HIGHT, DIXON, EDWARDS AND ARANA LEAD QUALIFYING AT MAC TOOLS U.S. NATIONALS

Robert
Hight raced to the Funny Car qualifying lead Friday at the 55th annual
Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, the world’s most
prestigious drag race.

Larry Dixon, Mike Edwards and Hector Arana also were qualifying leaders
in their respective categories at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing
Series event at historic O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

Defending winner Hight, who is in a tight battle with Cruz Pedregon and
Matt Hagan for the 10th spot in the Countdown to 1, NHRA’s 
championship playoffs, gained some confidence for his quest when he
powered his Auto Club Ford Mustang to the top of the qualifying order
with a performance of 4.107 seconds at 305.36 mph.

Everyone
always ask “what is so special about Indy”. To be honest I’m not sure.
It is just another drag strip and you do the same things you do at any
other track. It’s just that special feeling and the history that goes
along with it, that makes you anxious to get to the track in the
morning and the desire to win the big one.

I didn’t want to miss Indy this year and thankfully Bill Evans gave me
the opportunity to drive his A/Fuel car this weekend. I have run a
couple of divisional races so far, but with weather issues I have only
made five runs in the car before this Friday.

Since this is my first race in Alcohol Dragster this season I was right
at the front of the line for the first session of qualifying. With all
eyes watching I rolled forward for the burnout and hit the throttle.
That’s when the day kind of started to change for us. A heim joint on
the throttle linkage began to pull out and there wasn’t enough throttle
to do a burnout, but a bigger issue was it had the throttle hung open.
I yanked the brake and buried the clutch pedal to stop the car while
the guys ran out and got the throttle UN-stuck. No harm no foul.  We
got back to the line and continued like nothing happened. The car left
the line nice and was on a great run until it dropped a cylinder and
began to slow.

Karen Stoffer appeared to claim the top qualifying spot in Pro Stock Motorcycle on Friday evening at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. She clocked a 6.951-second elapsed time at a career-best 196.22 mph.

Her run was disqualified by NHRA officials, however, because Shawn
Gann, who she was racing against on her qualifying pass, hit the timing
cone right before the finish line. Gann also was disqualified.

During his last 11 seasons in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, Hector Arana had limited success. His best finish in the points chase was 11th, last year, winning the only race of his career.

This year, Arana has had a revival. Arana, whose hometown is Miami, is
third in the points chase, with two wins. He also has four No. 1
qualifying positions, and it could be five. After Friday’s qualifying
run at the NHRA U.S. Nationals, Arana is tops in the class with a 6.985-second elapsed time at
190.30 mph. Andrew Hines is a close second at 6.989 seconds, followed
by Matt Smith at 7.018 seconds.

Twenty-eight years ago, Pat Musi drove a Camaro bearing the name Cisco
Kid to the No. 1 Pro Stock qualifying position at the NHRA U.S.
Nationals.

Musi, now an accomplished Pro Street world champion and respected
engine builder, believes Pro Stock racing has changed dramatically over
the years.

The NHRA is making a change to the points earning procedures beginning
at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, N.C., and the Professional
Racers Organization is not happy about it.

Reportedly the NHRA will reward points to the top three professional
qualifiers for each qualifying session in addition to the standard
points already awarded at the end of qualifying.

Matco Tools Top Fuel team owner Mike Ashley announced earlier in the season that he planned to run a second car as a compliment to the current point leading dragster he owns and is driven by Antron Brown. Unforseen delays have now convinced Ashley to scrap the idea of racing a limited schedule this season.

Mike Edwards Racing has added Contemporary Corvette.com as an associate sponsor to the Young Life/A.R.T. Pontiac Pro Stock for the
Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. The newest marketing partner with Edwards
will actively support and help promote the race team as part of the
strategic partnership in respect to particular goals during the events
at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. The company was also on the
car for the NHRA stop in Reading.

“We are very fortunate to have a company like Contemporary Corvette
come on board and help us at this most crucial stage of the season,”
Edwards said. “We will do everything we can to make this partnership
stronger and more valuable for them as we do with all of our marketing
partners. By adding support to our team, it only helps us elevate our
entire business model at all levels in promoting Mike Edwards
Motorsports’ team message.”

Standing in the staging lanes Friday evening, Kenny Bernstein stated that he is close to signing a primary sponsor for 2010. He is working to complete the deal and hopes to be able to make an announcement this weekend.

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Competitionplus.com Director of Photography Roger Richards was the
victim of a theft sometime between Thursday evening and Friday morning
while on assignment at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

The scooter, which Richards used to encompass many race tracks after a
stroke hampered his mobility, was chained to a fence near the O’Reilly
Raceway Park control tower. He arrived in the morning to find the lock
cut from the chain and the scooter gone.