Faced with question after question concerning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship, Kurt Busch smiled broadly when asked about his drag racing endeavors. And, then he frowned.

“We haven't been back to the drag strip since April,” said Busch, a bit of sadness in his voice. “We've battled some engine problems and I just haven't been able to work in another race.

“We're not totally disappointed. We got into the 9-second zone, which was our goal. Now we are looking at the 8-second zone.”

Mike Castellana, who has one ADRL win to his credit in 2010, is 107 points out the eighth and final position for the ADRL’s championship-determining Speedtech Battle for the Belts competition. While some racers might feel a sense of urgency about making up the deficit, Castellana doesn’t.

Running for the championship isn’t his most pressing need. Having fun is.

“I just want to have fun while I can come out here and race,” Castellana said. “I just want to enjoy the weekend.”

This weekend’s ADRL Dragstock VII at Rockingham Dragway marks the first time in three races Castellana has driven his Pro Nitrous entry.

Following the ADRL Independence Drags in Topeka, Kan., Castellana was diagnosed with colon cancer. According to Castellana, the doctors were able to remove the cancerous portion of the colon but not before the cancer had spread into his lymph nodes.

It didn’t take long for Rickie Jones to get attention in the American Drag Racing League.

Jones, who has competed the last three seasons in NHRA’s Pro Stock class, made headlines on his inaugural pass in Extreme Pro Stock.

Jones set a class speed record at 179.59 mph Friday during qualifying at the Dragstock VI event at Rockingham (N.C.) Dragway. Jones clocked a 4.164-second elapsed time on his record mph run.

“That’s the first run I’ve ever made in a big motor car,” the 23-year-old Jones said. “I was the first car out, and the track was a little green and we spun pretty hard. Down track, the thing was pulling really hard versus the NHRA (Pro Stock) car, I could feel the difference. The launch was really not that much different and the shifting style is a lot different. I was just holding on and having fun.”

When LE Tonglet began Monday’s eliminations in his first NHRA Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, his primary goal was to win the opening round to see how his unsponsored Tonglet Racing Suzuki stacked up against the powerhouses of the category.

It was, in a word, unbeatable.  Now it is sponsored, too.

Kenny Koretsky announced Thursday that he has added the Tonglet Racing Suzuki Pro Stock Motorcycle team to his Nitro Fish lineup for the remaining five Countdown to 1 championship races.  LE’s first event with the bike’s new colors is the O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals, Sept. 17-19, at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, N.C.

“We want to thank Kenny for helping us,” said LE, the family’s youngest driver.  “Getting Nitro Fish as a sponsor is going to boost our spirits going into Charlotte, and it really is going to help out going to each race after that.

This isn't how it was planned.

Alex Hossler was supposed to provide the Rockingham Chamber of Commerce with an exhibition of ADRL Pro Extreme racing. The Canton, Ill.-based driver probably went a little too far on Thursday afternoon at Rockingham Dragway.

Running in the left lane, Hossler’s supercharged Camaro got out of shape, crossed the centerline and made contact with the right lane retaining wall more than once. Hossler was uninjured but the car, not so good.

“We kicked a couple of rods and put a hole in the side of the block,” Hossler explained. “A little mist got out under the right slick and the tire started spinning (after that) I was just along for the ride at that point.”

John Russo is turning heads in the category behind the wheel of a bright red Chevy S-10 Pro Mod truck built by Dan Page Racecars.

We've run three local races near home in Epping, N.H.," said Russo, who is here at his second national event with the truck, the first was at Indy last year, and he qualified with a 6.11.

“The owner, Tommy Zarella, built this because he loves trucks and that's all he owns. We built this for fun and bringing it to the track and giving it a whirl.”

Call it "A Tale of Two Terrys." Ironically, Terry McMillen's Countdown destiny ended up (and ended) in the hands -- literally -- of fellow lower-budget racer Terry Haddock during the first round of the Aug. 15 eliminations at Brainerd. A Haddock victory over Dave Grubnic would have helped McMillen toward his goal of making the 10-driver playoff field. But Haddock lost to Grubnic and McMillen fell in the next pairing to Tony Schumacher.

R2B2 Team Manager Frank Hawley and longtime drag racing instructor Frank Hawley, one in the same, had a chance to try out one of the teams Pro Mod cars at a recent test session at Valdosta.

“I think to fully understand and be able to comment on other people's driving, you should get a chance to do it yourself,” said Hawley. “Roger was gracious enough to let me make a few runs in one of his cars. It's very, very different, as I expected it would be. I didn't expect it to be without challenge. I've got a tremendous amount of respect for the cars and the drivers who drive these things. One of the things I want to do is to be very careful. I think that one of the things that helped me was that they're not incredibly fast compared to fuel cars, but as for how much different the car feels and reacts, I knew it would be different, but I didn't know how different until I actually got in and felt the car. When it doesn't go the way it should be going, it's pretty darn obvious, and you don't need anybody to tell you that this isn't going real good right now.

Billy Glidden really didn’t want to make a run.

Almost four seconds later he was glad he did – 3.976 seconds to be exact.

Glidden, making an exhibition pass at the request of the ADRL and Rockingham Dragway’s track management for the local Chamber of Commerce, recorded his first career three-second pass just hours before official qualifications were scheduled to begin for the ADRL Dragstock VII.

“Those who were standing out there on the line knew how tough the conditions were,” said Glidden, a past ADRL series champion. “But, it’s like a Catch 22 situation.”

Though Glidden didn’t have any prior experience of what a three-second run should feel like, he know from the time he dumped the clutch his Mickey Thompson Tires-sponsored Mustang was on a good pass.

The die is cast.

Sometime in the next several months, Tony Stewart will strap into a Don Schumacher Racing machine and it won't be a two-seater.

“Tony (Schumacher) has been after me for a year and half to come drive one of their cars,” admitted Stewart just prior to qualifying for the Air Guard 400 at Richmond Int'l Raceway. “I'm going to do it.”

The when, where and how have yet to be finalized. It won't be during the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, which garners a greater piece of Stewart's attention at this time. That leaves the months of December and January to do the deed.