Larry Dixon saved the best run of the night for last.

Dixon, the driver of the Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Top Fuel dragster, made
a 3.850-second run at 302.89 mph Friday night at the NHRA U.s. Nationals to capture the top
qualifying spot. Dixon’s run came moments after Cory McClenathan’s
3.863-elapsed time. Pro qualifying continues at noon and 5:45 p.m., on
Saturday.

“It’s obviously nice to be able to get your car down the track, and
know you got your car in the top 12,” said Dixon, who has won five
races this season. “Now, you can go into Saturday at the back of the
session and see what some of the cars are doing and just try and make a
run accordingly.”

The plan has followed its course.

Back at the Mile-High Nationals in Denver, in July, Lee Beard, team
manager at Don Schumacher Racing, said that DSR was building a new
dragster chassis in-house with the blessing of noted chassis builder
Brad Hadman.

DSR’s in-house dragster is making its debut in the 55th annual U.S. Nationals this weekend and being driven by Cory McClenathan.

No matter what Spencer Massey does the rest of his drag racing career, he will always remember this weekend.

The 26-year-old is making his inaugural appearance driving a Top Fuel dragster in the U.S. Nationals.

“It’s an honor to get to race a Top Fuel car at any race, but to be
here at the U.S. Nationals with the Snake (Don Prudhomme), it
definitely means a lot. We have a chance to go rounds and win the race.
We feel very confident coming off our test last week (Wednesday) here
at this race track. This race couldn’t be any bigger. This is what
everybody dreams of coming here to the U.S. Nationals and leaving here
with a Wally. I couldn’t be any happier to try and get it done with the
Snake and I’m living a dream doing it.”

The Westcott family, of Parma, Mich., pulled off another victory
tonight in the Mopar® NHRA HEMI® Challenge at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
in Indianapolis. Charlie Wescott, Sr., did it this time, in his 1968
Hemi Barracuda, besting David Barton, of  Robesonia, Pa. Westcott
needed a lot of help from his son, Charlie Westcott, Jr., and a bunch
of their competitors.

Westcott Senior’s engine dropped a valve on the bye run that put him
into the finals. “I figured there was nothing we could do but go home,”
he said, “but my son is a workaholic.” Westcott Junior reclaimed a
Mopar 426 Hemi engine he had just delivered to John Raines, of Santa
Paula, Calif., and moved the Barracuda to Californian Jim DeFrank’s
well-equipped trailer to do an engine swap.

HIGHT, DIXON, EDWARDS AND ARANA LEAD QUALIFYING AT MAC TOOLS U.S. NATIONALS

Robert
Hight raced to the Funny Car qualifying lead Friday at the 55th annual
Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, the world’s most
prestigious drag race.

Larry Dixon, Mike Edwards and Hector Arana also were qualifying leaders
in their respective categories at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing
Series event at historic O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

Defending winner Hight, who is in a tight battle with Cruz Pedregon and
Matt Hagan for the 10th spot in the Countdown to 1, NHRA’s 
championship playoffs, gained some confidence for his quest when he
powered his Auto Club Ford Mustang to the top of the qualifying order
with a performance of 4.107 seconds at 305.36 mph.

Everyone
always ask “what is so special about Indy”. To be honest I’m not sure.
It is just another drag strip and you do the same things you do at any
other track. It’s just that special feeling and the history that goes
along with it, that makes you anxious to get to the track in the
morning and the desire to win the big one.

I didn’t want to miss Indy this year and thankfully Bill Evans gave me
the opportunity to drive his A/Fuel car this weekend. I have run a
couple of divisional races so far, but with weather issues I have only
made five runs in the car before this Friday.

Since this is my first race in Alcohol Dragster this season I was right
at the front of the line for the first session of qualifying. With all
eyes watching I rolled forward for the burnout and hit the throttle.
That’s when the day kind of started to change for us. A heim joint on
the throttle linkage began to pull out and there wasn’t enough throttle
to do a burnout, but a bigger issue was it had the throttle hung open.
I yanked the brake and buried the clutch pedal to stop the car while
the guys ran out and got the throttle UN-stuck. No harm no foul.  We
got back to the line and continued like nothing happened. The car left
the line nice and was on a great run until it dropped a cylinder and
began to slow.

Karen Stoffer appeared to claim the top qualifying spot in Pro Stock Motorcycle on Friday evening at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. She clocked a 6.951-second elapsed time at a career-best 196.22 mph.

Her run was disqualified by NHRA officials, however, because Shawn
Gann, who she was racing against on her qualifying pass, hit the timing
cone right before the finish line. Gann also was disqualified.

During his last 11 seasons in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, Hector Arana had limited success. His best finish in the points chase was 11th, last year, winning the only race of his career.

This year, Arana has had a revival. Arana, whose hometown is Miami, is
third in the points chase, with two wins. He also has four No. 1
qualifying positions, and it could be five. After Friday’s qualifying
run at the NHRA U.S. Nationals, Arana is tops in the class with a 6.985-second elapsed time at
190.30 mph. Andrew Hines is a close second at 6.989 seconds, followed
by Matt Smith at 7.018 seconds.

Twenty-eight years ago, Pat Musi drove a Camaro bearing the name Cisco
Kid to the No. 1 Pro Stock qualifying position at the NHRA U.S.
Nationals.

Musi, now an accomplished Pro Street world champion and respected
engine builder, believes Pro Stock racing has changed dramatically over
the years.

The NHRA is making a change to the points earning procedures beginning
at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals in Concord, N.C., and the Professional
Racers Organization is not happy about it.

Reportedly the NHRA will reward points to the top three professional
qualifiers for each qualifying session in addition to the standard
points already awarded at the end of qualifying.