In the final rounds of competition for the NHRA Pacific Division Lucas
Oil Drag Racing Series Jim Whitely and Sean Bellemeur took home wins
and the trophies this weekend at Auto Club Famoso Dragway.

Whiteley, Grand Junction, Colo., qualified No. 1 and recorded his
quickest pass of the weekend in his final round against Cody Perkins,
Bluffdale, Utah, with a 5.365 second run at 267.61 mph.  With the win,
Whiteley picks up valuable points in the race for the national
championship where he is in a battle with defending national champion
Bill Reichert.  Perkins qualified third and also ran his best elapsed
time of the event, 5.428, 261.17, but fell short to Whiteley.

Bellemeur out of Tustin, Calif., knocked off No. 1 qualifier Sean
O’Bannon, Ontario, Calif., in round one then went on to a final round
match up with former NHRA Pacific Division Champion Doug Gordon. 
Bellemeur, a former division champion himself posted a run of 5.790
seconds at 252.17 to hold off Gordon, Paso Robles, Calif. in an
extremely close race.  Gordon ran 5.797 at 252.03 mph.

In the final results from No Problem Raceway and the NHRA Lucas Oil
Drag Racing Series Cajun Sportsman Challenge it was Brandon Lewis and
Tony Bartone posting wins in Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny
Car.

The win gives Lewis the point’s lead in the NHRA South Central Division
over Malcolm Wahle who lost to David Brounkowski in round 2 setting up
the final between Lewis and Brounkoski.  Lewis ran strong all weekend
with a 5.358 second, 271.62 mph pass to Brounkowski’s tire smoking
7.507.

The event ran into the wee hours on Saturday night and into Sunday
morning but the NHRA North Central Division Summit Racing Series Finals
is in the books.  NHRA and track officials wanted to dodge the rain
that was forecast for all day Sunday.  Racers in four categories, Super
Pro, Pro, Sportsman and Motorcycle, representing tracks from across the
region took to the track vying for individual and team honors.

The squads from Milan Dragway in Michigan and Summit Motorsports Park
in Norwalk, Ohio, battled it out for the team championship and Team
Milan came away with the title, scoring a total of 54 points to
Summit’s 49.  The difference came in the all-Milan Dragway Super Pro
final which was round No. 9 for the class.  Summit Motorsports Park had
two final round appearances as well, in Pro and Motorcycle but Pro
eliminations were eight rounds and Motorcycle was six rounds.

Leading Milan Dragway to the team championship were Super Pro racers
David Hadyniak of Garden City, Mich., and Garry Fleenor of Port
Clinton, Ohio.  Hadyniak took the win and will have the chance to race
for a national championship at the NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., in
November.

Bruce Boland of Stoney Creek, Ontario, defeated Mark Nielsen of
Brantford, Ontario, in the final round to win his fourth PMRA Pro Modified
event of the season and captured his third consecutive Pro Modified
Racing Association Point Award Series Championship on Sunday.
 
The PMRA Challenge presented by Motorsport 1320 on the Cayuga Dragway
at Toronto Motorsports Park in Cayuga, Ontario was the sixth and the
final event of the 2009 season.
 
Boland ran a 6.121-second, 232.47-mph in his 1967 Chevy Nova SS in the
final to defeat Nielsen's 1968 Yenko Camaro who finished second in the
Championship Point Award Series.

Doug Herbert and the tiwi Top Fuel dragster shone at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals from their hometown track, zMAX Dragway in Concord,
N.C.  After his impressive, No. 5 qualifying effort Herbert drove
through the first round of eliminations before falling to Doug Foley in
the second.

“All in all we had a good weekend,” said Herbert, who was the only
driver in the top half of the field that isn’t in the Countdown to 1
playoffs.  “It’s disappointing to lose, but considering we haven’t run
in five months and we made it to the second round, I think we did
pretty well.”

Perth-based Chartered Accountant and Top Doorslammer drag racer, Robin
Judd, claimed his first major Australian title when he won the 44th annual Fuchs Australian Nationals at Western Sydney Dragway on Sunday, September 13 

In winning his first Australian National Drag Racing Association gold trophy, Judd broke a 10-year Nationals’ drought.

At previous Nationals, Judd was runner-up in the 2000 event, lost in
round one of eliminations three times and did not qualify three times.
The event has also been rained-out after qualifying three times.

R2B2 Racing Melanie Troxel drove to her first final round behind the wheel of a Pro Mod in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge event at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals, losing to Rick Stivers.
 
Troxel is one of a select few drivers to have won in both nitro Funny
Car and Top Fuel and was hoping to add a Pro Mod victory to her list of
accomplishments, but the Avon, Ind. resident will have to wait for
another weekend to advance her stats.
 
Troxel banked on the skill of her crew chief Al Billes and consistency
of her ProCare Rx/R2B2 Motors '63 Corvette to advance throughout
eliminations. After qualifying No.8 with a 6.004 at 238.98 mph,
defeated Al-Anabi Racing driver Mike Castellana with a 5.986 at 240.81
to his 6.004 at 233.84 mph in the opening stanza.

Rick Stivers, driver of the Trane '06 Pro Mod Stratus, used blistering
times and bracket-car consistency to win the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway.
 
Stivers
qualified No. 3 with a 5.940 at 240.85 mph and then ran like a bracket
car at 5.927, 5.913, 5.919 and 5.908-seconds to earn his second-ever
trip to the Pro Mod Challenge winners circle. In round one, Stivers
dispatched Dennis Radford, and then moved on to take out No. 2 in the
points Roger Burgess followed by points-leader Burton Auxier.
 
In
the final, Stivers rode his Trane past Melanie Troxel in a thrilling
side-by-side drag race by running a 5.908 at 241.89 to Troxel's 5.946
at 242.36.

Doug Foley entered the NHRA Carolinas Nationals knowing his second race of the season would be his last for 2009 unless he could perform well enough to attract a last minute sponsor.

“For a team who is going to park it on Monday, this is huge,” Foley said.

Foley presented an excellent case for why his team would be a wise marketing investment for a sponsor.

Matt Hagan drove the Valvoline Engine Guarantee/shelor.com Dodge into his second final round of the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series at the NHRA Carolina Nationals, losing to John Force Racing's Robert Hight.

He raced on Sunday while keeping an eye on the homefront for his wife
expecting to deliver a baby at any moment. He raced like a man intent on bring home a trophy to
place beside the crib.

The contender for the 2009 Automobile Club of Southern California Road
to the Future Award as an NHRA rookie-of-the-year frontrunner had
missed a spot in the Countdown to 1 playoffs, which began this weekend
at zMAX Dragway, but he demonstrated his and the team's ability to
still win rounds.