One thing Allen Johnson had working for him headed into the final round of the O’Reilly
NHRA Summernationals is that he knew his opponent. The Mopar-sponsored
driver has raced against Mike Edwards for enough years to know what to
expect when the sixteen-car field whittled down to the two of them.

“Mike always makes a good run against us,” Johnson said, as he spoke to
the assembled media following his seventh career NHRA Full Throttle Pro
Stock victory.

“In the finals he did. The right lane came around for us with the cloud
cover but we didn’t take Mike lightly. We knew he had it.”

Johnson admitted that he felt a measure of pressure and for the
seasoned factory-backed racer, one could assume the news of Chrysler’s
bankruptcy along with a dry spell between national event victories has
been overwhelming.

Second
generation nitro Funny Car driver Daniel Wilkerson was more than
capable of being a player in the O’Reilly NHRA Summernationals but as
the up-and-coming rookie driver learned on Sunday, one of the more
important lessons to be learned is how to be a team player.

Wilkerson was a strong contender, having run a 4.215 elapsed time to
land in the eighth spot of the 16-car field, unfortunately that put him
up against Bob Tasca III, his father's teammate. It was time to learn a
valuable lesson.

At the light, Wilkerson hesitated and then lifted early ensuring Tasca would have a clear path on the run.

When one gets beaten by the track it’s usually because something happens beyond the starting line and not behind it.

Langdon's crew struggles to get his Lucas Oil dragster into reverse.

Rookie Top Fuel driver Shawn Langdon acknowledges the mistake, a rare
mistake, which overshadowed an otherwise impressive semi-final finish
by the Lucas Oil-sponsored driver at the O’Reilly NHRA Summernationals
in Topeka, Kan.

Pro Mod racer Tim Tindle found his way through the uncharted fields of
Heartland Park Topeka all the way to the winner's circle in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx.
 
Marking the first time the Challenge has visited the O'Reilly NHRA
Summer Nationals, the drivers and teams were greeted with full stands
of fans and treated them to a show of fast runs and close races all
under the sunny skies of Kansas.
 
Tindle made good on his purpose when he said at the beginning of the
race "I'm here to win" by besting Chip King, Danny Rowe and even number
one qualifier Joe Baker en route to the final-round matchup against Jay
Payne. Payne had beaten Mike Knowles and then single-handedly took out
the nitrous-burning teammates Burton Auxier and Mike Castellana to earn
his berth in the money round.

Ron
Capps continued his dominance over the Funny Car field with his win at
the 21st annual O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.

Larry Dixon and Allen Johnson also visited winner’s circle after
dominating their respective classes at the race that marks the halfway
point of the regular season for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing
series.

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the
21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX at
Heartland Park Topeka, the ninth of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle
Drag Racing Series -

Weis makes splash in IHRA return with Top Fuel win

Russo gets first Pro Mod win; Gugliotta returns to victory lane

A beautiful Texas weekend came to a close Sunday afternoon as Scott
Weis (Top Fuel), Chris Russo (Pro Modified) and Frank Gugliotta (Elite
Motorsports Pro Stock) all claimed victories during championship Sunday
at the Amalie Motor Oil Texas Nationals Sunday in Crandall.

For Russo and Weis, Sunday marked their first career Ironman victories,
while Gugliotta picked his 11th career Ironman in IHRA Pro Stock
competition.

In exhibition action, Gaylen Smith grabbed the win in the Outlaw Pro
Modified shootout while Chris Gulitti (Top Sportsman), Russell Marr
(Top Dragster), Kevin Helms (Super Stock), Bob Murray (Stock), Doug
Miller (Quick Rod), Leonard Greathouse (Super Rod) and Jeremy Hefler
(Hot Rod) all took home Ironman victories in sportsman competition.

Unofficial point standings (top 10) for IHRA professional categories following the Amalie Oil Texas Nationals brought to you by Wolverine & Academy Sports and Outdoors at Dallas Raceway, the third of 10 events in the 2009 Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel
1.  Del Cox Jr, 273; 2.  Bruce Litton, 256; 3.  Terry McMillen, 196; 4.  Bobby Lagana Jr., 191; 5.  Mitch King, 169; 6.  Tim Boychuk, 166; 7.  Terry Haddock, 127; 8.  Paul Lee, 123; 9.  Scott Weis, 115; 10.  Todd Simpson, 60.

Final round-by-round results from the 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer
Nationals presented by Castrol GTX at Heartland Park Topeka, the ninth
of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

Sunday's final results from the 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer
Nationals presented by Castrol GTX at Heartland Park Topeka. The race
is the ninth of 24 in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series: