No one could forget the hot streak Hot Rod Fuller was on this time last year. This season

Hot Rod Fuller was forgotten in pre-race driver introductions.

has been a different story.

In fact, the pre-race emcee at the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, Mo., forgot him during the traditional pre-race
introductions Sunday morning. Fuller ensured the announcer wouldn’t
forget him in the winner’s circle.

“It was weird,” Fuller said of the experience. “I was about to go
through the door and they stopped me and pulled me back. They told me
he forgot me. It was an honest mistake, so I figured the best way to
make them remember me was to win.”

Make no mistake, Fuller still has a chip on his shoulder after winning
five races during the first phase of the Countdown to the Championship
and then losing the points from them when the totals reset at
Indianapolis. He lost a substantial lead and despite battling back into
the lead during the final portion of the Chase, he lost the title
during the final run of the season.

Many questioned John Force’s motives last season when he proposed training former Don Schumacher Racing crew chief Mike Neff to become a driver for John Force Racing. Force simply said, “The kid’s got the look.”

Neff made Force look like a genius by reaching the final round of the NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, Mo., and
taking out such notables as fellow Funny Car rookie Melanie Troxel,
Mike Ashley and teammate Robert Hight to earn a berth in the final
round against Wilkerson.

“We didn’t back our way into the final,” Neff said. “We made four good
runs and we lost on a squeaker. It was a good drag race we just came up
a little short,” said the former crew chief turned driver. “We aren’t
greedy it was a great day for us in the Old Spice Ford Mustang camp.”

Reigning JEGS ProMod Challenge champion Josh Hernandez had a strong
return to St. Louis, winning the race for the second year in a row and
qualifying No. 1 to regain solid footing in the 2008 title chase.

In a repeat of last year's final, Hernandez's AMS Staff Leasing Camaro
blew the doors off Tony Pontieri's Quality Plus Compressors '57 Chevy
to win with a 5.934 at 242.36 mph to Pontieri's 6.318 at 193.88 mph.

"It was exactly the same because those poor guys were over there
swapping motors again before the final round, just like last year,"
Hernandez said. "This time they managed to get up there and give us a
race and I was happy to see that. I told them we'd wait as long as we
could because we all know what an engine swap is like when you're under
the gun. Last year I had a single run, which is never as much fun.

"We had a little conflict last week and didn't get to race in Atlanta
so we really felt a lot of pressure to come in here and earn as many
points as possible. We did everything but set a national record and we
managed to move back to where we were before Atlanta so we're very
happy."

WILKERSON, FULLER, K. JOHNSON AND HINES WIN; FORCE EARNS 1,000TH ROUND WIN
 

Roger Richards Photos

Tim Wilkerson drove his way to a second 2008 win in Funny Car.

Tim Wilkerson denied John Force Racing's Mike Neff his first career win
on the same day Neff's boss made history at the 12th annual O'Reilly
NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Castrol.
   
Wilkerson earned his first win at his hometown track, his second of the
season and seventh of his career when he drove his Levi, Ray &
Shoup Chevy Impala SS to a 4.874-second finish at 317.27 mph to Neff's
4.886 at 321.58 in his Old Spice Ford Mustang.

Final round-by-round results from the 12th annual O'Reilly NHRA
Midwest Nationals presented by Castrol at Gateway International
Raceway, the seventh of 24 events in the  NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Rod Fuller, 4.530, 328.06 def. Cory McClenathan,
10.845, 78.80; Alan Bradshaw, 4.561, 319.67 def. J.R. Todd, 4.542,
319.14; Antron Brown, 5.929, 194.30 def. Brandon Bernstein, 7.869,
139.73;
Hillary Will, 5.648, 217.98 def. Troy Buff, 11.511, 90.31; Tony
Schumacher, 4.531, 323.97 def. Morgan Lucas, 4.604, 313.95; David
Grubnic, 4.542, 321.19 def. Luigi Novelli, 13.386, 92.94; Doug Kalitta,
4.549, 315.64 def. Doug Herbert, 7.609, 97.81; Larry Dixon, 4.721, 311.70 def. Bob Vandergriff, 4.786, 243.72;

QUARTERFINALS -- Will, 4.629, 308.99 def. Dixon, 4.678, 309.42; Kalitta, 4.773, 283.07 def.
Brown, 10.922, 64.35; Fuller, 4.570, 325.45 def. Grubnic, 5.074, 209.69; Schumacher, 5.286, 250.74 def.
Bradshaw, 9.761, 93.25;

SEMIFINALS -- Schumacher, 4.575, 321.50 def. Will, 11.349, 75.82; Fuller, 4.591, 320.51 def. Kalitta, 6.202, 156.46;

FINAL -- Fuller, 4.525, 328.70 def. Schumacher, 4.583, 325.45.

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following
the 12th annual O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Castrol at
Gateway International Raceway, the seventh of 24 events in the  NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1.  Tony Schumacher, 608; 2.  Antron Brown, 540; 3.  Larry Dixon, 469;
4.  Rod Fuller, 434; 5. Cory McClenathan, 418; 6.  Hillary Will, 381;
7. Brandon Bernstein, 353; 8.  Doug Kalitta, 328; 9. David Grubnic,
323; 10.  Doug Herbert, 310.

John Force’s starting line etiquette was lacking, but his finish line
manners were in check during the first round of the NHRA Midwest
Nationals in St. Louis. Force defeated Ron Capps in the first round to
record his monumental 1,000th round win.

Force deep-staged on Capps, proving the newly christened 59-year old still had a bit of slyness to him.

Pro Stock racer V. Gaines is racing this weekend a crew chief short of a full team. His longtime wrench

Pro Stock racer V. Gaines is racing this weekend minus his longtime crew chief Clyde West.

Clyde West is back in Colorado recovering from a serious illness and unable to attend the event.

Gaines said he’s genuinely missing West this weekend, but he and the team have bonded together to run the car in his absence.

“Clyde is in the hospital and he’s gonna be out of commission for a
little while,” Gaines said. “We’ve all banded together and we’ve tried
to fill in his job as well as ours. Hopefully we won’t screw up
anything he’s done.”

WILKERSON WOWS HOMETOWN CROWD AS GRUBNIC, LINE, SMITH LEAD PACE

Tim
Wilkerson gave the hometown crowd somethign to cheer for in Funny Car.
He recorded his fourth No. 1 qualifier in seven races.

It’s proving to be a golden season for independent team owner Tim Wilkerson.

Wilkerson earned his fourth No. 1 qualifier in seven races at the 12th
annual O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals presented by Castrol on
Saturday. He’ll face Tony Bartone in the first round when eliminations
at Gateway International Raceway open Sunday.

It was the Springfield, Ill. native’s second top qualifier award at his
hometown track and his 14th career No. 1. Wilkerson drove his Levi, Ray
& Shoup Chevy Impala SS to a 4.744-second pass at 326.16 mph to
pace the field.

John Force has denied Ron Capps a championship many times. In

Ron Capps said anytime you run John Force you end up a footnote in drag racing history.

Sunday’s first round, Capps has the opportunity to return the favor.

Force will have to beat Capps if he wants to win his 1,000th round win.

"The NAPA team did all that hard work to post four good runs in a row
that all went down the track, and we're rewarded by getting 'the Champ'
in the first round," smiled Capps. "You've got to race him eventually,
so I think we're ready.”