One
of drag racing's largest unanswered questions focuses on why some
drivers have certain tracks where they always seem to do well. For Top
Fuel driver Morgan Lucas, that track is Infineon Raceway in Northern
California's wine country, a place where he's claimed six career
victories.

"Not only is Sonoma my all-time favorite racetrack, it's also the site
of my favorite race win ever," Lucas said. "There's no place I'd rather
be than No-Cal in the summer time."

The 25-year-old driver of the GEICO Powersports/Lucas Oil dragster
claimed national event wins in Top Alcohol Dragster in 2002, 2004, and
2006 in Sonoma. He also won three Divisional races at Infineon in 2003,
2006, and 2007.

Glidden, Gray and Gahm. It sounds like a personal-injury law firm
that’s hawking its services on late-night TV, but actually they’re the current National
Guard ADRL points leaders in Flowmaster Extreme 10.5 (XTF), Pro Extreme
Motorcycle (PXM), and Extreme Pro Stock (XPS), respectively.

With six of 10 points-paying opportunities in the record books, each
are presently leading the way in Speedtech Battle for the Belts
standings to determine the top eight finishers in each class who will
race against each other in winner-take-all championship showdowns this
October at the series’ final race of the year in Ennis, Texas.

Everyone who makes at least one qualifying attempt at a National Guard
ADRL event receives 25 points and qualifying on top of a 16-car field
earns another 16 points (15 for 2nd, 14 for 3rd, and so on). With each
elimination-round win paying 100 points (500 going to the event winner)
and 50-point bonuses for setting official elapsed time and speed
records, each event offers the potential for 641 points. Plus, a
50-point bonus goes to every driver who attends all events in a single
season.

Pete Berner’s weekend didn’t quite turn out as expected.

In what was possibly the closest drag race in IHRA Elite Motorsports
Pro Stock history, Berner succumbed to eventual winner Dean Goforth in
the first round by a margin of victory that didn’t even register on the
scoreboard, an incredible .0000 seconds at the line.

That equates to zero inches at the finish between the No. 2 qualifier
and the 13th man on the charts. While the first round loss was
definitely a disappointment for the two-time champ, he wasn’t all that
upset.

After all, that is just the kind of year it has been in IHRA Elite Motorsports Pro Stock this season.

Ron Capps returns "home" this weekend for the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway. Born and raised in San Luis Obispo,
Calif., the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Funny Car points
leader always enjoys this final leg of the three-race Western Swing.

"Sonoma for me is like coming home to race," said Capps, a five-time
season titlist in the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car. "I lived up in
the Bay area, went to school there, met my wife Shelley there and got
married there. And when I was going to school I was teaching
racquetball at a couple of health clubs in the Bay Area and played in
tournaments all over Northern California.

"I have a lot of friends I haven't seen in a while, and every year they
pop up at this race. It's just a great feeling. My parents always come
up and it's a wonderful place to race."

Pro Stock driver Jason Line, Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher, and two-time world champion Larry Dixon were the latest drivers to clinch a spot in the Countdown to 1 playoffs, which will begin Sept. 17-20 at the second annual NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, NC, just five races away. Defending Pro Stock world champion Jeg Coughlin was the first driver to clinch a spot in the Countdown playoffs after his second round finish in Norwalk. Below is a list of drivers who have secured their spot in the Countdown playoffs.

Top Fuel pilot Antron Brown is so close he can taste it. He won in Denver. He won in Seattle.

Now the points leader and sophomore dragster driver looks to do
something that only six drivers in NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing
history have ever done—sweep the Western Swing. With a victory at this
weekend’s FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma,
Calif., Brown would join a list that includes Top Fuel greats Joe
Amato, Tony Schumacher, Cory McClenathan and Larry Dixon, along with
Funny Car legend John Force and three-time Pro Stock world champion
Greg Anderson.

Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Karen Stoffer will throw out the ceremonial
first pitch before the Oakland A’s vs. Minnesota Twins game on
Wednesday, July 22, at 12:35 p.m. at the Oakland Coliseum.

Tim Wilkerson believes he has aged quite a bit in the last few seasons.

The increased aging a result of being a throwback to the old days when
professional nitro racers used to tune and drive their race cars in
national event competition.

Wilkerson performs the demanding regimen not out of reverence for the old school but out of financial necessity.

NMRA Digital

There
are weekends where a racer struggles through adversity and then there
are those like the one NMRA Turbonetics Pro Outlaw racer Dan Millen
experienced this past weekend at the NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl.

“Extremely struggling weekend,” said, Millen who won the Pro Outlaw title.

Millen started the weekend battling issues and finished on an equally troubling crescendo.