First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the
Ninth annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, the
eighth of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.
Pairings based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs
listed below pairings.

Valvoline and Don Schumacher
Racing announced on Saturday during the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals a
contract extension through 2010. Under the agreement, Valvoline will
appear at 13 races this season as primary sponsor on the Funny Car
driven by Jack Beckman.

“We are thrilled to extend this relationship,” conveyed
Rob Clendening, Manager- Global Brands for Ashland. “We are like all
sponsors in that we are watching every dollar we spend. We are very
demanding in what we get back for the money we spend. We are picky
about the sponsorships we choose.

“It is critical for Valvoline to partner with teams that can provide
big wins even before the cars hit the track. DSR is that type of
partner. The team’s on-track success is not just the icing on the cake,
but it really pushes our research and development team to constantly
deliver the next technical innovation.”

Vietnam War Hero and Medal of Honor recipient Seargeant Major. Jon R. Cavaiani attended the NHRA Thunder Valley Drag races today along with several veterans from the Vietnam War as guests of Roger Burgess and the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge.  Cavaiani is one of only 98 living Medal of Honor recipients.
 
Cavaiani and a group of veterans sipped coffee and reminisced about their experience serving our country in Vietnam.  Brought together through the combined efforts of R2B2 Racing, Cavaiani, and NHRA through a program called The Vietnam Veterans Corner.

When you wreck a car, a race, you get a talking to by race officials.

One race after crashing three Pro Modified race cars in one weekend and
one in testing, NHRA officials gathered the drivers together for a
meeting.

No one was scolded. No one was reprimanded.

The NHRA had a genuine concern for the safety of the 240-mph doorslammer drivers.

Cory
McClenathan raced to his first No. 1 qualifying position of the season
Saturday at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

Ashley Force Hood and Mike Edwards also will lead their categories into
Sunday’s eliminations, which begin at noon. ESPN2 and ESPN2 HD will
provide three hours and 30 minutes of coverage of the race starting at
7 p.m. (ET).

McClenathan held on to the top spot in Top Fuel with his 3.874 second
run at 312.21 mph from Friday in his FRAM dragster. It is the 33rd No.
1 effort of his career and first at this track. He will face Michael
Gunderson in the first round of eliminations.

High Track Temperatures Heat Up Pro Mod Competition in Thunder Valley
 

Raymond
Commisso's Camaro was crashed in testing after St. Louis but rebuilt in
time to compete in Bristol. He won the first round when Danny Rowe
red-lit.

Weather forecasters couldn't have been more wrong today,
as the 80 percent chance of rain in Bristol turned into a beautiful -
albeit sunny and hot - day as the Get Screened America Pro Mod
Challenge presented by ProCare Rx took to the drag strip for the last
session of qualifying and round one of eliminations at the NRHA Thunder
Valley Nationals.
 
The blacktop boiled as track temperatures exceeded 121 degrees, giving
way to the "challenge" of the Pro Mod Challenge. In the end, Mike
Castellana took the pole at 6.050/234.90 in his nitrous-powered '68
Firebird.
 

Two years ago Ashley Force Hood was on the outside looking in on race day. Today at Bristol Dragway she will enter the 9th annual NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals eliminations from the No. 1 qualifying spot and loaded with confidence.

Cory McClenathan doesn’t need to be make incredible runs to feel like a hero. Give the veteran driver from Brownsburg, Ind., a series of consistent runs and he’ll work just fine.

McClenathan’s Friday 3.874 second pass at the NHRA Thunder Valley
Nationals went untouched and that enabled him to claim his 33rd career
pole position. It marked the first time he’s gone into Sunday’s final
eliminations as the leader this season.

Being the top dragster has its perks, but for McClenathan, he’s content
with being able to win from any qualifying position. Repeatability
inspires McClenathan.

Pro Stock No. 1 qualifier Mike Edwards confessed that he was more impressed with his pair of Saturday runs during the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals than the one that put him atop the field for the fourth time in 2009.

Saturday he may not have been quicker but he didn’t leave anything on
the table headed into Sunday’s final eliminations either. The second
day was spent seeking that edge of the envelope for race day.

“We just tried to keep up with the track and make our adjustments,”
Edwards said. “I was more impressed with our runs today than I was on
Friday because we left some on the table then. We made some really good
runs in the heat of the day.”

There are moments in a teenager’s life which will never be unforgotten.

For veteran Pro Stock driver Kurt Johnson, that moment was his
introduction to Bristol’s Thunder Valley Dragway, thirty years ago.

Pro Stock driver Warren Johnson, a seven-time winner at Bristol in the
spring, kept his sixteen year old son up into the wee hours of the
morning on his way to the first of those seven wins. Rain and wrecks
made for a long day at the 1979 IRHA Sun Drop Spring Nationals and it
was just minutes before 3 A.M., when Kurt watched his father cross the
finish line.

For Kurt, Bristol was more than just an experience. It was a marathon.

“We made the long tow from Fridley, Minnesota,” the younger Johnson
recalled. “We were racing all the southern boys down here and they
really didn’t like us.”