Larry Dixon’s pace-setting 3.801-second pass at a track record 318.99 mph on the second day of qualifying at the 45th annual Auto Club NHRA Finals on Friday earned him three bonus points and moved him into first place in the dramatic Top Fuel race.

Tony Schumacher and the U.S. Army team entered the day with a two-point lead, but he lost traction on his second qualifying run, opening the door for Dixon and the Al-Anabi team that will now enter Saturday’s final day of qualifying with a one-point lead over Schumacher.

NHRA is excited to announce that the NHRA Full Throttle Awards Ceremony will be available to viewers worldwide on the Internet at NHRA.com and the NHRA Channel on You Tube beginning Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 3 p.m. (ET) /Noon (PT).   It marks the first time the event will be available to NHRA fans via the Internet.

The U.S. Army Accessions Command  announced today that the U.S. Army will continue its sponsorship of Tony Schumacher’s Top Fuel Dragster in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) in 2010.   

“Tony Schumacher and Ryan Newman [NASCAR] are not only outstanding drivers, they are also powerful and effective advocates for the great men and women of our Army.  Both drivers possess and demonstrate a passion for our Army Strong Soldiers and their families.  They and their teams share our Army values and demonstrate the mental, emotional and physical strength which are the hallmark of our Soldiers,” said Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, Commanding General U.S. Army Accessions Command.  “We are very excited about the opportunities our participation in the National Hot Rod Association and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series present us to tell our Soldiers’ stories and connect with Americans across the country.”

Steve Matusek was looking to make a change, some kind of change. The NHRA's decision to elevate the Pro Modified division to professional status made his choice easy.

“We had looked at the ADRL and while we have a neat and pretty fast package, it just didn’t fit,” Matusek explained. “You just couldn’t make a big enough engine to compete with those cars. Now that everything has fallen into place with the NHRA, we decided it was time to step forward and build a new car.”

Matusek, owner of Aeromotive fuel systems and a Competition eliminator racer, sold his potent BB/AT Cobra Mustang to racer John Mihovetz, another turbocharged Comp eliminator driver who recently crashed his own Mercury Cougar.

Robert Hight has raced to more than his fair share of No. 1 qualifying efforts at Auto Club Dragway but on Thursday during the Auto Club NHRA Finals, the point leader felt different in claiming the provisional No. 1 spot.

Hight’s 4.093 elapsed time at 309.34 miles per hour thrust him into uncharted territory. This top qualifying effort puts him atop the field for the first time at the season-ending event as the point leader.

This was not just another low qualifying effort for Hight.

“You know that run is going to stay in the show,” Hight said. “Our first step towards the championship is behind us and that’s in qualifying. Now we can focus on trying to run quicker and staying on top.”

Geckos can be territorial and after Thursday’s qualifying for the NHRA Auto Club Finals in Pomona, Ca., Pro Stock Motorcycle riders with geckos on their bikes are too.

Karen Stoffer rode her Geico Powersports Suzuki to the provisional No. 1 qualifying position of the season and if it the mark holds, it will represent her eighth career top qualifying effort.

Stoffer isn’t battling for a championship but the seventh position in the points, that’s worth fighting for.

Mike Edwards knows that time heals all wounds and for him 6.637 seconds worked as a good salve for the wounds of failing to clinch the NHRA Pro Stock crown in Las Vegas two weeks ago.

Edwards entered the NHRA Auto Club Finals needing only to qualify and the title was his. After the first day, he not only qualified but went to the No. 1 spot and gained three extra bonus points for good measure

“I was pretty disappointed with no else but myself when I left Vegas,” Edwards admitted. “I had a week to cry on my towel and I beat myself up over it, but I got over it.”

Top Fuel point leader Tony Schumacher couldn’t resist telling the story of his friendly exchange with a former team member, now on rival Larry Dixon’s team.

“Every point is important and Brian, who used to be on my team and is now with the Al-Anabi team came to me and said, ‘it would be crazy if we got that one point and we were tied going into that final day and we both smoked the tires in the first round and lost – you’d probably win and we could come back at the end and have a match up.

Schumacher paused and then smiled.

“I told him, ‘Man, I’m gonna be drunk and writing a speech by then, dude. Sorry.”

Kevin Stith is confident he knows a good candidate when he sees one. Stith believes that piston/rod manufacturer and Top Fuel team owner Bill Miller is that man.

The Santa Fe Springs, Ca.-based screen printer rolled through the gates armed with boxes of “Republican Red” t-shirts bearing the message “Elect Bill Miller President”. Miller’s BME team will wear the t-shirts throughout the course of the weekend.

“There’s a lot of us out here who appreciate the way he thinks,” said Stith. “He’s got a way of explaining things in black and white, rather than in color.”

Rickie Jones can rest comfortably this weekend knowing that if he reaches the final round and Larry Morgan is in the opposite lane, the engine that he’s running this weekend will be the same one he’ll use in the finals.

Two weeks ago, Morgan loaned Jones an engine with the stipulation that if they met in competition, the latter had to use another engine. They met in the final round and Morgan recalled his engine.

This weekend, at the NHRA Auto Club Finals, Jones has leased the powerplant.