"We've had 18 races to figure out how to make this ACDelco Chevrolet a
winner," Kurt Johnson said. "Other than starting a new year at Pomona (Calif.), the Countdown to 1 is about as close to wiping the slate clean as you could ask for."
 
That describes the situation most of the Pro Stock class finds itself
in right now as the contending drivers try  to catch up to and surpass
leader Jeg Coughlin.
 
But the Delaware, Ohio, dominator, who is going for his third straight
and fifth overall Pro Stock championship, has had a lock on the
standings since the spring Las Vegas race. Going into the current
Carolinas Nationals, the headliner for Charlotte-based Victor Cagnazzi
Racing had 100 points on closest competitor Jason Line before the NHRA
reset the points.
 
So what do they have to do to stop the Coughlin Express?

Contemporary Corvette will continue its relationship with Mike Edwards'
Pontiac for this weekends event, the NHRA Carolina Nationals at ZMax
Dragway in Concord, N.C. The partnership, which started in Reading, has
been extended to the first race in the NHRA Countdown to 1 playoff, in
an effort by owner Ron DeSmedt to help further the team's chance at a
championship.
 
"What a group to be with," Edwards said. "They joined us in Reading and
the relationship has really blossomed and has been beneficial to both
sides. It just adds to everything we already have with this team."

For years the drivers of the quickest and fastest Pro Stock cars in the
world have gone head-to-head in some sort of shootout during the season to determine the best of the best in mountain motor Pro Stock racing.

Since the inception of the class nearly four decades ago it has become
tradition to pair many of the best drivers in a playoff-style shootout
with the winner taking home their share of a lucrative purse and
bragging rights for the entire year.

And while this year seems no different than any other, you can’t help
but get the feeling that something stands out about this year’s event.

Goodyear Racing announced today that the two latest additions to the
tiremaker’s new line of Goodyear Eagle SS DOT drag radials will be in
the hands of race tire distributors before the end of the month.

The two tires follow the path of the first release, the D4305, which
has already won a race and attracted attention of racers interested in
winning.

UPDATE: Due to rain, Antron's opportunity to drive a stock car has been moved to Saturday at 6:00.

Before Antron Brown returns to the cockpit of his Mike Ashley-owned Matco Tools dragster on Friday afternoon at zMax Dragway at Concord to begin the Countdown to 1, the 23-time NHRA winner will trade his Top Fuel dragster for a Stock Car. The current NHRA points leader will participate in the Richard Petty Driving Experience at nearby Lowe's Motor Speedway on Friday morning before qualifying for the Carolinas NHRA Nationals, the first race in the Countdown to 1 six-race playoff.

Destiny. Big Moments. Crunch Time.
 

They're words that swirl around in Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher's
head this time of year. That's understandable -- he has faced Crunch
Time, seized Big Moments, fulfilled Destiny.
 
If one were making a video, he would show the U.S. Army Dragster
emerging from a gauzy smaze of nitro vapors, staging almost eagerly
like an Olympic sprinter poised in the blocks for the 100-meter dash.
As the car roars down that narrow, unforgiving ribbon of asphalt at
nearly 320 miles an hour, Dan Fogelberg's "Run For The Roses" starts
its crescendo:

“Austin Coil always keeps me in check.”

That was the answer 14-time Funny Car champion John Force provided when
asked whether his longtime tuner has a more calming effect on him than
the prescribed medicine he takes.

This weekend Force is reunited with his admitted “voice of reason” in
Coil. Just prior to the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis two weeks
ago, Coil was admitted to the hospital suffering from internal
bleeding. He was released over the the weekend, but only after signing
a document for the hospital promising that he wouldn’t attend the race.

Had Coil defied the doctor’s orders and been at the track, the throw
down in the shutdown, the highly publicized war of words with Tony
Pedregon in the O’Reilly Raceway Park shutdown, might not have
escalated to such a high crescendo. At least that’s how Force sees it.

Liam Flanagan, an eight-year-old resident of Williamstown, NJ, designed the winning “Stars and Stripes - ‘Take a Walk in Our Shoes’” paint scheme that will appear on the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang Nitro Funny Car during the NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, NC.
 
Ford Customer Service Division’s Funny Car design contest helped raise awareness and $39,542.59 for JDRF and for research for Type 1 diabetes.
 
NHRA Funny Car driver Bob Tasca III has always said he’s just an all American kid driving an all American hot rod.  During this weekend’s NHRA event, his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang will certainly reflect that statement.
 
After six weeks of voting and more than 300 designs submitted, Liam Flanagan, an eight-year-old resident of Williamstown, NJ, was selected as the winning designer in FCSD’s Funny Car design contest to support JDRF.  Flanagan’s winning design will be featured on the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Mustang Funny Car during the NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, NC, on September 18-20.

Doug Herbert, NHRA Top Fuel driver, lost his two sons to an automobile
accident in 2008 when his teenage son was speeding with his brother
in the car. Todd Follmer’s teenage son was 16 when he was speeding with
his girlfriend following behind. She lost control of the vehicle she
was driving and lost her life after hitting a tree. Follmer is the CEO
of tiwi.   

As a result, Herbert and Follmer have dedicated themselves to
decreasing fatalities and injuries of teenagers due to automobile
accidents, the leading cause of death among American teenagers:
Herbert, through the formation of the 501(c)(3), non-profit foundation
B.R.A.K.E.S. (Be Responsible and Keep Everybody Safe); Follmer through
the development of the tiwi teen driver mentoring system.

Ron Capps was sitting in the P.R.O. meeting, listening to President
Kenny Bernstein explain the NHRA's new point system that would apply to the Countdown.
 
Immediately, the techie Funny Car driver whipped out his cell phone and
excitedly sent a text message to his crew chief, Ed "The Ace" McCulloch.
 
Ace fired back a message of his own.
 
"He sent me some words I can't repeat right now," Capps said with a
laugh. "I think that's what most of the crew chiefs were like. You
know, why, right now, in the middle of season?"
 
But the NAPA Dodge driver tried to reassure him.