In Part 1, I discussed the history of the Top Fuel car that put the Northwest on the map in the sport of drag racing.

In the 50s and 60s, hot-rodding was at a fever pitch in the Northwest.
Hot rod shows and rallies were very popular, with events taking place
nearly every weekend in the Portland-Vancouver area. Drag strips,
mainly just airstrips, ran events every weekend in places like
McMinnville, Aurora, Madras, Eugene, Woodburn, Scappoose, and Delta
Park.

Those tracks were just in Oregon. In Washington there were tracks in
Puyallup, Shelton, Kent, Bremerton, Deer Park, and Arlington.
“Gearheads” could attend or compete in several events every weekend
during the spring, summer and fall months. Madras, Oregon, would start
up the season in February, well before the tracks on the wetter side of
the state.

There are more plans, more work to be done for Erica Enders and her
evolving Pro Stock race team as she closes out a topsy-turvy 2006 NHRA
season and refuels for a more concentrated drive next year.

“We’re all competitive,” said Enders, a 22-year-old driver from Houston
competing in her second full season in the NHRA pro ranks. “We want to
win and we’re working our butts off to get there.”

Getting there has been a challenging trip. A change in teams, a series
of DNQs – did not qualify – and a new sponsorship package have followed
Enders and her crew on an up-and-down adventure through the Pro Stock
fast lane.

PATRICK WINS TORCO BUCKS - Robert
Patrick started coming to Maryland International Raceway when he was
barely tall enough to watch the races over the spectator fence. He
remembered Pro Stock icons “Dyno” Don Nicholson, Bill Jenkins and
Ronnie Sox drawing admiration from the thousands of fans packed along
the same fence line. Tonight Patrick was the admired one.

Usually John Force answers questions . . . or at least starts out trying to answer them.

But this time he blurted out a question of his own:

"Did you know you have little nose hairs that keep dirt and stuff out?"

Accustomed to going it alone, Jim Yates and his family spun racing
enterprise are ready to get back into championship contention with the
help from another National Football League personality.

Yates won a pair of dominating NHRA Pro Stock crowns in 1996 and 1997,
driving for the golden arches of McDonald’s and owner Joe Gibbs, the
Pro Football Hall of Fame coach who temporarily left the sidelines to
fund three drag racing teams. Ten years later, Yates was hooked up with
Duce Staley, a running back for the champion Pittsburgh Steelers, to
help launch next season’s two-Pontiac lineup that fields IHRA standout
driver Billy Gibson.

When it comes to drag racing, Richard Maskin has had very few peers.

The Michigan resident's resume includes several national event
victories and being the mastermind behind the NHRA Pro Stock
championship runs of veteran competitors Jim Yates and Jeg Coughlin Jr.

As is true with most people (drag racers of the male gender being a
possible exception), I love flowers. Every shape, size and color. From
long stem to short stem, I admire them all. But I have always pondered
one ironic phenomenon concerning flowers.

When you cut a flower and place it in a vase (for you male racers,
that’s a cylindrical object filled with water—similar to a puke tank
with the top removed), you are actually removing that flower from its
very source of life. Yet it continues to have the look of life and
vitality, even though the death process has already begun. With proper
care and nourishment, a flower may continue to look healthy for days or
even weeks, but eventually the death process overcomes the fragrance
and loveliness of even the heartiest and most beautiful blossom.

The
rumors had been swirling for months but last week they became reality.
Jack Beckman was officially named as the replacement for Whit Bazemore
in the days leading up to the originally scheduled NHRA TOYO Tires
Nationals date.

The questions began as early as
Seattle. Would Bazemore return as the driver of the Don Schumacher
Racing Matco Tools Funny Car in 2007? Would Matco Tools renew their
contract at the end of 2006?