Starting this weekend, television coverage of final eliminations for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship event near Reading, Pa. will move to ESPN HD.  Eliminations coverage for the penultimate race in Las Vegas and the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., also will air on ESPN HD instead of ESPN2 HD.

ESPN HD will air two hours and 30 minutes of final eliminations coverage of the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway starting at 9 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, Oct. 10. In addition, Sunday’s final eliminations also will air live on the Web at www.ESPN3.com, starting at 11 a.m. (ET).

Qualifying coverage and NHRA Race Day will continue to air on ESPN2 HD for the fourth of six championship playoff races. The two hour qualifying show will air at 10:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, Oct. 9 and the half-hour NHRA Race Day show will air at 10 a.m. (ET) on Sunday, Oct. 10.

Heading into Reading, all 40 NHRA Countdown to the championship qualifiers are mathematically capable of emerging as series champion although some have a better chance than others. However, this weekend’s NHRA Toyo Tires Nationals in Reading, Pa., will play a pivotal role in elimination of some of the contenders.

The make or break line is a 300 point deficit after the event.

There are currently four Countdown participants, who unless they win this weekend’s event, are in danger of elimination. Those drivers on the bubble are David Hope [330], Craig Treble [327], Karen Stoffer [307] in Pro Stock Bike and David Grubnic [324] in Top Fuel.

The ADRL is forcing Jason Scruggs to convert.

“They (ADRL) have brought in some new equipment and it’s made the tracks a whole lot better, but it means what had been working for us in the past isn’t working so good anymore,” says the former two-time Pro Extreme world champion, who dropped from second in points halfway through the season to the eighth and final qualifying spot for the championship-deciding Battle for the Belts later this month in Ennis, Texas.  

“The tracks being better is a great thing,” Scruggs emphasizes. “I mean, you need the tracks as good as you can get them. The only problem is you’ve got to find the combination and learn how to run on them and that’s what we’re dealing with now.

“In Ohio we didn’t really have our combination together because the track was so good, so now we’re probably going to put a torque converter in the car.” Scruggs says.

What a difference a year makes.

This time last year Robert Hight and the AAA Auto Club Ford Funny Car team were in the midst of a winning streak which would carry them to the 2009 NHRA Funny Car Championship title.

This year, Hight and team are coming off a three race streak of first round losses which have them with their backs against the wall in their quest to successfully defend their 2009 efforts.

Reading is for Hight “do or die. There is no room for error.” There are so many factors which must come together all in one weekend to keep Hight in the championship hunt. "Mathematically, I can win the next three races and do what Cruz Pedregon did in '08 and still not win the championship. There are so many ahead of me right now.”

Six of NHRA’s most iconic crew chiefs will be featured at the 2010 SEMA Show in Las Vegas during the annual NHRA Breakfast. The SEMA Show, the premier automotive specialty products trade event in the world, draws the industry’s brightest minds and hottest products to one place, the Las Vegas Convention Center, Nov. 2-5.

The NHRA Breakfast will be held Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 7:30 a.m. in Las Vegas Hilton ballrooms A&B. The NHRA Breakfast is open to all registered SEMA Show attendees. A continental breakfast will be served. 

Greg Anderson comes into this weekend’s Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals in Reading, PA as a leading contender for this year’s NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock championship, with wins at the last two races in Charlotte and Dallas pulling them to within one round of the points lead.   Ironically, this late-season charge has come in a most unlikely vehicle, a 2009 chassis with over 500 runs that only a month ago had been relegated to breaking in tires at the KB Racing team’s shop in Mooresville, NC.  As Anderson explains, it was a well-calculated move made by his talented tandem of crew chiefs Rob Downing and Tommy Utt.
 
“After falling behind in Indy we knew we needed to shake things up if we were going to get back in the hunt for the championship, so Rob and Tommy made the call to change cars, and it was obviously a good one,” said Anderson.   “On the outside, it probably seemed like a risky move to park a car that had won two races and go back to another Summit Racing Pontiac we hadn’t used since last year, but it really wasn’t that big of a gamble, and I guess it’s somewhat appropriate given my background as a former used-car dealer.  
 
“Seriously, however, there really was nothing wrong with the old car to begin with, just as there was nothing wrong with one we just parked last month.  After all, we’ve won races in both.  It’s just that they weren’t working well at that particular time, so we switched chassis to try something different.

After a thorough review process, the American Drag Racing League (ADRL) has announced it has put a ban on the use of carbon tubing in all chassis, suspension and steering components, effective for the 2011 season.

The current approved use of carbon fiber tubing is for wheelie bars and driveshafts. Carbon Fiber tubing used in any other part of any vehicle must first be approved by the ADRL Technical Services Department prior to completion.

ADRL Vice President of Competition Bubba Corzine and ADRL Director of Technical Services Tom Grooms came to the joint decision in part to help continue to ensure driver safety.

NAPA AUTO PARTS is tipping its hat to everyone who is raising awareness about breast cancer with a special October promotion. Driver Ron Capps and Don Schumacher Racing are joining the cause by running a distinctive Susan G. Komen for the Cure® body design on the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Charger Funny Car at this weekend's 26th annual NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pa.

During the month of October, NAPA All Out for the Cure® limited edition hats will be available for purchase at a participating NAPA AUTO PARTS store or NAPA AutoCare Center for just $3.99. The sale of each hat benefits Susan G. Komen for the Cure. A minimum donation of $250,000 from NAPA to the cause will help research efforts as the search for the cure continues.

"It's really cool for us to be able to run the Susan G. Komen for the Cure body in Reading," said Capps, who is in the Countdown to the Championship battle for his first Funny Car crown in the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. "It's obviously something that is close to NAPA's heart. We ran a similar design for the first time last year and people are still talking about it and making comments about the fact that we help promote a great cause.

Due to persistent showers that started Monday and lasted through Tuesday, there will be no Lucas Oil parking Wednesday, Oct. 6, for the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway due to wet grounds. Parking for categories from Top Alcohol Dragster through Super Street will begin at 7 a.m. Thursday.

Officials from NHRA and the Automobile Club of Southern California have named Funny Car racer Jeff Diehl, Pro Stock competitor Shane Gray, and Pro Stock Motorcycle rider LE Tonglet as the eligible candidates for the 2010 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award. The award, which recognizes the top rookie competitor in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and offers a $20,000 prize and traditional trophy to the winner, will be presented during NHRA’s annual championship awards ceremony on Monday, Nov. 15 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

“For more than 100 years the Automobile Club of Southern California has represented integrity, commitment and professionalism to our millions of members. The Road to the Future Award has come to symbolize these same attributes in the sport of NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing,” said Thomas V. McKernan, CEO of the Automobile Club of Southern California. “To be nominated recognizes not only that a rookie driver had a noteworthy first season, but also that they demonstrated exceptional potential for the future. We congratulate all three of the nominees for this year’s award and look forward to enjoying their achievements both on and off the race track for many years to come.”