Inclement weather forced the postponement of the American Drag Racing League (ADRL) Simpson Dragstock VII on Saturday at Rockingham Dragway.

The ADRL’s biggest and most prestigious race will now be completed at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, OH, which will also be the site of the Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags IV on Sept. 24-25.

Both events will be completed during the weekend.

A sudden and steady rain interrupted the final round of qualifying on Saturday, causing ADRL President and CEO Kenny Nowling to postpone what had already been a record-breaking event.

“Nobody wanted to finish Dragstock at Rockingham Speedway more than myself, but unfortunately we have to call the event,” ADRL President and CEO Kenny Nowling said.

Winning in the NHRA Pro Stock class is not easy, or cheap.

Rick Jones learned firsthand while helping his son Rickie compete in the ultra-competitive category the past three years.

So, when Rickie failed to qualify at the NHRA’s U.S. Nationals last Sunday, the elder Jones had enough.

“We’re done,” Rick said Friday. “We have been thinking about it for a couple of weeks and at Indy we decided we were done. We didn’t make any announcements or anything, but you know it is just that we have some other opportunities we want to pursue. NHRA Pro Stock has been great to us. NHRA has been great to us. We will still be there, but you know Pro Stock over there is very difficult. It is a lot of fun, but it takes a lot of work and devotion. It takes a lot of money. I mean a tremendous amount of money. We just do not want to go over and qualify. We want to have a chance to win.”

The Super Chevy Show returned to Houston Raceway Park in grand fashion Saturday.

The national touring series, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, was welcomed back with open arms as the Chevy Street Cruise set an season attendance record and car counts were high in both the car show and sportsman racing categories.

In front of a standing room only crowd and with near perfect conditions records fell by the wayside in nearly half a dozen categories and champions were crowned in all of Nitro Jam’s professional classes all on opening night at the North American Nitro Jam Saturday at New England Dragway.

Three new world records and dozens of track records were set or nearly set Saturday and Mitch King (Top Fuel), Jeff Hamelink (Pro Fuel) and Rick Kraft (Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car) all pulled huge upsets during the opening night of the all-new Nitro Jam in New Hampshire.

“IHRA has one incredible program here and they have quality cars and to come out here and whoop their butts in front of an incredible crowd like this is just any drivers dream come true. What a fantastic night,” said Prostalgia NFC winner Rick Krafft.larry

“Sucks to be us.” That was Camp Stanley’s blunt assessment on being outside the 16-car field after three Pro Extreme qualifying sessions for the ADRL’s prestigious Dragstock VII on Friday at Rockingham Dragway.

“We don’t very often blow our stuff up and almost never, ever knock the blower off of it, but we did a good job of all of it yesterday in that second qualifier (session),” the legendary crew chief from Hagerstown, Maryland, said.

It was a record-breaking day on Friday at Rockingham Dragway, as several drivers did their best to rewrite history at the American Drag Racing League (ADRL) Simpson Dragstock VII.

None, however, did it better than Frankie Taylor, who re-established his place as the fastest man in the ADRL.

The “Madman” had hoped to become the first Pro Extreme driver to run in the 3.5s, and his bold prediction leading up to the race came true, as he went a blistering 3.596 at 210.64 miles per hour to jump to the No. 1 qualifying spot through three qualifying rounds on Friday.

The fifth annual Don Schumacher Racing Open House generated more than $16,000 in donations for Riley Hospital for Children. The successful Sept. 3, 2010, event saw thousands of race fans visit the DSR shop and contribute to Indiana's only comprehensive hospital dedicated exclusively to the care of children
 
Two days after DSR drivers Tony Schumacher, Cory McClenathan, Antron Brown, Jack Beckman and Matt Hagan visited patients at Riley, patrons to the annual DSR Open House raised more than $16,000 via live and raffle auctions and other donations. The relationship between DSR and Riley continues to be one of the more thriving charitable affiliations in motor sports as DSR has helped generate more than $106,000 for Riley over the past five years.
 
"We couldn't be more proud of our continued relationship with the folks and patients at Riley (Hospital for Children)," team owner Don Schumacher said. "We want to thank everyone who took the time to stop by our facility on Sept. 3 and we continue to be amazed at the outpouring of donations from the race fans and the NHRA community. Both the Open House and Bowling for Riley events continue to grow and benefit a great cause."

NHRA Super Team Has Now Raised More Than $106,000 for Riley Kids
 
The fifth annual Don Schumacher Racing Open House generated more than $16,000 in donations for Riley Hospital for Children. The successful Sept. 3, 2010, event saw thousands of race fans visit the DSR shop and contribute to Indiana's only comprehensive hospital dedicated exclusively to the care of children
 
Two days after DSR drivers Tony Schumacher, Cory McClenathan, Antron Brown, Jack Beckman and Matt Hagan visited patients at Riley, patrons to the annual DSR Open House raised more than $16,000 via live and raffle auctions and other donations. The relationship between DSR and Riley continues to be one of the more thriving charitable affiliations in motor sports as DSR has helped generate more than $106,000 for Riley over the past five years.
 
"We couldn't be more proud of our continued relationship with the folks and patients at Riley (Hospital for Children)," team owner Don Schumacher said. "We want to thank everyone who took the time to stop by our facility on Sept. 3 and we continue to be amazed at the outpouring of donations from the race fans and the NHRA community. Both the Open House and Bowling for Riley events continue to grow and benefit a great cause."
 
Race fans who visited the 100,000-square-foot DSR facility had the chance to see spectacular muscle cars and hot rods as part of the Indy Hi-Winders car show. Fans also got to tour the DSR shop, including the fabrication area and new CNC machine shop. The popular "cacklefest" was a great success as five nostalgia Funny Cars roared to life and all seven DSR drivers: Schumacher, McClenathan, Brown, Beckman, Hagan, Ron Capps and Rod Fuller mingled with fans and signed autographs.
 
Among the items for auction during the live and raffle auctions were a Tony Schumacher 2009 firesuit, Antron Brown 2009 "Wally" trophy, Richard Petty Driving Experience, U.S. Nationals crew member of the day experiences, Valvoline/Jack Beckman helmet, along with items from DSR sponsors NAPA, Matco Tools, Valvoline, DieHard and Toyota.
 
To date, DSR has raised more than $106,000 with its Open House and Bowling for Riley charity tournament. The second annual charity bowling event generated more than $12,000 for Riley on May 25.

{source}
<div style="float:left; padding:5px;">
<script type="text/javascript">
sr_adspace_id = 2000000613807;
sr_adspace_width = 300;
sr_adspace_height = 250;
sr_ad_new_window = true;
sr_adspace_type = "graphic";
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ad.afy11.net/srad.js?azId=2000000613807">
</script></div>

<div style="padding:5px;"><script type="text/javascript">
google_ad_client = "pub-8044869477733334";
/* 300x250, created 4/3/09 */
google_ad_slot = "2028912167";
google_ad_width = 300;
google_ad_height = 250;
</script>
<script src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
</div>{/source}

Tommy D’Aprile had no idea of the magnitude of his injury.

The ADRL Pro Extreme driver suffered injuries during a fiery crash during an exhibition run on the first day of the ADRL Georgia Drags at South Georgia Motorsports Park in Valdosta, Ga., earlier this year.

D’Aprile suffered some scratches and bruises but this was to be expected from the magnitude of his crash.  However, even over time, one pain just wouldn’t go away. D'Aprile's left arm just throbbed, ached and despite doctor visit after visit he kept hearing the same thing – there were no broken bones in his arm.

“It just didn’t look or feel right,” D’Aprile explained. “They told me I had muscle swelling. So I went on to the gym after a while and worked out, often compensating for the weakness and pain in my left arm.”

Faced with question after question concerning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship, Kurt Busch smiled broadly when asked about his drag racing endeavors. And, then he frowned.

“We haven't been back to the drag strip since April,” said Busch, a bit of sadness in his voice. “We've battled some engine problems and I just haven't been able to work in another race.

“We're not totally disappointed. We got into the 9-second zone, which was our goal. Now we are looking at the 8-second zone.”

Mike Castellana, who has one ADRL win to his credit in 2010, is 107 points out the eighth and final position for the ADRL’s championship-determining Speedtech Battle for the Belts competition. While some racers might feel a sense of urgency about making up the deficit, Castellana doesn’t.

Running for the championship isn’t his most pressing need. Having fun is.

“I just want to have fun while I can come out here and race,” Castellana said. “I just want to enjoy the weekend.”

This weekend’s ADRL Dragstock VII at Rockingham Dragway marks the first time in three races Castellana has driven his Pro Nitrous entry.

Following the ADRL Independence Drags in Topeka, Kan., Castellana was diagnosed with colon cancer. According to Castellana, the doctors were able to remove the cancerous portion of the colon but not before the cancer had spread into his lymph nodes.