BATTER UP - Castrol EDGE Top Fuel driver Brittany Force threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Victory Field in downtown Indianapolis Tuesday night for the Indianapolis Indians Triple-A minor-league game. Shawn Langdon, one of her Top Fuel competitors from Al-Anabi Racing, also participated in the pre-game festivities. "It was definitely something different," Force said. "I've never done anything like that before."



The 27-year-old Top Fuel rookie had excellent luck this week with ping-pong balls, too. She received the most fan votes among eligible Top Fuel racers for the final berth in the Traxxas Nitro Shootout. The lottery winner was decided by different-colored ping-pong balls in a hopper, with each driver assigned a specific color. Force had 49 of the 100 balls in the hopper, and one of hers popped out in the Monument Circle drawing Wednesday at NHRA Fan Fest in downtown Indianapolis. She'll start her quest for the $100,000 winner's prize against top seed and points leader Shawn Langdon. Her sister Courtney and dad John will compete in the Funny Car version of the Traxxas Shootout.

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This is very cool, and I'm so excited," Force said. "I remember watching my dad race in all the Big Bud Shootouts growing up, and to follow in his footsteps and get a chance to compete in the Traxxas Nitro Shootout, it's awesome. This is an unbelievable feeling.

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C'MON, THINK POSITIVE! - A 40-percent chance of winning a berth in the Traxxas Shootout turned into a 100-percent chance Tim Wilkerson will be one of the eight Funny Car drivers going for the $100,000-to-win jackpot Saturday during the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.



One hundred ping-pong balls went into a lottery hopper during Wednesday's NHRA Fan Fest on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis. They were proportionately colored according to the percentage of popular vote each candidate received. Wilkerson earned 40 percent of the online fan vote, most among the racers eligible for the last slot. Still, he said he wasn't convinced he had an advantage.



Robert Hight had 32 balls in the lottery, Alexis DeJoria 15, Del Worsham 5, Bob Tasca 3, Jeff Arend 3, and Tony Pedregon 2. To Wilkerson, that added up to more than he had.



"To have 40 out of the 100 ping-pong balls gave us a great shot, but I'd be lying if I told you I was confident that one of mine would pop out," the Levi, Ray & Shoup Mustang owner-driver said. "The pessimist in me looked at the 60 that didn't belong to me, but the odds were a bit in our favor because of how great our fans were in the Facebook vote.



"Neat deal to get in this thing," Wilkerson said. "And maybe if we get off to a good start on Sunday we can do something and win some money. This is really a tribute to our fans, who are a pretty great group. They got us every vote they could muster, and they need to know how much all of us on the team appreciate the effort."



Furthermore, he said, "I have to thank Traxxas for putting up the money and putting this event on for us. They've been a fantastic sponsor for Courtney Force and they've really been great for our sport. If any other sponsor wants to come to a race and see how to activate a program at the highest level, they just need to come look at the Traxxas display. They do it right, interacting with the fans and getting people excited about their radio-controlled cars and trucks. We'll try to make them proud of our LRS Ford on Sunday."



He will meet No. 1 seed (and points leader) Matt Hagan in the first round of the Traxxas Shootout. The opening round is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m., and it will run as part of Funny Car qualifying for the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals.



D-H-L'S D-E-L SAYS 'Y-E-S!' - "I'm super-stoked" is not Funny Car driver Del Worsham's stock line -- that distinction belongs to his Kalitta Motorsports teammate Alexis DeJoria. But that's his sentiment as the U.S. Nationals approaches, and it's all because of last week's encouraging test session. "In my 23 years of racing a nitro car, I've never been a part of a test session that good," Worsham, who's 11th in the standings, said. "Our DHL Toyota ran great right from the start and just kept getting better and better. We made small adjustments as we went on, and the car responded just how we wanted it to every time. I know our whole team is very excited to get back on the track and build on that momentum. It's a great feeling. Hopefully our weekend of racing in Indy will be just as good and we'll find a way to get in the Countdown, too." With only "The Big Go" to go before the Countdown fields are set, Worsham trails No. 10 Robert Hight by a mere 31 points. Worsham, the 2011 Top Fuel champion, won this race in 2005 and has been runner-up twice, once in each nitro class.

WANTED: PROOF - People keep telling Doug Kalitta he's having one of his best seasons ever, but he wants some proof. The Mac Tools Dragster driver still is seeking his first victory of the year (and first since July 2010, at Denver). And this former national sprint-car champion, who hustled to Indianapolis from a race at DuQuoin, Ill., in 1994 to see his uncle and now team owner Connie Kalitta win the U.S. Nationals, wants a Wally from this place of his own. "It would certainly be one of the highlights of my career," Doug Kalitta said. "We've had such an awesome dragster all season. We made the quickest run of the year in Phoenix (3.733 seconds), and we've qualified at the top several times. I think we're definitely due to get a win and what better place than in Indy? I'm excited and my whole Mac Tools team is excited to get back to Indy this year. We all have great confidence that we have a race car to win it all." The Norwalk runner-up, a five-time No. 1 qualifier, is fourth in the Top Fuel standings.



DSR WELCOMES PUBLIC - Fans and friends of Don Schumacher Racing are invited to the organization's eighth annual pre-U.S. Nationals open house to benefit Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health, as well as Camp Riley. The free event will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday at the DSR headquarters at 1681 E. Northfield Drive in Brownsburg. The first 500 guests who arrive after 10 a.m. will receive a free "DSR Win No. 200" sticker, commemorative Don Schumacher Hall of Fame Tribute autograph card, and a chance to win a unique prize package of 40 1/24-scale DSR diecast collectibles from various seasons valued at a total of $3,500. Additional raffle tickets will be available for $10 each. An Indy Hi-Winders Car Show will be among the attractions, along with a silent auction, music from the Army Entertainment Group, and appearances by each of DSR's seven professional drivers and boss Don Schumacher. The Raminator Monster Truck will be on display. Hungry attendees will have a variety to choose from at the Food Truck Corral with offerings from Nacho Mama, Greiner's Subs, Slider Station, and Flying Cupcake. Art lovers will appreciate the works of artists Bruce Tatman and DSR employee Thomas Patsis. And fans can tour the DSR CNC/Machine Shop. Last year's event attracted a record crowd of more than 4,000 fans and boosted DSR's contributions to Riley past the $200,000 mark. 



FIRST OPEN HOUSE - Anyone wishing to see the restored Fiat Coupe front-engine dragster of "Flamin' Frank" Pedregon in its fired-up glory may do so at 4:30 and 6 p.m. Thursday during the Pedregon Racing Open House at 462 Southpoint Circle in Brownsburg, Ind. The doors will be open from 4-7 p.m. 



The event also provides an excellent chance to scout out the items that go up for bid Saturday evening at the Pedregon hospitality area at Lucas Oil Raceway. The Andrea Pedregon Charity Foundation's live auction, which will start right after the last pro qualifying session Saturday, will benefit Indiana University's Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center for colon and prostate cancer research. One-hundred percent of the proceeds from the auction will go to the center. 



The APCF, also known as "A Spark of Hope," already has raised more than $20,000 for the center through its 2012 NHRA "Life's A Drag" Yearbook. The few copies that remain will be offered this weekend at $15. The yearbook contains hundreds of photos of NHRA drivers and their families, as well as a few non-racing celebrity cameos. The book, Andrea Pedregon's collaboration with daughters Arielle and Cecily, includes photo tributes to the late Blaine Johnson, Scott Kalitta, Eric Medlen, Darrell Russell, and John Force Racing receptionist Sharon Brooks. 

Larry Dixon and Steve Johnson will serve as auctioneers, and Bob Tasca will be on hand, as well, to help. JTM Foods generously has provided refreshments for the attendees.

Top bidders will take home autographed parts, apparel, helmets, starting-line shirts, and die-cast cars. On the auction block also is a Harley-Davidson-powered motorcycle custom-built by Tony Pedregon fan John Kriger, of Aliquippa, Pa. 

The APCF has raised more than $100,000 -- every penny of which has gone to the designated charity. Moreover, it has earned enough funds to pay for more than 85 surgeries for children with cleft lip and palate through Smile Train.



REICHERT ON A ROLL - Bill Reichert is in a strong position to capture his fourth U.S. Nationals trophy, and he credits changes to his injected-nitro combination in his Rislone Engine Treatment Top Alcohol Dragster for the boost of confidence. The five-time series champion won last weekend's North Central Regional at Bowling Green, Ky., with his injected-nitro engine combination "It took us a few runs to get this new combination figured out, but it finally responded with a good run in the final," said Reichert of his latest triumph. "You make a few little changes and you don't think it will take that long to figure out, but sometimes it does. It never seems to be easy." Well, this isn't The Big Easy -- it's The Big Go.



Reichert, of Owosso, Mich., said he's excited about the Lucas Oil Raceway surface, which he knows will be prepped well. He said his car "seems to be happy and has power," adding, "We had to run a lot of wing in Bowling Green, so the mile-an-hour was down. Indy is a good track, so it shouldn’t take as much wing as we had to run in Bowling Green. We'll just have to see. It's supposed to be hot and muggy, but we are looking forward to see what it will do."



Although Reichert indicated he isn't banking on another national title, he certainly hasn't given up. "We have a lot of national events left on our schedule, so there's still a lot left that we can do this year. On the regional level, we certainly didn't do what we wanted to do this year," he said. "We're just too far behind Brandon Booher to really have a chance at passing him. I think we have a mathematical chance, but with the way the schedule is lining up, it would just cause too many races in a row to add another regional event to our schedule. When you run too many races in a row, it's hard to keep the maintenance level where it needs to be. We will focus on the national events and see what happens. I don't know if we can win the national championship, but we can move up in the standings. Hopefully we can get things turned around and get a good start on next year."