Final regular season point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional
categories following the 55th annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented
by Lucas Oil at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, the 18th of 24
events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The six-race
championship playoffs – the Countdown to 1 – begins Sept. 18 at zMAX
Dragway in Concord, N.C. -

Tony Schumacher continued his domination of the Mac Tools U.S.
Nationals presented by Lucas Oil Monday, racing to his eighth victory
at historic O’Reilly Raceway Park and tying legendary “Big Daddy” Don
Garlits for the most Top Fuel wins at the world’s most prestigious drag
race.

Ashley Force Hood, Jeg Coughlin, and Hector Arana also were winners of
the final regular season event in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing
Series. The Countdown to 1, NHRA’s six-race championship playoffs,
begins Sept. 18 with the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMAX Dragway near
Charlotte, N.C.

Schumacher, who has been to the last eight final rounds at this event
and 10 overall since he began his career at this race in 1996, powered
to his fourth victory of the season and 60th of his career, with a
performance of 3.861 seconds at 314.17 mph in his U.S. Army dragster to
hold off rival Larry Dixon, who trailed with a 4.208 at 228.58 in his
Al-Anabi Racing dragster.

NHRA to Award National Records in Top Fuel and Funny Car Categories; Bonus Points during Qualifying Sessions 
      
Today, the NHRA confirmed Competitionplus.com's stories as they announced that with the start of the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C., it will recognize national records in Top Fuel and Funny Car and create a new bonus point system for pro qualifying sessions. Both programs will instantly make the battle for the NHRA Full Throttle world championships just a little more interesting for professional competitors on the eve of the start of the Countdown to 1, NHRA's six-race championship playoffs.

Sunday was a very long day at O’Reilly Raceway Park, but not
necessarily in mere hours.  A four hours-long shower reduced the
qualifying action to a single, last-gasp final session for the
professionals, one that the competitors themselves worried might be
completely washed out.  But, when the water stopped falling the
tireless NHRA Safety Safari set to work, having the track in racing
condition in less time than seemed possible when one viewed the water
collected along the racing surface.

Neither Warren Johnson, nor his son Kurt
will race on Sunday at the NHRA U.S. Nationals. Warren’s DNQ eliminated
him from championship contention. Kurt had clinched a berth prior to
the event.

"We finally got the car hooked up, and made a smooth run, but we just
weren't aggressive enough," Kurt Johnson said. "You test, and run good
and you come in here pumped up about racing at Indy and this happens.
It's disappointing but I still feel good about the car because we have
the right components to be competitive. We won’t make the mistake again
of being too conservative."

Clay Millican qualified and Joe Hartley didn't thus ending the
battle for the final available position in the Countdown playoffs on
Sunday afternoon.

Millican, behind the wheel of the Lifelock dragster, landed in the 13th
position while Hartley's 4.025 was only good enough for the 18th spot.
Only the top 16 qualifiers advance into the elimination.

A decade ago, Whit Bazemore survived so many fiery runs those is the pits starting calling the former photographer turned driver, Whit “Blaze”more.

Stan Creekmore

If Bob Tasca isn't careful he may soon become knows as Shish-The-Bob Tasca.

For the second time in as many events, Tasca has survived a fiery wreck
which seriously damaged the body of his Quick Lane/Motorcraft Shelby
Mustang Funny Car. Tasca and team were going for broke when issues in
the valve train, two dropped cylinders, lead to a booming explosion and
breathtaking fire.

Antron Brown was excited about claiming the top spot for the 55th Annual NRHA U.S. Nationals and the opportunity to claim his first U.S. Nationals victory.

“To win Indy is a big deal,” said Antron, but maybe not as big as a
visit from “Big Daddy” Don Garlits as the team prepared to warm up the
car for the final round of qualifying.

“Big Daddy got to warm my car up before that run,” said Brown. “That
was something really special to me. When I grew up as a kid watching
this sport, that was my hero. That moment goes beyond words for me.”

Qualified ninth and looking forward to an upcoming nighttime run on
Saturday at the NHRA U.S. Nationals, Spencer Massey literally had the
rug pulled from under his feet when Don Prudhomme announced the pending
closure of his U.S. Tobacco Top Fuel dragster operation.

“We were informed about the same time as everybody else,” the
26-year-old Massey said. “Snake is very loyal and very honest about
everything that he does. There could’ve been a situation where he
didn’t have to tell us about it, where he could’ve just hoped that
something would have come along. He’s a stand up guy and did the right
thing by telling us, so we’re all in the same boat and know what’s
happening here.”

Massey’s weekend continued into Monday, thanks to his 3.972-second pass
on Sunday, which qualified him in the No. 16 spot. Massey faces top
qualifier Antron Brown at 11 a.m. Monday in the first-round of
eliminations.

“That was a saving run for us,” Massey said. “We got down the track and now hopefully we can put on a good show Monday.”

There’s no question that the Harley-Davidson team has been dominant in the Pro Stock Motorcycle series this season.

However, on Sunday, Matt Smith, on his Don Schumacher Racing Nitro Fish
Suzuki, stole the spotlight from Harley teammates Eddie Krawiec and
Andrew Hines in the US Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

On his final qualifying pass at the NHRA U.S. Nationals, Smith clocked a 6.918-second time to
capture the No. 1 qualifying spot. Hector Arana (6.936) and Hines
(6.957) are second and third in the qualifying ladder. Krawiec is No. 8
at 7.018 seconds.

Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m. Monday.