Three-time Las Vegas winner Jeg Coughlin Jr. is off to a strong start
at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, qualifying with a steady
6.743 at 203.98 mph Friday evening to claim the No. 8 spot on the
provisional ladder.

Usually qualifying positions don't mean as much this early in the
POWERade season, but Coughlin entered the ninth annual SummitRacing.com
NHRA Nationals, the fifth of 24 national events on the 2008 schedule,
just three points out of the lead. He knows the No. 1 ranking he held
just one race ago is attainable just by qualifying well.

"It all matters when you're racing in the Pro Stock class because as
we've seen already this season, any car in the field is capable of
winning," Coughlin said. "We've seen championships won and lost based
on just a few points over the last few years so it really makes you
aware of the bonus points you earn in qualifying."

WILKERSON, SCHUMACHER, KORETSKY CLAIM PROVISIONAL NO. 1 QUALIFYING SPOTS

Tim Wilkerson has qualified low in 2008, if his Friday effort holds on Saturday. He'll have a third in 2008.

Tim Wilkerson looked primed to earn his third No. 1 qualifier of the
season during the opening day of qualifying at the ninth annual
SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals.

Wilkerson piloted his Levi Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS to a
4.850-second pass at 318.24 mph to become the provisional top
qualifier. It will be his 13th career No. 1 and his first in Las Vegas
if the run remains the best after two qualifying sessions on Saturday.

Bob Tasca, III told Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com earlier this week his decision to

Bob Tasca, III is currently in the second position after the first day.

part
with crew chief Mike Kloeber was based on team chemistry. In his first
event after promoting Chris Cunningham to the lead tuning role, there
were no adverse chemical reactions.

In fact, Tasca drove his way to the second quickest lap of the second session with a 4.864.

Two times this season, Tim Wilkerson stormed to the top spot early in qualifying only to

Tim Wilkerson is gunning for a third pole position in 2008. (Marty Reger)

proclaim
the run wouldn’t stand. In the end, he entered eliminations as the top
speed despite his doom and gloom prognostications.

Wilkerson drove the Levi, Ray & Shoup Chevy Impala SS to the top spot with a 4.850 elapsed time at 318.24 mph.

Tony Schumacher laid down a 4.510-second pass at 328.38 mph in the

Tony Schumacher honored U.S. Army Medal of Honor recepient Jon Caviani with his low qualifying run. (Roger Richards)

second
session to climb to the provisional pole position. The fact he was
carrying a little extra weight didn’t bother him in the least.

In fact, the extra weight made all the difference in the world.

Just 56 days after ground was
officially broken, The Dragway @ Lowe's Motor Speedway is rapidly
taking shape in preparation for the Sept. 11-14 NHRA Carolinas
Nationals.

“It's amazing to see how fast everything is coming together,”
said Roger Slack, Lowe's Motor Speedway's vice president of events.
“With the structure of the starting-line tower in place, concrete being
poured for the first pedestrian tunnel and the grandstands going
together, anticipation is building for the first race.”

Officials from the NHRA Pacific Division, Auto Club Dragway, and Auto Club
Famoso Raceway announced today a change to the 2008 Pacific Division Lucas Oil
Drag Racing Series schedule.  Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car, which were
scheduled to run at the May 2-4 event at Auto Club Dragway in Fontana, CA will
now be run at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, CA on September 12-13.  
This change applies to TAD and TAFC classes only, all other classes and
schedules for both events will remain the same.

Roger Richards Photos

A
significant part of drag racing history has taken place at Rockingham Dragway,
Steve Earwood’s venerable quarter-mile strip nestled in between the pine trees
near the North Carolina-South Carolina border. But while history and memories
are part of what makes Rockingham so special, the old guard better look out.
The young guns are coming.

Robert
Patrick was the low qualifier in San Antonio, can he bring forth the
same record-setting performances from pre-season testing in Valdosa?

Spencer
Massey, Steven Macklyn and Laurie Cannister each made strong statements at the
IHRA Knoll Gas Nitro Jam season opener in San
Antonio. And they have no plans to go away any time
soon. Massey defeated Terry McMillen in the Top Fuel final in San
Antonio a mere six days after securing his Top Fuel license in Houston. The 25-year-old Fort Worth, Texas
resident made his bones in the A-Fuel ranks, but drove through the Top Fuel
field en route to his first career professional IHRA victory.

Series champ Hernandez still the one to watch in JEGS
ProMod Challenge

The JEGS ProMod Challenge has featured its share of impressive winning streaks.
Shannon Jenkins started 2002 with back-to-back victories and later ran off three
wins in a row en route to the '02 title. Von Smith doubled-up at the end of
2003. Mike Ashley pulled off a trio of successive wins in 2005, followed almost
immediately by Josh Hernandez's pair of wins at the conclusion of the
season.

But if current points leader Joe Baker, the winner of the first
two races of 2008, wants to earn the all-time mark for consecutive victories
he'll need to stay perfect for three more events. Only then would he pass
Hernandez's record run of four straight wins, which started his march to last
year's title. It's both the longest winning streak in the seven-year history of
the series and the longest run of wins to start a season.

Catch up on last weekend's fast doorslammer action from Cecil County Dragway. Here are a few video clips relving the excitement.

http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52683