John "Bodie" Smith will make his debut behind the wheel of his father's, Paul Smith, Nitro Funny Car this upcoming weekend at the NHRA Virginia Nationals in Richmond, VA, Oct. 9-11. Smith recently completing his cross-over NHRA license at a test session last month in Indianapolis, IN, is ready at a shot to become a "spoiler" in the Funny Car Championship chase.

Even though this will mark Smith's first race driving a Funny Car in NHRA competition, Smith is no stranger when it comes to fuel cars. Smith has spent the 2009 season tuning for several different part time Top Fuel and Funny Car teams on the NHRA and IHRA circuits as well as the FIA European Drag Racing circuit.

Earlier this season, Smith drove Terry Haddock’s Top Fuel dragster at the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals in Madison, IL, and prior to that Smith competed with his wife, Rhonda Hartman-Smith, as part of the popular two-car husband and wife team for Hartman Motorsports finishing as high as 8th in the championship points.

The Goodguys 2nd Nostalgia Nationals, October 16-18 at Dallas Jones’s Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green Kentucky will serve up a heavy dose of drag strip yesteryear giving both fans and participants one last chance to revel in nitro fumes and tire smoke before winter sets in.

The Nostalgia Nationals is two events in one with a full scale vintage drag race as well as a rod & custom show & shine for vehicles 1972 & earlier, sprawling throughout the scenic grounds of the historic facility on the outskirts of Bowling Green. Manufacturer’s exhibits, an auto parts swap meet and cars for sale corral will also be featured.

Full fields of nostalgia top fuel dragsters and nostalgia funny cars are expected. In top fuel, defending event champion Michael Sexton will look to repeat his improbable 2008 victory as he was the only alcohol burning dragster in a field of nitro burners at last year’s inaugural event. To his delight – the fuel cars all had trouble while he consistently ran ‘em off their feet. This year won’t be as easy with the likes Blue Suede Cruise winner Randy Bridges, Howard Haight in the “Nitrodiction” entry, “Diamond Dave” Miller,  Kevin Brewer’s “Midwest Threat”, Charlie Smith, Dennis Corso, Jeff Miller’s “Time Bandit” and many others lining up to take home a big win in the season finale.

Now that veteran driver Cory McClenathan is in the hunt for a world championship title, he’s not changing anything about his approach to race weekends.

McClenathan has experience in championship battles. He’s finished second four times during his great career. He’s finished third three other times, including last season.

After winning the first playoff race in Charlotte and finishing in the quarterfinals at both Dallas and Memphis, McClenathan is certainly capable of hoisting the trophy at the NHRA awards ceremony.

He knows from experience that patience and consistency are the two necessary ingredients as NHRA professional category teams make the stretch run to glory in the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

McClenathan will continue his quest to win that elusive first world championship crown with a strong showing at the fourth annual NHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park near Richmond, Va. The race is the 22nd of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and the fourth of six races in the Countdown to 1, NHRA’s championship playoffs. Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel); Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car); and Dave Connolly (Pro Stock) are the defending winners of the race, which will be televised on ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD.

The NMRA Ford Nationals Series rolled into Bowling Green, Kentucky this past weekend, to stage their 11th Annual World Finals.  With a record fan turnout on Saturday, over 200 cars in the car show, nearly 90 racers participating in their famous True Street class, coupled with all of their heads-up racers, the event was quite possibly the NMRA’s largest ever.  

Chris Rini, of Carmel, NY, scored bragging rights for the North team as he won Piedmont Dragway’s annual North versus South Shootout.

In a race where the Mason Dixon line separates a spirited group of competitors in many aspects ranging from heritage to bragging rights, not mention a $50,000 purse, two teams of eight from the North and South slugged it out for three days before an energized outside of Greensboro, NC.  

Rini stopped the local favorite Travis Hervey in the final round.
 

Monday's final results from the 22nd annual O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Memphis Motorsports Park. The race is the 21st of 24 in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

John Force knows about being on the road. He started his career as an over the road truck driver and as he began his now legendary drag racing career he was still logging thousands of miles across America’s highways driving his own rig. It seems fitting then that the winningest driver in NHRA history and one that has made more passes down race tracks all across the country would join forces with Road Wrap, a product designed to protect consumer’s vehicles from the many pitfalls they experience on the road. To launch his association with Road Wrap Force will make a special appearance in the Road Wrap booth at the 2009 SEMA show.

“When I first saw Road Wrap I didn’t know what it was. Once it was explained to me I got excited because I remembered how beat up my race car would get being hauled on an open trailer across the country back when I started, you know, sand, rocks and even bugs. I used to spend hours cleaning the race car and the Ford truck that hauled the trailer. Once I even made the drive to Las Vegas in a new Ford that I had and the trip sand blasted my hood and grill, protection like this could have definitely helped,” said Force.

There has been no more popular win this year. When Jeff Arend, driving the DHL Funny Car owned by Connie Kalitta, crossed the line to win the NHRA Midsouth Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park everyone at the starting line celebrated.

This was more than just a win for Arend, the second of his career and his first in the past 13 years. This win was for Connie Kalitta and the memory of his fallen son, Scott.

Arend has never tried to fill Scott's shoes. The Toronto, Ontario, Canada native who has been a long time resident of San Dimas, Calif., has been trying to do the best job he could while the team struggled to find it's footing.

Funny Car driver Ron Capps didn't witness Daniel Wilkerson's horrific accident in the first round of eliminations at the NHRA Midsouth Nationals but he heard all about it.

ESPN2

Capps was well out in front of Wilkerson when he lost his wheels and tires and struck the retaining wall behind him.

"It was an incredible run because mine shook the tires and I had to give it a quick pedal, and when I did so the front end lifted up and it kind of planted me back in the seat. At the same time, I see Daniel out my window. He kind of popped out my window a little bit.

Michael Phillips doesn't consider himself a giant killer. He's just another rider trying to compete with better funded teams.
Phillips rode round wins over Craig Treble, GT Tonglet, Hector Arana and Eddie Krawiec to score his first win of the season and his first since 2003. The win in the NHRA Midsouth Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park moved Phillips to third in the point standings, 137 behind Krawiec and just two points ahead of Matt Smith. Arana leads the standings with 2420 points.

Strong on the tree all day, Phillips beat Krawiec at the starting line .014 to .039 and never look back.

“This is great,” said Phillips in his post race interview. “I've been struggling for the last three years. I lost the whole set up on my bike in '06 when I ran Mike Smith in Ohio. I struggled and struggled and struggled. Mid-point of the year Treble rewired my bike and everything is just starting to come together now.