Frank Smith Photo

Del Worsham, and his "special edition" Chevron Techron team, did so
many things right on this Seattle weekend at the Schuck's Auto Supply
Nationals, it was hard to keep track of the highlights.  And then in
one short puff of haze-like tire smoke, the very real dream of winning
his sponsor's race disappeared as fast as his starting line advantage
over Ron Capps.  Worsham's first-round loss was a tough blow to take,
though the popular driver is far from out of the running for the
Countdown.

On Friday and Saturday, Worsham and his team were quick enough,
consistent enough, and highly-placed enough to earn their second Full
Throttle Pit Crew Award in the last four races.   Worsham's three best
laps were 4.131, 4.073, and 4.182, and it was the super-stout 4.073
that earned him his best qualifying slot of the year, landing him in
the No. 2 spot.

"It's so tight right now, in the Funny Car class, that you can
practically just blink and go from the top of the qualifying list to
the middle, or right to the bottom," Worsham said.  "When we made the
second run on Friday, we saw a lot of teams running 4.10s and times
like that, and we knew we were loaded up pretty well, tune-up wise.  I
kind of figured that if it made it, it would be good.  Turns out it was
good."

Paul Noakes’ Alcohol Funny Car win completes dream weekend for McMillen’s Hoosier Thunder Motorsports

Terry McMillen had two cars in the finals this weekend. The one he
drove, the Top Fueler, reached the winner's circle. He's won two events
in two seasons.

Terry McMillen was not satisfied with one Ironman. After watching Paul
Noakes, driving his Amalie Oil InstiGator, claim the Alcohol Funny Car
championship at the Mopar Canadian Nationals, McMillen figured he might
as well put the icing on the proverbial cake. He knocked off rookie
Spencer Massey in the Torco Pro Nitro Top Fuel final round to put a
second Hoosier Thunder Motorsports car in the winner’s circle at Grand
Bend Motorplex.

“What a weekend…this is something you can just dream about,” McMillen
said. “Getting both cars to the finals was a goal, to be fortunate
enough to have both cars win is really amazing.”

SCHUMACHER CONTINUES DREAM-TEAM SEASON AS BARTONE,LINE ALSO WIN IN SEATTLE

After a shaky first half of the season that included six DNQs, Tony Bartone raced to his first NHRA POWERade Series victory.

After a shaky first half of the season that included six DNQs, Tony
Bartone raced to his first NHRA POWERade Series victory Sunday at the
21st annual Schuck’s Auto Supply NHRA Nationals after more than six
years of professional racing.

Bartone defeated veteran driver Ron Capps, also looking to break out of
a winless streak that dates back to Richmond 2007, in the final round.
Bartone powered his Canidae Pet Foods Chevy Monte Carlo to a
4.454-second pass at 238.17 mph to get the long-awaited win, while
Capps posted a 4.708 at 227.46 in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger R/T.

Unnoficial point standings (top 10) for IHRA professional categories
following the Mopar Canadian Nationals presented by Castrol at Grand
Bend Motorplex, the sixth of 10 events in the  2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam
Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1.  Bruce Litton, 499; 2.  Spencer Massey, 497; 3.  Bobby Lagana Jr.,
445; 4.  Mike Strasburg, 438; 5.  Kevin Jones, 354; 6.  Terry McMillen,
351; 7.  Scott Palmer, 222; 8.  Chris Karamesines, 118; 9.  Mitch King,
99; 10.  Tim Boychuk, 74.

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the
21st annual Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways,
the 14th of 24 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1. Tony Schumacher, 1,297; 2. Antron Brown, 940; 3. Larry Dixon, 901;
4. Rod Fuller, 852; 5. Cory McClenathan, 840; 6. Brandon Bernstein,
834; 7. Hillary Will, 751; 8. Doug Herbert, 738; 9. David Grubnic, 617;
10. Doug Kalitta, 598.

Final round-by-round results from the Mopar Canadian Nationals
presented by Castrol at Grand Bend Motorplex, the sixth of 10 events in
the  2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Spencer Massey, 4.768, 306.33 def. Bruce Litton,
4.896, 302.21; Bobby Lagana Jr., 5.905, 154.94 def. Mitch King, foul;
Terry McMillen, 4.665, 322.42 def. Kevin Jones, 4.997, 249.30; Mike
Strasburg, 10.066, 90.10 def. Todd Paton, foul;

SEMIFINALS -- Massey, 4.726, 310.41 def. Lagana Jr., 4.859, 272.01; McMillen, 4.864, 247.93 def. Strasburg, 6.714, 134.91;

FINAL -- McMillen, 4.867, 278.52 def. Massey, 5.393, 201.43.

Sunday's final results from the Mopar Canadian Nationals presented
by Castrol at Grand Bend Motorplex.  The  race is the sixth of 10 in
the  2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Terry McMillen, 4.867 seconds, 278.52 mph def. Spencer Massey, 5.393 seconds, 201.43 mph.

Nitro Funny Car -- Terry Haddock, Dodge Stratus, 5.183, 254.38 def. Steven Macklyn, Chevy Monte Carlo, 5.821, 183.19.

Pro Modified -- Ed Hoover, Chevy Camaro, 6.062, 234.53 def. Tommy D'Aprile, Chevy Bel Air, 6.873, 220.22.

Alcohol Funny Car -- Paul Noakes, Dodge Avenger, 5.869, 238.55 def. Larry Dobbs, Chevy Corvette, 5.934, 237.75.

Pro Stock -- Frank Gugliotta, Ford Mustang, 6.389, 217.14 def. Pete Berner, Pontiac GXP, 6.398, 217.00.

Final round-by-round results from the 21st annual Schuck's Auto Supply
NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways, the 14th of 24 events in the NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- David Grubnic, 4.136, 249.81 def. Hillary Will,
4.650, 195.73; Morgan Lucas, 3.887, 302.69 def. Doug Kalitta, 4.314,
258.96; Rod Fuller, 3.922, 300.13 def. Steve Torrence, 8.167, 102.15;
Bob Vandergriff, 4.229, 269.19 def. Antron Brown, 6.784, 105.24; Tony
Schumacher, 3.877, 310.05 def. Steven Chrisman, broke; Brandon
Bernstein, 3.856, 310.77 def. Troy Buff, 3.879, 308.71; Doug Herbert,
3.919, 304.87 def. Larry Dixon, 4.423, 179.83; Cory McClenathan, 3.966,
276.52 def. J.R. Todd, 4.148, 254.52;

A scary moment transpired during Friday’s Top Fuel qualifying at the NHRA Schucks Auto Parts Nationals in Seattle, Wash.

Top Fuel driver Hillary Will had lifted in her KB Racing Top Fuel
dragster and deployed the parachutes when the ESPN2 cameras showed her
head lean dangerously forward as if she were not buckled in.

For some inexplicable reason, the Kalitta Motorsports driver suffered a
belt failure. Such an incident happened two weeks ago to an Alcohol
Funny Car racer during the IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals in Edmonton,
Alb. He was uninjured but made abrupt contact with the steering upon
parachute deployment.

The final day of qualifying at the NHRA Schucks Nationals in Seattle, Wa.,

John Force’s Last Seattle DNQ came 29 years ago but since 2007 the 14-time champion has four DNQ’s.

was bittersweet for John Force. As
temperatures continued to rise throughout the day tricky track
conditions hampered John Force and his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang’s
chances of getting into one of the tightest Funny Car fields in recent
memory.

A decent but not spectacular run in the first session was not enough to
move Force into the Top sixteen and in his final attempt his Ford
Mustang lost traction just past the halfway point and his hopes of
racing on Sunday went up in smoke. From the top end Force was motivated
to improve and fire-up his teammates.