Clouds aren’t usually a good thing when it comes to racing in Seattle. As long as they’re white and block the heat of the sun, they can be an ally for a nitro racer.

Defending NHRA Funny Car champion Robert Hight was hoping for a little insulation from Mother Nature to knock off a few of the nearly 130 degrees reading on track temperature gauges, so he could step up from his 4.194 from Friday evening.

To run that quick headed into Sunday’s final eliminations at the NHRA Northwest Nationals would have been huge for the driver of the AAA Ford Mustang. Close might only work in horseshoes and hand grenades, but for Hight running within .005 bodes well for his race day chances.

“It was a little hotter and a forecast of clouds, which never came,” said Hight, whose No. 1 qualifier represents his sixth of 2010 and the 37th of his career.

“We came close and you saw Del Worsham step up and run a 4.20. The top ten cars are so bunched up that anyone can win this deal. Being No. 1 is a big deal when it comes to earning points but on race day it means nothing. No matter what position you are in, you have a tough race.”

Mike Edwards left his Coweta, Okla., home and drove his Pro Stock team hauler 2,100 miles to the Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways this week.

“It has 130,000 miles on it, and he has put every one of 'em on it!” wife Lisa interjected. However, it was the last half mile in his race car which made the long trip worthwhile.

Staring down a hot, tricky track with a third-place showing from Friday, Edwards needed to go back to what he knew would work at Pacific Raceway; what gave him one of his five victories last year on the way to his first Pro Stock series championship.

Doug Kalitta's 13-year drag-racing career is studded with a number of stellar achievements and precious few regrets.
 
But the 2006 NHRA Finals at Pomona, Calif., has to rate as probably his most crushing disappointment. It was the race at which Tony Schumacher seized the series championship on the last run -- against Kalitta, taking the race and the glory from the Ann Arbor, Mich., driver who had led the standings following the previous 10 events.
 
Things unraveled a bit that weekend for Kalitta, and he never had led the Top Fuel qualifying field since -- until Saturday at the Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways.

Jim Cunningham isn’t listed in the NHRA’s media guide, nor is he in their online drivers listing. However, after qualifying at the NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle, the driver who has already passed retirement age; might have ensured a future listing.

For the first time in his career, 67 events and as many DNQs, Cunningham will race on Sunday in the first round of Sunday’s eliminations.

Team number one from Wichita Raceway Park out of Iowa Park, Texas, took home the Team Championship for the 2010 NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Western Conference Finals presented by Lucas Oil and JR Race Car today at Bandimere Speedway outside of Denver.  The team gathered 34 points for the win and was led by Emily Herod of Jacksboro, Texas, who won the 16-17 year old class.  Tri-State Raceway, Earlville, Iowa, took the No. 2 spot in the team standings with 30 points followed by the No. 3 team from host track Bandimere Speedway in the third spot with 29 points.

Herod held off Grant Snedeker, Chickasha, Okla., with a pass of 7.953 seconds at 79.22 mph while Bailey Jones, Wichita, Kan., took home his third NHRA Wally trophy in two years winning the 10 year old division over Aaron Philpot of Boerne, Texas.  Jones won the 8-9 year old class last year and was also a member of the 2009 Team Champions from S.R.C.A. Dragstrip.   

Doug Kalitta ended a three-and-a-half year drought on Saturday at the 23rd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways with his first No. 1 qualifier since the 2006 Auto Club NHRA Finals.

The other No. 1 qualifiers at the 14th of 23 races in the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season were Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock).

Courtney Force avoided what could have been a disastrous outcome in the first round of eliminations the 2009 Northwest Nationals.

Racing alongside Mike Austin, her right rear Goodyear tire exploded tearing a portion of her Ford Racing A Fuel Dragster’s rear wing off. She managed to keep her dragster off the guard wall and out of Austin’s lane. For the third year TAD driver it was the culmination of many hours of practice, visualization and conversations with her father and teammates.

Drag-racing teams every summer throttle up for a unique experience at Seattle, the city built on Boeing that has embraced an eclectic dining palate, absorbed a jolt of java through Starbucks headquarters, and gained as much fame for its Microsoft-spearheaded technology corridor as for its iconic Space Needle.
 
Top Fuel drivers Antron Brown and Cory McClenathan, his Don Schumacher Racing stablemate, got their competitive juices brewing earlier this week with a special Starbucks experience.