Qualifying in the top spot is nothing new for veteran Top Fuel driver Larry Dixon but the system in which
he does it has changed. Seeded second in the Countdown to 1, Dixon
admits the NHRA’s new bonus points have changed his view on qualifying.

“I would say before I wouldn’t really care whether I qualified first or
third but now being first in a session means you get those three bonus
points,” Dixon said, “It’s putting more precedence on the pole now than
before.”

If hindsight is 20/20 then Hector Arana can see clearly now.

Arana, who captured his sixth No. 1 qualifying effort of the season
during the NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, NC, is second guessing
his decision to test new parts during the final two sessions of
qualifying.

He missed the combination on both of the Saturday runs, shaking the
tires in the first run and breaking the transmission on the second,
managing a 7.06 elapsed time, far below Friday’s 6.965.

Throughout the regular season in the Full Throttle Pro Stock championship battle, Mike Edwards was faced
with very few opportunities to make up ground on rival Jeg Coughlin Jr.
Now that the NHRA offers bonus points in qualifying, Edwards’ strength,
he’s making the most of the opportunity.

In addition to snagging six points over Coughlin in standard
qualifying, he gained an additional ten points on the strength of being
the quickest in three of the four qualifying sessions. The one session
that he didn’t pace, he was third, for one additional point.

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the
Second annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway @ Concord, the
19th of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. 
Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs
listed below pairings.

Eric Medlen's death has saved another life. This according to Bob Tasca, driver of the Motorcraft/Quick Lane Shelby Ford Mustang Funny Car.

Ironically, Tasca's violent ride occurred in a fourth round qualifying
match up with John Force, Medlen's car owner at the time of his
catastrophic accident.

“The car was on an awesome run and we were just a click behind John,”
said Tasca as he started to describe the wild ride. “It was dead
straight as an arrow and I am not sure what happened first. I remember
the car smoking the tire and I remember shutting it off. When it gets
out of shape at that point in the race track, it will make some violent
moves. I was compensating but it was like I wasn’t even driving it.

The NHRA continued their inspection of Countdown to 1 finalists in the
Pro Stock Car and Motorcycle divisions on Saturday afternoon. Friday
evening, five Pro Stock drivers and motorcycle riders were forced to
leave their cars and bikes in the care of technical inspectors after
second round qualifying.

The process of impounding the cars and bikes is not without precedent
although Pro Stock low qualifier Mike Edwards said Friday evening in a
press conference that he’d never been subjected to an impound of this
nature.

The NHRA has twice performed inspections without representation, first
in 2007, with the final four Countdown finalists and last year, the top
five points earners were subjected to the scrutiny of the tech
inspectors.

Racing continued today at the NHRA West Central Division Summit Racing
Series Finals at Heartland Park Topeka.  The best bracket racers in the
region have converged on the track vying for individual and team
honors. Competing classes are Super Pro, Pro, Sportsman, Motorcycle and
High School.

Saturday’s action pitted the top points earning drivers from each track
against each other in head-to-head competition in the Race of Champions
(ROC).  The squad from Cordova Dragway Park in Illinois had three
racers in the final rounds of the ROC.  They came away with two wins.

More than 600 of the top bracket racers from across NHRA’s North
Central division have come to O’Reilly Raceway Park to race for
individual and team honors at the division’s Summit Racing Series
Division Finals.  Competitors are running in four categories, Super
Pro, Pro, Sportsman and Motorcycle, vying for a share of the cash and
contingency purse.  The division’s High School category will also run
in conjunction with the race.

In the final rounds of qualifying for the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing
Series Cajun Sportsman Challenge it was Brandon Lewis and Steve Harker
taking the No. 1 qualifying positions.  Racers are vying for
championship points as well as a share of the nearly $200,000 purse in
cash and contingency awards.

Lewis, Broken Arrow, Okla., clicked off a 5.250 second run at 274.50
mph in his Top Alcohol Dragster and is followed by Michael Manners,
Willis, Texas, and Darryl Hitchman, Greenville, Texas, in second and
third respectively.  

Defending NHRA South Central Division Top Alcohol Funny Car Champion
Harker of Gainesville, Ga., put his ’06 Monte Carlo funny car on top
with a 5.657 second, 252.76 mph run.  Harker has former NHRA National
Champion Tony Bartone, Long Island, N.Y., right on his heals at 5.668,
253.71 and Chris Foster, Davenport, Iowa, in third at 5.821, 248.29.

Brad Personett remained on top of the Get Screened America Pro Mod
Challenge ladder at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals and advanced to the
second round of eliminations by defeating Kirk Wilmes in round one
action Saturday evening.
 
Personett's stellar 5.872-second pass at 246.89 mph remained the best
of the weekend so far and earned him No. 1 qualifier bragging rights.
In round one, he faced Kirk Wilmes. The rookie from Altus, Oklahoma had
a difficult thrash to make the call for the session due to a damaged
transmission he suffered in the final round of qualifying, but was able
to put his jet-black '68 Firebird together and take the lights.
Personett's Big3 Turbo-powered '68 Camaro had more than enough to
dismiss Wilmes, delivering a consistent 5.955 at 236.34 mph to Wilmes'
6.202 at 230.76.