Final round-by-round results Tuesday for the rain-delayed 49th
annual Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at
Pomona. It is the first of 24 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag
Racing Series in 2009.

TOP FUEL

First round – Antron Brown, 4.222, 279.79 def. Steve Faria, 5.099,
155.10; Mike Strasburg, 3.997, 253.71 def. Spencer Massey, 4.195,
260.36; Brandon Bernstein, 4.758, 192.69 def. Andy Carter, foul; Tony
Schumacher, 3.845, 312.42 def. Del Cox, 4.008, 302.08; Morgan Lucas,
3.846, 310.20 def. Joe Hartley, 3.955, 307.37; Steve Chrisman, 4.086,
285.59 def. David Baca, 7.632, 93.26; Cory McClenathan, 3.934, 313.37
def. Shawn Langdon, 4.221, 217.81; Doug Kalitta, 4.648, 194.49 def. Urs
Erbacher, no time recorded.

Second round – Brown, 15.892, 26.16 def. Strasburg, no show;
Bernstein, 3.834, 311.49 def. Schumacher, 3.865, 313.44; Lucas, 3.886,
305.08 def. Chrisman, 5.159, 136.02; Kalitta, 3.826, no speed def.
McClenathan, 3.886, 296.83.

Semifinals – Brown, 3.778, 312.78 def. Bernstein, 9.268, 80.92; Kalitta, 3.825, 313.95 def. Lucas, 7.131, 100.15.

Final – Kalitta, 3.822, 308.57 def. Brown, 3.847, 307.16.

SEMA (the Specialty Equipment Market Association), issued a
statement this afternoon announcing the Cash for Clunkers program has
been withdrawn from consideration as part of the government stimulus
program. Such a program would have been detrimental to the automotive
aftermarket and restoration industry.

"We are equally pleased
that the Senate voted to include a SEMA-supported amendment to the bill
allowing taxpayers to claim a tax deduction for car-loan interest
payments and excise taxes when they buy a new car in 2009," the
prepared statement read. "We applaud lawmakers for spending taxpayer
money wisely rather than wasting dollars on programs that do not spur
car sales, reduce emissions or increase fuel efficiency.

The rain-delayed 49th annual Kragen O'Reilly NHRA Winternationals will
be completed today (Tuesday, Feb. 10) at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
The day will begin with Top Fuel quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m. PT and
will conclude at approximately 3 p.m. PT with the final rounds in Top
Fuel and Funny Car (Pro Stock's final round will be run approximately
30 minutes later).

Let the record reflect that sophomore Funny Car driver Mike Neff is in it to win it.

The idea that he’s unsponsored is a major misnomer.

“The car does have funding with it,” Neff told CompetitionPlus.com.
“Ford is one of our largest contributors and with what they give us is
more than adequate to run the car with. We’re not lacking for what it
takes to win.”

That’s why Neff, a former nitro tuner before joining John Force Racing
in 2007, says he’s planning on challenging for the title in 2009. He’s
not going to be a test car, as some suggest.

Rain continued to soak the grounds of Auto Club Raceway at Pomona
Monday, forcing NHRA officials to postpone the continuation of
eliminations for the Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals until
Tuesday. It is the fifth straight day where a series of winter storms
off the Pacific have brought heavy rain to the Southern California
region and continued to delay the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
season-opener.

The second round of Top Fuel and Funny Car eliminations will open
Tuesday’s racing, starting at 11:30 a.m., and will be followed by the
continuation of the first round of Pro Stock.

Open your newspaper
tomorrow morning, flip to the Business or Financial sections, and you’re going
to read a lot of very bad news.  Two days
ago, for example, the opening spread of USA Today’s Business section featured
something like 10 news articles.  Seven
of them referenced decreased sales and employee layoffs.

Jerry Toliver will always believe the first time he ever drove for Funny Car legend Jim Dunn will go down as a good war story.

Toliver’s Saturday qualifying run in Pomona was the first time he’d ever driven
Dunn’s car. There were no test sessions to break in the new chassis.
When he strapped in, his No. 16 qualified run was truly a maiden voyage.

“We really had no choice but to run the car to the finish line,”
Toliver admitted. “You have a job to do and you do it. I never felt
uncomfortable driving the car to the finish line.”

Forty-one years ago the Ford Motor Company sent four drivers to the NHRA Winternationals
in Pomona, Ca. and together they performed magnificently introducing
the new 1968 Ford Cobra Jet Mustang, putting driver Al Joniec in the
Super Stock winners circle.

This season has an opportunity to repeat itself in a roundabout way.

There’s no factory backing this time, but at least four cars are
running under the same mantra that the manufacturers raced under back
then – Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday.

Longtime Ford collector and avid Stock eliminator enthusiast Brent
Hajek has spearheaded this recollection of days gone by albeit with
modern technology.

Feld Motor Sports International Hot Rod Association division has hired Larry Crum to the position of Media and Publicity Manager

Crum comes to IHRA following three years as sports editor for the Ohio
Valley Publishing newspaper chain, where he was an accredited NASCAR
media member and award-winning AP photographer.

Time away from drag racing revealed a lot to Top Fuel driver David Baca and because of the revelations, he’s viewing the sport in a different light.

Baca, whose last driving effort before this weekend's return was a
temporary assignment as driver for David Powers Motorsports,
understands fully drag racing is simply an addiction.

“Once you get this stuff in your blood it’s hard to get it out,” Baca
said. “Did I miss it when I was away? Yes. Am I going to let it dictate
my life, unless the right opportunity came, where I’m on the tour full
time? No.”

Baca considers himself to be lucky to have signed a sponsor such as
Mach 1 Global, whose backing enables him to run 12-races in 2009. He
and partner Rick Henkleman will continue to race with the emphasis more
on winning than just being another team on the tour.