Reports of Raybestos’ death greatly exaggerated

Apparently there is a myth circulating around the sport that Raybestos Power Train’s performance department isn’t making the clutch discs that almost every pro nitro racer and Pro Stocker are using.

The Agent got a call yesterday from Frank Slocum, VP sales and marketing for Raybestos, who said, “It’s business as usual. We are building and shipping parts to Boninfante, Crower, and other clutch manufacturers daily.”  

A call to Nick Boninfante confirmed that his company is experiencing no problems in getting all the product they need from the Raybestos company. Next rumor please. [4/3/2009]

River Cree is title sponsor for Rocky Mountain Nats

IHRA has announced that the River Cree Resort and Casino has signed on as the title sponsor of the Rocky Mountain Nationals July 3-5 at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

In addition to the River Cree Resort and Casino’s title sponsorship, the Edmonton Marriott at River Cree Resort has been named the Official Host Hotel of the Rocky Mountain Nationals. The Edmonton Marriott will be offering special deals and packages in conjunction with the July race.
  
The River Cree Resort and Casino Rocky Mountain Nationals will be the fifth of 10 races on the 2009 Nitro Jam tour. It will feature Top Fuel, Pro Modified and Pro Stock along with hundreds of sportsman competitors capped off by the annual Saturday “Night of Fire.” [4/3/2009]

Whitely looking for continued national event success

Defending NHRA Division 7 Top Alcohol Dragster Champion Jim Whiteley and his YNot Racing team will be looking to return to the form that put them in the winner’s circle at the season-opener in Pomona during this weekend’s SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Whiteley reached the finals of last year’s event here.

Whiteley, from Grand Junction, Colo., cites The Strip is just one of those tracks that works well with Crew Chief Norm Grimes’ tune-up.

“This is one of the tracks that really has some teeth,” said Whiteley.  “You can usually get after it pretty hard. If you hit it right, you can run some big numbers there. It can also bite you if you miss. We started the year out great by winning Pomona, but then we stumbled a bit at the Division 7 race in Phoenix. I have complete confidence that Pomona was more of a representation of what this team is capable of.” [4/3/2009]

Leverentz going ‘slammer racing

Billy Leverentz, owner of the Oddy’s Automotive Inc. performance engine business in Elma, NY, and the long-time car chief/crew chief for Jim Oddy, sold his “pulling” truck and bought a slightly used G-Force chassis and a ’69 Camaro body.

The Leverentz brothers are in the final stages of mounting the body to the chassis and installing the 440 inch Mopar wedge that powered Billy’s pulling truck into the Camaro. The pair are planning to do some quick-eight and Pro Mod racing around the Buffalo area this summer. Billy has promised the Agent a photo of the rolling chassis and body soon! [4/3/2009]