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.

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the
24th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, the 17th
of 24 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.  Pairings based
on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below
pairings.

Top Fuel -- 1. Tony Schumacher, 3.816 seconds, 316.67 mph 
vs. Bye; 2. Rod Fuller, 3.861, 310.77  vs. 15. Doug Kalitta, 4.088,
309.77; 3. Doug Herbert, 3.884, 309.13  vs. 14. David Grubnic, 4.006,
289.76; 4. J.R. Todd, 3.888, 310.55  vs. 13. Clay Millican, 3.966,
297.81; 5. Morgan Lucas, 3.889, 307.16  vs. 12. Bob Vandergriff, 3.931,
301.60; 6. Larry Dixon, 3.889, 307.72  vs. 11. Doug Foley, 3.931,
305.49; 7. Antron Brown, 3.892, 308.28  vs. 10. Cory McClenathan,
3.920, 306.53; 8.
Hillary Will, 3.894, 311.49  vs. 9. Brandon Bernstein, 3.899, 310.63.

Tony Schumacher claimed his sixth pole of the year, his
3.816-second pass from Friday night during the NHRA Toyo Tires
Nationals in Reading, Pa., which was good enough to earn him a second straight bye in the first round of eliminations on race day.

Schumacher will race the winner of the Hillary Will-Brandon Bernstein first round match up in the quarterfinals.

“Like last weekend, it’s nice that we were able to get the bye run,”
offered the five-time world champion. “But, just like we did in
Brainerd (Minn.), we’ll still have to go out and put up a good number
even though we’re not racing anyone. You always want lane choice in the
next round.”

Frank Hawley will race at least once more this season in the Roger Burgess Funny Car sponsored by Rite-Aid Pharmacies.

The two-time Funny Car champion more than made a good impression by
ascending as high as second in the qualifying order. His accolade came
with one of the major drawbacks of having a two-car team.

Terry Brown won the Third Annual Eaton PMRA Challenge presented by
Eaton at the Sanair drag strip near Montreal, Quebec over Jack Grainy.
 
Brown of Caledonia, Ontario drove his 1971 Dodge Challenger to a first
time Pro Modified Racing Association series win over the veteran team
of the Grainy Brothers from North Tonawanda, New York and their 1967
Chevrolet Camaro who broke in the final.

ANDERSON STEALS TOP SPOT FROM TEAMMATE; SCHUMACHER, PEDREGON, SMITH STAY NO. 1 IN READING

Pro
Stock driver Greg Anderson took the top spot from teammate Jason Line
as qualifying came to an end at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals.

Tony Schumacher, Cruz Pedregon, and Matt Smith remained No. 1
qualifiers in their respective categories at the 17th of 24 events on
the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

After watching his teammate take the No. 1 spot during Friday night
qualifying, Anderson drove his Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GXP to
an impressive 6.611-second run at 208.84 mph in the heat of the day.
It’s Anderson’s fifth No. 1 qualifier of the season, 67th of his career
and fourth in Reading.