Nearly 600 racers in 10 categories took to the strip at Beech Bend
Raceway Park during qualifying and time trials for the NHRA North
Central division’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event.  Defending event
champion Bill Reichert, Owosso, Mich., blasted the field in Top Alcohol
Dragster to move into the No. 1 spot while Gainesville, Ga., racer
Steve Harker moved into the top spot in Top Alcohol Funny Car.

Reichert peeled off a 5.262-second, 265.64 mph blast to move knock
Robin Samsel of Marion, Ind., out of the No. 1 position.  Samsel did
not improve on Friday’s 5.370-second, 262.39 mph effort.

Harker moved up from the No. 3 spot with a 5.621-second, 255.48 mph run
while Andy Bohl, Racine, Wis., also improved, moving from the No. 6
slot to No. 2 with a 5.680-second, 255.10 mph run.  Friday’s best
qualifier, Chris Foster of Davenport, Iowa, failed to surpass his
initial 5.684-second, 251.53 mph lap.

It was another battle with the rain at Cecil County Dragway, but NHRA
Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series qualifying was able to get underway.  Top
Alcohol Funny Car ace Frank Manzo of Morganville, N.J., once again
picked up the No.1 qualifying position. Due to water seeping up through
the track, Top Alcohol Dragster will not finish qualifying until
tomorrow morning.

Manzo has grabbed all four Northeast division No.1 qualifiers to go
along with his two victories.  His lap of 5.763 seconds at 250.97 mph
was just enough to keep him ahead of No.2 qualifier, Frank Schuster out
of Chesterfield N.J.

After one round of qualifying in Top Alcohol Dragster, Darren
Nicholson, Mission Viejo, Calif., sits at the top of the class. He
currently holds the No.3 spot in the overall standings, coming off a
huge win in the last divisional held at Lebanon Valley Dragway.

Joe Spinelli loves old cars, especially the ones he admired within the
hallowed pages of the now defunct Super Stock & Drag Illustrated. That’s
why when the opportunity to purchase one of the magazine’s more popular
project cars, Spinelli didn’t think twice about buying.

Spinelli, who lives in southeast Pennsylvania, purchased the former
Project Super Mod car driven to an Indy victory by Arlen Fadely, and
restored the classic Ford to original specs. The classic Ford is also
the same vehicle Mike Edwards drove to the final NHRA Modified world
championship in 1981.

“I’d like to think these cars deserve restoration,” said Spinelli, who
consulted extensively with the car’s original builder Arlen Fadely on
the project. “I don’t do this as a business. It’s purely a hobby.”

Could drag racing's use of nitrous oxide become a target of  environmentalists?

A report published yesterday in Science concludes that N20 – a vital
drag racing power adder used in Pro Modified and Pro Nitrous classes  
and also used in other industrial processes, is according to the study
one of the biggest ozone-depleting gases. The report states that
nitrous oxide could present a real threat to the ozone layer in coming
decades.

Nitrous oxide, according to the report, isn’t regulated by the Montreal
Protocol, an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer
by phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be
responsible for ozone depletion.

CompetitionPlus.com's Roger Richards is at this weekend's inaugural ProModifieds.us Nationals presented by Russell Auto Sales doorslammer event in Huntsville, Ala. Check out the action through the camera of a talented drag racing photographer. We'll have an event summary later.

PHOTO GALLERY

SAME DAY COVERAGE

One might think that not much would impress Bruce Litton after years of racing Top Fuel motorcycles and now 13 years behind the wheel
of his Lucas Oil Top Fuel Dragster. After all, 8000 horsepower is a lot
to compete with. And surely Litton could not be very impressed by a
street car. That is unless we’re talking about the world’s fastest
street car.

Litton, current IHRA Top Fuel point leader, recently took time off
between national events to test the world’s fastest street car. The
car, called Maxximus after creators Marlon Kirby and Maxximus
Technologies, is a twin turbo Chevy V8 based engine on a Rodeck
all-aluminum 434 cubic inch block. It puts out 1600 hp at the rear
wheel, and with an estimated top speed of 270 mph and three world
records to its name, the Maxximus is not your average street car. It
reaches 60 mph in 2.1 seconds; 100mph in 4.5 seconds, and smashes the
supercar 0-100-0 mph benchmark at 8.9 seconds.

The NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series takes over Heartland Park Topeka
for the annual Heartland Championships presented by Aeromotive. The two
day event is the fifth of six on the division calendar and will feature
drivers in eleven categories vying for divisional and national
championships.  Top Alcohol Dragster pilot Brandon Lewis, Broken Arrow,
Okla., and Roger Bateman of Winnipeg, Manit., of the Top Alcohol Funny
Car class, both received top qualifying honors going into Saturday’s
eliminations.

Lewis grabbed the top spot by posting a 5.320 second, 260.71 mph pass
after two qualifying sessions.  The NHRA South Central division racer
is searching for his first win of the season, yet is within striking
distance of the points lead.  Monroe Guest, Mannford, Okla., and Chase
Copeland of Walters, Okla., sit two and three respectively.

The Top Alcohol Funny Car class is once again being led by Bateman, who
has picked up every No.1 qualifier in the division this season.  His
5.647 second, 254.09 mph lap was enough to keep him ahead of the pack
and in stride to pick up his third home division win of the season.

The NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series makes its way to Cecil County Dragway for its fifth of seven events in Northeast division competition.  The scheduled three day event is currently on hold due to continuous rain, which has forced face officials to call it a day.  Racing will begin Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m.

Four
drivers in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series will be serving up
plenty of smiles for Indianapolis-area McDonald’s patrons during the
week leading up to the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil.
Top Fuel veteran Cory McClenathan, Top Fuel points leader Antron Brown,
Funny Car star Ashley Force Hood and Pro Stock Motorcycle points leader
Eddie Krawiec will be the featured drivers visiting local McDonald’s
restaurants during the promotion.

In addition to meeting some of their NHRA heroes during the McDonald’s
appearances, fans can receive a $7 discount on any adult
general-admission ticket for the event at O’Reilly Raceway Park at
Indianapolis, Sept. 2-7.