The Northeast Outlaw Pro Mods “1320 Pro Mod Warrior Series” season opener at Virginia Motorsports Park was a huge success with over 20 Pro Mods contesting eight qualifying positions in each of the two classes.

Taking the pole position on the Blower side in the Parise Racing 63 Corvette was Drew “Bam Bam” Parise of Oakdale, NY with a 6.17 at 233.92 MPH. Taking the pole on the Nitrous side in the Mech Tech Racing 05 Cobalt was Isaias Rojas of Puerto Rico with a 6.078 at 234.82.

It was a Nelson kind of day on Sunday afternoon during the Thompson Metal Services Blue Oval Bash in Thunder Valley.

The first Nelson to claim victory was Larry Nelson of Blountville. He drove to the win in the All Brands Super Pro category over Cody Spears. Nelson had a .027 reaction time and raced through the line in 5.936 seconds (5.91 dial-in) at 117.36 mph.

John Nelson Jr. of Bristol continued the Nelson dominance when he defeated a red-lighting Scott Vestal in the All Brands Pro category final. Nelson’s final run consisted of a .040 R.T., coupled with a 7.234 E.T. (7.23 dial-in) at 93.78 mph. He also earned the category win on Saturday afternoon when he defeated Carl Widner of Elizabethton with a 7.241 E.T. (7.24 dial-in) at 93.31 mph.

Defending NHRA Division 3 Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Chris Foster has signed a one race primary sponsorship deal with Safety Tech, Inc., for the upcoming NHRA Division 4 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at Tulsa Raceway Park, May 14-16.  Foster enters the event second in Division 4 standings following a semifinal finish at last weekend’s event in Dallas.
 
Foster, of Davenport, Ia., is excited about partnering with Safety Tech for the Tulsa event.
 
“We have heard a lot of good things about the track down there in Tulsa, and we’re honored to have Safety Tech come on board with us for the event,” said Foster.  “Hopefully we can make a good showing for them and our associate sponsors Motorsports Unlimited, DragRaceHose.com and Goodridge Hoses & Fittings.”

Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels announced their new Racers Rebate program on May 1, and the response has been strong. Purchase a set of two ET Drag tires in 26-inch, 28-inch, or 29.5-inch sizes between May 1 and June 15, and receive a $50 Mickey Thompson MasterCard® gift card. Add a set of Mickey Thompson ET Front tires, and receive an additional $20 back.

The NHRA, in a continuing attempt to slow down nitro cars, has planned another data gathering test on the Monday following the Midwest Nationals in St. Louis. The focus of this test will be in reducing the size of the fuel pumps used in the nitro cars to 65 gallons per minute [gpm].

The test will be conducted by Tim Wilkerson and John Force since longtime tuner Austin Coil will also participate.

“The goal is to reduce the size of the bomb,” said Wilkerson, who has been the NHRA’s primary test driver for the majority of nitro data gathering sessions. “I don’t know that anyone knows if this is the way to go, but it looks like a logical direction in reducing the size of the bomb.”

Rain fell all three days throughout the NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway [GIR] except in one place – the pit space assigned to Pro Stock legend Warren Johnson.

Johnson, 66, from Buford, Ga., officially ended his drought Sunday afternoon. Under the threat of rain showers, Johnson essentially soloed for his first national event victory since 2006 when Jeg Coughlin Jr. broke on the starting line. The St. Louis victory marked the 97th of his career.

“Today presented one of those scenarios where everyone else did something wrong and we were just cruising,” said Johnson during the event’s post-race press conference. “It’s a case where you are going to every so often, have everything just go your way. Lots of times it doesn’t happen, so you take the good with the bad.”

This didn’t seem like a recipe for success.

Robert Hight, the reigning Funny Car world champ, was lacking consistency and he was going to a track - Gateway International Raceway - where he has never reached the final round.

Hight’s struggles in St. Louis vanished Sunday when he beat Jack Beckman in the finals of the 14th annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals.

Hight clocked a 4.149-second elapsed time, compared to a 4.204-second effort by Beckman.

Just when you think it’s safe to write off Tony Schumacher he thunders back with a reminder why he’s the defending NHRA Top Fuel champion and a 63-time national event winner.

Schumacher defeated Doug Kalitta to capture his second career NHRA Midwest Nationals victory at Gateway International Raceway located outside of St. Louis and his second win of the 2010 season.

His contends the win was not sending a message but rather just a matter of racing the way he always has. He lets the chips fall where they may.

“I'm a pretty laid back guy for the years,” said Schumacher, “You don't see me throwing helmets. You don't see me pissed off. If we get beat, we get beat.”

Mark Pickens could use a few prayers.

Pickens, who owns MPE Enterprises in Millington, Tenn., the Top Fuel team driven by Clay Millican, was notified Saturday morning that his race shop was under water as a result of severe storms that crossed over the region early Saturday morning.

Millington, a town of 10,433, is presently under a dusk-to-dawn curfew following a series of levee breaks.

“We got 14 inches of rain and in some places in our shop, we are under four feet of water,” Pickens said on Sunday morning at Gateway International Raceway. “In the lowest places, it’s about two feet.”

Steve Szupka, Willow Groove, Pa., and Ronnie Proctor, Harpers Ferry, W.V., took home the wins in Comp Eliminator and Top Sportsman respectively in the final results from Atco Raceway and the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.

The win light went to Szpuka when he ran 8.239 seconds at 158.74 mph in his final round victory over Tony Terry, Forest, Va., who clocked in at 8.388 seconds, 150.06 mph.