EVENT NEWS EVENT NOTEBOOK POINTS AFTER EVENT ROUND-BY-ROUND RESULTS FINAL ROUND RESULTS			EVENT GALLERY

SUNDAY NOTEBOOK -

REPEAT DEFENDER - As sizzling hot as three-time top qualifier Morgan Lucas has been, the Don Schumacher Racing Top Fuel trio have emerged as the ones to beat so far this season.
 
FRAM Dragster driver Spencer Massey was a nightmare for Antron Brown and the Aaron's Dream Machine entry Sunday at the SummitRacing.com Nationals, becoming the class' first two-time winner this year.
 
Massey won with a 3.830-second, 323.89-mph performance on the 1,000-foot course at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Brown dogged him all the way, running a 3.849-second elapsed time at 315.86 mph.
 
This was the third final in four races this NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season and the 20th overall in which both finalists represented Don Schumacher Racing.  
 
Massey, the No. 2 qualifier who earned the $50,000 winner's share of the purse, joined Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Allen Johnson (Pro Stock) in the winners circle. He earned his eighth victory in 16 career final rounds and picked up his second triumph at Las Vegas.
 
The Fort Worth native defeated Brown at the Winternationals to open the season and got another final-round shot at him by eliminating Steve Chrisman, Terry McMillen, and Steve Torrence.
 
The all-DSR final had to salve some of the team owner's wounds from the sketchy departure late Saturday of Tim and Kim Richards, Ron Capps' crew chiefs for the NAPA Dodge Funny Car. Details of their split with DSR after Capps' DNQ Saturday are unclear, but it clearly is a subject Capps doesn't want to approach. So this success with the dragsters deflected some of the attention and tension Sunday.
 
"Don's always happy when we get two cars in the final round," Massey said. "But the one thing that's most important -- for me -- is to get the FRAM car in the winners circle.
 
"We go up there, not thinking who we're going to run. We go up there trying to win our round, trying to not to beat ourselves," he said. "That was our game plan all day long. And we stuck to it. We weren't going to go out there and set low E.T.
 
"First round, we did what we needed to do to get by that round. We couldn't back it off enough, because then you'd shake the tires and beat yourself. Second round, exactly what we needed to do. The third round, luckily, was a holeshot win. And the final round it was 'Let's see what both of these Top Fuel cars can do and what these drivers can do.' And it was FRAM all the way," Massey said.
 
Despite the faith he has in crew chiefs Todd Okuhara and Phil Shuler, Massey said, "When I win, I can't believe it until about three days go by. And I look over at the Wally [trophy] in my house and say, 'Check that out -- I won!' "
 
He said, "It was a tuner's race all weekend -- extremely tough. You saw everybody smoking the tires in qualifying. You saw a few pedalfests today. The track came around when the sun starts going down. Track temp came around, and it made the crew chiefs that much happier and we went down the racetrack."
 
Massey is third in the standings, behind leader Brown as the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series tour heads to Charlotte's zMAx Dagway for the April 13-15 4-Wide Nationals.
 
Brown cut though some especially tough competition like a buzz saw, beating overdue  Shawn Langdon, seven-time champion Tony Schumacher, and top qualifier Morgan Lucas to advance.
 
And he was particularly eager to atone for losing to Massey in the season-opener at Pomona, Calif. He had beaten Massey the following week at Phoenix en route to that  victory. But regaining the points lead was not enough to satisfy him totally. He wanted to convert this third final round appearance in four races to another victory.
 
 Sponsor Aaron's corporate mascot is the "Lucky Dog," but Brown hardly felt like one through qualifying. He started 12th, his worst qualifying spot in 43 events, since the 2010 St. Louis race.
 
But in eliminations, he used the improvements in this new dragster that crew chiefs Mark Oswald and Brian Corradi gave him to offer Massey a serious challenge. In the quarterfinals, Brown rewrote both ends of the track record with a 3.779-second E.T. at 326.08 mph in beating Tony Schumacher for the 10th time in their past 13 meetings.
 
"It was incredible that we went over 321 miles-per-hour and have it decided by thousandths of a second in that (round one) win over Shawn Langdon. We brought out a brand-new car this weekend, so it was great to make it to the finals," Brown said. "We were just going after it today. With all the cars running at a high-level in this series, you have to just keep working it and working it."
 
Massey agreed, saying, "This year, it seems like everybody has really stepped up tremendously. It's like Pro Stock. It's like a bracket race. You have to have a good reaction time and do flawless on a run. You have to count every second. About 10 years ago, it was about a hundredth of a second or a tenth of a second. Now it’s that close, and it makes it that much better a race for everybody."

THE HIT PARADE PLAYS ON - Robert Hight's victory parade is still alive well.

Hight won his third national event in a row by capturing the title at NHRA's SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Hight clocked a 4.154 second run to defeat Bob Taca III who came in at 4.213 seconds.Hight also was the No. 1 qualifier.

"I do not look at it as a curse," said Hight about being the No. 1 qualifier. "Most of the time when you lose out here, you beat yourself. There are no underdogs. Anybody can win in this class. It just shows you no No. 1 qualifier has ever won here. Not that many people have even repeated here and this class and the parity has never been this close. It makes winning three in a row all that much more special."

Hight, who is part of the John Force Racing stable, has now won 12 rounds in a row, dating back to his first-round loss to Todd Lesenko at the season-opening Winternationals.

This also was Hight's 26th career NHRA win and he has a superb 15-2 record in his last 17 final round appearances. This is also the second time in Hight's career he has won three races in a row and he now is leading the Funny Car point standings. Hight has led the Funny Car point standings each year of his pro career, dating back to his rookie season in 2005.

"It is a lot of pressure on the driver," Hight said. "When our other teams go out early and those guys are over there helping us between rounds and they are up on the starting line and you see them all. Then, when the crew chief walks away, they have given you that car and you have to do your job to win."

Hight beat Terry Haddock, Gary Densham and Bob Bode before meeting and defeating Tasca in the finals.

"When you are in the car and he (Hight's crew chief, Jimmy Prock) is not making 100 trips to the box, you can see it in his eyes the confidence and it makes the driver more confident," Hight said. "You are not going to have to worry about pedaling it and all of the other things. You just go up there and hopefully cut a light and wait for that win light to pop on."

The windy weather conditions Sunday at The Strip also had Hight's full attention.

"When I would take my right hand off to hit the chutes, it (the wind) would suck me over to the wall and I bet you in the final I wasn't two feet away from the wall," Hight said. "You can just feel the steering wheel bend because you can't hold it. It made it challenging. Early on, the grandstands shelter it, and you are just smooth and straight, but down at the other end it is a little hairy."

Although Hight has been on an impressive roll, the 2009 world champ will not be celebrating his latest victory much.

"We are not even going to get to do much partying (Sunday night)," Hight said. "We are going to come out here (Las Vegas Motor Speedway) Monday and test. We have some new guys on board with John Medlen, Ron Armstrong and Dale Armstrong. Having those guys in my trailer between rounds is so exciting. There is just so much experience and they work well together and Jimmy Prock welcomed them in. We have some ideas and we are going to test Monday and try and go to the 4Wide race (April 13-16) in Charlotte and make it four in a row. I'm glad that we only have one weekend before Charlotte and hopefully we can keep it up there."

DOUBLE DOWN - Allen Johnson's goal is to win an NHRA Pro Stock world championship.

The veteran driver took a small step in that direction by winning his first event of 2012, the SummitRacing.com Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday.

Johnson, in his Dodge, ran down Vincent Nobile in the finals. Johnson clocked a 6.648-second run, while Nobile slowed to 6.738 seconds.

"We had a very consistent race car that was fast all weekend," Johnson said. "The driver just needed to do his job in every round and we would have a chance to get in the finals for sure. The Mopar Dodge Avenger was just really rock solid all day and that is what we are after this year. We will be something to reckon with for the championship if we can just be consistent."

This was Johnson's 10th career NHRA national event victory. Johnson disposed of Shane Gray, Greg Anderson, Erica Enders and Nobile Sunday.

Like all the drivers who competed Sunday, Johnson had to deal with the troublesome wind.

"Second round when Greg and I raced, it was all I could do to not hit the right wall and he said it was all he could do to not take out the cone in the middle in the left-hand lane," Johnson said. "It was really bad and then it turned into more of a head wind, so it wasn't too bad after that."

Johnson is now fourth in the unofficial point standings with a 258 total. Greg Anderson (324), Jason Line (324) and Mike Edwards (307) are the top three in points.

"We are right there with them, if not ahead of them a little bit," Johnson said. "We want to keep it that way. Dad (Roy Johnson) is doing a great job with the hemis and we want to eliminate the boo-boos and be consistent. That's our name of the game this year. We have really been lacking consistency."

Nobile also was running power supplied by Roy Johnson, which wasn't lost on Allen Johnson.

"For the engine guys, and especially my dad, who is the head of that, it is just awesome to have two of your motors in the finals," Allen said. "That's like three times that we have done it in the last 12 months and that says something for our engine program, and the Hemis and the Mopar."

QUICK HITS RACE REPORT

TOP FUEL

FIRST ROUND

FIRST STEP - Doug Kalitta, who has advanced one more round at each race this year than the previous one, was hoping that this fourth race would produce at least a final-round appearance and perhaps his first victory since the July 2010 event at Denver. He made it to the quarterfinals, past Brandon Bernstein, as the two posted identical elapsed times of 3.846. Kalitta had the better reaction time and covered the 1,000-foot course at 318.24 mph.

BREAKING THE JINX - Khalid alBalooshi, in the Al-Anabi / Toyota Dragster, and Terry McMillen, in the Amalie Oil / UNOH Dragster, each was seeking his first round-win of the season. McMillen's "InstiGator" dragster took the honor, even with an unspectacular 4.339-second E.T. at 188.99 mph because of a broken pulley. McMillen said his trip down the right lane "seemed like five minutes" and said, "I could've run it -- [not bad] for a fat-guy thing."

TORRENCE TORRID - Steve Torrence was just one-thousandth of a second slower than Morgan Lucas' No. 1 qualifying time of 3.818 seconds in defeating Bob Vandergriff. "Bob's got a great team. They've got it together this year," Torrence said after taking the Torrence Racing / Capco Construction Dragster on a winning 321.35-mph blast. As for his own team's work, he said his car "It left good. It had the wheels up a long way."

IT STILL WAS STRONG - Top qualifier Morgan Lucas said he wasn't all that pleased with his reaction time, although it was good enough to beat Steve Faria and advance to a quarterfinal date with Doug Kalitta. "I had a little nerves at the starting line," Lucas said after recording a 3.784-second E.T. that was quickest of the round. He was the first with lane choice to pick the right side.

FIRST UPSET - No. 14 qualifier Dave Grubnic scored the day's first upset, eliminating No. 3 Clay Millican, who had a fireball in his Parts Plus Dragster toward the top end of the track.

A 12-CYLINDER? - Tony Schumacher said he "thought I had a 12-cylinder in that thing" as he pedaled and pushed the U.S. Army Dragster to the finish line against Troy Buff in his wounded  BME / Okuma Dragster. Schumacher's winning time was 5.914 seconds at 190.62 mph.

NOT BAD, INDEED - Spencer Massey called it "not a bad little round" after he pulled a winning 3.829-second pass from the FRAM Dragster at a 324.12-mph pass that was far and away the fastest Top Fuel run of the weekend.

BRACKET RACING - Antron Brown likened his first-round pass against Al-Anabi / Toyota Dragster driver Shawn Langdon to bracket racing, and Brown was the victor by .0007 of a second. Brown used a holeshot to move on in the Aaron's Dream Machine Dragster. Langdon countered with a 3.808, 320.51. Brown jumped off the line in .048 of a second, beating Langdon's .069, marking one of the few times Langdon has been trumped at the Tree.

QUARTER-FINALS

BROWN BLASTS TO RECORDS - Antron Brown set both ends of the track record -- 3.779 seconds at 326.08 mph -- in running up his record against Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tony Schumacher. It was the 10th fastest run in Top Fuel history.
 
Brown is 2-1 against the U.S. Army Dragster driver this season and 10-3 since the start of last season. Brown has won four of the past 13 races against Schumacher.
 
"Hey man I got to give it up to [crew chiefs] Mark Oswald and Brian Corradi. You can't slack on that U.S.Army car. They're a wonderful team."
 
DÉJÀ VU - That loss for Schumacher mimicked his previous appearance here at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Last year at this race, he was the No. 4 starter, beat Troy Buff in the first round, then lost to Antron Brown -- all just like today.
 
TORRENCE CONTINUES - Steve Torrence advanced with a strong 3.823-second, 321.35-mph victory over Dave Grubnic's close 3.816, 322.27.
 
LUCAS LUCK AGAIN? - Morgan Lucas said he and Doug Kalitta each "got a good chunk" of the Christmas Tree but despite some problems Lucas won at 3.784, 318.92.  

"We had a lucky round in Gainesville," the Gatornationals winner said. "Hopefully that's a lucky round here."
 
SAY WHAT? - Spencer Massey gave up lane choice to Steve Torrence for the semifinals, despite a stout 3.840-second E.T. at 324.36 mph in knocking off Terry McMillen.

SEMI-FINALS

MASSEY STOPS TORRENCE - Spencer Massey used a holeshot to dispose of Steve Torrence.

Massey, who is considered one of the best drivers at the Christmas tree, cut a solid 0.040 light and ran a 3.830 second elapsed time at 322.04 mph. Torrence had a better ET (3.823 seconds) and faster mph (321.19 mph), but had a 0.056 light.

BROWN PEDALS PAST LUCAS - Brown, the defending champion of the Las Vegas spring race, won a tire smoke fest against Morgan Lucas. Brown's 4.699-second run was enough to get past Lucas' 5.097-second effort. Brown now has a 12-1 record against Lucas in eliminations.

FINALS

MASSEY EDGES BROWN - Spencer Massey's impressive outing Sunday ended in the winner's circle.

Massey, who was consistent all day, clocked a 3.830-second run at 323.89 mph to defeat his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Antron Brown. Brown came in at 3.849 seconds.

This was Massey's second national event win on the season.

FUNNY CAR

FIRST ROUND

WACKY PAIRING - Funny Car eliminations began with a wacky pairing -- something that seems to strike Bob Bode at Las Vegas. This time, he got the victory, but it came at hard-luck-bitten Tim Wilkerson's expense.
 
Wilkerson's crew had to push his Levi, Ray, & Shoup Shelby Ford Mustang back from the burnout and then pushed it off the starting line, giving Bode a solo pass.
 
However, that was anything but smooth for the Stupid Fast Chevy Impala driver. He ended up with an engine explosion, a hole blasted through the right side of his front windshield, and no parachutes -- and a victory. It was his first round-win of the year and his first since last April at Houston.
 
"We idled up there for so long," Bode said, explaining why the fuel flow was out of whack. He explained the engine concussion and shattered windshield as "a blast of fresh air in my face." He said he would inspect the body and see if it had any damage aside from the windshield. If not, he would fix that and come back for the quarterfinals with the Impala. If the body had further damage, he said, he would go with his spare Toyota body.
 
Wilkerson's public-relations representative Bob Wilber said the Mustang refused to go into reverse, opting for neutral instead, during the burnout.   
 
IT'S CRUZ - In the battle of the brothers, Cruz Pedregon advanced past Tony Pedregon.
 
BECKMAN WINS ON HOLESHOT - Jack Beckman was a holeshot winner over Alexis DeJoria. He drove the Valvoline/NextGen Dodge Charger to a 4.166-second, 305.98-mph pass, while DeJoria put up a 4.162, 304.74.
 
GOTCHA - No. 2 qualifier Bob Tasca laid a holeshot on Jeff Arend, advancing with a 4.146-to-4.127 victory in the Motorcraft / Quick Lane Shelby Ford Mustang. It was a great debut with the team for crew chief Dickie Venables. It set up a meeting with Matt Hagan, who also won on a holeshot.
 
FINALLY! - Reigning Funny Car champion Matt Hagan won't have to answer the annoying and seemingly endless string of questions about when he'll get his Aaron's Dodge Charger in winning form. He earned his first round-win of the season in this fourth race on the Full Throttle Drag Racing Series tour, sending Mike Neff to the sidelines with a holeshot. Hagan used a better reaction time -- .080 seconds to .097 -- to win with a 4.167-second E.T. at 295.85 mph, while Neff had a quicker and faster 4.163, 310.70. "This team is trying so hard. Maybe we were tying too much," Hagan said. "It wasn't like there was no more steam left in it. Mike Neff is a great driver."
 
GRAY BLUR - Courtney Force's parachutes popped out behind her Traxxas Ford Mustang way too early in her run against Johnny Gray, but it might have been hard to stop the hot-running Gainesville finalist, anyway. Gray recorded a 4.110-second, 314.75-mph winning pass in the Service Central Dodge Charger that ended up being second-quickest of the round. He said he was thrilled to advance, considering he experienced "some stupid stuff in qualifying" that left him No. 13 in the lineup. Top-end interviewer Alan Rinehart asked Gray if the two-plus-week layoff was hard on him, and Gray responded, "At my age, you can forget what you're out here for in two weeks."   
 
DENSHAM ON A ROLL - Gary Densham was the high-qualified driver in his match-up with John Force (They were No. 8 and No. 9, respectively.) Densham won with a 4.129-second E.T. that was third-best of the round, earning him a date with Robert Hight in the second round. He thought he might have topped No. 1 qualifier Hight's time, but when he learned Hight was quicker (at 4.105), Densham said with mock disgust, "Darn him." Then he learned he would face Hight in the next round, he said, "Oh my God. I don't know how much of a chance we have against those guys. But hey, I'm happy. What can I say?"
 
ANYONE STOPPING HIGHT? - Robert Hight, who led the field with a 4.132, 310.98 effort, found more horsepower and speed from his Auto Club Ford Mustang. He coaxed a 4.105, 313.00 from the Jimmy Prock-tuned car -- the quickest and fastest of not only the round but also the weekend so far.
 

QUARTER-FINALS

OOPS - Despite his right hand slipping off the steering wheel of his Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford Mustang for much of the 1,000-foot run, Bob Tasca defeated Matt Hagan. He managed to do that in 4.143 seconds and 300.93 mph.
 
TAKE THAT - Cruz Pedregon set low elapsed time and top speed of the meet in his victory over Jack Beckman. Pedregon's winning performance in the Snap-on Tools Toyota was 4.082 seconds at 313.73 mph. "I'm so happy . . . Especially to uncork that on one of those Schumacher cars."
 
BODES WELL FOR BODE - With help from crew members from at least three other teams to change to his Toyota body and get a wing attached to it, Bob Bode advanced to the semifinals. He eliminated Johnny Gray, running a 4.176. Gray's 4.313 was tossed out, because he crossed the center line -- frighteningly close behind Bode. Afterwards he said, "It's amazing that we're here. We got help from three or four other teams. If it wasn't for that we wouldn't be here." He has a special motivation for winning: "I have a sick dad at home, and we want him well."
 
JFR STILL HAS HIGHT - Robert Hight, the lone John Force Racing survivor from the first round, carried the Ford Mustang team banner into the semifinals with a narrow victory over Gary Densham. Hight ran a 4.128, 311.49, and Densham challenged with a 4.175, 301.47.

SEMI-FINALS

HIGHT KEPPS ROLLING ALONG - Robert Hight kept his chances of winning his third race in a row alive and well by defeating Bob Bode in the semis.
Hight clocked a stout 4.114-second run to speed past Bob Bode, who came in at 5.664 seconds after smoking the tires early in his run.

TASCA CRUISES PAST PEDREGON - Bob Tasca III has had a powerful Ford Mustang all weekend and that was the case again in the semis. Tasca clocked a 4.129-second run to defeat Cruz Pedregon. Pedregon smoked the tires early and then got out of the groove before coming across the finish line in 6.436 seconds.
Hight and Tasca meet in the finals after qualifying No. 1 and No. 2.

FINAL

HIGHT MAKES IT A HAT TRICK - Robert Hight won his third national event in a row, beating fellow Ford driver Bob Tasca III.

Hight was flawless at 4.154 seconds to defeat Hight who came in at 4.213 seconds.

Hight has now won 12 rounds in a row, dating back to his first-round loss at the season-opening Winternationals.

PRO STOCK

FIRST ROUND

OVER EARLY - Most of the opening-round match-ups in this class were decided at the Christmas Tree.
 
Top qualifier Jason Line (who beat V Gaines) and Greg Stanfield (who upset Rodger Brogdon) were only ones to win with a suspenseful quarter-mile chase.
 
Vincent Nobile (over Jeg Coughlin), Erica Enders (over Ronnie Humphrey), and Larry Morgan (over Mike Edwards) were holeshot winners.
 
Chris McGaha (against Greg Anderson) and Kurt Johnson (against Ron Krisher) ruined their own chances with red-light fouls.
 
The Greg Anderson-Jason Line teammate-against-teammate rivalry continues. The two, almost oblivious to the notion that they're No. 1 and No. 3 in the standings, seem to be racing to ace each other.
 
Line, who improved his class-best qualifying numbers (6.659, 207.34) with a winning 6.616, 208.04 against V Gaines, gave off a perturbed vibe that Anderson's winning time was quicker and faster at 6.612, 208.30 -- best of the weekend so far.
 
Still, Line -- who helps prepare Anderson's car -- said he's "glad we've got Greg's car running good. We've been pulling our hair out."
 
Meanwhile, Anderson said of his 6.612-second E.T., "Will it be low E.T. of the meet? No, it won't be when we're done." But he said he'll take it.
 
MILESTONE - When Greg Stanfield eliminated Rodger Brogdon, that marked the first time in more than a decade that a Chevy Camaro has earned an NHRA Pro Stock victory. Stanfield thanked the General Motors people who oversaw the return of the Camaro to drag racing but said, "Anytime you turn the win light on, it's a good day."

QUARTER-FINALS

LINE, ANDERSON GONE - Vincent Nobile and Allen Johnson spoiled the KB / Summit Racing team's day. Nobile scored a two-hundredths-of-a-second victory margin against top qualifier Jason Line, thanks to a .018-second reaction time to Line's .050. And Johnson knocked out Greg Anderson with a five-hundredths-of-a-second-better reaction time (.025-.076).
 
ENDERS IN SEMIS - First-round holeshot winners Erica Enders and Larry Morgan met in these quarterfinals, and she got the victory for the privilege of facing Allen Johnson in the semifinals. After she won in the first round, she said, "I needed a little bit of confidence after that Gainesville mess-up (a red light in the Gatornationals)." She has more than made up for that already. Enders won with a 6.728, 205.63 against Morgan's 6.743, 205.16.
 
WIND DANGEROUS - Stanfield said the "wind is pretty ferocious out there" after defeating Ron Krisher to advance. Twice in this round, the wind caused trouble at the top end with parachutes. Nothing got tangled, but a couple of pairings had close calls. Stanfield posted a 6.691, 205.54 to top Krisher's 6.700, faster 206.80.

SEMI-FINALS

JOHNSON DEFEATS ENDERS - Allen Johnson clocked a solid 6.659-second time at 206.89 mph to zoom past Erica Enders' 6.735-second effort.
Johnson now has a 5-3 career record against Enders in elimination rounds.

NOBILE SEES WIN LIGHT - Vincent Nobile's semifinal match-up against Greg Stanfield was over before it started. Stanfield had a redlight off the starting line to give Nobile the win. Nobile clocked a 6.682-second time for good measure.

FINAL

JOHNSON WINS IN VEGAS - Allen Johnson made it to the winner's circle after defeating Vincent Nobile.

Nobile cut a great light at 0.08, but it wasn't enough to beat the hard-charging Johnson. Johnson clocked a 6.648 second run, while Nobile slowed to 6.738 seconds. 

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SATURDAY NOTEBOOK- PROVISIONAL LEADERS STAY ON TOP SATURDAY AT LVMS

NO FOOLIN' - LUCAS REMAINS NO. 1 - Morgan Lucas said his Top Fuel team likes to play practical jokes on each other.
 
But even with the SummitRacing.com Nationals eliminations set for April Fool's Day, the GEICO / Lucas Oil / Toyota Dragster driver isn't messing around.
 
He means business, and he proved it by securing the No. 1 qualifying position Saturday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the 3.817-second elapsed time at 321.96 mph from Friday,
 
Lucas'  first top-qualifying honor at this event marked the third time in four races this season, the seventh time of his career, and the second time at this venue that the Gainesville winner will lead the Top Fuel field.
 
To win and earn back-to-back Wally statues, Lucas said, "would be an ultimate blessing."
 
"Today it was a good example of consistency," he said of his dragster.
 
Crew chief Aaron Brooks experimented with a few parts and systems Saturday, and Lucas said the car "seems to respond. We just need to keep working and keep trying new things."
 
He said Saturday's runs and his car's performance were especially significant. "Just in case we get conditions that are similar to that, we know what we can do and what the car's capable of."  
 
What might be making the biggest difference this year for Lucas, still the youngest Top Fuel driver at age 28, is the right team chemistry -- something he has experimented with since his parents, Forrest and Charlotte Lucas, established the team.
 
"It's probably the best group of people I've ever had to work with," Lucas said. "We're playing pranks on each other all day, just being guys. It's like a fraternity. We have an easy rapport. It's some sort of a good fit."
 
Lucas certainly seems comfortable at the top of the lineup Saturdays and in the winners circle Sundays. And that's no joke.

STARTING FROM THE POLE AGAIN - If Robert Hight wins his third NHRA national event in a row, it will be from the pole position.

Hight, who is part of the John Force Racing stable, captured the No. 1 qualifying position at the SummitRacing.com Nationals at 4.132 seconds at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Hight clocked identical 4.132-second times on the final qualifying run on both Friday and Saturday. Bob Tasca III ran 4.134 seconds on a side-by-side run against Hight on Saturday’s final qualifying lap.

“The last qualifying run if you are a fan in the stands, that was something to see,” said Hight, who is the defending champion of the Vegas spring race. “You saw Courtney (Force) run the first 14 and then the 14s just kept coming and coming. Jimmy (Prock, Hight’s crew chief), was hoping for more than the 13 and it blew up right in the lights as well. I do not know, maybe it was starting to hurt itself a little bit. That’s just how close this class is. If you look at the top five (qualifiers), it is less than a hundredth of a second, that is Pro Stock racing there.”

This was Hight’s second pole position of the season and 41st of his career.

“He (Jimmy) definitely has a lot of confidence right now and the run (Saturday) morning that 4.21 we were very pleased with that,” said Hight, the 2009 Funny Car world champion. “It was a little slow early compared to (Mike) Neff’s 4.18, that was really a stellar run. All of our (JFR) Ford Mustangs are running good and that’s what you need. It is not going to get any easier. I just hope when it blew up (Saturday night) it didn’t blow up maybe our favorite blower or something like that. We have a lot more parts and we are going to stay out here late, whatever it takes to fix this thing and get ready for (Sunday).”

Hight faces Terry Haddock in the first round today.

“We were No. 1 qualifier at Pomona and went out first round,” Hight said. “Terry Haddock has been a spoiler before and he would like nothing more than to knock us out in the first round. We have to be on our game (Sunday).”

Although Hight is on roll lately, he is keeping things in perspective.

“It is always the same every race,” Hight said. “You are always nervous for first round because you have all night to think about it. The conditions will change and that’s what makes this so exciting. If (the temperature is a lot cooler), it is going to change everybody’s tune-up. You are going to have to adapt to the air and make big changes.”

LINE THE ONLY GUST OF POWER SATURDAY - It was harder Saturday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to tell which was greater -- the increasing wind or the hyped forecasts about ferocious wind gusts. It turned out that the wind wasn't much of a factor, as predicted -- unless National Hot Rod Association fans consider Jason Line's like-the-wind 6.659-second elapsed time at 207.34 mph from Friday evening. That held up to give Line, the KB / Summit Racing Pontiac GXP driver, the No. 1 qualifying position for the SummitRacing.com Nationals -- in front of Las Vegas businessman and team owner Ken Black.
 
It was the second time this season Line has led the field, the first time at this event, and the third time at this facility. The Troutman, N.C., resident has been top qualifier 26 times in his career.
 
"We've got a great, well, we've got the best car," Line said. "There's no other way to say it."
 
With that, he said, comes "a lot of pressure."
 
That'll come first from the crafty V Gaines, his first-round opponent. It also could come from knowing that Mike Edwards and Allen Johnson, the Nos. 2 and 3 qualifiers, are running well. And it could come from the fact that KB / Summit teammate Greg Anderson is annoyed with being knocked down to sixth place (behind Ron Krisher and Rodger Brogdon) to start eliminations Sunday. And it could come from the fact the Phoenix winner wants to atone for his first-round exit at Gainesville, Fla.
 
Wherever the pressure comes from, Line has the car to combat it.
 
"The car's been great all weekend," Line said. "It feels really good to be standing here [in the media center]. This is a nice tower. I could be standing here often."
 
Line blew off the talk about the wind and how it might effect qualifying.
 
"The wind ended up being not as big a deal as we thought," he said. "It turned out to be not as big a deal after all."
 
But Line himself did.

SECOND CAR COMING SOON - Terry McMillen said he expects his second dragster, the Armed Forces Racing entry, to roll out at the April 13-15 4-Wide Nationals at Charlotte's zMAX Dragway.
 
The Armed Forces Racing Dragster will give McMillen and his Hoosier Thunder Motorsports organization a competitive complement to his Amalie Oil-UNOH Dragster and a platform to help U.S. Military veterans in a variety of areas.
 
One of the features of the Armed Forces Racing Dragster marketing program is a well-organized job fair at each NHRA national event. McMillen said he expects to activate that service at Royal Purple Raceway at Baytown, Texas during the April 27-29 O'Reilly Spring Nationals.
 
Chris Johnson, of Armed Forces Racing, said he is eager to speak with any company or individual who would like to invest in Armed Forces Racing, either in the race-car operation side or in the job fair effort. "Call me immediately," he said, sharing his phone number (714-306-8240). "I'll talk to anybody."
 
He said he already has interested parties wanting to participate, "but there's always room for more. We put together a big dream.
 
"We're all extra-motivated," Johnson said. "We have a great core team. I am driven completely by this. It has changed my life."
 
McMillen, who was knocked out for 14 days with a nasty strain of the flu following the Gatornationals, maintained his No. 10 overnight position in the order through the third qualifying session.
 
SPREADING CHEER - Two-time Funny Car champion Tony Pedregon, wife Andrea Pedregon, and their 12-year-old daughter Cecily visited longtime fan Carlos Cervantes at his Las Vegas home Friday night after the opening day of qualifying. Cervantes, who has followed the careers of both Cruz and Tony Pedregon, has struggled with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease. His sister reached out to the Pedregons by e-mail, and they made it a family outing.

"That was emotional for me," Tony Pedregon said, sharing that he really wanted to grant this wish because "they had this connection with me, especially when I saw the photos of his kids at the track that they took with me. The kids are teenagers now. So I wanted to take the time. His abilities are tapering off, and he has lost his ability to speak."
 
He said when he walked into the modest home, he saw a piston rod bearing brother Cruz Pedregon's signature and a photo of himself on display. "It reminded me of me when I was growing up," he said. "They had the boxing match on TV, and a John Force commercial came on. So the family asked about 'the incident' [at Indianapolis a few years ago] and I laughed and said John and I are good with each other."
 
The Pedregon family stayed about 45 minutes to an hour with the Cervantes family, and they might have stayed longer if the hosts hadn't already eaten dinner. Tony Pedregon asked if they had eaten and was hoping to share a meal with them. So instead they served their hosts some K-Love/Pedregon Racing team hats and T-shirts. But they said the Cervantes family is the one that really gave to them far more.
 
Andrea Pedregon said when they arrived at the home and saw that the Cervantes family was at peace with the situation, the visit was like a pleasant family reunion.  
 
"It brings me a lot of joy, maybe making their day." Cecily Pedregon said. "It's so cool -- now we're friends on facebook! So we can keep in touch."
 
Meanwhile, Andrea Pedregon continues her charity work through her foundation. She'll lead the track walk at the upcoming 4-Wide Nationals at Charlotte, and she said she's hoping to meet her goal of selling 5,000 more "Real Families of the NHRA" calendars to help combat pediatric cancer. The foundation has sold 45,000 so far.
 
She helped seven-year-old Madelyn Daley, a neighbor of Brandon and Tracey Bernstein, in her fight with the little-known Moya Moya Disease. With Tracey Bernstein's help, Andrea Pedregon's foundation raised a little more than $10,000 with a March 3 pancake breakfast at Stonegate Elementary School in Zionsville, Ind. Drag racers Tony Pedregon, Brandon Bernstein, and Morgan Lucas flipped pancakes at the "Maddie's One-In-A-Million" breakfast (so named because the condition strikes one in a million individuals).
 
SILLY SNIPING - With Bob Frey as the foil, Jack Beckman and Johnny West used the public-address system to trade some totally-good-natured barbs Saturday before Funny Car qualifying.
 
The chatty Beckman marveled to Frey about the normally quiet West, "He was my crew chief for two years and he hardly said 10 words to me. Now you've got him announcing up here like a pro!" West responded, "It's like telling your mailbox, 'Don't give me any more bills.' He doesn't understand English at all!"
 
West, whom current crew chief Rahn Tobler replaced, gave credit for Beckman's successful start to the season to Tobler, as he did several times Friday while on the mike. "You've got to give Rahn credit," West said. "If Jack can learn how to drive it down the middle of the track, he'll do great."
 
Then Beckman was going into detail, explaining about the excellent track-prep at Las Vegas and trying to anticipate what effect windy conditions have on the surface. He said a racer gets into trouble, really, is "if you get out of the groove." Slipped in West, "Which you do a lot."
 
West let up his teasing a little, but Beckman took advantage by taking his shot. West said, "I have to give Jack a little bit of credit." And Beckman came back with, "That's all he gave me -- a little bit of credit."

HEY, THAT'S COOL! - Drag racing fans looking for something creative and fun need to make a beeline to Funny Car driver Bob Tasca's pit. He has a uniquely designed hero card that includes not just one but two pop-up versions of his Motorcraft / Quick Lane Shelby Ford Mustang. It was an idea from the brilliant mind of Les Miller, leader of the Creative Services department at PCGCampbell, a Dearborn, Mich.-based PR and marketing agency. It features photos by longtime drag-racing photographers Ron Lewis and Gary Nastase.
 
LITTLE SHAKEUP - The Pro Stock class had more movement in the first Saturday session (the third overall) than either of the two nitro categories. Although the first five racers remained in the same order, the rest of the field became a bit more scrambled. Ronnie Humphrey made the biggest positive move, gaining three spots into the top half of the ladder. Jeg Coughlin improved two places, to ninth.
 
The Top Fuel class stayed intact through the first 13 places. Steve Faria shook things up toward the bottom of the lineup, leaping into the field from last place (18th) to 14th. Steve Chrisman moved up two places, to 15th.
 
The Funny Car order didn't change until the bottom half. Tony Pedregon improved four places to take the No. 9 position with one more chance. Jeff Arend make the biggest improvement, a six-place vault, from 21st to 15th.
 
V IS FOR VICTORY - As Gordie Rivera got bumped from the field and couldn't post a quick-enough elapsed time to jump back in, V Gaines bumped Steve Kent. Said Gaines, "I had to keep my foot in. I'm afraid the clutch is going to pay the price."
 
RAPISARDA RACING 0-FOR-2 - Cory McClenathan recorded his second straight DNQ. Shortly afterward, Dave Grubnic bumped McClenathan's Rapisarda Racing teammate Damien Harris,  who had blown his engine in making the cut temporarily.

TASCA THRILLED WITH RUN - Bob Tasca III didn’t win the pole position at the SummitRacing.com Nationals Saturday at The Strip.

Tasca, however, had plenty to smile about following his 4.134-second run during the final qualifying session Saturday. That time left Tasca second on the qualifying ladder just behind Robert Hight’s 4.132-second performance. Tasca faces Jeff Arend in the first round.

“You’ll see a smile on my face (tonight),” said Tasca, who earned three bonus points for qualifying first No. 3 on Friday, then No. 2 on Saturday. “I’ll tell you one thing. We went into the session third and I think at one point, we’d been bumped all the way down to seventh. We went out and ran a 4.13 with a 4 to Robert Hight’s 4.13 with a 2. Two one-thousandths of a second separated us from the No. 1 qualifying spot. But I’ll tell you one thing, I’m just so thrilled for my team and Motorcraft and Quick Lane. Bringing Dickie Venables on board. Working with Chris Cunningham and Marc Denner. At the end of the day, race cars don’t win championships. People do. When you get the right group of people together, anything can happen.

“That was a wild ride. We got 30 mph winds out here. It came past the grandstands and made a hard move to the center line. It was pulling. I had my hands turned all the way to the side to keep that thing in the groove, but man, that Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Shelby Mustang felt good. We’ve given ourselves a great shot going into Sunday.”

CAPPS BROTHERS ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN - Ron Capps, the driver of the NAPA Auto Parts Dodge for Don Schumacher Racing and his brother Jon Capps, a part-time NHRA Funny Car competitor, both failed to qualify for Sunday’s eliminations.

Ron’s best run on Friday and Saturday was 6.024 seconds and Jon’s top time was 4.335 seconds. Ron was 21st in the 22-car field and Jon was 17th, just missing the 16-car field. Jon Capps was driving Chuck Worsham’s Charger at Vegas.

“It is frustrating to watch somebody like Tim Richards (Capps’ crew chief) going through this car, trying to find what is wrong. I have seen the angst on his face,” Ron said. “Las Vegas always has been such a good race for us. We’ll probably win the next race. We’ll be talking in the winner’s circle with AC/DC playing.”

Jon was trying to digest coming up just short. Terry Haddock was the No. 16 qualifier at 4.282 seconds.

“I almost thought it was going to happen,” Jon said.

Jon Capps said he is likely going to compete again April 27-29 at the Spring Nationals in Houston.

BROTHERLY LOVE? - Cruz Pedregon and Tony Pedregon, world champion Funny Car drivers, will meet in round one Sunday. The winner of the Pedregon race will face the victor between Jack Beckman and Alexis DeJoria in round two.

Cruz Pedregon qualified No. 6 at 4.148 seconds and Tony came in at 4.212 seconds.

FRIDAY NOTEBOOK - LUCAS, HIGHT, LINE SHINE IN OPENING DAY AT LAS VEGAS

LUCAS KEEPING FINGERS CROSSED -  A three-week layoff didn't seem to disrupt Morgan Lucas' momentum.
 
The Top Fuel racer and his GEICO / Lucas Oil Dragster covered The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway's 1,000-foot course in 3.817 seconds at 321.96 mph Friday. With that, he grabbed the  provisional top qualifying position for the SummitRacing.com Nationals and joined Robert Hight (Funny Car) and Jason Line (Pro Stock) in becoming an early leader.
 
Lucas, not knowing what his numbers were until he climbed from his car, said the run "felt really good -- but sometimes we drivers can deceive ourselves."
 
Whether it will hold as the best in the class depends on several factors.
 
"So many cars are capable of running big numbers. You can't count anybody out, but you can keep your fingers crossed and pray for it to happen, I guess," Lucas said as he anticipates earning his third No. 1 qualifying position in the season's first three races.
 
"If it sticks . . . it'd be a really cool thing," Lucas said. However, he wasn't overly confident the 3.817 would hold up as quickest. He predicted it would remain "in the top three or four."
 
He said his improvement from the No. 10 spot in the opening session came from "a couple of small tweaks in the bellhousing.
 
"The first session we were a little over center," Lucas said of the pass that yielded a mediocre 4.504-second elapsed time at 176.72 mph. He said crew chief Aaron Brooks "was going to back it down" but that the car rolled back to the starting line "with generally the same set-up."
 
He said that first run showed the crew how far off the car was from its optimum performance level. "Sometimes I don't think you realize how far over center you are until something like that might show you. So tomorrow, what that does is it gives us a little opportunity to test."
 
Lucas, saying he was proud of his team, repeated -- like at Pomona's Winternationals and Gainesville's Gatornationals -- that "it's been a lot of fun to drive this car."
 
Changing conditions, including a gusty wind that Lucas said he has heard forecast from 20-30 mph and even as strong as 50 mph, could change everyone's set-ups.
 
"We'll have to take it one round at a time and see how bad the wind really is. These meteorologists, sometimes they're overpaid. The thing that's tricky is when the winds come in. They can push sand and dirt onto the racetrack. You can't always get the optimal surface.
 
"Knowing that Sunday's going to be cool," he said, "this is a pretty good run for us to make. At least we got a car we know can run like that on race day."
 
IT'S GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME - Things just keep getting better and better for Robert Hight.

Hight, who has won the last two races at Phoenix and Gainesville, Fla., grabbed the provisional pole at the SummitRacing.com Nationals Friday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Hight clocked a 4.132-second run at 310.41 mph to claim the top spot.

“Everybody struggled a little bit the first run, so I think everybody was erring on the side of caution for the night run,” said Hight, who slowed to a 4.872-second run on his first qualifying lap. “I will be honest, I believe we were just a couple of little adjustments the first run from making like a 4.15 (second) run. If we could have done that we could have really got after it (Friday night). Based on what everybody ran the first run, you have to be cautious and make sure you get down there. Maybe that 4.13 will not stick, but for (Friday) it was No. 1 and we are happy.”

Not surprisingly, Hight, who is part of the John Force Racing stable, praised his crew chief Jimmy Prock.

“Jimmy told me he thought it would run 12 or 13 (on the second qualifying pass),” Hight said. “It is really cool right now because he definitely has a handle on this race car. It says a lot when you can go from a place like Gainesville and Phoenix and here (in Las Vegas), we are halfway in elevation to Denver from sea level. To make the changes and have it respond and have it run that close to what you think it will run is a good job by Jimmy Prock. You can see the confidence in him. He is just so confident in all the moves he is making and as driver you are not sitting in the car watching a crew chief getting in and out of that box and making changes and just being nervous. He goes in there and makes some changes and it runs good. It is a lot of fun to drive this thing right now.”

With Mother Nature threatening to bring high winds to Las Vegas Saturday, Hight is even more thrilled about his Friday effort.

“That is huge (to get that run),” Hight said. “All four of our Ford Mustangs are qualified and with the winds coming who knows what (Saturday) is going to bring. I really hope we get to run because we have some folks with us this weekend, Dale Armstrong and Ron Armstrong and we have some things we want to try and test. We are going to try and use the first run (Saturday) to do some testing and we are definitely going to test Monday and we have some things that maybe will catapult us out here a little bit. That is really what we are trying for. It is cool having those guys with us.”
Hight also is excited to back in action, since the series last competed March 12 at the Gatornationals in Gainesville.

“We won in Phoenix and had two weeks off and we won in Gainesville and had two weeks off and I do not want any more time off,” said Hight, the 2009 world champ. “I want to just keep racing and get to the next race track.”

Last weekend on his off week, Hight was involved in a different type of racing.

“The Ford guys took me under their wing and I got to go to the NASCAR (Sprint Cup Series) race (at Fontana) and I got to be part of the No. 16 (Greg Biffle’s) car. I got to watch them practice and qualify and I had the radio on. I was listening and watching what they were doing. They go out and make a couple of laps and come back in and make some changes. Comparing it, because I’m a former (NHRA) crew man, and comparing it to what our guys do, it is just totally different. We do all of our engine work here at the track. They didn’t even touch that engine. It is all suspension and chassis setup and it is pretty cool to see all that and be a part of it, and I want to thank Ford for that.”

Although Hight is all about racing, he did take a moment to comment about the sale of his beloved Los Angeles Dodgers for $2 billion earlier this week.

“I do hope the Dodgers saved a couple of million to get a couple of players,” Hight said. “Hope they didn’t break the bank. Wouldn’t that be embarrassing to know that you were $600 million higher than the next highest bidder? That would make you feel you a little stupid. They didn’t want that one to get away.” 

BETTER THAN COUNTING SHEEP - Jason Line was all smiles Friday evening at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and for good reason.

Line, the reigning Pro Stock world champ, was dominating in both qualifying sessions Friday, culminating with his 6.659-second run at 207.34 mph to capture the pole at The Strip.

“To out run (Mike) Edwards here, he is tough here,” said Line, who pilots the Summit Racing Pontiac. “The last couple of years he has been really tough to beat. So to out run him here is an accomplishment for us. There is probably a little bit left, we didn’t make a perfect run, but it was a really nice run, probably the best run I have made all year. I know everybody gets tired of me whining about saying that we didn’t make a good run, but this was pretty good. To do good at a Summit race and Ken (Black’s) hometown makes it even better.”

Edwards, who has won three of the last four NHRA national events at Las Vegas, qualified No. 2 at 6.669 seconds.

Line’s first qualifying lap Friday was 6.679 seconds, but he wasn’t ready to disclose what changes were made to his Pontiac in the second qualifying lap.

“I can’t tell all that (the changes that were made),” Line said. “Obviously, we were just a little bit soft on the first run. I think the track came to us a little bit and we made quite a few changes. We went the right direction, but we still have a ways to go. I think there is close to a hundredth left in it. We just need to get the other two cars running better. We are struggling with those two. We have a lot of work to do.”

Line’s teammates, 2010 world champ Greg Anderson (6.697 seconds) and Ronnie Humphrey (6.722) qualified No. 5 and No. 10.

With high winds in the Vegas forecast Saturday, Line was especially pleased with his performance Friday.

“I think it is really a big deal,” Line said. “I keep hearing stories about 60 and 70 mph winds, and I do not where that is coming from. The weather channel says 20 to 30 (mph). Obviously getting qualified well is a good thing. I will sleep better (Friday night) knowing we are faster than anybody else.”

STABLE BUSINESS - Top Fuel's Doug Kalitta drives the 7,000-horsepower Kalitta Air Dragster. But in his non-racing life he deals with horsepower of a different but equally thrilling kind. His Ypsilanti, Mich.- based airline has several divisions, including passenger service, MedFlight, cargo, and maintenance. And some of the precious cargo he transports are Triple Crown-grade Thoroughbreds.
 
"We fly them to all the Triple Crown races. We can fly 21 at a time," Kalitta said, adding that the pilot has to use a special approach when carrying the highly prized horses. "You have to be smooth. You have to be gentle," he said. He said about 20 handlers accompany the animals.
 
"We've been doing that for about 10 years," Kalitta said. Although he said he can't recall all the famous racehorses he has hauled, he said Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown was among them.
 
However, he said he has no edge to bring to Las Vegas in horse-racing betting. "I wish I had the inside track!" he said with a laugh.
 
Kalitta, who's proud of his new Falcon 20 twin-engine jet that travels 500 miles an hour, flies himself to the races. He arrived about two hours before qualifying ninth in the first session at 4.199 seconds, 248.25 mph. He moved up to seventh in the second session with a 3.894, 315.78.
 
He has had success here at Las Vegas, winning here in the fall of 2004 and capturing the $100,000 Bud Shootout in 2006. "We've been making it a round farther at each race," Kalitta said, alluding to his first-round exit at Pomona, his quarterfinal finish at Phoenix and his semifinal appearance at Gainesville. So by his calculations, this could be his weekend.
 
TUNING WITH THE STARS - Kalitta Motorsports Team Manager Jim Oberhofer arrived in Las Vegas late Thursday because he was busy competing that morning in a ballroom dancing competition at Dearborn, Mich. He and dance partner Trish Stuckey claimed a few first-place honors as they performed the cha-cha, bolero, rumba, East Coast swing, West Coast swing, and mambo. He said he would have loved to have stayed for the afternoon/evening session and show off his fox trot, waltz, and tango. Still, he said, he took to the dance floor 52 times in the American Rhythm portion of the Michigan Challenge.
 
"I'm training a little bit more these days, to strengthen my core," the svelte but once stocky  Oberhofer said, adding, "I'd dance in four competitions a year if I could. I get to dance and race my cars. Life doesn’t get any better than that."
 
He has been turning on his dance friends to drag racing. "They're a lot alike, dancing and drag racing. You do all this preparing for all these short performances. There's so much preparation and so much to focus on," Oberhofer said. "I like the competition of it. It's pretty cool."

In addition to attending to Doug Kalitta's car Friday, he was watching over Dave Grubnic's dragster and the Funny Cars of Jeff Arend and Alexis DeJoria (who grabbed the tentative No. 4 spot right off the bat before slipping to 15th with two more qualifying sessions scheduled for Saturday).
 
TODD TO RETURN - J.R. Todd fans shouldn't have to wait too long to see him race again in NHRA competition. The Lawrenceburg, Ind., racer, who has won six of his eight final-round appearances, will try to complete his licensing renewal requirements in testing the day after the race at Charlotte's zMAX Dragway. Bob Vandergriff, owner of the C&J Energy Services Dragster, said Friday that the plan is for Todd to drive a second dragster for his team at Houston, Atlanta, and Topeka.
 
CHEERLEADER - Parts Plus  Dragster driver Clay Millican recently gave some encouragement to employees of  new marketing partner Honeywell Friction Materials  at the annual  Bendix sales meeting at Jacksonville, Fla. The participants completed team-building challenges as part of the "Winning 101: Fueled for Sales Growth" meeting. And what better individual to cheer them on besides Millican? He's the  six-time International Hot Rod Association Top Fuel champion and  51-time winner  who's inching closer to finding the winning formula  in NHRA competition.  "The Bendix brand has a long-standing history in motorsports, and we’re proud to partner with a driver like Clay," said Jim Kelley, director of sales for the Americas, Honeywell Friction Materials. "We're excited for what looks to be an exciting and successful racing season." Said Millican, "I'm thrilled to have the Bendix team involved for the 2012 season. This partnership will be a huge benefit to the team as a whole, and I'm looking forward to what we're able to do together this season – on the track and off." What he was able to do Friday evening was improve from the No. 13 position to No. 3 overnight.
 
LUCK NOT A FACTOR - This is Las Vegas, but Al-Anabi / Toyota Dragster driver Shawn Langdon said, "Hoping to be lucky won't do it anymore. Your best effort is required every time down the track."
 
He said, "I think we'll see more winners in Top Fuel this season than we've seen in the last few years, when it seemed like three or four cars were winning all of the races," he said. Spencer Massey, Antron Brown, and Morgan Lucas have won the first three, and Langdon is hoping he'll add his name to the list with his first Top Fuel victory.
 
"I think that will expand quite a bit this year with a lot more cars capable of putting four strong runs together on race day. Because of that, we all have to step up a little bit. We have to make our car a little bit better, and I have to do a little bit better on the starting line. That's what it's going to take to win a race this year," Langdon said. "But if we need a little luck on our side, Las Vegas is a pretty good place for it."

Langdon raced his Super Comp car in the layoff between Gainesville and this race, and he said that "definitely got me excited to get back into the Top Fuel car. Not having won in the first few races, I’m hungry to win a race, and I know Alan [Al-Anabi team manager Johnson] and Brian [crew chief Husen] are, as well."
 
Langdon was runner-up at the Jegs Sports Nationals at Belle Rose, La., March 18 and last  weekend competed in the Tenn-Tuck bracket race (an all-run field featuring handicap-style racing) at Bowling Green, Ky.
 
"Once we get into the part of the [NHRA] season where we race regularly," Langdon said, "we'll find our groove, get in that racing mentality, and hopefully get the round wins we need to climb our way to first place in points.
 
"Las Vegas can be pretty tricky because of the temperature and altitude," he said. "It's the first race of the year where we probably won't have to worry about weather. We know we'll probably get four qualifying runs so we can be aggressive early. If we can do that and are successful, we might be able to try some things later in qualifying."
 
He was seventh after the first session Friday and fifth at the end of the day.
 
"This weekend will have the highest altitude and probably the hottest track we've been to this year, so it's going to be a little bit different. It'll be a big change for the crew chiefs," Langdon said. "The Al-Anabi team won in Las Vegas last fall, so our guys obviously know how to run well there."
 
EAGER TO IMPROVE - Dubai native and Los Angeles resident Khalid alBalooshi, a huge Pro Modified success in both the United States and Qatar, is looking for his first Top Fuel round-win. "I want Las Vegas to be a fresh start for the Al-Anabi Racing team. I want to forget the first three races of the season and do a perfect job for Sheikh Khalid [Al-Thani of Qatar, his team owner] in the gold Al-Anabi car this weekend," alBalooshi said. "After Gainesville, we worked together as a team to see if there was anything we could do to make me more comfortable in the car. I am looking forward to Las Vegas this weekend to continue getting better." He was in the top half of the field in the first session and remained eighth in Friday's final session. With just 46 runs in a Top Fuel car, alBalooshi is still transitioning to his new car. He is competing for the 2012 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award which recognizes the NHRA's Rookie of the Year.

HAGAN NOT PUSHING PANIC BUTTON - This wasn’t the start to the 2012 NHRA season Matt Hagan had in mind.

Hagan, the reigning NHRA Funny Car world champ, enters the national event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend without a round win in the three previous events. Hagan pilots the Aaron’s/Mopar Don Schumacher Racing Dodge Charger.

“We did meet a lot of our goals last year and this year is definitely not the way we wanted to start off the year,” Hagan said. “But, I think it is way too early to push the panic button. When we get to Indy (Aug. 29-Sept. 3), and we are not in (the Countdown) then I will worry about it. I think we have such a good team and such a good crew and Tommy (Delago, Hagan’s crew chief), he has not forgot how to tune a race car. I just still have all the confidence in the world in these guys. Yeah, we have had three races, but there is still a lot of racing left and if you count our team out, I think you are counting the wrong way.”

Hagan, who also finished second in the point standings to John Force in 2010, is keeping his slump in perspective.

“You are going to have ups and downs out here,” Hagan said. “When you do struggle and you find out what’s going on and what is wrong and why the car is not performing the way you are used to, that makes your team better. It only makes you stronger as a crew chief and as a driver and as a team.”

The top 10 drivers in the Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle point standings after Indy qualify for NHRA’s six race Countdown to the Championship.

“There is some security there about getting in the Countdown and once you are in, it is anybody’s ballgame, but you have to get in,” Hagan said. “Right now we are tied for 10th and we are battling it out to move up in some positions here. It doesn’t matter about championships, if you are not in it (the Countdown to the Championship) you can’t win it. That is main goal to get in it.”

CAPPS WEIGHS IN - On March 16 when Glen Gray, NHRA’s Vice President, Technical Operations, informed Nostalgia Funny Car driver Tim Boychuk his victory at the Bakersfield March Meet on March 4 was being stripped it might have gone unnoticed by some professional NHRA drivers.

Not Ron Capps, the driver of the NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger for Don Schumacher Racing. Capps is competing in the NHRA national event at Las Vegas this weekend.

“I would say it (the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage) needs to be policed more,” said Capps, who has raced in the Hot Rod Heritage Series the past several years. “To be honest with you, and I’m not making a knock on the heritage series, but there is no reason why a trailer in the pit area can’t check those fuel pumps on site, and not just after the two guys in the final round, but check them on site before first round, or the top three in qualifying or random.”

A statement from Tim Boychuk on boychukracing.com read as follows:

In regards to our disqualification of our win at the March Meet at Famoso Raceway, Bakersfield, I would like to express both Ron and my utter disappointment in the results. As far as we are concerned all of our Fuel systems are within specifications that are required by the NHRA. All data we have proves that.

If NHRA finally wants to take a vested interest in the Heritage Hot Rod series, then maybe they need to be consistent in the way they inspect and test our products.

Boychuk was disqualified from the event and runner-up Chad Head, a rookie Nostalgia Funny Car driver, was declared the winner.

“What happened was following a post-race inspection both Tim Boychuk (Funny Car) and Rick White (Top Fuel) were found to have fuel pumps that exceeded the maximum allowance for fuel delivery,” said Gray in an interview with Competition Plus on March 16. “So, after reviewing that data, we have a (rules) committee for the (NHRA) Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series, and we disqualified both drivers. Since Tim (Boychuk) was the winner he was disqualified from the event and Chad (Head) was declared the winner based on that. Since Rick (White) was a runner-up, nothing changed there.”

Gray added Boychuk and White also lost their points and purse they earned associated with the March Meet. Jim Young beat White in the Top Fuel finals.

“I have talked with Glen Gray and these guys in the past and I do not think they realize how much this Nostalgia thing has taken off,” Capps said. “I tried to give them idea a couple of years ago. I let them know I go and do this (race Nostalgia Funny Cars) and it is one of my passions. When you have over 32 cars showing up for a 16 car show, that’s a lot of cars in today’s economy. I can tell you Spike Gorr that does fuel systems, they have a trailer with a flow bench that is at a lot of those (Nostalgia) races. So, I think the best thing for NHRA to do in my opinion, is whoever they are
going to have do it, whether it is (K.J.) Crawford (Fuel Injection Systems) is to have a pump checker at the track. There is no reason for a race that prestigious to have a call two weeks later (to get the final results).”

Since Head, the director of racing operations at Al-Anabi Racing, and the son of iconic Funny Car driver Jim Head, never took pictures in the March Meet winner’s circle, Capps is planning on changing that today at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“I called Blake (Bowser) up and I told I’m going to get all the guys who were working on Chad’s (Nostalgia) car and all the guys who were working on my (Nostalgia) car and everybody who was involved with Chad’s car to have him win it,” Capps said. “I got a bunch of shirts sent from the March Meet that I asked Blake for, and I asked him for something that we could take another winner’s circle picture with here in Vegas. Chad (Head) didn’t get his time in the sun, and I’m bummed about that. Blake sent me the banner that they actually have at the (March Meet) winner’s circle. He sent it to my house and I brought it here to Vegas. We are going to take our own March Meet winner’s circle picture here in Vegas. We will probably do that (take the picture) after qualifying Saturday.”

Blake Bowser is the vice president/general manager of Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield.

Capps believes re-creating a March Meet winner’s circle is worth the time and effort.

“To me, if I was able to win it (the March Meet), that trophy would go right in the middle of every trophy I have ever won in the past. It is that big of a deal for me,” Capps said. “So, the fact that Chad Head was able to win it, we are going to try and do it the right way.”

Capps also thought Boychuk’s disqualification was unfortunate.

“I raced with Roland (Leong) (Boychuk’s crew chief) and he was one of my earliest mentors and he would not cheat and especially being caught with a fuel pump like that,” Capps said. “I talked to him and I found out what happened and it all made sense. He told me what happened and it happens all the time, and it was nobody’s fault. It just happened to happen and they happened to win the race. I do not think they went up there to cheat, but the point is NHRA definitely needs to look at this series (the Hot Rod Heritage Series) a little more seriously in that respect. I do not know if they realize how big this thing (the Hot Rod Heritage Series) is going to get, and how big it has already become.”

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THURSDAY NOTEBOOK - ALMOST TIME TO DOUBLE DOWN

 
ALL IN THE FAMILY - Steve Torrence's dad, Billy Torrence, won the Super Comp trophy last fall at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. So the Top Fuel driver, who always followed in his father's footsteps in drag racing, said he and his Torrence Racing/Capco Contractors Inc. Dragster team "want to pick up where he left off."
 
After racing in Super Comp, the younger Torrence moved to the Top Alcohol Dragster class in 2005 and won nine times in 11 final rounds in only 13 races on his way to the series championship. The following year he graduated to Top Fuel, and this year he's wanting to make the Countdown for the second time. Already this season, with three races completed, Torrence has lowered his best 1,000-foot elapsed time to 3.788 seconds and improved his fastest speed to 322.04 mph.
 
Torrence said, "I'm really proud of the team. We are . . . learning as fast as we can. This is only our seventh race as a team. I spent the time between races working to improve my reaction times. I want to do well because my guys brought me this far and we want to keep improving. We all know anything can happen in Las Vegas. My dad is racing there, too. Maybe both of us will be in the winners circle."
 
He and the Richard Hogan-led team rode their dirt bikes in the desert sand dunes of Glamis, Calif., near the Arizona border this past Sunday and Monday.  "My guys have been working hard, and they needed some time to get away from the car," Torrence said. "It was a blast! We had a two good days of fun. It wasn't your typical rest and relaxation, but it was a perfect way for our guys to get some down time, and (Pro Modified racer) Leah Pruitt also joined us. We are all good friends, and we just enjoyed it. Now we're really pumped up about racing in Las Vegas."
 
GO WEST, YOUNG MAN - Brandon Bernstein was in some fast company when he took a "whirlwind trip" to Los Angeles last week to visit Toyota Racing Development's headquarters. He joined NASCAR drivers Mark Martin, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex Jr., who were in the area for the Auto Club 400 Sprint Cup Series race. Bernstein chatted with Toyota executives, including Ed Laukes, the automaker's vice-president of marketing communications and motorsports. Toyota is a sponsor of Morgan Lucas Racing, Bernstein's race team.
 
"They have a huge facility out there, and to get a look at it and see what they were up to was really interesting. It gets you pumped up," the MAVTV/ Toyota Dragster driver said.
 
The time off also gave Joe Barlam, Bernstein's crew chief, time to compare notes with Aaron Brooks, team manager Morgan Lucas' crew chief for the GEICO / Lucas Oil Dragster.
 
"The guys have a good plan put together," Bernstein said. "Obviously with the win Morgan had in Gainesville, we'd like to build on that success as a team. Aaron and Joe have been talking a lot. I think we're poised to make both of these cars run terrific."
 
Bernstein won at Las Vegas in 2007 and was runner-up in two of the past three years here. In 2001, when dad Kenny Bernstein won his sixth and final championship, the two were the first father-son duo to win at the same national event at this race -- Kenny in Top Fuel and Brandon in Top Alcohol Dragster. (They  repeated the double victory that June at Joliet, Ill.)
 
"It's a great track and there's a lot of history there for me," Brandon Bernstein said. "We can't wait to get that MAVTV Dragster back out on the racetrack. We really feel we've got a great race car. We just need to get more runs that will translate into round wins."
 
BROWN BUZZING - Everybody wants a piece of Antron Brown. The Top Fuel racer is too fidgety to sit still, anyway, so it was normal to see the Aaron's Dream Machine / Matco Tools Dragster driver darting about during the recent time off, talking with people and setting up deals for this Las Vegas weekend. The winner of this race last year (and runner-up in 2008) spoke Tuesday with students at Western Technical College at El Paso, Texas.
 
"I really enjoy these school visits we do for Matco," Brown said. "I was just like many of these students not too long ago when I was a student at Mercer College in New Jersey. It's nice to give back and speak to the students about career paths and the importance of focusing on education. These are the technicians and mechanics of tomorrow, and it's great to meet the students and hopefully deliver a positive message to them. Western Tech is a fantastic facility and we're excited to visit the campus and speak to all the students for the fourth straight year. I think it's great that Matco makes this a top initiative for the company."  
 
Allan Sharpe, president of Western Technical College, said Brown brought "a national perspective on careers in the racing industry that range from automotive technicians to even medical positions. We are pleased to have such a well-known name to not only present industry specific information to our students and the community, but also the motivation and experience that he brings as a NHRA driver and career leader in his industry."
 
A TV host also wanted to tap into Brown's expertise. Barry Weiss, a "treasure hunter" who is one of the stars of A&E Network's "Storage Wars," met Brown at the Winternationals in February and arranged to do some filming with him at this weekend's SummitRacing.com Nationals. Weiss recently bought a storage locker at an auction being filmed for the show, and it contained what looks like a high-performance engine part. So Weiss will find out from Brown this weekend what the item is and what its value is. Their meeting will be filmed for a future episode.
 
The Aaron's folks will be buzzing around Brown's pit this weekend, the first this year that Brown's Don Schumacher Racing-owned dragster will carry the company's livery. "We'll have the 'Lucky Dog' on board with us and we always do good when Aaron's is on our car," the racer said. "Me and the 'Dog' will just lay back, relax, and race. We went to three final rounds with the Aaron's colors last year, and hopefully we can repeat that."
 
Brown was the Phoenix winner and runner-up at the season-opener at Pomona, Calif. He's third in the standings after the Gatornationals, the most recent race. So amid all the visiting, Brown will try to focus -- or in his words, "just kick back and stay the course" -- at a facility he called "great" and a track whose "surface is always at the top of the list."
 
But of course, he did plan for some time to party. "We enjoy being in Las Vegas and really like seeing all the fans at the New York New York on Thursday night for the Fanfest."

IT'S ALL GOOD - Spencer Massey always seems to find the silver lining in every potential disappointment. After he won the season-opener, he hasn't won a round. But that covers just two other races, and besides, he said, "We've run well but just ran into a couple of really good race cars that kept us from making it to the semifinals." Because he lost at Phoenix to Antron Brown, who won the race, and at Gainesville, Fla., to Morgan Lucas, who won the Gatornationals, he said, "Hey, if you're going to lose, you might as well get beat by the guy who goes on to win the trophy, right?" Massey, a lucky racer at Las Vegas with a fall 2009 victory and a fall 2011 runner-up finish, decided to mix up his routine a bit. He usually drivers his motorhome to the races, but this time he flew. Between the races, he helped buddy Chase Copeland work on Copeland's Top Alcohol Dragster.
 
BUSY CAPPS - NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger driver Ron Capps almost has to come to the racetrack to get a rest. He and 10-year-old son Caden attended NASCAR's Auto Club 400 at Fontana, Calif., last weekend. Capps was Honorary Pit Crew Member for Martin Truex Jr.'s No. 56 NAPA entry in the Sprint Cup race. However, Caden almost upstaged Dad, doing an interview with Sirius XM host Claire B. Lang while he was seated in Truex's stock car.
 
Capps got on Truex's team radio and gave him and the crew some words of encouragement. And he signaled Truex in for his first pit stop, holding the driver's pit sign. Capps’ name appeared prominently on the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota. Capps will return the favor when Truex serves as the Honorary Pit Crew Member at the April 13-15 NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway at Charlotte. The entire NAPA Sprint Cup team will support Capps, as well, by attending the NAPA Race Day Experience and watching Capps during competition.
 
Ranked sixth in the current standings, Capps said he's elated to return to The Strip, where he has won three times (fall 2011, spring 2009, and fall 2005) and reached the finals twice (this spring race in both 2006 and 2007). "Vegas is one of my five favorite race tracks, and they're all the tracks built by Bruton Smith," Capps said. "Vegas is always fun, but nothing is more fun than winning on Sunday."

WIPING SLATE CLEAN - Fighting a lingering cold, helping his mother-in-law move into a new home, and focusing on baseball skills should have been enough to take Jack Beckman's mind off the aggravation he encountered at the most recent drag race. But he hasn't forgotten about the red-light start because of what he insists was an electric-timing-system error. And it still irritates him to think his last pass rang up as an "official" elapsed time of 4.22 seconds -- although the Valvoline NextGen Dodge Charger's on-board computer indicated it was closer to another 4.04 or 4.05 time.
 
"We had a great running car. We had a car that could win the race," Beckman said.
"It looked like Hight got to the finish line first on that run. Otherwise it would really sting to lose to an electronic beam."
 
In the season-opening race at Pomona, Calif., for some reason still unknown, Beckman's car made a hard left jag and crossed in front of his considerably slower opponent. It still saddled him with a disqualification.
 
So he's looking to change his luck here, where he won  in the fall of 2006 and was runner-up in the fall of 2009.
 
ALL SMILES - Californian Alexis DeJoria called Las Vegas her "second home," saying, "I always love racing in Vegas. It's one of my favorite tracks, plus our family has a house there, so Vegas feels very comfortable to me. Not to mention, with Tequila Patrün headquartered there, we always get a lot of sponsor support, which is nice. It would be awesome to show our sponsors first-hand how far our team has come in such a short period of time."
 
Her Del Worsham-led Kalitta Motorsports Tequila Patrün Toyota Camry team won't be wearing those T-shirts that say, "Floggings will continue until morale improves." This team is jelling well.
 
"These past few weeks have been good to us," DeJoria said. "We had a great showing at the Gators, a successful test session after that, and then had a lot of fun attending the Bristol NASCAR race together. So team morale is very high right now. We went through a little bit of a rough patch getting started, but everyone is feeling like we're back on the right track, headed in the right direction."
 
The post-Gatornationals test session yielded four runs with the new clutch combination the team has been working on since the start of the season. Jim Oberhofer, Kalitta Motorsports vice-president and team manager, the new clutch combination should be fine-tuned soon and might see service this weekend.
 
"Vegas can be tricky, because it's the second-highest altitude that we race at [after mile-high Denver], plus it's in the middle of the dessert, so it can be tough to make power," Oberhofer said. "If it's cool out, the track surface is excellent, but if it's warmer, it can be a bit trickier. We're betting on the latter and will tune both Funny Cars [DeJoria’s and Jeff Arend's DHL entry] accordingly.
 
'We've learned a lot from both Funny Cars as of late, and Del is really starting to dive into the Patrün car. The tuning changes that he's made are returning positive results, so we should see some real nice runs out in Vegas.”"
 
DeJoria's car is set up the same as Arend's. That plan went awry for a bit with separate mechanical issues, but since the Gainesville race, both cars are mechanically as identical as they can possibly be. That  accelerates the learning curve significantly.
 
CAN YOU FEEL THE K-LOVE TONIGHT? - Tony Pedregon can. K-LOVE, the national Christian contemporary music radio broadcaster that features positive and encouraging music, will be the primary sponsor on two-time champion's car for 12 of the final 20 races of the season. K-LOVE will be a major associate sponsor on the car for the remainder of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season. This will be the first of those 12 races, and it will be also at the Charlotte, Houston, and Atlanta events. After a two-race break then, K-LOVE will return as the primary sponsor at five of the eight remaining races leading up to the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Labor Day weekend. K-LOVE will finish the season at three of the Countdown to the Championship races, including the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Pomona. In a personal note on K-LOVE's website, Pedregon said, "I think people look for the Lord when its convenient. My hopes and goals for this partnership with K-LOVE is to put God in front of people every day." K-LOVE's motorsports platform -- it also sponsors NASCAR's Michael McDowell -- also brings awareness to its "Survive to Five" partnership with World Vision. The program targets children from newborns to five-year-olds with sponsorships to give them a chance to grow healthy past age five. These are children from countries in which mortality rates are high and family and community support are missing in their lives.
 
MIGHT CHANGE MIND ABOUT GAMBLING - Johnny Gray accompanied his son, Pro Stock contender Shane Gary, to Las Vegas this winter before the season-opening race at Pomona, Calif. And, Dad Gray said, "Boy, we had a great session. We're excited to go back." No wonder. He's fourth in the standings after the season's first three races. At Las Vegas, he advanced to the final round in each of his last two appearances here. In the spring race, he lost to Robert Hight, and in the fall return, Don Schumacher Racing mate Ron Capps beat him.
 
"I can't take the credit for what we've been able to do there so far," Gray said. "Rob [crew chief Wendland], Rip [assistant crew chief Reynolds], and the guys continue to give me a great race car at Las Vegas.
 
"It's going to be a great time there with all of the festivities. Las Vegas is just a really fun race with all the fans you run into and the friends and family who come out," Gray, from nearby New Mexico, said. "I'm not much of a gambler as far as casinos go, but I think now would be a good time to go out and place a little money on ourselves -- then collect the winnings."
 
Son Shane Gray said the Pro Stock team which his father owns is about to make a move with the Big O Tires/Service Central Racing Pontiac GXP.
 
 "We have put in a lot of hard work, and it's looking like we will have something to show for it here pretty quick." Gray said. "We certainly aren't going to go out there and be timid."
 
Like his dad, Shane Gray said the earlier test session "was great. There was nothing discouraging about it, and I'm really looking forward to getting back in the race car. It's  really special, because I get to do that in Vegas, one of my favorite places. There is always a lot of excitement surrounding that race with the fans and friends who come out. It's really an experience."
 
KB / SUMMIT DUO DRIVEN - Jason Line and KB/ Summit Racing Pontiac teammate Greg Anderson are a bit fussier than usual -- getting a Pro Stock victory each in the first three race only make them wonder why somebody else got that third one.
 
"Obviously we've left a few scraps on the table," Anderson said.
 
He said the two are confident they can add to their achievements of four series titles and 71 victories for Anderson and two championships and 28 race-wins for Line.
 
"We have always believed that we can build through the course of the season, continuing to move our program forward," Anderson said. "So to start that strong gives us a really good boost of confidence, knowing that we should get even better from where we are now." This start, he said, "is a good but it's not a perfect start, and we strive for perfection."
 
Three of Anderson's victories and one of Line's have come at this race, which is significant to this dynamic duo, not only because it’s their sponsor's race, but also because it's home to team owner Ken Black and his wife Judy.
 
"It's a big deal every year when we go to Vegas," Anderson said. "With all of the brass coming out to cheer us on, it means there is a lot of added pressure and emphasis on doing well. The good thing about this year’s race is that we're coming in on a high, so we're hoping to continue that roll and put two Summit Pontiacs in the final round. "
 
Mike Edwards has spoiled Anderson's and Line's plan for total dominance, winning at Phoenix.
 
Said Line, "You always hope that the season will start out the way we have. However, it is still just a start. There is a lot of racing left in the season with a lot left to accomplish and lots of work left to be done."
 
CAR COMING AROUND - Rodger Brogdon said he loves Las Vegas -- and he's just starting to like his Pro Stock car.
 
If any car has gotten the once-over during this three-week gap since the Gatornationals, it's Rodger Brogdon's MAVTV Pontiac GXP. "Everybody at Cagnazzi Racing (Brogdon's engine supplier) spent time with us on it last week. Stevie Johns, Tommy Utt, Dave Connolly, all my guys, I mean we've all gone over this thing," the Houston racer said. "We made some progress," Brogdon said, alluding to his Charlotte test session. "We started to show better 60-foot and better 330-foot times. We ran as good or better to the 60- and 330-foot timers than anyone else that was testing out in Charlotte. In spite of his troublesome car, Brodson is in fourth place in the standings.
 
"We're better now than we've been all season," Brogdon said. "It gives us confidence, but by no means do we think we're at 100 percent. We still need to get more runs on it. We got all the runs we could in two days in Charlotte, but you always want more. Ideally, we'd test one more time, but we just don't have the time. The hauler had to leave and head West."
 
Brogdon said The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway "is a fantastic track. I've always run quick there – even in the days when I ran Competition Eliminator there. Everybody loves Vegas. We could race out there for or five times a year -- it wouldn't bother me a bit."
 
HE'S EVERYWHERE - Jeg Coughlin, who's 10th in Pro Stock points in his JEGS Mopar Dodge Avenger, will be shifting gears -- physically and mentally -- at Las Vegas. This weekend, the four-time Pro Stock champion and 1992 Super Gas king will compete, as well, in his JEGS.com Super Comp dragster. In the Pro Stock class, he was runner-up at the first race of the season, at Pomona, Calif., after a year's layoff.  In 20 appearances at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, has won the Pro Stock trophy five times and has finished second twice (at both 2001 events). He has a round-win record of 37-13 in Pro Stock competition. His JEGS Mopar Dodge Avenger is powered by Mopar Hemi engines supplied by JNR Racing, the JEGS in-house engine program founded by JEGS, Nick Ferri, and Roy Simmons. Former FIA European Drag Racing champion Tomi Laine is Coughlin's crew chief.

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