NHRA and Ticketmaster have partnered to eliminate ticket convenience
fees for the 55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas
Oil, the world’s most prestigious drag race, held Labor Day weekend,
Sept.2-7, at historic O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

Fans purchasing tickets to the most historic event on the NHRA Full
Throttle Drag Racing series and the much-anticipated final race in the
Countdown to 10, NHRA’s regular season, through Ticketmaster will not
have to pay the convenience fees usually associated with Ticketmaster
purchases. A ticket delivery fee may apply depending on which delivery
option the ticket buyer selects.

Race fans that find themselves hungry for horsepower can win a
Blueprint Engines SB-Chevy 383ci Dress Engine this summer from JEGS
Automotive, an industry leader in high performance parts. No purchase
is necessary to enter the Sweepstakes. Interested parties can simply
register online at JEGS.com.
 
"This is a fun and exciting contest to kick-off the summer," said John
Coughlin, the Vice President at JEGS Automotive.  "The Blueprint
Engines we carry are top-notch and I know whoever wins this powerplant
is going to be really pleased with its performance.  If the winner is
not in need of an engine we are offering a $2,500 shopping spree. 
Either way, we want the winner to be happy and to tell their friends
about JEGS.com."

Following the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol Mike Neff and his Ford Drive One Mustang team stayed over on Monday and spent
the day testing. His team continues to track down a number of gremlins
that have stolen the most valuable commodity on the NHRA Full Throttle
Series: consistency.

“We were just trying to learn a few things. My Ford Drive One Mustang
got better every run. We were trying stuff to make it run quick and
fast instead of just trying to lug it to the finish line. We were
really trying to make it haul down a hot track. With each run it went
further and then further so we feel like we are going in the right
direction heading to Topeka,” said Neff.

Last year at Heartland Park Neff had an eye-opening experience during
qualifying when at the hit of the throttle his steering wheel hit him
in the forehead.

After winning eight consecutive rounds of competition resulting in
back-to-back national event victories, guess what Del Worsham did?

If you guessed made more runs, then you are correct.

Worsham, 39, of Chino Hills, Ca., and the Alan Johnson/Al Anabi team
packed up the hauler one day after their NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
victory and headed south to Commerce, Ga., for two days of extensive
testing aimed at preparing themselves for the impending hot weather
months of the 2009 Full Throttle Drag Racing tour.

“After winning eight straight rounds, we tested for two days right
after Bristol to work on some different set ups,” Worsham explained.
“That showed the commitment to winning this team has, and it’s great to
be a part of it. We learned a lot in those two days, and we are
confident about the rest of the season.”

If you’ve seen how potent a Cobra Jet engine can be in a Mustang and
wondered how lethal the legendary engine could be in a dragster, your
curiosity will be quenched at this weekend’s O’Reilly NHRA
Summernationals in Topeka, Kan.

Noted fuel system and fuel pump specialists Aeromotive have taken a
stock 5.4 liter Cobra Jet engine, joined it with an aftermarket ECU,
and installed it in a traditional Super Comp dragster.

The crash and the rehab were hell on the soul, but the missing wins were worse on the spirit.

It had been almost 10 months since John Force’s last visit to winner’s
circle. That’s a long time for anyone to wait, much less a 14-time
world champion.

For Force, a man that has the most world championships, most round wins
(1,021 currently) and most event wins (126) in NHRA history, the wait
was almost unbearable.

“I didn’t know if I could win again,” Force said. “I believed it, but
we just couldn’t get that magic to win a race.” That all came to an end
when Force drove past runner-up Tim Wilkerson at the 20th annual
O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Heartland Park Topeka just one year
ago and grabbed his first win since Brainerd 2007.  

Don Wootton got more publicity than he anticipated over the off-season and for the driver of a ADRL injected, nitro-burning doorslammer the attention wasn’t always positive.

Away from the scrutiny of the rules makers and the sanctioning body,
Wooten and his gang are working low key to find the right combination.

A 4.190 elapsed time at 190 miles per hour isn’t exactly a barn-burning
lap in the ADRL’s Pro Extreme division but what it is – is a very good
start in a bid to become competitive.

“The run was pretty soft and we really wanted to go from Point A to
Point B with it,” Wootton said. “We accomplished that and we also
discovered some gremlins with the car. We’re going to get it worked
out. We have it going straight now.”

Antron Brown hopes that what worked well for the boss will eventually funnel down to the employee.

In 2007, team owner Mike Ashley won his first national event at Heartland Park in Topeka, Kan.

Brown has yet to win in Topeka but a semi-final finish last year has
success so close for the sophomore Top Fuel driver he can taste it.

"I'm excited to get back out there to Topeka. We came up just short
last year,” Brown said. “I always like performing at Topeka because one
of the guys I looked up to growing up, Gary Ormsby, has a great legacy
at Heartland Park. Topeka is a fun little town and we're ready to get
back to racing and to keep this Matco Tools dragster up there in the
standings."

Unless you’re the lead dog the scenery never changes.

In the dog-eat-dog world of NHRA Pro Stock, five-time world champion
Jeg Coughlin Jr. has grown fond of the view as his 714 championship
points ranks the highest of any NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
professional category.

Coughlin has reached the final round in five of the first eight of the
10  national events of 2009. He’ll be looking for more as he enters
this weekend’s O’Reilly NHRA Summernationals in Topeka, Kan.

Coughlin, 38, of Delaware, Ohio, is one of only four professional
competitors who has qualified for every race this season and advanced
past the first round of eliminations.