For the second day in a row Brut Dodge Charger Funny Car driver Ron
Capps ran the quickest time at Wednesdays test session for the upcoming
Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.

Capps piloted his Funny Car to a 4.846 second run at 317.87 mph. The
current POWERade points leader in Funny Car, Capps has been excited to
see what his team can do during these testing days in Indy.

“Testing was awesome,” Capps said. “You know these conditions are those that we could see on Sunday for the Skoal Showdown.”

Capps is one of eight drivers competing in the $100,000 Skoal Showdown
at O’Reilly Raceway Park during the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Aug.
31-Sept. 3. The Skoal Showdown is a high-stake, high-speed race
featuring the eight quickest and most consistent Funny Car teams from
the last season. Capps will face Don Schumacher Racing teammate Gary
Scelzi in the first round of the event.

But Capps says that the biggest excitement surrounding this year’s U.S.
Nationals is the addition of the Countdown to the Championship.

Countdown to the Championship point standings for NHRA professional categories
following the 23rd annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove
Raceway, the 17th of 23 events in the  NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series –

Wednesday’s final results from the 23rd annual Toyo Tires NHRA
Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.  The  race is the 17th of 23 in
the  NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

Final round-by-round results from the 23rd annual Toyo Tires NHRA
Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, the 17th of 23 events in the  NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel veteran Doug Herbert
defeated “Hot Rod” Fuller in Wednesday’s rain-delayed final of the
23rd annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals to earn the final spot in the
NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship.

Funny Car racer Tony Pedregon, Pro Stock ace Dave
Connolly, and Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Matt Guidera also scored big wins in
the last regular season race of the season, while Cinderella hopefuls Del
Worsham, V. Gaines, and Chris Rivas all came up short in their bids to make the
Countdown playoffs.

In the biggest race of the event, Herbert launched with
a stellar .039-second reaction time and zoomed down Maple Grove Raceway in 4.562
seconds at 323.43 mph to take the win over a back-pedaling Fuller, who ran a
4.709 at 324.98 mph.

Tim Nabors raced
with very little hoopla and fan fare, but his actions on the track always made
him one of the drivers to beat. Son of longtime Pro Stock racer Calvin Nabors,
Tim raced the class for almost two decades.

Nabors never won a
championship, but his potent Chevrolets from Georgia were some of the more
consistent cars in the class.

Chip Foose, world-renowned auto designer and builder and TV personality, and
Doug Kalitta, NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Top Fuel dragster ace, have one
very cool thing in common – Their passion for fast, eye-stopping and
jaw-dropping hot rods. This Labor Day weekend, Aug. 29-Sept. 3, in Indianapolis,
Foose, Kalitta and Mac Tools will once again team up to bring auto racing fans
from across the globe a unique and very fast, 8,000-horsepower compilation of
style and speed.

At drag racing’s biggest and most prestigious event in the world, the Mac
Tools U. S. Nationals at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, Kalitta, who
usually drives the “Big Red” Mac Tools Top Fuel dragster, will guide the
controls of the Mac Tools/Foose Design 330-mph, nitro-fueled dragster.

The delicately decorated Mac Tools/Foose Design dragster’s carbon fiber body,
was hand-painted by Foose at his custom hot rod shop in Huntington Beach, Calif.
Among its ornate features are “ghosted” palm leaves throughout the design and a
magnificent melding of bronze and light blue with a small green pinstripe.

Melanie Troxel and Ron Capps posted the quickest runs in their
respective categories Tuesday at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis
during testing for the 53rd annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, the
world’s most prestigious drag race.

Troxel and Capps will be among the many drivers competing in the $2.6
million event, Aug. 29 — Sept. 3 at the legendary multi-use motorsports
facility. ESPN2 will provide more than 10 hours of event coverage of
the historic race.

Troxel’s Vietnam Veterans/POW-MIA dragster clocked the quickest Top Fuel run of the day, with 4.530 second run at 328.46 mph.

“We made three runs today and two of them we got down the track so
we’re feeling pretty good about the test session in general,” Troxel
said. “I’m looking forward to getting out here tomorrow and seeing if
we can’t improve on those times.”

Troxel found herself within 2 points of the eighth-place cutoff spot in
the Countdown to the Championship heading into the Toyo Tires NHRA
Nationals last week in Reading, Pa. but was unable to make it into the
Top 8 after a first round loss to teammate Morgan Lucas. Though Troxel
finds herself on the outside of the Countdown playoffs, her motivation
in testing is to test some of the smaller things on her dragster in
preparation for next week’s event in Indy.

Angelle Sampey will headline a special eight-motorcycle field from the
No. 1 qualifying position as she is seeking her first victory in the
Ringers Gloves Pro Bike Battle at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis
on Sept. 1. The special bonus event for NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle
competitors will be held during the 53rd annual Mac Tools U.S.
Nationals, the world’s most prestigious drag race.

The total race day purse for the 17th annual Ringers Gloves Pro Bike
Battle is $61,000. The winner will earn a $25,000 bonus from Ringers
Gloves. Any rider who can win the Battle and the Mac Tools U.S.
Nationals will earn a $10,000 ‘Double-Up’ bonus from the NHRA.

The Battle runner-up will earn $10,000. The two semifinalists will earn
$6,000 each, while the four first-round finishers will earn $3,500
apiece.

Sampey claimed the No. 1 spot for the special event by earning six No.
1 qualifying efforts at the 16 NHRA events that make up the Battle
series. In addition to the $61,000 available in the Battle, $15,000 in
bonuses were awarded to quick qualifiers throughout the 16-race Battle
series.

The Don Schumacher Racing race shop will once again be the place to be on the
opening Friday of the 53rd running of the U.S. Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway
Park, Aug. 31-Sept. 3.

On Friday, Aug. 31, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the
100,000-sq. ft. facility at 1681 East Northfield Drive, Brownsburg, Ind., will
open its doors to welcome racing fans to tour and meet the eclectic, diverse and
colorful DSR NHRA drivers and riders at the second annual DSR Open House
benefiting Riley Hospital for Children.

Last year, 5,000 fans attended
the inaugural DSR Open House, which raised over $14,000 for Riley Hospital for
Children in Indianapolis through voluntary donations and a silent auction
raffling unique race items and sponsor products. An even larger number of fans
is expected this year.

Riley Hospital for Children is also planning to
have its Mobile Intensive Care Unit on display. 

The Indy Hi-Winders Car
Club, a staple of the event with its Car and Motorcycle show, returns this year
to spend the day at DSR, the U.S. Army will have its interactive Rock Wall, H2
Hummer, and personalized dog-tag machine for fans to enjoy. Mopar and Dodge are
planning to have a variety of classic and concept vehicles on display, including
a Super Stock Challenger, 1970 Challenger by Matt Delany, and the One Lap of
America Dodge Viper.