Talented tuner Aaron Brooks, one of drag racing's most promising young crew chiefs, has been hired to take over Melanie Troxel's In-N-Out Burger Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car, R2B2 Racing team owner Roger Burgess announced Sunday. The change will take place immediately.

This will mark Brooks' second stint at R2B2 Racing. He tuned past world champion Frank Hawley to a low qualifying effort at the Charlotte event in 2008 to highlight Hawley's six starts with the team. He then left to help Alan Johnson start the powerful Al-Anabi Racing group.

Prior to working at R2B2 Racing in '08, Brooks was assistant crew chief on four-time world champion Gary Scelzi's Funny Car, which claimed the 2005 POWERade title.

"We got the guy we wanted," Burgess said. "I really enjoyed having Aaron around when he was with us before and we're very glad to have him back in the fold.

Attitude's CompetitionPlus.com provides quick hit coverage of the NHRA O'Reilly Fall Nationals hosted by the Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas. Follow along for news and notes from the event.

  Tony Schumacher raced to the Top Fuel victory Sunday at the O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals at the Texas Motorplex.

Matt Hagan, Greg Anderson and LE Tonglet also were winners in their respective categories at the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship playoff event at the famed all-concrete dragstrip that sits just south of Dallas.

Schumacher scored his fifth win of the season and first in the playoffs by outrunning Shawn Langdon in the final round. Schumacher posted a performance of 3.838 seconds at 320.43 mph in his U.S. Army dragster to hold off Langdon’s Lucas Oil/Speedco dragster, which trailed with a 3.908 at 298.67 in his second-career final.

Final round-by-round results from the 25th annual O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec at Texas Motorplex, the 20th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the 25th annual O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec at Texas Motorplex, the 20th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1. Larry Dixon, 2,422; 2. Cory McClenathan, 2,353; 3. Tony Schumacher, 2,328; 4. Brandon Bernstein, 2,249; 5. Doug Kalitta, 2,245; 6. Shawn Langdon, 2,226; 7. Antron Brown, 2,201; 8. Steve Torrence, 2,168; 9. Morgan Lucas, 2,135; 10. David Grubnic, 2,098.

Sunday's final results from the 25th annual O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec at Texas Motorplex. The race is the 20th of 23 in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series:

The day Steve Johnson hoped never would arrive has come this weekend during the NHRA Fall Nationals in Dallas, Texas. For the first time in his 24 years of competing in NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle, Sunday’s final eliminations will open with a short field.

The final entry list for the event showed only fifteen.

“The NHRA and the Pro Stock Motorcyle team owners cannot fix the economy,” said Johnson. “But, we can be smart. As a group, PRO2, we can come together and analyze situations ahead of time and bring riders in. I mean, if you show up here and qualify, that’s $1,000.

Top Fuel sensation Larry Dixon had conducted top-qualifier press conferences before -- seven times in 20 races this season alone and 47 times in his career.
 
But nothing could match the visit he had with reporters Saturday at the Texas Motorplex after he captured the No. 1 position for the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries Fall Nationals. He did so by breaking his own track-record elapsed time with a 3.793-second pass at 320.05 mph to top last-ditch efforts by No. 2 Tony Schumacher and No. 3 Cory McClenathan.
 
Into the room walked NHRA legend, pioneer, innovator "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, who told Dixon, "You never cease to amaze me." He wished Dixon good luck for Sunday's eliminations in which the Al-Anabi Dragster driver is seeking his fourth consecutive victory.

Tim Wilkerson is always thinking.
 
Sometimes it gets him into trouble, as it did a week ago at Charlotte, when he tried a strategy that didn't work and left him and his Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Ford Mustang with a DNQ.
 
But sometimes it pushes Wilkerson to the top of the Funny Car class. That's what happened Saturday when he was declared the No. 1 qualifier for the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries Fall Nationals after a third-session rain delay of more than five hours.