Tony
Rubert, aka “the Entertainer”, and his Top Sportsman 1980 Malibu wagon are known
for the strange things that occur during some of his runs.

Today’s pass looked
to be a very straight and smooth run until the car reached the finish line. As
the chute deployed, something seemed to fly off and sail through the air.

FRIDAY
QUALIFYING - THREE PROVISIONAL NATIONAL RECORDS SET AS
QUALIFYING OPENS AT MAPLE GROVE RACEWAY

Defending NHRA
world champion Greg Anderson ran the quickest and fastest Pro Stock pass of all
time Friday -- a 6.626 at 208.91 mph -- as qualifying for the Toyo Tires NHRA
Nationals began at Maple Grove Raceway. Another three-time champion, Pro Stock
Motorcycle rider Angelle Sampey, also posted a potential national record with a
6.939 on her Suzuki.

The nitro categories are led for the second week in
a row by Don Schumacher Racing teammates Tony Schumacher and Mike Ashley.
Schumacher coaxed a 4.471 at 331.85 mph out of his U.S. Army Top Fuel dragster,
while Ashley ran the quickest and fastest pass in track history to lead Funny
Car with a 4.694 at 330.96 mph in his Torco Race Fuels Dodge Charger. Potential
national records become official at the conclusion of the race.

"The way I look at it, I need the record bad," said Anderson, who trails
Jason Line by 78 points. "It's a 40-point swing in my mind because the record is
going down this weekend, it's just a matter of who's gonna get
it."

Twelve of the 16 racers that make up the quickest field in class
history posted career-best elapsed times to make the field. The record bump is
Dave Northrop's 6.664 at 206.57 mph in his Nitro Fish Wear Dodge Stratus
R/T.

		Event Notebook Instant Results Pro Stock Showdown			Event Photo Gallery Sportsman Pro Stock Showdown

Bob Gilbertson, Rick Cooper, Danny
Rowe, Robert Patrick and Mark Thomas Provisional Top

Qualifiers in
Maryland

Bob Gilbertson has been on a mission
lately. It all started at the World Nationals in Norwalk last month when the
Charlotte, N.C. resident eclipsed John Force’s long-standing track ET record. It
continued in Epping, N.H. at the Amalie Oil North American Nationals where
Gilbertson established a both ends of the IHRA World Record with a 4.841 pass at
318.09 mph. Friday, during the evening qualifying session at the Torco Racing
Fuels President’s Cup Nationals in Budds Creek, Md., Gilbertson continued his
assault on the record books.

In the second-to-last pair of cars in
Friday’s Knoll Gas-Torco Racing Fuels Pro Nitro Funny Car qualifying session,
Gilbertson blistered the strip at Maryland International Raceway with a 4.762
pass at 323.35 mph. This pass set both ends of the professional record, pending
a qualifying back-up run sometime during the event.

Kurt Johnson crashed during the second session of Pro Stock qualifying during the NHRA TOYO Tires Nationals in Reading, Pa. The ACDelco-sponsored driver's parachute failed to deploy sending him deep into the sand-trap and through the catch net at the end. Johnson knew he was in trouble early in the run.

When using the brakes proved to be ineffective due to the combination of the high speed and bumps in the shut down area, he was forced to employ emergency maneuvers to bring his car to a halt and ended up in the gravel pit, going through the safety nets and collecting a television camera before finally coming to a rest.

The
FLOWMASTER American Drag Racing 
League's ultra-successful Eastern Race
Fuels DRAGSTOCK III event will 
be telecast Sunday on ESPN2, it was
announced earlier this week.

Big Daddy and The Greek are returning
to Famoso. Lucky fans will get to see
the two drag racing legends at the
15th annual California Hot Rod Reunion
presented by the Automobile Club of
Southern California, Oct. 6-8 at
Bakersfield's historic Auto Club Famoso
Raceway. 

"Big Daddy" Don
Garlits, voted No. 1 on NHRA's 50th Anniversary Top 50
Drivers list, is
bringing his Swamp Rat VIII dragster to the Reunion. Swamp
Rat VIII was the
first in a long line of Garlits dragsters to use the late-model
426 Dodge
Hemi. It debuted at the 1965 March Meet at Famoso driven by
Connie Swingle.
The car was later lengthened and became the Wynn's
Charger (Swamp Rat X) and
is on display at Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in
Ocala, Fla. To continue
the Swamp Rat lineage, Garlits and longtime crew
chief T.C. Lemons built an
exact re-creation of No. VIII earlier this year to
participate in
Cacklefests at both the Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion,
presented by
DuPont Automotive Finishes and the CHRR. Garlits fans will have
plenty to
see because the 1960 Swamp Rat III, now owned by longtime
Garlits crewman
Sonny Messner, will also appear.

Photographer Frank Ranney sent these extra photos of Chip King's Dallas crash.

Top Alcohol Funny Car, driver Danny Townsend is recovering from a final
round accident at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Race Series event in
Columbus, Ohio this past Sunday. The seven time Division 3 champion was
knocked unconscious after hitting the right side retaining wall at the
330 foot mark. From its right lane position, the car crossed over into
the opposite lane, hitting the left side concrete wall. At that point
the throttle fully reopened sending the car into the shutdown
area. With Townsend still unconscious, the car continued at speed into
the top end sand and catch net.

Danny regained consciousness as he was being attended to by the
National Trail Raceway and Division 3 safety crews and the Hebron Fire
Department. He was stabilized and carefully moved to the MedFlight
helicopter for transport to The Ohio State University Medical Center
Intensive Care Unit. Townsend remains in stable condition and has been
moved out of ICU to a private room. He is periodically being moved to a
chair. Danny is very sore, but has no broken bones. Doctors caution
that the healing process may be very slow. In time, a full recovery is
expected.

Fueled by growing legions of fans and cars, the 2007 Holley NHRA National
Hot Rod Reunion, presented by DuPont Automotive Finishes, is moving from
Bowling Green, Ky. to a new, larger home in Columbus, Ohio. After a
4-year-run in Kentucky, the Reunion, June 15-17, 2007, moves from one
historic drag racing track Beech Bend Park to another National Trail
Raceway.

"We had a great, great run in Bowling Green but simply
outgrew the facility at Beech Bend," said Tony Thacker, executive director
of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. "National Trail is a larger
facility with
easier access for fans and more room for cars, people and
activities. The
distinct elements and flavor of the event that made it so
successful in
Bowling Green remain the same. We've just moved it to make it
even more
enjoyable."