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.”

NHRA Funny Car driver Ron Capps, desperately seeking a victory for the first time in nearly a year after setting the class standard last season, said Sunday after winning the FRAM-Autolite Nationals, “I feel like I can conquer the world!”
 
Triumphant for the first time since last July at Denver, the NAPA Dodge Charge Funny Car driver said, “It's all confidence. And confidence is built on success.”
 
Capps had his own success Sunday at Infineon Raceway, defeating Don Schumacher Racing teammate Jack Beckman for the $50,000 payout and clinching a spot in the Countdown.
 
But the success to which he was alluding was not his own but that of Don Schumacher Racing teammate Matt Hagan and that came from the arrival of respected crew chief John Medlen from the legendary John Force Racing organization.
 
“We've been testing a lot of things all season long. And, obviously when John went over to Matt Hagan's car we saw what happened over there. Matt won two races, set the national record. And I've always wanted to work with John.”
 
He said having Medlen as his crew chief, in addition to all his mentoring by Ed “The Ace” McCulloch, “has been such a pleasure.”

When Todd Paton was invited to be a part of this year’s MOPAR Nitro Jam Nationals at the Grand Bend Motorplex, the Ontario native was pleased to participate at his home track and the place where he made his first ever pass in a Top Fuel Dragster.

Little did Paton know that by the end of the weekend he would be walking away from “The Bend” with his first Ironman in several years and his first ever victory in drag racing’s quickest and fastest class during Sunday’s MOPAR Nitro Jam Nationals finale at the Grand Bend Motorplex.

“After all these years who knew this old dog could still hunt. Actually I was getting ready to Photoshop my head in one of those Tim Boychuk winners circle pictures, but now I have one of my own,” Paton said with a laugh, referencing the success driver Boychuk has had in his car over the past two years. “I had so many people that have seen us when we were running the alcohol cars so to finally put together a good performance and a few solid runs in front of these fans is a great feeling.”

Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL, was the scene on the weekend of July 15-18, 2010 for the Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing – an awesome display of hundreds of doorslammers of all domestic makes and models in the NMRA and NMCA’s racing classes.

In the Turbonetics Pro Outlaw 10.5 class, Mike Murillo turned in a stout 6.79 at nearly 216 MPH to lead the field into the eliminations sessions. There, it would come down to Conrad Scarry and Murillo in the final round in a repeat of the last event at Milan Dragway. When the tree came down, Murillo blasted off to an awesome 6.84 to Scarry’s 7.17 for the win, ending Scarry’s unbeaten streak. Murillo hammered the tree with a .006 reaction time to win over Joe Dunne and clinch the Super Bowl victory for the NMRA!

Scorpion Pro Street drew fifteen competitors to the famous Route ‘66 Raceway. After an intense three rounds of qualifying, Chris Rini topped the field with a 6.18 at 232 mph, followed by Joe Dunne who ran a 6.24, and coming in third on the list was John Sullivan with a 6.31. It was Billy Glidden and Joe Dunne who had the cars to beat this hot weekend, and both met up in the finals in a classic Chevy versus Ford match up.  When the tree fell, a holeshot from Dunne and some tire slip from Glidden resulted in the Pat Musi-tuned Chevy getting the event win for the second year in a row. In the NMRA versus NMRA runoff, Dunne faced the NMRA’s Turbonetics Pro Outlaw winner, Mike Murillo    
  

Shawn Langdon won the Super Gas title in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series racing at Infineon Raceway, his first Sportsman victory since 2008.

“This win is big, it's huge,” Langdon said. “It's the best feeling in the world.

“With the Top Fuel car we're trying so hard and just haven't gotten the breaks to get a win, so to be able to come out here in this Lamb Motorsports Super Gasser and bring home the Wally is just awesome. I've got all my family and friends here, and I thank them for all the support.

“I'll race anything I can get my hands on. It doesn't matter to me. Winning is just the best feeling in the world. It doesn't matter what class it is. And I want to tell my Top Fuel Lucas Oil crew boys that we're going to get one of these soon, I promise!”

The 4th annual AutoTrader.com Eric Medlen Nitro Night Charity Dinner, which took place on Thursday night, raised a record amount of $27,500 for Speedway Children’s Charities.

The gala, which was held at Stone Tree Golf Club in Novato, was held in honor of Medlen, a native of Oakdale in the San Joaquin Valley. He succumbed in March, 2007, to injuries sustained from a testing accident. Medlen, who was a member of John Force Racing, considered Infineon Raceway his home track and won the Funny Car title there in 2006.

Popular Funny Car driver Ron Capps ended a one-year winless streak Sunday with his victory at the 23^rd annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway.

The other winners at the 15th race in the 23-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season were Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Michael Phillips (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Final round-by-round results from the 23rd annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, the 15th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the 23rd annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, the 15th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series -