Two-time
NHRA Full Throttle Series champion Tony Pedregon capped off an
impressive two days of qualifying with a 4.174-second pass at 291.13
mph on Saturday at the 22nd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals to earn his
third No. 1 of the season in Funny Car.

The other No. 1 qualifiers at the 14th race in the 24-race NHRA Full
Throttle Drag Racing Series season were Larry Dixon (Top Fuel) and
Allen Johnson (Pro Stock). Also during qualifying, Jason Line became
the fifth driver overall – and third in Pro Stock – to clinch his berth
in the NHRA Playoffs, the Countdown to 1.

Scorpion Perf Pro Street Qualifying for 18 entries
Low ET 6.279 1324 Troy Coughlin
Top Speed 223.69 1324 Troy Coughlin
1324 PS '09 GXP Chev 830 Troy Coughlin Jupiter Fl 6.279 223.69 223.69
2 PS '68 Camaro Chev 738 Vinny Budano Hicksville NY 6.307 222.73 222.73
1010 PS '07 Stratus Hemi 747 Chris Rini Carmel NY 6.385 216.97 216.97
1004 PS '68 Camaro Chev 830 Bob Vorderer Jr Orland Park IL 6.404 217.67 217.67
1013 PS '68 Camaro Pont 737 Vincent Demieri Dix Hills NY 6.405 220.15 220.22

Friday’s racing action at the 10th annual IHRA Mopar Canadian Nationals saw a little bit of everything from new track records to two cars putting it on their tops.

One of those accidents, which saw Ray Commisso's Camaro get hard into the wall
and flip onto its roof, left one of the top contenders of the weekend
on the sideline and his car in pieces.

Just moments after Ed Hoover put down a new track record in the same
lane, Commisso made his pass with solid numbers all the way to half
track. Once there the tires began to shake on Commisso’ Camaro and
before he knew it he was in for the ride of his life.

The
late Eric Medlen called Infineon Raceway his home track, and he will
remembered during race week at the FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals in the
Sonoma Valley.

Medlen won the Funny Car title at Infineon Raceway in 2006 and was a
native of nearby Oakdale in the San Joaquin Valley. He succumbed in
March, 2007, to injuries sustained from a testing accident. Medlen was
a member of John Force Racing.

On most race weekends Mitch King’s job is, first and foremost, to help his rookie driver have the best event possible.

From helping set up the car to giving advice on getting down the track,
King enjoys his role as mentor to whoever is driving his second car at
the time.

As for his second job, well King can also be found making laps during
race weekends – wheeling a 300 mile per hour Top Fuel dragster
alongside teammate and rookie Del Cox Jr.

George Howard Racing and Holly Springs Motorsports Park in Holly
Springs, Mississippi will host the world’s fastest door cars, those
three-second/200-mph Outlaw Pro Modifieds, this Saturday, July 18 at
the popular eighth-mile track.

Pete Berner currently sits just three points out of first place in the IHRA Elite Motorsports Pro Stock standings.

But that isn’t quite good enough for the defending champ.

With his sights set on a third Pro Stock world title, Berner is
thinking this weekend may be the perfect time to make his move and put
himself on top of the standings. Berner made it to the finals of this
event last year, a key move in his bid for the 2008 world championship
and with this weekend marking the halfway point of the ’09 Nitro Jam
season, what better time to make a move than now.

“We have been very fortunate with this race team, in the past and so
far this year. A lot of that comes from the guys on this team that work
incredibly hard and keep us running with the best,” Berner said. “We’ve
had some curve balls every now and then in trying to figure out our new
engine program, but I am excited with what we’ve put together.

Spokane based NITROCAT Pneumatic Tools is supporting local Top Fuel driver Terry Haddock during this weekend's NHRA
Northwest
Nationals at Pacific Raceways. Haddock, who won the 2008 IHRA Funny Car
World Championship, is attempting to earn a spot in the prestigious
Countdown to 1, but understands the clock is ticking to get into Top
Fuel's Top 10 before the playoffs start in September.

"I know it's a long shot," Haddock said. "But we still have an outside
chance of making it if we have a couple of good weekends. When we
started the season I was going to continue to run Funny Car, so I let
someone else drive the dragster in Pomona. I also skipped a few other
races because of prior commitments. I sure hope those missed rounds
don't make the difference between being in the countdown or not."

Nothing tests the mettle of a drag racer more than crashing a race car in the first race of the season.

Conrad Scarry destroyed his Pro 10.5 Mustang during the NMRA season-opener in Bradenton, Fla.

“The car was a total loss and we built a completely new car,” Scarry said. “We built the new car in about 11 weeks.”

After two rounds of qualifying Larry Dixon, winner of three of the last
five events, sits atop the NHRA Northwest Nationals Top Fuel field with
an
impressive 3.891 second, 302.21 mph run in the second round. While the
time was the quickest, Antron Brown posted the fastest speed at 305.84
mph.

As of late, Dixon has been a machine and his machine has been stout in the heat, regardless of the elevation.

“We're back down at sea level again,” said Dixon, adding, “So we just
go up there, see what the track temperature is, correct for the air and
get our car down the track.”