Melanie Troxel, driver of the Skull Shine/Knoll
Gas-Torco Race Fuels Top Fuel
dragster in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing
Series, will appear on Fox &
Friends on the Fox News Channel at 7:35 a.m. on
Monday, Oct. 16, while in New
York City to attend the Women's Sports
Foundation dinner that evening. She is
a finalist for Sportswoman of the
Year.

RAIN DELAYS KENNEDALE EVENT UNTIL 2007

Tony
Schumacher was hesitant to mention safety – or a perceived lack thereof, when he
referred to 45-degree temperatures that greeted the Friday evening VMP Top Fuel
qualifying session.

“Running down a drag strip when you can’t see past
your visor is probably not the safest thing for a sanctioning body that was
designed for safety,” Schumacher said. “Whatever…some cars made it down the
track so I can’t complain.

“I couldn’t be nervous…I couldn’t see past my
windshield,” Schumacher said. “I held my breath as long as I could before I
staged. I had the girl from Impact doing my visor.”

Schumacher was
pressed into action earlier than expected when several teams pulled out of the
lanes, including teammate Melanie Troxel.

Tony Schumacher set a single season record Saturday at Virginia
Motorsports Park with his 12th No. 1 qualifying effort of the year.
Eric Medlen and Jason Line also secured top qualifying spots in their
categories at the $1.6 million Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals, the
21st of 23 races in the $50 million NHRA POWERade Drag RacingSeries.

Schumacher's
12 low qualifiers breaks the mark of 11 he set in 2005. His only
challenge for this weekend's top qualifying spot came from Rookie of
the Year candidate J.R. Todd, who powered his Skull Shine dragster a
4.528 at 318.39 mph during Saturday's first session. In the
end,Schumacher's Friday pass of 4.512 at 313.37 mph in his U.S. Army
dragster was enough for his 34th career No. 1 position.

One of the higher profile spectators in attendance this weekend at
Virginia Motorsports Park is Jerry Toliver. He can’t say whether or not
he’ll race next year but there is a likely possibility.

“We’re
really close to having a deal to go back racing,” Toliver said. “I
don’t want to say anything for certain until everything is signed on
the dotted line – but we’re awful close. “Do I want to come back?
Absolutely. Are we going to come back – most likely.”

Toliver has spent a good deal of time this weekend in the Kalitta
Motorsports pit area. He declined to elaborate on the details of any
potential deal but did add he will have an association with Kalitta
Motorsports because of their Toyota involvement.

A member of the drag racing message board community and a friend to
Torco's CompetitionPlus.com passed away after a battle with cancer.

Nostalgia Fuel Funny Car owner Justin Grant, of Bloomington, Ind., will
reproduce one of the most exciting and
visually stunning Nostalgia Fuel Funny
Cars of its time: the 1970's 'Cuda
Stardust Nitro Funny Car.

The car,
raced by Don Schumacher to an unequaled record in match races across the
country - along with other cars he raced in the '70s that were
dubbed
"Stardust" - is a tribute to one of the biggest icons in the sport,
says
Grant. It will be driven by Joe Haas, of Findlay, Ill., in the Nostalgia Pro
Comp Association (NPCA) and other nostalgia-racing events in
2007. NHRA Funny
Car racer Dale Pulde is the technical advisor and "remote
crew chief" on the
car, according to Grant.

STANTON, BAKER CLAIM 2006 ADRL CHAMPIONSHIPS

They might have taken different routes to get there, but Bubba
Stanton and Keith Baker both ended up  right where they wanted to be Friday
night: in the Texas Raceway  winner's circle, celebrating their 2006
FLOWMASTER American Drag  Racing League world championships after winning
their respective  Battle for the Belts eliminators.Stanton (Pro
Extreme) and Baker (Pro Nitrous) each turned away seven other would-be
champions to win their first ADRL titles and put the  final touches on the
2006 ADRL season. The GetWorkComp.com World  Finals continue Saturday with
two rounds of qualifying and 16-car 
eliminators in both Pro Extreme and Pro
Nitrous, with any points earned during the day counting toward the 2007
ADRL standings.

Stanton was the last man entered into the Pro Extreme
field, filling  in the No. 8 qualifying spot as the competition's second
alternate.  He used the opportunity to put together by far his best-ever
showing in ADRL competition, opening with a stunning 3.897 to oust points 
leader Jason Scruggs, following up with a 3.921 to hold off 2005 Pro 
Extreme champion John Lynam (3.964) in a good semifinals race, then 
posting a 3.914 to turn back Joshua Hernandez (3.954) in the
final.

Greg Anderson made drag racing history Friday when he recorded the
sport's first 6.5-second Pro Stock pass. Anderson covered Virginia
Motorsports Park's quarter-mile track in 6.598 seconds to lead
qualifying at the $1.6 million Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals.
 

Tony
Schumacher and Robert Hight are the other provisional qualifyingleaders
at the event, the 21st of 23 races in the $50 million NHRA POWERade
Series.

A potential national record, Anderson's mark could be
worth 20championship points if it holds through the weekend. Currently,
Anderson trails Summit Racing Pontiac GTO teammate Jason Line by 56
points forthe top spot in the POWERade standings. Line is second here
with a 6.602at 209.26 mph, the fastest Pro Stock speed in history.