If the Pro Stock Motorcycle shootout continues beyond this year, it will need a new sponsor..

According to Anthony Vestal, NHRA Director of Media Relations, Ringers
didn’t renew its contract to sponsor the season-long program.

History doesn’t have to wait any longer for Tony Schumacher.

The six-time world champion tied Don Garlits' record by winning his
eighth US Nationals Top Fuel Dragster championship Monday in the 55th
annual edition at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, Ind.

Shumacher, who pilots the U.S. Army dragster for his father at Don
Schumacher Racing, beat Larry Dixon in the Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing
dragster in the finals.

Schumacher clocked a 3.861-second pass, while Dixon came in at 4.208 seconds.

Over the course of the NHRA U.S. Nationals weekend, the Pro Stock
Motorcycle class has been in the spotlight far more than usual.

That’s namely a result of Matt Guidera being suspended for a year by
the NHRA for failing to meet the requirements of the Substance Abuse
Policy. Guidera actually has the ability to request for a stay, if NHRA
grants the stay, he's allowed to compete until such time as his appeal
is heard.

Steve Johnson, a fellow Pro Stock Motorcycle racer, said he understood Guidera’s plight.

“The guy's trying to race at the US Nationals, he's got a business to
help run, he's just had a three week old baby, he's trying to figure
out how to get his baby back cause they can't fly the baby,” Johnson
said. “In my little world, I'm trying to help with public relations and
marketing, trying to ride the bike, trying to review with the crew
chief, and still train to be a driver and a team owner. So there's a
lot of stuff. That's what makes it tough. But I understand the process.”

Ashley Force Hood let the distractions pass her by as she cruised to her second Mac Tools U.S. Nationals,
first
as a professional, becoming the first female to win in the Funny car
category at the oldest and most prestigious drag race in the
country. Force Hood defeated her brother-in-law Robert Hight in the
final 4.170 to 4.217.

The semi-final round match between John Force and Robert Hight carried
a lot of importance that transcended Hight reaching yet another NHRA
U.S. Nationals final round. A Countdown to One championship berth hung
in the balance for two drivers - Hight of John Force Racing and
defending world champion Cruz Pedregon.

Hight beat Force in a race where the starting line reactions were far
from indicative of a match bearing such magnitude. The murmurs of the
fix being in, grew so loud, you could almost hear them echoing from the
staging lanes into the grandstands.

Hight and Force were both extremely tardy leaving the starting line,
.143 to .209, advantage Hight, and at half-track Force shook the tires
and lifted. Hight won the semi-final round with a 4.261, his slowest
elapsed time of the day.

The week has been turbulent, to say the least, for Top Fuel dragster
driver Spencer Massey. Massey essentially was floored when Don
Prudhomme announced the pending closure of the operation on Saturday.

The 26-year-old Massey kept his composure and qualified 16th on Sunday during the NHRA U.S. Nationals.
He then came back and scored a huge upset of top qualifier Antron Brown
on a hole shot in the first round of eliminations. Massey clocked a
3.881-second run at 310.27 mph, while Brown had a 3.872-second effort
at 317.34 mph.

The difference for Massey, he cut a .051 light, compared to Brown's .073.

This season, Hector Arana has had a career revival in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class.

He has gone from a championship pretender to a championship contender and Monday was just more evidence of that fact.

Arana, riding a Buell, rode past the Suzuki-riding Michael Phillips in
the final round of the NHRA U.S. Nationals. Arana clocked a 7.026-second time, while Phillips
slowed to a 7.086 seconds. This was Arana’s third victory of the year
and his inaugural Indy title.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. put an exclamation point on his regular season No. 1 ranking by winning Pro Stock
at the prestigious NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis on Monday
afternoon. The victory over Greg Stanfield marked the seventh victory
of the season for the defending world champion.

Coughlin didn’t play the favorite out of the gate over the course of
the weekend, qualifying 12th in the 16-car field. His list of defeated
opponents included Greg Anderson, Rodger Brogdon and Mike Edwards
leading up to the race with Stanfield.

The Indy triumph marked his 77th career final round of his career.

Roger Burgess won his second event of the season and claimed the
crown jewel of drag racing by winning the Get Screened America Pro Mod
Challenge presented by ProCare Rx event at the Mac Tools NHRA U.S.
Nationals. Burgess defeated Danny Rowe in the final and moved into
second place in the points-standings after seven of ten events have
been completed. Burgess dedicated his win to the memory and honor of
his fallen teammate Bobby Monacelli who passed away from a heart attack
on August 10.
 
Despite an abbreviated number of qualifying sessions due to scheduling
and weather delays, the series enjoyed its quickest field in its
nine-year history. The bump spot was a 6.120 held by Kirk Wilmes, more
than a tenth quicker than the bump spot of 6.132 from 2008. Danny Rowe
took low qualifier honors with a 5.943; Brad Personett ran top speed at
248.84.
 
Burgess’ path to the winner's circle began with a stellar day-one
qualifying run of 5.960 at 242.45 mph that gave him the provisional
pole. In the second qualifier he suffered mechanical failure and was
passed in the standings by Danny Rowe and Joe Baker to land No. 3.
First round eliminations action paired Burgess with John Russo and his
unique 2000 Chevy S-10 pickup where Burgess' 5.979 at 241.45 handily
defeated Russo's 6.723 at 164.79 and set the tone for the remainder of
his elimination rounds.

John Force has had enough of the murmurings and innuendos.

The 14-time NHRA Funny Car world champion described his shutdown area confrontation with former employee and driver Tony Pedregon as a matter of flared tempers.

“I’ve always tried to do what [publicists] Elon and Densmore have instructed me to do,” Force said. “I’ve listened to it for years … things that were just blatantly wrong. I’m not talking about what happened here today but over the last years. It’s over [Don] Schumacher, over Tony [Pedregon] and I had just had enough.”

Force said comments were directed towards him following his semi-final loss to teammate Robert Hight, a race that inevitably eliminated Pedregon’s brother Cruz Pedregon from championship contention.

“When someone walks by you and says something … his own brother at least shook my hand. He went by me and said it again and I asked him, ‘what did you say?’