John Force Racing’s Robert Hight could have easily panicked. After all,
his plate was filled with many variables headed into the 29th running
of the Mopar Mile-High Nationals.

There were a handful of NHRA mandated changes that could have wrecked
havoc on John Force Racing. The racing distance was reduced to 1,000
feet for the first time in the over fifty year history of the sport.
The new chassis was mandatory for all Funny Car teams, there was the
new Goodyear tire and all the teams were racing over a mile above sea
level but none of these new changes tripped up the JFR drivers. Instead
it was the familiar face of Tim Wilkerson that derailed not one, not
two but three different drivers from reaching the winners circle.

"Tim Wilkerson and his team have been running great. They have been on
a roll. I've been on rolls like that too. I am excited that our Ford
Mustangs are coming around. Robert has moved up to No. 2 and Neff has
moved up a little in points. We all start from scratch when you come to
the hill (Bandimere Speedway),” said John Force.

If nothing else, FRAM Top Fuel dragster driver Cory McClenathan has
demonstrated a streak of consistency. McClenathan advanced to the
semifinals for the third consecutive NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
race at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals today, moving up to fourth
in Top Fuel point standings. It was the fourth time in the past five
events that McClenathan has advanced to the semis. He also set low
elapsed time of 3.929 seconds and top speed of 308.07 mph of the event.

As No. 1 qualifier, McClenathan began the day with a single "bye" run
in the first round of eliminations as only 15 Top Fuel cars were
competing at the event. He roared to a 4.283/209.79 pass to gain lane
choice over quarterfinal opponent Doug Kalitta. The 17-year Top Fuel
veteran then took out Kalitta with a 4.197/270.59 to Kalitta's
4.403/237.38, earning him lane choice again in the semifinals against
Antron Brown.

Antron Brown raced his David Powers-owned Matco Tools dragster to his
fourth final-round appearance of the season Sunday afternoon at
Bandimere Speedway. The two-time Top Fuel winner remains second in the
NHRA Top Fuel standings following 13 of 24 races on the 2008 NHRA
schedule.

Brown qualified the Matco Tools/Go Fast rail in the No. 4 position for
the fourth time this season with an elapsed time of 3.998-seconds on
Friday evening at the Denver track. During eliminations he defeated
teammate Hot Rod Fuller, veteran racer Bob Vandergriff, Jr., and
30-time Top Fuel winner Cory McClenathan, before falling to five-time
series champion Tony Schumacher in the final round.

Matched up against his teammate for the first time this season, the two
David Powers Motorsports drivers used solid reaction times as Brown
sped the Matco Tools/Valvoline dragster to low elapsed time of the
round to score the win. Brown’s Lee Beard-tuned rail clocked a run of
3.995 seconds at 298.21 mph to hold off Fuller’s pass of 4.115 at
277.43 in the Caterpillar dragster.

"Fast" Jack Beckman raced the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge
Charger R/T directly into his seventh career final round today at the
Mopar Mile-High Nationals and into the No. 10 spot in the NHRA POWERade
Drag Racing Series Funny Car point standings.

No. 10 qualifier Beckman charged his way through the field en route to
the final, dismissing Tommy Johnson Jr., Gary Densham and Cruz Pedregon
along the way, with passes of 4.296/292.33, 4.362/281.77 and
4.334/290.82 on a 1000-ft. dragstrip for the first time in pro nitro
NHRA history.

He faced points leader Tim Wilkerson in the final stanza without lane
choice. Beckman launched first at the starting lights with a .046
reaction time to Wilkerson's .098 (.000 is perfect). Heading to what
Beckman was hoping would be his second victory of the season, the
Valvoline/MTS Dodge lost traction early, slowing to a losing
4.661/205.41 pass, while Wilkerson, who also lost traction later in the
run, claimed the victory with a 4.398/262.23.

Tim Wilkerson admitted he entered the the NHRA Mopar Mile High Nationals in Denver, Co., fifty-percent worried about the debut of his new Murf McKinney chassis.

The fifty percent of confidence made all the difference in the world. The fact he stopped worrying helped too.

“We were a little bit nervous of the chassis and I decided I just
wasn’t going to over think this place. Usually I do, I’m usually like,
“oh we have to do this and that at Denver….we didn’t do any of that.
Came up here and looked at how we ran at Vegas, tweaked the thing a
little bit. Went out there and stepped on the gas and it responded so I
think before we really just over thought this place and we just really
tried to have this power I knew I had to have.”

The drag racing world
watched in horror on June 17, 2007 as a drag racing car careened into a crowd
of onlookers in Selmer, Tenn. The racing fans were gathered to watch
an exhibition of horsepower as part of the Cars for Kids charity show, an
annual tradition of exhibition burnouts and show cars.

Veteran Pro Modified
driver Troy Critchley was driving the Pro Modified and lost control of the
supercharged Corvette, killing six bystanders.

Rev-limiters can’t stop him.

Rule changes don’t even come close.

The last hope the Top Fuel field had of slowing down Tony Schumacher
was 1,000-foot drag racing and that obstacle only proved nothing more
than a hiccup.

“You’re clicking at four tenths of a second earlier, that’s it,”
Schumacher said. “Getting the car to go down the track, it’s not like
we’re spinning down there at 1000 foot. The rev limiter has cost us
some races…when our rev limiter comes in and we get passed at the end,
we’re not going to see that now. Coming in [to the race] I said
thousand-foot would be to our advantage and a couple of other guys.”

Fourth Annual PMRA Challenge presented by G-Force Race Cars, Grainy's Automotive and Niagara Auto to be held July 26
 
Next stop in the six-race 2008 Pro Modified Racing Association tour
presented by Torco Racing Fuels Ontario will be the Fourth Annual PMRA
Challenge presented by G-Force Race Cars, Grainy's Automotive and
Niagara Auto at Dunn Tire Raceway Park Saturday, July 26.
 
The popular western New York track, formerly known as Lancaster Raceway
Park, was purchased by Ralph Galluzzi during the off-season, and the
strong tradition of presenting the best in racing continues at the
eighth-mile facility for this year.
 
“We’re looking forward to hosting the PMRA at our track,” said Track
Owner Ralph Galluzzi. “This has turned into a popular series and has
more teams this year. The Pro Modifieds have always put on a good show
at our facility.”

Funny thing happened to Matt Smith this season. He’s stopped working as hard and still wins.

The defending NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion captured his
second win of the season in as many final rounds by stopping a
determined Steve Johnson in the final round.

Smith wouldn’t say his lack of dominance as of late was due to the other teams catching up.

SCHUMACHER GETS SIXTH WIN OF SEASON; WILKERSON, ANDERSON, SMITH ALSO PICK UP WINS AT DENVER

Roger Richards Photos

Schumacher's Denver victory was his 47th career victory.

Five-time
POWERade Series world champion Tony Schumacher raced to his sixth win
this season at the 29th annual Mopar Mile-High Nationals.

Tim Wilkerson, Greg Anderson, and Matt Smith also won in their
respective categories in the 13th of 24 events on the POWERade Series
schedule.