2006 O'Reilly Nationals

September 26, 2006 - Rockdale , TX - New Breed Racing, Alesi and Ayrton Gerthe along with their parents, were given the opportunity to become spectators at the 2006 O'Reilly Nationals held last weekend near Dallas , TX . Hoosier Thunder Motorsports team owners Terry and Rhonda McMillen, through the IHRA Adopt A Jr. Dragster program, sponsor the Division 4 Dragster Team from San Antonio Raceway, along with TORCO Race Fuels, Amalie Oil, Flatout Gaskets, and NGK Spark Plugs.

Lisa said, "Anytime the professional drag racers are in our area, we love to go spectate. There is absolutely no way to describe the ambiance at a national event," Lisa continued. "It had been a while since we'd attended an NHRA national, normally there is a conflict in our race schedule, but that wasn't the case this past weekend and if you visit my photos, http://photos.yahoo.com/lgerthe you will see Alesi and Ayrton with most of their favorite driver's."

The 2006 race schedule has been an unusual one with the triple double format of the IHRA Division 4 Pro-Am tour ending in early June. Lisa said, "Although our schedule was a bit different this year, it has provided us with unique opportunities and it has been a great year. We were able to attend the Northern Nationals and root for Terry and his team in person during their appearance in the finals, Alesi was licensed by Doug Foley and his driving school after the Michigan event, and two weeks later, we took delivery of our new race rig. Terry McMillen was kind enough to meet us halfway at Tulsa Raceway Park and we will now have room to haul all the cars!" (See attached photo.) "When we purchased the big dragster for Alesi last year, we ran into a problem...we didn't have room for Alesi and Ayrton to race at the same time, so we had been looking for quite some time for a replacement, and Duane happened to notice on http://www.hoosierthunder.com/ that Terry was selling just the exact rig we had been looking for. Little did we know that finding the rig would be easy compared to moving and arranging everything in the new one, and just like our last two trailers, we have managed to almost fill this one up, but we are looking forward to making our first 'trip to the strip' in the new rig very soon," said Lisa.

With the 2006 holiday season approaching quickly, the team will test and attend select events for the remainder of the year, while Alesi gains more seat time in her big dragster preparing for the Quick Rod class next season, and Ayrton prepares for what will most likely be his last year in a jr. dragster. Lisa said, "Although summers in Texas can be extremely hot, the nice thing about living here is that you can race year round if you choose, so we plan to take full advantage of our climate. The 2007 race season will be here before we know it, and we have a long list of things to accomplish before March."

New Breed Racing finished the IHRA Division 4 Pro-Am Tour with top ten finishes, Ayrton came in 10th, and Alesi at 6th in a field of 32 cars in the Jr. Dragster Master's Class.