The Best Buy Fan Lounge is set to add even more excitement to a
full-throttle weekend of racing during the NHRA Carolinas Nationals
Sept. 17-20, at zMAX Dragway.
   
Located adjacent to the Pro staging lanes, the Best Buy Fan Lounge
offers appearances by John Force, Ashley Force Hood, Antron Brown, Ron
Capps and other NHRA stars, as well as, food and beverage,
entertainment and a closed-circuit television feed.
   
Exclusive access to the "Best Buy Fan Oasis" beverage station located
on the mezzanine level of the John Force grandstand is also included in
the package.

Some of the fastest drivers, car owners and mechanics ever to turn left
will give it their all to go straight on Tuesday, Aug. 25, as NASCAR Night returns to zMAX Dragway.
   
Last October more than 100 NASCAR industry personnel descended on the
Bellagio of drag strips to take their street cars down the
concretequarter-mile. This year, there's a new twist-participants can
race anything they wish down the drag strip, making this a true "run
what you brung" event.
   
"I've had a lot of fun at zMAX Dragway over the past year racing my
2007 Shelby GT 500," said Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 Roush
Fenway Racing Ford. "Without a doubt, the highlight for me was racing
in front of a packed house at PINKS All Out back in April.

Cruz Pedregon wants to make one point clear, regardless of whether he earns a berth in the NHRA Countdown to One playoffs, he's going to finish the season.

A rumor has taken fire that suggests the defending world champion plans to park his team if they don’t make the top ten.

“It’s simply not true,” Pedregon stated emphatically, commenting on the
rumor. “There has never been anything said or insinuated that suggested
we are going to park this car at any point in time other than the
Finals of this year.

“If you think about it, what does the top ten have to do with my
financial resources? It’s not like making the top ten is going to put
all of this money on the table. Whoever made statements like that are
uninformed, negative people.”

IHRA Pro Stock point leader Frank Gugliotta plans to compete at the
NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis behind the wheel of a 2006 Pontiac
GTO fielded by the Elite Motorsports team.

The Pontiac driven by Gugliotta, built by R.J. Race Cars and powered by
a Bob Book engine, will carry backing from Safety-Kleen, MSD, Elite
Motorsports, Chariot Motor Coaches, Finish Line Fuels, Marc Heitz
Chevrolet, Agri-Pack, and Goodner's Groceries. This car was driven to
the 2006 IHRA Pro Stock championship by Pete Berner.

When the NHRA mandated a reduction in testing to just four days over the course of the 2009 season, the Top Fuel and Funny Car teams quickly adjusted. Test dates became valuable, very valuable. Team's use to camping out the night after an event to test on Monday no longer had that luxury. So they adapted. If you couldn't test on Monday then test on Friday and or Saturday during the event.

At first, teams were quiet about their plans. Then, as more and more questions arose, drivers and crew chiefs started to hint at how they were using qualifying sessions to test. It wasn't perfect mind you, but it was better than nothing.

Tony Schumacher, driver of the ARMY-sponsored dragster in the Don Schumacher stable, was one of the first to publicly acknowledge his team was using as many as three of the four qualifying rounds to test. With the best conditions to qualify typically being the night session on Friday's the team could easily test during the first session of qualifying. Then, if the Friday night run during the second session was good enough, they could test in sessions three and four on Saturday.

Kurt Johnson heads into for this weekend's 25th annual Toyo Tires NHRA
Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway more resolute than ever to put
his ACDelco Chevrolet on a winning pace. With two events remaining
before the Countdown to 1 for the top 10 in the standings, the veteran
driver is leaving no stone unturned.

"Everyone on this race team is working hard to put this ACDelco
Chevrolet in the winner's circle," Johnson said. "We're going over the
entire car with a fine-toothed comb and making the necessary changes to
make that happen."

Johnson is in eighth place in the Full Throttle standings and edging
closer to clinching a spot in the three-year-old playoff format.
Johnson could do so with a strong performance at Maple Grove where he
needs to leave the Toyo NHRA Nationals with a 139-point margin over the
11th-place driver. Right now his current lead over 11th-place Johnny
Gray is exactly 139 points.

Mike Neff and his Ford Drive One Mustang team dodged a bullet in
Brainerd, Minnesota. They went into Sunday’s elimination rounds as the
No. 1 qualifier but an overly aggressive tune-up cost them a round win.
Fortunately the two drivers, Matt Hagan and Cruz Pedregon, directly
behind them in the Full Throttle point standings had to race each other
in the first round and the winner, Pedregon, lost in the next round.
Ninth place Neff has a tenuous ten point lead over Pedregon and a 40
point lead over rookie Matt Hagan who is in 11th place.

After the round one mishap Neff and crew chief John Medlen both
realized their aggressive tune up was too much for Brainerd
International Raceway. They will continue to be aggressive for the next
two races and into the Countdown but they will also keep in an eye on
going rounds.

“It is a double edge sword (being overly aggressive or not aggressive
enough) right there (in first round of Brainerd) we just didn’t need to
try to run as hard as we did. We felt that we could run a little better
and the car did everything we wanted it to do it was just the track
would not take it. The other guy runs a 4.19 and we are up there trying
to run a 4.09 or a 4.10 we made a mistake. That is just the way it
goes. We try to run as hard as we can every run. That time we just
pressed a little too hard and shot ourselves in the foot. The positive
is the Mustang is running good. The crew is doing a great job.
Everything is working really good we just made a little error in our
call that time,” said Neff.

Two-time land speed record holder, Team Marines Racing member and
current NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Valerie Thompson has partnered
with Palmer and Associates and Mr. D’s Sports Bar and Grill in Las
Vegas to attempt what would be Thompson’s third Land Speed Record.

Thompson,
of Scottsdale, Ariz., will pilot Wink Eller’s “Spirit of Cliff Gullet”
bike in an attempt to become a member of the prestigious Bonneville
Salt Flats 200 mph club. The bike, which has 43 Land Speed Records to
its credit, is named in honor of Cliff Gullet who lost his life in a
record-breaking run at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 2008.

This weekend’s ADRL event in Columbus, Ohio will evoke memories for Extreme Pro Stock racer John Montecalvo.

National Trail Raceway, site of this weekend’s ADRL Ohio Drags, was
where the passion began for the veteran driver from Center Moriches,
N.Y.

Montecalvo traveled with friends Charlie and Pattie Bubka who were
fielding a B/Stock entry at the NHRA Springnationals. From B/Stock to
Pro Stock, the experience has been a trip in the fast lane.

Race fans that want to end the workweek by watching some explosive
action can get a great deal from Maple Grove Raceway and the NHRA.
 
As part of the 25th Annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals, fans can buy a
general admission ticket after 5 p.m. Friday for that night’s
qualifying at the bargain price of $19. As with all general admission
tickets, children 12 and under are free.