All the elements are in Ennis, Texas for Swiss Top Fuel driver Urs Erbacher: "nice weather, nice people, good track." Oh -- and a goal to "win the Wally, be the first European" to do so. The four-time European (FIA) champion rejoins the NHRA circuit in the state where he made a spectacular first-round appearance earlier this season. At Houston, against Larry Dixon in the opposite lane, Erbacher rode out a huge explosion that threw shrapnel higher than the three-story tower and was unhurt as he stopped the car safely. He's back in the Wayne Dupuy-tuned Midland Oil/SCS Procurement Services/Johnny Bang's Bang & Bump Shop Dragster, but it naturally is a rebuilt car with new sections of the chassis.

When it comes to winning races, signing autographs and living the life of a celebrity, Top Fuel driver Bruce Litton is just fine with the attention he receives on the weekends.

After all, with a lucrative sponsor in Lucas Oil and a job that allows him to drive over 300 miles per hour and get paid doing it, what is not to like about living the life of a professional race car driver?

But that is not what drives Bruce Litton.

What drives Litton is something that runs much deeper than just racing, it goes beyond all of the fame and fortunate associated with being one of the best Top Fuel drivers in the sport today.

Landing on the bump spot might sound troublesome to most drivers, and it is to Pro Stock's Matt Hartford, too. He wants to make good use of the two qualifying sessions left to him Saturday, for 17 cars are vying for just 16 positions during the NHRA Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas, located outside of Dallas.
 
However, his performance was pretty memorable, considering that he learned only at 12:45 Monday afternoon that he would be racing Kenny Koretsky's NitroFish Ultimate Gear Dodge this weekend.

Funny Car part-timer Grant Downing is making an especially remarkable effort at the Texas Motorplex, considering his Silver Fern Racing '06 Monte Carlo is the oldest body in the field, save for Swede Leif Helander's '05 Starkotter Camaro. Downing is
 
"I'm just really fortunate right now to be able to come out and do more races. This is my fifth race this year, and the most I've ever done until now is three in one year. So this is huge," he said. "I'm going to do two more (Las Vegas and Pomona), if I don't hurt too much stuff."

Tommy Gray was recently crowned the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association Blower Points Champion for 2009.

“The NEOPMA series is my favorite series to run. The format fits our needs, and it’s a friendly and competitive series to boot”, said Tommy. “First and foremost, I would like to thank my father, partner and best friend Tom Gray Sr., whom without his knowledge and support we would not be racing. My Wife Fran, son Brandon, daughters Ashley and Carley who fully support me on and off the track. I would also like to thank Richard Dixon for all he does for the team.

The fifth annual JEGS NHRA Northern SPORTSnationals is underway at National Trail Raceway. The weekend showcases NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Sportsman competitors at the last of three SPORTSnationals events this year.  Nearly 500 competitors have made their way from around the nation in order to compete for nearly $65,000 plus more than $400,000 in posted contingency awards. Among the avid race fans were 1,500 students who attended Friday’s Career Day, in which they learned about opportunities in the automotive industry and received a full day at the races.

After Friday’s time trials and qualifying passes, Jason Coan of Greentown, Ind., drove his ’32 Bantam to the top of the Comp Eliminator field, just as he did at last year’s event. Gary Summers, Franklin, Ky., grabbed the pole in Super Stock while Irvin Johns out of Charlestown, Ind., wheeled his ’09 Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak vehicle to the No.1 position in Stock Eliminator.

Jim Daniels, of Bristol, Pa., drove his Ray Barton Racing 1968 Dodge Dart to the provisional No. 1 spot after two qualifying sessions today in the Mopar® HEMI® Challenge Race Series event at the JEGS Northern SPORTSnationals. Daniels posted an elapsed time (ET) of 8.540 in the first qualifying session to claim the top spot at National Trail Raceway and then defended his position in the second qualifying round with a Super Stock class-best ET of 8.511.

“I’ve worked really hard for this,” said Daniels, who will aim for his first career Mopar HEMI Challenge pole and second career HEMI Challenge win tomorrow. “Ray and David [Barton] have put some really long hours in preparing the car and the motor. We’re really pleased with the car and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.

The best bracket racers in NHRA’s Northeast division are battling it out at Maple Grove Raceway in the Summit Racing Series Northeast Division Finals.  More than 700 racers in four categories, Super E.T., Pro Eliminator,  Street and Motorcycle, are vying for team and individual honors.

Robert Hight raced to the Funny Car qualifying lead Friday at the O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec.

Larry Dixon, Mike Edwards and Eddie Krawiec also led their categories at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.

It is not often that a track is so good that drivers can’t handle it, but that was just the case Friday night.

Perfect conditions wreaked havoc on a majority of the competitors on the opening day of the IHRA President’s Cup Nationals at Maryland International Raceway, but for the few who were able to figure it out Friday made for some of the most exciting passes of the year.

Highlighting Friday’s opening round was Kenny Lang’s world record pass of 5.884 seconds to place him on top of the Pro Modified charts, while Bruce Litton (Top Fuel) and Pete Berner (Pro Stock) also figured out the conditions and rocketed to the top of the charts in their respective divisions.