Mike Edwards may have a 128 point lead over the rest of the NHRA Pro Stock field.

He may be on the verge of a 15^th low qualifying effort in 2009.

He could very well clinch the world championship on Saturday afternoon at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.

But those points, as impressive as they may be, aren’t enough to inspire Edwards to cut the competition any slack.

There’s considerable speculation among the Pro Stock regulars that more than a few of their peers may be sitting out next season as the economy – at least as far as corporate involvement in motorsports is concerned – appears to be tightening even more.

Larry Dixon pointed out the importance of the NHRA’s bonus points awarded to the top three qualifiers in each session. Without them, Dixon, driver of the Alan Johnson/Al-Anabi Top Fuel dragster believes the 2009 NHRA Top Fuel championship would have already been decided.

“Against a car like Schumacher’s you couldn’t make up seven rounds in two races,” Dixon explained. “With the bonus points you can absolutely do that. We were able to pick up a couple on him today.”

Melanie Troxel blasted to the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot in Friday's lone qualifying session of the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals. The second round of qualifying was cancelled due to excessive track delays.

The 50th Anniversary celebration of JEGS High Performance Parts got off to an early start Friday when Team JEGS racers Jeg Coughlin Jr. and his nephew Troy Coughlin Jr. unveiled special "50 Years" logos on their yellow and black hot rods.

Both men are racing at this weekend's ninth annual Las Vegas NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Jeg in Pro Stock and T.J. in Super Comp. Before the start of next season, all Team JEGS racecars and transporters will proudly display the "JEGS 50 Years 1960-2010" design.

"We're all very excited about the upcoming season and celebrating 50 years of JEGS being in business," Jeg Jr. said. "This milestone is something we're all extremely proud of and we plan on having a fun year both at JEGS headquarters and at the races.

Larry Dixon raced to the Top Fuel qualifying lead Friday at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.

Matt Hagan, Mike Edwards and Hector Arana also led their categories at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event, the fifth of six races in the Countdown to 1, NHRA’s championship playoffs.

Dixon, currently second in the championship standings, powered his Al-Anabi Racing dragster to a performance of 3.805 seconds at a track record speed of 318.24 mph at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. If his time holds through Saturday’s two qualifying sessions (11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.) it will be his ninth No. 1 of the season and 40th of his career.

Thousands of race fans held their breath as the ADRL’s safety crew worked feverishly to extract Jason Hamstra, the 22-year old Pro Extreme driver who crashed during last Friday’s Speedtech Battle for the Belts competition.

One of those holding her breath was not your average race spectator.

It was Jason’s mother, Karen Hamstra; who on Thursday spoke about her son’s accident.

“He’s doing well,” she said. “He came out of the ordeal in good shape, not even a concussion.”

Cruz Pedregon won't be representing Advance Auto Parts next season on the NHRA tour, this according to a report from Associated Press on Friday.

Advance Auto Parts Inc., said in the report, that its decision was made as part of a review of their marketing efforts. Instead AAP's marketing efforts will be focused on building its do-it-yourself business and the growth of its commercial business.

The contract ends on December 31, 2009.

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CompetitionPlus.com has confirmed the oval track at Memphis Motorsports Park has released their Vice President and General Manager Jason Rittenberry today and will shut down operations. The status of the NHRA Midsouth Nationals scheduled for August 2010 remains unclear.

In a prepared statement, Dover Motorsports, Inc. (NYSE-Symbol: DVD) announced that it was ceasing all operations at Memphis Motorsports Park and that it would not be promoting any events in Memphis in 2010. The oval track events have been transferred to Gateway International Raceway, another Dover-owned property.

The move doesn't mean GIR will assume the Memphis date on the NHRA schedule.

Within days of parting company with Tony Pedregon, Dickie Venables could have gone to work for John Force, Don Schumacher, Kenny Bernstein and a couple others.

Instead of jumping at the first opportunity, Venables picked up his fishing pole and headed to the lake to catch his breath and a big one or two. When he was done fishing, Venables decided to go to school.

For the two-time championship tuner, the lure of learning from who many have proclaimed as the best drag racing tuner in the business, Alan Johnson, was an attraction to hard to resist.