Heavy rain and less than favorable conditions have forced Saturday’s action at the IHRA President’s Cup Nationals at Maryland International Raceway to be cancelled.

Racing will get back underway first thing Sunday morning.

“With the current conditions and the timeframe we have to work with there is simply no way to get the track ready for this evening’s event,” said Mike Baker, Director of Competition. “While we are certainly disappointed to have to call Saturday’s event, we hope to see everyone back tomorrow where the weather is calling for a much better day.”

For anyone who thinks that drag racing is just two cars going in a straight line really fast, you couldn’t be any further from the truth.
There is so much more to the sport than just the action seen on the track. Just ask the living legend known the world over simply as Bunny.

For Bunny Burkett, the sport of drag racing has been many things. From providing a stage to climb from poverty to stardom, to providing a second family, to acting as a form of medicine, the sport of drag racing has been Burkett’s life for the past 44 years and will continue to be her life for as long as she lives.

The Top Fuel class will have to contend with capable Texan Steve Torrence once again this weekend.
 
After qualifying 12th in Friday's first session, Torrence said that he and car owner Dexter Tuttle "had an opportunity to get back in the car for a couple of races. We're going to do the best we can." He will take a 10th-place showing into Saturday's final two qualifying sessions.

According to one man, answers are needed.

It was answers which saved John Force's life following his horrific crash at the Texas Motorplex, two years ago. It was answers that saved Bob Tasca's life Saturday afternoon at the NHRA Carolina's Nationals, just one week ago. Answers to why Eric Medlen died while testing his Funny Car at Gainesville.

At first glance there are a lot of names that stand out entering the 2009 version of the Elite 8 Pro Stock Shootout.

Drivers such as Frank Gugliotta, John Montecalvo and Pete Berner top that list, while even some lesser known drivers such as rookie Mark Martino, Elite Motorsports headman Richard Freeman, most recent race winner Bob Bertsch and surprise standout Cary Goforth can make a case for why they should be considered a favorite entering the $40,000 shootout this weekend at the IHRA President’s Cup Nationals at Maryland International Raceway.

The road has been both smooth and rocky at times, but for IHRA Pro Stock racer Robert Patrick, plans to run the quarter-mile stretch at Maryland International Raceway [MIR] one last time with a mountain motor.

This weekend’s IHRA President’s Cup Nationals in Budds Creek, Md., represents the final event in which the former world champion from Fredericksburg, Va., will race a mountain motor Pro Stocker in the quarter-mile.

Twice on Friday during the NHRA Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas, Eddie Krawiec lined up opposite Hector Arana and twice he had the quicker bike. The reward is six bonus points courtesy of NHRA's new qualifying point system.

“It's good to go out there and run with him. I think the weather came to our setup. It benefited me.”

Weather or not, running quickest in both rounds of qualifying was according to Krawiec, “Huge.

Mike Edwards continues to prove he has the stoutest engines among the Pro Stock contingent. Edwards turned in back to back 6.599 and 6.597-second runs in the two qualifying sessions for the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex.

Edwards picked up the maximum qualifying points, six, while his competition, led by Jason Line and Jegs Coughlin picked up the dregs.

No one gets eliminated, however Larry Dixon agrees the new qualifying points have morphed qualifying into another form of racing.

“No question about it,” said Dixon. “If your competitors take those 12 points from you – that's a half a round of racing. You have to be conscious of it and you need to know what's going on and grab some if you can.”

Running well, qualifying well and finishing well were all on Robert Hight's to do list back in January. Fortunately, he's getting around to doing all three at just the right time, even if it is at the last moment.

“People have been joking with me saying , 'You've sandbagged all year.' That's not the approach we took, trust me. I would have loved to have had this a lot sooner. But, we're definitely going to take it now that we've got it.”