Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Drag-racing community sets fund-raising auction for killed driver’s family

Friday, Oct. 22, 2004 | 10:02 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

In all likelihood, all four of the 2004 NHRA professional championships will be decided by the time the Powerade Drag Racing Series leaves Las Vegas next Sunday night following the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.

Nevertheless, the season-ending NHRA Finals Nov. 11-14 in Pomona, Calif., is shaping up to be the race to attend this season -- and not just for drag-racing fans.

Two-time Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon and his wife, Allison, have been busy the past two months organizing the Darrell Russell Memorial Auction during the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals.

All proceeds from the auction will benefit Julie Russell, the widow of Top Fuel driver Darrell Russell, who was killed in a racing accident in June.

"We need to rise up together and help out a fellow racer," Dixon said in announcing the auction, which will be Saturday, Nov. 13, after the final round of qualifying at Pomona Raceway. "Hopefully, we can raise a bunch of money for Julie and the family to help them through this difficult time in their lives. It's the right thing to do."

Dixon and other members of the drag-racing community have reached out to other forms of racing -- as well as other sports -- and already have assembled an impressive assortment of memorabilia, including many one-of-a-kind items.

Among the items being placed up for bid include"

A more extensive list of items available at the auction can be found at www.nhra.com/2004/news/October/100701.html.

Admission to the auction is free to anyone attending Saturday's NHRA Finals in Pomona.

Busch holds a 24-point lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr. and 74-point edge over Jeff Gordon heading into Sunday's 500-lap race.

"Martinsville is one of those short tracks that the Nextel Chase for the Cup contenders are all going to run strong on," said Busch, who won the fall race at Martinsville in 2002. "Junior has been strong there. He's finished third there so many times (and) he's on the verge of winning.

"Jeff Gordon has had an advantage there the past few times. We've won there back in 2002.

"You just go down the list; (Ryan) Newman is going to be strong and (so is) Mark Martin."

Sunday's Subway 500 also will mark the series' first visit to Martinsville since the concrete-and-asphalt track has been resurfaced.

"The new surface there is going to provide for a different type of racing," Busch said. "What I noticed there in testing is the marbles gathered quickly just outside of the racing groove, so it's going to be single-file for a while and a matter of staying out of trouble.

"And another element that's going to be new to Martinsville is the center-of-corner speed. There are going to be guys that gain so much speed through the center of the corner on somebody that you've got to protect your radiator, so it's going to be a battle."

Mosley, who said the team is in negotiations with potential sponsors, will drive a Chevrolet in a minimum of 20 races next season.

It will be the second career Truck Series start for Labonte, who finished 34th (engine failure) in the 1996 race at Phoenix International Raceway in his NCTS debut.

All vehicles in SCORE's Trophy Truck, Class 1, Class 10 and Protruck divisions will be required to have the "black boxes" installed prior to the Nov. 16-20 race down the Baja peninsula from Ensenada to La Paz.

"SCORE International has always been on the cutting edge of innovation in our sport and we welcome the opportunity to add this special technological advancement to help SCORE maintain its pre-eminent position," SCORE president Sal Fish said.

"After testing four of these units at last month's SCORE Las Vegas Primm 300, we are convinced not only with their reliability, but also their accuracy in providing us instantaneous data for review."

To date, 261 vehicles have officially entered this year's Baja 1000 and nearly 275 vehicles in 25 Pro and five Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs are expected to compete in Mexico.

More than 20 drivers and riders are scheduled to participate, including Craig Treble, Tim Wilkerson, V. Gaines, Shawn Gann, Karen Stofer, Mark Whisnant, Mike Strasburg, Scott Weis, Jerry Haas, Tony Rizzo, Jeff Arend, Shawn Gann and Don Sosenka.