Morgan
Lucas continues his hot streak as he took the top spot in Top Fuel at
the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway on
Saturday.

Two qualifying sessions took to the track on Saturday after rain
cancelled qualifying for all classes except for Pro Stock Motorcycle on
Friday.  This is the seventh of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle
Drag Racing Series.

Ron Capps, Greg Stanfield and Andrew Hines also take No. 1 positions in
their respective categories into eliminations on Sunday at 11:00 a. m.

He’s the man who could likely sell a ketchup popsicle
to a woman in white gloves and that’s the inspiration that keeps Funny
Car racer Jerry Toliver in the hunt.

Activating a new deal is half the fun. Securing the funds to maintain a top level operation is the other.

“There’s no secret to it,” Toliver admits, when asked about his secret
of success. “We have certain attributes out here that apply to certain
companies. Our fan base and the direct access to them is a huge part of
being able to sell the sport to sponsors. That’s why you see so many
companies out here taking the recruiting approach whether it’s military
or labor unions. Anytime you can reach out and touch your customer
that’s a good thing. It’s basic principles and I always try to
understand what that company is looking for and target that.

The National Guard American Drag Racing League (ADRL) returns to
nationwide broadcast this weekend, with the airing of its Hardee’s

With the Versus HD cameras rolling, Pro Extreme rookie Jason Hamstra
earned the win Apr. 11, at the National Guard ADRL Hardee’s Georgia
Drags at South Georgia Motorsports Park. Race coverage and features
from the event will air at 3 p.m. Eastern this Sunday, May 3, on the
Versus action sports television network. (ADRL/Bunsold photo)

Georgia Drags V at 3 p.m. Eastern this Sunday, May 3, on the Versus action sports television network.

The second of 11 National Guard ADRL broadcasts this year, this show
will differ significantly in appearance and content from the first
episode shown after the National Guard ADRL season opener in March.

“In a typical show, once you come out with the first one you don’t want
to change things too much because you’ve pretty much set the
precedent,” executive producer Steve Grein explained. “Well, there’s
nothing typical about ADRL and they looked at the first show and
decided, well this worked and this didn’t, so the second show is
drastically—I mean, unbelievably—different from the first show.”

The 39th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Ignitor presented by Dan Wiebold Ford,
a round of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, kicked off today at
Firebird Raceway. Adam Bowdish, Oregon City, Ore., leads the qualifiers
in Comp Eliminator in his ’89 Trans Am while Eric Bell, Chandler,
Ariz., is No. 1 in his ’70 Challenger Super Stocker.

Hal Sorenson of Vancouver, Wash., wheeled his ’69 Camaro to the top
spot in Stock Eliminator and Auburn, Wash., racer Curt Geise is atop
the Top Sportsman class behind the wheel of his ’08 GTO.  Rexburg,
Idaho’s Seve Cook is No. 1 in Top Dragster and Jeff Havens, Yakima,
Wash., set the pace in Sportsman Motorcycle presented by Harley
Davidson.  Also qualified the top 10 in the Sportsman Motorcycle class
are Boise residents Rich Pedraza (No. 4), Jacob Wood (No. 9) and Jim
Lambert (No. 10).  Pocatello’s Mike Butterfield is No. 8.

The opening rounds of qualifying are complete at Virginia Motorsports
Park’s Full Throttle Shootout, a round of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag
Racing Series.  Local Top Dragster racer, Kenny Young of Petersburg, is
No. 1 in his class while John Finke of Selkirk, N.Y., leads the Top
Alcohol Dragster contingent and Top Alcohol Funny Car ace Frank Manzo,
Morganville, N.J., set the pace in that category.  There were a total
of 13 Top Alcohol Dragsters and 14 Top Alcohol Funny Cars at VMP vying
for a spot in the eight-car fields.

Finke’s 5.382-second, 261.78 mph lap in the final qualifying session
was just enough to put him ahead of Mike Kosky of Cuddy, Pa.  Kosky ran
5.385 seconds at 262.79 mph.  Finke will take on No. 8 qualifier Ken
Winward, Wilmington, Del. in the first round of eliminations Saturday. 
Reigning Top Alcohol Dragster national champ Bill Reichert, Owosso,
Mich., is qualified in the No. 3 slot.

Manzo, who is the defending division and national Top Alcohol Funny Car
champion, outran the No. 2 qualifier, John Anderika, Pittson, Pa., by
more than a tenth of a second.  Manzo ran 5.554 seconds at 259.51 mph
to Anderika’s 5.656-second, 251.39 mph pass.  Olympic gold
medal-winning cyclist Marty Nothstein, Orefield, Pa., is qualified in
the No. 3 position.

Bob Glidden stopped long enough from
working on Larry Morgan’s Lucas Oil Pro Stock Dodge Stratus in order to
take in the scenery of International Raceway. The ten-time Pro
Stock driver has made as many, if not more, laps at the track located
outside of St. Louis than any of the drivers currently in competition.

“The track used to run the other way,” Glidden said, pointing towards
the finish line. “We raced from the finish line to the starting line.”

Andrew Hines was the only provisional low qualifier at the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis.

Rains which fell following the Pro Stock Motorcycle session forced NHRA
officials to cancel the remainder of Friday qualifications.

Hines was surprised that any qualifying took place on a day hampered by repeated rain delays.

“All of our guys back in the pits have iPhones and they were pulling up
the radar shots … they were saying it was going to get rained out,”
Hines said. “Looking at the radar I didn’t think we would (be able to
qualify).”

Andrew
Hines moved to the top spot in Pro Stock Motorcycle before rain washed
out the first two rounds of qualifying at the 15th annual O’Reilly NHRA
Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway.

Persistent rain showers forced NHRA officials to postpone the first
rounds of professional qualifying for Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock
at the seventh of 24 events on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing
Series.

Hines was able to power his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines
Harley-Davidson to a 6.920-second run at 189.73 mph before rain storms
moved into the area. Pro Stock Motorcycle was the only professional
category to complete a round of qualifying.

For one of the brightest innovators in the nitro ranks, touting a
sponsorship inspiring an innovative way to gain an accredited college
degree seems to be a good fit.

Jim Head will carry backing from Western Governors University for the
balance of 2009 and possibly beyond. Head debuted the new look Toyota
Solara Funny Car today during qualifying for the O’Reilly NHRA Midwest
Nationals in St. Louis.

“I am really excited about bringing aboard Western Governors
University,” Head said. “We plan to work alongside them to generate
leads for enrollment using NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing as the
platform.”

Team IHRA's Shirley Blankenship passes away sometime on Tuesday evening after a battle with cancer.

She had been battling cancer for some time, but refused to let it
change who she was," IHRA VP Skooter Peaco said. "A fixture in IHRA forever, Shirley and her husband
Hank were always ready to go to the next race and do their part to help
make our events successful.

"She was the den mother of the tech
trailer and was known by thousands of our racers around the country. 
She will be missed and remembered."