Racing in the final round of The Big Showdown presented by Extreme Outlaw Pro Mods, Charles Carpenter’s iconic ’55 Chevy sideswiped the right wall Saturday night at Virginia Motorsports Park (VMP), near Richmond.

“We only had a 20-minute turnaround between rounds and the clutch didn’t have enough time to cool off properly before the final so the car left too aggressive and shook the tires,” the nitrous racing legend explained.

“I don’t want it to sound like I’m blaming anyone else, though,” Carpenter stressed. “There may not have been enough time between rounds, but they were up against an 11 o’clock curfew and it’s my call to make on the (clutch) set-up, so I take full responsibility for what happened.

P.B. Candies, son of legendary nitro team owner Paul Candies, has his rig sitting in the staging area for O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. He’s pulling double duty this weekend at the NHRA U.S. Nationals with a pair of hot rods which would make even the most seasoned auto enthusiast stutter with excitement.

Sitting inside his trailer are two collector cars, from different manufacturers, both bearing the serial number 13. While triskaidekaphobia [the fear of number 13] might have influenced some to shy away from the largely lauded bad fortunes number, Candies feels just the opposite – he considers himself lucky to have a pair of 13s.

“It’s a safe bet to say I will be the only racer in Indy this weekend with the same serial number for a Drag Pack and Cobra Jet with the same serial number,” said Candies.

Veteran drag racer Johnny Gray often prefaces his statements with the reminder: "I've been doing this for 38 years or so . . . "
 
He's right.
 
He has been racing -- including Comp Eliminator, Top Alcohol Funny Car, Top Alcohol Dragster, Funny Car, and now Pro Stock again -- for that long.
 
He has been in business that long.

It’s been 29 years since Pat Musi last turned a tire at the NHRA U.S. Nationals, but this Labor Day weekend at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, he hopes to at least equal — and maybe even exceed — his last performance in arguably the greatest drag race in the world.

Musi qualified on top of Indy’s Pro Stock field in 1981, but this year he’s entering the Get Screened America (GSA) Pro Mod race with Frank Brandao’s nitrous-injected, EFI-equipped 2009 Dodge Stratus and insists another number-one start is not out of the question.    

“That’s what we’re shooting for,” the most recent GSA series winner states. “We’ve got a brand-new 903 (c.i.) that we just finished and I really think it’s got enough to get it done.”

Brother Louis, aka Diesel Louie, is ready to join the family’s drag racing assault.

Louis Force, the older brother of 14-time NHRA champion John Force, plans to debut his latest creation, an 8V92 Silverline Detroit-power Peterbilt roadster, during the NHRA Auto Club Finals in Pomona, Ca., Nov. 11- 14.

Force’s neat ride has plenty of flexibility.

“It can be easily transformed from a street legal Rod to a 900-horsepower diesel drag truck, and or a contender for the record at pikes peak or again for Bonneville with a mere one hour change of exhaust and injector components,” Force explained. “The Transmission is an Allison 4-Speed auto, driving a rear end ratio to rocket this vehicle to a terminal speed of just over 190 MPH.”

John Force has won more than any driver in the history of NHRA drag racing. With 130 career wins, more than 1,000 round wins, 14 Full Throttle Funny Car world championships Force has rewritten the record books throughout his legendary career. Many of his record setting and his most terrifying performance occurred at the storied Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas.

Force will be in Dallas on Monday, Aug. 30, to kick-off the 25th annual O’Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals with a full day of media events including announcements about the fan promotions counting down the final 25 days before racing action takes to the track at the Texas Motorplex Sept. 23-26. Force will make the announcement at 3 p.m. along with Motorplex officials at an O’Reilly Auto Parts store located at 3425 North Beltline Road in Irving, Texas. The store is at the intersection of North Belt Line and Finley Road.

When asked recently what racing at the Texas Motorplex, recognized as the first super track on the NHRA tour, meant to the winningest driver in NHRA history Force did not have a problem explaining his excitement.

Multiple Australian championship-winning Rapisarda Racing will compete against the world’s best Top Fuel drag race teams at the final two (National Hot Rod Association) NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events later this year.   

The Sydney-based team will race at the 10th Annual NHRA Las Vegas Nationals from October 28-31 and the 46th Annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Pomona from November 11-14.  

Competing in the US is the realization of a long-held dream for Rapisarda Racing team principle Santo Rapisarda.

It is a rivalry still in its infancy, but the battle between Bill Evans and Mike Manners has already developed into one of the most intense in the series.

For the second week in a row the talented drivers making up the new Pro Fuel class put on an incredible show and at the head of that list was Manners and Evans who traded the national record for the class back-and-fourth nearly half a dozen times before Manners finally walked away the victor Sunday afternoon.

“This weekend was a lot of fun. Obviously we were in the exact same position as Bill coming into the weekend with cars capable of setting records and it was fun battling him for the new mark,” Manners said. “Last night he went to bed with the record, but we redid things today and now we are walking away with the record.

James Thompson and Jay Payne each took home the trophy in their respective classes for this weekend’s NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division 5 Heartland Championship at Heartland Park Topeka.

Thompson, Vernon, Texas, ran 5.40’s (elapsed time in seconds) throughout eliminations in taking the win in Top Alcohol Dragster against No. 1 qualifier Monroe Guest, Mannford, Okla., in the final round.  Thompson ran 5.423 seconds at 272.34 mph to Guest’s 5.503, 259.71.  Thompson took out No. 2 qualifier Randy Meyer, Spring Hill, Kan., in round one and Cody Perkins, Bluffdale, Utah, in the semis.

As the school year gets off to a speedy start, so do Top Fuel Dragsters at the biggest race of the year, the MAC Tools U.S. Nationals.  Expo® Dry Erase Markers is taking to the track as an associate sponsor of driver TJ Zizzo, who with Expo's backing, is racing to support the Kids in Need Foundation, a national, non-profit organization dedicated to providing free school supplies to economically disadvantaged school children and under-funded teachers.