Tony Schumacher clocked the quickest Top Fuel run and
posted the first 330 mph run Wednesday to close testing for the Mac
Tools U.S. Nationals, the world's most prestigious drag race.

John Force, Dave Howard and Andrew Hines were quickest in their
respective categories as teams continued to prepare for the historic
event at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, Aug. 30-Sept. 4, which
will be televised on ESPN2 HD with more than 10 hours of coverage. PHOTO GALLERY - DAILY NOTEBOOK

Tony Schumacher clocked the quickest Top Fuel run and
posted the first 330 mph run Wednesday to close testing for the Mac
Tools U.S. Nationals, the world's most prestigious drag race.

John Force, Dave Howard and Andrew Hines were quickest in their
respective categories as teams continued to prepare for the historic
event at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, Aug. 30-Sept. 4, which
will be televised on ESPN2 HD with more than 10 hours of coverage.

Schumacher continued to impress and improved on his performance from
Tuesday, as he posted a run of 4.468 seconds at 327.66 mph in the U.S.
Army dragster. Earlier in the day he posted a top speed of 330.07 mph,
the first unofficial 330 mph run at ORP. Schumacher set the current
track Top Fuel speed record last year at 329.18 mph. Track records can
only be set during official NHRA national event competition.

"He (Alan Johnson, crew chief) was trying to see what (the track)
wouldn't take and that is what he did every time," said Schumacher, a
four-time U.S. Nationals winner and currently second in the POWERade
Series standings.  "He was trying to smoke the tires. Watching the car
go out and run 53, yeah, we know it can do that; but what won't it take?
We wanted to see what can we do with different parts on it and make it
smoke the tires and he got the handle on that during some of the runs,
but he also got it to run a 46 with the rods out so all and all it has
been a great week man.  I look forward to coming back next weekend."

Brandon Bernstein was second again in the Budweiser/Lucas Oil dragster
with a 4.541 second run. Defending winner Larry Dixon was third in the
Miller Lite dragster with a 4.571 at 322.19, while current POWERade
Series points leader Doug Kalitta drove his Mac Tools dragster to a
4.573 at 325.53.

Force led Funny Car on Wednesday, powering his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang
to a 4.751 at 324.38, while his teammates were right behind as Eric
Medlen posted a 4.769 at 318.92 in the Castrol Syntec Mustang and Robert
Hight's best effort for the day was a 4.778 at 322.73 in the Auto Club
Mustang. Force's daughter, Ashley, also posted a quick lap of 4.897 at
314.39 as she continues to gain more experience in the 7,000 horsepower
machine. Tony Pedregon had the quickest time for the two day test
session, posting a 4.747 at 324.75 in his Q Racing Chevy Monte Carlo.

"Let's be honest, Pedregon ran 74 last night so he is the quickest of
the week, but this is testing," said Force, the current POWERade Series
points leader and four-time U.S. Nationals winner. "We're excited about
Indy.  I'm most excited that my daughter (Ashley) ran an 89 today.  That
is her quickest run ever. Hell that might qualify her for Indy, you
never know. But she won't be running Indy, she's just getting a lot of
seat time.  All three teams were good. I want to thank all of my guys,
(Ashley's) car was rotated today and she has more crew and crew chiefs
than anybody in the stadium, so she had fun and was very excited about
it.

"We did all the stuff (crew chief Austin) Coil was wanting to try. We
ran some good numbers and we were shutting it off early trying to save
her.  We're pretty confident going into Indy and coming off the win in
Memphis. We didn't hurt anything too bad so we will see if we can come
out here and win the Skoal Showdown, win Indy and win them both. May the
best man win."

Gary Scelzi and Tommy Johnson Jr., who will meet in the first round of
the Skoal Showdown, both posted testing bests of 4.810 seconds. Second
place points challenger Ron Capps, who had led the Series standings
since Phoenix before Force took over last weekend in Memphis, posted a
testing best of 4.825 at 311.49 in his Brut Dodge Charger.

Howard was again the quickest in Pro Stock, driving his Chevy Cobalt to
a 6.717 at 205.16. Four-time U.S. Nationals winner Greg Anderson was
second overall with a 6.747 at 204.66 in his Summit Racing Pontiac GTO.

Two-time defending POWERade world champ Hines rode his Screamin' Eagle
Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to a Pro Stock Motorcycle best performance
of 7.060 at 188.20. His time was better than the current track record
(7.081) that he set last year.



Below is each driver's best performance for Wednesday. Performance
listed also is the driver's best of the two day test session unless
noted. Results provided courtesy of Compulink and FastNews Network.

TOP FUEL

Tony Schumacher, 4.468, 327.66
Brandon Bernstein, 4.514, 328.86
Larry Dixon, 4.571, 322.19
Doug Kalitta, 4.573, 325.53
Rod Fuller, 4.588, 324.98  (4.536, 329.75)
Melanie Troxel, 4.614, 324.36
Cory McClenathan, 4.638, 325.61
Hillary Will, 4.683, 313.37
David Grubnic, 4.837, 226.92
Morgan Lucas, 5.036, 210.34
Bruce Litton, 8.452, 101.61 (8.289, 102.88)
Joe Hartley, 9.043, 97.78


FUNNY CAR

John Force, Ford Mustang, 4.751, 324.28
Eric Medlen, Mustang, 4.769, 318.92
Robert Hight, Mustang, 4.778, 322.73
Mike Ashley, Dodge Stratus, 4.799, 324.28 (4.792, 323.12)
Gary Scelzi, Dodge Charger, 4.810, 324.05
Tommy Johnson Jr., Chevy Monte Carlo, 4.810, 319.29
Phil Burkart, Monte Carlo, 4.822, 311.77
Cruz Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 4.825, 324.20
Ron Capps, Charger, 4.825, 311.49
Del Worsham, Monte Carlo, 4.858, 276.86
Ashley Force, Mustang, 4.897, 314.39
Johnny Gray, Monte Carlo, 4.974, 262.54 (4.895, 279.15)
Tony Pedregon, Monte Carlo, 5.064, 246.75 (4.747, 324.75)
Whit Bazemore, Charger, 5.188, 216.62 (5.156, 212.93)
Jack Beckman, Stratus, 5.352, 201.85
Scott Kalitta, Monte Carlo, 7.351, 117.95 (5.408, 198.03)

PRO STOCK

Dave Howard, Chevy Cobalt, 6.717, 205.16
Greg Anderson, Pontiac GTO, 6.747, 204.66
Tommy Lee, Cobalt, 6.751, 204.17 (6.748, 204.29)
Steve Schmidt, GTO, 6.769, 203.80
Terry Adams, Dodge Stratus, 6.780, 203.12 (6.765, 203.98)
Mark Pawuk, GTO, 6.784, 203.37 (6.770, 203.92)
Kevin Lawrence, Cobalt, 6.828, 200.92
Tommy Brown, GTO, 6.865, 202.97 (6.797, 202.82)
Jose Maldonado, GTO, 6.920, 198.61

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE

Andrew Hines, Harley-Davidson, 7.060, 188.20
Tom Bradford, Buell, 7.103, 187.34 (did not run Wednesday)
Karen Stoffer, Suzuki, 7.108, 189.34
Matt Guidera, Buell, 7.138, 184.94 (did not run Wednesday)
Craig Treble, Suzuki, 7.144, 187.26
Geno Scali, Suzuki, 7.202, 187.31
Wesley Wells, Suzuki, 7.208, 183.84
Connie Cohen, Buell, 7.317, 181.98