National Guard Pro Mod driver Josh Hernandez is headed to the Rock to
do battle in the Hushpower ADRL Dragstock V, but his heart is in Texas.
The current Pro Extreme points-leader left his home north of Houston
just as hurricane Ike is gaining speed to make landfall on the city's
Gulf coast.
 
"It's hard to get focused because I've never been gone when we've had a
hurricane," Hernandez, a father of two, said. "My wife and the kids
aren't too worried, but I'm still torn. I wish I had bought more gas
for the generator, though.

This weekend's NHRA Carolina's Nationals in Concord, N.C., may be the
first time an NHRA national event has been contested on Lowe's Motor
Speedway grounds, but it is not the first national event. In 1974, the
IHRA staged their Southern Nationals during the last weekend of March.
This event was a one-off largely due to the unfortunate death of jet
car driver Dave Anderson and two crewmembers of a different team.

On
more than one occaison, noted Carolina promoter Tom Ferrell held events
at the storied facility. CompetitionPlus.com has obtained rare footage
from one of those events. Included, you will see notably Roy Hill's
Plymouth Duster and motorcycle icon E.J. Potter. You might even get a
glimpse of Gene Fulton's White Wagon, a three-time championship car
destroyed in a two-car crash in Bristol four years later.

A special feature starring reigning POWERade Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin
Jr., Dave Connolly and NASCAR stars Clint Bowyer and Kenny Wallace will air this
Sunday on two different Speed TV programs that support the channel's NASCAR
coverage.

NASCAR Raceday, Speed TV's prerace show, begins at 11 a.m.,
while Speed Report begins at 7 p.m. Both programs will have segments entitled
"How to drive a Pro Stock car," which was recently filmed at zMax Dragway at
Concord.

NHRA Pro Stock Car vs. NASCAR Stock Car

A comparison between Kurt Johnson’s

ACDelco Chevrolet NHRA Pro Stock Cobalt and a Chevrolet NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Impala SS COT

Due to the threats posed by Hurricane Ike,
the Division 4 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event scheduled for this
weekend at Red River Raceway in Gilliam, La.,
has been rescheduled to Oct. 3-5. The event will run with the same
daily schedule as before. For more information, contact the Division 4
office.

Bob Motz is making his return debut at Summit Racing Equipment
Motorsports Park on "Fright Night", October 25th at the K&N
Filter's Halloween Classic.

As North Carolina residents, fans, NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
competitors and officials prepared for this weekend's inaugural NHRA
Carolina Nationals at the all-new zMax Dragway, drag racer Ron Capps
was challenged by NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip to a duel on the very
same dragway.

Waltrip issued the challenge to his fellow NAPA AUTO PARTS racing
partner to race down the quarter-mile at Bruton Smith's stunning
facility to continue the pair's on-air rivalry and banter promoted in
NAPA AUTO PARTS' clever ad campaign using the two racers with disparate
racing backgrounds.

Arriving with his fully race-functional NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry,
Waltrip faced Capps driving an NHRA Super Comp dragster, owned by
Charlotte's Tisha Wilson, in the pair's first head-to-head match-up on
a racing surface.

It was a heady experience for both, as neither had been down the new
dragstrip touted as the "Bellagio" of drag racing. For Capps, because
it was an all-new venue; for Waltrip because it's doubtful that he had
ever been down a state-of-the-art dragstrip in a powerful car in his
lifetime.

Two events, one weekend, promoter’s nightmare or race fans dream?

Drag racing’s perfect storm is descending upon the Carolinas, but this one is not of meteorological proportions.

This double-whammy is clearly of fantastical proportions.

Within two hours and less than 100 miles apart, two drag racing national events promise standing room only crowds.

Outside of Charlotte, located in the town of Concord, the NHRA will
stage its inaugural Carolinas Nationals at Bruton Smith’s new Bellagio
of drag strips, the zMax Drag Stip.

To the east, the legendary Rockingham Dragway will stage the fifth
annual running of the ADRL Dragstock event; arguably the largest of all
fast doorslammer drag racing events complete with blown outlaw and
nitrous machines as well as mountain motor Pro Stocks and a class of
motorcycles.

Drag
racing is officially underway at what could be the finest drag strip ever
built, the zMax Dragway at Concorde, located outside of Charlotte. Time
trials were scheduled for 8:30 AM, but heavy mist pushed the start to
10 AM.

Stock eliminator racers Robert Summer [far lane] and Dick Kincaid launch in competition during the first session. 

For the trivia buffs, the first oil on the racing surface transpired at 10:15.

MBE Cylinder Heads to Host Open House September 11 to Kick Off Inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals

Bring
your appetite for great food and big horsepower September 11 as MBE
Cylinder Heads hosts an open house at their 5000+ square foot facility
in Mooresville, NC. The event precedes the Inaugural NHRA Carolinas
Nationals at Z-Max Dragway located just minutes away in Concord, NC.