Throughout this season, Kenny Bernstein’s future in the NHRA has been in doubt.

On Sunday, that doubt was removed.

Bernstein announced Copart, Inc., as the new primary sponsor of his legendary Top Fuel team, beginning in 2010.

Tom Compton, President NHRA, embraced Bernstein’s news.

We’ll get to the details, but for right now digest the biggest story
out of Indy:  Tony Schumacher has tied the legendary “Big Daddy” Don
Garlits for the most U.S. Nationals Top Fuel victories at eight.  This
is an important achievement, something to be taken seriously, and
considered thoughtfully.  Winning Indy is the dream of every drag
racer, and once victory is achieved it separates one from the pack. 
It’s something no driver ever forgets.  We know racers who have
personalized license plates on their cars referencing their Indy wins,
and others with e-mail addresses including wording like Nationalswinner@snotmail.com and WonatORP06@slomail.net. Winning this race is a very big deal, and now Schumacher has done it eight times!

Determined to give drag racing fans the race they want to see in the
wake of the U.S. Nationals, Speedway Motorsports President Marcus Smith
is offering to host a winner-take-all $20,000 grudge race between John
Force and Tony Pedregon on Friday night,
Sept. 18, of the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMAX Dragway.

"I'm
a race fan at heart and after watching the U.S. Nationals at Indy, and
the heated confrontation between John and Tony, I can say without a
doubt that's the matchup I want to see at the Carolinas Nationals,"
said Smith. "Those guys nearly came to blows. What better way to
kickoff an exciting weekend than ending the first Pro day with a
$20,000-to-win 'Grudge Match at zMAX' between those two champions?"
    
The drama started at Indianapolis when Robert Hight beat teammate and
team owner Force in the semifinals, taking the 10th and final spot away
from Cruz Pedregon in the Funny Car Countdown to 1 field. The Pedregon
brothers claim Force threw the race to ensure his fourth team car made
the playoffs (Force's other three team cars had already qualified).

From 2006-2008, Hot Rod Fuller was a perennial Top Fuel dragster
championship contender. He finished a career-best second in the point
standings in 2007.

This season, he was left out of a full-time ride when David Powers Motorsports shut down.

Fuller, however, has competed in three races for team owner Bob
Vandergriff. The latest being  the Patton CAT dragster at the U.S.
Nationals. Fuller qualified 10th with a 3.888-second time. Fuller met
Doug Kalitta in the opening round, outlasting him with a 4.78-second
lap to Kalitta’s 5.20. Fuller lost in the second round to Tony
Schumacher.

“I saw him (Doug) go past me and then his blew the blower off,” Fuller
said. “I didn’t see the win light come on, I just kept driving. It has
been tough. This is only my third race of the year and these guys have
been racing all year long, but the way I look at if you’re going to
make any race of the year, this is the one to race. We have a race car
that can win it. The last two races I’ve been to, I’ve had a fast car
and this week, I’ve had a fast, consistent car. Today, I think we will
let it loose and go get some rounds.”

According to team owner Don Schumacher, he wasn’t surprised with the outcome of the Robert Hight versus John Force semi-final match at the NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. In fact Schumacher was trying to give 100-to-1 odds on the starting line for anyone who would bet against his Robert Hight prediction.

“It was clear to me that Robert Hight was gonna win that round,” Schumacher said. “John is a good leaver, he's a good racer. How did he have a .200 plus reaction time? Isn't that strange? How did he all of a sudden drive the car to the wall? It just boggles my mind and everybody else can respond to that. Hopefully, NHRA will separate themselves from the most popular guy in the sport, John Force. And he's earned his popularity. And NHRA will take some action about it. Because it's wrong for our fans. And if our fans don't see integrity and racing, we're not gonna have fans out here.”

If the Pro Stock Motorcycle shootout continues beyond this year, it will need a new sponsor..

According to Anthony Vestal, NHRA Director of Media Relations, Ringers
didn’t renew its contract to sponsor the season-long program.

History doesn’t have to wait any longer for Tony Schumacher.

The six-time world champion tied Don Garlits' record by winning his
eighth US Nationals Top Fuel Dragster championship Monday in the 55th
annual edition at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, Ind.

Shumacher, who pilots the U.S. Army dragster for his father at Don
Schumacher Racing, beat Larry Dixon in the Alan Johnson Al-Anabi Racing
dragster in the finals.

Schumacher clocked a 3.861-second pass, while Dixon came in at 4.208 seconds.

Over the course of the NHRA U.S. Nationals weekend, the Pro Stock
Motorcycle class has been in the spotlight far more than usual.

That’s namely a result of Matt Guidera being suspended for a year by
the NHRA for failing to meet the requirements of the Substance Abuse
Policy. Guidera actually has the ability to request for a stay, if NHRA
grants the stay, he's allowed to compete until such time as his appeal
is heard.

Steve Johnson, a fellow Pro Stock Motorcycle racer, said he understood Guidera’s plight.

“The guy's trying to race at the US Nationals, he's got a business to
help run, he's just had a three week old baby, he's trying to figure
out how to get his baby back cause they can't fly the baby,” Johnson
said. “In my little world, I'm trying to help with public relations and
marketing, trying to ride the bike, trying to review with the crew
chief, and still train to be a driver and a team owner. So there's a
lot of stuff. That's what makes it tough. But I understand the process.”

Ashley Force Hood let the distractions pass her by as she cruised to her second Mac Tools U.S. Nationals,
first
as a professional, becoming the first female to win in the Funny car
category at the oldest and most prestigious drag race in the
country. Force Hood defeated her brother-in-law Robert Hight in the
final 4.170 to 4.217.

The semi-final round match between John Force and Robert Hight carried
a lot of importance that transcended Hight reaching yet another NHRA
U.S. Nationals final round. A Countdown to One championship berth hung
in the balance for two drivers - Hight of John Force Racing and
defending world champion Cruz Pedregon.

Hight beat Force in a race where the starting line reactions were far
from indicative of a match bearing such magnitude. The murmurs of the
fix being in, grew so loud, you could almost hear them echoing from the
staging lanes into the grandstands.

Hight and Force were both extremely tardy leaving the starting line,
.143 to .209, advantage Hight, and at half-track Force shook the tires
and lifted. Hight won the semi-final round with a 4.261, his slowest
elapsed time of the day.