Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the
21st annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, the 15th
of 24 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1. Tony Schumacher, 1,414; 2. Antron Brown, 1,018; 3. Larry Dixon, 953;
4. Rod Fuller, 905; 5. Cory McClenathan, 891; 6. Brandon Bernstein,
890; 7. Hillary Will, 843; 8. Doug Herbert, 773; 9. David Grubnic, 651;
10. Doug Kalitta, 629.

Sunday's final results from the 21st annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA
Nationals at Infineon Raceway. The race is the 15th of 24 in the NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Tony Schumacher, 3.886 seconds, 307.93 mph def. Hillary Will, 3.988 seconds, 306.19 mph.

Final round-by-round results from the 21st annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA
Nationals at Infineon Raceway, the 15th of 24 events in the NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Larry Dixon, 4.251, 243.99 def. Bob Vandergriff,
4.660, 250.60; Steve Torrence, 3.871, 309.77 def. Troy Buff, 8.144,
87.98; Rod Fuller, 3.868, 313.07 def. Morgan Lucas, 5.988, 131.73;
Antron Brown, 3.887, 313.44 def. Steven Chrisman, 4.273, 276.13; Tony
Schumacher, 3.865, 312.42 def. Doug Kalitta, 4.299, 284.99; Brandon
Bernstein, 3.862, 314.09 def. J.R. Todd, 6.448, 99.41; Hillary Will,
3.885, 310.77 def. David Grubnic, 5.050, 144.97; Cory McClenathan,
3.869, 312.42 def. Doug Herbert, foul;

QUARTERFINALS --
Brown, 4.428, 233.32 def. Dixon, 9.686, 80.19; Will, 4.479, 223.25 def.
McClenathan, 4.957, 165.29; Schumacher, 3.921, 292.77 def. Fuller,
4.500, 189.92; Torrence, 3.867, 306.19 def. Bernstein, 3.952, 286.56;

SEMIFINALS -- Will, 4.011, 299.73 def. Brown, 4.042, 246.03; Schumacher, 3.944, 300.86 def. Torrence, 3.909, 306.33;

FINAL -- Schumacher, 3.886, 307.93 def. Will, 3.988, 306.19.

Gary Densham is quick to point out the line defining the “haves” and
the “have nots” is becoming clearer with each race and

"It scares me that this entire sport may end up being owned by three or four people."

each increase in
operating costs.

“Obviously guys like John Force will put big wads of money in their
wallets because they can’t burn it in testing,” said Densham, speaking
on how the latest increase in nitro pricing will affect the teams.
“They’re going to forego 150 testing runs a year, that’s more than
going to offset the cost of diesel. It’s not just myself complaining.
There are plenty of teams out here last year who thought that they had
a pretty good budget for 2008. They calculated the cost of what it
would be to make their runs in 23 races and now you add one more race
and the diesel increase and you’re looking at a quarter million dollar
increase for these people to do more than they had to do last year.

Tony Bartone failed to qualify just one race after winning his first-ever professional national event.

One race after winning his first NHRA POWERade Funny Car national
event, Tony Bartone learned you’re only as good as your last national
event victory. He was the only non-qualifier this weekend in either
nitro category.

That’s okay for Bartone, as he spent much of the week prior enjoying
the spoils of his victory. He relaxed quite a bit, and admitted he’s
grown fond of his first professionally-earned trophy.

The 2008 season, as evidenced by his Sonoma shortcoming has been one of feast or famine.

At the 21^st annual FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway,
Ashley Force’s 4.096 second qualifying run on Friday held up to capture her
first career No. 1 qualifying position and hand Pauline Hann of Vacaville,
Calif., a new Whirlpool washer and dryer as part of the BrandSource “Win with
Force” promotion. At sixteen select events during the 2008 POWERade Drag Racing
Series when any one of the four John Force Racing Funny Cars qualifies No 1 at
the event one lucky winner wins a Whirlpool washer and dryer set.

Two drag racers experienced top qualifier status for the first time in
their careers during the NHRA Fram-Autolite Nationals in Sonoma, Ca.,
and they just happened to be female.

Ashley Force [Funny Car] and Karen Stoffer [Pro Stock Motorcycle]
represented the second time in NHRA drag racing history in which two
female competitors have qualified No. 1 at the same event. The last
time such a feat was pulled off was in 2006 when Melanie Troxel and
Erica Enders teamed for the accolades.

Ms. Force pulled off her top spot on Friday evening when the
atmospheric conditions produced optimal conditions. On Saturday, she
still dominated qualifying with the quickest runs in each session.

“The conditions weren’t quite there (to improve).  Friday night, that
was the time to do it.  But you never know in drag racing, anything can
happen.  I just wanted to finish the round and then celebrate and be
happy about No. 1,” said the reigning Rookie of the Year.

ADRL Winner’s Circle Features First Timers

Tommy Gray’s brand-new “Undertaker” Camaro earned the Pro Extreme
race win in its debut July 26, in the inaugural 1-800-GO GUARD.com U.S.
Drags at Maryland International Raceway.  

A record-sized crowd at Maryland International Raceway watched
first-time winners prevail in four out of five professional racing
classes July 26, in the inaugural 1-800-GO GUARD.com U.S. Drags. The
eighth-mile drag racing event, staged by the Flowmaster American Drag
Racing League (ADRL) presented by the National Guard, drew more than
20,000 fans to the track, which has been in continuous operation for
more than 40 years.

NHRA FUNNY CAR SOPHOMORE ASHLEY FORCE EARNS FIRST CAREER NO. 1 QUALIFIER

Brown, Edwards and Stoffer round out provisional No. 1 qualifiers

In
a year of career-first milestones, NHRA sophomore Ashley Force checked
off another on Saturday when she earned her first career No. 1
qualifier at the FRAM-Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway.

The other No. 1 qualifiers at the 15th of 18 regular season races (24
total) in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series were Antron Brown (Top
Fuel), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Karen Stoffer (Pro Stock
Motorcycle).