John Force will admit that at the outset he wasn't one of the most
enthusiastic backers of the Countdown to the Championship, the new format that this season will crown NHRA POWERade Champions in the Funny Car, Top Fuel, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle categories.

However, circumstances change and, with them, so do opinions.

As a result, when the NHRA tour moves this week to Heartland Park-Topeka for the 19th O'Reilly Auto Parts Summer Nationals, it would be difficult to find a bigger supporter of the "Countdown" than Force.

That's because the 58-year-old drag racing icon, winner of a record 122 tour events, is mired deeper in the Funny Car driver standings this year than he has been in the last 25 seasons. 

The Quick 8 Outlaws' third race this season posted one of the best 16-car fields
yet with low ET of 4.16 and a 4.52 bump.

Darlington Dragway
had near perfect weather for the fans to enjoy watching 23 automatic Pro Mods
battle it out in three rounds of qualifying.

The first round of
eliminations saw three of the top five qualifiers go out, putting number four
qualifier Ronnie Davis with a 4.29 on the opposite side of the ladder from
number five qualifier Ric Fleck's 4.33.

After the dust had settled from
broken blower belts and burst panels it came down to this; Troy Jordan's nitrous
powered '63 Vette verses Fleck's ProCharged Camaro and Davis' nitrous
'63 Vette verses Kenny Kneece's nitrous '63 Vette in the semis.

The opening round of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship in Top
Fuel Dragster was dealt a raw deal as the weather turned from fair to
foul after only one complete day of qualifying, giving many of the
attending teams little or no time to take stock. It was the first time
the event had been rained out since 1985. Nine entries from seven
different European countries gathered for the first time in 2007, some
had managed to run a few test laps earlier in the month but others it
was their first time on track.

Leading the pack was the man from Holland Lex Joon in his MPM Oil
machine running what is one of the most state-of-the-art electronic
management systems allowed under the FIA rules, a 4.842 seconds pass at
just 277.62mph, a little below his stout Easter time of 4.750.

“I suffered a lot of tire shake on my first pass this morning, it felt
like my head was coming off my neck but I managed to drive through it
on the second pass and clicked off at 1000 feet which hurt both the
time and speed,” said Joon, “But I am number one qualifier and that is
good for championship points and is good on race day” he concluded.

Brett Nesbitt of McLeansville claimed the biggest single share of a
record cash purse and took home one of the four special IHRA trophies
awarded during Rockingham Dragway’s Memorial Weekend Bracket Nationals
and Ironman Classic.
 
 After losing Saturday’s Top Eliminator final to Pittsboro’s Bob Harris
by .002 of a second, Nesbitt came back on Sunday to claim the $10,000
top prize.  He completed a Sunday sweep by beating Footbrake winner
Carl Duff of Holly Springs in the runoff for the Ironman trophy.
 
 Other winners in the holiday event included Nicole Phillips of Sumter,
S.C., who was stopped just shy of a complete sweep in the Jr. Dragster
division; Richard Alford of Raleigh, who claimed an Ironman trophy in
his Chevelle after winning the Footbrake title on Saturday; and Randall
Cantrell of Elon, who duplicated Alford’s feat on Monday.

With a successful opening round in the Pro Modified Racing Association
Tour at Toronto Motorsports Park recently, the PMRA will be back at TMP
in Cayuga, Ontario for event two in the five-race 2007 drag race series.
 
The first event of our season hosted a record number of Pro Modified
teams”, said Bruce F. Mehlenbacher, Director of Operations for the
PMRA. “And having the 10th different winner in 10 races since the PMRA
series started three years ago I think says a lot for the uniformity of
our teams and a solid level of competition.”
 
The Third Annual KC Auto Family Day Spectacular - PMRA Challenge
presented by Paul Wolf Electric & Lighting Supply Inc., Sylvania,
and Independent Electrical Distributors will be held on Saturday, June
16.
 
The PMRA series expects to see the return of series regulars and
principals in the 2007-Point Series sponsored by Wix Filtration
Products, Valvoline, a division of Ashland Inc., Uni-Select, and Moen
Incorporated.

Dave Connolly’s Knoll-Gas Motorsports Chevy Cobalt will have a
different look this weekend when he arrives in Topeka, Kan., for the
O’Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.  But the paint job
is all that changes for Connolly, who is in hot pursuit of his first
Pro Stock championship.
 
Torco Race Fuels
and Seelye Wright Automotive Group will be featured on the Evan Knoll-owned
Chevy Cobalt.  Connolly will continue to run as part of Victor Cagnazzi Racing’s
potent two-car line-up that also features two-time Pro Stock champion Jeg
Coughlin Jr.
 
Connolly, winner at St. Louis earlier this month, thanked
Knoll for “giving us all the funding we need to stay out here and run
competitively in this extremely tough class.  He’s definitely stepped up to the
plate in more ways than one.  He is one of the best owner/sponsors a guy could
ask for.  He has full confidence in his driver and team. Evan put us in a good
position with a good team and good people to work with at Cagnazzi
Racing.
 

IHRA and Tulsa
Raceway
Park officials have rescheduled the Skull Shine Sooner
Nationals to be completed Saturday, June 23.

Despite several rain delays Friday and Saturday, all three rounds of
professional qualifying were completed. However, Sunday brought more rain which
was expected to last all day.

“The first real glimpse of dry weather isn’t until Tuesday or
Wednesday,” said IHRA president Aaron Polburn. “So, it’s impossible to run this
race as scheduled. It’s a tough call to have to make, but we feel it’s the right
one based on weather forecasts and all the rain we’ve already
experienced.”

Densham, Litton, Cannon Jr.,
Atchison
and Berner Top Qualifiers

Heavy rain has been falling all morning at England's Santa Pod Raceway, delaying
the last day of qualifying for "The Main Event," the first round of the
FIA European Drag Racing Championships.

T.J. Zizzo, of
Lincolnshire,
Ill., took the provisional No. 1 Top Fuel
qualifying spot Friday at Tulsa Raceway Park with a track record-setting 4.649
ET at 314.68 mph pass. Other provisional No. 1 qualifiers for the Skull Shine
Sooner Nationals include Gary Densham (Nitro Funny Car), Shannon Jenkins (Pro
Modified), Larry Dobbs (Alcohol Funny Car) and Robert Patrick (Pro
Stock).

Current Knoll
Gas Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Top Fuel points leader Zizzo covered the
quarter-mile in 4.649 seconds at 314.68 mph. He picked up the provisional No. 1
qualifying spot and the Last Man Standing, earning five bonus points. He’s
followed by Bruce Litton, Scott Palmer and Bobby Lagana Jr. Scotty Cannon sits
on the bump spot.