When Todd Paton was invited to be a part of this year’s MOPAR Nitro Jam Nationals at the Grand Bend Motorplex, the Ontario native was pleased to participate at his home track and the place where he made his first ever pass in a Top Fuel Dragster.

Little did Paton know that by the end of the weekend he would be walking away from “The Bend” with his first Ironman in several years and his first ever victory in drag racing’s quickest and fastest class during Sunday’s MOPAR Nitro Jam Nationals finale at the Grand Bend Motorplex.

“After all these years who knew this old dog could still hunt. Actually I was getting ready to Photoshop my head in one of those Tim Boychuk winners circle pictures, but now I have one of my own,” Paton said with a laugh, referencing the success driver Boychuk has had in his car over the past two years. “I had so many people that have seen us when we were running the alcohol cars so to finally put together a good performance and a few solid runs in front of these fans is a great feeling.”

Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL, was the scene on the weekend of July 15-18, 2010 for the Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing – an awesome display of hundreds of doorslammers of all domestic makes and models in the NMRA and NMCA’s racing classes.

In the Turbonetics Pro Outlaw 10.5 class, Mike Murillo turned in a stout 6.79 at nearly 216 MPH to lead the field into the eliminations sessions. There, it would come down to Conrad Scarry and Murillo in the final round in a repeat of the last event at Milan Dragway. When the tree came down, Murillo blasted off to an awesome 6.84 to Scarry’s 7.17 for the win, ending Scarry’s unbeaten streak. Murillo hammered the tree with a .006 reaction time to win over Joe Dunne and clinch the Super Bowl victory for the NMRA!

Scorpion Pro Street drew fifteen competitors to the famous Route ‘66 Raceway. After an intense three rounds of qualifying, Chris Rini topped the field with a 6.18 at 232 mph, followed by Joe Dunne who ran a 6.24, and coming in third on the list was John Sullivan with a 6.31. It was Billy Glidden and Joe Dunne who had the cars to beat this hot weekend, and both met up in the finals in a classic Chevy versus Ford match up.  When the tree fell, a holeshot from Dunne and some tire slip from Glidden resulted in the Pat Musi-tuned Chevy getting the event win for the second year in a row. In the NMRA versus NMRA runoff, Dunne faced the NMRA’s Turbonetics Pro Outlaw winner, Mike Murillo    
  

Shawn Langdon won the Super Gas title in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series racing at Infineon Raceway, his first Sportsman victory since 2008.

“This win is big, it's huge,” Langdon said. “It's the best feeling in the world.

“With the Top Fuel car we're trying so hard and just haven't gotten the breaks to get a win, so to be able to come out here in this Lamb Motorsports Super Gasser and bring home the Wally is just awesome. I've got all my family and friends here, and I thank them for all the support.

“I'll race anything I can get my hands on. It doesn't matter to me. Winning is just the best feeling in the world. It doesn't matter what class it is. And I want to tell my Top Fuel Lucas Oil crew boys that we're going to get one of these soon, I promise!”

The 4th annual AutoTrader.com Eric Medlen Nitro Night Charity Dinner, which took place on Thursday night, raised a record amount of $27,500 for Speedway Children’s Charities.

The gala, which was held at Stone Tree Golf Club in Novato, was held in honor of Medlen, a native of Oakdale in the San Joaquin Valley. He succumbed in March, 2007, to injuries sustained from a testing accident. Medlen, who was a member of John Force Racing, considered Infineon Raceway his home track and won the Funny Car title there in 2006.

Popular Funny Car driver Ron Capps ended a one-year winless streak Sunday with his victory at the 23^rd annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway.

The other winners at the 15th race in the 23-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season were Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Michael Phillips (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Final round-by-round results from the 23rd annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, the 15th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the 23rd annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, the 15th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series -

Sunday's final results from the 23rd annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway. The race is the 15th of 23 in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel star Tony Schumacher is surrounded by many of his NHRA rivals, with Antron Brown and Cory McClenathan among his new teammates. And this week he has been reminded of his newest teammate, the one who has been spreading the drag-racing gospel in the Middle East but is home in the United States to race at this weekend's FRAM-Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway.
 
But this Hot Rod Fuller is not the same under-funded, over-revved Hot Rod Fuller who battled Schumacher to the end, spicing the 2008 season.
 
While Fuller's status as the key player in the development of drag racing at Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit signals exciting, global opportunities for him -- including some behind the wheel of a dragster -- it appears to have taken the starch from the two contenders' sassy repartee.