After
years of planning and countless months of construction, IHRA racers and
fans now officially have a fantastic new facility to call home.

Known as the “Concrete Palace,” Dallas Raceway came alive Thursday when
the first cars to ever take to the all-concrete track made some
impressive eighth-mile runs.

IHRA’s resident track prep guru Jim Weinert and his crew had the
brand-new surface in unbelievable condition, as evidenced by the
elapsed times and speeds posted by a number of racers who turned up for
the track-opening test and tune session.

With
the threat of rain increasing as the afternoon wore on, the only rumble
heard in Bristol, Tenn. was coming from Thunder Valley.  A lucky dozen
braved the weather and the economic storms to race in the Get Screened
America Pro Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx Friday at the NHRA
Thunder Valley Nationals.  Despite an abbreviated field there was no
shortage of action.
 
R2B2 owner and Pro Mod series driver Roger Burgess said, "It's a small
field, but it's a competitive field.  Everybody has got a shot at
winning this weekend."  After the 4:30 qualifying rounds that certainly
seemed to be the case. 

In the first rounds of qualifying at the Texas Sportsman Challenge, Top
Alcohol Dragster driver Todd Odom of Dallas and Top Alcohol Funny Car
pilot Tony Bartone, Long Island City, N.Y., took the No. 1 qualifying
positions in their classes.

Odom laid down a 5.472-second, 262.64 mph pass which was just enough to
put him ahead of No. 2 qualifier Malcolm Wahle of Claremore, Okla. 
Wahle ran 5.496 seconds at 251.20 mph.  Currently, there are 10 Top
Alcohol Dragsters trying to make the eight-car eliminations field. 
They are slated to get two more qualifying passes on Saturday.

Bartone, who piloted Jim Dunn’s Fuel Funny Car in NHRA’s Full Throttle
Series until this year, made a 5.666-second, 257.92 mph lap.  That run
was more than enough to cover No. 2 qualifier Burl Brown’s
5.779-second, 250.97 mph pass.  Brown is from Gainesville, Texas.

Mike Kosky and Andy Bohl, Racine, lead the qualifiers after the opening
day of racing at the 3rd Annual B’laster Cavalcade of Stars presented
by Budweiser, a round of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, at
Summit Motorsports Park.  Cuddy, Pa., resident Kosky heads up the Top
Alcohol Dragster class while Bohl, who hails from Racine, Wis., leads
in Top Alcohol Funny Car. 

Kosky outran the field with a pass of 5.342 seconds at 266.53 mph which
was enough to put him ahead of No. 2 qualifier Bill Reichert, Owosso,
Mich., who is the defending division champion in the class.  Reichert
ran 5.392 seconds at 268.49 mph.  After one day of qualifying there are
12 cars vying for a spot in the eight-car elimination field and with
another day of qualifying slated, more may come in on Saturday.

Bohl wheeled his Funny Car to 5.652-second, 257.19 mph pass to take the
top spot.  Terry Monroe, Beaver, Pa., is in the No. 2 slot with a
5.694-second, 257.63 mph pass.  There are currently also 12 Funny Cars
looking to be in the eight-car eliminations field on Sunday.

Allen Johnson can’t help but wonder if a midweek accident in a
pre-Bristol test session worked in his favor alleviating pressure which
usually accompanies an event deemed as his hometown race.

Johnson, of Greeneville, Tenn., knows the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
is the one race where he gets to perform before hundreds of friends and
family. That creates a pressure to perform like none of the other stops
on the 24-race NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Johnson crashed his Mopar-sponsored Dodge Stratus earlier in the
weekend while testing in Radford, Va., when his parachutes failed to
deploy. Johnson turned the car into an earthen berm to scrub speed off
the race car.

All Rodger Brogdon wanted was a chance to compete.

The former Competition Eliminator standout from Tomball, Texas, not only has a chance. He’s got a very good chance.

He’s thankful to team owner Steve Kent and engine builder/power broker
Victor Cagnazzi for the opportunity to draw his shorts up tight at the
hit.

“I don't know about that, but it is going fast,” Brogdon said of his
new mount. “We're doing real good, making a lot of progress. After
every race we send the car back to Victor's shop and Tommy Utt works on
it and every time we come out it seems to be a little bit quicker.”

Brogdon is in his third race since joining forces with Cagnazzi. Prior
to their unification, he’d run the gamut of leasing engines and even
tried building them in-house.

Mike Edwards has a game plan on Thursdays and it has nothing to do with his race car. There’s no special routine he goes through checking and preparing his Pontiac GXP for Friday’s qualifying sessions.

The day before an event, Edwards invites a number of inner-city youth
to the track to counsel them on the positives of making the right
decisions and fending off the overwhelming nature of peer pressure.

Friday night he put action to his words during qualifying for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.

After Ashley Force Hood called her shot during qualifying at the NHRA Southern Nationals, she got the attention of her fellow Funny Car competitors.

She no longer calls her shots. They call them for her.

Tim Wilkerson raced to the top of provisional Funny Car qualifying at
the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals with a 4.109, 295.08.in his second
round attempt. When NHRA announcer Alan Reinhart asked Wilkerson about
his potential top qualifying effort, he warned his supporters not to
begin celebrating on his behalf.

Wilkerson was right. Force beat him with a more impressive 4.105, 298.67.

Three years ago, Cory McClenathan figured if he couldn’t be fast that being spectacular would be just as good.

McClenathan’s dragster broke apart and crashed during the 2006 NHRA
Thunder Valley Nationals Friday evening qualifying session. It was
spectacular.

This time, McClenathan figured it was easier to be fast.

The 30-time national event winner drove to a 3.874 elapsed time at
312.21 miles per hour in the same right lane where he’d previously
destroyed the FRAM-sponsored dragster.

“We have both ends of the deal now at this race track,” McClenathan
admitted. “But when you watch this team work, they are pretty
spectacular. I would give up this No. 1 on Friday for a No. 1 on
Sunday.”

Ashley Force Hood raced to the qualifying lead Friday at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

Cory McClenathan and Mike Edwards also were No. 1 qualifiers in their
respective categories at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
event.

Force Hood posted a 4.105 second run at 298.67 mph in her Castrol GTX
Ford Mustang to take the top spot in Funny Car. If her performance
holds through Saturday’s final two qualifying sessions (12:30 p.m. and
3:30 p.m.) it will be her second No. 1 of the season and fifth of her
career.