Tony Schumacher had better hope that Kyle Busch never decides to drag race. It seems the NASCAR heavy-hitter is the only one who can beat the five-time champion these days.

Before a packed house at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Charlotte, N.C., Schumacher drove his U.S. Army-sponsored
dragster to his 53rd career victory, passing the legendary Joe Amato
for the role of winningest Top Fuel driver ever.

Just days earlier Schumacher proclaimed jokingly about Busch, “I only know the guy for two hours and I already hate him.”

Speedway Motorports Inc's Chairman Bruton Smith still dodges the rumors of a possible NHRA purchase.

Bruton
Smith [left], SMI President and son Marcus Smith watch as Tom Compton
speaks during the ZMAX Dragway ribbon-cutting ceremony. (Bobby Bennett
photo)

“I’ve heard that rumor before,” Smith confirmed, with a smile on his
face. “I just say it’s a rumor and move on. I think this gentleman [Tom
Compton] is doing such a good job in running the company that I don’t
think anyone should come in and disturb it.”

When a guy named Stumpy has to tell you that you’ve won, something’s wrong.

Steve Johnson doesn’t necessarily agree.

Stumpy is the lead ESPN2 camera man in charge of filming the winners.

Johnson lost focus in the shutdown area after winning his second
consecutive NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle event at the NHRA Carolinas
Nationals, and instead of bringing his
bike to a stop; he became mesmerized with the camera crew headed his
way.

He realized he needed to stop just feet from the sand trap.

He’s Pro Stock’s most stunning example of the reluctant winner.

Justin Humphreys singles to his first career Pro Stock victory. (Roger Richards)

Justin Humphreys scored his first career Pro Stock victory in an odd scenario that would leave even the most seasoned veteran scratching his head.

As the call was issued to fire the Pro Stock final, the unthinkable happened. Kurt Johnson’s car wouldn’t fire.

In a scene reminiscent of the Keystone Cops, crews from both teams push started the car. NHRA officials ordered Johnson to shut off his car and re-fire; starting line officials instructed Humphreys to stage.

Before Saturday's third round of
qualifying at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord,
N.C., Connie Kalitta, Kalitta Motorsports team owner, presented Doug
Herbert a $50,000 check for his charity organization BRAKES.

"For Connie to do this to help BRAKES is really awesome," said
Herbert.  "Scott and I were friends and he was good friends with Jon
and James from the time they were little.  Scott would have wanted to
do something to help people so it's really neat that did that.  The
money they donated will help us save some kids lives."

Drag racer Rick Kopp may race his car regularly at 225 mph, but he’ll have it parked on University Avenue in Toronto on Friday morning demonstrating some of its features at the Hospital for Sick Children.
 
As part of its mandate as the largest center in Canada dedicated to
improving children’s health, special guests from a variety of walks of
life speak to the children and provide demonstrations.
 
And seldom will the hospital see such a vibrant colorful demonstration
as Kopp’s rear-engined dragster with its huge rear tires, sleek orange
body, and 2000-horsepower engine.

Frank Mazno clinched his 12th Lucas Oil Alcohol Funny Car championship, won
his 78th career national-event victory and his seventh of the season when he
drove the Lucas Oil Chevrolet to a final-round win over Marc White.

"When you have a great team we seem to work out the problems together, and at
the end of Sunday night we're back here on the stage," Manzo said.

Kurt Johnson advanced to his fifth final round of the season at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals in the ACDelco
Chevrolet and he will leave North Carolina with a 15 point lead over
second-place Greg Anderson. It also marked the 72nd career final-round appearance for
Johnson and his 498th career round win.

Johnson's ACDelco Chevy Cobalt was No. 1 qualifier for this event. He
defeated Vinnie Deceglie in round one, outran Greg Anderson in round two after
cutting a .003 light on the Christmas Tree, and in round three he defeated V. Gaines
with the quickest e.t. of the day at 6.688 seconds.

Bruton Smith’s battles with the neighboring homes around his ZMAX
Dragway in Concord created quite the uproar in the local media earlier
in the year. Homeowners lamented the high decibels of the unmuffled
race cars would drive down property values in the area.

Smith felt vindicated after first day qualifying at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals.

He told a story of two local stations, neither of which he identified,
performed decibel tests in order to measure the noise emitting from the
facility.

In the oddest triple play combination, Humphreys ended up with Warren Johnson horsepower through an introduction by Roy Hill and goading from Bob Glidden. Both were at one time fierce WJ rivals.

The one common denominator is that all, to this day, carry a huge amount of mutual respect for each other.

“We had it planned to run 2009 with WJ, but since we were already out
of the Countdown, we decided to go ahead and convert over from Mopar
back to GM," said Humphreys.