Paul McMahan and the No. 20 Tony Stewart Motorsports team earned their first victory of the 2006 season with a win at the USA Race Park in Tucson, Arizona, on Saturday night. In only McMahan's fourth start with the No. 20 team, he drove his Paul Kistler built Mopar powered machine to victory lane by leading all 30-laps of the World of Outlaws Sprint Series A-main event. McMahan, who picked up a dash event win en route to the victory, also earned an eighth-place finish at Manzanita Speedway in Arizona on Friday night.

Joey Saldana and the No. 9 Kasey Kahne Racing team, using Mopar power built by Speedway Engine Development, were able to maintain the World of Outlaws Sprint Series points lead by earning a seventh-place finish at Manzanita on Friday. Saldana won the B-main event on Saturday night to transfer to the A-main field, where he finished 11th.

Sammy Swindell and the No. 5 Forbrook Motorsports team earned a Top-five and a Top-10 finish on the weekend. Swindell finished fourth on Friday night and ninth at USA Race Park on Saturday night to wrap up the weekend. Forbrook Motorsports utilizes Gaerte-built Mopar engines.

Samuel Hubinette showed why he's considered one of the elite drifters in the world today, as the "Crazy Swede" posted a semifinals finish in the D1 Grand Prix Series Round 1 event at Irwindale Speedway in California on Saturday. Hubinette posted the best finish for a U.S. drifter in a field that featured the best drifters from around the world.

Hubinette, with the help of the NuFormz Racing team and owner Shaun Carlson, kicked off the weekend by qualifying his Mopar SRT10 Dodge Viper number one on Friday. He then faced Vaughn Gittin Jr., in the first round of eliminations. After the judges called for a "one more time," Hubinette emerged with the win. After defeating Japanese drifter Takahiro Ueno in the second round, Hubinette bowed out in the semis in a match-up against Nobushige Kumakubo, the second-ranked drifter in Japan. The semifinal run placed Hubinette at fourth for the event, out of 58 drivers. The event also was Hubinette's first with BFGoodrich Tires.

"This is my highest finish ever in D1," said Hubinette. "I was really pumped up about qualifying number one. We had lot of things to be really happy about. I'm really stoked about the BFGs [tires]. They kept their grip really well turning sideways into the corner and created a lot of smoke, which is a good thing in drifting."

Next up, Hubinette will debut the Mopar Dodge Charger in the first event of the 2006 Formula D Drift season at Long Beach, Calif., on April 2. Hubinette was the inaugural Formula D champ in 2004, and posted a runner-up finish in the series in 2005. For more info on Mopar or Hubinette, log on to moparspeed.com, mopar.com or samuelhubinette.com.

Steve Francis posted a victory at the Kentucky Lake Motor Speedway on Saturday night to continue his win streak into the month of March. Francis and the No. 15 team were the class of the 74 UMP Late Model field, earning a $10,000 payday for their efforts in the second Annual Early Bird Classic event.

"The Kentucky Colonel" and company will return to action this coming weekend for more UMP Late Model Series racing before the team heads back into the World of Outlaws Late Model Series ranks on March 17-18. Francis, who has earned nine Top-five finishes and 14 Top-10 finishes in only 20 starts this season, currently leads the World of Outlaws Late Model Series point championship.

Francis will return to World of Outlaws Late Model Series competition on March 17 at the Baton Rouge Raceway and March 18 at the Fast Trax Motorplex. For more information regarding Francis or the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, log on to stevefrancisracing.com or woolms.com.

Josh Wise made a successful return to the cockpit over the weekend, as he earned an eighth-place finish in the USAC/CRA Sprint Series event at the Perris Auto Speedway on March 4. Competing in the No. 7w machine for the West Coast event, Wise qualified second quick on the night. Battling traffic, Wise was able to record a Top-10 finish in his first event, since an accident at Manzanita Speedway in Arizona in January sidelined him briefly.

Wise's Tony Stewart Racing Enterprises teammate Levi Jones was also on hand for the USAC/CRA event. Jones was unable to transfer into the night's feature event in the No. 42x machine. Wise, Jones and the USAC National Sprint Car Series will resume action on April 1 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Jones will begin defense of his 2005 USAC National Sprint Car Series championship as the 2006 season kicks off at the Tony Stewart-owned facility.

By John Cardinale

Thirty-five lucky race fans not only got to mingle with top drivers from the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series on Saturday, including Team Mopar members Ron Capps and Gary Scelzi, but they also supported a great cause at the 4th annual NHRA Tour de Charity at the Infineon Raceway Karting Center. The event, which coupled race fans with top NHRA drivers for a day of karting, raised $11,000 for Speedway Children's Charities, the charitable arm of Infineon Raceway.

Star NHRA drivers swapped paint with the fans over the challenging road course. Capps took bragging rights among the NHRA drivers, turning the best lap over the circuit at 55.718 seconds. Scelzi wheeled a lap of 56.565. Capps has been dubbed King of the Track for three of the event's four years.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world," said Scelzi, who has participated in every NHRA Tour de Charity since its inception in 2002. "It's nice blasting around this course in these karts. It's amazing just how much concentration it takes to get around this course. I know I'll be back."

By Dick Jordan and Mike Harker

Team Stewart, sponsored by USAC Triple Crown and two-time NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion Tony Stewart, posted the closest victory in the ten-year history of the USAC Benevolent Foundation Go-Kart Enduro fund-raiser Saturday in Indianapolis. The team, captained by USAC National Midget Champion Josh Wise and Indianapolis 500 veteran Johnny Parsons, finished just 10 seconds ahead of Team Querry, sponsored by Greg Querry and captained by Brian Gerster and Dane Carter in the three-hour event at the "Fun at Fastimes" two-level indoor karting facility. The event is held annually to generate funds for USAC's Benevolent Foundation, which has provided needed financial relief for many needy USAC racers and their families.

USAC National Sprint Car Champion Levi Jones, former USAC champion Jay Drake, 4-Crown Nationals Midget Champ Danny Stratton, plus Adam Barth, John Sayne, Darrell Lyons, Brad Wise and Jack Stephenson comprised the balance of the winning Stewart team, which received a "Backyard Bar-B-Que" for twelve as part of their prize package.

Tony Stewart Racing Enterprises and the USAC National Sprint Car Series will resume action on April 1, at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. For more information regarding Tony Stewart Racing Enterprises or USAC Racing, log on to tonystewart.com or usacracing.com.