It was just five years ago when crew chief Wayne Dupuy and driver
Darrell Russell came to the Sears Craftsman National at Gateway

Roger Richards

International Raceway, just across the river from St. Louis.

The duo was flying high. Not only were they winning races, but they
also were establishing themselves as one of best driver-crew chief
tandems in the Top Fuel dragster division.

"We were on top of the world," recalled Dupuy.

Then, when Russell made a pass during second-round eliminations on June 27, 2004, nothing would ever be the same again.

A fire, triggered by an oil line failure on a machine, caused damage to one of the buildings housing A-1 Performance
Products, a pioneering manufacturer of automatic transmissions & torque converters and long-time NHRA contingency sponsor.

Standing in the winner’s circle at this past weekend’s Summit Racing
Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Jason Line was quick to point
out that the victory was the biggest of his six-year NHRA Pro Stock
career. Therefore, it would stand to reason that the trophy he received
would be among the most cherished in his collection, forever occupying
a prime location in his personal display case.

However, within moments of his defeat of Mike Edwards in the final, the
Summit Racing GXP racer already had plans for the little brass man
mounted on a wooden base.  This particular Wally would be given to Dean
Lewis, a KB Racing crewmember who would be leaving the team after the
race, in recognition of and thanks for a job well done.

 The JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt that Jeg Coughlin Jr. drove to the last
two world championships in the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series will be
the centerpiece of the American Electric Power Independence Day Parade,
which begins at 6 p.m., Friday, July 3, and runs through downtown
Columbus, Ohio.

It’s okay to vote early and vote often… at least when the voting helps out a good cause.

Last
year’s winner was Samuel Millard, a six-year-old resident of
Greenville, Texas, and member of the Greater Dallas Chapter of the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Millard and his family were
special guests at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis where his
design appeared on Tasca’s Ford Shelby Mustang Nitro Funny Car.

Starting today, and running through August 14, the public is invited to visit www.jdrf.org/ford ,
view more than 200 paint scheme designs and vote for their favorite
children’s design by making a monetary donation to JDRF, all as part of
Ford Customer Service Division’s second annual Funny Car Design Contest.

Four-time and reigning Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. will join a
star-studded roster of celebrity players participating in this year's
Michael Redd Foundation Charity Golf Tournament. The event begins at 10
a.m., Monday, July 6, at New Albany Country Club in the suburbs of
Columbus.

Aside from Coughlin, celebrities joining each of the foursomes in the
tournament include Lawrence Funderburke, Mike Furrey, Raymont Harris,
Nathan Hughes, Janet Jackson, Yvette McGee Brown, Clark Kellogg, Judge
Algenon Marbley, Tito Paul, Scoonie Penn, Chris Quinn, Shirley
Rogers-Reece, Ronnie Stokes, Eric Thielsen, Mike Vrabel, Granville
Waiters, Deron Williams, Herb Williams, Troy Taylor, Jeffrey Blackwell,
Paul Strong, Jeffrey Harris, Gerry Hammond, Larry Price, William White,
Craig Murray, Jimmy Powers, and M.G. Orender.

Race fans are in for a rare treat this weekend as National Guard
American Drag Racing League (ADRL) competitors go after two major event wins during the Hardee’s Independence Drags III at Heartland Park Topeka, in Kansas.

Rain cut short the National Guard ADRL’s previous event last month at
Martin, Michigan, after just one round of eliminations for all five of
the all-eighth-mile series’ professional classes were in the books. So,
Friday in Topeka will feature the three leftover rounds of racing from
the Ford Drive One Summer Drags V, along with one full round of
scheduled qualifying for the Independence Drags.

Courtney Force continues her mission to talk about various aspects Ford's Fiesta.

As part of the Fiesta Movement Ms. Force takes on a monthly mission to
talk about an element of the Fiesta. This month the mission was to talk
about the "tech" aspects of the Fiesta.

CompetitionPlus.com snapped these sneak peek photos of Travis
Swearingen's 1941 Willys sporting a new National Guard camo-themed
scheme. Reportedly the theme will be campaigned at two events beginning
this weekend at the ADRL Hardees Independence Drags in Topeka, Kan.

For Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson, the timing couldn’t have been any better.

Allen Johnson recorded the quickest testing times in three days of Pro Stock testing at Bandimere Speedway. He estimates that he's logged as many, if not more laps on the mountain than the competition. (Roger Richards Photo)

Johnson, of Greeneville, Tenn., recorded a new "unofficial" track record on Wednesday during pre-Mopar NHRA Mile High Nationals testing at Bandimere Speedway. The longtime Mopar runner pushed his Dodge Stratus to one of only two six second Pro Stock runs ever recorded at the facility located outside of Denver, Co.

Johnson posted a 6.996, while GM frontrunner Mike Edwards was a couple of ticks behind with a 6.998. Greg Anderson was third quickest with a 7.00.