Point standings (top 10) for IHRA professional categories following the
Mopar Canadian Nationals at Grand Bend Motorplex, the sixth of 10
events in the 2009 Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series -

Sunday's final NHRA Full Throttle Series results from the 22nd
annual NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways. The race is the
14th of 24 in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

Final round-by-round results from the 22nd annual NHRA Northwest
Nationals at Pacific Raceways, the 14th of 24 events in the NHRA Full
Throttle Drag Racing Series:

Final round-by-round results from the Mopar Canadian Nationals at Grand
Bend Motorplex, the sixth of 10 events in the 2009 Nitro Jam Drag
Racing Series:

Despite three wins in the Northwest Nationals, Kurt Johnson is struggling at Pacific Raceways this year. Johnson
enters Sunday eliminations at the NHRA Northwest Nationals 14th on the
16-car grid and will face Greg Anderson in the first round.

Jack Beckman and the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Funny Car team had a tough time qualifying
for the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways this weekend,
finally settling for No. 14 after recording a respectable 4.397-second
lap at 227.49 mph in the final qualifying round today.

Loss of traction in each of the three previous attempts produced a 9.323/76.94, a 5.577/132.13, and a 6.092/107.21.

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the
Mopar Canadian Nationals at Grand Bend Motorplex, the sixth of 10
events in the 2009 Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series.  Pairings based on
results in qualifying, which ended Saturday.

The NHRA mandate which limits teams to four test days throughout the entire year has at least one

Les Welch Photo

team using the two days of qualifying as test sessions.

Funny Car class points leader Ron Capps and legendary crew chief Ed
"Ace" McCulloch once again took advantage of certain atmospheric and
track surface conditions to test components on the NAPA AUTO PARTS
Dodge Funny Car during qualifying for the NHRA Northwest Nationals. As
a result, Capps qualified No. 6 for the event and will face Cruz
Pedregon in the opening round of Sunday's eliminations.

World
champion drag racer Jay Payne used the quickest and fastest pass of the
weekend to beat Brian Thiel for the Top Alcohol Funny Car title of the
NHRA Division 6 points meet, which was held over one week from the
rain-battered race in Woodburn, Ore.

It was Payne's first victory for new title sponsor FireIce, which inked
him to a primary deal in May. The trophy race was run during the final
round of qualifying for this weekend's NHRA Northwest Nationals at
Pacific Raceways.

"I'll admit I was really nervous before the race," Payne said. "The
track was hot and greasy so you never know what it's going to give you.
At the same time, Brian had run career-best numbers during his last two
qualifying passes before he raced us so I knew he was coming on strong.
We had to go-for-it."

It is always fun being the center of attention – just ask Alcohol Funny Car driver Paul Noakes.

As a professional race car driver racing in front of his home crowd
this weekend, Noakes’ name has been on the tip of everyone’s tongue
heading into this race. Appearing on television and radio stations and
in dozens of newspapers across the area, Noakes’ showdown with Rob
Atchison this weekend has garnered plenty of attention and has race
fans thrilled about Saturday night’s showdown.

“I am not sure about being a local celebrity, but we do have a good
following of race fans here in Canada. That is why the IHRA comes to
Canada,” Noakes said. “There are a lot of fans that fill the stands
that will sit through rain storms, snow storms and anything the weather
throws at them.