Non-perishable food drive to help local needy during the Nov.
27-30 Las Vegas Bracket Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway

A non-perishable food drive will be held during the Nov. 27-30 Las
Vegas Bracket Nationals during the Thanksgiving Weekend at The Strip at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Racers and fans are encouraged to donate non-perishable food items
during the event.  Donations will be accepted at the announcers’ booth
in the officials’ tower at the drag strip each day.

Budweiser/Lucas Oil Top Fuel team owner Kenny Bernstein today announced
Tim and Kim Richards’ decision to retire from the sport of drag racing
at the end of the 2008 NHRA season.

“We are deeply indebted to Tim and Kim for their dedication and
talent,” said six-time champion Bernstein.  “When Tim and Kim joined
our team in 2001 we enjoyed a record-setting year filled with eight
race wins and 12 final round appearances culminating in our sixth NHRA
championship, our second in Top Fuel.

“Also in 2001, our Budweiser team won 61 rounds of competition which
set a Top Fuel record for the most rounds won in one season.  That
record held until Dallas of this year.

Championship Day at Reunion Austin, Green, White big winners at California Hot Rod Reunion

It was a championship day of nostalgia drag racing at Auto Club Famoso
Raceway – literally. A gorgeous, blustery autumn afternoon brought the
fans in out in droves to see the final day of nostalgia drag racing at
the 17th California Hot Rod Reunion, presented by the Automobile Club
of Southern California. It also was the finale of the inaugural NHRA
Hot Rod Heritage Series. In short, it was a day of champions and the
fans loved it.

In the Heritage Series, Troy Green, Purcell, Okla, nabbed the Nostalgia
Top Fuel title over Jim Murphy, Santa Rosa, Calif. Green, who clung to
a slim 5-point lead over Murphy, appeared headed for a
championship-deciding final, but both
were beaten in their semi-finals contests. Green lost to Rick White and
Brett Harris took Murphy out, thus giving Green the title. White, San
Diego, Calif. then beat Harris, Kaysville, Utah, whose car broke down
at the starting line, to
win the Hot Rod Reunion race title. White’s winning time was 255.89 mph with a 5.819 ET.

It definitely wasn’t easy, but Dave Connolly emerged with the Virginia Nationals Pro Stock championship for
the second consecutive year Sunday at Virginia Motorsports Park. And he
did so by defeating Cagnazzi Racing teammate Jeg Coughlin, who happens
to be the reigning series titleholder and current point leader.

The victory sent Connolly, driving a special red and white Lucas
Oil/Charter Communications Chevy Cobalt at this event, from sixth to
third in points with 2,397. He trails runner-up Kurt Johnson by three
and Coughlin by 77 with two races remaining.

Not only did Connolly have to defeat tough competitors Greg Stanfield,
Johnson and Greg Anderson to get to Coughlin, but his team had to
change a motor after the first round.

Cruz Pedregon’s team picked a good weekend to get aggressive.

Pedregon admitted that his championship-winning crew chief Rahn Tobler
had approached much of the 2008 season from a cautious standpoint,
focusing on just getting the car from one end of the track to the other
under power.

After all, a team can’t win a race if they smoke the tires at the hit,
neither can it win if the other teams are successfully leaving nothing
on the table.

Tobler, who tuned Top Fuel legend Shirley Muldowney to world
championships, decided to clear the table on Saturday during the NHRA
Virginia Nationals in Richmond.

Losing a first round race is always tough, but when it takes you out of championship contention, the sting is magnified.

FRAM Top Fuel dragster driver Cory McClenathan lost a crucial first
round race in eliminations that put the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series Top Fuel championship out of reach for the 17-year Top Fuel
veteran, who dropped from No. 2 to No. 4 in the Countdown to 1 points
chase.

No. 4 qualifier McClenathan was matched up against No. 13 Morgan Lucas
in the opening round. McClenathan left the starting line first with a
.068 to .095 reaction time (.000 is perfect), but tire shake forced him
to pedal the throttle early in the run, slowing him to a 3.970-second
elapsed time at 307.37 mph. Lucas drove past him to take the win with a
3.881/309.77.

Reigning series titlist  Jeg Coughlin Jr. more than doubled his lead in the POWERade championship chase from 32 to 74 points with a runner-up finish Sunday at the third annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park.

Racing in his seventh final of the season, the 38-year-old Coughlin
drove past John Nobile, Mike Edwards, and Johnny Gray before being
nipped in the money round by Dave Connolly, his teammate at Victor
Cagnazzi Racing. Coughlin's JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt was the quickest
car in the first and third rounds on the day.

"We're definitely excited with the weekend," Coughlin said. "Of course,
we wanted to seal the deal in the final but it was good to see Dave win
and move right up to third in the points. We kept it in the Victor
Cagnazzi Racing family so it's all good.

The world’s fastest female Hillary Will, driving the 8,000-horsepower
Palm Beach Int’l Raceway Top Fuel dragster for KB Racing, LLC, came up
just one round short of her second win of the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series Sunday during final eliminations of the Virginia NHRA
Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond, Va. However, with
her final-round appearance, Will moved up from 5th to 2nd place in
POWERade championship points.

Will, the No. 2 qualifier (3.799 sec., 315.49 mph), dispatched of No.
15 qualifier T.J. Zizzo in round one of Sunday’s eliminations. In the
quarterfinals, Will defeated her Kalitta Motorsports teammate Dave
Grubnic, driver of the DHL Top Fuel dragster, in a great side-by-side
drag race, 3.877 seconds, 306.12 mph to 3.882 sec., 302.14 mph. Will
made her third final-round trip of the 2008 NHRA season after
vanquishing Doug Herbert in the semifinals, 3.837 sec., 302.96 mph to
5.604 sec., 142.97 mph.

Veteran racer Jay Payne became the seventh winner of the JEGS ProMod Challenge season Sunday by beating
first-time finalist Scott Ray in the money round of the third annual
Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park.

It was the first win of the season for the 2006 series champion and it
stole some of the attention away from a nip-and-tuck championship
battle between reigning titlist Josh Hernandez and Tony Pontieri, who
are now just 20 points apart in the JEGS points with one race left.

In a race unique to O'Reilly Farmington Dragway's normal program, fans turned out heavily to enjoy Saturday's open field Quick-8,
featuring nitrous as well as blower car entries. Fan appeal and
performance combos were diverse, and with weather as close to perfect
as you can imagine, Farmington's special event didn't disappoint. In
the end, Todd Tutterow was victorious over Dale Brinsfield.
 
Fans came out of their seats in the opening round of qualifying when
Todd Tutterow guided his C-5 Corvette down Farmington's concrete lane,
posting a 200mph lap across the scoreboard. Tutterow's 3.923 instantly
shot him to the top of the qualifying sheet, lowering that time to a
3.922 @ 199mph in round two.