For the sixth consecutive race Kenny Lang found himself in the finals of an IHRA Pro Modified race.

Roger Richards

This time, however, he was able to finish the deal.

While any driver would be happy with multiple final round appearances,
for the defending world champion four runner-ups to only one win was
beginning to get a little old so he decided to do something about that
on Sunday, picking up his second Ironman of the season while taking
over the points lead at the IHRA Northern Nationals presented by Dart
Machinery Sunday in Martin, Mich.

Going to the finals and getting a runner-up, there is nothing wrong
with that, but six finals in a row with only one win I was starting to
get a little bored with that,” Lang said. “It felt good to finally
clinch another win and get that under our belt and jump into the points
lead.”

With former world champion and winner of this very race one year ago
Spencer Massey watching from the starting line, Del Cox Jr.

Roger Richards

was
able to drive around Bobby Lagana Jr. in the Top Fuel final at the IHRA
Northern Nationals presented by Dart Machinery Sunday afternoon in
Martin, Mich.

It was déjà vu all over again for the rookie out of Downey, Calif. and
the Mitch King Motorsports bunch as Cox and his team found themselves
parked just inches from where Massey’s rig was parked last year – and
everyone knows how that turned out.

Massey went on to win the ’08 Northern Nationals and eventually the
championship in his first year on the tour and now Cox, exactly one
year later in the same car Massey drove to the victory, was able to
repeat the performance of the man who helped him get his current ride.

Point standings (top 10) for IHRA professional categories following the
IHRA Northern Nationals presented by Dart at US 131 Motorsports Park,
the seventh of 10 events in the 2009 Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series -

Final round-by-round results from the IHRA Northern Nationals presented
by Dart at US 131 Motorsports Park, the seventh of 10 events in the
2009 Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series:

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the
IHRA Northern Nationals presented by Dart at US 131 Motorsports Park,
the seventh of 10 events in the 2009 Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series. 
Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday.

One need not look very far in the sports pages (or web pages) these days to find extensive coverage of high school athletes who are
drawing the attention of college and professional sports teams, and
garnering themselves no small amount of praise (or scrutiny) from the
hordes of sports writers.  But if you look just a bit further, a few
layers beyond the “ordinary”, you’ll find a form of student-athlete who
does more than simply pass a football or field a ground ball.  A
student athlete who’s “Middletown dreams” reach out beyond the end zone
or the outfield.  Enter the world of siblings Brenda and Brandon
Seraphine: Students. Athletes. And drag racers.

Round 3.
2009 Veidec Festival
Mantorp Park, Sweden

THRIFT HAS 22,500 REASONS TO BE THANKFUL

After
months and months of anticipation leading up to Saturday’s Moser
Axle-Mania Sportsman Shootout this weekend at U.S. 131 Motorsports
Park, Bruce Thrift (Waycross, Ga.) made what will without a doubt go
down as the easiest $22,500 he will ever make in his life.

Going head-to-head with Scott Macy (Randleman, N.C.) in the final of
Saturday’s Moser Axle-Mania Shootout, Thrift had all of the butterflies
one would expect in knowing that a win or a loss would be the
difference in $15,000 in his pocket.

But after staging the car and preparing himself for the most profitable
ride of his life, all of the pressure was immediately lifted when he
saw the red light come on in Macy’s lane.

Racing fans braved the heat to enjoy some record breaking side-by-side drag racing at Rocky Mountain Raceways’ Funny Car Fever.

Phil Schmidt of Orangeville, California set a new Nitro Harley record of 6.667 at 212.41 miles per hour.

The previous record of 7.063 was set by Joe Timmons in 2005.

“We love coming here. The crowd is excellent. It is one of the most fun venues,” said Schmidt.

Unpredictable
weather led to some unpredictable racing during Saturday’s IHRA
Northern Nationals presented by Dart Machinery at U.S. 131 Motorsports
Park as a mixed bag of results greeted the sold out “Night of Fire”
crowd.

Some drivers had little trouble navigating the fresh track and others
weren’t so lucky as Bruce Litton (Top Fuel) and Frank Gugliotta (Elite
Motorsports Pro Stock) had to rely on Friday’s times to remain on top
while Kenny Lang did exactly the opposite with a blistering lap to take
the top spot in Pro Modified.

Bruce Thrift also made some noise Saturday night with a $22,500 payday during the Axle-Mania Sportsman Shootout.