“This is a dream season,” said Edwards, whose provisional No. 1 in the Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, if it holds, would be his seventh consecutive and 14^th of the season.

“I’m living a dream in a sport I have treasured and enjoyed doing for a long, long time. By the way, Cory is a young pup … I’m 56 and he’s 42. He’s got a lot of racing to go yet. We did achieve a goal and that was to pick up those valuable six [bonus] points. We feel good about that. We didn’t make the best of runs there on the last run, but it was good enough. I’m pleased.

There is something about Virginia Cory McClenathan loves and it would appear, something about Cory McClenathan which Virginia loves.

McClenathan drove the FRAM Top Fuel dragster to the provisional No. 1 position after two rounds of qualifying for the Virginia NHRA Nationals, earning three bonus points towards his quest for a first Top Fuel dragster championship. Point leader Tony Schumacher garnered a single point in two rounds of qualifying.

If McClenathan's time holds up through two more rounds of qualifying on Saturday, he will claim his second No. 1 of the season, 34th of his career. McClenathan was top qualifier at Bristol earlier this year.

Top Fuel low-bucker Terry Haddock should be out hunting a leprechaun. Right now, the struggling owner/driver can't seem to to buy an ounce of good luck. Haddock sat out the first round of qualifying for the Virginia NHRA Nationals to save money and was going to sit out second round until a check of the weather map revealed the possibility of rain washing out Saturday's activities.

The Castrol GTX Ford Shelby Mustang driven by Ashley Force Hood was filled with happy hamsters through two rounds of qualifying for the Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park on Friday.

With near perfect weather conditions, Force Hood's co-crew chiefs, Dean Antonelli and Ron Douglas, swung for the fences in both sessions to collect the maximum six bonus qualifying points. From her perspective Force Hood let's Antonelli and Douglas worry about the setup, she just worries about holding on tight and keeping the wheels pointed in the right direction.

Although the day started out cold and rainy, once the storm passed it was time to race at the NHRA South Central Division Summit Racing Series Finals at Texas Motorplex.  The top bracket racers in the division have converged on the track to vie for individual and team honors and a share of the purse worth nearly $30,000 as well as an opportunity to run for a national championship against the winners from NHRA’s other six divisions at the NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., in November.  The national champions in each of the four classes will get a winner-take-all $5,000 payday.

The 2009 NMCA Muscle Car Nationals tour comes to a close next weekend with the running of the 8th Annual Nitto Tire Word Finals at Memphis Motorsports Park, the last race of the season for the NMCA Edelbrock Drag Racing Series combined with the running of the 3rd Annual GM Performance Parts LSX Shootout.  

Many drivers will attempt to grab class championships or earn a spot among the top ten racers who will be recognized at the NMCA awards ceremony in Orlando this December in each of the 11 NMCA Eliminators.  

Ashley Force Hood solidified her status as the Funny Car points leader with a 4.094-second pass at 307.79 mph to secure the provisional pole on the first day of qualifying at the NHRA Virginia Nationals.

The other provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 22nd of 24 races in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series were Cory McClenathan (Top Fuel) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock).

The NHRA Virginia Nationals is the fourth race in NHRA’s six-race playoff, the Countdown to 1. The playoff concludes with races in Las Vegas (Oct. 29-Nov. 1) and Pomona, Calif. (Nov. 12-15).

The racing forecast for Virginia Motorsports Park was fast, and the drivers in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge definitely proved the prognosticators right. In two rounds of qualifying on Friday, the top nine cars crushed the five-second zone with Rick Stivers leading the way at a blistering 5.906 at 242.32 mph. Kirk Kuhns currently sits at No. 16 with a 6.092.
 

Results Friday after the first two of four rounds of qualifying for the Fourth annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, 22nd of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.  Qualifying will continue Saturday for Sunday's final eliminations.