Brandon Bernstein believes the Copart/Lucas Oil team cleared a major hurdle six races ago. During first day qualifying at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., Bernstein offered the proof.

Bernstein claimed the provisional Top Fuel pole position with a 3.846 elapsed time at 309.24 putting nearly .04 on second quickest qualifier Cory McClenathan.

“Six races ago we started to get that confidence that we could go down the track and make the big runs and not smoke the tires,” Bernstein explained. “We’ve got that confidence and hopefully we keep it.”

Melanie Troxel wowed European fans Friday by zooming to the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot in Pro Mod at the 25th annual FIA Nitrolympx at Hockenheimring.

"It's nice to start this weekend off strong," Troxel said. "The car is going down the track and our crew chief, Al Billes, has a handle on the track conditions. Now that we've a good run in each lane, we've got a great foundation to build on."

After being fastest after the first round, Billes tweaked the tune-up and Troxel raced her car to a second qualifying pass of 6.099 seconds at 240.39 mph, fastest on the day by .07 seconds and .003 seconds off a track record.

Talk about making a good first impression.

Having never made a pass in Nitro Jam competition before Friday night Dave Hirata entered this weekend’s event hoping for a solid showing in the brand new Pro Fuel class and instead walked away with his first career victory on opening night at the Northern Nitro Jam at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park

Hirata swept both of his opponents Friday night in front of the rambunctious Martin crowd, joining fellow professional winners Bobby Lagana Jr. (Top Fuel) and Steve Nichols (Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car) in taking home Nitro Jam’s top prize – an Ironman trophy – while gaining the immediate respect of his fellow competitors in the new Pro Fuel category.

Hirata also claimed a win in his first try at the brand new format which was also making its debut at the Michigan track Friday night.

The Pro Stock class, arguably drag racing’s most tightly clustered, had only one shot at qualifying Friday for the Lucas Oil Nationals, and Allen Johnson once again blazed to the front of the pack.

Saying he had “worked real hard in the last couple of weeks,” Johnson posted a 6.702-second elapsed time at 206.61 mph to prove it.

Former Auto Club Road to the Future winner Brandon Bernstein is in position to collect his first No. 1 of 2010 after Friday’s first qualifying session at the 29th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals.

The other provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 17th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Series season – and final race in the Countdown to 10 regular season – were Ashley Force Hood (Funny Car), Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

This weekend, there is going to be no shortage of drama at the 29th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.

That’s because this event is the finish line for drivers trying to make the Countdown to 1 playoffs. The playoffs begin at the U.S. Nationals Sept. 1-6 in Indianapolis.

Dave Grubnic still remembers the sting of waiting out several days of rain delays at Reading in 2007, only to learn -- via phone call from Graham Light, NHRA’s sneior vice-president of racing operations -- that he had been bumped from the Countdown field. As Grubnic awaits the 2010 results at Brainerd, this year’s cutoff event, he looked back to that time but put his effort to hold off hard-charging Terry McMillen all in perspective.
 

In recognition of Snap-on’s 90th Anniversary, the Snap-on Funny Car, driven by Cruz Pedregon, will feature a special wrap commemorating Snap-on’s 90 years. The 90th Anniversary Snap-on Funny Car will hit the track August 12-15 at the NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn.

This coming Saturday, August 14th, is the 10th Annual Uptown Whittier Car Show held in Whittier, Ca. Between the hours of 9AM to 7PM (extended from its original 4PM end time) the sleepy, historic, uptown district will be transformed into a hot rodding haven. Hundreds of (mostly) pre 1975 cars, trucks, hot rods and street rods will be shown off, as well as, 2 stages of entertainment, a BBQ Cook-off, raffles and more.

The American Drag Racing League (ADRL) and President Kenny Nowling announced on Thursday that “The Rock Racing Battery” will serve as both the “Official Battery of the ADRL” and the “Official Mobile Power Source” of the ADRL’s “Battle for the Belts” doorslammer drag racing series.

Thanks to its lightweight and unsurpassed reliability, The Rock Battery is a top choice for several ADRL drivers, including current Extreme Pro Stock points leader John Montecalvo.