Randy Walker’s ninth final round appearance overall in 2009 came during the Pacific Street Car Association’s Mickey Thompson Tires Fall Nationals, and now only the formalities remain in crowning Walker the 2009 Hughes Performance Pro Street Champion depsite the fact that this weekend’s Edelbrock World Finals has yet to be contested.

After struggling with the change in track preparation compound used on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s surface during qualifying for the Fall Nationals, Randy and the Walker Racing Group slotted their 1974 El Camino into the third position with an off-pace 6.659 at over 218 MPH.

“It was brutally hot out there, but the track was incredibly sticky,” Walker said. “They changed their preparation methods for this race, so all our data up to that point, especially for the daytime runs, was pretty much out the window. We basically had to start over and re-learn a brand new track, and luckily we were still able to fight our way into the top half of the field.”

An ownership group that includes Maple Grove Raceway has purchased the Super Chevy Show from president and owner Roger Gustin.
 
Super Chevy Show Weekend Inc. completed the sale this week and is in the process of setting up a schedule for 2010.
 
“We’re proud to be a part of the new ownership group of the Super Chevy Show,” said Maple Grove Raceway vice president/general manager Lex Dudas. “Having Super Chevy and a group of great tracks participating in this program, it will elevate this series to new heights.”

IHRA has announced a new class made up of the top Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car drivers in the country set to compete at all Nitro Jam events in 2010.

The new class, Prostalgia Nitro Funny Car, will accompany a brand new format and new look to the Nitro Jam series when the season gets underway in January of 2010.

Featuring many of the best nostalgia drivers in the country, the eight car field of Prostalgia Nitro Funny Cars will be at all Nitro Jam events in 2010 and will mark the return of fuel floppers to IHRA competition after a one year absence.

Looking to strengthen their organization, a source close to the PRO organization has revealed two drivers and one owner/driver has been added to the Board of Directors.

 Pending a formal announcement on the Thursday prior to the Auto Club Finals at Pomona, Top Fuel driver Larry Dixon, Funny Car driver Ron Capps and Funny Car owner/driver Bob Tasca have been appointed to the Board of Directors of PRO which is also rumored to be remaining in the capable hands of President Kenny Bernstein and Bob Vandergriff Sr.

As the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season draws to a close, U.S. Army Top Fuel team crew chief Mike Green is attempting to lead driver Tony “The Sarge” Schumacher to his sixth straight world championship and the seventh of his career.

Jimmy Prock is a man of few words and when the AAA Ford Mustang driven by Robert Hight struggled, those words were even fewer.

Together Prock and Hight have shelved the frustrations of two-thirds of the 2009 season, for an incredible six race run which could land the duo their first career world championship next weekend in Pomona, Ca.

Prock, who has tuned Hight to multiple championship runner-ups, believed that he and the team could work through their earlier shortcomings and when the championship was on the line could deliver a potent package.

Matt Guidera believes the penalty should fit the crime.

Guidera’s competition license was suspended for one year by the  NHRA for failing to produce an adequate urine sample in a 24 hour time frame during the NHRA U.S. Nationals and eliminated him from contention in the 2009 Countdown to 1. Guidera will finish 10th in the standings.

In Guidera’s case, the penalty for missing the deadline is worse than that of a positive drug test. He said he never refused to submit, he just couldn’t produce a sample within the prescribed 24 hours.

Guidera was at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals tuning his two-bike team, his first appearance at an NHRA event since Indianapolis. He’s presently appealing the suspension of his competitor's license.

CompetitionPlus.com has learned that the new Ford Hemi engine (pictured) will be between the fenders of the Pro Stock Mustangs fielded by Jim Cunningham for the first time next weekend. The debut was originally scheduled for Las Vegas but parts delays pushed the introduction until next weekend's NHRA Auto Club Finals in Pomona, Ca.

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A highlight of the Awards Celebration concluding the 2009 Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge season was the presentation of the Steve Engel "Big Man, Big Heart" award to veteran drag racer and longtime supporter of the Challenge, Mike Knowles.
 
Knowles, from Grand Junction, Colo., is the second recipient of the award that was created in the memory of Steve Engel, a Pro Mod racer who died in 2008 as a result of a high-speed accident during qualifying for the U.S. Nationals. The Steve Engel "Big Man, Big Heart" Award is a perpetual honor handed out annually to a member of the Pro Mod community that best exemplifies Engel's gregarious spirit and generous nature.
 
A drag racer for more than two decades, Knowles was extremely supportive and helpful of efforts to maintain and grow the series at the beginning of 2009. During racing events, it's well known within the pits that Knowles will lend any parts a driver might need, and he has been known to feed more than 100 people a day from a variety of teams from his makeshift portable kitchen at the back of his pit. In his words, "If they are hungry, we'll feed 'em."

CompetitionPlus.com's Director of Photography Roger Richards is at the SEMA show this week and for the next few days, one of drag racing's most talented photographers will bring you the show highlights. Click on the link below and allow us to walk you through the show.

SEMA PHOTO GALLERY