It's hard to picture Ed "The Ace" McCulloch elbow-deep in the grimy guts of the NAPA Dodge Charger that Ron Capps has driven to

Ed
McCulloch [left] shown here celebrating a father/son tuning victory
with son Jason, has been cooking this season. The dish he's serving up
tastes great to he and driver Ron Capps yet leaves a bad taste in the
mouths of the competition.[Roger Richards]

five victories this NHRA season, wearing a tall, crisply starched, white chef's hat.
 
But that's the image of his crew chief that Capps painted earlier this
season at Chandler, Ariz., when he became the first Funny Car driver
since John Force in 1997 to win the first two races of the year. His
winless 2008 and a lackluster eighth place finish in the standings was
an embarrassment for his new sponsor and especially shocking after he
led the 2007 standings after 14 consecutive races in the heart of the
season.

For the first time in ten years, Jim Dunn enters a NHRA Full Throttle national event as the defending champion.

Last season, he and his driver at the time, Tony Bartone, stopped Ron
Capps in the Funny Car final round of the NHRA Northwest Nationals in
Seattle.

This year Bartone has returned to his former stomping grounds of Top
Alcohol Funny Car and been replaced with storied veteran Jerry Toliver.

"Getting Tony's first win wasn't as good as me getting one," quipped
Dunn. "No, that was cool to get Tony his first win; I was glad to get
one for him. He had worked hard for it. If you're right, you're right,
and on that day we were right."

In honor of Lowe's Motor Speedway's 50 years of racing, fans can now
reserve any ticket for the NASCAR Banking 500 Week, NHRA Nationals and
the World of Outlaws World Finals for only $19.60 by calling the
speedway's ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS.
   
The significance in $19.60 is from the speedway's maiden year, 1960,
which not only marked the first Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway,
but the first fall race as well, when Alfred "Speedy" Thompson drove
the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford to Victory Lane in the inaugural National
400. Now, for only $19.60, fans can reserve their seat for the
speedway's 50th fall race, the Oct. 17 NASCAR Banking 500 only from
Bank of America.
   
"The payment plans at Lowe's Motor Speedway are very popular with our
fans," said Marcus Smith, president and general manager of Lowe's Motor
Speedway. "It allows fans the opportunity to pay over the course of
several months, where at one time, not long ago, they had to pay it all
up front.

There are five races left before the cut-off for the NHRA Countdown to One Championship. Robert Hight and the Auto Club Ford Mustang
have been taking baby steps towards qualifying since Chicago but this
weekend at the 22nd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals the No. 12
positioned Funny Car driver wants to start making big strides up the
points list.

On the first stop of the Western Swing in Denver Hight made some
progress on the mountaintop at Bandimere Speedway advancing to the
semi-finals and defeating one of the drivers he is chasing closely
rookie Matt Hagan in the process.

After his second round victory over Hagan Hight knew he still had some work cut out for himself.

T.J. Tindle, son of NHRA Pro Mod racer Tim Tindle, brought home another
season victory for the Tindle Racing team after winning the Thunder
Valley Outlaw 330 Junior Dragster title event at Bristol recently.
Tindle defeated Evan Wilson after delivering a holeshot .009 reaction
and running a 4.321 elapsed time to Wilson’s 4.352.

Funny Car points leader and NHRA fan favorite Ashley Force Hood will race a specially designed Ronald McDonald House Charities Castrol
GTX Ford Mustang during the 22nd annual NHRA Northwest Nationals in
Seattle, July 17-19, and again at the 22nd annual FRAM Autolite NHRA
Nationals, July 24-26, in Sonoma (CA). The Mustang was unveiled today
to the media at the famed Seattle Space Needle during the pre-event
press conference for the Seattle NHRA national event.

“I am thrilled to be helping raise awareness and donations for Ronald
McDonald House Charities. BrandSource, one of our major sponsors, is
very involved with this organization and their president Bob Lawrence,
started talking with us about getting involved earlier this year. We
got really excited about all the opportunities to help so this program
came together very quickly,” said Force Hood.

"The biggest thing for me is being able to race this amazing looking
Ford Mustang. I know it will draw a lot of attention and I want to turn
that excitement into donations for RMHC. We’ll be accepting donations
this weekend in Seattle and again in Sonoma. People can also donate
online if they can’t get to the race. I have so many fans that are
children I really want reach out to them and their families to
encourage them to give to or volunteer with this great organization,”
added Force Hood.

With five events in the record books, the National Guard American Drag Racing League (ADRL) has passed the halfway point of its 2009 season leading up to the championship-deciding Speedtech Battle for the Belts this October at Ennis, Texas.

The Speedtech Battle for the Belts pits the top eight points earners in
each of the National Guard ADRL’s five professional classes against
each other in a winner-take-all, end-of-season playoff. The Battles are
held on the Friday night preceding each year’s National Guard ADRL
World Finals at the Texas Motorplex, near Dallas. National Guard ADRL
teams actually begin accumulating points toward the next year’s
Speedtech Battle for the Belts during Saturday’s World Finals
eliminations.

A
former world champion and a drag racing legend will highlight a
pre-race promo event in Fredericksburg, Va., for the National Guard
ADRL U.S. Drags II hosted by Virginia Motorsports Park located outside
of Richmond, Va.

Former Mountain Motor Pro Stock champion Robert Patrick and legendary
doorslammer racing icon turned drag racing school instructor Roy Hill
will display vehicles and sign autographs on Saturday, July 18, from 11
A.M. until 2 P.M at the Purvis Ford, Lincoln Mercury dealership.

“I can’t begin to tell you how excited we are to interact with the ADRL
race fans,” said Patrick, whose family owns Purvis. “I think it’s great
that those who attend will have the opportunity to pick up free tickets
for the event next weekend, get some autographs and hang out with us.

Allen Johnson believes his “mojo” might have found the perfect time to kick in.

Everybody
is getting the Johnson mojo including the family's Jack RussellTerrier.
While "Molly Kate" aka "Mopar Molly" was at the dogsitter's this
weekend, Allen and wife Pam returned home to find Mopar Molly with a
Mopar emblem adorning both the right and left side of her fur. 

The Mopar-sponsored NHRA Pro Stock driver scored his second win in five
races last weekend and has amassed a 12-3 record of round wins  since
his May win at Topeka.

This weekend Johnson will be racing at Pacific Raceway in Seattle, a
venue where he’s reached the finals the last three seasons.

Thirty-nine NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock victories highlight a storied  career for veteran driver Kurt Johnson. For the second generation driver, those 39 triumphs started with a single win.

Johnson got his first win sixteen years ago in Seattle, the site of
this weekend’s NHRA Northwest Nationals hosted by Pacific Raceways.

"I remember Bob Glidden telling me at the finish line after the first
round that if I kept my head screwed on straight I could win the race,"
Johnson said. "We took Bob's advice … made sure we kept our cool, and
came away with a win.