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VIDEO: Up & Down Day for Zizzo at Vegas

NHRA Launches Vintage T-Shirt Program at Target Stores Nationwide

(Erica Enders, above, and Antron Brown, below, model some of the new vintage t-shirts licensed by the NHRA. The shirts are available at Target stores nationwide. Photo provided by NHRA Communicaitons.)

After a successful test program earlier this year, JEM Sportswear and NHRA have announced the official launch of NHRA Originals, a line of vintage NHRA-themed t-shirts. The first two shirt designs, featuring classic logos from the NHRA Winternationals in 1972 and the NHRA’s 1962 Nationals, are currently available in Target stores nationwide.

As part of the launch of NHRA Originals, the world’s largest motorsports sanctioning body intends to bring out of its archives some of the classic logos and symbols of the sport of NHRA Drag Racing and make them available on a variety of consumer products. These logos, which over time have become the definitive artwork of the sport, marked an era in NHRA Drag Racing like no other.

“The artwork associated with NHRA national events in the ’60s and ’70s are iconic NHRA designs and are highly sought after,” said Gary Darcy, senior vice president of sales and marketing, NHRA. “This new line of NHRA Originals will pay homage to those classic designs and artwork of a time gone by, but not forgotten.”

The NHRA Originals vintage t-shirt program will feature the 1972 NHRA Winternationals logo along with the iconic snowflake. A nostalgic front-engine dragster is depicted on the front of the 1962 NHRA Nationals shirt, which marked the second year the sport’s largest and most prestigious event, now known as the U.S. Nationals, was held at its current home in Indianapolis.

“We are happy to bring these classic symbols of NHRA Drag Racing to consumers through this limited-time offer,” said Jenni Gold, creative director, JEM Sportswear. “We are confident that these two shirts will quickly sell out and look forward to working with NHRA on introducing new designs to the line and to consumers nationwide.”

The test program with Target earlier this year was extremely successful with all test markets selling out of its inventory in short order. As a result, Target has decided to stock these two items nationwide at all of its 1,750 stories in 49 states and the District of Columbia. The men’s t-shirts will have a retail price of $9.99 and be available in small, medium, large and extra large. The 1972 NHRA Winternationals design comes in a navy color, while the 1962 U.S. National design is available in red.

JEM Sportswear and NHRA hope that soon after the Target Stores launch, JEM Sportswear will begin rolling out these and other products through other retail outlets.

NHRA Date at Gateway to Move Up By One Week

NHRA announced today that the 2012 return of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series to Gateway Motor Sports Park near St. Louis will be moved up one week.  The inaugural NHRA Midwest Nationals will take place Sept. 28-30, 2012. 

As a result, the 28th annual Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway will be held the following week, Oct. 4-7.

Both events remain in the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six-race playoffs to determine world champions in the Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle categories.   NHRA worked with officials at both tracks to accommodate the request for the date swap, which better suited their individual 2012 season schedules.

Mark Morton Guitar Auction To Benefit Victory Junction

(Lamb of God lead guitarist Mark Morton, seen here at the 2009 NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway, has donated the guitar he played at the band's only live appearance of 2011 to the Victory Junction Gang Camp to be auctioned off. Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)

LAMB OF GOD lead guitarist Mark Morton is auctioning one of his stage guitars played during the band's performance at D-Tox Fest on June 17th in Montebello, Quebec. The guitar, a Mark Morton Signature model Jackson Dominion from Morton's personal collection, is autographed and will come with photographs from the performance and a personal letter of appreciation and authenticity from Morton.

All proceeds from the auction will benefit Victory Junction, a camp for chronically ill children in Randleman, NC. More specifically, the funds generated by the auction will allow a child to experience Victory Junction for the first time.

During a recent visit to the camp, Morton and his family spent time with staff and campers, including 16-year old Brian Walker, a Lamb Of God fan, music lover and Victory Junction camper. “Victory Junction is amazing,” explained Morton. “One of the highlights for me was getting to hang out with Brian. Hearing first-hand about how special this camp is to these kids and learning about all the liberating experiences they pack into a week made me that much more thrilled about our auction. Not only will the winning bidder get a beautiful instrument, they will also receive the joy of knowing that their generosity gave a special child, like my buddy Brian, a week at camp that they will surely never forget!"

The auction will begin on Wednesday, September 21, 2011, and last for 10 days ending on Saturday, October 1st. To participate in the auction visit: http://myworld.ebay.com/victoryjunction.

Victory Junction is a year-round camping environment for children ages six to 16 with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses. Founded by Kyle and Pattie Petty in honor of their son Adam, the camp is located in Randleman, NC, with a second location opening soon in Kansas City, KS. Victory Junction offers programs for a range of disease groups and maintains strong relationships with more than 30 partner hospitals. Victory Junction's mission is to provide life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun and empowering, in a safe and medically-sound environment. As a non-profit organization, the camp operates solely through the support of generous individuals, groups and corporations to provide this experience at no charge to children and their families. For more information or to donate, visit www.victoryjunction.org.

Zizzo Featured in Latest Edition of Nitro Rewind

The 2011 NHRA Countdown to the Championship has begun and Nitro Rewind continues to talk with the contenders and the spoilers. This week’s episode talks with the Top Fuel and Funny Car winners from the O’Reilly Auto Part Nationals at zMax Dragway and looks to the Lone Star State and the AAA Texas Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex. The show, an internet based broadcast, is hosted by Bill Stephens and features interviews from Top Fuel and Funny Car NHRA competitors, is available on the NHRA’s YouTube channel after every NHRA national event.

“The Countdown got started in Charlotte and it was a record setting weekend. Viewers will get a great description from Matt Hagan of his record setting 3.995 second pass as well as his thoughts on eventually winning his first race of the season,” said Ashley Force Hood, John Force Entertainment president.

“One thing Nitro Rewind will not do is forget about the drivers not in the Countdown. This week we talk with TJ Zizzo one of the up and coming Top Fuel teams that is running strong against the mega teams. We also check in with fan favorite Antron Brown.”

As The NHRA tour rolls into Texas viewers will get the thoughts of Texan Spencer Massey and 2010 Fall Nationals winner Matt Hagan on getting back to the original super track.

Every episode is posted on the NHRA YouTube channel the Thursday after each national event. This week’s episode can be found here: http://youtu.be/Av4FvL7Fkw4

Fans can check out all the episodes of Nitro Rewind by going to www.youtube.com and searching Nitro Rewind or they can go directly to the NHRA YouTube channel.

VIDEO: Zizzo Has a PEAK Performance at zMAX

VIDEO: NHRA, TJ Zizzo Honors America & 9/11 Heroes

zMAX Dragway Offers Free Thursday Tix for Matt Smith Bike Sponsors

(Former NHRA Full Throttle Series Pro Stock Motorcycle champion Matt Smith is providing fans an opportunity to be a sponsor on his Buell next weekend at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C. Photo by Brandon W. Mudd)

Former NHRA Full Throttle Series Pro Stock Stock Motorcycle champion Matt Smith is offering drag racing fans the opportunity to be a part of his team at zMAX Dragway Sept. 15-18 for the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals. For $20, fans can sponsor Smith's Buell at his home track, where he won the inaugural 4-Wide Nationals in 2010. The sponsorship provides access to a party at the Matt Smith Racing pit Thursday, Sept. 15, 4-6 p.m., where the sponsor can personally sign their name on the bike, receive an autograph from both Matt and Angie Smith, and participate in a group photo with Matt, Angie, the MSR Fan Sponsor Buell, and other sponsors.

The staff at zMAX have sweetened the deal by offering a free Thursday ticket to anyone sponsoring Smith's bike. A table will be set up outside the main spectator entrance of the drag strip where MSR sponsors can pick up their wristbands for the pit party and, at that time, will receive one free ticket for Thursday's festivities. In addition to all the other perks of being a fan bike sponsor, Antron Brown, the most recent U.S. Nationals Top Fuel champion, will be at the pit party to sign autographs and hang out starting at 5 p.m. The original deadline of Sept. 10 has also been lifted and fans will be able to pay for a sponsorship on Thursday at the gate where they will receive the free ticket and all the rest of the perks of being a sponsor next weekend.

But a free ticket, a meet and greet with Antron Brown, and a party isn't enough for Matt. He has some other perks for a couple of lucky fans.

"We've already had a bunch of people sign up for this deal and we're blown away with the response we've seen," said Smith. "To sweeten the pot a little, we're going to put everyone's name in a hat on the day of the pit party and pull five names. The first four will receive autographed team shirts. The fifth is going to get a team credential that allows them to go anywhere with us, including the starting line for every pass we make. We want to make this a great weekend for all our new sponsors and hopefully, they'll be partying with us in the Winner's Circle Sunday!"

Sponsors will receive one MSR Pit Party invitation and can sign one name per $20 sponsorship; however, fans may purchase as many sponsorships as they would like. If a sponsor is unable to attend the Pit Party, Matt or Angie will sign the sponsor's name to the bike personally and an autograph will be mailed to them.

Fans wanting to sponsor Matt's bike prior to the race can do so via PayPal or they can pay at the MSR table at the main entrance on Thursday. For more information on this opportunity and to pay through PayPal, click HERE. For any questions regarding sponsorships, e-mail Matt Smith Racing at SponsorMattsBike@yahoo.com. For more information on the O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway Sept. 15-18 or to purchase tickets, click HERE.

Fans of Matt Smith can find updates and photos of Matt Smith Racing at MattSmithRacing.com, Facebook.com/MattSmithRacing, and Twitter.com/MattSmithRacing. Videos of Matt and Matt Smith Racing can be found at YouTube.com/MattSmithNHRA. For information regarding sponsorship opportunities with Matt Smith Racing, please e-mail MattSmithRacing@yahoo.com.

Gateway International Raceway to Re-Open, Host NHRA

(Warren Johnson, Robert Hight, Tony Schumacher, and Michael Phillips visited the Winner's Circle at Gateway International Raceway's 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Series event. The facility sat vacant in 2011 but will host the NHRA Midwest Nationals again 2012 after it was announced St. Louis businessman and former professional racer Curtis Francois has leased the facility. Gateway International Raceway photo)

On Nov. 3, 2010, Dover Motorsports Inc., shut down Gateway International Raceway. I was the PR director there for the last four seasons it was in operation. On Thursday, it was announced Curtis Francois has leased the track and that the NHRA Full Throttle Series will return to the St. Louis area Oct. 5-7, 2012. If you care, HERE are my thoughts on the return of Gateway.