Bill Bader Jr., whose family owns Summit Motorsports Park at Norwalk,
Ohio, adamantly insists that driver Randy Adler's crash there two
weekends ago during the Super Chevy event did not occur because of water on the track.
 
Nevertheless, the Baders are absorbing a six-figure repair bill for
half the length of the racing surface as this weekend's Summit Racing
Equipment NHRA Nationals (with the Pro Stock K&N Horsepower
Challenge) approaches.
 
After more than five hours of discussions Friday with engineers, NHRA
Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Graham Light, and track-prep
consultant Wayne McMurtry, the Baders began ripping up and replacing
the asphalt racing surface from the eighth-mile to the finish line.
 
That, they said, will fix the drainage problems that the track has
experienced lately. However, a prepared statement from the family said
this problem is unrelated to the seepage trouble that popped up during
last year's rain-soaked national event. Those, the statement said, were
"due to heavy rains in the days leading up to the event, which raised
the water table. Those problems were cured with the installation of
drainage in those areas."

A year ago, Top Fuel racer Morgan Lucas entered the Summit Racing
Equipment NHRA Nationals fighting to get into the top 10. This
time,
a much-improved Lucas and his GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster team
arrive in Northern Ohio just one round out of the coveted top five.

What a difference a year makes.

Under the guidance of crew chief Jimmy Walsh, Lucas, who at 25 years of
age is the youngest racer in the nitro ranks, finds himself solidly in
the running for the Countdown to 1 playoffs and a chance at the 2009
Full Throttle championship. His car is winning eliminations rounds at
virtually every stop on tour and he even scored his first national
event victory in Top Fuel earlier this season in
Atlanta.

As the season works its way towards the halfway point, Rislone Engine
Treatment Top Alcohol Dragster driver Bill Reichert and his championship-winning
team find themselves enjoying a lofty spot high up in the NHRA Top
Alcohol Dragster points. But despite being only one point away from
first place, the team certainly isn’t about to rest on their laurels.

“We’ve been having a great season thus far,” said Reichert, the
three-time and defending NHRA Top Alcohol champion.  “Working our way
into the field for the Jeg’s Allstars race in Joliet a couple weeks ago
was a victory in and of itself, but to go there and win the whole
deal…well…that was pretty spectacular!”

The Grease Monkey Thunder on the Mountain event, a round of the NHRA
Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at Bandimere Speedway, is in the books. 
Grand Junction, Colo., racer Jim Whiteley took his Top Alcohol Dragster
to the winner’s circle for the second time in two weeks and Roger
Bateman, Winnipeg, Manit., won his second Top Alcohol Funny Car title
of the season.

Whiteley was the event’s No. 1 Top Alcohol Dragster qualifier and due
to a short field of cars, there were only two rounds of eliminations
instead of three. However, Whiteley more than earned the win when he
ousted Denver’s Eugene Tumbarello in the first round and then laid down
a 5.580-second, 259.26 mph pass to beat Ed Schmeeckle of Gothenburg,
Neb., in the final.  Schmeeckle ran 5.649 seconds at 252.85 mph in his
first final-round appearance of the year.

Racing Halts NHRA Atco Raceway Event

There is a soft mist falling at Atco Raceway and the weather forecasts call for heavier rain. Race officials have decided to pull the plug on racing this weekend. This event in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series will be completed during the second scheduled LODRS event at Atco Raceway, October 2nd through 4th .

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After two days of rain delays at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series
at Pacific Raceways, Sunday’s eliminations went off without a hitch. 
And for Top Alcohol Dragster racer Shawn Cowie it was worth the wait. 
The Delta, B.C., resident won his fifth race in as many tries.  Steve
Gasparrelli, West Covina, Calif., didn’t mind the setbacks, either, as
he wheeled his Top Alcohol Funny Car to the winner’s circle for the
first time this year.

Cowie went into eliminations from the No. 1 qualifying spot and squared
off against No. 2 qualifier Joey Severance, Spanaway, Wash., in the
final.  Cowie laid down a 5.370-second, 268.81 mph pass which was more
than enough to cover Severance who slowed to a 16.152-second run at
52.69 mph.  Severance was also runner-up to Cowie at the division’s
race last week at Spokane County Dragway.

Gasparrelli, who claims the NHRA Pacific division as his home, took on
Clint Thompson of Klamath Falls, Ore., in the final.  Gasparrelli made
the best run of the weekend, a 5.585-second, 257.38 mph effort, against
Thompson.  Thompson ran 5.651 seconds at 252.19 mph.

As witnessed by his NHRA-leading five national event victories this
season, reigning Pro Stock world champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. loves race
day. This weekend at the 12th of 24 races on the Full Throttle
schedule, Coughlin should be twice as happy as the most successful
racer on the '09 tour because he will have two chances to race for a
trophy in his JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt.

Aside from the national event itself and a chance to improve on his
NHRA-best, 109-point lead in the world rankings, Coughlin will compete
in the 25th annual K&N Horsepower Challenge, a special
race-within-a-race for Pro Stock's top eight drivers.

"I love race day; it's what I get up for," said Coughlin, who turns 39
a few days before the race begins. "To have two chances to win this
weekend, in my home state, no less, obviously makes this a very big
event for us. I can't wait to get started."

Greg
Anderson will lead the K&N Horsepower Challenge field as the No. 1
seed for the sixth consecutive year as the lucrative special event
takes center stage June 27 during the third annual Summit Racing
Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.

A purse of $76,000 is available for the eight drivers competing in the
K&N Horsepower Challenge. The winner of the 25th annual K&N
Horsepower Challenge will earn $50,000. The runner-up will earn
$10,000, the two semifinalists $3,000 each, and the four first-round
finishers $2,500 apiece.

Anderson, from Charlotte, N.C., qualified No. 1 at six of the 24 NHRA
Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events where drivers could earn
K&N Horsepower Challenge points. It is Anderson’s seventh career
appearance in the bonus event.

As surprising as it sounds, the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
hits its official mid-point race this weekend – No. 12 of 24 – and Pro Stock superstar Greg Anderson is still looking for his first victory of the season.

Anderson’s 2009 campaign hasn’t started in the fashion that the
three-time Pro Stock world champion has grown accustomed. By this point
in most seasons, he’s usually won a handful of events, advanced to a
bunch of final rounds, claimed several top qualifying efforts and is
working on plans to extend his series points lead.

Not this year.

Dark clouds usually dissipate after
a brief storm. However, if you’re Jerry Eckman, those clouds are still
lingering - a painful reminder of the relentless storm he’s weathered
for more than a decade.

Eckman’s wearied eyes speak without
his lips moving. If they could convey a message, more than likely they
would utter, “Enough.”

He used to bite his lip, opting for silence.

Now Eckman is ready to talk. Friendships be damned, political correctness be damned. He wants his life back.