By his own admission, Mike Edwards is “living the dream”. A dream that has led him to his sixth No.1 qualifying
effort in the first ten races of season. And, as in the case of the
previous five efforts, Edwards was humble in his accomplishment.

“It’s an honor to be in the position that we are in now,” Edwards said.
“It’s so hard to do it [qualify No. 1] and to do it as many times as we
have, I’m amazed myself.”

Recently, it appears all Edwards has to do is lay down a fast lap and then work on getting a setup for Sunday.

The Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson Pro Stockers competed in their
first race since the NHRA mandated a ten pound addition to their

Steve Johnson headed Buell? Maybe, maybe not.

competition bringing their minimum weight to 640 pounds.

The combination, which has led the last few NHRA Full Throttle
qualifying lists, was fifth with Andrew Hines and ninth with Eddie
Krawiec.

Steve Johnson has been one of the more outspoken figures on Pro Stock
Motorcycle parity. Johnson told ESPN on Saturday that while he’s
sympathetic to the NHRA’s plight of parity, it’s still frustrating for
him.

Rain is making its way across the midwest leaving many drag racing schedules altered or postponed. On Saturday, action at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals was delayed by 90 minutes and today, persistent rains have forced the event into a holding pattern. Eliminations were scheduled for 11 AM, CST., but the schedule for Sunday appears to be up in the air.

Tony
Pedregon raced to his second No. 1 qualifying position of the season
and 36th of his career Saturday at the United Association Route 66 NHRA
Nationals at Route 66 Raceway.

Antron Brown, Mike Edwards and Doug Horne also will lead their
categories into Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations at the NHRA Full Throttle
Drag Racing Series event.

Pedregon powered his Q-Horsepower Chevy Impala to a 4.079 second run at
304.39 mph to earn his third top qualifying effort at the dragstrip
located just south of Chicago. He will face current Funny Car points
leader Ron Capps in the opening round. Capps squeezed into the field at
16th with a time of 4.228 seconds in his NAPA Dodge Stratus.

“It used to be that you qualify No. 1 and you get a pretty good draw; I
won’t mention any names but not a Ron Capps,” Pedregon said. “That’s a
tough draw. But we’re running good here, and they’ve got to get their
problems sorted out in one run. I’d rather be in this position.

Persistent rains have forced the ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags at U.S. 131 Dragway into a holding pattern. Race officials halted action a little past 8:30, with eliminations into the second round.

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Pro Extreme champion Jason Scruggs can add multi-tasking to his
extensive list of talents following an impressive Friday night
performance at the ADRL Ford Drive One Summer Drags V in Martin, Mi.

Not only did the Saltillo, Miss.-based doorslammer heavy-hitter
complete unfinished business from the rain-delayed Memphis Drags but he
also landed the number one spot, provisionally, in this weekend’s event.

The perfectionist in Scruggs prevented him from celebrating the obvious
double-victory, instead it forced him to focus on what he needs to do
to improve on Friday’s performance.

Doug Horne, rookie standout driving the Junior Pippin Drag Star Buell, fired a shot across the bow of the competition during Pro Stock Motorcycle qualifying at the NRHA Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Ill.

Horne, out of Aberdeen, Md., blasted to the top of the field with a
blazing 6.936, 191.84 mph run in the very first qualifying session
which proved untouchable in the second session.

“It was really good to come right off of the trailer and lay down that
kind of a number,” Horne said. “We’ve done some testing during the four
weeks we’ve had off and it seems the testing has paid off. The tune-up
was great and we changed a bit in the clutch combination. Having that
kind of run gives us all the confidence in the world.”

Noted ESPN analyst Chris Berman used to refer to former NFL great
Cris Carter as one who, “All he does is catch touchdowns.” While it’s likely
that Berman will never commentate on an ADRL Extreme 10.5 race, one
could only imagine what he’d say about Billy Glidden.

Glidden, who has legitimately only lost one race in ADRL competition in
two seasons, may not catch touchdowns on the football field but his
actions in drag racing could easily fill a highlight reel.

Friday night at U.S. 131 Dragway in Martin, Mich., the
second-generation Glidden, son of ten-time Pro Stock titlist Bob
Glidden, showed why he will go down in drag racing as so much more than just a legend.

Mike Edwards sounds like a broken record with
the way he talks about qualifying No. 1 on Friday and expecting his run
not to hold through Saturday’s final sessions.

What the soft-spoken Pro Stock racer from Coweta, Ok., doesn’t share is
the fact that he’s usually the one who beats his Friday run. His 6.587
elapsed time at 209.88 miles per hour during the first two qualifying
runs at the NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Chicago, if it holds, will
represent his sixth No. 1 of the season in the first eleven races of
the season.

“I think it’s premature for me to be up here tonight because the
conditions for tomorrow look like Pro Stock is going to run really fast
tomorrow,” Edwards said during Friday evening’s press conference. “We
made a really good run tonight and hats off to my guys for making it
happen. I was shocked that it ran that fast, I really was.”

Johnny Gray has been the subject of rumors concerning his plans after 
2009. Scuttlebutt suggests the former nitro racer turned Pro Stock competitor is headed to a Ford for 2010.

The interesting thing about the potential scenario is that Gray said he knows nothing about it.

“I haven’t really given it a lot of thought,” Gray admitted. “We’re
struggling right now and I’m not real happy with my program right now.
I can’t honestly say that I haven't given any thought to changes in my
program at this time.”

Since coming into the Pro Stock division in 2007, Gray has driven
Mopars, first with leased engines from Larry Morgan and in 2009 with
factory-backed Allen Johnson. Morgan has since announced he will go to
Ford in 2010. Johnson is expected to remain with Mopar through this
year despite the manufacturer’s decision to file for bankruptcy.