Jim Head beat Ashley Force in the second round, but it wasn't before experiencing this nasty boomer. (Marty Reger photo)

Tony Schumacher, winner of
the past three POWERade Series Top Fuel
championships, showed Friday that he can also turn
left. The Chicago resident spent the down time
during Friday's qualifying by making laps at Las
Vegas Motor Speedway
at the Richard Petty Experience. The veteran Top
Fuel driver said he has no plans to switch fulltime to oval racing, but that he will compete in two NASCAR
Grand National West Series events for famed Bill
McAnally Racing.

"I just want to learn,"
Schumacher said. "It's just so different. I've run Formula Fords at Skip Barber's school. But it so
different. Every word, everything you do is the opposite of what we
do.

Rain, high winds, and frigid temperatures in Alabama forced officials to cancel the Shelor.com Motor Mile Spring Drags at Montgomery Motorsports Park. The race will be rescheduled as soon as an appropriate date can be determined.

Time finally ran out Saturday on John Force, the 14-time and reigning NHRA Funny
Car champion.  Drag racing's biggest winner will watch Sunday's eighth annual
SummitRacing.com Nationals from the sidelines at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway after failing to make the 16-car starting lineup for the first time
since Oct. 31, 1987.

JOHN FORCE'S AMAZING NHRA POWERADE SERIES QUALIFYING STREAK ENDS AT 395
RACES

Schumacher, Ashley and Coughlin earn No. 1 qualifying positions; Kalitta also
sees qualifying streak end at 164 races

One of the most impressive streaks in motorsports came to an end
Saturday when 14-time Funny Car champion John Force failed to qualify for
eliminations for the first time in 395 races.

Force and Top Fuel contender Doug Kalitta, whose class-leading streak of
races also ended this weekend, will be observers when the SummitRacing.com NHRA
Nationals begin Sunday morning at 11 a.m.

Friday leaders Tony Schumacher, Mike Ashley, and Jeg Coughlin remained on top
of their respective fields at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event at The
Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Force last failed to qualify in 1987 at the NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif.

Jon Capps launched the newest brand of energy drink during his
Professional NHRA debut at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals this weekend.
Vegas Fuel will be the primary sponsor on Capps' Funny Car, which is owned and
tuned by veteran Paul Smith. Capps plans to run the entire IHRA tour and
selected NHRA races with additional support from Palmer Electric and Ace
Masonry. "We're going after business to business relationships in launching
Vegas Fuel Energy Drink here this weekend," said Capps. "For me, its all about
the business and racing is just a perk." Capps, who was one of the expert
drivers in the movie "Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby", also serves
as the national account manager for Vegas Fuel.

Jim Dunn has more than 50 years of active drag racing experience, so when he
talks, we listen. Dunn believes the changes about to be mandated by NHRA
regarding Funny Car roll cages and the like are nothing more than a “band aid. I
think they’re over reacting to an admittedly tragic situation, but there needs
to be more thought given to some of the things they’re talking about before they
force us to make changes.”

Dunn is rumored to have had serious words with
new fuel racing honcho Dan Olson over the issue.

The Station Casinos in Las Vegas take action on both the Summitracing.com
Nationals in April and the AC Delco Nationals in October. Since the wagering
pool is miniscule compared to the amounts bet on stick and ball sports, it takes
very little to move the odds. For example, when Jerry Tolliver was running the
WWF car some years back he was listed with prohibitive odds prior to the start
of qualifying, so stopped by on his way to track in an effort to plunk down
something like ten grand. They refused to take his bet (they should have. He
lost early!)

Bill Windham
was unhurt after nearly flipping his car during a pass in Friday's evening
session.

Windham, from El Dorado Hills, Calif., got loose just
before halftrack. The car then slid across the
centerline, nearly flipping, but Windham was able
to bring back under control. (Brian Losness Sequence)

Although the announcement that Rahn Tobler
would take over the tuning chores for Morgan Lucas came a while back, Tobler
stopped us cold Friday morning when he said, “This is my first day!

Actually, the first time I saw the car was yesterday. The team brought
the car directly to Las Vegas from the Houston race, so when I went to the shop
in Indy only a few of the guys were there.”