After setting ticket sales records in Edmonton, IHRA will close out the
Canadian portion of its schedule in Grand Bend where the professional
points chases will heat up at the Mopar Canadian Nationals.

The Nitro Funny Car class is now wide open as the top gun in the clas

Matt Hagan, a freshman Funny Car driver, has won twice this season
and stands as a favorite for the 2008 season in Dale Creasy Jr.'s
absence. (Bruce Biegler Photos)

s, two-time defending World Champion Dale Creasy Jr., is sidelined due
to injuries sustained in a semifinals crash in Edmonton. Creasy is
expected to miss the rest of the season, leaving a large void at the
top of the points standings. Creasy remains in the lead with 392
points, but the top driver behind him is two-time winner this season,
Matt Hagan.

Though his season is over, Creasy had a message for his fans.

ESPN2/Motel6 Vision

As
a Funny Car rookie, Ashley Force made a major impact at the Schuck's
Auto Parts Nationals when she slammed her Castrol GTX® Ford Mustang
heavily into the wall in a second round loss to Hall of Famer Kenny
Bernstein.
 

When
the 25-year-old phenom returns this week to Pacific Raceways, she hopes
her impact is just memorable, but a bit less literal.
 
"If I hadn't been reminded (about the crash), it wouldn't have crossed
my mind," she said.  "It wasn't that bad of a crash to me.  Chicago was
more mental for me (an incident last year in which the engine in her
Castrol Ford malfunctioned, blew up and caught fire).
 

Today's classic You Tube video moment features classic drag racing from the 1977 NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. You'll see the six minutes of amatuer video fully equipped with the sounds of everything from Top Fuel to Funny Car to Pro Comp and even Modified eliminator. 

On the heels of yesterday’s disappointing announcement by NOPI
Motorsports regarding the cancellation of the remainder of the NOPI
Drag Racing Series season, NHRA has outlined the classes in which sport
compact racers can compete in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series and
NHRA Summit Racing Series.

Sport compact racers in the Pro RWD, Pro FWD, Modified and Hot Rod
classes can compete in the Competition Eliminator category as of now. 
All Motor racers can compete in the Super Stock category effective
January 1, 2009.  Both categories are part of the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag
Racing Series, the premier Sportsman series in drag racing.            

Drivers in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series compete for
national and divisional championships and select categories are
showcased at NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series national events as well
as divisional events around the country.

As the second stop on the NHRA’s three-race Western Swing, this
weekend’s Schuck’s Auto Supply Nationals in Seattle, WA will provide a
myriad of challenges for Warren Johnson’s GM Performance Parts Pontiac
crew, as well as all the teams on the POWERade Drag Racing Series. 
With less than five days between the conclusion of this past weekend’s
race in Denver and the first qualifying session at Pacific Raceways,
competitors will have to tear down their pit area in Colorado and drive
the 1,400 miles to the Evergreen State. 

Once they arrive in Washington, they will need to set up camp and
perform the normal between-race maintenance on their race cars, which
in this instance will be complicated by having to change over from the
unique, high altitude set-up used in Colorado.  Finally, they will have
to review their notes and install a baseline tune-up prior to heading
to the staging lanes for their first qualifying attempt.   Although
certain to test his team’s time-management skills, the six-time
champion is confident they will be ready for whatever is thrown at them.

Goodyear’s D2550 rear drive tire for the NHRA’s two top POWERade Drag
Racing categories drew high praise from the drivers at the MOPAR Mile
High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.

The race marked the first time the Top Fuel and Funny Car teams were
obliged to use the D2550. The new product was an optional offering at
the two previous races.

Funny Car winner Tim Wilkerson said over the public address system Sunday,

“I don’t know what they put in that new Goodyear tire, but God bless them.”

Wilkerson said his team used two sets of the D2550 for the weekend and
that the tires on his car during the victory over Jack Beckman in the
final round won the event on their fourth pass.

Six years ago, the path of Thomas and Richard Patterson crossed the path of Scotty Cannon in the common ground of Pro Modified.

Cannon was a member of the NHRA POWERade Funny Car fraternity and the
Pattersons were looking to make a name in the Pro Modified division.

Cannon advised the Pattersons with engine and race car combinations and the two went their separate ways.

They’re walking down the common pathway again.

Cannon has long since been away from nitro Funny Car ranks and last season tuned son Scott Jr. to an IHRA world championship.

Jack Beckman entered the NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways last year
on a roll for the Western Swing (Denver, Seattle and Sonoma, Calif.)
after having won the Denver event the weekend before. He left this
Northwest-area facility with his second consecutive victory of the
season. The driver of the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge
Charger R/T Funny Car came close to repeating this year at last
weekend's Mopar Mile-High Nationals by reaching his second final round
of 2008.

Although he didn't take home his second season win in Denver, he
catapulted himself into No. 10 in the standings. Beckman needs to
remain there or move up higher if he's to vie for a Funny Car crown in
the Countdown to the Championship playoffs for the top 10 following the
U.S Nationals in Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend.

"It's interesting," said the California native who has four career
victories in seven final rounds in his short barely two-year Funny Car
career. "We waited until this time last year to make our move and we
made a huge move after that.

"We ran good in a few races this year and didn't get any results from
it," said Beckman. "I think we have put most of our struggles behind us
and we have a consistent hot rod again. And we took advantage of that
in Denver.

By merely making a qualifying run at this weekend’s Schuck’s Auto
Supply NHRA Nationals, Funny Car points leader Tim Wilkerson can clinch
his spot in the Countdown to 1 playoffs. Pro Stock front-runner Greg
Anderson can also clinch if he qualifies No. 12 or higher, wins a round
regardless of position, or if the drivers behind him don’t max out
their points in qualifying.

FULL POINTS STANDINGS 

The track name has changed along with some of the topography, but that
hasn’t altered Melanie Troxel’s feelings for Pacific Raceways, nee
Seattle International Raceway.

The site of this weekend’s Schuck’s Auto Supply Nationals is where
Troxel earned her first NHRA national event victory.  It came in Top
Alcohol dragster in 1999, and was followed by another win in Topeka.

Much has changed for Troxel since then, but she still enjoys returning
to the Seattle area.  The fact this event comes a week after the NHRA
POWERade Series tour stop in the oxygen-starved mile-high altitude of
Denver, makes it even more accommodating for all of the crew chiefs who
struggled with tune-ups at Bandimere Speedway.

“I like Seattle,” said Troxel. “I think it is a pretty venue. I like
parking in the middle of the trees . . . and I’ve had success there
when I was racing in the alcohol ranks.  I ran all of the (NHRA)
Division 6 and Division 7 races, which includes Seattle.