ARE YOU APPRECIATED?

J.W. Performance Transmissions has a special "Racer Appreciation" promotion. Through Aug. 31 all customers making a purchase of $500 or more will receive a free hat and log book and can enter a drawing to win a Roy Hill Drag Racing Experience. Email jwperf@digital.net to request an entry form, which then must be (snail) mailed along with a proof of purchase. [8-4-2003]

MILLICAN TO RATE RIBS

Who says that being a World Champion doesn't have its perks? IHRA Top Fuel Champion Clay Millican will serve as a celebrity judge Aug. 7, at the Kalamazoo Ribfest in Kalamazoo, MI, prior to competing at the IHRA Northern Nationals just up US 131 at Martin, MI. Millican and some of his Team Werner/Lehman Racing crewmembers also will be available to talk to fans and sign autographs.

The Kalamazoo Ribfest is a fundraiser for Community Advocates for Persons with Developmental Disabilities and will take place Aug. 7-9, at the Arcadia Festival Site in downtown Kalamazoo. Good food for a good cause. [8-4-2003]

A SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE

Sometimes things were just meant to be. Charles Carpenter might be able to attest to that after his trip home from the IHRA ACDelco Canadian Nationals in Cayuga, Ontario. In a

ADVERTISEMENT

last minute change of plans, Carpenter dropped teammate Pat Doherty's '57 Chevy in Scranton, PA, meeting up with Doherty's crew chief Paul Albino, who was going to take the Pro Mod back to the team's New Hampshire race shop. Carpenter then got back on Interstate 81 to continue the trip home with his own '55 Chevy Pro Mod.

Less than an hour later, just outside of Harrisburg he entered a construction zone and was involved in an accident when the traffic stopped abruptly. After exchanging insurance information, the driver of the minivan that Carpenter hit looked at the trailer and said that he had a nephew who worked on a Pro Modified race car.

Yep, you guessed it--Carpenter had literally run into Paul Albino's Uncle Earl. [8-4-2003]