Speedway sold for $80,000
North Central Motor Speedway was sold for $80,000, reported the Crow Wing County Auditor's Office.
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Clifford and Marlis Sasker of Onamia purchased the track from Jim and Lynn Nelson of Anoka. The property includes 34 acres, including all buildings.
Title sponsor to
be announced
Tony Schumacher
It was revealed at the National Hot Rod Association's Drag Racing Series Awards ceremony in Universal City, Calif., Monday that the series title sponsor would be announced Dec. 3.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, whose Winston brand served as the title sponsor for the series the last 27 years, ended its relationship with NHRA this season.
Top Fuel racer Darrell Russell headed the list of special award winners, claiming the $20,000 Winston Rookie of the Year Title.
The Colonel's Brainerd International Raceway general manager Scott Quick also attended the ceremony.
John Force
He said John Force, who won his 11th Winston Funny Car points championship this season, was "very, very serious" instead of his usual jovial self.
"He was thanking all of his present and past crew members," Quick said.
Quick also said that Force was "gracious" to one of his main rivals this season, Whit Bazemore.
For those of you who missed the series season finale at Pomona, Calif., on television this weekend, it also was announced that Bazemore will have a teammate next season, Scotty Cannon.
In earlier racing news, current ESPN analyst and Former NHRA Funny Car World Champion Cruz Pedregon announced a multi-year sponsorship with Advance Auto Parts that will begin with the 2002 race season and include primary sponsorship of the team's Nitro Funny Car, driven and owned by Cruz Pedregon.
The pair also will compete against Top Fuel veteran pilot Gary Scelzi. The Nov. 16 issue of National Dragster reported that Scelzi is looking for funding to race a Funny Car next season.
Speaking of next season, the national event at CBIR next August is "full steam ahead" Quick said.
Quick, who attended a track operators meeting in Las Vegas recently, said NHRA is pleased with Brainerd's event.
In fact, he said some of the professional racers even plan their vacations around the event.
Quick also said that several improvements to the raceway are planned before next season, including expansion of the sportsman racer's pit area.
Force renews contract
Force also recently renewed his contract with Ford through 2006. His Mac Tools contract also is good through 2005 and he just renewed with the Auto Club of Southern California for Gary Densham's car at least through next season.
Federal Mogul
event slated
The NHRA Federal Mogul Drag Racing Series West Central Division event at CBIR will be June 7-9.
Quick noted Federal Mogul will commit even more next season to this series, including bigger payouts for the racers.
"For us at Brainerd, that's very important because of our location," he said.
Investor building c-store
To set the record straight, a New York investor is building a year-round convenience store with a souvenir shop on CBIR's property.
This store will have access on the back of the raceway for the campers, Quick said.
Sportscasters get a clue
Sometimes television sports anchors need to get a clue. Case in point: For some reason I was watching the evening sports, where I heard another "hairdo" read, "That Mike Wallace, no not the one on "60 Minutes," won a NASCAR race."
Boy was he funny. These sportscasters need to remember that NASCAR fans take their racing serious and don't need some "jock wanna be" joking about race results.
Schumacher jumps
Tony Schumacher, pilot of the U.S. Army Top Fueler, did it.
He along with fellow Top Fuel racer Darrell Russell jumped with the Army's Golden Knights Parachute Team in California Monday.
Actually, the pair were securely harnessed to team members. They jumped from a plane at 12,500 feet, performing free falls and parachute-aided landings.