The sport of drag racing by nature is inherently dangerous.

Every time a driver takes the track, the end result could be a matter of life and death.

It was thought after the on-track death of Scott Kalitta, Connie’s son, and a two-time NHRA world champion on June 21, 2008, NHRA national event facilities would become safer in the run off area.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case.

Earlier in the year, Attitude's CompetitionPlus.com reported that Pro Modified icon Bill Kuhlmann was building a new car for competition. Kuhlmann confirmed the project is now finished.

Pro Street veteran Vinny Demieri went for the worst ride of his career Saturday night (July 17), when he flipped over his Jerry Bickel-built ’68 Camaro during second-round qualifying for the NMCA/NMRA Superbowl at Route 66 Raceway, near Chicago in Joliet, Illinois.

Running about half-track in the left lane, Demieri drifted toward the center line, but appeared to be pulling back into the groove when his car made a hard turn and hit nearly head on into the left guardwall, immediately turning over on its roof and sliding upside down and on fire through the lights.

Third in Pro Street points heading into the race, Demieri says his first thought upon hitting the wall was, “I wonder how long it’s going to take for Bickel to fix this?”

Three drivers walked away from last weekend’s Fourth Annual World Footbrake Challenge with wallets much heavier than when they arrived in Thunder Valley.

Steve Alford of Angier, N.C. drove his 1971 Ford Pinto to victory in Friday’s first $10,000-to-win shootout event. Alford defeated Manny Sousa from Bradenton, Fla. in the final round. Alford had a .020 reaction time and a 7.022 elapsed time (7.02 dial-in) at 94.75 mph. Sousa’s losing effort combined a .017 reaction with a 5.803 E.T. (5.78 dial-in).

Jacob Rutledge from Houston, Ga. raced to the win in Saturday’s main event, collecting $10,000 in the process. Rutledge used a .005 R.T. in a final round that saw his competition, BJ Bianchi of Palmetto, Fla. turn on the red light for jumping the start. Rutledge’s winning pass was a 7.984 E.T. (7.97 dial-in) at 86.37 mph. Bianchi’s finished his run with a 6.890 E.T. (6.76 dial-in).

NHRA Division 7 Top Alcohol Dragster owners Jerry and Betty Brazil will return to the drag strip after a four year hiatus during the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division 7 event contested at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. The Eureka, Calif. based team has selected 21-year old Kenny Buzdas to drive their Blown Alcohol Dragster.

Buzdas, a former NHRA Division 7 Jr. Dragster champion and recent driver of Jim Ray’s potent Blown Alcohol Top Eliminator West Dragster from Yuba City recently completed his NHRA 2A licensing procedures in a test session driving Ray’s rail to a best elapsed time of 6.12 seconds at 229 miles per hour. For the rookie TAD pilot, the opportunity to drive for the Brazil family is a dream come true.

Hundreds of racers were on hand to do battle for this past weekend’s Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals and the action continued today at Infineon Raceway for the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series and the previously postponed NHRA Phoenix Nationals.

In today’s Lucas Oil Series action, racers in Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, and Super Gas completed their eliminations from back in February.  Tony Mandella, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., held off Super Stock ace Dan Fletcher with a hole shot win for his second trophy in as many days.  Mandella knocked out reigning Super Stock National Champion Jimmy DeFrank in Sunday’s Fran Autolite Nationals.

In Super Gas it was Justin Lamb of Henderson, Nev., going seven rounds for the win with a near perfect run against Jim Hughes of Phoenix, in the final.  Lamb ran a 9.901 second lap on a 9.90 index with a 0.008 second reaction time.  Other winners today were Kyle Rizzoli, San Luis Obispo, Calif., who won over Toby Lang in the Stock class and Greg Boutte of Stockton, Calif., beating Steve Casner in the final of Super Comp.

Allen Johnson has been treating the famed Western Swing as a dress rehearsal for the upcoming Countdown to 1, NHRA’s championship playoffs.

The way he figures, if his Team Mopar crew can put a lot of points on the board during the grueling three-week stretch of races near the end of NHRA’s 17-race regular season, it’ll give his team a small glimpse of what chasing the Pro Stock championship crown will be like come September.

As the team gears up for the third race in as many weeks, the 31st annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals near Denver, July 23-25, Johnson is hoping for a better outcome at scenic Bandimere Speedway. So far on the Western Swing, Johnson has two quarterfinal exits and earned a No. 1 qualifying position at Sonoma.

 Throughout the 2010 Top Fuel season, Larry Dixon has been dominant. This weekend at the Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals, things were no different.

Dixon qualified on the pole and then won the event in convincing fashion at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
In the finals, Dixon beat rival Tony Schumacher, clocking a 3.879-second pass at 317.12 mph. Schumacher came across in 4.006 seconds at 300.73 mph.

“I’m trying to beat whomever I’m lined up against,” said Dixon, who has beat Schumacher six of the nine times they have raced this season. “You’re racing a car (in Schumacher) that has won six championships in a row, and you better bring your ‘A’ game when you race them. They didn’t win that many races and championships by being lucky, they’ve been good. You go up there and race them and do  the best job you can and hope that it is enough.”

With the win, Dixon remains in the season points lead with 1,444 points. Schumacher is now second at 1,233 followed by his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Cory McClenathan at 1,227.

After crunching the numbers from Sunday, it appears Dixon also has clinched the No. 1 seed for the Countdown to 1 playoffs. The 17-race regular season of the Countdown to the Championship runs through the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals Aug. 12-15 in Brainerd, Minn.

Pro Stock's Jeg Coughlin might not have laid the foundation for winning the FRAM-Autolite Nationals in qualifying or in running low elapsed time and top speed in the first round, when all 16 qualifiers strive to shine their brightest.
 
His inspiration came from a heart-to-heart talk he had with his father, Jeg Coughlin Sr., in their mini-vacation at Lake Tahoe after the Seattle race.
 
“We both came up with how we would run the car. We put a good, solid game plan,” he said.
 
It paid off, for he used his 100th career final round to defeat Jason Line for the $25,000 victory, his third this year in four final rounds.
 
Coughlin drove the Victor Cagnazzi-owned JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to a 6.590-second elapsed time at 209.52 mph on the Infineon Raceway quarter-mile. Line challenged in his Summit Racing Pontiac GXP with a 6.602-second effort at 209.39 mph.
 
Coughlin said his approach this weekend “was slightly more aggressive than we've been in past races. We'd usually become a little soft and by Q4, we're a gang of hell and ready to go on race day. We've had some queer luck, so this weekend, we just wanted to be a little more aggressive. That's probably the thing I'm most proud about.

There's no question, Michael Phillips gets lost in all the hype of the big-name Pro Stock Motorcycle riders like Hector Arana, Andrew Hines and Matt Smith.

Well, Phillips is proving he deserves to be in the spotlight as well.

Phillips knocked off some of the top riders in the class Sunday, the last being Andrew Hines in the final round to capture the title at the Fram-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Sonoma, Calif.

Phillips clocked a 6.886-second time to beat Hines, who came in at 6.909 seconds.

On the road to his victory, Phillips also beat Karen Stoffer, Matt Smith and Eddie Krawiec. During his win over Krawiec, Phillips set a new national speed record for Pro Stock Motorcycles at 197.65 mph.

“That old bike I have is actually one of the best bikes in the wind tunnel, and it works out there on the race track,” Phillips said. “I wasn’t worried about the record, I was just trying to get the win.”