Since unfortunately we are still running this team out of pocket, we have to be so careful with the way we go about things. My dad and I discussed leasing a motor for the weekend. It was a tough position because it’s a lot of money for us to spend, but at the same time we really want to be a competitor out there. We decided to see how the first day of qualifying went for us before we made a decision. After our first run we saw that there was some room for improvement, so we decided to go for it with our motor. I owe a big thank you to Doug Johnson and Gary Stoffer, because they really helped us find an issue in our computer system that was really hurting us. Thanks to Doug and Gary, Blake Gann, John Widmann and of course my amazing dad, we ran our quickest time ever on our own equipment with an ET of 7.21.

I am super proud of what we accomplished in Brainerd. Don’t get me wrong, I really want to qualify and be racing on Sunday, but I think we have to walk before we can run. To run a 7.21 was a big deal because being so down on horsepower that’s about all that motor has in it. To run a motor to its full potential shows that we finally have the rest of our bike shook down. You can have all the horsepower in the world, but it doesn’t do you a lot of good if you don’t have a handle on everything else. I think our weekend in Brainerd was great proof that we have a good handle on our bike and we are ready for horsepower. We have decided to lease a motor for Indy and try to be racing in the Big Go on Sunday!

When I returned from Brainerd the question I received most often was what I thought about “the zoo” in Brainerd? What an experience that was! I didn’t spend much time there, but the time I did certainly left an impression. The zoo was huge and there were people everywhere. We had a good time visiting with different people. When it came time to leave my dad and I were each on our own motorcycle. It had become dark out. I think it took us longer to find our way out of the zoo than the amount of time we actually spent visiting it. It was a good time though and my dad and I got some good laughs out of it.

I am back home in California now trying to catch up in school, work, and everything else I have in the works right now. I am trying really hard to stay focused, but it’s hard with Indy coming up. All I can think of is how bad I want to be at the track in Indy. I’m thrilled with the improvements our team has made and I can’t wait to see what Indy has in store!

Visit Katie’s team page.

Thanks to the fact that I have spectacular parents, I left for Eugene, Oregon last Friday morning. My bother lives in Eugene, so we met up there before leaving on a road trip to Montana. The night that I was in Eugene Chance and his awesome girlfriend, Marie, took me to the best concert I have ever been too. We saw Michael Franti and Spearhead, which is a Reggae band. We danced the whole time and had a complete blast. If you have never listened to Michael Franti I strongly suggest it. His music is uplifting and all I could think about during the concert and after was how much I couldn’t wait to get back to the drag strip for our team to try again.

Some of the Family!

There are a lot of exciting things going on in my life right now. I must say that I am a really lucky girl and I have had such amazing influences in my life: my mom, sister, grandmas, aunts, sports coaches, and so many more. I would not be the strong woman I am today with out them. It has always been my dream to inspire other young women. I was completely touched when I received a letter from a young lady by the name of Jessica Arnold. She told me all about her racing, her dreams, and basically just her life. She also told me that I inspired her and I can not tell you what a true honor it was for her to say that to me. I have to tell you though; I am pretty inspired by Jessica too!

Jessica is 16 years old and has won numerous championships racing Jr. dragsters and now she drives an outlaw 330 car racing all over the east coast. This girl loves racing. She has big dreams and is going after them. I told Jessica she needed to share some secrets with me! I can’t wait to see her running with the big dogs someday. Along with my huge passion for racing, I have a huge passion and drive to inspire and encourage young men and women to follow their dreams. In turn they always inspire me!

That brings me to my latest excitement in my life and that is my recent partnership with an amazing organization called Girls For A Change. I am so honored to be working with this organization whose mission is to empower teenage girls to create and lead social change. Please check out their website at www.girlsforachange.org to learn more about them. I hope that I can be a good role model for them and really help to spread the word about these awesome girls and this spectacular organization!

I will be updating everyone on my Brainerd zoo experience soon, take care!

Girls For A Change (http://www.girlsforachange.com) is a national organization that empowers girls to create social change. They invite young women to design, lead, fund and implement social change projects that tackle issues girls face in their own neighborhoods. Working with individual and foundation donors and several corporate partners, GFC provides the tools, resources; partnerships and support girls need to gain the voice, ability, and problem-solving capacity to realize their full potential.

“Girls for A Change is very excited to have entered into a partnership with Katie Sullivan,” noted Whitney Smith, CEO of Girls For A Change. “This is a wonderful opportunity for both Girls For A Change (GFC) and Katie to expand the positive effects we are now separately having on girls and young women. We believe Katie is a wonderful example and role model for doing this. Through her entrance and advancement into the world of competitive drag racing in the National Hot Rod Association, she is creating new opportunities for other young women and personally addressing a societal issue of limited competitive options previously open to women.”

“We believe that through our partnership, we can create new awareness among men and women about the opportunities opening to women through the efforts of women of all ages,” Smith concluded. “We will be featuring Katie and her race team on our website and following her through her race season. We know she will enjoy some new fans while we are able to introduce GFC to a new world of sports and opportunity.”

The partnership with GFC and Sullivan gives the sophomore NHRA rider an opportunity to realize her goal of working with a group committed to transforming our world and reinventing girl culture. “I am very excited to partner with GFC for the rest of our racing season and hopefully beyond,” Sullivan stated. “Working with GFC has been a dream of mine for several years. Their mission is the empowerment of middle and high school girls to create and lead social change in their communities. Having recently graduated from high school, I am uniquely qualified to work with many of these girls. If I can help just one girl accomplish her goals through this partnership, it will have been deemed a success.”

For more information about Girls For A Change, please visit their website at http://www.girlsforachange.com. To learn more about ‘Kalifornia’ Katie Sullivan, please visit her team page at www.crxmedia.com.

For the humble Day, the dream has begun, and with some help from a few marketing partners, he will be out running full time in 2011 where the goal will now change to win his first round, and eventually hoist his first Wally at a National Event.

We put this quick video together to let you inside the weekend that was, and some thoughts from James Day himself. Enjoy!

To learn more about James Day, visit his team page on our site.

Day qualified the Lindsay Racing Monte Carlo in the number 13th position and met up against reigning NHRA Funny Car World Champion Robert Hight, the driver of the John Force Racing AAA Ford Mustang in the first round of eliminations. At the flash of the green light, both drivers left side-by-side, both peddled their throttles to maintain traction about 150 feet into the run, but Hight’s Ford regained traction sooner and his team prevailed, while Day’s CleanBoostoil.com Funny Car overpowered the Bandimere Speedway all-concrete race track and slowed to mid-six second tire smoking elapsed time.

As the drivers reached the shut down area, a jubilant Hight jumped out of his mount and spoke with NHRA announcer Alan Reinhart. Instead of thanking his sponsors, his team owner or his crew, Hight showed his class and character when he spoke from his heart over the track’s PA system. “I am so proud of James Day today,” noted the defending World Champion Hight. “When I saw him being introduced to the crowd today and the passion in his eyes before we raced, it reminded me of when I came into this sport as a driver in 2005. We’ve both worked our way up from crew members to drivers and it was an honor to race him today. Seeing James race today made me again realize how fun this sport can be.” Click here to watch Hight’s post-race interview.

Hight also echoed these sentiments on ESPN 2 after his team captured the event championship after beating his father-in-law and car owner John Force for the first time in final round competition. However, he was not the only one inspired by the efforts of the second generation driver from Mission Viejo, Calif.

“We are honored to have been a part of helping James Day accomplish his lifelong dream of racing professionally in the NHRA and he and the team made us very proud,” noted Don Poscente, the Managing Director of Combustion Technologies Inc., the original manufactures of CleanBoost® products. “I have been introduced to the excitement of this sport this season and like James this event was our professional debut in NHRA Drag Racing. We are very pleased with how well he represented our company and our products. And we hope to build on this partnership with James into the future.”

Day works as an electrician during the week and is regarded as one of the more diverse drivers in NHRA today. To date in 2010, James has driven two-NHRA Heritage Series Nitro Nostalgia Funny Cars, has driven a Nostalgia Top Fuel Dragster and the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Nitro Funny Car of John Lindsay. He has worked his way into the driver’s seat after crewing for several top-flight professional drag racing teams.

“I am very grateful for the support of Jason Lehr with CRX Media this weekend. It was also cool to meet Danny Gruninger on Thursday night and have Kalifornia Katie Sullivan hanging out with us this weekend. The car looked awesome in the CleanBoost colors provided by Fineline Graphics. Our team looked sharp in the Impact Racing uniforms. And of course, none of this would be possible without the confidence of John Lindsay and my wife Samantha. I am one lucky guy.”

You can learn more about James Day by visiting his team page at crxmedia.com.

About CRX Media:
CRX Media is a marketing, new media and public relations group servicing the world of drag racing. Originally founded in early 2009 as a public relations and motorsports marketing company, we have grown to add branding, web and new media production services to the list of capabilities. We find the partners, cross-market, manage the campaigns, educate the audiences, and develop fan bases so our clients can focus on winning on Sunday. Visit them online at crxmedia.com.

About CleanBoost Performance Motor Oil:
Based in Sandy, Utah, CleanBoost® PERFORMANCE MOTOR OIL is a subdivision company of Combustion Technologies USA, (http://www.combustionusa.com) a privately held corporation, owned and operated by drag racers and automotive enthusiasts, who provide specialized products and services focused towards equipment performance and maintenance solutions coupled with measurable improvements in the operating costs of your equipment. They specialize in the Trucking, Construction, Mining, Oil & Gas, Automotive, Motorsports, Marine Industries and private label licensing of their products. They accomplish this by providing customers with the latest and most advanced products and service available in the industry today, while focusing on developments and new technology to improve the quality of their products to reduce the pollution effects of our environment. Learn more at cleanboostoil.com.

After spending the entire first day of qualifying trying to diagnose a mechanical gremlin in the fuel system of the Lindsay Racing nitro flopper on Friday, the CleanBoostoil.com Funny Car team was ready to hit the NHRA 1000’ race track for the first time since the 2009 NHRA World Finals in Pomona, Calif. The result was a planned 400’ shake down pass which netted a solid 5.228 second elapsed time, placing Day solidly in the 16-car field in the lucky number 13 spot. The fact the Mission Viejo, Calif. based driver was able to make the third qualifying session was due only to the selfless assistance of three other Fuel category teams.

“When we fired up our CleanBoostoil.com Monte Carlo Funny Car on Friday morning, our car had a significant fuel system problem, as the entire left hand side of the car was very lean, belching out flames and just sounded sick,” noted Day, who has driven in the NHRA Heritage Series Nostalgia Top Fuel and Funny Car divisions in 2010. “After changing everything we possibly could, and attempting to fire up the car 8 times, we were in left field. It was at this time, Dale Creasy Jr. and Jeff Diehl came over to our pit to give us a third party eye and helped us diagnose the problem. We were all here till 1am in the morning, and when we lit that bad boy up and it hit on all 8 cylinders, we all exhaled a sigh of relief.

“I can’t begin to thank them all enough for offering to help us out,” Day continued. “It shows once again the spirit of our sport and how we are all one big family out here. “Peanut” Creasy and “The Surfer” Diehl stayed with us until the wee hours of the morning. It was a great feeling, and we would not be out here and qualified in this field without their assistance. I am so thankful to John Lindsay and CleanBoost® PERFORMANCE MOTOR OIL for helping me to accomplish my dream of racing in the NHRA Full Throttle Series. We are going to rock it tomorrow.”

Day will match up against the reigning NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car champion; Robert Hight from Yorba Linda, Calif. Hight debuted in the NHRA Professional Series in 2005 at the season opening Winternationals. He did not capture his first round win until the next event in Phoenix, Ariz. The CleanBoostOil.com team would love nothing more than to give Day his first round win against the juggernaut at JFR.

“It’s Funny Car racing in Denver, which if we go out there and run our game and he makes a mistake we may actually take a round win,” Day concluded. “We know the odds are against us, but it will make one heck of a story if we can pull it off. Either way, we are honored to be racing tomorrow for CleanBoost, Impact Racing, Justice Brothers and all of our friends and family who have supported us.”

To learn more about James Day, please visit his team page.

Coming off the team’s first National Event victory at the IHRA Salt Lake Nitro-Jam in June, the Santa Clarita, Calif. based team will also use the weekend’s racing activities to debut their new marketing partnership with Combustion Technologies USA (http://www.combustionusa.com) and their CleanBoost® PERFORMANCE MOTOR OIL product line.

“We are very excited to have partnered with the group at Combustion Technologies USA for the remainder of 2010 and beyond,” noted Johnny Ahten, the 38-year old driver of the CleanBoostoil.com/Island Renovations A/Fuel Dragster. “We met with these guys at the Las Vegas National Event in April and absolutely hit it off from the start. They are all dedicated drag racers, who have developed several environmental safe performance products, which also provide exceptional cost-savings to race teams. Plus, their stuff is amazing quality and we feel gives us a performance advantage. We’re hoping to prove it this weekend in Sonoma. We’d love nothing more than to provide them with another NHRA Wally this weekend.”

Based in Sandy, Utah, CleanBoost® PERFORMANCE MOTOR OIL is a subdivision company of Combustion Technologies USA, a privately held corporation, owned and operated by drag racers and automotive enthusiasts, who provide specialized products and services focused towards equipment performance and maintenance solutions coupled with measurable improvements in the operating costs of your equipment. They specialize in the Trucking, Construction, Mining, Oil & Gas, Automotive, Motorsports, Marine Industries and private label licensing of their products. They accomplish this by providing customers with the latest and most advanced products and service available in the industry today, while focusing on developments and new technology to improve the quality of their products to reduce the pollution effects of our environment.

“We can’t begin to explain how excited we are to have partnered with the Ahten Family and their competitive A/Fuel Dragster for the remainder of 2010 and beyond,” noted Tim Charlet, Director of Sales and Marketing for Combustion Technologies USA. “The Ahten Family has proven over a period of time to be nothing short of the definition of class. We’d also like to thank Kevin Stith from Stith Printing for going above and beyond to ensure the team had new crew shirts available this weekend in Sonoma. We’ve got 3 NHRA Divisional Wally’s and 1 National Event Wally with teams using our products since April this year and we believe Johnny, Al, Bob, Howard, “Shark” and “Rocky” will help us add to the winning totals.”

The Ahten Racing team will also have Mark Niver Tribute stickers available at their pit area. The team is asking for a $5.00 donation for each sticker. The proceeds will be added to those raised by Combustion Technologies USA with their online sales and donated to Racers for Christ on behalf of the request of the Niver Family. Other stickers will be available from several Top Alcohol Division 7 teams in Sonoma.

To learn more about Johnny Ahten, please visit his team page at crxmedia.com.

Keep up to date with all the racing activities in Sonoma by visiting dragracecentral.com.

“I am always excited for drag racing, but seriously, right now I am chomping at the bit in preparation for racing in Denver,” noted Day. “When John Lindsay called me and offered me the ride in his Nitro Funny Car for this event, I was overwhelmed. When the guys at Combustion Technologies USA (http://www.combustionusa.com) and CleanBoostOil.com provided the funding to make it a reality, I was extremely humbled. I can’t thank them enough for providing me with a chance to live the dream once again.”

A second-generation drag racer growing up in the hot bed of the sport, Southern California, Day has worked his way to becoming one of the more diverse drivers in drag racing today. From front motored Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars, to the modern-day 300 MPH monsters of the 1,000-foot NHRA series, Day has driven them all. However, he didn’t start as a driver. Like everything in his life, he worked his way to the top.

Day began as a crew member on his father Richard Day’s race teams as a child. He then worked with several professional teams, starting with cleaning the race car until learning all phases of mechanical duties before he ever strapped into a race car. His work history includes wrenching on some of the world’s top race teams such as Jack Wyatt, Gary Densham, Jerry Toliver and Del Worsham. The experience has helped Day become a more complete and proficient driver.

“This is a new car for the Lindsay Racing team so we are planning to head out in Q-1 and make a shake down pass,” Day stated. “If everything goes as planned, we’ll step on the loud peddle and try to get a solid pass down the track in Q-2. Either way, our goal this weekend is to entertain the fans, provide a good R.O.I. for our Marketing Partners at Cleanboostoil.com, Impact Racing, CRX Media and Justice Brothers. We know we are underdogs here, but in Denver, anything can happen. If we can make the show, and race on Sunday, our whole team will be very happy.”

To learn more about James Day, please visit his team page at crxmedia.com.

About CRX Media:
CRX Media is a marketing, new media and public relations group servicing the world of drag racing. Originally founded in early 2009 as a public relations and motorsports marketing company, we have grown to add branding, web and new media production services to the list of capabilities. We find the partners, cross-market, manage the campaigns, educate the audiences, and develop fan bases so our clients can focus on winning on Sunday. Visit them online at http://www.crxmedia.com.

About CleanBoost Performance Motor Oil:
Based in Sandy, Utah, CleanBoost® PERFORMANCE MOTOR OIL is a subdivision company of Combustion Technologies USA, (http://www.combustionusa.com) a privately held corporation, owned and operated by drag racers and automotive enthusiasts, who provide specialized products and services focused towards equipment performance and maintenance solutions coupled with measurable improvements in the operating costs of your equipment. They specialize in the Trucking, Construction, Mining, Oil & Gas, Automotive, Motorsports, Marine Industries and private label licensing of their products. They accomplish this by providing customers with the latest and most advanced products and service available in the industry today, while focusing on developments and new technology to improve the quality of their products to reduce the pollution effects of our environment. Learn more at cleanboostoil.com.

Keep up to date with up to the minute race results posted on dragracecentral.com.

Gruninger’s last NHRA appearance was in a test driving capacity in Jim Cunningham’s Ford Mustang at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals, where he barely missed qualifying for the 16-car field by less than 0.004 seconds. Gruninger produced some very quick elapsed times Cunningham’s Ford in his two-race stint and was very appreciative to the Cunningham’s for the opportunity to drive their car.

“The experience with Jim and Gloria was very positive for me,” noted Gruninger. “They have a very professional operation over at Cunningham Motorsports and driving their car was a dream come true for certain. We knew it was going to be only a two-race deal and we tried to make the best of the opportunity. However, I am very pleased to be racing for my family at our hometown race. Our company, US RECOGNITION.COM is based here in Denver, and we’ll have several of our customers and friends on hand to support our team. With a fresh bullet in the chamber of our USRECOGNITION.COM sponsored Pro Stock Dodge, I am anxious to show how our hometown team can match up against the competition.”

A four-time competitor in the Little League World Series representing the State of Colorado, and a former Colorado High School State Golfing Champion who earned his PGA tour card shortly after graduating from high school, Gruninger brings his lust for competition and athletic mental attitude to the NHRA behind the wheel of the six-second, 200 mph Gruninger Motorsports US RECOGNITION.COM Pro Stock Dodge.

“Competing in sports at a young age has prepared me for racing against some of the best racers in motorsports,” noted Gruninger. “People might think driving a Pro Stock car is simple, but there are several challenges in driving one of these 200 mph door cars down a quarter-mile drag strip. It requires physical ability, extreme concentration and a mental-can-do attitude. You don’t want to get into one of these cars unless you are 100 percent confident in your equipment, your team, and even yourself. It’s a dangerous hobby, but I feel safer in this Jerry Hass built race car than driving down I-70 in my personal car. Plus, it’s a lot more fun.”

To learn more about Danny Gruninger, please visit his team page at crxmedia.com.

About CRX Media:
CRX Media is a marketing, new media and public relations group servicing the world of drag racing. Originally founded in early 2009 as a public relations and motorsports marketing company, we have grown to add branding, web and new media production services to the list of capabilities. We find the partners, cross-market, manage the campaigns, educate the audiences, and develop fan bases so our clients can focus on winning on Sunday. Visit CRX online at crxmedia.com.

Keep up to date with up to the minute race results posted on dragracecentral.com.

Buzdas, a former NHRA Division 7 Jr. Dragster champion and recent driver of Jim Ray’s potent Blown Alcohol Top Eliminator West Dragster from Yuba City recently completed his NHRA 2A licensing procedures in a test session driving Ray’s rail to a best elapsed time of 6.12 seconds at 229 miles per hour. For the rookie TAD pilot, the opportunity to drive for the Brazil family is a dream come true.

“I am very thankful to Jerry and Betty for providing me with the honor of driving their very competitive race car,” noted Buzdas, who is preparing to enter his junior year this fall at California State University in Fresno. “It has always been a goal of mine to drive in the TAD division and being selected to pilot the Brazil Racing Blown Alcohol Dragster and follow in the footsteps of previous team drivers Tom Anderson, Brad Hansen and Darren Nicholson is indeed a luxury I did not expect. We understand a learning curve is expected, however we’ve got over 50 years of drag racing experience tuning the wrenches of this car and I’ve got some great mentors to learn from. I can’t wait to hit the track.”

The Brazil Racing team will be assisted by the tuning talents of Dave and Larry Edgecomb, who have competed in both Blown Alcohol and A/Fuel trim in NHRA Division 7 for several years. Supporting the team this season are marketing partners MotoWear.com, kurbsidekustoms.com and CRX Media. The team will spend a full day testing in Sonoma prior to debuting at the Division 7 LODRS Event.

“This past off season has been very educational for me and I am extremely thankful for the support of good friends and my family,” Buzdas added. “This opportunity to drive for the Brazil family would not be possible had it not been for Jim Ray. He approached me when I was 17 about driving his Advanced ET car and has been very important in my growth as a driver and a person. It’s people like Jim and Brazil family who are great for our sport. They are die-hard racers and I’m humbled they took a chance on me. I plan to make them proud.”

To learn more about Kenny Buzdas, please visit his team page at crxmedia.com.