If Billy Glidden were in Vegas, 21 would be a great number.

However, in Topeka, Kan., the number didn’t have the same appeal.

During the rescheduled ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags eliminations
contested in Topeka, former Limited Street racer Jeff Paulk ended
Glidden’s consecutive rounds won streak at 21.

“Billy’s tough,” said Paulk, who ended up runner-up to Jeff Naiser.
“We’re just trying to get our new deal figured out, so we’re happy with
this.”

Qualifying and time trials are underway at Lebanon Valley Dragway. Top
Alcohol Dragster pilot John Finke of Selkirk, N.Y., and Top Alcohol
Funny Car driver Frank Manzo, Morganville, N.J., took the No. 1
qualifying positions in their classes. This weekend’s event, which runs
through Sunday, is the fourth of seven NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing
Series events scheduled for the Northeast division.

Finke owned the track today, by running a 5.394 second, 267.37 mph pass
to take the top spot of the field.  The current divisional points
leader was victorious at the Lebanon event in 2008. In Top Alcohol
Funny Car, Manzo posted a 5.645 second, 255.68 mph run to take the
pole.  He comfortably holds onto the lead in divisional points with two
victories, as well as a win at last year’s event.

On a night where records seemed to fall left and right, Pro Modified
driver Ed Hoover made the biggest splash of them all with a new track
mark for speed and elapsed time in front of a packed house Friday the
River Cree Resort and Casino Rocky Mountain Nationals presented by
Paradise RV at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Going head to head with points leader Kenny Lang in a battle of the
United States versus Canada, Hoover (Gilbert, S.C.) got the best of the
Grande Pointe, Manitoba resident with a 6.026 E.T. at 237.55 mph to
Lang’s 6.154 elapsed time at 235.72 mph to top the provisional
qualifying charts and claim Friday’s Last Man Standing in Pro Modified.

With bad weather once more approaching, the National Guard American Drag Racing League (ADRL) was in hurry-up mode this evening
at Heartland Park Topeka with final-round eliminations for the Ford
Drive One Summer Drags V, already postponed by rain three weeks ago at
Martin, Michigan.
 
With little time to spare, Joshua Hernandez secured a National Guard
ADRL-leading sixth Pro Extreme win, while Shannon Jenkins matched that
total in Pro Nitrous and Ashley Owens won his second Pro Extreme
Motorcycle race in a row. The Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 class and Extreme
Pro Stock both delivered first-time event winners, however, in Jeff
Naiser and John Montecalvo, respectively.
 
Hernandez ran 3.90 seconds at 191.84 miles per hour over the National
Guard ADRL’s eighth-mile course in the final round, with opponent Bubba
Stanton left stranded on the starting line with a broken supercharger
on his 1963 Corvette.

The fire works will begin early on Saturday morning July 4th as ESPN
radio 97.5 The Ticket in Houston Texas will host a star studded banner
of NHRA racers and interviews.  “We wanted something special for the
4th,” said hosts Sammy and Bob. “The NHRA has such a great bunch of
racers we thought we would put a special show together for our
countries birthday.”

The show will be guest hosted by Steve Johnson, 2005 and last year's U.S. Nationals winner. 

Racing one nitro car in a weekend is tough enough, but wrestling two cars down the track is just downright impossible.

Well, almost impossible.

IHRA veteran Terry Haddock will show why he is one of the best drivers
on the tour this weekend when he wheels both a Top Fuel dragster and a
Nitro Funny Car this weekend at River Cree Resort and Casino Rocky
Mountain Nationals at Castrol Raceway.

“It makes for a tremendously hectic weekend. And we are going to have a
new challenge this weekend because a few crew members were unable to
make the trip,” Haddock said. “We will figure out how to do a good job,
but it won’t be easy.”

From the Nitro Nationals at Rocky Mountain Raceways to the Rocky Mountain Nationals at Castrol Raceway, IHRA’s west coast
swing continues this weekend as drivers from all over the globe
converge on Edmonton, Alberta, Canada for the seventh annual River Cree
Resort and Casino Rocky Mountain Nationals presented by Paradise RV.

While the IHRA it typically considered more of an east coast racing
organization, the past two weeks have proven the sanctioning bodies’
continued commitment to expanding its borders and growing its presence
across North America.

While the decision to cut Alcohol Funny Cars from the 2009 Nitro Jam schedule was not an easy one, the IHRA welcomes its alcohol burning floppers back to the fold this weekend at the Rocky Mountain Nationals at Castrol Raceway.

Well over a dozen Alcohol Funny Cars are on hand for this weekend’s
event including one of the greatest in the history of the sport – Rob
Atchison.

The Canadian born wheelman is second all-time on the IHRA charts in
wins (20) and has three championships to his credit all gained
back-to-back-to-back during the 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons.

Cathy Belcher isn’t the first female to drive an ADRL Pro Extreme doorslammer but she is the quickest and for now, that niche suits her just fine.

Belcher, of Rantoul, Ill., pilots a former Ray Commisso Camaro in a class where the weak are chewed up and spit out.

Even a DNQ in her first race and an accident in her second, hasn't
discouraged Belcher as she races this weekend at the ADRL Independence
Drags in Topeka, Kan. Belcher was the first alternate with a career
best.

Cathy Belcher and Ken Thomas emerged uninjured from a accident which left both of their cars

CompetitionPlus.com staff photographer Roger Richards captured the full photo sequence of the incident. Click here for the sequence.

sporting quite a bit of cosmetic damage.

Thomas crossed the centerline into Belcher’s lane and the two made contact just past the eighth-mile mark.

“I just got out there on the two-three [shift] and it blew the tire
loose and I got over in the other lane,” Thomas said. “I ended up
getting bumped by the other car but it was totally my fault.”

Belcher said she and Thomas gradually came together during the course of the run.