Dale Creasy bangs the supercharger during the first round of the IHRA Torco Race Fuels President's Cup Nationals in Budd's Creek. Ace photog Chris Simmons nailed the perfect shot. 

TOWNSEND, EFANTIS AND LUMMUS ROUND OUT WINNERS FOR THE
PALM
BEACH NHRA SPORT COMPACT
NATIONALS

It took
a few weeks to happen, but the finals of
the rain-postponed Palm Beach NHRA Sport Compact Nationals from Moroso
Motorsports Park were completed at Old Bridge Raceway Park.  The event was completed during qualifying of
the NHRA Sport Compact Fallnationals presented by Toyo
Tires.

Ron Townsend (Pro FWD),
Paul Efantis (Modified), and Ron Lummus (Hot Rod) joined Gary White (Pro RWD)
and Norris Prayoonto (Honda Tuning All Motor) were winners of the event.  White and Prayoonto were able to clinch their
Wallys in Florida before the rains cut the event
short.

Townsend (Torrance, Calif.) collected his first career Wally by
simply staging his car.  His opponent,
Jason Hunt, had broken two vertebrae in a car accident a few weeks earlier.  Despite this situation Townsend still sent
his car down the track to a time of 8.63 seconds at 155.24
mph.

Doug Foley was at the office of his orthopedic specialist Friday instead of at
Maryland International Raceway, continuing his battle with Clay Millican for the
Top Fuel lead. The Sewell, New Jersey, driver is starting to mend from injuries
he sustained in this past Monday's final round against Millican at the
rain-delayed Canadian Nationals finals.

"Doug's doing a lot better. He's
still really sore," Tim Lewis, business partner with Foley for the past six and
a half years and co-owner of the Torco-sponsored dragster with him, said Friday.

Foley, recovering from a concussion, is banged up from head to toe and,
according to Lewis, is "full of bruises."

Foley's left leg is broken in
two places, just above the ankle and just below the knee. He has a separated
right shoulder and four cracked ribs on his right side. He also suffered a
chipped tooth.

SATURDAY - Patrick Highlights Record-Setting Pro Stock Field

Grabs #1 qualifier spot as well as $20,000 Torco’s
CompetitionPlus.com Showdown win at President’s Cup Nationals;
Gilbertson, Millican, Cannon and Tigges claim poles at Maryland
International Raceway


The Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com Pro Stock class has always been a fan
favorite at Maryland International Raceway. Saturday, at the
President’s Cup Nationals, Robert Patrick (Fredericksburg, Va.) cleaned
up…clocking a 6.320 at 221.20 mph to claim the top qualifying spot. In
the process, in the last round of Saturday night qualifying, he also
defeated Frank Gugliotta (Mt. Airy, Md.) in the final round of the
Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com Pro Stock Showdown to claim the $20,000
first prize.

“It was tough,”
Patrick said of his big day at MIR. “The main thing is we have to go
four rounds tomorrow. I’m a little bit whipped and I have to pull back
in to get back to where I have to be. I’m tired now, but I have to try
to go four rounds tomorrow to try to win this race. I have a good team
and if I can do my job tomorrow I think we have a good chance.”

PATRICK POCKETS $20,000 IN TORCO’S COMPETITIONPLUS.COM PRO STOCK SHOWDOWN

Robert Patrick started coming to Maryland International Raceway when he was barely tall enough to watch the races over the spectator fence. He remembered Pro Stock icons “Dyno” Don Nicholson, Bill Jenkins and Ronnie Sox drawing admiration from the thousands of fans packed along the same fence line. Tonight Patrick was the admired one.

Patrick, of Fredericksburg, Va., drove his Purvis Ford-sponsored Mustang to a $20,000 payday by stopping Frank Gugliotta in the final round of the Torco’s CompetitionPlus.com Pro Stock Showdown during the second day of the IHRA Torco Race Fuels President’s Cup Nationals.

SCHUMACHER, JOHNSON, STANFIELD AND SAMPEY TOP QUALIFIERS IN READING

Reigning
Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher used a rocket-like 4.440-second pass
down Maple Grove Raceway in Saturday'slone session to lead the $1.5
million Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals into Sunday's eliminations.

Schumacher's run, the fourth quickest in history, placed him on a
record low qualifier podium next to Funny Car's Tommy Johnson Jr., Pro
Stock'sGreg Stanfield, and Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Angelle Sampey.
The fourth round of professional qualifying was lost to rain.

There
are three pending national records on the sheets. Stanfield stole away
the elapsed time mark in Pro Stock from Greg Anderson with his 6.621 in
the third round. Anderson still has designs on the national speed
record after his 208.91 mph clocking. Sampey's 6.939 could be the
national E.T. record in her class. Records aren't official until the
endof the event.

Tony
Rubert, aka “the Entertainer”, and his Top Sportsman 1980 Malibu wagon are known
for the strange things that occur during some of his runs.

Today’s pass looked
to be a very straight and smooth run until the car reached the finish line. As
the chute deployed, something seemed to fly off and sail through the air.

FRIDAY
QUALIFYING - THREE PROVISIONAL NATIONAL RECORDS SET AS
QUALIFYING OPENS AT MAPLE GROVE RACEWAY

Defending NHRA
world champion Greg Anderson ran the quickest and fastest Pro Stock pass of all
time Friday -- a 6.626 at 208.91 mph -- as qualifying for the Toyo Tires NHRA
Nationals began at Maple Grove Raceway. Another three-time champion, Pro Stock
Motorcycle rider Angelle Sampey, also posted a potential national record with a
6.939 on her Suzuki.

The nitro categories are led for the second week in
a row by Don Schumacher Racing teammates Tony Schumacher and Mike Ashley.
Schumacher coaxed a 4.471 at 331.85 mph out of his U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster,
while Ashley ran the quickest and fastest pass in track history to lead Funny
Car with a 4.694 at 330.96 mph in his Torco Race Fuels Dodge Charger. Potential
national records become official at the conclusion of the race.

"The way I look at it, I need the record bad," said Anderson, who trails
Jason Line by 78 points. "It's a 40-point swing in my mind because the record is
going down this weekend, it's just a matter of who's gonna get
it."

Twelve of the 16 racers that make up the quickest field in class
history posted career-best elapsed times to make the field. The record bump is
Dave Northrop's 6.664 at 206.57 mph in his Nitro Fish Wear Dodge Stratus
R/T.

		Event Notebook Instant Results Pro Stock Showdown			Event Photo Gallery Sportsman Pro Stock Showdown

Bob Gilbertson, Rick Cooper, Danny
Rowe, Robert Patrick and Mark Thomas Provisional Top

Qualifiers in
Maryland

Bob Gilbertson has been on a mission
lately. It all started at the World Nationals in Norwalk last month when the
Charlotte, N.C. resident eclipsed John Force’s long-standing track ET record. It
continued in Epping, N.H. at the Amalie Oil North American Nationals where
Gilbertson established a both ends of the IHRA World Record with a 4.841 pass at
318.09 mph. Friday, during the evening qualifying session at the Torco Racing
Fuels President’s Cup Nationals in Budds Creek, Md., Gilbertson continued his
assault on the record books.

In the second-to-last pair of cars in
Friday’s Knoll Gas-Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Funny Car qualifying session,
Gilbertson blistered the strip at Maryland International Raceway with a 4.762
pass at 323.35 mph. This pass set both ends of the professional record, pending
a qualifying back-up run sometime during the event.