In the largest showing of Blown Nitro
Funny Cars since the March Meet, sixteen AA/FC's invaded Southwestern
International Raceway in Tucson Arizona to compete for the $25,500
purse that the Funny Car Fever II event had up for grabs. The weather
was warm and the winds were light all day long with temps in the high
80s but cooled by the early evening hours, bringing forth great track
conditions for the Nitro Funny Cars to battle for the top honors.

The Brownsburg Motorsport Network will hold its second annual
Brownsburg Motorsport Open House Saturday, May 24, from 10 a.m. to
3:p.m., In Brownsburg, Ind. Many of Brownsburg's racing businesses,
including John Force Racing, Don Schumacher Racing, David Powers
Motorsports, and Gotham City Racing will open their doors to the public.

NHRA-related businesses that will be open include John Force
Racing (three Funny Car teams and the Eric Medlen Tribute Room), Don
Schumacher Racing (two Top Fuel teams and four Funny Car teams), David
Powers Motorsports (two Top Fuel teams),  Gotham City Racing (Funny Car team).

Mike Lewis made a decision many years ago which put him on the executive side of drag racing’s corporate ladder.

The current Senior Vice President for Don Schumacher Racing doesn’t
regret his decision to forgo a career as a driver, but many years ago
when he undertook the responsibility of running a drag strip, he did so
with the vision of one day returning to a position behind the wheel.

Staying true to his desires, Lewis recently completed a Top Alcohol
Dragster course at the Frank Hawley Drag Racing School where he ran a
5.99 elapsed time at 231 miles per hour.

The experience was exactly that – an experience.

“I was just marking off an item on my bucket list,” Lewis explained,
talking about the things he wanted to do before “kicking the bucket.”

Rookie Top Fuel driver has never raced at Thunder Valley Nationals before ... 

What
a rookie season it has been for Antron Brown. A pole position in his
first race and two national event victories. (Roger Richards)

This season has been one of many firsts for freshman Top Fuel driver
Antron Brown. The former Pro Stock Motorcycle standout turned Top Fuel
driver will race this weekend at Bristol Dragway for the first time in
a national event atmosphere.

Brown has never competed in a national event at Bristol Dragway.  He
did compete at Thunder Valley in 1999 and 2000 during the Winston
Showdown bonus event driving a Pro Stock motorcycle. Brown qualified
second and advanced to the final round in the 2000 Showdown, posting a
runner-up finish to three-time PSM champion Matt Hines, 7.337 to 7.364
seconds.

“I’m so excited to get to Bristol,” Brown said. “I haven’t raced there
in years. The last time we ran there was during the Winston Showdown
almost 10 years ago. Our Matco team has been on a roll and we want to
get into Bristol and have a consistent car that goes down the track.
Both of our DPM cars are running strong and we want to keep that going.”

In the dark of night last Wednesday, Jack Beckman and the Valvoline/Mail
Terminal Services Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car team were spotted at Rockingham
Dragway secretly testing a new, trick Funny Car under the lights. Well, that's
one way to start a rumor.

In actuality, Beckman and the Don Schumacher
Racing crew were shooting a commercial for the team’s primary sponsor Valvoline
at the North Carolina facility in the shadow of Rockingham Speedway, the
one-mile oval that hosts NASCAR events, among others.

"It was great,"
said Beckman, who is currently No. 8 in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
Funny Car rankings. "I've never been to Rockingham before. Steve Earwood manages
it and he gave us the total red-carpet treatment.

Reigning series champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Rookie of the Year candidate Mike
Neff beat 14-time champ John Force and 2008 Pro Stock Motorcycle titlist Matt
Smith in the first ever drag race down zMax Dragway at Concord, site of the
inaugural Carolina NHRA Nationals.

Driving identical Volvo dump trucks
down a dirt strip in the middle of a construction site might not sound as
exciting as a real drag race, but for Coughlin the thrill was
there.

The Darrell Russell Tribute helmet and firesuit worn by Top Fuel driver
Alan Bradshaw during the recent O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals in St.
Louis raised over $3200 for Racers for Christ.  The custom Impact
Racing firesuit sold for $1101.99 while the Impact Racing helmet netted
$2126.99. Because both items were generously donated by Impact Racing,
along with the custom helmet paint job donated by Brandon Mendoza, the
total amount raised will go to RFC.

"I'm glad that Darrell's name is being associated with helping others,"
Brother Chris Russell said. "The whole point of the tribute in St.
Louis and the online auction was to help the people who helped me and
my family when we lost Darrell almost four years ago. This is how I
want Darrell to be remembered, as the kind and generous person that he
was. I really want to thank everyone who participated in the eBay
auction."

He's making alliances right and left ...

When you’re the NHRA POWERade Funny Car point leader, everyone wants a little bit of your success – even if by accident.

Tim Wilkerson found that out last week when he overtook Ashley Force
for the lead in the first phase of the championship standings. This was
the first time he’d led any points chase in his life.

During the post event press conference he referred to the invaluable
assistance Don “the Snake” Prudhomme has provided with the availability
of second-hand parts.

Dave Connolly's first phase of the Countdown to the Championship only lasts 13 races. (Roger Richards Photos)

The only thing Dave Connolly could do while his NHRA Pro Stock rivals
were adding up POWERade Series points for five races was watch.

 
Their Countdown to 10 portion of the overall championship format is a
full 18 events.  His is 13.  But two races into his own mini-countdown,
the driver of the Cagnazzi Racing Charter Communications Chevy Cobalt
already put a dent in the difference between his current 18th and 10th
place.  An impressive runner-up at St. Louis (May 4) in only his second
race brought Connolly’s point total to 130. 
 
As he prepares for the Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway,
Connolly sits 156 points out of the last transfer spot into the
six-race championship gallop that begins in September.
 

Larry
Carrier sat in his office in Bristol, Tennessee, and looked over the receipts
from his events. The founder and president of the nearly decade-old IHRA wanted
to make a decision, but he needed a little more ironclad data before reaching a
final verdict. Carrier wanted a way to ensure that his flagship event, the
Spring Nationals at Thunder Valley Dragway, became as much of a conversation
piece as the NHRA’s heralded U.S. Nationals.

Carrier
felt it could be done, but it would take some moving here and some cutting
there. A little finessing in certain places and massaging in others could make
it happen.

In
a sense, by 1980, the event was already a conversation piece.