Call it luck, call it a driver taking out his frustration, call it the sum of a crafty tuner and dedicated owner coming together with a talented driver – call it whatever you want – but the reality is that Del Cox Jr. is having one heck of a season.

Cox, who just got his Top Fuel license at the beginning of the year, has become more and more comfortable behind the wheel of his 8,000 horsepower rail as the season has progressed leading to three consecutive victories entering this weekend’s IHRA President’s Cup Nationals at Maryland International Raceway in Budds Creek, Md.

Greg Anderson prides himself in being a leader. However, this weekend headed into the NHRA Fallnationals in Ennis, Tex., he’s hoping to follow the lead of teammate Jason Line.

Earlier this year, the Summit Racing team made a bold change prior to their sponsor’s race in Norwalk, Ohio, with Line moving from the Pro Stock Pontiac he had used in the first 11 races of the season to the car Anderson had campaigned in 2008.  The move paid immediate dividends, as Line not only won that weekend’s race, but advanced to the final round in the next five races.

Top Fuel driver Doug Foley proved he hasn't missed a beat despite skipping most of the 2009 season when he raced to an impressive semifinal finish Sunday at the second annual Carolina NHRA Nationals.

The event was just the second start of the year for the owner of world-renowned Doug Foley's Drag Racing School, but he quickly reminded everyone why he's known as the "Giant Killer" by beating Brandon Bernstein and Doug Herbert before falling to eventual race winner Cory McClenathan by .004 seconds. Even McClenathan himself admitted in post-race interviews that Foley was a car length ahead of him before some inopportune tire spin just before the finish line allowed him to steal away the win.

Hillary Will, the 29-year-old who broke onto the Top Fuel scene just a few short years ago but was sidelined because of economic conditions will be back behind the wheel of a dragster for three races this year, piloting Tom Conway's world championship car with the backing of Get Screened America and in support of Operation Holiday Hope.

Hillary will be racing the Top Alcohol Dragster in both the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals and the Auto Club of Southern California World Finals in Pomona as well as the Lucas Oil Sportsman Series Division 7 event in Las Vegas scheduled for the weekend between the two events.

"I can't tell you how excited I am to get back in a dragster," Will said. "The Tom Conway-tuned car was my first choice when I decided I wanted to get back in Top Alcohol. Thankfully, the seat was available this year and thankfully Roger Burgess agreed to support my comeback.

Bob Tasca III, owner/driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang Funny Car and Tim Wilkerson, owner/driver of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Mustang Funny Car, have announced the extension of their successful technical alliance, on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing circuit, through the 2010 season.

After careful consideration, the National Guard American Drag Racing League (ADRL) will not be imposing any new minimum weight rules in the foreseeable future. Additionally, traction control will remain an option for those teams that wish to use it in every professional category with the exception of Extreme Pro Stock, which retains the rules that mandate a minimum weight (2,425 lbs w/driver) and specify the use of traction control is not allowed.

The National Guard ADRL was founded on the principle of no rules except for safety. At its recent Flowmaster Dragstock VI event at Rockingham (NC) Dragway, however, the series distributed questionnaires to its teams seeking opinions on whether to mandate minimum weights and prohibit traction control devices as cost-cutting measures.

An aspiring drag racer -- or even a top-tier Pro Stock Motorcycle rider
who wants to switch to the Top Fuel class -- has a plan that likely begins with attending Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School or perhaps Doug Foley's or Roy Hill's.
 
Antron Brown won the 1999 Auto Club of Southern California's "Road To
The Future" Award that's given to a racer "destined for future
greatness."  And he excelled in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, winning
16 times in nine seasons and finishing second in the standings (to
Angelle Sampey in 2001and to Andrew Hines in 2006).
 
When he chose at the end of the 2007 season to become a Top Fuel
driver, he learned not the tricks of the trade but the trade itself
from a variety of sources. And while he did graduate from Hawley's
comprehensive program that includes extensive and intriguing classroom
instruction, he also became a student in what he called "another school
that's not offered to anybody."

Ford Customer Service Division’s (FCSD) Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation (JDRF) Funny Car Design Contest has come to a close and the winning design has been unveiled, but there is still another chance for race fans to support a great cause.

FCSD brands Motorcraft and Quick Lane, along with driver Bob Tasca III
are auctioning off the “Stars and Stripes –Take a Walk in Our Shoes”
fire suit and helmet from this year’s Funny Car Design Contest to
benefit JDRF. Designed by eight-year old, Liam Flanagan of
Williamstown, NJ, the fire suit and helmet that Tasca wore at the NHRA
Carolina Nationals will be awarded to the highest bidder with all the
proceeds going to JDRF.

Tom Hammonds admits taking a sabbatical from the NHRA Full Throttle
Drag Racing Pro Stock Series was one of the toughest and best decisions
he has had to make.

The former NBA basketball superstar suspended his racing operation in
May of this year. He’s returned to competition for two races, the
recently completed NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, NC where he
qualified No. 8 and reached the quarterfinals, and this weekend's NHRA
Fallnationals in Ennis, Texas.

“We’ve really tried to work hard on our sponsorship program,” said
Hammonds. “Probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life
is trying to secure a sponsorship. I knew that in order to be
successful we couldn’t put the cart before the horse; we had to secure
our program financially to make sure we can win next year and years
down the road. For us to take three or four months off to secure that
success that was important.”

Quite possibly, the only obstacle between Ashley Force Hood and the 2009 Full Throttle Funny Car World Championship, is her inability to shut down her feelings as she snaps her visor closed, the body of her ride lowered down on the chassis, the engine raring to roar down the track.

In short, Ashley cares. She worries about every action she takes against her competitors and she attributes the trait to being female.

“I don’t know how many times,” says Force Hood, “I’ve come back and asked
'did I sit too long?' and my crew chief says, 'don’t worry about it. Don’t worry
about the other guy, they aren’t thinking about you'.