As usual, I sat down to write this story Sunday evening, when the race
was fresh in my mind so I’d be able to express my thoughts at least
somewhat coherently.  But a weird feeling overcame me when I’d finished
the first couple of paragraphs, so I started over – and had that same
strange feeling, so I stopped to try and figure out what was bothering
me.  Two days later I think I have the answer.

The Summit Racing Equipment Nationals is the first race I can recall in
43 years of covering this sport in which I feel there was a distinct
“separation” between the competitors and fans.  At every race I’ve seen
the fans and racers were as one, all intent upon having a good time,
all intent upon winning, all intent upon enjoying themselves to
whatever extent possible. That didn’t seem to be the case at what used
to be called Norwalk Raceway Park, and is now billed as Summit
Motorsports Park.

In two weeks, every Funny Car and Top Fuel team in the NHRA will be
running on the recently introduced 2550 Goodyear racing tire. The 2550
replaces the 2420 which has been in use for over two years, but will no
longer be available starting in Denver.

Development of tires for the Funny Car and Top Fuel categories is a
challenging process. To quote a driver, “even two perfect runs are not
the same”.

“It's true,” Stu Grant, General Manger, Global Race Tires, said during
the Nationwide Series race at Michigan Int'l Speedway. “Development in
Top Fuel/Funny Car, that's a difficult process because a pass in drag
racing is very difficult to duplicate. You have some many things going
on, the temperature of the racetrack, the nitro (mix) the humidity;
there are so many different factors that effect a pass so it's much
harder to compare a to b in Top Fuel/Dragster than it is to get a lap
on a NASCAR Sprint Cup car on one set of tires versus another; its a
little tougher environment.

The handwriting is on the wall for the NHRA and the authors, the
drivers in the nitro ranks, are hoping the sanctioning body reads the
message.

Current Funny Car point leader Tim Wilkerson said in a post race press
conference that he raced on Sunday in Englishtown, N.J., after the
tragic death of Scott Kalitta with no confidence in the facility.

"In my opinion, Scott's tragedy at the speed he was going, I don't know
if anything would've saved his life but, there needs to be standards –
and this place is below them."

Defending Funny Car world champion Tony Pedregon told U.S.A. Today that
he's personally taking a walk through the shutdown area prior to this
weekend's NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio
before he makes a lap down the strip in qualifying.

To
say 2008 has been the season of uncertainty would be quite the
understatement. Multiple controversies surrounding the supply of
nitromethane, new chassis safety designs, rulebook interpretation fines
and a shaky world economy that can shake the most solid of businesses.

NHRA Vice President of Operations Graham Light has dealt with each and
every one of the aforementioned controversies. He’s the voice of the
NHRA and the man charged to make the tough decisions surrounding the
NHRA.

CompetitionPlus.com Managing Editor Stan Creekmore talked to Light
during the recently completed NHRA Route 66 Nationals In Chicago, Ill.,
about the current state of drag racing and the controversies
surrounding the testing ban, supply of nitromethane and other issues.

Ashley Force has tried her hardest to block out the thoughts of what
might have happened if her famous Funny Car driving dad had perished in
his high speed crash during the 2007 NHRA Fallnationals in Dallas,
Texas.

This was another tough obstacle in a season littered
with calamities surrounding the John Force Racing team. She’d already
lost teammate Eric Medlen in a testing accident and had experienced a
pretty close call herself in an accident last summer in Seattle,
Washington.

If this was just her rookie season, what did she have to look forward to?

For
the unbreakable Ms. Force, she’s answered those questions remarkably by
driving her way into drag racing history and ascending her way into the
upper echelon of the championship battle.

Still the question dogged her. What would she have done if dad hadn’t survived the accident?

Greg Stanfield has waited for a season like 2008 for a long time. The
veteran driver for Bart Price is off to his best start since making the
transition from successful Pro Stock Truck racer to the Pro Stock car
division.

The Bossier City, La., resident has bagged a pair of runner-up
finishes, the first at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals in Las Vegas
in April, and more recently two weeks ago at the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder
Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.

Headed into the ninth event of the season, Stanfield is eighth in the
championship standings and admitted he won't be satisfied until he can
win his first Pro Stock racer.

"We've qualified in the top half of the field in almost all the races
we've attended, the car seems to be running really well and we're
getting closer and closer to our first win," Stanfield said. "I think
it's safe to say that it's been a pretty decent year so far for the
Attitude Apparel Pontiac GXP team.

Peter Berner’s alarm clock
sounds off just seconds after 4 AM. The Crete, Ill.-based mechanical contractor
isn’t headed to work.

Instead Berner’s
developing his game plan for the day. His best ideas materialize in the wee
hours of the morning while he’s on his traditional morning jog. Mind you this
is not your average stroll up and around the neighborhood.

Berner runs five miles every day. Yes, five miles.
In drag racing terminology, that’s twenty
times from the starting line and back.

A nitro crisis exists and
executives at the NHRA aren't talking. They don’t have to because the parties
involved are speaking out in their absence.

CompetitionPlus.com
attempted to speak to the NHRA regarding the apparent nitromethane shortage
only to be told by Vice President Graham Light, “We have no comment on any
nitromethane issues and we’re not going to speculate on anything that hasn’t
happened.”

Essentially the NHRA
didn’t deny a problem exists but they didn’t confirm one either.

Mike Edwards is a man who lives his life through faith. The 50-year old
Pro Stock driver from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma wouldn’t even crank his
Penhall-sponsored Pontiac GXP without the invisible driving force that
has pushed him to levels he once dreamed as unimaginable. Such plateaus
include national event victories and a sportsman world championship.

Edwards considers himself to be no one entitled, just a person who
lives his life by a standard in concordance with the Christian faith.
He lives life by the golden rule and a belief which convinces him his
steps are ordered daily.

Ever wonder why Edwards hoisted his trophy higher in the air than ever
before when he won his sixteenth career NHRA national event weeks ago
at the NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta, Ga? He admitted he was
reminded of larger lessons in life just days earlier and the experience
of winning served as nothing more than icing on the cake.

He remembered ten months earlier how an experience of frustration
nearly drove him to sidelines. Edwards readily admits a man of faith
can become downtrodden.

Bobby Lagana Jr. is not your average professional drag racer and he’s content with that assessment.

“Me and my brother Dom we’re gypsies,” said Lagana, 31, from Scarsdale,
NY. “We're vagabonds, gnomes. We got a race car with us, and once in
awhile if I can help out with the house bill, I do. We don't ever go
there anyway, and the longer we stay there they get mad at us anyway.
We live in peoples houses; we lived in Virginia on someone’s couch for
four years. Still got stuff over there.”

Lagana is a throwback to drag racing’s pre-corporate days. He’s an old
school racer trapped in a desperately modern sport. Junior is the kind
of son that makes Bobby Lagana, Sr. , a proud father.

“Our responsibility is to keep the people around us happy and to try
and keep peace, you know just to bring happiness really,” Lagana
admitted. “This car allows us to do that. Now don't get me wrong, I
love nitromethane", that is why I do this. Hey, I don't care about the
TV, no offense to the press, none of that stuff. That’s not what
motivates me.