Thousands
of people filled Bank of America Plaza and lined Tryon Street Wednesday
in Charlotte as Lowe's Motor Speedway displayed its Fall Season of
Speed with 22,000 horsepower in a Parade of Power.
   
NHRA drivers Doug Herbert and Matt Smith visited Charlotte Wednesday to
help Lowe's Motor Speedway promote its Fall Season of Speed, which will
be highlighted by the Sept. 17-20 NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax
Dragway.

Qualifying
No. 1 at the ADRL U.S. Drags in Richmond, Va., was enough of an
inspiration for Davis Technologies to expand their one race deal with
Mike Janis for the remainder of the season.

“The sponsorship from Davis Technologies is only made possible because
of the sanctioning body we run,” said Janis, who will compete in this
weekend’s ADRL Gateway Drags in St. Louis. “With traction control legal
in the ADRL it’s stupid not to use it. For one, it becomes a tuning aid
for the crew chief. Traction control can help save a run and it should
be looked at that way. For another reason, the fans get to see less
aborted runs and a better show.”

John Montecalvo is going to battle down to the wire for a championship.
That much is certain. What remains undecided is where he will race for the title.

Montecalvo, an accomplished mountain motor Pro Stock racer, currently
stands second in both IHRA and ADRL points. He’s been in six finals
already this season, four in IHRA and two in ADRL. Three IHRA and four
ADRL events remain, with two of those sharing the same date.

Montecalvo’s good fortunes have morphed into a catch 22 situation. 
After the next two ADRL events, Monte will have to make a choice
between the IHRA North American Nationals or the ADRL Dragstock VI,
both set for the Sept. 11-13.

Defending Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals champion Kurt Johnson heads back to Minnesota for his 17th appearance as a Pro Stock competitor at Brainerd International Raceway, still looking for that elusive first victory of the season.

"We want to win, and that hasn't happened so we're digging as fast and
as hard as we can right now to put this ACDelco Chevrolet in the
winner's circle," Johnson said. "I honestly feel we're getting close
and that our first win of the season is just around the corner."

For the first time in his 22-year career, Troy Coughlin will enter a
drag race as the No. 1 driver in the country when he takes his class-leading
JEGS.com Pontiac GXP Pro Street racecar into this weekend's inaugural
Nitto Tire All Star Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C.

"This is really neat," Coughlin said. "Things are looking really good
for us right now and we're very excited to race at zMax Dragway. They
say it's the best drag strip in the world and we can't wait to run our
car down there and see how it looks.

For nearly a year, Tony Schumacher has been extremely careful to be
respectful and gracious about the changes to his U.S. Army Dragster
team that might have devastated another race-car driver or exposed some
snarky side.
 
Alan Johnson tuned Schumacher to five straight NHRA Top Fuel
championships for six overall and a class-record 59 victories. But
Johnson left Don Schumacher Racing at the end of last season to form
his own team that features dragster driver Larry Dixon and Funny Car
veteran Del Worsham.
 
Since then, Tony Schumacher has chosen not to respond to those who
doubted his ability to win races in Johnson's absence. He never needed
to, really -- he has let his record speak for itself. This year he has
won three events, led the standings after four races, and never been
out of the top five.

Usually when high-dollar sponsors invade drag racing, the "little guy" gets pushed around.

Jim Halsey, however, has stood his ground just fine with the big boys in the American Drag Racing League's Pro Nitrous class.

Through
the first six races in 2009, Halsey is blowing away the competition.
His easily atop the Nitrous points standings with a 3,071 total,
followed by Shannon Jenkins (2,039) and Khalid Al-Balooshi (1777).

"I can't complain about how things have gone," said Halsey, who pilots an 820-cubic inch 1968 Camaro.

For almost 20 years, the name 'Al Billes' has been synonymous with innovation in drag racing. Starting in the nitrous ranks in IHRA's
Top Sportsman, progressing into a feared competitor in Pro Modified and
evolving into one of the most sought-after tuners in the class, the
Canadian national is a force to be reckoned with.
 
Until suffering back-to-back crashes in 2005, Billes spent his time
behind the wheel of a Pro Mod and an alcohol Funny Car. He was a
powerhouse in IHRA competition and moved to NHRA Pro Mod Challenge
events in 2004, where he won three out of ten events and the shootout.
In '05, he ran a handful of races before he crashed his '53 Corvette
and suffered a concussion during a match race at Lancaster Raceway Park
near Buffalo, NY. 
 

This weekend  the motorsports community will take time from its busy racing season to lend a hand to one of their own.  On Saturday,
August 8, the defending NHRA Pro Stock champion Cagnazzi Racing team
will hold a fundraiser to benefit Todd Bevis, the head of the team’s
chassis fabrication shop, who was diagnosed with head & neck cancer
in May.  The event, which will be held at the team’s shop located in
the Lakeside Park industrial complex in Mooresville, NC will feature a
live and silent auction (for which donations are still being accepted),
live music, food and drinks, with the proceeds going to help defray the
family’s rising medical costs.

When Martin Heatherly rolled his 1967 Chevelle into his shop nearly
twenty-five years ago, he figured the old all-steel musclecar had made its last passes down the drag strip.

Heatherly, of Buffalo, S.C., is a throwback to the old school of drag
racing. He’s a dyed-in-the-wool, old school class racer who reluctantly
converted his former Super Stock/"F" entry into a Super Pro bracket
racer as the face of drag racing changed in the 1970s.

Heatherly refused to abandon his Gene Fulton-built small block and Doug
Nash four-speed, or 4+1 as the old gear-heads called it, both icons of
years passed. When most of his counterparts dummied down their motors
and went with automatic transmissions, Heatherly not only raced with
them but also won despite using an antiquated combination.