When you reach the finals four consecutive times there’s isn’t much room for second-guessing. Still the performance-inspired Jason Line couldn’t help but measure the ‘would have, should have’ scenarios.

Four races ago, he began driving the Pontiac that Greg Anderson parked
following the 2008 season. He’s reached the final round ever since,
winning half of those races. His latest triumph came at the NHRA Fram
Autolite Nationals in Sonoma, Ca.

"This was a big win but we looked like a bunch of dummies and should
have raced it a long time before that,” said Line, with a smile when
asked why it took so long to bring out the car. “It really isn’t all
the car, the other is really a good car. We were just a little skewed
on our set up. The team has been working hard and certainly made it
better.”

Tim Wilkerson has picked a fine time to hit his stride and get hot. One week after picking up his

Bob Pelligrini

first
win of the year in Seattle, he replicated the feat about 1,000 miles to
the south, in the beautiful wine country of Sonoma, and he managed to
pull it off by taking out the same bad hombre in the final round, Tony
Pedregon.

This was a race made up of two great days and one bad one for the Levi,
Ray & Shoup team, with the latter being a Saturday during which
Wilk smoked the tires twice. The twin transgressions didn't hurt him a
bit, though, as his 4.129 from Friday night held on for the No. 4 spot
on the grid, and in the end the LRS driver felt the two tire smokers
actually helped him, in terms of knowing what not to do on Sunday.

Seven months ago, Antron Brown told his new
car owner, Mike Ashley, he could win eight races and

Bob Pelligrini

contend for a
championship. Ashley responded by telling Brown to do get the job done
– one round at a time.

With just three races remaining until the Countdown to One, Brown has
five national event wins, leads the point standings 1,283 to 1,084 over
Tony Schumacher, last year's champion and has clinched a spot in the
Countdown to One.

Those numbers were good enough for Ashley to rearrange his schedule to
be in attendance at Infineon Raceway and watch his driver become just
the seventh in history to sweep the Western Swing.

Matt Smith rode the Nitro Fish Ultimate Gear Suzuki Pro Stock
Motorcycle straight to a semifinal finish at the FRAM Autolite NHRA
Nationals at Infineon Raceway.

Qualifying No. 2 for the event, Smith advanced to the semifinals after
first defeating Bailey Whitaker with a 6.887-second pass at 193.96 mph
as Whitaker fouled out, then outran Jim Underdahl with a 6.981/189.26,
despite Underdahl's stellar reaction time of .013 (.000 is perfect).

Smith's day ended in the semis when he faced Harley rider and points
leader Andrew Hines. They both took off with strong reaction times, but
Smith's solid 6.999/190.22 was no match for the 6.929/193.77 produced
by the powerful V-rod under Hines. Hines then went on to beat his V-rod
teammate Krawiec in the final round. Smith held on to No. 3 in the
point standings, behind the two Harley riders Krawiec and Hines.

Eliminations are complete from the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series
event held at National Trail Raceway. Top Alcohol Dragster pilot Marty
Thacker of Robinson, Ill., and Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Chris
Foster from Davenport, Iowa, took home the hardware.  This event
concludes the fifth of six in North Central division competition in
which racers earn points towards divisional and national championships.

Thacker, last year’s Top Alcohol Dragster divisional champ, knocked out
the current points leader Bill Reichert, Owosso, Mich., in the first
round on his way to the winner’s circle.  In the final, he posted a
perfect light and ran a 5.434 second, 262.85 mph pass to beat Ken Perry
from Richmond Hill, Ont., to pick up the holeshot win.  This is
Thacker’s first victory of the season.

Foster is making a run for the points lead by picking up his second win
of the year.  The No.1 qualifier of the weekend posted a 5.748 second,
249.03 mph lap to eliminate Andy Bohl of Racine, Wis., in the money
round.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. used his fourth semifinal finish of the season to regain control of the Full Throttle points lead over recent challenger
Mike Edwards. Entering this weekend's 22nd annual Fram-Autolite NHRA
Nationals  at Infineon raceway with a narrow 20-point edge over
Edwards, Coughlin was able to push that number to 60, or the equivalent
of three rounds of elimination racing.

"We got our car to go straight and the numbers showed that," Coughlin
said. "We actually had the car to beat today and I was hopeful we'd get
to the final round and have a shot at putting this one away but Jason
(Line) had a great light against us in the semis and that was the
difference. My congratulations go out to him; he went on and won the
race, so obviously it was his day."

The NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series wrapped up this weekend at
Houston Raceway Park early Sunday morning.  Racers completed the two
day event, which was the fourth of six events on the division calendar.
The event featured drivers in eleven categories vying for crucial
points leading to divisional and national championships.  Winning the
hardware were Top Alcohol Dragster pilot Chase Copeland of Walters,
Okla., and Kebin Kinsley out of Kennedale, Texas, in the Top Alcohol
Funny Car class.

Copeland took a tough route this weekend making his way out of the No.
6 qualifying position and into the winner’s circle. He defeated the
current divisional points leader, Malcolm Wahle of Claremore, Okla., in
the first round en route to his victory. In the final, Copeland laid
down a 5.517 second, 252.05 mph. pass to take out Willis, Texas,
resident Michael Manners.

The National Guard American Drag Racing League (ADRL) is pleased to
announce Summit Racing Equipment as the title rights sponsor for its
Aug. 21-22, Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags III at National Trail
Raceway in Hebron, Ohio.

“Summit Racing Equipment is already a valued marketing partner of the
National Guard ADRL, but adding them as an event title sponsor is a
real honor for us and I can’t thank Summit Racing enough for their
commitment to our future together,” National Guard ADRL President and
CEO Kenny Nowling said.

Summit Racing Equipment is an industry leader in the distribution of
motorsports and high-performance parts and equipment through mail-order
and Internet-based sales. Summit Racing currently sponsors the National
Guard ADRL’s trackside Membership Zone and the popular
DragRaceCentral.com Web site that provides live, round-by-round
reporting from each National Guard ADRL event.

John Force Racing team owner John Force has a variety of interests but
most of his attention is focused to three core areas: his Castrol
GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, movies, and his family. Throughout the
Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season Force spends the majority of
his time on the road with wife Laurie, daughters Ashley, Brittany,
Courtney and son-in-law Robert Hight.

When the 14-time champion is back at his Yorba Linda, Calif.,
headquarters he spends most of his time with his oldest daughter Adria
Force Hight who is the CFO of Force’s racing empire and other business
interests. They work together on sponsorship issues and the wide
variety of day-to-day business needs that go along with running one of
the largest racing operations on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing
Series.

Then check out the IHRA Northern Nationals July 31-August 2 at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan.

Already one of the biggest races on the IHRA schedule, the Northern
Nationals Nitro Jam event will truly live up to its name this year with
one of the largest collection of nitro powered vehicles seen all season.

Nearly a dozen Top Fuel dragsters will be on hand looking to make an
eight-car field, joining a pair of out of control Fuel Altereds from
the highly popular “Nitro Bad Boyz” racing stable and a Top Fuel Bike
to create a very unique weekend for fans of nitro-fueled racing.

“Clearly it wouldn’t be a Nitro Jam event if it weren’t for the nitro –
and we are going to have plenty of it in Martin,” said IHRA Director of
Media Larry Crum. “While the IHRA is known for its great door car
racing, it is always a thrill to be able to tie that in with some of
the loudest, fastest and meanest vehicles in racing. From our Top Fuel
dragsters and bikes to the Fuel Altereds, this year’s Northern
Nationals is going to have plenty to see and do for everyone.”