Reigning NHRA Funny Car world champion Cruz Pedregon sped to the first
win of his circle-track career, driving his Advance Auto Parts

Thieszen Photo Creations

Dirt
Late Model to victory at Kamp Motor Speedway in Boswell, Ind., Aug. 8.
He qualified fourth out of 21 cars, won the eight-lap heat race, then
started the 20-lap feature on the outside of the front row and charged
to the front.
    
"I trailed for the first five laps," Pedregon said. "The leader was
running close to the wall, and I was right with him. Then he bounced
off the wall, causing a yellow. When the race resumed, I moved
underneath the leader and led the rest of the way. The lateral G's lap
after lap after lap are awesome! A Funny Car pulls a lot more G's, but
not lateral G's. There's a lot of banking, which makes it fast for a
smaller track, and it really suited my driving style. I could feel the
guy in second right behind me, and fatigue was starting to set in, but
I kept doing what I was doing and stayed in front. I was ready for it
to be over there at the end, looking for the white flag, but I held
on."

John Force hopes history is on his side this weekend at the Lucas
Oil Nationals in Brainerd, Minn. He holds a record which could also be the key to turning his 2009 season around.

It’s one of the most impressive records in all of motorsports:
22 consecutive seasons with at least one win—the most in NHRA history.
The closest driver to that mark, Pro Stock’s Kurt Johnson, is still
eight seasons short of matching that mark. Started in 1987 and spanning
through two decades, the NHRA legend Force has never had a season since
that he didn’t collect at least one win.

Top Fuel racer Doug Kalitta will once again carry the banner for Red
Line Oil on his 8,000-horsepower, 300+mph, nitro-fueled dragster at
this weekend’s, Aug. 14-16, NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
national event in Brainerd, Minn., at Brainerd Int’l Raceway and for
the two following NHRA events.
 
After a successful event for Team Kalitta, Red Line, and their
customers at the previous event in Sonoma, Calif., Red Line decided
that one event was not enough time to display their stunningly sleek
and sharp dragster on the drag strip, so they have extended their
partnership with the Ypsilanti, Michigan-based race team for Brainerd,
Reading, Penn. (Aug. 20-23), and the most prestigious drag racing event
in the world, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, Sept. 2-7.
 
“We had a feeling that this car would come off looking great,” said
Cameron Evans, Director of Sales and Marketing for Red Line. “Everyone
at Red Line loves Top Fuel, especially when your car looks that cool
when it first rolls out of the transporter. With the help of Kalitta
Motorsports, we were able to add these three races so we are absolutely
thrilled and look for another strong and consistent run in Minnesota
and further.”

The mere thought is enough to sicken any car enthusiast.

Four musclecar enthusiasts were stranded at their hotels when thieves
stole four rare Hurst/Olds on Friday evening during the 25th annual
Hurst/Olds National Meet at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in
Indianapolis.

Those close to the musclecar scene believe this was a calculated “hit” and not a random crime.

Linda and Orville Hardy were among the victims of this crime.

The Hardy’s told WISHTV.com, a local Indy television station, that they
had woke early in the morning before a car club meet to shine their
1979 Hurst/Olds as they always do before the gatherings.

Chuck DeMory had a little extra pep in his step on Friday afternoon at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C.

The former IHRA mountain motor Pro Stock racer from Geneva, Ill., has
begun a new chapter in his racing life. There will be no more late
nights thrashing a race car to prepare for the rough and tumble world
of Pro Stock.

DeMory has put away his firesuit and helmet, and now walks to the
starting line in shorts, a team uniform shirt and a headset that
enables him to communicate with his son Chuck DeMory Jr., a racer in
the NMCA’s Nostalgia Pro Street division.

The 30,000-plus baseball fans attending Wednesday night's Minnesota Twins game against the Kansas City Royals will get a high-octane taste of NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing with a big pre-race car display and autograph party on the Metrodome Plaza.

In support of the 28th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, this weekend at
Brainerd Int'l Raceway, Lucas Oil Racing will display a variety of hot
rods that's sure to get the attention of the stick-and-ball set. In
addition to an interesting collection of race cars, Team Lucas racers
Morgan Lucas, Shawn Langdon, Larry Morgan, Hector Arana, and Brad
Plourd will be on hand to meet fans, sign autographs, and explain the
world's fastest sport to a different audience.

The 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Awards Ceremony will be
held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles’ posh Westside on Monday, Nov. 16.

NHRA also announced that the entire NHRA Full Throttle Awards Ceremony
will be broadcast on the Web at NHRA.com on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 6
p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT. It marks the first time the full event will be
available to fans via the Internet.

Perfectly situated on the fashionable Westside, adjacent to Beverly
Hills, the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza sits on seven acres with 726
newly renovated spacious guest rooms and a world-class spa and fitness
center, making the property a luxury resort hotel situated in the heart
of the city.

The Cummings name is synonymous with success in the sportsman categories of NHRA and IHRA. The family team, which is backed by Moser
Engineering and features drivers Britt, Slate, and Larry Cummings along
with Jody “Cool” Simoneaux has accounted event victories in no less
than seven sportsman categories. Brothers Britt and Slate Cummings have
three IHRA World Championship trophies on their respective mantles. The
team has claimed over a dozen division championships, and countless
national and divisional event victories over the past two decades. With
that being said, it will come as a complete surprise to many that
family patriarch Larry Cummings earned his first national event title
with a Super Stock victory in his Moser Engineering backed Cavalier at
last weekend’s IHRA Northern Nationals in Martin, MI.
 
Cummings has built an impressive racing resume throughout his career
that spans nearly four decades. He has accumulated countless divisional
victories, and a number of division championships. He was a constant
fixture in IHRA’s national top ten throughout the 1990’s. He was an
original member of the Budweiser sportsman “Super Team” in the 1980’s,
the first multi-car, sponsored sportsman racing team. Yet, in all those
years of successful competition, a national event title had eluded him.

When Chuck Ulsch covered the eighth mile at Gateway International Raceway in 3.98 seconds Aug. 8, he entered a realm few people thought
even possible just a couple of years earlier. He also picked up a
$5,000 bonus from Flowmaster Mufflers for being the first Flowmaster
Extreme 10.5 driver to post a three-second elapsed time in official
National Guard American Drag Racing League (ADRL) competition.

“We congratulate Chuck and his entire team on an awesome performance,”
Flowmaster Senior Vice President of Marketing Richard Small said. “The
Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 class has become one of the tightest, toughest
classes anywhere in professional drag racing and to see one of these
cars finally break into the threes is really something special. That’s
why we posted this bounty, to reward a truly historic accomplishment.”

With a break in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle schedule, Doug Horne
brought a little of his magic to Bristol last weekend for the AHDRA
Thunder in the Valley Nationals and showed the fans in town why he may be considered the fastest thing on two wheels.

The Aberdeen, Md. native is in the midst of an impressive rookie
campaign in the NHRA, finding himself fourth in points behind Eddie
Krawiec, Andrew Hines and Matt Smith. He showed no signs of slowing
down as he captured the AHDRA Screamin’ Eagle Top Fuel division during
Sunday’s final rounds. In the process, he broke Tak Shigematsu’s string
of consecutive Top Fuel wins at three. Shigematsu was unable to attend
the event.