Usually 40 will represent an over-the-hill number, but for 38-year old Jeg Coughlin Jr. the number stood for so much more.

Coughlin secured his 40th national event victory by defeating teammate
Dave Connolly in the Pro Stock final round. The win put Coughlin all
alone in fourth place in the all-time list for Pro Stock victories, a
remarkable accomplishment for a 38-year-old racer.

"We've been flirting with a win for awhile now and it feels wonderful
to get it done," Coughlin said. "The main thing is we want to carry
momentum into Indy and then the playoffs and there's no better way to
build up momentum than to go out there and turn the win light on. Great
work by the entire JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt team."

Johnny West has had a calming effect on the Valvoline/MTS Dodge Funny
Car that Jack Beckman has driven to back-to-back final rounds.

"A couple of times it wanted to move over toward the centerline, but it
was a pretty smooth car all weekend long,” explained Beckman of his
Reading win. “Didn’t throw us any curve balls out there.

"(Crew chief) Johnny West is a very conservative-by-nature type of guy,
so he and (assistant crew chief) Tommy Delago balance each other well
and I think now that we've been consistent for a few races we're
starting to get quick and I think if we can take that to cold-weather
tracks we will be contending for the championship."

Tony Schumacher spoke directly to someone without mentioning their
name during his post-race press conference at the NHRA Toyo Tires
Nationals in Reading, Pa.

Those in the know immediately drew the
conclusion he was speaking to Hot Rod Fuller because of his criticism
of the championship format in 2007 after leading the majority of the
season and then having the lead wiped away per the rules of the reset.

During the post-race press conference, emcee Bob Frey suggested that
Schumacher was a fan of the Countdown to the Championship in 2007
because the format worked to his favor. He also suggested this season
could generate the opposite feelings since Schumacher has to surrender
a tremendous lead.

BECKMAN GETS SECOND WIN OF SEASON; SCHUMACHER, COUGHLIN, SMITH ALSO FIND WINNERS CIRCLE AT MAPLE GROVE

Roger Richards Photos

In
a final round that matched teacher against student, Funny Car driver
Jack Beckman raced to his second win of the season at the Toyo Tires
NHRA Nationals.

Tony Schumacher, Jeg Coughlin, and Matt Smith also were winners at the
17th of 24 events on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Beckman drove his Dodge Charger R/T to a 4.183-second run at 291.57 mph
past Frank Hawley for his first win at Maple Grove. Hawley, who owns a
drag racing school, employs Beckman as a drag racing instructor.

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following
the 24th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, the
17th of 24 events in the  NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1.  Tony Schumacher, 1,650; 2.  Antron Brown, 1,124; 3.  Larry Dixon,
1,082; 4.  Cory McClenathan, 1,019; 5.  Rod Fuller, 1,015; 6.  Brandon
Bernstein, 974; 7.  Hillary Will, 907; 8.  Doug Herbert, 843; 9.  David
Grubnic, 736; 10.  Doug Kalitta, 732.

Final round-by-round results from the 24th annual Toyo Tires NHRA
Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, the 17th of 24 events in the  NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Brandon Bernstein, 3.858, 310.84 def. Hillary Will,
3.929, 300.33; Antron Brown, 3.909, 309.06 def. Cory McClenathan,
3.922, 305.56; Clay Millican, 3.967, 298.01 def. J.R. Todd, 4.208,
258.86; Rod Fuller, 3.934, 304.87 def. Doug Kalitta, 3.987, 302.21;
Tony Schumacher, 3.877, 312.13 was unopposed; David Grubnic, 3.905,
304.87 def. Doug Herbert, 4.225, 231.24; Morgan Lucas, 3.921, 305.15
def. Bob Vandergriff, 4.014, 306.33; Larry Dixon, 3.871, 310.48 def.
Doug Foley, 3.940, 305.77;

QUARTERFINALS -- Millican,
3.994, 292.58 def. Lucas, 3.963, 289.32; Brown, 3.943, 305.49 def.
Fuller, 4.308, 247.38; Dixon, 3.935, 304.74 def. Grubnic, 6.723, 91.31;
Schumacher, 3.894, 301.60 def. Bernstein, 3.926, 303.64;

SEMIFINALS -- Dixon, 4.007, 258.02 def. Brown, 5.761, 112.34; Schumacher, 3.928, 306.40 def.
Millican, 3.945, 298.21;

FINAL -- Schumacher, 3.845, 313.88 def. Dixon, 3.891, 302.35.

Sunday's final results from the 24th annual Toyo Tires NHRA
Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.  The  race is the 17th of 24 in the 
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Tony Schumacher, 3.845 seconds, 313.88 mph  def. Larry Dixon, 3.891 seconds, 302.35 mph.

Qualifying
at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals was a nail-biting affair because the
race was the final event where racers in Funny Car and Pro Stock
Motorcycle could make the fields for the lucrative bonus events at the
upcoming Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. There was no change in the bike
field but some major shakeups in Funny Car in qualifying for the U.S.
Smokeless Showdown.
 
Del Worsham and John Force entered the event needing a lot of good
things to happen for them in qualifying and bad things to befall those
in front of them if they hoped to crack into the Showdown field, and
they got their wishes as both made the elite eight after several
surprising DNQs.

On a day when the improbable became possible John Force raced his way into his 24th consecutive US
Smokeless Showdown (25th overall) slated to be contested at the 54th
Mac Tools US Nationals in two weeks. It was an amazing turn of events
and another magical achievement for Force who at the end of 2007 had
serious doubts about his racing future.

“After last year and that crash in Dallas I really didn’t think that
I’d be able to put this thing back in coming from behind like I had to
do. We missed races but you just keep the faith and you keep going down
the road. You keep doing what you do and believing in your crew chiefs
and your team. It was a long shot and I remember last year Herbert
screaming on the starting line when he got into the Countdown,” said a
jubilant Force. “(NHRA announcer) Bob Frey had me so screwed up I
didn’t know if we were in or out. Finally I went up to the tower and
got an answer. To be in for Castrol, Ford, Old Spice, AAA of Southern
Cal, Brand Source, and Sanyo we’ve done our job and it is just really
cool.”

Fans watching NHRA POWERade Championship Drag Racing on ESPN2 will have an even better view of
the intense action inside the cockpit of a racecar with a new High
Definition in-car camera developed by Broadcast Sports, who pioneered
in-car camera technology.