Unofficial point standings (top 10) for IHRA professional categories
following the World Finals presented by CapeFearWheels.com at
Rockingham Dragway, the 10th of 10 events in the  2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro
Jam Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1.  Spencer Massey, 918; 2.  Bruce Litton, 829; 3.  Terry McMillen,
760; 4.  Mike Strasburg, 738; 5.  Bobby Lagana Jr., 713; 6.  Kevin
Jones, 483; 7.  Tim Boychuk, 400; 8.  Scott Palmer, 342; 9.  Mitch
King, 217; 10.  Chris Karamesines, 128.

Final round-by-round results from the World Finals presented by
CapeFearWheels.com at Rockingham Dragway, the 11th of 10 events in the 
2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Bobby Lagana Jr., 5.432, 174.75 def. Scott Palmer,
broke; Mike Strasburg, 4.730, 255.97 def. Terry McMillen, 7.124,
124.03; Spencer Massey, 4.748, 307.16 def. Terry Haddock, 4.876,
251.95; Tim Boychuk, 4.669, 310.55 def. Bruce Litton, 4.638, 300.06;

SEMIFINALS -- Strasburg, 5.220, 251.67 def. Massey, 5.917, 169.19; Boychuk, 4.845, 288.33 def. Lagana Jr., 10.224, 80.82;

FINAL -- Boychuk, 4.853, 273.05 def. Strasburg, 7.650, 103.18.

As the 2008 IHRA drag racing season draws to a close, Bobby Lagana, Jr., Scarsdale, N.Y. Top Fuel
driver, is looking to close out his season on a positive note. Lagana
has a unique sponsorship deal in place as the independent political
group “Race Fans for Change” has secured a deal with Lagana to be the
primary sponsor on his car for the season finale.

“An old friend of ours is using his knowledge and experience to promote
a country-wide effort to spread information regarding the state of our
economy and ideas for the working class to address these issues,”
Lagana said. “This group, Race Fans for Change, is working to bring
awareness to race fans everywhere and encouraging them to get out and
vote. Racing fans are the backbone of our country and definitely the
backbone of our sport. I love the fans at Rockingham and I can’t wait
for them to see what our new sponsor is all about.”

Former Sport Compact racer turned NHRA Pro Stock driver Matt Hartford
finally got his crack at racing an IHRA Pro Stock car during the IHRA World Finals in Rockingham, N.C.

Hartford filled
in for the departed Rob Mansfield who left the Dingman Motorsports
Wilson Manifolds entry.

Hartford was one of three drivers proposing to bring turbocharged sport
compacts back in 2006. The outcry of complaints led the IHRA to kill
the idea before it came to fruition.

He finally got a chance to feel what the mountain motor racers feel during the course of a run.

When Pete Berner scored his first point this weekend, it effectively eliminated Frank Gugliotta
from championship contention in the Pro Stock division. Gugliotta
repaid the favor by snaking away 25 points by not only winning the Last
Man Standing award but also backing up a new record.

Berner had established the front end of a new world record with a
6.278-second lap when Gugliotta stepped up with a 6.270 which was
backed up with an earlier 6.291 elapsed time.

Gugliotta considers himself a friend to both championship finalists
Berner and second place Jeff Dobbins, but on this evening he had to do
what he had to do.

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the
World Finals presented by CapeFearWheels.com at Rockingham Dragway, the
11th of 10 events in the 2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series. 
Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday.

Top Fuel -- 1. Bruce Litton, 4.583 seconds, 304.87 mph  vs. 5.
Tim Boychuk, 4.735, 304.60; 2. Spencer Massey, 4.644, 310.98  vs. 6.
Terry Haddock, 4.773, 286.07; 3. Bobby Lagana Jr., 4.688, 288.39  vs.
7. Scott Palmer, 4.854, 289.26; 4. Terry McMillen, 4.691, 310.63  vs.
8. Mike Strasburg, 4.947, 315.56.

Jeff Dobbins has heard himself referred to as an underdog all season and with one race left in the IHRA season, he became one literally.

Dobbins’ wife Cindy decided to sew her husband an outfit bearing a
striking resemblance to the cartoon character and he wore it prior to
the final Pro Stock qualifying session at the IHRA World Finals in
Rockingham, N.C.

Jim Halsey became the first official five second nitrous doorslammer in the history of the IHRA when he laid down
a 5.972 elapsed time at 237.00 miles per hour to lead the first
qualifying session at the IHRA World Finals in Rockingham, N.C.

This marked the sixth consecutive five second run for Halsey, the five prior coming at an outlaw event in Englishtown, N.J.

“We made some changes (to the overall combination) prior to the IHRA
race in Epping because we knew it was going the wrong way,” Halsey
admitted when asked about finding the right combination to crack the
five second barrier. “It was getting bad. We could never find the right
combination. We tested before Englishtown and got it to run very well
and I was very happy because it wouldn’t even run at our place. The
weather was great there and the track was amazing. The weather was the
biggest factor.”

Terry Haddock Nears IHRA Nitro Funny Car Championship

Qualifies #1 at IHRA World Finals in pursuit of first career
title; Spencer Massey also sits on edge of clinching championship in
the Top Fuel division. Tony Bogolo (Alcohol Funny Car), Tommy D’Aprile
(Pro Modified) and Frank Gugliotta (Pro Stock) also grab top-qualifier
honors at Rockingham Dragway

The
2008 IHRA Nitro Funny Car world championship is basically Terry
Haddock’s to lose. He will head into Sunday’s final eliminations at the
IHRA World Finals in Rockingham with a 67-point lead over rookie Matt
Hagan (Christiansburg, Virg.) in the battle for the world title.
Haddock, who will face Hagan in the first round of eliminations, does
not necessarily even have to defeat Hagan in their match-up Sunday…all
he has to do is keep the track dry and hope Hagan does not win the
event and set a world record in the process.

If you’re looking for the thunder and lightning of Nitro Funny Car,
then you’ll most likely need to look elsewhere than the IHRA.

Aaron Polburn conveyed this grim reminder to the Funny Car teams in a
meeting on Friday at the IHRA World Finals in Rockingham, NC. He didn’t say the class was done but unless a major
sponsor is procured, it’s as good as done.

Point leader Terry Haddock isn’t sold on the reality of the
eliminator’s demise. The point leader believes this meeting was a
wake-up to the industry what lies ahead if major sponsorship isn’t
obtained.

“I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom,” Haddock said Friday after the
meeting. “I think they are fishing for a sponsor, kind of like we all
are. We just have to wait until the first race to see what happens. I
think you will also see major changes on the other side, NHRA, as well.
We have a current NHRA legal car right now, so we’ll go run over there
or we’ll run Top Fuel over here, it doesn’t matter.”