The real challenge for Matt Smith was to determine which was hotter – him or his Al-Anabi Pro Stock Bike Buell. Both were of elevated temperature as they crossed the finish line during the finals of the NHRA Summit Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

Smith defeated defending series champion Hector Arana to score a career twelfth victory. The past world champion relied on his crew to keep both of their thermometers in check throughout a breakneck pace race day schedule.

Perfection is something Al-Anabi Racing driver Larry Dixon always strives for, however his latest victory has him shaking his head in disbelief.

Seven times he’s reached the Top Fuel final round of a 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Championship Drag Racing event. Seven times he’s walked away with the trophy.

This one almost got away from him as opponent Antron Brown challenged him all the way to the finish line, losing by .0002, a mere foot at 300 miles per hour.

“I feel fortunate, said Dixon, who leads second place point earner Tony Schumacher by 176 points. “A lot of tight races. That one right there was tight. Truth, you could race that one again and get a different outcome.

Greg Anderson raced to his first Pro Stock victory of the season Sunday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.

Larry Dixon, Tim Wilkerson and Matt Smith also were winners in their respective categories at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.

In winning the Pro Stock final, three-time world champ Anderson pocketed more than $125,000 for the weekend by sweeping today’s eliminations and Saturday’s K&N Horsepower Challenge all-star event, which includes a $25,000 double-up bonus from NHRA.

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the Fourth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, the 13th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series -

Sunday's final results from the Fourth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park. The race is the 13th of 23 in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

Veteran drag racer Pat Musi raced to his first NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series victory Sunday at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.

Musi, who outran Troy Coughlin, Ed Hoover and top qualifier Raymond Commisso in the first three rounds, defeated Brad Personett in the final round. It was Musi’s first victory in NHRA competition since 1981, when the New Jersey driver won a Wally in Pro Stock competition at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla.

Musi’s Dodge Stratus posted a 5.981 at 239.44 to hold off Personett’s hard-charging ’68 Camaro, which trailed with a 5.996 at 251.02.

Final round-by-round results from the Fourth annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park, the 13th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of the first national event staged at the track formerly known as Norwalk Raceway Park. A lot has changed about the palatial house of speed located to the southwest of Cleveland, Ohio, even its name.

Now branded as Summit Raceway Park, the facility operates under  the NHRA sanction and represents one of the more successful events on the 23-race Full Throttle tour.

Back in the 1981, the Bader family, fronted by Bill Bader Sr., used a rain plagued IHRA event as a springboard for the future; a stepping stone to it's current prominence as a premier facility in the drag racing world.

However, there are those who remember the time the drag strip, carved out of a cornfield, was afforded its first chance to host a national event. The 1981 IHRA World Nationals was one of those events which left its participants with memories.

Allen Johnson taunted Greg Anderson and because of that, Mike Edwards paid the price in the final of the K&N Horsepower Challenge, a race-within-a-race during the NHRA Summit Nationals.

Two years earlier Johnson strapped a perfect .000 reaction time on Anderson to claim the $60,000 winning purse. At the time, Anderson was the top dog in the Pro Stock class.

Fast forward to Saturday afternoon at Summit Raceway Park in Norwalk, Ohio.

Anderson worked his way through the eight-car field from the second seed only to meet the top ranked Edwards for the prize. He beat Edwards on a hole shot, recording a 6.685, 206.23 pass to secure the victory.