The second annual Heads Up Nationals will be held this
weekend, November 3-4 at Emerald Coast Dragway in Holt, Florida, near Pensacola
and just off I-10. The race will help benefit the National Cancer Society,
according to track manager Johnny Jordan.

On tap will be races in the anything-goes Outlaw Pro Mod
Eliminator, and already signed on for the class is NHRA fuel Funny Car pilot
and Pro Modder Mike Ashley, as well as about a dozen others. Also contested
will be ORSCA Outlaw 10.5 cars, ORSCA Limited Street, 5.30-, 6.0- and
7.0-indexed door cars, plus Emerald Coast’s own Real Street Eliminator. Info: www.emeraldcoastdragway.com.     

It took only four times for Torco's CompetitionPlus.com columnist Jack Beckman
to figure out how to win in a nitro-burner.

"Since Don Schumacher hired
me, it's been a steep, steep learning curve," said Beckman in the winner's
circle, "but I had a lot of help. Frank's (Hawley) been working with me some,
(Ron) Capps, (Gary) Scelzi, Mike Ashley. We sit down and talk. I had a lot of
help from my teammates at DSR. And it really is a team. It's a business
enterprise, but there really is a sense that we're pulling for each other. When
Richie won I couldn't jump up and down (because) I was strapped in the Funny
Car, and when Tony won, we were all happy for him. To get to share the podium
with two teammates up here it's just an amazing culmination to the day.

"And, God, I'm looking over there at the Matco Tools Funny Car and that's the
baddest group of crew members over there. Those nine guys, they're the ones that
made that car run.

David Baca didn't win the event but was a distant first place in the special
"powerslide" competition on Sunday.

If you can't win the race, be
spectacular. Those words summed up the sixth annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA
Nationals for Mach 1 Air Services Top Fuel driver David Baca.

Baca lost
with a 4.585 opposite of Brandon Bernstein only to find out his 320.66 mph
quarter-mile pass would not be slowed by the aid of his twin parachutes, which
failed to deploy after the finish line.

The Goodguys season-ending
Fuel & Gas Finals November 3-5 at Auto Club Famoso Raceway will serve as the
second and final event of the 2006 Goodguys Championship Series and is shaping
up to be a mad dash for championship glory. What was supposed to be a four-race
series this year turned into a two-race series following rainouts of the March
Meet in Bakersfield and the Northwest Nostalgia
Nationals in Seattle. With all 14 class championships on the
line at the upcoming Fuel & Gas Finals, each qualifying session and each
round of eliminations will take on added significance.

Championship point’s battles are extremely tight in six
of the fourteen Goodguys classes. Less than 20 points (one round of racing)
separate the number one and number two point’s earners in Top Fuel, Funny Car,
Junior Fuel, AA/GAS, A/GAS and Hot Rod Eliminator. Of those six classes, none of
the current point’s leaders have won Goodguys/VRA Championships. 

Scott Parks (Junior Fuel), John Rasmussen (Junior Fuel
B), Don Taros (Nostalgia Eliminator), Craig Wallace (Nostalgia III) and Ed Carey
(D/GAS) are currently leading their divisions and are seeking repeat
championships. For Parks, based in Burlingame, KS
and Wallace – they are seeking their 4th consecutive Goodguys/VRA
Championship. Taros, meanwhile is seeking his unprecedented 5th
straight class Championship in Nostalgia
Eliminator.

It only took two races races before Todd and Steve Torrence, his new teammate,
squared off against each other. It came in the quarterfinals at Las Vegas and they put on a
good show.

Torrence, who registered his quickest elapsed time (4.583
seconds) and speed (326.56 mph) in qualifying 11th, did what he needed against
Todd. He left the starting line first with a .085-second reaction to Todd’s
.090. But Todd prevailed with a 4.582 at 320.28 to Torrence’s 4.663 at
311.92.

Robert Hight couldn't get it his Funny car to fire on Sunday. On Monday, he had no such problem. This test run resulted in a supercharger explosion and lots of oil on the racing surface. Hight was uninjured.

AMS Pro Modified Challenge officials announced on Sunday evening during
the awards banquet that the series will return in 2007 with ten events
and possibly two more. The two dates in question will most likely be
during the NHRA SportsNationals events. The rules will most likely
remain under the current structure and will not follow the lead of the
IHRA in their rumored alterations.

Tulsa Raceway Park was assigned an IHRA event about a month ago.
Yesterday, it was used as a runway for a mistaken pilot. The plane's
takeoff was filmed on FOX News.

 
EVENT NOTEBOOK   EVENT PHOTO GALLERY

Gillig,
Ulsch, Berney, and Keenan Collect Championships in Orlando

300
cars, 21,000 spectators, and the best - bar none - heads-up, street-legal doorslammer
racing in the world. That in a nutshell is a recap of the just-completed event
simply known as “Orlando.”

Technically
it’s called the Real World Street Nationals, and this year’s version, the 14^th
annual, was an unqualified success. Well, the racers who crashed, broke, or failed
to qualify may have a problem with that assessment, but the vast majority of
fans and racers who jammed the tight confines of Orlando Speed World Dragway
likely have a positive response if asked to evaluate the event.

The
number of race vehicles on hand is even more impressive considering that there
are only four classes – Super Pro Street, Outlaw 10.5, Heavy Street, and Radial
Tires.

In
Super Pro Street,
the premier class of the RWSN, 2003 winner Tony Gillig returned to the winner’s
circle at the expense of fellow Illinois
resident Chuck Samuel, himself a former winner in Orlando.

Gillig,
who is stepping away from his team’s 2004 Mustang after this weekend, took the
win when Samuel got out of the groove and lifted.  

In
Outlaw 10.5, consistency won the weekend for Maryland’s Chuck Ulsch, who parlayed a
string of 6.90s into a trip to the final and a classic Ford versus Chevy
confrontation with Brad Brand.

Ulsch
lined his 2002 Camaro up beside Brand’s 1992 Mustang in the final stanza, which
came to a sudden end when Brand pulled the trigger way too early and left a
glowing red bulb in his wake.

Funeral
arrangements are being handled by

D.O. McCombs
& Sons Funeral Home,

8325 Covington
Road,

Fort Wayne,
Indiana 46804.

Visitation hours
are Wednesday, November 1 2:00 to 4:00 and

6:00 to 8:00.
The funeral will be Thursday, November 2 at noon.