1st Annual GMP Open House and Car Show May 10, 2008

11 AM - 4 PM at GMP Headquarters

GMP, world leader in limited edition diecast replicas, invites you to bring your hot rod, muscle car, or other specialty vehicle to visit our world headquarters.

Food and refreshments will be available so bring the whole family! See Gordy Foust and the Berger Camaro (pictured above)! Look for special sale items and office tours, too!


Located at: 45 Polite Road, Winder, GA. 30680 Behind Akins Ford dealership.
Contact Tom, Mat or Alice @ 770-868-1042 8-5 PM M-F


GMP Diecast

Atlanta Motor Speedway Turns to Fans to Find the Voice of Friday Night Drags

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Marcy Scott
Trey Sanders

Open Auditions to be Held on June 6 During Season Opener

HAMPTON, Ga. (May 7, 2008) – The Georgia Bulldogs have renowned play-caller Larry Munson, while the Atlanta Braves leave their broadcasting to hall of famers Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren. Atlanta Motor Speedway is offering fans the opportunity to be the next great announcer from the Peach State during the track’s Friday Night Drags series this summer, calling all of the action during each night of racing.

Friday Night Drags non-points season opener is scheduled for June 6 and fans are invited to participate in a live audition, earning the right to be the track’s public address announcer this summer.

Slated for twelve events, Friday Night Drags has been tremendously successful, regularly drawing crowds of 5,000 spectators to AMS for heads-up drag racing down AMS’ eighth-mile pit-road drag strip.

“We are searching for someone passionate about drag racing,” said Ed Clark, AMS president and general manager. “We could select a professional announcer, but we want someone who will have fun interacting with the crowd. They don’t have to have any previous experience, just someone who will enjoy this unique opportunity.”

Fans interested in participating in the audition should visit www.atlantamotorspeedway.com, click on the Friday Night Drags link and register online, or fans can mail their contact information to: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Attn.: Friday Night Drags PA, P.O. Box 500, Hampton, GA 30228. The track will contact those interested individually and provide further details.


All entries must be submitted by Friday, May 30, 2008.



2008 Schedule - Friday Night Drags & Show-N-Shine (points races)

June 20 - "Tuner Tourney" - Special awards and races for Turner Divisions 'Points Opener' (All Divisions)

June 27 - Dukes Fest General Lee Challenge & Celebrity appearances

July 4 - "July 4th Frenzy" Fireworks & Drag Racing Points Race

July 11 - Special Series - "Motorcycle Races"

July 18 - "Backwards Drag Racing"

July 25 - Dick Rosberg and his wild Jet Car returns to AMS

August 1 - Special Series - SEMDRA Showcase – Motorcycle Drag Racing Spectacular

August 8 - "Mustang Mania" - Special Awards & Races for Mustangs

August 15 – “Chevy Challenge" - Special Night for the Bowtie Brigade

August 22 - "Points Championship" Plus, motorcycle races

South Georgia Motorsports Park prepares for ADRL Pro Mods

by Marvin T. Smith

South Georgia Motorsports Park, home of the world’s fastest and quickest quarter mile Pro Mod runs, is getting ready for the ADRL Outlaw Pro Modifieds big event this weekend. Sponsored by Hardee's, the ADRL Georgia Drags comes to town this Friday and Saturday.

The all-concrete track in Cecil, Georgia (just outside of Valdosta, GA) is famous for its bite. The near-sea level track has seen several assaults on drag racing records. Just this Spring at the Eastern Spring Test Nationals sponsored by CompetitionPlus.com, John Russo ran the quickest quarter mile pass in Pro Modified history with an outstanding 5.89. His teammate, Raymond Commisso ran the fastest pass ever recorded at 247.52 mph. SGMP is also the home of the first eighth mile three second pass by a nitrous Pro Mod. The current SGMP eighth mile track records are 3.804 at 198.67 for blown outlaw cars held by Jason Scruggs set last Spring at the ADRL event, and 3.982 at 186.23 mph for nitrous pro mods set by Jim Halsey during testing this Spring.

Although the forecast calls for a hot track, night racing may make it possible for the ADRL records to fall this weekend. The current ADRL records are 3.703 at 205.22 for blown cars and 3.969 and 189.26 for nitrous cars. Drag strip manager Wade Rich feels like the nitrous record is within the realm of possibility. He will have the track ready for all comers.

Don’t miss this exciting event. Free tickets are available at various locations in Valdosta.

Kurt Johnson Scores a Decisive Win in St. Louis

Contact: Jon Knapp
TMG Sports Marketing, Inc.


May 4, 2008, Madison, IL – Kurt Johnson and the ACDelco Cobalt Racing team made a dramatic return to the NHRA winner’s circle on Sunday, capturing the Pro Stock title at the O’Reilly Midwest Nationals in Madison, IL. Starting from the fifth position, Johnson was the class of the field throughout eliminations, methodically posting the quickest time in each round to defeat Todd Hoerner, Jeg Coughlin and V. Gaines. This set the stage for a final-round encounter with David Connolly, who was racing in his second race since returning to the POWERade Drag Racing Series in Atlanta a week ago.

Knowing he would need an almost flawless performance to capture his third win at Gateway International Raceway, Johnson took control from the start, leaving the starting line ahead of his opponent and never looked back, using a 6.631-second, 209.30 mph pass to easily outdistance his rival’s 6.651-second, 208.78 mph effort and score his first national event win since February 2007. It was the 37th national event win of Johnson’s career, first of the 2008 season and third at Gateway International Raceway.

“It was a great day at Gateway for the ACDelco Cobalt Racing team,” said Johnson. “You never know what to expect at one of these races. Everybody in Pro Stock is hungry, and everyone we faced today ran pretty well, so if we had made one little slip-up, someone else might have won.

“Going into the final, we knew David (Connolly) is a good driver with a good team and that we would have to be on our game to get by him. Fortunately, the crew did an outstanding job, we made the right calls on the tune-up, and I did my job behind the wheel. It just feels good to win for everyone on this team, our great sponsors including ACDelco and Chevrolet as well as all the people who support us.”

After setting career bests in elapsed time and top speed in qualifying fifth, Johnson quickly established himself as a contender on Sunday, with his 6.581-second, 209.36 mph pass in the first round against rookie Todd Hoerner lowering his personal best by another hundredth of second and setting the standard for the Pro Stock class in eliminations.

However, Johnson’s next opponent would prove to be his toughest of the day, as he took on defending Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin. In the closest race of the day of any of the professional categories, KJ combined a stout .014 reaction time with a 6.620, 209.33 mph pass to edge Coughlin by one ten-thousandth of a second, as he posted a 6.623-second, 208.01 mph in the losing effort.

“We knew we really had to dig down for the run against Jeg,” stated Johnson. “He is always so tough on the starting line, and looking at the numbers from the first round, we ran a 6.58, while he ran a 6.61, so he knew if he had a good light, he would be there, and it ended up being really close. It was probably the race of the day, and fortunately we were able to come out on top, which was a big lift for the entire team. However, at that point we had to remind ourselves that we were only halfway home.”

The ACDelco crew’s solid performance continued in the semifinals. Even though V. Gaines’ red-light start awarded him the automatic win, Johnson put himself in good shape.for the final round by posting a 6.619-second, 208.78 mph pass to earn lane choice against Connolly, in what proved to be the first step towards ending his 28-race winless streak.

“We made some big changes coming in to today, and our ACDelco Cobalt went down the track on every run, which is what you have to do in this category,” said Johnson. “Everyone on both my ACDelco and Dad’s (six-time champion Warren Johnson) GM Performance Parts crew have been working extremely hard, doing what they can to help, and it makes a big difference all the way around when one of our cars makes it to the winner’s circle.

“This was a big win for us, because once you know you can do it, it makes it a little easier to do it again. But I’ve been around long enough to realize how hard these are to get and to appreciate every win. After all, it starts all over again in two weeks when we get to Bristol, and we’re going to do our very best to do this all over again.”