NHRA

Johnny Rocca returns at Las Vegas

Rocca unites with Prolong for "Ironhorse" Return starting at AD Delco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals in October. LEESBURG, Virginia (September 17, 2002) - Johnny Rocca, an NHRA track owner and one of the more legendary and colorful campaigners in ...

Edited: Sep 18, 2002, 4:26 AM

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Rocca unites with Prolong for "Ironhorse" Return starting at AD Delco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals in October.

LEESBURG, Virginia (September 17, 2002) - Johnny Rocca, an NHRA track owner and one of the more legendary and colorful campaigners in the highly popular Pro Modified category is set to return to active driving competition and select special appearances with his crowd pleasing supercharged 1949 Mercury "Ironhorse" before year's end.

His Leesburg, Virginia-based USA Racing Team will rejoin the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Powerade Drag Racing Series during the AC Delco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals, scheduled the weekend of October 24-27, 2002 at "The Strip" in Nevada, and receive financial support from former NHRA national event sponsor and breakthrough lubricant technology leader, Prolong Super Lubricants of Irvine, California.

In addition, the Rocca and the "Ironhorse" Pro Modified will be on display and signing autographs in a support capacity with Prolong at the SEMA show in Las Vegas, the largest gathering of automotive industry professionals in the world, scheduled for November 5-8, plus the Performance Racing Industry trade show in Indianapolis, Indiana the weekend of December 5-7.

"I'm extremely pleased to be able to announce a return to the hotly competitive NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series after a self-imposed sabbatical," chuckled the likeable Rocca, owner of South Carolina-based Darlington International Dragway and a proud Native American member of the Southern Band Tuscarora tribe.

"Given the exceptional and positive direction that NHRA is heading with Pro Modified, plus the support and assistance of Prolong Super Lubricants, we hope to become competitive enough to be a realistic and viable threat in the series, while keeping options open for the 2003 season - and beyond.

"Competing at this level is something you certainly don't forget and the event in Las Vegas can't come soon enough, as far as I'm concerned."

Rocca, who began his quarter-mile love affair more than 40 years ago in an array of high-powered street coupe and later blown altered roadsters, returned from a previous retirement in the early 1990s to campaign an alcohol dragster, after having built a highly successful computerized traffic signal company in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

While his exploits with the rear engine machine could be deemed satisfactory, it wasn't until he eyed the nostalgic body styles within the emerging Pro Modified category in the mid-1990s that got the likeable Rocca's blood flowing.

The current "Ironhorse" combined Rocca's love for the 1949 Mercury body style with power from a supercharged and alcohol-burning drag racing engine, and resulted in a state-of-the-art machine built by a combination of Pro Mod owner/driver Alan Pittman and former division world champion and current NHRA funny car star, Scotty Cannon.

While Rocca began his USA Racing Team's Pro Modified exploits initially as a driver with a blown and chopped Willys dubbed "Tin Indian", he later stepped away to become his team's crew chief on a series of "Ironhorse" Mercury's and excelled to the top, establishing the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) elapsed time world record at 6.22-seconds in 1999. In 2000 his team captured numerous low elapsed time and national event titles, including the Canadian Drag Racing Series world championship.

Prolong International Corporation, through its operating subsidiaries, manufactures, markets and distributes a complete line of patented lubricant and proprietary fuel additive products. The Company's products are marketed and sold under the brand name Prolong® and are used in automotive, industrial and consumer applications. Prolong products are sold throughout the U.S. and in selected international markets.

For updated news and information on the USA Racing Team's return, plus a complete line of apparel and merchandise including the Prolong Xtreme Machines music and racing sound effects CD, please visit their official website at: www.usaracing.com.

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