Robert Hight knows what to expect when he pulls alongside fourteen-time NHRA World Champion John Force or decorated Funny Car driver Ron Capps.

But Mike Sutsos Jr., that challenge might require some studying.

That’s because Sutsos doesn’t drive a nitro-burning Funny Car. In fact,
he doesn’t even drag race on the NHRA Full Throttle tour.

Race fans can pencil in July 25 as Super Saturday at the FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway.

For the first time in three years, Infineon Raceway is offering a
general admission ticket to catch the ground-pounding excitement.

Some memories are just too good to forget.

For Top Fuel rookie Shawn Langdon, rekindling the memory of the last
time he raced at Bandimere Speedway seems appropriate with this
weekend’s NHRA Mopar Mile High Nationals.

He first became a champion at Bandimere.

There
are many words used by NHRA drivers and crew chiefs to describe NHRA’s
Western Swing, the trio of mid-summer races that stretch from Denver to
Seattle to Sonoma, Calif. in a span of three weeks.

Grueling. Critical. Demanding.

The one word you won’t hear race team members use to associate the challenge of the Western Swing: Easy.

Teams will travel approximately 2,115 miles during the 21-day
mini-marathon so that their race cars can – if all goes according to
plan – log a maximum of 6 miles (4.5 for Top Fuel and Funny Car)
combined on all three race tracks. In between those 1,000-foot or
quarter-mile runs, the teams will be pushed to the limit to service
those vehicles in 75 minutes or less. Each race will present its own
set of unique circumstances, whether it be extreme altitude,
unpredictable weather conditions or sheer physical exhaustion from the
task at hand.

Ron Capps, a four-time winner in NHRA’s Full Throttle Funny Car series this season, will be Newsmaker of the Week on The Race Reporters radio show, Wednesday, July 8, 7 p.m. EDT, on www.PowerUpChannel.com.
 
Capps began the year by taking the first two events in the NAPA Dodge
Charger fielded by Don Schumacher Racing. He’s currently third in Funny
Car points going into this weekend’s race near Denver, Colo. Capps has
been the championship runner-up three times in his career, but is still
trying for his first title.

The polls are open, now open your wallets and help fight a life
altering disease that often robs a young child of a normalcy we all

Allie Puntel, Ohio, fourth in last year's contest, shown in an
interview with CompetitionPlus.com's Stan Creekmore, was one of five
finalists with her name listed on last season's JDRF Funny Car. (Roger Richards)

expect and deserve.

Starting July 2nd, 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.

The top five donation-earning designs will go in front of a panel of
judges and narrowed down to one. The winning design will be featured on
Motorcraft/Quick Lane sponsored Mustang Shelby driven by Bob Tasca III
during the NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, NC, on Sept. 18-20.

Billy Glidden experienced a tough weekend. The defending ADRL Extreme 10.5

champion
lost for the first time in 22 rounds of competition, fought tire shake
throughout the first day of the two-race-in-one weekend at Heartland
Park  Topeka and as if that wasn’t enough misfortune for the fierce
competitor, he severely wounded an engine during eliminations of the
ADRL Independence Drags.

So what did the seemingly jinxed Glidden do next?

He changed the engine and won the race.

Bruce Litton and the Lucas Oil dragster left no doubt that he was the driver to beat during the past weekend’s IHRA River Cree Resort
and Casino Rocky Mountain Nationals. The former IHRA Top Fuel world
champion claimed top speed of the meet, took home both Last Man
Standing honors, and won his second Iron Man of the season.

“This victory belongs to the team,” tells a humble and grateful Litton
who beat Mitch King in the final round. “They did a phenomenal job all
weekend. All I had to do was steer. I want to say a special thanks to
Richard Hartman and Mike Wolfart for their hard work and expertise in
getting this Lucas Oil Dragster down the track perfectly every time.
There was some tough racing out there, but these guys got the job done.
I’m proud of my team and their accomplishments in this victory.”

Eliminations are complete from the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event
held at Lebanon Valley Dragway. Leading the pack of winners was Comp
Eliminator ace Dan Fletcher of Churchville, N.Y. This event wraps of
the fourth of seven in Northeast division competition.

Fletcher, the defending National Champion in Comp, posted a 8.463
second, 129.57 mph pass to knock out Al Ackerman of Saddle Brook, N.J.,
in the final. This victory marks his fifth divisional win of the season.

Cody Barklage figured he and the team could gamble on a tired engine
during qualifying for the ADRL Independence Drags. The move ended up
costing them more money than replacing the worn out rods.