For nearly 25 years John Force has been racing all over North America in a Castrol sponsored Funny Car. Before Force joined the Castrol team he got his racing career kick-started in a storied match racing trip to Australia. As the 14-time NHRA Funny Car world champion put it he has “been on fire from here to Australia and raced down just about every track in the United States.” His level of passion is unmatched and his performance records will most likely never be equaled.

Ken Thomas and Crew captured their 11th win of the 2009 TOPMA season during series finale at Texas Raceway on November 7th.  With this win, Ken clinched the series points championship and became only the second driver in TOPMA history to win two points titles in a row.  Only Lenmar teammate Gaylen Smith was able to equal the feat in 2003/2004.  

“What a relief and a joy to bring home the title again,” Thomas said. “This one was a little sweeter because we really had to earn it in the end.”

With a brand new look and format to the series comes a revamped schedule as the IHRA Nitro Jam series welcomes one brand new facility and one former track back to the fold as part of the 2010 Nitro Jam schedule which was released on Tuesday.

Palm Beach International Raceway, which signed with the International Hot Rod Association earlier this year, will open the 2010 season while the series also welcomes Virginia Motorsports Park back to its family of tracks with the final spot on the 2010 calender.

If you loved those old school Modified cars, the ones that used to zing the small block engines upward to 10,000 rpm, then we have the project for you.

In the next six months, CompetitionPlus.com will undertake the challenge of building a project car which will represent the tradition of an old school Modified eliminator car while following the never-ending path of technological advancements.

Bruce Litton will never forget the lessons his big brother taught him.

Litton, driver of the Lucas Oil Top Fuel dragster on the IHRA tour, said he learned the value of life through his older brother Dennis, the one he credits for introducing him to drag racing. And even though he lost his brother fifteen years ago in an industrial accident, his influence maintains a stronghold on his younger sibling’s life.

“Dennis always took care of me and looked out for me, too,” said Litton. “Through the years we shared a lot of the same passions, namely drag racing. He raced cars and I raced motorcycles. We were very competitive. There were plenty of head-to-head races between the two of us.”

Litton, the youngest of five children, gravitated towards his older brother, who was five years older. As he puts it, Dennis was a good teacher.

Robert Hight is prepared to accept a new role this weekend at the Auto Club NHRA Finals. He and tuner Jimmy Prock head to the final event on the 24th on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing tour in the unfamiliar role of the elusive prey as opposed to the hunter.

The hunter in their case will be teammate Ashley Force Hood and Hight's challenge is to stay out of the crosshairs and outlast her in competition and the championship will be theirs.  

Antron Brown isn’t conceding anything.

Granted his chances are slim, but as far as the driver of the Matco Tools Top Fuel dragster is concerned, the race for the 2009 NHRA Top Fuel title isn’t over until the final points are tallied.

 "It's all come down to this. We're 80 points out, but we've still got a shot at this Countdown championship,” said Brown, who finished the regular season as the No. 1 seed. “We ran awesome at Pomona in February with getting the pole and running that 3.77 and making it to the final round. Our DSR Matco Tools dragster is running great and there's no reason we can't go out on top a winner at Pomona. We've won there on the bikes a while back and it would be cool to do it in Top Fuel too."

The NMRA Keystone Automotive Ford Nationals will invade Texas with the 1st Annual Nitto Tire Lone Star Shootout, presented by Quantum Performance at Houston Raceway Park the weekend of Nov. 13-15, 2009.

All four pro classes will crown their champions at the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals, Nov. 12-15 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona

Nine months ago, the biggest storyline entering the 2009 season revolved around Larry Dixon and Tony Schumacher, who had combined to win the last seven Top Fuel titles and nine of the last 10.

In what was as compelling an offseason as the NHRA had seen in some time, decorated crew chief Alan Johnson parted ways with the U.S. Army team to create his own team with the backing of Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al-Thani.