NHRA founder Wally Parks, 94, passes away

GLENDORA, Calif. (Sept. 28, 2007) – Wally Parks, the driving force behind the formation of NHRA, has died at the age of 94. It was Parks' vision, goals and unconditional commitment to the need for speed and side-by-side racing in a safer, more controlled environment that created what is today the world's largest motorsports governing body.

"Today is a sad day in the world of NHRA and the sport of drag racing," said Tom Compton, president of NHRA. "Words simply can't describe the immeasurable impact Wally has had on the sport he created and the millions of people's lives he touched along the way. The name Wally Parks is synonymous with drag racing, and his vision and direction will guide NHRA for years to come.  Everyone in drag racing, and the industries formed to service the sport, will forever be indebted to Wally, his vision, his focus and his desire to create, build and grow NHRA."

"Wally spent his lifetime doing what he loved," said Dallas Gardner, chairman of the NHRA board of directors. "He marked the path and led the way for this incredible industry and the sport of drag racing. Wally was NHRA, and through his dream came a path to follow with lofty goals and ambition. He put the people in place and trusted in them. He has not abandoned us. He has left us with a road map that he knows will be followed."

Parks, who founded NHRA in 1951, received countless awards in the motorsports world and played a pivotal role in the establishment of an entire industry devoted to speed and automotive aftermarket parts and accessories that today is a multibillion-dollar business. Yet Parks never implied that he did it all himself. His pride and joy, and where he spent most of his time in recent years while still serving on NHRA's board of directors, was The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by Automobile Club of Southern California at Fairplex in Pomona, Calif.

Details regarding arrangements and planned events will be released at a later date.

WALLY PARKS, 1913-2007

NHRA founder

Chairman of NHRA Motorsports Museum

The primary driving force behind the formation of the National Hot Rod Association, Wally Parks was the visionary whose early goals created what today is the world's largest motorsports governing body.

Parks, who founded NHRA in 1951, never implied that he did it all himself. Reflecting on the tremendous growth and success of NHRA, he noted how fortunate he was that so many dedicated people had shared his outlook that almost anything is possible if you believe in it strongly enough. One of the most dedicated was unquestionably his late wife, Barbara Parks, who was regarded as the most influential behind-the-scenes force in the growth of NHRA. Mrs. Parks succumbed to cancer in late January of 2006 after a long battle with the devastating illness.

But without Parks' vision and perseverance, much of what has happened may not have been achieved.

Born in Oklahoma and living in Kansas until age 8, Parks and his family then moved to California, where his automotive interests surfaced. In his high school years, he became active in building stripped-down Model-T Fords and Chevy fours for use on the street and in early speed trials conducted on dry lakebeds in the Mojave Desert, north of Los Angeles.

In 1937, Parks took part in the formation of the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA) – an organization focused on conducting land speed record events – serving as one of its officials until World War II began. In 1946, following military service in the South Pacific, Parks was elected president of the reorganized SCTA. In 1947, after 10 years of employment as a road test driver and process engineer for General Motors, Parks left GM to assume a new role as the SCTA's general manager. It was his concept that produced America's first Hot Rod Show, presented by the SCTA in 1948 at the Los Angeles Exposition Armory.

In 1948, Parks helped co-publishers Bob Petersen and Bob Lindsay in the introduction of Hot Rod magazine, which became one of the world's largest-circulation auto-enthusiast publications, and later was named its first editor. In 1949, Parks organized the campaign that led to the opening of Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats for hot rod speed trials – a still-thriving annual activity.

In 1951, utilizing Hot Rod as a conduit to nationwide readership, Parks formed the NHRA. In 1963, he resigned his position as editorial director for all of Petersen's automotive magazines – Hot Rod, Motor Trend, Car Craft, Sports Car Graphic and Motor Life – to assume full-time administrative duties as president of NHRA.

An early recipient of Car Craft magazine's prestigious Ollie Award for his many contributions to motorsports, Parks was named Man of the Decade, 1962-1972 by Popular Hot Rodding magazine and was recognized as Man of the Year in 1973 by the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA). The American Auto Racing Writers & Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) honored Parks in 1988 and again in 1994 for his pioneering efforts in motorsports. Parks received his highest honors in 1992 and 1993. He was drag racing's first inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1992 in Talladega, Ala., and in 1993, he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in Novi, Mich.

In 1994, the tributes to Parks' legacy continued to pile up. A large bronze statue of Parks was presented at NHRA's Gainesville Raceway, which was eventually moved to its current location in front of the NHRA Motorsports Museum at Fairplex in Pomona, Calif. Later in 1994, Parks and wife Barbara were co-inductees into the Don Garlits International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in Ocala, Fla., for their pioneering efforts, which spearheaded NHRA's success. Parks also was the first recipient of the Don Prudhomme Award, a trophy presented by NHRA to an individual who has made a profound impact on the growth and positive image of the NHRA POWERade Series.

At the 2001 NHRA Awards Ceremony, Parks was presented the prestigious Blaine Johnson Award for his dedication, perseverance and nurturing commitment to the sport throughout the years.

In 2002, Parks again was recognized for his many contributions to the sport of drag racing. He was presented with the inaugural Robert E. Petersen Lifetime Achievement Award at the fourth annual Hot Rod & Performance Trade Show in Indianapolis. The late Petersen, a renowned automotive publisher and creator of multiple automotive magazines, then presented Parks with the all-bronze sculpture which was created to honor the entrepreneurs who have contributed to the history, growth and well-being of the hot rod industry.

In late 2003, Parks received another honor of distinction, as he was named the Dean Batchelor Lifetime Achievement Award winner by the Motor Press Guild in Los Angeles.

Parks remained on NHRA's board of directors and dedicated much of his time to his personal involvement with the cultivation and expansion of The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum at Fairplex in Pomona, home of the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals and Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals.  Although much of the museum's historical focus is on the evolution of NHRA and drag racing, it also features many other forms of motorsports that relate closely to the formative years of NHRA, including dry lakes, Bonneville, oval track racing, and allied performance industries.

These are elements that appealed most to Wally Parks, a guy who had been there, done that, and enjoyed and appreciated it for decades.

From NHRA

NASCAR: NEWMAN DODGE FAILS QUALIFYING INSPECTION

Kansas City, Kansas - Ryan Newman's alltel Dodge Avenger failed to meet the roof height specifications in post qualifying inspection. NASCAR officials disqualified Newman's time moving him from the outside pole to the 43rd starting position.

There were no other issues in qualifying.

NCATS: Kawartha Dodge Charger 250 Photo Gallery by Dave Franks

Photo Gallery (234 shots) from the season-ending Dodge Charger 250 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race at Kawartha Speedway on Sept. 23, 2007. Photos courtesy of Dave Franks.

Co-promotes: No Longer Biotech’s Holy Grail

You could see it coming. Well, kind of. Idenix on Friday snuck out the news that it was bailing out of its US and European co-promote with Novartis on its Hep B drug Tyzeka (Sebivo in Europe).

Co-promotes have until recently been most biotech’s holy grail, and co-promote options, at least, a sine qua non of much of recent licensing activity with larger pharma. It’s all part of that fully-integrated, ‘we-want-to-become-the-next-Genentech’ dream; we wrote about whether the dream made real-world commercial sense in IN VIVO in April.

We also pointed to data showing that barely more than a tenth of biotech-pharma co-promote plans become reality. When they do, they can be a nightmare--there was certainly no love lost between ICOS and Eli Lilly over Cialis before that (inevitable) acquisition.

Now of course, Big Pharma would say that co-promotes are a nightmare: they don’t like diluting their control over commercialization—which is, for all the talk of value inflection points throughout drug development, where the actual money comes from. But some of the arguments they put forward are sound: commercialization costs a helluva lot, even for so-called specialist sales forces, it’s increasingly complex as regulatory and reimbursement hurdles multiply, and, frankly, biotechs would make more profits by securing a good royalty share.

Idenix seems to have come to at least some of those conclusions, too. The biotech needed to rein in after the failure of its Hep C candidate a couple of months back, and this move will save it $40-45 million a year, apparently, by laying off the Tyzeka sales staff. “We have changed our agreement for Tyzeka to a royalty stream arrangement,” said Idenix CEO Jean-Pierre Sommadossi in the release outlining a wider re-structuring at Idenix.

In the original deal, outlined here, Idenix received sales-linked payments only in territories not covered by the co-promote. Neither those, nor the level of the new royalty stream, is revealed, but we’re certainly talking levels far from the single-digit tokens that grateful biotech used to have to put up with.

Funny, though, the timing: just a day or two before the announcement, Susan Koppy, SVP business and corporate development at Idenix, was on a panel at Windhover’s Pharmaceutical Strategic Alliances conference in New York. (Read here and here, for examples of what you missed.) She described the co-promote with Novartis as “a true co-promote,” in response to a question about which of the partners effectively had control (don’t forget that Novartis owns 56% of Idenix). But then, she added: “The relationship may well evolve as we go forward.”

Indeed it has. And it’s a fair bet that the evolution of other biotech co-promotes, real or planned, will go the same way. Biotechs are discovering and developing the drugs right now and benefiting handsomely from that. “Stick to what you do best” applies to them, as much as to Big Pharma.

Ortho Settlement Doesn't Settle Everything

Yesterday’s announcement that the U.S. Attorney and four of the nation’s biggest orthopedics companies agreed to a $311 million settlement of bribery accusations would seem to put this entire matter to bed.

Under the agreement, four companies—Biomet Inc., DePuy Inc., Smith & Nephew plc and Zimmer Holdings Inc.—paid varying portions of the settlement while all agreed to adopt corporate integrity agreements and to hire outside firms that will monitor their relationships with physicians.

(It’s worth noting that Stryker Orthopedics did not take part on the settlement. CEO Steve McMillan touched on the subject before the settlement in a recent IN VIVO magazine article. Medtronic Sofamar Danek also has had prominent role in this debate.)

But once the cloud cover over the industry clears, we may find an orthopedics industry facing a whole new set of daunting questions:

What of the clean up that’s already begun? Certainly, few industry executives would deny privately that there are more than a few skeletons in the closet of most orthopedics companies—arrangements entered into around consulting agreements or royalty payments that richly reward surgeons for minimal amounts of work. But the $311 million settlement aside, our bet is that most orthopedic industry executives are applauding the settlement and—particularly given that no heavier, industry-disrupting judgments were handed down—may even have welcomed the scrutiny that the case brought.

For one thing, many orthopedic companies have themselves been trying to clean up their act over the past several years, following guidelines such as those promulgated by industry trade association AdvaMed governing appropriate compensation in sales and marketing practices and consulting arrangements.

That’s good corporate citizenship, but also good business sense. Particularly as the industry has consolidated in recent years and become much more of an oligopoly, legacy consulting arrangements that don’t deliver real clinical and economic value to orthopedics companies have become both fiscally irresponsible and unnecessary. Were there times in the past when orthopedics companies set up less-than-robust consulting or royalty arrangements with surgeons just because the surgeons demanded arrangements similar to ones they believed other surgeons were getting? Sure. But as the industry has consolidated and competitive positions stabilized, the ortho giants have no longer felt the temptation to enter into these agreements. Adherence to the AdvaMed guidelines were one rationale for pushing against these kinds of practices; the federal investigation into these practices now gives ortho companies more and more plausible arguments to deny surgeons who come asking for lucrative deals.

Does this tilt or level the playing field for smaller companies? The US Attorney investigations focused on the largest orthopedics companies, a group who, in aggregate represent greater than 90% market share. What are the implications for smaller suppliers and start-up companies? Does the ban against aggressive sales training and consulting agreements eliminate questionable practices and level the playing field? Or does it do just the opposite, erecting huge barriers to entry around the market leaders and preventing others from using well-established tactics that get the attention of important customers? More to the point, particularly where things like the AdvaMed guidelines are concerned, what posture should non-market leaders take? Strict compliance with what are voluntary rules? Or an attitude of, “Let Big Ortho do what it has to; we’ll do what we have to?”

What of the historical and vital relationship with physicians?
Most of the scrutiny has focused on sales and marketing practices—product training programs at the Ritz or sales training done on championship golf courses—those kinds of things. But what rules do we want to adopt about surgeon/supplier relationships where it concerns new product development? Rigid firewalls in the area of technological innovation might cut down on some abuses but almost certainly would signal the end of meaningful new product development in a field where innovation comes largely, if not exclusively from collaborations and feedback from suppliers.

Already some surgeons are beginning to claim that rather than simply ending abuses, the current scrutiny is giving orthopedics and spine companies license to deny them fair compensation for new ideas and new product iterations. Many device industry executives argue that while the current wide-scale scrutiny (one which embraces physicians working with drug companies on clinical trials and the like) is entirely appropriate, some special consideration should be set aside for device companies when it comes to oversight on product company/surgeon relationships.

As noted, the settlement is most likely good news, particularly in that few believe it will call for fundamental changes in industry dynamics. But no one should breathe a sigh of relief until we see what impact, if any, the future oversight will have on surgeon relationships as they apply not to sales and marketing efforts, but to product development.

NASCAR: GOODYEAR SELLING OLD TIRES TO TEAMS FOR TESTING

Goodyear quietly came to an agreement with NASCAR which allowed the Akron, Ohio based tire manufacturer to sell off their inventory of 2005 and 2006 tires to NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series teams.

"We sold a lot of tires in August," Stu Grant of Goodyear replied when asked if a deal had been reached. "These teams should have plenty of tires to test with through the second half of the season."

According t0 Grant, teams were supplied with order forms and once those orders were filled the remaining tires were offered for sale on a first come first serve basis.

What happens in 2008 is still up in the air. NASCAR has not cleared Goodyear to sell any excess 2007 tires to race teams at this time.

NASCAR: Was the 25 Point Penalty Against Carl Edwards a Gift from NASCAR?

At least one former Roush Racing crew chief believes NASCAR was more than easy on Edwards and company considering the infraction found at Dover in post race inspection.

"The car was low in the rear and not just a little bit low," said the crew chief after requesting anonymity. "Bringing down the rear in the car of tomorrow lifts the front end thereby giving it more travel. It also reduces the amount of rear downforce which brings the car into a better balance front to rear."

NASCAR officials determined the Edwards-driven Ford was clearly outside the allowed post race tolerances. And, if you consider the words of this one highly respected crew chief, being to low in the rear was a definite advantage when applied to the car of tomorrow.

Elon Poll: Senate

There is a lot of interesting data in the Elon Poll on the upcoming 2008 US Senate race. According to them Dole’s approval rating is 50.4% approve, 24.7% disapprove.

STRONGLY DISAPPROVE 9.9
DISAPPROVE 14.8
APPROVE 38.0
STRONGLY APPROVE 12.4

PPP's latest approval number for Dole was 45%. The difference between residents and likely voters could make up that difference, but PPP found many more respondents willing to say they disapproved of Dole-- 40%.

Strangely, they also asked whether or not respondents were satisfied with Dole's representation of the state. Not sure what's the difference between approval and satisfaction, but 53.2% were satisfied, and 28% were dissatisfied.

Now let me quote directly from the Elon press release:

Respondents indicated various levels of satisfaction with Dole’s representation of North Carolinians on public policy issues. Those indicating they were satisfied or very satisfied:

* Family Values: 54 percent
* Education: 47 percent
* Transportation: 40 percent
* Economy: 39 percent
* Political Corruption: 35 percent
* The Iraq War: 32 percent
* Health Care Costs: 32 percent
* Immigration: 28 percent

When considering what issues will influence their vote for U.S. Senator next year, respondents gave the following answers:

* The Iraq War: 78 percent
* Economy: 76 percent
* Health Care Costs: 75 percent
* Immigration: 73 percent
* Taxes: 72 percent
* Education: 72 percent
* Family Values: 66 percent
* Political Corruption: 65 percent
* Transportation: 37 percent

What this tells me is that the issues that North Carolinians are caring about when they pick a US Senator are exactly the issues that they are least satisfied about when it comes to Senator Dole; especially the Iraq War, but also the economy, health care, and even immigration. That cannot be good for an incumbent.

Finally, the most important question:

Do you plan to vote [for or against] Elizabeth Dole as U.S. Senator from North Carolina?

AGAINST 26.0
FOR 35.3
TOO EARLY TO TELL (v) 18.5
DON'T KNOW/ NOT SURE (v) 18.9
REFUSED (v) 1.2

I don't like adding the "too early to tell" choice. That dilutes the poll results. Nevertheless, only 35% say they are surely going to vote for Dole. That is WELL BELOW the 50% mark and very dangerous for an incumbent. Democrats ought to be optimistic with this result.

Elon Poll: Governor

Nothing surprising to be found here. 35.1% of North Carolina residents say they intend to vote for a Democrat for Governor, while 32.3% say they will vote for a Republican.

Of the people who say they intend to vote Democratic, 35.1% support Beverly Perdue and 27.3% prefer Richard Moore. That’s perfectly in line with our polling on the race.

Among Republican voters… 11.8% support Bill Graham, 10.9% support Bob Orr, and 10.6% support Fred Smith. That closely matches the latest Civitas poll, but is different from PPP polling on the Republican primary, which has Graham with a stronger lead.

The SunTrust MOTO-ST Series to Debut on SPEED TV

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The sights and sounds of the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series will thunder onto the airways beginning Tuesday, November 20. 
 
Starting with the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in March, each of the six events in this year�s series will be broadcast on SPEED TV per the following schedule.   Running one hour in length, each show will feature spectacular non-stop action-packed racing and will be broadcast at 12:00 p.m. (EST).
 
Daytona USA 300 >> Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Homestead 500K >> Tuesday, November 27, 2007
VIR 500K >> Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Road America 500K >> Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Iowa Speedway 500K >> Tuesday, December 18, 2007
8 Hours At Daytona Finale >> Tuesday, January 8, 2008
 
The newest professional two-wheeled tour in America, the SunTrust MOTO-ST Series is an incredible test of team endurance competition.  Boasting a full contingent of some of North America�s most accomplished racers aboard three classes of thundering twin cylinder motorcycles, this series offers fans the chance to witness some of the most breathtaking competition seen in the United States.
 
Be sure to tune in to SPEED and see and hear the thunder of this highly popular new series.

From Eugene Crouch // Grand-Am

Barrie Speedway Report - September 22

McWhirter and Beatty claim season end checkers

By Dave Vokey // Photos by Dave Franks

BARRIE, ON – It was a splendid afternoon for racing at Barrie Speedway on Sept 22 for the season finale. The big winners on the day were #88 Scott Beatty of Barrie and #31 Shaun McWhirter of Mount Forest. Beatty would capture the 35 lap feature that was being made up from the Sept 15 rain out, while McWhirter would notch a victory in the final race of the season, a 50 lap affair for the Full Throttle Late Models. The track would also crown its 2007 points champion as #48 Dwayne Baker of Stayner would take the title in his B&B Towing Dodge Charger edging #19 Keith McLeod by a mere 18 points in the season long battle between the two stout competitors.
 
In the 35 lap make up feature, Beatty would dive into the lead from the pole, with #97 Rob Inglis working his way under the 36 of Stoyan Zutich to take over second on lap 4. Beatty would be running laps in the 14.9 seconds range throughout the early going, holding a 2 car length lead over Inglis. On the move early was the Look Company Dodge of McLeod, moving from ninth to fourth in just a dozen laps. McLeod would lead the way for Baker and #10 Gord Shepherd to climb through the field, with Beatty still out front looking for his first ever feature victory at the High Line. Beatty and Inglis were now running nose to tail when Inglis would tap Beatty in corner 2 just past the midway point, with Inglis being sent to the rear, while Beatty would inherit the point back after the final call came down from the officials. This turn of events would bring #69 Al Inglis to the runner up spot, with McLeod, Baker, and Shepherd rounding out the top 5.
 
The caution would again fly on lap 19, as Shepherd, #23 Rob Black, and the 37 of visiting driver Paul Dejong of Ottawa would collect between turns 1&2.
 
On the restart, #31 Shaun McWhirter would get the jump on Baker, moving past him on the outside line to take over fourth. The best battle was taking place just outside the top 5, with #2 Mike Brown and #28 Robin Jongen locked in a tight battle for position as the race hit the 25 lap mark. Beatty was still holding a slim lead over Al Inglis, who now had his mirror full as McLeod was itching to find his way past. McLeod would look under Inglis entering corner 3 on lap 28, but was unable to make the pass stick. Beatty was running a splendid race at the front opening up a 3 car length lead, as McLeod would now begin to try Inglis on the high side looking for as many positions gained as possible over the point leader coming into the day Baker. Baker and McWhirter would stage a battle of epic proportions over the closing stages, with neither willing to give an inch in the race for fourth place. They would come to the line with Beatty taking the checkered and Inglis fending off the McLeod challenge to claim the runner up post. McLeod would take third, with Baker, and McWhirter rounding out the top 5, after McWhirter was penalized one position for jumping the green on a late race restart.
 
"We were long overdue for this win. I've been battling out here with these guys for 3 seasons now and to get that feature win I'm just on cloud nine right now" stated Beatty after the race.
 
In the season ending 50, it was Baker coming into the race with a slim 9 point lead over McLeod, with the large crowd on hand on the edge of their seats waiting to see how this one would shake out. The story turned from the Baker/McLeod battle to McWhirter, who shot out to a large lead from the pole with #97 Rob Inglis and #9x Brandon Watson giving chase. #10 Gord Shepherd and #69 Al Inglis would round out the top 5 early throughout the early stages of this one. Also in the mix was #8 Dave Lewis, who began to challenge Inglis for the fifth place position, as the duo of Baker and McLeod would make their way to mid pack after starting 13th and fourth respectively. McWhirter would be running laps in the 14. 7 seconds range with Rob Inglis still holding down second, while Shepherd had now begun to put heavy pressure on the 14 year old Watson for third.
 
The caution would come out on lap 18, as #36 Stoyan Zutich came to rest against the wall between turns 3&4. On the restart the man to watch out for was the #28 of Robin Jongen, as the talented driver would make his way past Al Inglis on the low side of the track to enter the top 5. Also following the Jongen move was McLeod, as he too would power under Inglis to gain that all important positioning in his chase for the 07 championship. Jongen would unfortunately get shuffled back a couple of positions after contact with the 10 of Shepherd while racing for fourth. Jongen would wind up losing control and hitting the wall in turn 1, with Shepherd in turn being sent to the rear after being deemed an involved car. This would bring McLeod up to fourth position, behind the trio of McWhirter, Rob Inglis, and Watson, who was having his best run to date in a Late Model at his home track. McLeod would now begin to intensify the pressure on the future star Watson, but the young lion would hold tough not allowing McLeod the opening he needed to power past. Finally on lap 43, McLeod would run up on Watson and tap him from behind in corner 2, with Watson spinning down the backstretch after an attempt to make a remarkable save, this would send McLeod to the rear and virtually end his bid for the title with only 7 laps remaining to work his way back to the front. McWhirter would soldier on with the lead after the restart, looking very calm and collected with Inglis just a couple car lengths behind in second. McWhirter would drive on to the victory virtually unchallenged from there, with Inglis recording a season best second place. Watson would have his best finish as well with a third, while Baker and #2 Mike Brown would complete the fast five.
 
 "This is a good close to the season here after I had some issues with the car in the past month and was forced to use my back up car last week" stated veteran driver McWhirter.
 
Heat wins were claimed by McWhirter, Baker, Brown, and McLeod.
 
After winning the championship Baker remarked, "This feels really good. We were very close last year and to get the championship is just a reward for all the hard work Peter and my crew put into this car each week."
 
Baker also stated that he will be handing the reins over to son Kyle next season while putting together a new car for himself, as he makes his return to the High Line to defend the title in 08.
 
The XCOPPER Thunder Car division was also set to run a 50 lap feature to crown its 07 champ, after an intense season long battle between #44 Dave Doucette, #00 Darryl St. Onge and the always fast #49 of two time defending track champ Flyin' Frank Davey. In the 50 lap season finale, #92 Dan Dixon would move out to the lead from the outside pole with #24 Leonard Johnston and #22x Jim Beleskey in tow. Johnston and Beleskey would wage an impressive side by side duel for second in the early going, with Johnston finally shooting through to claim the position.
 
 An early caution would come about on lap 6, as Beleskey had something let go in the motor, littering the track with oil as St. Onge and #72 Marty Monette would become the victim of these unfortunate circumstances, with both hitting the wall hard between 3&4. This would end the night for St. Onge, as well as his bid for the 07 title, with Monette able to continue after spending some time on pit road. On the restart, Johnston would get to the inside of leader Dixon to move himself to the point, as he would drag Davey up with him into second. A couple laps later Johnston would be given the mechanical black for excessive smoke, as Davey would inherit the lead with #97 Brad Holden running second, while Doucette sat comfortably in third. Davey would be running laps in the 15.8 seconds range as he began to break away from the side by side battle between Holden and Doucette. These two drivers would run several laps door handle to door handle in an incredible display of tough, clean short track racing before Doucette would finally find his way past to move to the runner up spot. Once out front it was clear nobody was catching Davey as the smooth driving veteran captured his fifth feature win of the season. Doucette would clinch the 07 track championship with a solid second place, while Holden, #77 Brian Murray, and #2 Eddie Tremblay would round out the top 5. Heat wins would go to Davey, Doucette, Murray, and Tremblay.
 
Upon clinching the 07 title Doucette remarked, "It was really too bad to see Darryl go out that early. I really wanted to race 'til the end for the title. That was our mindset coming into the night -- just try to win races and let the points worry about themselves."
 
For Doucette it was his second track championship after taking the 2004 Pure Stock title.
 
In the LUCAS OIL Pure Stock division, the win would go to #63 Brandon Crumbie in his Honda Prelude. For Crumbie, it was his first feature win of the 07 season after a string of several top 5's throughout the season. #14 Tanja Huffman would move to the front from the outside pole, with her father #114 Horst Ziebell also following around the outside of #25 Darron McMinn. #92 Ralph Sikes would make his way into third in the early going, running right on the bumper of Ziebell. Also on the move was the duo of #9 Brandon Watson and #24 Tom Milligan, as the drivers would charge inside the top 5 after hooking up together on the outside of the racetrack. Huffman would be parading around with laps in the 17.9 seconds range when she was overtaken on the outside by the hard charging Sikes. This would lead the way for Watson to move into second, with Milligan now running in third. Sikes would quicken the pace considerably out front, now running laps in the 17.3 seconds range as Crumbie was also making his presence felt, as he would duck to the inside of Watson to take over second after starting fifth on the grid.
 
Crumbie would take the lead from Sikes on the outside as the pair raced out of corner 2 just past lap 30. Crumbie was running laps right at 17 seconds flat, as #63x Dave Burrows and cousin Beau in the 64x Honda CRX began to close in on Sikes. Dave Burrows would finally make his way around Sikes, with Crumbie now holding a full straightway lead at the front of the field. The best battle was now the race for fourth, with Watson and Beau Burrows battling side by side for that position with 5 laps remaining. On this night it was Crumbie's race to lose as he would take the win by a wide margin over Dave Burrows at the line. Burrows would take the point championship for 07 by 38 points over runner up Crumbie. #92 Ralph Sikes would have a season best third place in the feature, with Watson and Beau Burrows rounding out the top 5. Heat wins went to Crumbie, Sikes, Beau Burrows, and #33 Dave Glaze. The YANCH HEATING & Air Chargers would see the tightest point battle heading into the evening's racing with #64 "California" Dave Crumbie and #55 Shawn Monette coming into the day tied in points. This season long war would be settled quickly, as Monette would take the win in the 30 lap feature capping off his hat trick after a pair of earlier heat wins. #14x Paitra Surerus would move into the lead from the outside pole, with #33 Crystal Doucette running second, while Monette would make a nice low move through a collection of cars to claim third early on. #38 Steeve Melson and #57 Mitch Casey would round out the top 5 throughout the early stages, as Crumbie would charge into sixth place from his fourth starting spot.
 
The first caution would fly on lap 11, with #21 Desiree Walt getting turned around on the backstretch. On the restart, Surerus would be running laps in the 17.7 seconds range as Doucette began to marginally cut into the lead of her fellow female competitor. Doucette would look under Surerus between 1&2 but Surerus would battle back on the outside to maintain the lead.
 
Another caution would come about on lap 19, as Doucette and Casey would get tangled up with the lapped car of #23 Terry Tompkins. #99 Drew Stieler would begin to make his way to the front as he would look under Monette in an attempt to take over second. This seemed to light a fire under Monette as the talented driver would find some additional speed to move around Surerus to take the lead down the frontstretch at lap 23. Surerus would now be locked in a side by side battle with Stieler, with Crumbie and Melson tucked closely in behind that duo. But this night would belong to Monette who drove on to take his second feature win of the season and with it the point title for the 2007 season. Stieler would win the race with Surerus for second, with Crumbie and Melson rounding out the top 5. Heat wins would go to Monette with a pair, Melson, and #37 Robbie Sikes.
 
Also on hand were the Ontario Legends Cars, who put on a fine show for the multitude of fans on hand as #88 Bruce Grimes would take the feature win to increase his point lead on #24 Andy Warbutton who finished second, with #79 Adam Cuthburtson taking third after a late charge back through the pack after an earlier incident. Heat wins went to Warbutton with a pair, Grimes, and Cuthbertson.
 
Pit Notes
Special thanks to Ontario Pro Challenge driver #53 Kevin Crowhurst who was on hand to treat the fans to a few hot laps as well as Delaware Speedway Late Model driver #42 Jamie Ramsey, who had his sleek looking ride on display inside the front gate as part of HAVOLINE night at the High Line. Also thanks to the drivers, crews, speedway employees, and our ever increasing fan base who have made the 07 season one of the most successful in the 42 year history of the HIGH LINE.

FULL THROTTLE ENERGY DRINK LATE MODELS
HEAT WINS: K. McLeod, S. McWhirter, D. Baker, M. Brown
 
FEATURE: 1. #88 Scott Beatty; 2. #69 Al Inglis; 3. #19 Keith McLeod; 4. #48 Dwayne Baker; 5. #31 Shawn McWhirter; 6. #28 Robin Jongen; 7. #97 Rob Inglis; 8. #36 Stoyan Zutich; 9. #2 Mike Brown; 10. #8 Dave Lewis; 11. #90 Kevin Reynolds; 12. #23 Rob Black; 13. #55 Steve Quesnelle; 14. #13 Robert Thornborrow; 15. #37 Paul DeJong; 16. #9x Brandon Watson; 17. #10 Gord Shepherd;
 
STANDINGS Top-10: 1. Dwayne Baker, 2266; 2. Keith McLeod, 2248; 3. Robin Jongen, 2183; 4. Gord Shepherd, 2150; 5. Mike Brown, 2142; 6. Dave Lewis, 2135; 7. Al Inglis, 2014; 8. Shawn McWhirter, 1996; 9. Rob Inglis, 1980; 10. Rob Black, 1832;
 
XCOPPER THUNDER CARS
HEAT WINS: B. Murray, F. Davey, E. Tremblay, D. Doucette
 
FEATURE: 1. #49 Frank Davey; 2. #44 Dave Doucette; 3. #97 Brad Holden; 4. #77 Brian Murray; 5. #2 Ed Tremblay; 6. #9 Chris Burrage; 7. #22 Jason Elliot; 8. #21 Luke Gignac; 9. #59 Devan Craft; 10. #67 Jeff Smith; 11. #92 Dan Dixon; 12. #6 Kevin Aiken; 13. #72 Marty Monette; 14. #24 Leonard Johnston; 15. #82 Ben Lidstone; 16. #22x Jim Beleskey; 17. #00 Darryl St. Onge; 18. #34 Peter Marquardt; 19. #48 Kyle Baker; 20. #42 Troy Potts (BF); 21. #25 D'arcy Gribbon (N/S);
 
STANDINGS Top-10: 1. Dave Doucette, 2060; 2. Frank Davey, 2048; 3. Darryl St. Onge, 2030; 4. Ed Tremblay, 1986; 5. Brian Murray, 1899; 6. Brad Holden, 1876; 7. Kyle Baker, 1755; 8. Troy Potts, 1732; 9. Chris Burrage, 1728; 10. Marty Monette, 1721;
 
 
LUCAS OIL PURE STOCKS
HEAT WINS: B. Burrows, D. Glaze, R. Sikes, B. Crumbie
 
FEATURE: 1. #63 Brandon Crumbie; 2. #63x Dave Burrows; 3. #92 Ralph Sikes; 4. #9 Brandon Watson; 5. #33 Dave Glaze; 6. #64x Beau Burrows; 7. #24 Tom Milligan; 8. #16 Bryan Penny; 9. #14 Tanja Huffman; 10. #26 Bill Walt; 11. #114 Horst Ziebell; 12. #20 Anna Milligan; 13. #25 Darron McMinn; 14. #37 Robbie Sikes (CH); 15. #45 Derek Surerus; 16. #17 Dan Little (N/S); 17. #97 Thayne Hallyburton (N/S);
 
STANDINGS Top-10: 1. Dave Burrows, 2044; 2. Brandon Crumbie, 2006; 3. Beau Burrows, 1986; 4. Tom Milligan, 1960; 5. Dave Glaze, 1952; 6. Brandon Watson, 1816; 7. Bryan Penny, 1798; 8. Bill Walt, 1685; 9. Ralph Sikes, 1666; 10. Horst Ziebell, 1654;
 
YANCH HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING CHARGERS
HEAT WINS: S. Melson, S. Monette, R. Sikes, S. Monette
 
FEATURE: 1. #55 Shawn Monette; 2. #99 Drew Stieler; 3. #14x Paitra Surerus; 4. #64 Dave Crumbie; 5. #38 Steeve Melson; 6. #37 Robbie Sikes; 7. #117 John Crossman; 8. #21 Desiree Walt; 9. #84 Jerry Slavish; 10. #57 Mitch Casey; 11. #98 Brent Stieler; 12. #17 Kenny Cox; 13. #28 Jason Buchanan; 14. #29 Tia Dale; 15. #33 Crystal Doucette; 16. #23 Terry Tompkins; 17. #92x Mark Robson; 18. #192 Allyson Smith;
 
STANDINGS Top-10: 1. Shawn Monette, 1930; 2. Dave Crumbie, 1914; 3. Mitch Casey, 1891; 4. Steeve Melson, 1827; 5. Jerry Slavish, 1738; 6. Drew Stieler, 1729; 7. Crystal Doucette, 1631; 8. John Crossman, 1593; 9. Tia Dale, 1572; 10. Desiree Walt, 1524;

Elon Poll: President

The latest Elon Poll is out. Click here for the news release and here for the results. You can see some analysis already at Capital Beat.

There is good news for the Democratic Party in the Presidential election. 38% of North Carolina residents say they plan on voting for the Democratic candidate for President, while 34.3% will vote for the Republican. Starting with a slight advantage would be a major boost to the Democrats in a normally “red state.”

In the Democratic Primary Hillary Clinton is a big winner.

HILLARY CLINTON 37.4
JOHN EDWARDS 18.0
BARACK OBAMA 17.7
JOSEPH BIDEN 3.7
BILL RICHARDSON 1.3
DENNIS KUCINICH 0.5

Note, however, that these results consist of only North Carolina residents who say they will vote for the Democratic candidate for President. That is NOT the same as people who are LIKELY to vote in the Democratic Primary in May.

In the Republican Primary Fred Thompson comes out on top.

FRED THOMPSON 27.9
RUDY GIULIANI 21.0
JOHN MCCAIN 12.2
MITT ROMNEY 8.4
MIKE HUCKABEE 2.0
RON PAUL 1.4
SAM BROWNBACK 0.4
TOM TANCREDO 0.4

The same cautions that exist for the Democratic results, exists for Republicans too, though these numbers are very similar to Republican results we see coming from PPP and Civitas.

The poll was conducted Sept. 24-27 and consisted of 664 North Carolina residents. More on the Governor and Senate campaign results in the Elon Poll later.

Super DIRT Week Countdown Continues!

V (5) Days To SUPER DIRT WEEK XXXVI ….. The Countdown Continues
 
Weedsport, NY – September 28, 2007 – By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing NorthEast PR Director
 
In search of his first Syracuse win, Vic Coffey needed more time to get the job done while the end could not come soon enough for Kenny Tremont in his bid to repeat as the longest running Eckerd 200 Championship ever held during Super DIRT Week unfolded five years earlier on the ultra-moist Moody Mile. Surprise race winner Coffey led just a single lap in the 2002 thriller yet it was all he needed to put a lid on the Sunday show that did not bare its first green flag until lap 17 following a 4-1/2 hour rain delay. Scored in 11^th with 10 laps left and still seventh with a handful to go, Coffey rode lady luck the final half-mile as his Sweeteners Plus Special sped past Tremont's fuel-deficient mount in turn two on lap 203 to capture the biggest laurel in DIRTcar NorthEast Big-Block Modified racing.
 
The Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series for Big-Block Modifieds is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Advance Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire and Sunoco Race Fuels. Promotional partners include AMB i.t., F.X. Caprara Car Companies, Rite Aid Corporation and the University of Northwestern Ohio and the contingency sponsors are Bert Transmission, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Integra Shocks, MSD Ignitions, Miller Electric Manufacturing Company, Motorsports Safety Systems, Penske Shocks and Wrisco Industries.

Press Release - Malcolm Strachan @ Mont Tremblant

Strachan Suffers Major Crash in Fall Classic

The beautiful circuit Mont Tremblant, resplendent in fall colours, was the scene for the annual Quebec Fall Classic. Defending Champion Malcolm Strachan set the fastest Friday practice times in his Mobil-1 Corvette C5, followed by Martin Burrowes in his Ferrari 430 Challenge.

Qualifying saw Burrowes’ Ferrari steal pole position over Strachan’s Corvette by a fraction of a second, with a fast field of Ferrari’s, Vipers, Porches and Corvettes filling the grid. Strachan made a great start for the first race and then passed around the outside of Burrowes through the daunting first and second corners of Mont Tremblant to grab the lead.

Pulling six car lengths clear of Burrowes in the first half lap, Strachan came into corner 11, his car twitched slightly sideways in the left hander, then pitched violently in the opposite direction. Strachan slammed the barriers at approximately 160 km/h, destroying the right side of the Corvette. However, he emerged from the wreck virtually unscratched, with only a sore wrist. The Mobil-1 Corvette is a near write off. Burrowes drove his Ferrari on to a convincing victory, his first at Mont Tremblant.

Undeterred, Strachan’s team is putting together their race program for 2008, and will make announcements in the near future.

Another Look at Asia

As a small follow up to our post last week on Sofinnova Partners' hiring an Asia-focused professional, VentureWire Lifescience reported this week that Canaan Partners added a principal whose partial duties include finding deal flow from Asia.

Mickey Kim will from Canaan's Westport, Conn. office. He joined the firm in July according to his bio.

Mickey joined Canaan from Pacific Point Ventures, a venture capital fund investing in healthcare infrastructure companies in Asia. Prior to co-founding Pacific Point Ventures, he invested in biotech and medical device companies at BioVentures Investors, including ActivBiotics, Applied Spine Technologies, Cylene Pharmaceuticals, Hydra Biosciences and Sciona. Mickey also served as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company and CSC Healthcare, and co-founded an Asian technology venture capital fund.

Canaan doesn't appear to have any health care portfolio companies in Asia at this point. It does have two IT-oriented deals in India.

No doubt there will be more news like this to come.

Pollster Profile: Fallon Research

The Triangle Community Coalition hired Ohio-based Fallon Research and Communications to conduct their latest poll. I honestly can’t find much out there about Fallon Research aside from their website. Most of their work appears to be on referendums for taxes, bonds, and land use.

Here is how the website describes their past clients: “developers, citizens groups, real estate companies, home building associations, apartment associations, REALTOR® associations, zoning law firms, environmental groups and engineering firms.” This article describes them as a Republican polling firm, but I don’t see any other evidence of Fallon Research being explicitly partisan.

In fact the bio of founder Paul Fallon intentionally omits references to political parties. For example, “He previously served as director of public opinion research for a statewide political party.”

Fallon Research appears to be a relatively new polling firm, but with lots of experience in the areas of housing and growth.

NCATS: Riverside photo gallery by Ian Readey

Ian Readey is a 17-year-old aspiring photographer and longtime Inside Track reader. Ian forwarded some photos to us (from the recent NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race at Riverside Int'l Speedway in Nova Scotia) and gave us permission to display them on the Breaking News Blog. Thanks Ian!

What About Specialty?

We've heard a lot at Pharma Strategic Alliance from the Big Pharma, most especially Bristol-Myers Squibb, about externalization and the attractiveness of speciality markets.

But as bigger players look to fill their pipeline gaps with smaller, niche drugs, they're beginning to compete in a market long dominated by the so-called "spec pharma" players, who've traditionally built their businesses by acquiring and selling under-valued late-stage or marketed assets.

"There's a lot of capital chasing the same assets," notes Jeremy Goldberg, Managing Director of Corporate Development at Endo Pharmaceuticals, which has a handful of products for the treatment of pain. "It's measurably more competitive than it was three years ago," he says.

But Goldberg is confident that his company, at least, won't get shut out of the deal-making game thanks both to its focus and it's smaller size. A new product, notes Goldberg, can make a tremendous difference to his company's growth and top-line, an effect that wouldn't be seen in in a big pharma with a $25 billion revenue stream.

When looking to license, "biotechs need to ask who is the right partner for my asset? In pain, it's Endo," says Goldberg.

Okay, fine. But spec pharmas are certainly under pressure to expand into additional therapuetic areas. Look at Shire's willingness to pay $1.6 billion for TKT in 2005 to move beyond its ADHD franchise via access to biologics. How does a company like Endo become the partner of choice in a therapeutic area that isn't pain?

And will a big deal scare off investors who are presumably very focused on the reliable earnings-per-share returns that a typical spec pharma provides?

It's too soon to say. More than likely we'll be discussing a new business model at next year's meeting.

PSA Day 2: Buying into Biologics

AstraZeneca's $15.6 billion acquisition of MedImmune may well go down as the deal of the year. Though it has been described as overly expensive, David Mott, MedImmune's CEO who remains at the helm of the "operationally independent but strategically aligned" biologics business, begs to differ. Think of it this way, he suggested this morning at our Pharmaceutical Strategic Alliances conference: AZ paid 20% of their market cap to secure 25% of its pipeline going forward, a target for AZ's biologics output.

Still, if AZ investors had sticker shock, well, it was a seller's market. Still is. "Fully built biologics capabilities are rare," says Mott. Acquiring MedImmune gave AZ the whole biologics package; it was too late for the Big Pharma to build those capabilities through collaboration.

Building biologics expertise and capabilities piecemeal, says Mott, will be a long, slow and high-risk proposition, thanks in part to the dearth of biologics industry talent in key areas like regulatory affairs.

To get the most out of MedImmune, AZ will have to keep the group at arms length, while at the same time fostering a sort of collaborative independence in R&D as well as sales and marketing between the Big Pharma's traditional small molecule business and its biologics business--which (Cambridge Antibody Technology included) is being transferred in practice if not in geographical terms, to MedImmune.

For example, "juxtaposing the biologics commercial business with a traditional pharma primary care commercial business will help us take the best of both worlds to create a new commercial model" with a lower cost base--something in line with, instead of twice as big, as R&D costs.

Mott noted that the biggest challenge arising from the integration of MedImmune has been subsuming CAT into the organization. "CAT was in a difficult position" after AZ bought MedImmune, having been sidelined only a year after it was itself acquired by AZ to become its biologics arm, explained Mott. Becoming part of MedImmune "was not the vision that CAT had for itself." That said, "what we can do together is actually quite persuasive, and it's striking how non-overlapping" the companies' technologies and strengths really are.

Beyond bringing CAT into the MedImmune fold, the biotech is taking the lead in AZ's venture activities through its own MedImmune Ventures business, as well as ownership of AZ's existing large molecule collaborations and programs such as those with Silence Therapeutics in RNAi and Abgenix in antibody development.

We're taking a look at the state of the industry's biologics efforts in the next IN VIVO.

Doubleheader Weekend Will Conclude 2007 Season For Ryan Litt

Mother Nature decided to intervene with the Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints event at Dixie Motor Speedway last week, but Ryan Litt and the #07 BS&B Radiator, OTC-SPX Tools crew are determined to finish the 2007 season on the race track. 

The weekend will get underway at the team's home track – Delaware Speedway – this Friday night, September 28.  The ISMA Supermodified tour will be making another visit to the ½ mile track located just outside London, Ontario, after a successful comeback last season which had been more than 20 years in the making.  A very large crowd witnessed the event last September, but unfortunately Ryan was not able to perform very well in front of his home fans that night, as his ride for the night suffered some mechanical issues. 

The car, owned by long-time Supermodified owner Dave Lair, was making its return to competition that night, after suffering extensive damage the previous season, and some of the kinks were not worked out at the time.  This time around, the car has a handful of races under it's belt, including an event in June at Toledo with Ryan behind the wheel, and a 7^th place in the prestigious Oswego International Classic 200 just a few weeks ago with Bobby Haynes, Jr. at the controls. 

Ryan and "The LairJet" were able to get some laps in at Delaware last week in a test session which also included full time ISMA competitor and fellow London-area open wheel driver Mark Sammut.  Ryan was able to run comparable lap times to Sammut – who is currently 3^rd in the points on the ISMA circuit – in the test session, and feels confident that he will be able to put in a good showing at Delaware on Friday night.

After the Delaware event, the team will make its way to the Berlin Raceway in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to compete in a very special event on Saturday night.  The event will feature 3 open wheel divisions – the ISMA Supermodifieds, AVSS Sprint Cars, and USAC Regional Midgets.  Ryan will be competing in 2 of these 3 divisions, as he will be back in action in the LairJet, and also competing in the AVSS portion of the event in the family-owned sprint car.  Ryan has tasted success at Berlin before in the sprint car, including a feature win there last season, and hopes to transfer what he has learned about the track over to the Supermodified division.

What:
International SuperModified Association (ISMA) race #14. 
www.ISMASupers.com
Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints (AVSS) race # 22.
www.SuperSprints.com

Where:
Delaware Speedway
1640 Gideon Drive
Delaware, ON
N0L 1E0
www.DelawareSpeedway.com
Track Phone: (519) 652-5068

Berlin Raceway
2060 Berlin Fair Drive
Marne, MI 49435
www.BerlinRaceway.com

When:
Friday, September 28th, 2007 @ Delaware:
Spectator Gates open @ 4:00 p.m., Racing @ 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, September 29th, 2007 @ Berlin: 
Gates open @ 12:00 p.m., Practice @ 1:30 p.m., Time Trials @ 5:00 p.m., Autograph Session at 6:00 p.m., Racing @ 7:00 p.m.

Ryan and the team would like to thank all their sponsors for their continued support during Ryan and the #07 Claxton powered Beast Chassis Sprinter's 2007 season, including OTC/SPX Tools, BS&B Radiator, BRR Media, BOC Gases, and Leaf Racewear.

For more information on Ryan, the car, and the team, including schedules, photos, merchandise, and contact information, please visit Ryan's official website at www.RyanLitt.com.

From Tommy Goudge - PR Manager

Super DIRT Week Countdown Continues!

VI (6) Days To SUPER DIRT WEEK XXXVI .. The Countdown Continues

Weedsport, NY – September 27, 2007 // By Tom Skibinski, DIRTcar Racing NorthEast PR Director

One of the most dramatic Super DIRT Week finales finished the same way it had three times before with Billy Decker scoring his second consecutive victory in the Columbus Day special staged six years ago in the Salt City. At the start bands of lake-effect rain and snow showers forced a two-hour delay and in the end nearly a dozen cars piled up in turn three with only a handful of laps left to ultimately stop the action. Yet even with a late red flag pushing the Eckerd title race two circuits beyond its scheduled 200-lap distance in 2001, Decker defied the laws of Syracuse and circled the muddied Moody Mile over the final 112 laps on just one tank of gas to claim his third Syracuse Championship in the past four years.

The Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series for Big-Block Modifieds is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Advance Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire and Sunoco Race Fuels. Promotional partners include AMB i.t., F.X. Caprara Car Companies, Rite Aid Corporation and the University of Northwestern Ohio and the contingency sponsors are Bert Transmission, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Integra Shocks, MSD Ignitions, Miller Electric Manufacturing Company, Motorsports Safety Systems, Penske Shocks and Wrisco Industries.

Canadian Sprint Car Nationals Wrap Up

OHSWEKEN, ON – The roar of sprint car engines once again filled the air in the tiny hamlet of Ohsweken, Ontario as the third annual "Arrow Express ­ Canadian Sprint Car Nationals" capped the 2007 season at the Styres' Family owned 3/8 mile clay oval; Ohsweken Speedway. Despite the heavy rain that fell as the cars were preparing to take to the track for hot laps on Friday evening, cancellation of the evening's program left everyone even more determined to try the reconfigured speedway as the sun broke the horizon on Saturday morning. The "Village Pizza ­ Ohsweken Shootout" and the inaugural "Dave MacLeod Memorial ­ Mr. Sprint Car Challenge" were carried over from the Friday schedule as dozens of the top sprint car drivers and teams from five sanctioning groups covering the entire north-east assembled for the Saturday, September 15th running of the 3rd Annual "Arrow Express ­ Canadian Sprint Car Nationals".

Kears Speed Shop located in Tiffin, Ohio awarded "Fast Qualifier" Bryan Howland from Auburn, NY with a cash bonus of $500 for his lap of 13.614, just shy of the standing track record of 13.377 held by Ohio's Kenny Jacobs. Howland also picked up an additional cash bonus when he received the CORR-Pak Merchandising "Best Appearing Car Award" in pre race ceremonies. "Fastest Canadian Qualifier" Steve Poirier was also the recipient of a cash bonus as Bicknell Racing Products recognized his achievement.

While collecting the Canadian Nationals title for the second year in a row, Quebec's Steve Poirier in only his second year at the controls of a sprint car came away with over nine thousand dollars in cash and contingency awards. Among them was a new driver suit provided by Awesome Racewear while The Brakeman; Diversified Machine Inc; Winters Performance; and Hoosier Tire Canada contributed to his totals.

BUTLERBuilt, a leader in the manufacturing of innovative safety seats provided certificates toward the purchase of a new custom made "Advantage Seat" to Indiana's Brett Mann for his 10th place finish in the "A" Main. BUTLERBuilt also provided certificates to Ontario's Jason Pietz, Pennsylvanian Kramer Williamson, and Quebec's Normand Beaudreault for their 10th place finishes in the three "B" Mains that were contested. Simpson awarded a new helmet to Blake Breen of Savannah, NY as the "Hard Luck" recipient was the first to crash out of the "A" Main in the early laps. The other "Hard Luck" award provide by Triple XXX Race Cars went to rookie Justin Martin of St. Thomas, Ontario as he destroyed his car during time trials.
The KSE Racing Products "Hard Charger" awards went to Mike Stelter of Ontario, NY and Joyceville, Ontario's Rick Wilson. Stelter had to qualify through a "B" Main finished 9th after starting 23rd while Wilson moved from 19th to 7th when the checkers fell. Weld Wheels also provided valuable certificates to the two "Hard Chargers". Oliver Racing Parts awarded third place finisher Kevin Job of Campbellville, Ontario and 26th starter Gary Fast of Kalkaska, Michigan a set of new engine rods while J & J Chassis provided certificates to Rick Wilson, Bobby Breen, and Scott Kreutter as the highest finishing J & J Chassis at the Canadian Nationals.

"We are extremely pleased to be able to offer these post race awards" stated event registrar and sponsorship coordinator Cheryl Pelkie. Over thirty of the leading suppliers in the Sprint Car industry cast their support behind the Nationals this year. "They have been most helpful and generous throughout this process of collecting contingency awards and offer nothing
but encouragement. We are convinced that the sponsors supporting the Canadian Nationals offer a great line of products and hope the competitors return their support" Cheryl concluded.

Six heat races made up the first round of preliminary action this year with sponsorship by WISECO Pistons, BS&B Radiators, Kinser Air Filters, ZEMCO Speed Equipment, PRO Shocks, and Motor State Distributing.

The Best Western CAIRN CROFT Hotel contributed a cash bonus to each of the second place finishers in the three "B" Mains that were sponsored by GRISDALE Racing Products, COMP Cams, and ROCKET Headers. All entries received a $30 certificate from ROD END Supply when registering to participate while the twenty-six starters in the "A" Main collected a
certificate from KEISER Aluminum Wheels valued at $50. Other supporting contingency sponsors in 2007 included Fisher Performance, Glenn HEPFNER Inc, Saldana Racing Products, Seals-IT, and Schoenfeld Headers.

Plans are already underway for the 4th Annual "Canadian Sprint Car Nationals" scheduled for September 12 & 13, 2008 once again at Ohsweken Speedway.

For more information be sure to log on to the official website of Ohsweken Speedway at  www.ohswekenspeedway.com.

For Immediate Release:  Ken Pelkie, Event Coordinator

Smaller Big Pharma and the Hybrid Future

Two R&D Heads are better than one

[Updated below.] Today's final panel at PSA featured the heads of R&D at two of the industry's smaller Big Pharma, Tom Koestler, PhD, EVP and president of Schering Plough Research Institute and Elliott Sigal, MD, PhD, EVP, CSO, and president of R&D at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

Sigal suggested the industry's challenges in R&D would be best met by a best-of-both-worlds solution: "Some people in large pharma say, 'I want to be a biotech company', but that's not necessarily a good idea. You need to pick the best of pharma and the best of biotech and move on to a next-generation model," he said. Big biotech, like Amgen and Genentech, similarly need to adopt small-molecule strategies to thrive in the longer term, he noted.

BMS has employed this very strategy, embracing biotech risk hedging strategies in its blockbuster deals with Pfizer and AstraZeneca this year (we wrote about those deals here and here). Tom Koestler noted that Schering-Plough has maintained a handful of joint venture agreements to spread risk--notably that company's cardiovascular partnership with Merck, an asthma and COPD deal with Novartis, and its large-molecule JV with Johnson & Johnson (think Remicade).

So what's it take to embrace this hybrid model? A realization that complete vertical integration is not only not necessary, but perhaps detrimental. Co-development and co-commercialization deals, targeted approaches to geography and customers, streamlining manufacturing, and innovative sales and marketing approaches are all part of the model, according to Sigal. If you've got enough opportunities, why not de-risk the portfolio in high risk or expensive areas like metabolic disease?

"We need a new business model, an evolving business model, and R&D needs to evolve in that direction," Sigal said. "You're never too big that you can't benefit from a good collaboration."

UPDATE: For a look at the WSJ Health Blog's coverage of Koestler and Sigal's talks, click here.

NASCAR: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES 2008 SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 26, 2007) – The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule was announced today, a 36-race slate that kicks off with the 50th running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 17 at Daytona International Speedway. The 2008 season also marks NASCAR’s 60th year as stock car racing’s longest operating sanctioning body.

Following the “Great American Race” the series travels to Southern California, then to the bright lights of Las Vegas before returning to the southeast for races at Atlanta and Bristol. The first scheduled off date for the series will be in March during the Easter holiday.

Following the race in Martinsville, the series makes another swing to the southwest, racing at Texas and Phoenix in early April. The second scheduled off weekend occurs in mid-April. The series then picks back up with races at Talladega, Richmond and Darlington prior to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Challenge at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

“By running five consecutive points events before the first scheduled break in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the 2008 schedule is designed to be even more fan friendly,” said NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France.

Another adjustment to the 2008 schedule is that the Chicago race will be run Saturday night. “Night racing provides an additional element of intrigue and excitement,” said France. “Running under the lights at Chicagoland on a Saturday night will be even more exciting for the fans in the stands as well as those watching from home.”

Other key dates:
• The 30th annual Budweiser Shootout at Daytona will be held on Feb. 9.
• On Sunday, July 27, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard will be held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
• On the evening of Saturday, Sept. 6, Richmond International Raceway will be the last opportunity for drivers to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
• The week after Richmond, on Sunday, Sept. 14, New Hampshire again will have the kick-off event in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, which covers the season’s last 10 races and determines the series champion.
• On Sunday, Nov. 16, Homestead-Miami Speedway will again host the season finale, where the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion will be crowned.
(The 2008 schedule follows on a subsequent page. Starting times and television information will be announced at a later date.)

2008 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE
Date Site

Feb 9 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona – Daytona International Speedway*
Feb 17 Daytona International Speedway
Feb 24 California Speedway
Mar 2 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Mar 9 Atlanta Motor Speedway
Mar 16 Bristol Motor Speedway
Mar 30 Martinsville Speedway
Apr 6 Texas Motor Speedway
Apr 12 Phoenix International Raceway
Apr 27 Talladega Superspeedway
May 3 Richmond International Raceway
May 10 Darlington Raceway
May 17 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Challenge – Lowe’s Motor Speedway*
May 25 Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Jun 1 Dover International Speedway
Jun 8 Pocono Raceway
Jun 15 Michigan International Speedway
Jun 22 Infineon Raceway
Jun 29 New Hampshire International Speedway
Jul 5 Daytona International Speedway
Jul 12 Chicagoland Speedway
Jul 27 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Aug 3 Pocono Raceway
Aug 10 Watkins Glen International
Aug 17 Michigan International Speedway
Aug 23 Bristol Motor Speedway
Aug 31 California Speedway
Sep 6 Richmond International Raceway
Sep 14 New Hampshire International Speedway
Sep 21 Dover International Speedway
Sep 28 Kansas Speedway
Oct 5 Talladega Superspeedway
Oct 11 Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Oct 19 Martinsville Speedway
Oct 26 Atlanta Motor Speedway
Nov 2 Texas Motor Speedway
Nov 9 Phoenix International Raceway
Nov 16 Homestead-Miami Speedway

*Non-championship points events // Tentative-Subject to Change

From NASCAR

NCATS: “No Brakes” for Nuhn at Kawartha

FRASERVILLE, ON – Despite the mechanical problems his team has endured the past few races, Kent Nuhn, driver of the No. 09 the Fuel Genie/BOC Gasses Pontiac Grand Prix, was excited and ready to get the final race of the year underway.

You could feel how excited the teams, crews, fans and officials were to see how the Championship was going to turn out and who would win the final race of the year. Going into qualifying at the 3/8 mile oval at Kawartha Speedway for the Dodge Charger 250, all eyes were on the top two contenders for the championship, the No. 17 Castrol Dodge Charger of D.J. Kennington and the No. 27 Wal-Mart/Tide Ford Fusion of Andrew Ranger.

Nuhn was able to qualify 24th out of 25 cars with a time of 18.493 and an average speed of 73.001 mph behind pole sitter No 9 Dodge/Leland Industries Dodge Avenger of Mark Dilley. In the early beginnings of the race, Nuhn had gained 8 positions and had moved up to 16th. Unfortunately, the mechanical woes would come back, like in the weeks past.

Around lap 70, he noticed that he was losing his brakes. He pulled the car behind the wall and team quickly got to work. Not only to fix the brake problem but to also fix damage on the left front of the car from a collision earlier in the night. Nuhn ultimately had to pull the car in another 2 times to fix the brake problem. They figured out that the exhaust was boiling the brake fluid and was causing the brakes to get hot and fade out.

“By the end (of the race) the brakes were fine. During the green flag runs, when I was going down the straightaway, all I had to do was pump them (the brakes) and they would come back," said Nuhn after the race.

Once again more mechanical woes struck with 20 laps to go, Nuhn lost a cylinder. With nothing to lose, Nuhn’s crew chief told him to stay out and put more laps on the car. Nuhn finished the race, with a smile on his face, in the 22nd position behind race winner No. 22 Toronto Marlies/Erb Group Dodge Charger of Scott Steckley.

The inaugural NASCAR Canadian Tire Series Championship went to Andrew Ranger. Nuhn, himself, finished the year in the 17th position in points.

“We had a good year, despite all the problems. We hope to be back next year,” Nuhn said. Nuhn and his team hope to gain new and additional sponsors in order to be able to race next season.

For further information regarding Kent Nuhn and The Fuel Genie/Nuhns Auto Recyclers Team or sponsorship information contact Hugh Nuhn at (519)794-2746. For more information on The Fuel Genie visit www.thefuelgenie.com.

Story and Photo by Leslie Bates

How to Improve Drug Development? Fail Fast!

In this morning’s PSA panel on “Development Dilemmas and Opportunities,” Michael Clayman, MD, VP of Lilly Research Laboratories at Eli Lilly & Co., presented a unique option for optimizing clinical pipeline success. Perversely, it depends on failing fast. Clayman heads Lilly’s Chorus division, an organization that is trying to create a new model for drug development built on not reducing attrition but increasing the chances post-clinical proof of concept that a drug will make it to market. We took an in-depth look at Chorus in May in IN VIVO.

Clayman estimates that 90% of drugs in development will fail anyway, so why devote the time, the resources—the dollars—driving a product forward if it’s not going to make to market? The goal of his group: cut costs, and dramatically narrow the time to a decision point—typically proof of concept in man, what Clayman jokingly refered to today as “pull out your checkbook”—down to as little as twelve months.

It’s a goal Clayman claims Chorus is well on its way to achieving. To date, the company has shown that it can shave 12 to 18 months off the time it takes a drug to reach proof of concept and reduce the R&D dollar spend from $30 million to $3 million.

But, outside these metrics, there aren’t obvious ways to measure the group’s success. It’s not as if the company can use drug approvals as a measure, since the goal of Chorus isn’t to get drugs on the market, but to de-risk them as much as possible. Indeed, it’s an organizational tool to manage Lilly’s vast portfolio of drug products so that the bias is on the ultimate winners. And while nearly 80% of Lilly molecules might be pushed forward according to this program, to date the strategy has been applied to just 10.

According to Clayman, one critical component of the strategy is that Chorus is compound agnostic. No one on the 24-person team has a driving loyalty to a molecule that might sway him or her to push one project forward over another. The group also operates as an autonomous division within Lilly so that it is not hide-bound by the operational infrastructure of the larger organization. “Once a molecule is transferred to us, it’s no longer worked on by Lilly scientists. We outsource the experimentation,” he says.

That level of outsourcing is likely to be troubling to most other major pharmas. It seems unlikely that many outfits would be willing to adopt such a strategy unless there were significant proof that it improves R&D productivity. Until such time, expect the refrain to remain simply Lilly’s chorus.

Canada Confirms Hinchcliffe for A1GP Season Kick Off

Montréal, Canada (September 26, 2007) - A1 Team Canada is pleased to confirm that Toronto's James Hinchcliffe will lead the team's charge this weekend at the opening round of the 2007-08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, hosted at Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands, Saturday 29th - Sunday 30th September.

Having helped steer Canada to an 11th place finish in the 2006-07 A1GP Nations Standings, Hinchcliffe, who made 14 starts in his rookie season with seven top-ten finishes, will again strap into the 550bhp open-wheel A1GP race car to take on 21 rival nations with A1 Team Germany out to defend the title they won in style last season with nine victories.

The 20-year-old Champ Car Atlantic Championship front-runner kicked off preparations for the new A1GP season, consisting of 11 rounds across the globe from September 2007 through to May 2008, by firing the new-look Canadian entry into the top-ten in last week's final pre-season test at England's Silverstone Circuit.  Under the continued supervision of the team's new management, Status Grand Prix, Hinchcliffe debuted Canada's bold new livery and duly powered the team to the ninth fastest time on the final full day of testing prior to this weekend's eagerly anticipated season-opener in The Netherlands, the third season of competition for the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.

"I'm naturally really excited at the start of a new season of A1GP," stated Hinchcliffe upon his arrival in Europe.  "I'm pretty happy with the progress we've made as a team in pre-season testing.  There's still a little bit of work to do but if we keep heading in the direction we were going in at Silverstone we'll be pretty competitive early in the season.  There's no better place to start the new campaign than at Zandvoort.  It's a beautiful circuit and on top of that the atmosphere that the Dutch fans create is just second to none.  I'm really looking forward to getting back on track on Saturday."

Hinchcliffe planted Canada firmly at the top of the timesheets on his A1GP debut at Zandvoort a year ago, the rookie leading the Friday practice session at the 4.18km seaside circuit before going on to record a seventh place qualifying effort and eighth and 13th place finishes in the Sprint and Feature races.  With noise restrictions at the track creating a ban on Friday practice this season, meaning no 'Rookie Only' session either, A1 Team Canada's first practice takes place on Saturday morning.

"I share James' enthusiasm to get the season underway," commented A1 Team Canada Seat Holder Wade Cherwayko.  He continued, "Considering it's a brand-new team in terms of the personnel now involved in the Canadian operation, I feel we've made good progress and our performance at the last test hopefully bodes well heading into this weekend's opening round at Zandvoort.  James is no longer the rookie and we'll be counting on his experience to help lead the team as we're focused on breaking back into the top-ten in the Nations Standings having just slipped out at the end of last season."

Simon Cayzer, A1 Team Canada's Team Manager is similarly keen to get going after a productive pre-season.  "We've come together as an all-new team really well and I think we're all looking forward to the season starting having spent the past couple of months preparing for it.  The set-up of our car is looking pretty good and we know James is fired up; his track knowledge will be a huge bonus.  We might be in for a mixed weekend weather-wise but I'm confident we'll be up there!"

Sunday's 30-minute Sprint race starts at 11am local time (5am EST) with the 70-minute Feature race starting at 3pm in The Netherlands (9am EST).  Further details - www.a1gp.com

A1 Team Canada Media Relations: Stuart Morrison - PR & Media Manager

NCATS: Doug Brown ends season with mixed emotions

FRASERVILLE, ON – Doug Brown's quest for another top-ten finish in the 2007 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series came to an abrupt end just three laps short of the checkered flag last Sunday at Kawartha Speedway.

Once again he became the victim of a late race crash when he and Appin, Ontario's Jason Hathaway tangled in turn two on lap 248 of the 250-lap season finale. The two competitors were battling for the eighth position in the event with no real pressure from those in their pursuit. Brown's Haldex Dodge was heavily damaged in the tangle while Hathaway escaped to finish 11th.

The incident also marked the fourth time this season that accidents have taken the Brantford driver out of a potential top-ten run before the finish.

"It sure hasn't been our year'" the generally contained driver commented following the race. "I'm not sure what goes through their minds but there have been a small handful of drivers this season who seem to lack patients and common sense. If they can't get around you, they'll drive through you to gain a few positions. We were both virtually assured top ten finishes until that move."

Despite the ending results, Brown was quick to put the episode aside and began discussing his plans for next season, almost relieved the season was over.

"This season sure wasn't what we expected it would be before the season began. We had some high expectations but with the late arrival of series information including the schedule, we weren't as prepared to start the season as we would have liked to have been. We also had some sponsorship commitments that didn't get formalized until just weeks before the season opener and that may have contributed to our slow start. And some of those incidents that happened on the track didn't help our cause either," he added.

"But we are confident things will be quite different come 2008. We have already started the planning process for next season and met with our title sponsor Haldex who have been not only been very supportive this year, but have indicated they will be back next season."

The team has also received several inquiries from businesses not already involved with the team.

"Yeah, there is no doubt that NASCAR and the all round calibre of competitors in this series has raised the profile of our sport as has the long-term commitment of Canadian Tire and the coverage provided by TSN, Doug added with a smile.

HB Motorsports is pleased to have Haldex Limited as its Title Sponsor with NAPA Autopro supporting team programs through its role of Major Associate Sponsor role. Bicknell Racing Products; World of Graphics; HurryPrint Imaging Centre; WIX Filters; KWIC Internet; Gates Canada; BOC Gases; Brochures etc; Leitch Performance Engines; Strodes BBQ & Deli; and BrentZone Graphics are also valued members of our Associate Sponsorship Marketing team.

Prepared by Ken Spencer // Marketing and Media Relations // HB Motorsports

NCATS: John Fletcher 13th in NASCAR debut

FRASERVILLE, ON – "This was a good day for me and Jim Bray," said John Fletcher after Sunday's 255 lap NASCAR Canadian Tire Series season finale at the jam packed Kawartha Downs Speedway. The #56 Lucas Oil/All Star Logistics Dodge had not seen action this season and this was John's first NASCAR start but the long time veteran took time out of chasing another Outlaw Super Late Model title for the event. As the Bray Autosport team plans to run the full 2008 season, this event put into some perspective on what the team needs as it moves forward.

John qualified 16th in the largest field of cars that seen oval action in 2007. As the field took the green flag John was pushed three wide and fell back to 20th spot. "We wanted to give D.J. [Kennington] the room he needed on the start and a couple of other guys took that as an opening for them and I just got shuffled back," said John of his starting spot beside the series' title contender. John settled in and began to march back to the pack, after a restart John felt a tire going down and fell to the rear of the field hoping a caution would come, that caution did not come in time before being lapped.

Every time the Lucas Oil/All Star Logistics Dodge got in position for the free pass a caution did not fly and the #56 could not get back on the lead lap. The team brought a competitive car but after the event felt that the motor is down on power compared to the other top teams out there. John did not give up as he and the fast qualifier for the race; Mark Dilley raced hard side by side for the last two laps for 12th as Mark edged John by a nose for the spot.

The long time NASCAR team owner employed the services of Joey and Kevin McColm of McColm Motorsports and long time Team JNE Consulting member Gary Sim to service the car on pit road. Crew Chief Scott Fletcher had this to say about the efforts, "We relied on Gary, Joey and his guys for the day and I could not be happier with them, John did an outstanding job getting the car ready, drove a smart race and Jim supplied us with what we needed."

The inaugural NASCAR Canadian Tire Series season may be over but John and the JNE Consulting #61 Outlaw Super Late Model is back in action this weekend at Flamboro Speedway.

Lucas Oil, All Star Logistics of Grimsby, Kawartha Lakes Flight Training, Trailers by Jim Bray, Bray Auto and Truck Recycling, Stratafax, Wix Filters and B&B Decals of Oakville were the sponsors of Bray Autosport entry in the Dodge Dealers of Ontario, Dodge Charger 250 presented by Allied Steel Buildings.