SUNOCO IHRA PRO STOCK SHOOTOUT MOVES TO NORWALK
IHRA's Pro Stock Shootout, traditionally held at the last race of the season, has been moved to the Mopar Parts World Nationals, August 22-26, at Norwalk Raceway Park. The Pro Stock competition will be intense during this year's abbreviated schedule, with only seven races in which to earn points.

The move from the Shreveport, Louisiana track was made by Sunoco to promote their strong Midwest presence. Norwalk's Ohio location corresponds more closely to the Sunoco Race Fuels marketing area.

"We don't market our brand in the South," explained Sunoco Race Fuels National Sales Manager, Bill Corwin. "We have Sunoco stations in the South, which are separate from the race fuels division. It's important that we cross market the money we spend at Sunoco Race Fuels to benefit other parts of our company."

Drivers will begin accumulating points for the 2001 Shootout at the IHRA season opener at Rockingham, March 30-April 1. The top eight points earners through the CARQUEST Northern Nationals, July 26-29, will compete at the inaugural Norwalk shootout. Winner of the event will take home $20,000, a trophy designed especially for the shootout, and a custom-designed winner's jacket.

Drivers will begin earning points for the 2002 Shootout at the following event, September 6-9 at Epping, N.H., giving racers a full year of races before next year's Shootout.

VAN EVERY NAMED NEW GM NHRA RACING MANAGER
GM Racing has named Ken Van Every as program manager for NHRA drag racing. A General Motors employee since 1986, Van Every was formerly Oldsmobile motorsports program manager for SCCA and IMSA, Chevrolet program manager for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and Chevrolet program manager for NASCAR Winston Cup. Van Every, 43, resides in Holt, Michigan.

Alba Colon, formerly program manger for NHRA drag racing and one of the few women in a managerial role in motorsports, has been named NASCAR program manager for Team Monte Carlo. Colon began her career with GM in 1994 after graduating from the University of Puerto Rico, where she studied mechanical engineering.

NHRA ADDS NIGHT RACING EVENT AT POMONA JULY 5-7
To commemorate its 50th anniversary, the National Hot Rod Association has just announced a special summer night-time event at historic Pomona Raceway, July 5-7. The 50th Anniversary Nationals will be an NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series event, featuring additional nostalgia racing categories.

The event will feature two qualifying runs on Thursday and Friday night with final eliminations on Saturday night. The vehicles will run until 8 p.m. on Thursday and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The unique event will represent the first time NHRA will offer racing under the lights in Pomona.

All professional and sportsman categories will compete at the event. In addition, there will be an eight-car qualified field of front-engine top fuel dragsters. Other nostalgia vehicles will be featured in exhibition formats, including fuel altereds and gas coupes.

KJ TOPS 203 IN FLORIDA TESTING
Kurt Johnson took his new ACDelco Cavalier Z24 to a record 203.20 mph on its first trip down a drag strip. The Pro Stocker took 6.81 seconds to travel down the quarter-mile at DeSoto Memorial Dragway.

"I warmed up the engine, drove to the starting line, made sure the car was pointed straight, and dumped the clutch," Johnson said. "That's a nice way to break in a new race car," he added. "Everyone on the ACDelco team was pleased with that pass."

The pass set new personal-best e.t. and speed marks for Kurt, and unofficially eclipsed the 202.36 mph national speed record set by his father Warren in October 1999.

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