Jeff Burghardt is the photographer whose FOX Sports debut came last Sunday at Sonoma as he happened to be on the other side of the guard wall from Alexis DeJoria and her Tequila Patron Toyota when she crashed.   

“I did my Hollywood stuntman role after attempting to dodge Alexis’ car. I didn’t do a very good job. It didn’t hit me, but she took a chunk out of the wall,” he said.

Charitable events combined to raise more than $83,000 for Northern California non-profit groups during the Toyota Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway.

The proceeds from the majority of events will benefit Sonoma County youth organizations through the Sonoma Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities, the charitable arm of the raceway, which has distributed more than $5.1 million to qualified youth groups since 2001.

Rain ushered in race day at the Protect The Harvest NHRA Nationals near Seattle, causing a 98-minute delay, then returned to Pacific Raceways just before Sunday’s final round, forcing a halt to the 16th race on the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event.

NHRA officials announced they have decided to complete the Top Fuel and Funny Car finals in two weeks at the Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd, Minn. The Pro Stock final round will wait until the Labor Day weekend Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis.

NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series racer Courtney Force escaped serious injury after a racing incident in the first round of Sunday’s eliminations at Pacific Raceways. Force’s Traxxas Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car made contact with the left guard wall. Force exited the vehicle on her own power and was checked by NHRA emergency services personnel before heading to Valley Medical Center in Renton, Wash., where she was evaluated for head, neck, knee, elbow and shoulder injuries.

“I am beat up pretty good. My arm, my shoulder, and my right knee are banged up. I am really thankful that the second I got out of the race car there was already a Safety Safari person right there to help me get down. I couldn’t put any weight on my right knee. I want to say thanks to everyone that was at the track who helped me. I got right to the ER and the doctor checked me out. I am extremely relieved nothing is broken,” said Force.

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John Ramsey wasn’t general manager at Pacific Raceways at the time, but clearly he learned from the Parking Debacle of 2002 – the Saturday afternoon that the facility and the NHRA were too good for their own good. He acted quickly this Saturday to make sure every fan driving through the gate – and he had a line of them – had a place to park for the Protect The Harvest Nationals at the suburban Seattle facility.

That August day 14 years ago, officials turned cars away – not fans, just vehicles – because of inadequate parking for the tremendous crowd their marketing had attracted. Once again, the marketing effort hit a home run, and the grandstands on both sides of the racetrack were crammed for the final day of qualifying.   

Little by little, Tony Schumacher has chipped away at the field.

A minor adjustment here, a little tweak there, until, finally, Schumacher earned his first top qualifier award of the season.

There’s blood in the water, and the Pro Stock field can smell it.

First it was a little wobble during an early qualifying session in Norwalk. Then it was a new man atop the charts in qualifying one race later in Chicago. By Denver, the vulnerability of the previously unshakeable KB Racing team was shining through as a new winner stood atop the podium.

Del Worsham reset the Funny Car elapsed time national record twice on Saturday en route to claiming the No. 1 qualifier at the Protect the Harvest NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Lucas Oil at Pacific Raceways just outside of Seattle.

It was an extraordinary day for the entire Funny Car class, as it featured the top-five quickest passes in category history.

Championship-winning tuner Todd Smith has been named as the crew chief on the McLeod Racing Toyota Camry Funny Car driven by Paul Lee. Smith will lead the third Funny Car team for Kalitta Motorsports that will begin running at the NHRA Keystone Nationals later this fall.

“I am excited to be back with Team Kalitta and to be able to work with Paul and the McLeod team on putting this new operation together,” said Smith. “Lee is a talented driver and with the Kalitta equipment; I am confident in our chances to have success.”

Power.

It is something all drivers seek and something all crew chiefs spend their lives trying to obtain.