It
is a date that struck the lives of every citizen in the United States
and will always be remembered with sorrow. In the years since that
terrible day, memories have faded and lives have gone on, but as a
nation it is a date that will forever live in infamy.

In an effort to honor those who gave everything during that tragic day,
the team at the International Hot Rod Association and New England
Dragway would like to take the opportunity to thank the men and women
who continue to unselfishly give of themselves day in and day out and
help keep this great nation safe during “Freedom Friday” on Friday,
September 11th at the IHRA Amalie Oil North American Nationals
presented by Dodge at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H.

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CompetitionPlus.com Publisher/Editor Bobby Bennett Featured Among Roundtable Journalists ...

Ashley
Force Hood, one of America’s most popular drivers and a top contender
for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car championship,
will be the Newsmaker of the Week on The Race Reporters radio show,
Wednesday, August 26, 7 p.m. EDT, on www.PowerUpChannel.com .

Force Hood has one win this season and is third in points. Driving the
Castrol GTX Ford Mustang for the team owned by her father, 14-time
titlist John Force, she has advanced to six final rounds. She earned
her fifth No. 1 qualifying spot of the season last weekend at Maple
Grove Raceway despite a major engine explosion that meant Force had to
race a backup Mustang. Last year, Ashley became the first female driver
to win an NHRA Funny Car event, when she defeated her father at Atlanta
Dragway. She was NHRA’s top rookie in 2007.

John Force was the Newsmaker guest on the debut episode of The Race Reporters last June.  

Nick Jackson understands that a 1941 Willys is not exactly a prototypical car when it comes to ADRL Extreme 10.5 competition. And, he’s okay with that.

As long as he can play the game, have fun, and maintain a reasonable amount of competitiveness, he’s a happy camper.

“I love the Willys body style and I also prefer the small block
Chevrolet engine combination,” said Jackson. “I figured
that there's no way I could even have a slight chance of competing with
the faster guys with the little small block so I figured the best
chance I had to at least qualify and be part of the program was to put
in some small tires and see if I could get them worked out.”

Jimmy Hoberg walked to the starting line at National Trail Raceway  Saturday afternoon during the ADRL Ohio Drags in Columbus, Ohio. This time last year, that simple
action, for the track's regular starter, would have been a non-story.

On this day just walking was an accomplishment. Walking at National Trail Raceway was the icing on the cake.

“It was great,” said Hoberg, choking back the tears and apologizing for getting emotional.

Hoberg was driving in Columbus two weeks before Christmas when a
reckless driver ran a red-light, t-boning his work truck while
traveling at an estimated 120 miles per hour. Hoberg was the fourth car
through the intersection.

Via ESPN2

After a sideways run down a weeping racetrack Warren Johnson sounded off, loudly.

In an interview with Gary Gerould of ESPN2, Johnson let loose his two
cents worth and then some.  Gerould asked Johnson about the Maple Grove
track surface and that opened the flood gates.

“This has been a long time problem,” Johnson said to Gerould during
Sunday evening’s broadcast. “It’s probably manifested itself worse in
the last few years simply from the fact the NHRA hasn’t been paying due
diligence to what they should be doing instead of just scalping the
spectators.

On April 24, 2008 an editorial under my byline appeared in this publication titled “It’s Time For A Complete Housecleaning At NHRA.”  If you didn’t read it then, maybe you’ll find the time to do so now: UP FRONT: IT'S TIME FOR A COMPLETE HOUSE CLEANING

Andy Jensen’s crime is that he leaned on the locals too hard.

Andy Jensen is exploring all options for the future of his turbocharged Camaro.

Jensen, driving a turbocharged Camaro in the Pro Nitrous division,
reeled off a 3.873 elapsed time at 191.70 during last season’s ADRL
Dragstock event in Rockingham, N.C. Prior to Jensen’s run, it was
largely believed the turbo combination couldn’t consistently compete in
the Pro Extreme division. All bets are off when you can consistently
run a half-tenth quicker than your nearest competition.

Now Jensen finds himself in a high horsepower pickle. He’s too fast to
run Pro Nitrous and not quite quick enough to make a competitive dent
in Pro Extreme. So what’s a man to do? If you Jensen, you tow your
427-inch, turbo-entry out to the track and put some test laps in.

Robert Hight isn't out of it yet, the Countdown to 1, that is. Hight,
with 763 points is currently 12th in the standings behind Cruz Pedregon
and Matt Hagan. Hight is 38 points behind Pedregon and just seven
behind Hagan. Assuming all three qualify for the U.S. Nationals, Hight
would need to run at least two rounds father than Pedregon and one
round farther than Hagan.

If Hight makes it to the semifinal round and Pedregon and Hagan go out in the first round, then Hight makes the Countdown to 1.

Ashley Force was disqualified in the first
round of eliminations at the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals in Reading, Pa.

Scrambling to get the backup car ready and
working through a fuel issue Sunday morning, the Force Hood team ran
out of time to get the car to the scales before the call to the staging
lanes for the Pro categories.It was an especially devastating
turn of events for the Castrol GTX Mustang team considering they had
worked well past midnight to put a back-up Mustang together for Force
Hood after a dramatic qualifying round explosion. The resulting carnage
forced the team to pull out the back-up Mustang and begin making it
race-ready. On Sunday before the first round debris was discovered in
the fuel line forcing the team to use valuable time replumbing the fuel
system. That delay took the time normally allotted for a trip to the
scales. It was a mistake that the team will not make again.