Final round-by-round results from the 10th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, the 12th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the 10th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, the 12th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series -

Sunday's final results from the 10th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. The race is the 12th of 23 in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

Legendary football coach Dan Devine never drove a Pro Stock car. Likewise Allen Johnson has never coached a college football team.

On Saturday in Bristol, Tenn., the two came together in spirit at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Their common ground was a quote made famous in Devine’s pre-game speeches: “No one, I mean no one, comes into our house and pushes us around.”

Johnson, of Greeneville, Tenn., considers Bristol Dragway his home.

Saturday afternoon, with a track temperature well over 130 degrees, Johnson drove his Mopar-sponsored Dodge Avenger to the No. 1 qualifying position, knocking defending series champion Mike Edwards from the top spot.

Being tossed into the fire is nothing new to Tim Freeman. He’s been there, done that.

Friday marked his first race as crew chief for the Rodger Brogdon Pro Stock team and the conditions couldn’t have been tougher. A 90-degree day, 140 track temp, as Freeman understands, separates the good crew chiefs from the posers.

In their first shot at a hot and humid Bristol Dragway during the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, Brogdon was the fifth quickest during the first session. Not bad for an opening statement.

The history of Bristol Dragway is important to David McGee. Preserving that history, he admits, is his lifelong challenge.

McGee, of Bristol, Tenn., is so passionate about the drag strip carved out of a valley that he’s attended every major national event since 1979 and has written a book chronicling the history of track in pictures.

“This was one of the first places I came to, to attend a national event,” McGee said. “I grew up about four hours from here so this was the closest major event to my house.

With temperatures climbing into the low 90's, and track temps at 140 degrees,   Antron Brown and the Matco Tools crew got down to the business of finding the right tune-up to carry the teams through four rounds of competition on Sunday.

“The track, right now, has been as hot as it has been all weekend,” said Brown after clinching the number one spot in his Top Fuel dragster. “We like when it gets hot out there. I think tomorrow we are going to back her down a little bit so it doesn't pop the chutes out before the finish line; try to run some high 3.90's. I think if you can do that tomorrow, run anywhere between 3.97 to 4.01, that is what it is going to take to win these rounds tomorrow.”

Brown knows what he is talking about. He was second fastest in the third and fastest in the fourth round of qualifying under the increasing summer heat with passes of 3.990 seconds at 302.48 mph and 4.006 seconds at 291.89 mph, respectively.

When the Nitro Jam series traveled to Rocky Mountain Raceways for the first time in the spring of 2009 to test a brand new format little did the IHRA, or RMR, know it would turn into one of the largest motorsports events in Utah history.

Fans poured into the beautiful Rocky Mountain Raceways facility Saturday night during the annual “Night of Fire,” some walking more than a mile to reach the track as cars lined both sides of the highway for miles and multiple lots surrounding the track reached capacity by mid-afternoon.

Charlie Westcott Jr. had hopes that hard work in the offseason would pay off Saturday night in the finals of the Mopar® HEMI® Challenge Series at the 8th Annual Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion at historic Beech Bend Raceway.

Despite giving up a .64-second advantage to David Barton of Robesonia, Pa., off the starting line, the Parma, Mich. native used some of the horsepower he built into the engine of his new ’68 Plymouth Barracuda last winter to drive around at the finish. Westcott’s 8.512 pass at 157.63 mph bested Barton’s ’68 ‘Cuda run of 8.633 seconds at 153.51 mph for the win.