Sometimes what a driver doesn’t know can work in their favor.

Ashley Force Hood used a 4.178 second pass to land in the third spot in the field.

The second-generation drag racer was only able to get one run in on
Saturday before rain washed out the second session of Funny Car
qualifying during the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minn.

At this point in the season, Pro Stock racer Kurt Johnson is pulling
out all of the stops in trying to find new ways to go quick. Saturday’s
abbreviated qualifying at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals showed him what won’t work.

"We haven't showed them everything yet," Johnson said. "We were
struggling with the motor tune-up, trying some new parts and new
carburetors and it just didn't quite want to go. We got it put back a
little bit better this morning. The car made a decent run but didn’t
want to get up on the tire. We have the core that we need to go fast,
we just need to get the right parts in the right places. Slowly we're
putting this ACDelco Chevrolet back to the way it used to win races,
believe it or not, so I think we'll be in pretty good shape for
tomorrow."

Morgan
Lucas raced to his second No. 1 qualifying position of the season
Saturday in a rain-shortened day at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at
Brainerd International Raceway.

NHRA officials were forced to cancel the final qualifying session for
all but Pro Stock Motorcycle when persistent rain showers moved into
the area near mid-day, continued off-and-on in the late afternoon and
intensified into the early evening as darkness moved in.

Mike Neff, Mike Edwards and Hector Arana also will lead their
categories into Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations as the No. 1 qualifiers
at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.

While most drivers already have their finger placed squarely on the
panic button, or at least darn close to it, that isn’t really the case for Pete Berner.

In fact, Berner actually prefers to be in the position of the hunter instead of the hunted, especially this late in the season.

After all, this is all very familiar territory for the two-time IHRA World Pro Stock Champion.

“The last two championships I won were by narrow margins and when I
came in second the year before last it was also by a matter of just a
few points,” Berner noted. “They know as well as I do that I am going
to put as much pressure on them as possible. If they are going to win
the championship they are going to have to earn it.

“I don’t give up until the very end.”

Rebuilding a race team is almost as tedious as rebuilding one's life
following a devastating accident. If you don't believe that talk to
Dale Creasy, Jr. and you'll be exposed to a story about winning.

Creasy has worked hard over the past year at rebuilding his legs
following a devastating crash in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in July of
2008 during the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals at Castrol Raceway.
During that time his race team has struggled right along with him.

Earlier this year, Creasy returned to the scene of his “incident” for a
match race. Now, its time to take the next step towards a complete
return to competition.

Creasy's first run down the 1000 foot at Brainerd Int'l Raceway during
the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals was a bit of a satisfying struggle.

“It was good,” said Creasy, Jr., taking a quick pause from working on
prepping his race car for the second round to answer questions about
his first run in NHRA competition in over a year. “We've been
struggling with this new car a little bit. I guess everybody else has,
too. Just me being back in the car is a wonderful thing. I am just
happy to be back and hopefully we can get this thing down the
racetrack.”

Mike Edwards almost appeared to have a measure of guilt in
admitting he took some time away from the daily grind known as Pro
Stock on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The veteran driver
from Broken Arrow, Ok., has been racing at breakneck speed lately, and
though he ranks second in the championship points, one would think he’s
out front trying to fend off the competition.

“We took a day or two away … maybe a half-day,” said Edwards with a
smile. “It’s 24/7 in this class … it’s a tough class. It’s competitive
and there are a lot of good cars in this class. The top runners in this
class aren’t letting up. You can’t open a door for them or they’ll slam
it shut on you.”

Reher-Morrison Racing Engines recently announced their second annual
Weekend at The Million Raffle.  One lucky customer will win a complete
entry to George Howard’s 14th Annual Million race weekend (October 8-11
in Memphis).  Anyone who makes a $200 or more purchase from
Reher-Morrison by 9/18/09 can enter the raffle.  In addition to a free
raffle ticket, all customers who buy $200 or more will receive a free
Reher-Morrison t-shirt.  Reher-Morrison is holding this promotion as a
way of thanking our customers for their support.

A regular competitor on the PMRA tour, Maier came out of nowhere during last month’s IHRA Northern Nationals presented by Dart, making it all the way to the finals at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park by eliminating many of the best in the business today.

Maier took down former points leader Ed Hoover and new world record
holder Tony Pontieri before his dream weekend finally came to an end at
the hands of defending world champion Kenny Lang.

Maier had a better light than Lang, but Lang was on his game in recording a 6.012 second pass over Maier’s 6.108 second shot.

Maier just missed out on his first career IHRA Ironman, while Lang
picked up his second win of the season in his sixth consecutive final.

Cory McClenathan drove his Top Fuel dragster to the No. 1 position
during Friday's qualifying sessions for the 28th annual NHRA Nationals
at Brainerd International Raceway. Earlier in the day he clinched a
spot in the Countdown. It was that kind of a day for McClenathan.

McClenathan was low qualifier in both rounds today, posting first a
4.004-second elapsed time at 298.01 mph in the heat of the day, then a
3.910, 305.36 as temperatures cooled for the evening pass.

If he holds on to the pole through the final two qualifying sessions on
Saturday, he will claim his second this season, and the 34th of his
career.

Being the only driver to make a full pass under power gave Bob Tasca, III plenty to crow about during a round of qualifying that saw track temperatures at 120 degrees. Being able to back up his 4.364-second first round run with a 4.214 had Tasca ready to do a little dancing on the streets to the tune of 'Hot Rod Lincoln'.

Tasca exited his Quick Lane/Motorcraft Ford Mustang declaring the run was so smooth it was like “driving a Lincoln”. When he exited his car after the second qualifying session during the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals, Tasca used the opportunity to correct himself saying, “This isn't a Lincoln this is one HOT ROD!”