THRIFT HAS 22,500 REASONS TO BE THANKFUL

After
months and months of anticipation leading up to Saturday’s Moser
Axle-Mania Sportsman Shootout this weekend at U.S. 131 Motorsports
Park, Bruce Thrift (Waycross, Ga.) made what will without a doubt go
down as the easiest $22,500 he will ever make in his life.

Going head-to-head with Scott Macy (Randleman, N.C.) in the final of
Saturday’s Moser Axle-Mania Shootout, Thrift had all of the butterflies
one would expect in knowing that a win or a loss would be the
difference in $15,000 in his pocket.

But after staging the car and preparing himself for the most profitable
ride of his life, all of the pressure was immediately lifted when he
saw the red light come on in Macy’s lane.

Racing fans braved the heat to enjoy some record breaking side-by-side drag racing at Rocky Mountain Raceways’ Funny Car Fever.

Phil Schmidt of Orangeville, California set a new Nitro Harley record of 6.667 at 212.41 miles per hour.

The previous record of 7.063 was set by Joe Timmons in 2005.

“We love coming here. The crowd is excellent. It is one of the most fun venues,” said Schmidt.

Unpredictable
weather led to some unpredictable racing during Saturday’s IHRA
Northern Nationals presented by Dart Machinery at U.S. 131 Motorsports
Park as a mixed bag of results greeted the sold out “Night of Fire”
crowd.

Some drivers had little trouble navigating the fresh track and others
weren’t so lucky as Bruce Litton (Top Fuel) and Frank Gugliotta (Elite
Motorsports Pro Stock) had to rely on Friday’s times to remain on top
while Kenny Lang did exactly the opposite with a blistering lap to take
the top spot in Pro Modified.

Bruce Thrift also made some noise Saturday night with a $22,500 payday during the Axle-Mania Sportsman Shootout.

Top Fuel driver Doug Foley and co-team owner Tom Lewis will return to action Aug. 20-23 at the 25th annual Toyo Tires NHRA
Nationals in Mohnton, Pa.

The team last competed in September of 2008 at the Carolina NHRA
Nationals at zMax Dragway near Charlotte, where they successfully
qualified for the inaugural race and posted top speed on eliminations.

Due to financial considerations brought on by the current recession,
Foley parked his competitive dragster after that event to focus on his
primary business, Doug Foley’s Drag Racing School. Prior to their
pullback, Foley was a regular winner on race day with the media dubbing
him "Giant Killer" for his numerous victories over top-ranked drivers.

Who knew the Fountain of Youth could be found in the seat of a dragster?

Just like the Academy Award winning blockbuster “The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button” starring Brad Pitt, Top Fuel driver Luigi Novelli has
discovered a way to reverse the aging process.

And it is done at over 300 miles per hour.

“These Top Fuel cars are definitely a handful. It keeps you young
because you have to be alert and you have to be able to work and keep
this thing moving forward,” Novelli said. “What can I say, it is a lot
of work and we are a low budget team so you just have to keep working
at it.”

In the final rounds of qualifying Johnny Ahten, Saugus, Calif., and
John Lombardo Jr. Brea, Calif., grabbed the top spots and will lead
their classes into Sunday’s eliminations for this weekend’s NHRA Lucas
Oil Drag Racing Series Division 7 event presented by Korbel.

Ahten used a 5.270-second, 266.48 mph run to take the No. 1 position in
Top Alcohol Dragster followed by Carson City, Nev., racer Randy Eakins
at 5.303, 267.11 mph.  Courtney and Brittany Force, daughters of
legendary NHRA Funny Car Racer John Force, were one and two going into
today’s final qualifying sessions and were able to hold on to the third
and fourth qualifying positions respectively.

Lombardo jumped to the No. 1 spot in the final session of a very quick
and extremely tight Top Alcohol Funny Car field with a 5.601 second
pass down the quarter mile at 251.58 mph.  Second generation driver
Steve Gasparrelli, West Covina, Calif., put his ’08 Mustang in the No.
2 slot at 5.603, 258.32 while Doug Gordon of Paso Robles, Calif., is
fourth behind Sean O’Bannon, Ontario, Calif., who is looking for his
fourth divisional win of the year.

What does a racer do with his free time after weeks on the road?

Keep racing more, of course.

And that is exactly what Dixie, W.Va. native Burton Auxier is doing
with his weekend off as he and his team made a last minute decision to
make the haul to Martin, Mich. this weekend for the IHRA Northern
Nationals presented by Dart Machinery.

“We have been working on the car a little bit and just decided it would
be a good place to come and race,” Auxier said. “We have been wanting
to run IHRA and we weren’t racing anywhere this weekend so we decided
to come on out.

The last stop on the IHRA Nitro Jam tour was anything but memorable for many of the drivers in Elite Motorsports Pro Stock.

For John Montecalvo, however, the race two weeks ago in Grand Bend was more like a dream come true.

With the top three in points all suffering nightmarish first round
losses, Montecalvo was able to make up a ton of ground with a trip to
the finals as he made the leap from fourth to second in points and now
finds himself just six markers back leader Frank Gugliotta.

The 32nd annual NAPA Night Under Fire presented by Amalie Motor Oil is underway at Summit Motorsports Park today, and it is on pace
to be possibly the largest Night Under Fire ever. Reserved tickets will
likely be sold out by mid-afternoon and standing room-only tickets are
already going quickly.

Fans and racers have near-perfect weather to enjoy the race and
qualifying started on schedule at 9:00 am this morning under cloudless
skies. We’re expecting a high of 83 degrees and 81% humidity.

Although the evening officially kicks off with Night Under Fire opening
ceremonies at 6:00 pm, fans arriving early will get a special treat.
Today is an official test day under NHRA rules so the Funny Car teams
here are planning to take advantage and get some test runs in this
afternoon.

It has recently come to the attention of the IHRA that a few of the
drivers that were originally scheduled to make an appearance at next
weekend’s Thunder Jam event at Farmington Dragway will not be able to
participate due to a scheduling conflict.