No matter the order of the NHRA's infamous Western Swing, five-time world champion drag racer Jeg Coughlin Jr. says the importance of consecutive races in Seattle, Sonoma, and Denver is the same -- it's a vital stretch for championship contenders.

"They've [NHRA] mixed up the order of the Swing and have us starting in Seattle and finishing in Denver this year," said Coughlin, the driver of the JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt. "It makes for an interesting transition. Instead of going from the heat and humidity of Norwalk to the mile-high altitude of Denver, we're going to a sea-level track that hopefully will offer optimum conditions.

"We won't be going slower like normal; we're going to be running 6.50s, and that's pretty darn exciting.

The Mountain Motor Pro Stock Association, the fledgling series showcasing factory hot rods, could have written off their Martin, Mich.-based event as a failure when rain washed away their original May date. Little did the promoters know their rescheduled date would be a blessing in disguise.

This weekend’s event, July 9-10, at U.S. 131 Dragway will attract as many as five past world champions who couldn’t attend on the original date due to scheduling conflicts.

Those scheduled to appear include John Montecalvo, Steve Spiess, Brian Gahm, Pete Berner and John Nobile.

2009 Full Throttle NHRA Funny Car champion Robert Hight will start the historic NHRA Western Swing this Thursday, July 8th, not at famed Pacific Raceway home of the 23rd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals but rather at a Seattle area Wal-Mart. Hight will be on hand representing series sponsor Full Throttle at the Wal-Mart located at 34520 16th Ave. South in Federal Way, Washington from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. signing autographs and meeting fans at this free event.

“One of the best things about racing on the NHRA Full Throttle Series besides going over 300 mph in my Auto Club Ford Mustang is getting to spend time with our fans. If they come out to the track we can see them but Full Throttle also gives us a chance to make some new fans by going out into the market to talk about the race as well as Full Throttle,” said Hight, a three time winner in 2010.

Defending NHRA Northwest Nationals champions Antron Brown and Tim Wilkerson will headline WFO Radio NHRA Tuesday with Joe Castello, tonight at 7 p.m. ET.  To listen live or on-demand following the show, go to wforadio.com or download the top-rated WFO Radio iPhone application.

"Hot Rod" Fuller will return to NHRA competition behind the wheel of the Yas Marina Circuit Top Fuel dragster. The seven-time Top Fuel winner will make his 2010 NHRA debut at the 23rd annual FRAM-Autolite Nationals, July 16-18, at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

Champion crew chief Lee Beard, who served as Fuller's crew chief in 2006, will call the shots on the Yas Marina Circuit car. The Yas Marina Circuit dragster is owned by Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management (ADMM) and based in the capital city of the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.). Fuller and the Yas Marina Circuit team also will compete at the Mile-High Nationals near Denver, the prestigious U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, and the Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway at Concord. The car will then return to Abu Dhabi for winter events at the Yas Drag Centre at Yas Marina Circuit, home to the Formula 1 Eithad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix scheduled for Nov. 12-14, 2010. The Yas team is sponsored on its United States tour by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and managed by DSR.

When intense summer heat brings dragstrips on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series to a mild sizzle, many crew chiefs on the circuit start scratching their heads, trying to figure ways to make their 7,000-horsepower machines cover the race distance without losing traction.

For Funny Car veteran Tim Wilkerson, one of the only drivers in the category who also serves as his own crew chief, the opposite is true. He starts salivating because he knows his notebook is jammed full of proven tune-up methods should his team encounter such sticky situations.

A quick glance at his racing accomplishments reveals multiple victories during the hot summer months. By racing to victory during oppressive weather conditions at St. Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis and Englishtown, Wilkerson has earned the unofficial title of “Hot Track Master” on the circuit.

Bill Miller is a man who holds true to his traditions.

Miller, the veteran piston and rod manufacturer who campaigns a Top Fuel dragster as the company’s research and development car, has raced the NHRA event in Seattle for the past two decades, faithfully.

The only entity more reliable than Miller in Seattle has been rain.

This year, for the first time since he began Top Fuel racing, Miller will be absent from the Pacific Raceways pits when the NHRA Northwest Nationals kicks off this Friday.

Top Fuel driver Morgan Lucas was just 11 years old when he took his first drag racing road trip from Southern California to Seattle's Pacific Raceways. Riding along with Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Jason Rupert, Lucas might as well have been travelling to the Land of Oz that weekend 15 years ago, for that's how exotic the Emerald City seemed to the son of Lucas Oil founders Forrest and Charlotte Lucas.

I will never forget that trip," the now 26-year-old driver of the GEICO Powersports Lucas Oil dragster said. "It was the most significant thing I had ever done, up to that point in my life, by a long shot. I pretty much thought it didn't get any better than that and, even now, I think I still feel the same way. It was an awesome experience."

In 2010 the NHRA shuffled the order of the long standing Western Swing of races on the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series moving the Denver NHRA event to the end of the swing. The three race sprint will now start in Seattle move to Sonoma, Calif. and then culminate in Denver at the end of July. For someone used to going straight down the racetrack at speeds in excess of 300 mph in her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang the change is welcome to Ashley Force Hood considering it will mean an almost straight shot south in her El Monte RV.  

“My husband and I are very excited about getting the chance to again take an El Monte RV on the Western Swing. We rented one last year for the first time and had a wonderful time,” said Force Hood.

In the final results from Lebanon Valley Dragway it was Todd Veney and Darren Nicholson taking the wins and the trophies for the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series and the 4th of July Celebration.

Indiana racer Veney, also qualified in the No. 4 spot then ran low elapsed time in each of the three rounds of eliminations including a 5.754 second run at 251.34 mph in his semi final round against reigning National champion Frank Manzo, Morganville, N.J. Outside of the driver's cockpit, Veney is a talented writer and contributor to Attitude's CompetitionPlus.com.