Four local racers took home big wins this past weekend at the 40th Anniversary Napa Auto Parts Ignitor presented by Dan Wiebold Ford at Firebird Raceway with Jackie Alley, Eagle, Idaho, and Dan Lafferty, Wendell, Idaho, leading the way to winner’s circle.

Alley, one of two female winners in this weekend NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, drove her ’69 Camaro to a 9.711 second lap at 136.86 mph in her Super Stock win over Rodney Stults, Marysville, Wash., and Lafferty beat Terry Wilcox with a 7.266 second pass at 186.33 mph in his Top Dragster.  Carl Youngstrom, Caldwll, Idaho, defeated Boise resident Steve Holland in the Pro class and Dick Vander Meer, Nampa, Idaho, won in Super Pro when Kacee Jo Bootsma, Outlook, Wash., fouled at the starting line.

It was a great day for three individuals on Sunday as the stars of Nitro Jam’s three professional classes swept the weekend at Rockingham Dragway.

Despite vastly different track conditions from one day to the next Bruce Litton in Top Fuel, Peter Gallen in Prostalgia Nitro Funny car and Michael Manners in Pro Fuel were able to overcome the odds and put together a winning package as the trio swept the pro categories Saturday and Sunday at the Spring Nitro Jam at “The Rock.”

In the 39th edition of the Spring Nitro Jam event hot, sticky weather greeted fans and plagued drivers on both days as the extreme heat added an extra dimension to figuring out the tricky track surface. On Saturday the cooler evening temperatures helped calm the storm, but Sunday’s heat left teams scrambling.

Rodger Brogdon realizes it’s not if a driver will ever crash a car, it’s when.

Sunday afternoon at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis was Brogdon’s time.

In a close race with Justin Humphreys, Brogdon’s Attitude Apparel Pontiac GXP drifted out of the groove, rolled onto its roof and impacted the left retaining wall. The car burst into flames but the safety personnel were able to extinguish it quickly.

Doug Kalitta, driver of the ROCKY Boots Top Fuel dragster, raced to his fourth runner-up finish of the season, the 62nd final round of his 13-year career, Sunday in final eliminations of the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals in Madison, Ill., at Gateway Int’l Raceway just across the Mississippi River from downtown St. Louis.
 
Kalitta, the No. 8 qualifier (3.939 seconds, 304.53 mph), defeated  Steve Torrence in the opening round of eliminations, 3.885 to 3.966, and he got the win light over Antron Brown, 3.932 to 4.157, in the quarterfinals.
 
In the semifinals, Kalitta and the ROCKY Boots team defeated Brandon Bernstein. Bernstein had traction problems very early in the race and Kalitta cruised down the 1,000-ft. GIR drag strip with a 3.928-sec., 303.64-mph lap.

Five-time world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. came very close to a rare double-win Sunday in St. Louis, finishing just short of doing something that hadn't been accomplished in 18 years.

Racing in both Pro Stock and Top Dragster at the 14th annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals, Coughlin expertly raced his way through the elimination fields of both categories to put himself in position to duplicate Pat Austin's last Pro/Sportsman double-win in 1992.

In the finals, Coughlin got the ball rolling with a near-perfect victory against Top Dragster finalist Mallori McCullar-Rodge, leaving with a .010-second reaction time and running dead-on his index with a 6.600 in his brother John's JEGS.com rail.

For a rider sponsored by a pain management patch, Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Michael Philips had no problem meting out pain all day long on race day at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis.

Philips, aboard the Racers Edge Suzuki, raced to his fourth career national event victory by stopping a surprising L.E. Tonglet in the finals.

“We have a new engine from Vance-Hines thanks to Rodger Brogdon,” said Philips.

Veteran Pro Stock driver Warren Johnson, the second-winningest driver in NHRA Full Throttle Series history, ended a four-year drought with his 97th career win Sunday at the 14th annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway.

The other winners at the seventh event in the 23-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series were Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Michael Phillips (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Von Smith was able to race his way to victory over a tough class of NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series entrants during the event at Gateway International Raceway.

Final round-by-round results from the 14th annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway, the seventh of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the 14th annual AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway, the seventh of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series -