Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Steve Johnson attributed one of his best pieces of advice to the late class champion Dave Schultz.

“He used to say enough pennies make a dollar,” said Johnson, as he faced the media following the first day of qualifications at the NHRA Summit Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

“We are trying to make sure we use every bit of this motorcycle. We are making the right calls on the bike, but the more we learn the more we find out what we need to work on. We are learning that and the pennies are adding up. When we started [this season] we only had 50 pennies, but now we are up to 100. When you have even 90 pennies, you have a fast bike because you have all of these details.”

Racing at his home track, host to this weekend's Summit Nationals has its advantages for Jeg Coughlin Jr.

The biggest advantage for the past Pro Stock champion is heading into the $50,000 K&N Horsepower Challenge as the top qualifier following Friday qualifying at the NHRA Summit Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

“When the sun went down and it started cooling off a bit with that full moon shining, I think the crew chiefs got real excited,” Coughlin said of the cooling night temperatures.

Ashley Force Hood didn’t mind going to the top of the Funny Car qualifying list during the NHRA Summit Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, even if it meant sacrificing her dad to get there.

Her famous father, 14-time Funny Car champion John Force, was the first of the John Force Racing Mustangs to run during the final qualifying session and after he smoked the tires at mid-track, the remainder of his cars went to the finish line under power and quickly.

Larry Dixon lost in the first round of last weekend’s NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn. The race was staged on Father’s Day, a holiday in which Dixon has won five of seven times.

One week later at the NHRA Summit Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio, Dixon is quick to point out the loss is behind him.

Raymond Commisso raced to the qualifying lead Friday in the NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Drag Racing Series portion of the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.

Commisso, who failed to get his ’68 Camaro down the track in the day’s first qualifying session, covered the quarter-mile distance at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park in 5.910 seconds at 248.20 mph in the second session to take the top spot in the 16-car field.

“I do feel fortunate to be the No. 1 qualifier,” Commisso said. “It will probably stay that way because the final round of qualifying will be in the sunshine so it shouldn't be as quick. I know every time I step off the clutch in my racecar that I can go to the No. 1 spot. We have the horsepower and the people to get it done.”

Ashley Force Hood raced to the qualifying lead in Funny Car Friday at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.

Larry Dixon, Jeg Coughlin and Steve Johnson also paced qualifying in their respective categories at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.

Force Hood powered her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to a track record time of 4.032 seconds at 311.99 mph to grab the top spot in the 7,000-horsepower category at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park.

Pat Musi, with a 5.961 elapsed time at 229.98 miles per hour, was the provisional low qualifier following the first GSA Pro Modified qualifying session on Friday during the NHRA Summit Nationals.

For Musi, this marks the first time since the 1981 NHRA U.S. Nationals he has led a professional division under the sanction.

“It was pretty cool to be on top, but I know it's not over yet,” said Musi. “But we ain't over yet either. When we come out in the morning, we plan to lay one down.”

NHRA GSA Pro Modified driver Tony Pontieri emerged uninjured from a fiery crash during qualifying for the NHRA Summit Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.

What began as a guy trying to decorate a wall in his garage evolved into the drag racing collectibles industry.

"I kept hounding this movie-poster dealer for one from Drag Strip Girl," says Mike Goyda, who, in the 18 years since, has become the preeminent purveyor of drag racing memorabilia in the world. "That poster cost me so little, it was amazing – I'm talking $10 or $20. Guys would come by to see the cars in my garage and end up asking me if I could find them a poster, and it just took off from there. I started getting calls from people all over the country. When I got started in all this, there was no real established market; nobody was really dealing in this kind of memorabilia."

Today, Goyda's inventory consists of between 75,000 and 100,000 items. If you can imagine it, he probably has it.

Jim Head is back in his laboratory conjuring up ideas, again.

The longtime drag racing innovator used to seek performance gains from his inventions but in the last half decade or so, his agenda has changed. He’s all about safety.

The focus of Head’s latest innovation is in getting the nitro cars stopped quicker and safer. While the outspoken advocate of 1,000 foot nitro racing believes shortening the race course has made drag racing on the 300 mph level safer than ever and easier to stop the cars, the revised course is not the end all to making nitro racing safer.