of 192.376 mph set at Charlotte Motor Speedway last October. 
Photos by MSA Staff

Bonus Photos: March 2010 issue
Volusia SpeedwayPark in Florida
39th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH
February 2-13, 2010

12 days of racing with the All Star 410 Sprint Cars, World of Outlaws Sprint and Late Models and UMP Late Models. With well-known drivers like Kasey Kahne, Joe Saldana, Kenny Wallace, Clint Bowyer and Steve Kinser in the line up, it was an action-packed event. Howard Martin captured the spirit of the daily racing with these photos.

Geoffrey Bodine to run U.S. Olympic Bo-Dyn Bobsled Truck in Atlanta Motor Speedway's E-Z-GO 200 Truck Race on Saturday, March 6
In a nod to the U.S. Olympic bobsled medalists and his pastime, NASCAR veteran Geoffrey Bodine will compete in the E-Z-GO 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the No. 95 Bo-Dyn Bobsled paint scheme featuring the U.S. Olympic bobsled medalists, including Douglasville, Georgia's Elana Meyers who won a bronze medal. A Bo-Dyn Bobsled will be on display in front of the Fan Stage in the Display Lot and the vehicle will arrive at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Wednesday, March 3.

AHDRA: Florida Bike Week at Orlando Speedworld
February 27-28, 2010

The season opener for the All Harley Drag Racing Association kicked off in Florida the last weekend in February. Motorsport America photographer, Brian O. Williams was there to capture the action.

Qualifying was called due to weather. The participants were laddered based on 2009 points standings for eliminations.

For results of the event, visit www.ahdra.com

Geico Powersports Riders Canard, Metcalfe Rebound Big in Atlanta
ATLANTA, Ga. -- Sometimes a week can make all the difference in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series. GEICO Powersports Honda riders Trey Canard and Brett Metcalfe turned bad luck in Indianapolis into podium finishes Saturday night, February 27th, in Atlanta in front of a jam-packed house at the Georgia Dome.

Canard, racing in the series' top division for just the second time, took advantage of a strong start and other competitors' mistakes to finish second. Metcalfe, who crashed in practice in Indy before rallying for a fifth place finish, remained patient during a wild Supercross Lites East race and finished in third.