"Nitro Twitter Group" NTG Members

I thought I would share some information about a group of us that started up when twitter first came alive into the NHRA. John Force Racing was the first to my knowledge to have the link to Twitter on his web site. That is when I joined the fast growing community of the Social Media World. It was back in March of 2009 when I started chatting with a bunch of NHRA Teams and fans, and it grew from there.

Our first NTG tweet up was in Las Vegas in October of 2009 at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals where Jeni and I picked up Corinna, @corinnamakeup, at the Las Vegas airport. We were invited to attend Don Schumacher Racing Hospitality from Will Truitt of DSR from Twitter. We had been tweeting with DSR and helping with retweets, helping to get their name out on twitter. We were so excited to attend, and DSR showed us the best time ever. It was an experience we'd never forget.

Our second Twitter get together was in January of 2010 where we all met up at the NHRA Test & Tune in Chandler AZ at Firebird Raceway. It was such a great experience meeting everyone that I have been talking to on twitter in Person. I met Greg @NHRAChat, Lynn @PapaNitroSTL, Lisa @NHRAchik67 and her son Ty, Corinna @corinnamakeup, Kathy @KataMcB, and her husband Randy @NitroHi. I picked up Lynn and Greg at the Airport and from there the rest is history. We all met for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel by the track before we commenced in the thrills of Nitro Testing! We hung out the whole weekend together at the track and then we all had Dinner at Black Bear Cafe. Where we celebrated Ty's Birthday! It was so much fun and looking forward to someday, the whole gang meeting up.

Also, a bunch of us met up in Concord, NC for the 4-Wide NHRA Nationals, and had a great time. It is so fun meeting up with new Twitter fans of the NHRA. We had our first Tweetup where Terry McMillen showed up and hung out with the Group at Dave & Busters signing autographs and sharing stories. It was the Best time ever. Another GREAT Ford Driver Bob Tasca III has also opened his hospitality to the #NTG. We would like to thank Joe Ryan of @quick_lane for his part in helping the #NTG in this glorious meeting. In Charlotte he took members into his pit area, signing autographs, taking pictures, and talking with us on his teams performances and updates. He has joined the #NTG Facebook page and tweets to members on twitter. Bob and Joe have been a big inspiration to us all. Update as of July 18, 2011, Bob Tasca III will be adding the #NTG Decal to his Quicklane Ford Mustang in the near future. His car has already left for the Western Swing, so on return to the shop, they will then add it on he Ford Mustang Funny Car! Bob Tasca III has been a great Icon within the #NTG and we are so pleased to hear this news.

We have received a lot of support from some of the NHRA teams, drivers, and sponsors. The cars that have our #NTG decal are, Terry McMillen, Jeff Arend, Doug Kalitta, David Grubnic, Bob Benza and Vincent Nobile. Team McMillen welcomes the NTG into his Pit Area to get up close and personal with the team, with thanks to Jim Walczak and Cori Wickler. Kalitta Motorsports, thanks to Todd Myers is also a big supporter of the NTG, and has done a lot to welcome us into their hospitality to take pictures of the cars and drivers. Nancy and Bob Benza also have been a great help to the #NTG with their great hospitality to our members and always there to help us in anyway! They have all contributed to the success of the #NTG, and we appreciate all that they have done with supporting our goals. We'd also like to thank Vincent Noble, who could become the Rookie of the Year, for allowing our decal on his Pro Stock Car. Last but not least is Zizzo Racing, who interacts with the #NTG on twitter along with PR Brandon Mudd.

Steve Emerson, @sremerson, has been very instrumental with the growth of #NTG. he has a big passion for the NHRA and is there to help in any way. He heads the #NTG Facebook page, and does an awesome job keeping it current. We really appreciate all he does. Steve also has a NHRA blog that is very good, and you can follow the link on my blog to reach his.

The Members have been growing since then, and below are a list of the members to date:

John Amorosano - @NitroJohn
Jeni Amorosano - @nitrojeni
Greg Stephenson - @NHRAChat
Lynn Casper - @PapaNitroSTL
Lisa Purcell - @NHRAchik67
Corinna BertramCooke _ @corinnamakeup
Kathy McBride - @kataMcB
Randy McBride - @NitroHi
Chris Hobson - @NitroChrisUK
Dina Roberts Wakulczyk - @indydina
Angela Bland - @Angietigerfan
Mitzi - @Gottagoracing
Joe Ryan - @J88Ryan
Jenifer Nuest - @Jenimo3022
Steve Emerson - @sremerson
Vivian Grantz - @jvgrantz
Kelly - @KellyNorCal
Nancy Benza - @NancyBenza
Laura Contrera-Rust - @LDCRust
Todd Long - @lindas1200cc
Linker Mills - @linkerm
Margie Freedle - @margiefreedle
Chris Freedle - @Cfreedle73
Walt Walker - @Nine4127
Vivian Miliken - @nitrodoll
Nitro Nate - @nitronate1320
Alan Perchalski - @SFCSKI
Sharyn Legg - @surfin37
Toyse Woody Jr - @Photos_By_Toyse
Sean Bowe - @SeanBoweAtSix
Jim Walczak - @JimWalczak
Geff Whitt - @gwhitt1
Kristin Long - @Kristin0822
Sarah - @mommisadie2
Josh - @newholla
Mustangs Kids - @Mustangskids
Dean Hillestad - @MustangMatters
Mary Lola Gouge - @marylolagouge
Carrie - @Caarriieeeeeeee

Drivers

Terry McMillen - @TerryMcMillen
Kelsey Lay - @Kelsey Lay
Peggy Llewellyn - @PeggyLlewellyn
Andrew Parise - @PariseRacing
Bob Tasca III - @Tasca3
Vincent Nobile - @Vincent154
Jeff Arend - @JeffArend
Kalitta Motorsports - @Team Kalitta
Bob Benza - @BobBenza

NHRA Sponsors:

Castrol - @CastrolUSA
Quick Lane - @Quick_Lane
MotorCraft - @MQL_Racing

Beer Steamed Ribs

Ingredients
3 lbs - Country Style Pork Ribs (Bone in)
1/4 Cup - Kikkoman Soy sauce
20 oz - Bottle Sesame Teriyaki Sauce (Thick)
3/4 Can - Coor Light 16 oz Beer

Cooking Directions
1. Mix Soy Sauce, Sesame Teriyaki Sauce, and Beer in bowl with Wisk.
2. Wash ribs, lay in 13 x 9 x 2 glass bake ware dish.
3. Pour sauce over ribs, cover with foil and marinate for 2 hours in refrigerator.
4. Pre heat oven to 325°
5. Cook with foil on for 2 hours, turning and basting 1/2 way through.
6. Remove from oven, and place on foil lined cookie sheet, and baste ribs.
7. Change oven temp to Broil, place oven rack on bottom rung of oven and broil for 10 minutes
8. Baste ribs with sauce and serve with your favorite side dishes.
Option* You can also cook the ribs on the BBQ Grill for the last 10 minutes and by pass the broiling.
Cooking time approximately 2 hrs, 15 minutes

NHRA Full Throttle Series After 10 Races

The NHRA Full Throttle Series has now completed 10 out of 22 races for 2011. It has been a great year so far with spectacular drag races. It has been a great year for John Force Racing so far also. With John Force Racing winning 7 out of the 10 races so far, (Robert Hight won 4 & Mike Neff won 3), they are dominating the Funny Car category. John Force though has yet to win an event this year, but I think that will be changing very soon. Jack Beckman of DSR has 2 wins and Jeff Arend with Kalitta Motorsports has 1.

In 2006 in Funny Car, all Top Ten Drivers won an event that year. It has been the only year that every member of the top ten drivers have won an event. John Force won 3, Robert Hight won 3, Ron Capps won 5, Eric Medlen won 2, Tony Pedregon won 3, Tommy Johnson Jr won 2, and Gary Scelzi, Phil Burkart, Whit Bazemore and Cruz Pedregon all reached the winners circle. Top Fuel has accomplished that feat 4 times. 1992-1994 and 1996.

In Top Fuel, out of 10 events, Al-Anabi Racing have been dominating the win column. Del Worsham has 4 wins and Larry Dixon got his 1st win of the season in Bristol, TN on Fathers Day! They are very strong contenders and have a good chance of taking it all again this year. Don Schumacher Racing has 4 of the 10 wins this year also. Spencer Massey has 2 and Antron Brown has 2. The BIG surprise is that Tony Schumacher has yet to get a win in 2011. With the Series almost half way through and only 6 more races until Indy, look for the Sarge to step it up and get back on a winning streak. You can never under-estimate Tony Schumacher and Team DSR.

Robert Hight had never made it to the finals in Bristol until this year and made it count with a victory over Jack Beckman and with a new National Speed Record. He ran a 4.04 Elapse Time with a Speed Record 316.45 MPH run in the semi finals. Jimmy Prock has Hights Funny Car running on mean and look for him to win more events this year.

Del Worsham is the leader in Top Fuel Countdown to 10. In second place is Spencer Massey 61 points behind and in third place is Del's teammate Larry Dixon just 75 points back. the remaining top 10 are 4 - Antron Brown, 5 - Tony Schumacher, 6 - Doug Kalitta, 7 - Brandon Bernstein, 8 - Morgan Lucas, 9 - Shawn Langdon, and 10 - Terry McMillen.

Leading points leader in Funny Car is Mike Neff. Neff as a tuner and driver has really got his car roaring down the track. Jack Beckman is second 124 points back while Robert Hight is a close third only 126 points behind. The remaining are 4 - Cruz Pedregon, 5 - Matt Hagan, 6 - Ron Capps, 7 - John Force, 8 - Jeff Arend, 9 - Bob Tasca III, and 10 - Johnny Gray.

Now is the time for the teams to step it up and make a run for Indy. Every round counts and if you're not in the top ten after Indy, there is just no chance of becoming the 2011 Champion. Best of Luck to all the teams, drivers and their sponsors throughout the remaining NHRA Full Throttle Series Events.

Nitro Twitter Group T-Shirts

The NTG (Nitro Twitter Group) T-Shirts are now available. They come in men's and woman's sizes from S - 3XL. White is the best color for the design, but you can choose a different color. Woman's shirts are with short sleeves.

The price is $16 plus $5 shipping for a total of $21.

You can email me at nitrojohn12@yahoo.com for payment options.

NHRA Media's Source

The NHRA is sometimes limited to television and radio media source. When an event comes to town you may see or hear advertisements for that event. Then you have ESPN2 in which will broadcast taped event shows on the evenings of the events, but as we all know, that can be a travesty at times being preempted by a rerun of a kids little league game of last years titles.

The Best Media Sources you can count on though for the NHRA, is WFO Radio in which on every Tuesday night at 7:00 pm EST, you can tune in online to listen to interviews with NHRA Drivers, Teams, and Affiliates. WFO interviews the winners on the Tuesday after an NHRA Event, then on off weekend races, they interview a lot of the drivers that did not win. They are always listening to the fans for suggestions. Not only can you listen live you can also listen to past shows and even get archive or latest Podcasts. A link to their web page will be linked below. You can follow WFO Radio on twitter @WFORadio.

Another Great Media Source is RPM2night. Headed by John Kernan. He does some great interviews with not only the Top NHRA Drivers, but with most all the driver within the NHRA Community. You can listen to his interviews at the link below and follow John Kernan on twitter @rmp2nightcom. You can also get the latest news not only for NHRA but for Nascar, Indy and Road Racing. This is a very good source to get NHRA Media.

Please help with the growth of these two NHRA Media Sources and help get their names out on the social media's.



RPM2nightcom

WFO Radio

"Race4Girls" A Great Cause!

Race4Girls was created to give female race car drivers in the U.S. a chance to better compete against their male counterparts by providing funds for equipment. Contributions made by fans who want to support women in racing will fuel the fund.

When I saw this web site, and what they have done to help out female race car drivers, I was really impressed and thrilled for their organization. In today's world with an unstable economy, it is not easy for drivers, teams or owners to secure sponsorships that will carry them through a complete year of racing. I don't know if being a girl is even harder to secure sponsorships, but I feel it couldn't be any easier. I know a lot of girl racers who are seeking sponsorships and wanting to get back to the tracks to do what they love best, and follow their deep passions.

Currently Race4Girls girl driver donations for Jennifer Jo Cobb, Lara Tallman, Shea Hollbrock, Sunny Hobbs, and Regional girl driver Mercedes Harris. They are always adding more girl drivers to the list, so please check back frequently.

What their Goals are:

* Provide a resource for female drivers who need funding for their teams.

* Give fans who want to contribute to female drivers a secure place to make contributions.

* Distribute the funds in a fashion that adheres to our accountability standards (drivers must prove that the funds were used for the purpose they were requested).

* Attract one million individual contributors annually to each donate a minimum of five dollars to the Race4Girls fund.

* Provide grants for a minimum of 150 different driving events including at least one NASCAR Sprint Series race.

The contribution level starts at only $5 so any fan can help make a driver’s dream come true! You can go to their web site (Link Posted Below) for more detail on how to DONATE and help these girl driver.

Race4Girls

Maybe in the future we can see more NHRA girl drivers such as Kelsey Lay, Hillary Will, among others receiving help from Race4Girls.

Englishtown, NJ NHRA SuperNationlas

It was a great weekend for drag racing at Old Bridge Raceway in Englishtown last weekend. Beautiful cool weather that I am sure the teams loved. It made for some good Elapse Times and Miles Per Hour on the track.

I met up with Nitro Twitter Group Greats Alan @SFCSKI, Bill @hardslider21, and Steve @sremerson at the track on Friday. We met up at the Terry McMillen Pits where we all were wearing our Green Terry McMillen T-Shirts. Jim and Cori had just gone shopping for the big Hospitality they were having on Saturday, and we felt like part of the crew helping unload the car of goodies. We chatted a while with Terry, Cori and Jim learning that Terry has another car he'll be running in Bristol, TN in a couple of weeks. Austin Lambright will be driving the second car. Terry hopes that they will secure sponsorship for the second car to run some of the races next year. This will help gather vital information and assist with tuning the cars. We wish them the best in the future.




We also got to tour the Clay Millican/Parts Plus Pits on Friday. We met Clay Millican and talked with him a while. He is so down to earth, and was very friendly making us feel special. We also took some pictures with Clay, and we'd like to thank Clay Millican and Parts Plus for their great hospitality the shown us. Clay let us know that he only was racing 12 events this year, but in 2012, he'll be racing the whole season. We were so pleased to hear that. What a great Team!



We, Alan, Bill, and I then proceeded to the Beer Gardens, where we spent most of the rest of the day at. Met some inteersting people at the gardens. We watched the first and second rounds of qualifying in which the second round was night qualifying. I love watching night qualifying with the flames shooting out of the headers of the Top Fuel and Funny Cars. What a show. This is Terry McMillen Flaming down the track during night qualifying.



We were back at the track early Saturday morning after a good breakfast at IHOP. We talked with Todd from Kallita Motorsports and found out that they will be adding another Funny Car next year. Alexis Dejoria will be driving the second funny car for them. This is going to be real exciting to have another Female Driver in contention for the Rookie of the Year in 2012 with Courtney Force. 2012 looks to becoming an historic year.
We continued to watch qualifying rounds three and four, with some great runs during the day. At the end of the qualifying rounds the Top Qualifyers were Del Worsham with a 3.785 ET in Top Fuel, Cruz Pedregon with a 4.048 in Funny Car, Jason Line with a 6.508 in Pro Stock and Eddie Krawiec with a 6.819 in Pro Stock Motorcycle. It was a fun packed day with friends from the Nitro Twitter Group, and they made the weekend very special.

Least but not last. We hung out with Nancy Benza in the Benza Pits, and had a great time talking with her. She is such a great person to talk to and we love the whole team. They put the NTG decal on Bob's Pro Stock Car by the right wheel well, and it looks awesome. We so appreciate the Benza's and the NTG supports them to the fullest.

Also took a picture with Vincent Nobile where he also has the NTG Decal on his car. He also is another great Pro Stock Driver and looks to be a very big contender. We thank you all for placing our decal on your cars, and hope for a great season for all.



Sunday's winner were TF- Spencer Massey, FC- Mike Neff, PS- Allen Johnson, and PSM - Matt Smith. We congratulate you all for a great weekend of racing and for your Wally's. See you in Joliet, IL.