John Zappia is on track to present for Round 2 of the ANDRA Top Doorslammer Championship at the Fuchs Nationals in Western Sydney.
A spectacular crash in the Final of Round 1 gained international media
attention, and placed the Zappia Racing Team on the back foot in their
preparation for the next event.

“We ended up bringing the Striker Monaro back to Perth for repairs”,
said John Zappia this week, “I was inundated with offers of help from
local supporting sponsors and businesses straight after the crash, and
decided to come home to get the job done.”

“A special thanks to all the people that have helped repair the car.
The body was panel beaten by Peter Matulovich, the painting by John
from United Collision Repairs, the tin work by Dave from Kounis Metal
Industries.”

Ron
Capps, the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car class-best
five-time winner this season driving the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge for Don
Schumacher Racing, will take to the one-third-mile oval at Madera
(Calif.) Speedway for the second time this year on Saturday, Aug. 29.
He'll be driving the NAPA/Race for Autism Late Model for Carlos Vieria,
for whom he drove back in April in the NASCAR Whelen All-American
Series Western Late Model division.

Second in the NHRA Funny Car rankings, Capps will compete in the
100-lap feature of the “Race & Ride for Autism” night charitable
fundraiser under a partnership between Carlos Vieria Racing and
PRO-RDS, a motorsports development firm. “Carlos and his professional
Late Model team are helping make a difference and we are always willing
to support a good cause,” said the firm's president, Nathan Svoboda.

When Spiro Pappas joined the National Guard ADRL’s eighth-mile
Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 (XTF) series this year, he had two stated missions:
break into the three-second zone and beat Billy Glidden. He
accomplished both goals Aug. 22, during the National Guard ADRL Summit
Racing Equipment Ohio Drags III at National Trail Raceway, about 20
miles east of Columbus.

Pappas raced into “the threes” with a
3.992-seconds pass in the semi-finals to advance and face off against
defending XTF world champ Glidden for the event win. Glidden went red
and Pappas went to his first National Guard ADRL winner’s circle
celebration.

How serious is Bruton Smith about filling the seats at the NHRA
Carolinas Nationals at ZMax Dragway in Concord, N.C., next month?

John
Force chats with Bruton Smith prior to Tuesday's press conference
announcing a second date in 2010 at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C.

Apparently he’s very serious. The motorsports mogul and owner of zMax
Dragway will fly a planeload of local media from the Charlotte market
to the NHRA U.S. Nationals for a day to get a glimpse of the NHRA’s
most prestigious event.

ZMax Dragway held its press conference yesterday for the Charlotte
media announcing a second national event for the 2010 before the
well-attended media event. Several major venues including ESPN, SPEED
and a score of the area’s major television and newspaper networks were
present.

Dutch Top Fuel racer Lex Joon will fulfill a lifelong dream to race in
the United States, later this season. With major backing from the MPM
International Oil Company, Joon will compete at the Las Vegas Nationals
at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the Auto Club Finals at
the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Joon is the most successful drag racer in the history of the
Netherlands having won several class championships before becoming the
FIA European Top Fuel Champion in 2005 and runner-up in 2007 and 2008. 

He’s expressed the desire on multiple occasions to race in the United
States. The Lex Joon Racing American Dream Tour 2009 is about to become
reality.

MacAllister Cat knows a good thing when they have it.
 
The
Indiana CAT dealer, for the third consecutive season, will support Hot
Rod Fuller at the NHRA U.S. Nationals this Labor Day weekend.
 
MacAllister
Machinery Co., will display the MacAllister Cat logo along with
additional representation from several of its other product
manufacturers and customers including Exmark ®, Kubota ®, and Wiese USA.
 
Fuller
will drive a Top Fuel dragster fielded Vandergriff Motorsports. Indy
will mark the third appearance in 2009 for Fuller whose appearances
have been backed by CAT dealers.
 
Fuller previously drove the
Patten Cat dragster at the NHRA national event in Joliet, IL, and the
Michigan Cat dragster in Norwalk, OH. Fuller’s thoughts on returning to
the U.S. Nationals exude confidence.

It’s the newest and most spectacular drag racing venue on the tour, and
in 2010 zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C. will play host to two NHRA Full
Throttle Drag Racing Series events.  The new event is one of several
exciting changes NHRA announced today as the world’s largest
motorsports sanctioning organization revealed its 2010 NHRA Full
Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule.  The state-of-the-art dragstrip
in the Charlotte, N.C. metro region will be the setting for two events:
one in the spring and one in the fall, with an inaugural event added to
the schedule on March 25-28, and the third annual NHRA Carolinas
Nationals set for Sept. 16-19.

“Charlotte is quickly becoming a motorsports capital in the United
States, rivaled only by Indianapolis, and the reception we have
received from the fans and the number of major sponsors and teams that
use the area as a base lead us to believe that it will provide the
market foundation for those two races to evolve into among the two
biggest events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series,” said Tom
Compton, president, NHRA.   The inaugural race in September last year
featured special guests, packed stands and significant corporate
hospitality.

Drag racing fans will get a double shot of nitro at zMAX Dragway in
2010 as the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series returns for two dates
at the Bellagio of drag strips.

Speedway Motorsports, Inc. officials announced today that the
premier drag racing facility will host two NHRA events next year. The
first will be held March 25-28 and the third annual NHRA Carolinas
Nationals is scheduled for Sept. 16-19. The addition of a second date
makes zMAX Dragway one of only three drag strips to host two NHRA Full
Throttle Drag Racing Series events.

"Bringing the NHRA back in March will be a terrific boost to the area
economy and an incredible kickoff to the 2010 event season for Lowe's
Motor Speedway," said Bruton Smith, chairman and chief executive
officer of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. "This will give hungry race fans
a double shot of the world's best drag racing at the world's finest
drag racing facility."

Ian Tocher/ADRL

Bubba
Corzine believes the same incident that caused so much controversy
between Extreme 10.5 racers Kenny Doak and Jason Wilson is likely to
happen again between other drivers this season.

That’s what the ADRL’s Competition Director told CompetitionPlus.com
Monday afternoon when asked about the incident in the shutdown area at
National Trail Raceway where the Mustang driven by Wilson snagged
Doak’s Chevelle’s wheelie bar with his parachute which reportedly
blossomed with a gust of wind as he turned off the track. Doak’s
Chevelle was unable to return to competition due to damage incurred as
a result of the incident.

Wilson contends that he was merely following a track official’s
instruction when the incident, unbeknownst to him, transpired. And,
according to a witness, Wilson was motioned forward with his parachute
tangled in Doak’s wheelie bars.

From
a completely revamped sportsman championship system to the redesign of
other thrilling sportsman programs, it is clear that sportsman racing
within the confines of the International Hot Rod Association is booming
like never before.

Of all the changes, however, the one that has produced the most
immediate results is the decision to include the two quickest and
fastest sportsman categories as a part of the professional rounds at
all IHRA Nitro Jam national events.

So before you get a chance to see 320 mile per hour dragsters and 240
mph doorslammers, you get to see some of the quickest and fastest
sportsman drivers on the planet running in Top Sportsman and Top
Dragster.