Rarely does a student get to match skill against their teacher.

During the Funny Car final round at the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals in Reading, Pa., Frank Hawley learned just how good of
an instructor he is. Beyond that, he found out just how good of an
instructor he’s got on staff at his Frank Hawley Drag Racing School.

Jack Beckman was merely basking in the glow of the opportunity to race his mentor.

"Imagine being a Little League player and you get to pitch against
Mickey Mantle,” Beckman said. “Frank Hawley has been all of that to the
sport. To have him come back in adds a whole other dimension to
this...and, hell no, I wasn't going to cut him any slack.”

Sunday'S two-car Pro Stock final at the NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals in
Reading, Pa., provided a win-win situation for Team Cagnazzi, who
started the
season with only one team car and now has three since Connolly returned
and adopted Ron Krisher earlier in the season.

"We knew we couldn't go wrong with Dave (Connolly) and me in the finals
for Cagnazzi Racing, but it felt good to get the win light there
against my teammate," Coughlin said. "Congratulations to Victor
(Cagnazzi, team owner) and the entire team back in Mooresville (N.C.);
they've done a fantastic job. We're hoping this is a sign of things to
come when we start the Countdown in Charlotte. We've had a pretty slow
summer, but the last couple of races we've gone to the finals (Sonoma)
and the semis (Brainerd), and to pull off a win here is huge."

Usually 40 will represent an over-the-hill number, but for 38-year old Jeg Coughlin Jr. the number stood for so much more.

Coughlin secured his 40th national event victory by defeating teammate
Dave Connolly in the Pro Stock final round. The win put Coughlin all
alone in fourth place in the all-time list for Pro Stock victories, a
remarkable accomplishment for a 38-year-old racer.

"We've been flirting with a win for awhile now and it feels wonderful
to get it done," Coughlin said. "The main thing is we want to carry
momentum into Indy and then the playoffs and there's no better way to
build up momentum than to go out there and turn the win light on. Great
work by the entire JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt team."

Johnny West has had a calming effect on the Valvoline/MTS Dodge Funny
Car that Jack Beckman has driven to back-to-back final rounds.

"A couple of times it wanted to move over toward the centerline, but it
was a pretty smooth car all weekend long,” explained Beckman of his
Reading win. “Didn’t throw us any curve balls out there.

"(Crew chief) Johnny West is a very conservative-by-nature type of guy,
so he and (assistant crew chief) Tommy Delago balance each other well
and I think now that we've been consistent for a few races we're
starting to get quick and I think if we can take that to cold-weather
tracks we will be contending for the championship."

Tony Schumacher spoke directly to someone without mentioning their
name during his post-race press conference at the NHRA Toyo Tires
Nationals in Reading, Pa.

Those in the know immediately drew the
conclusion he was speaking to Hot Rod Fuller because of his criticism
of the championship format in 2007 after leading the majority of the
season and then having the lead wiped away per the rules of the reset.

During the post-race press conference, emcee Bob Frey suggested that
Schumacher was a fan of the Countdown to the Championship in 2007
because the format worked to his favor. He also suggested this season
could generate the opposite feelings since Schumacher has to surrender
a tremendous lead.

BECKMAN GETS SECOND WIN OF SEASON; SCHUMACHER, COUGHLIN, SMITH ALSO FIND WINNERS CIRCLE AT MAPLE GROVE

Roger Richards Photos

In
a final round that matched teacher against student, Funny Car driver
Jack Beckman raced to his second win of the season at the Toyo Tires
NHRA Nationals.

Tony Schumacher, Jeg Coughlin, and Matt Smith also were winners at the
17th of 24 events on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Beckman drove his Dodge Charger R/T to a 4.183-second run at 291.57 mph
past Frank Hawley for his first win at Maple Grove. Hawley, who owns a
drag racing school, employs Beckman as a drag racing instructor.

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following
the 24th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, the
17th of 24 events in the  NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1.  Tony Schumacher, 1,650; 2.  Antron Brown, 1,124; 3.  Larry Dixon,
1,082; 4.  Cory McClenathan, 1,019; 5.  Rod Fuller, 1,015; 6.  Brandon
Bernstein, 974; 7.  Hillary Will, 907; 8.  Doug Herbert, 843; 9.  David
Grubnic, 736; 10.  Doug Kalitta, 732.

Final round-by-round results from the 24th annual Toyo Tires NHRA
Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, the 17th of 24 events in the  NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Brandon Bernstein, 3.858, 310.84 def. Hillary Will,
3.929, 300.33; Antron Brown, 3.909, 309.06 def. Cory McClenathan,
3.922, 305.56; Clay Millican, 3.967, 298.01 def. J.R. Todd, 4.208,
258.86; Rod Fuller, 3.934, 304.87 def. Doug Kalitta, 3.987, 302.21;
Tony Schumacher, 3.877, 312.13 was unopposed; David Grubnic, 3.905,
304.87 def. Doug Herbert, 4.225, 231.24; Morgan Lucas, 3.921, 305.15
def. Bob Vandergriff, 4.014, 306.33; Larry Dixon, 3.871, 310.48 def.
Doug Foley, 3.940, 305.77;

QUARTERFINALS -- Millican,
3.994, 292.58 def. Lucas, 3.963, 289.32; Brown, 3.943, 305.49 def.
Fuller, 4.308, 247.38; Dixon, 3.935, 304.74 def. Grubnic, 6.723, 91.31;
Schumacher, 3.894, 301.60 def. Bernstein, 3.926, 303.64;

SEMIFINALS -- Dixon, 4.007, 258.02 def. Brown, 5.761, 112.34; Schumacher, 3.928, 306.40 def.
Millican, 3.945, 298.21;

FINAL -- Schumacher, 3.845, 313.88 def. Dixon, 3.891, 302.35.

Sunday's final results from the 24th annual Toyo Tires NHRA
Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.  The  race is the 17th of 24 in the 
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Tony Schumacher, 3.845 seconds, 313.88 mph  def. Larry Dixon, 3.891 seconds, 302.35 mph.

Qualifying
at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals was a nail-biting affair because the
race was the final event where racers in Funny Car and Pro Stock
Motorcycle could make the fields for the lucrative bonus events at the
upcoming Mac Tools U.S. Nationals. There was no change in the bike
field but some major shakeups in Funny Car in qualifying for the U.S.
Smokeless Showdown.
 
Del Worsham and John Force entered the event needing a lot of good
things to happen for them in qualifying and bad things to befall those
in front of them if they hoped to crack into the Showdown field, and
they got their wishes as both made the elite eight after several
surprising DNQs.