Larry Dixon continued his incredible season in Top Fuel and is a perfect 11 for 11 in final rounds as he won the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMax Dragway on Sunday.  
 
Also taking home wins at the event in their respective categories were Cruz Pedregon, Greg Anderson and LE Tonglet.
 
Dixon faced Doug Kalitta’s Rocky Boots Dragster in the finals and as he has done 11 times this season he was able to get the win light and take the victory.  Dixon and his Al-Anabi Racing dragster ran 3.858 at 316.60 mph to a losing pass of 3.901 at 309.20 mph by Kalitta.  Dixon also extends his lead in the points by 85 over second place racer Cory McClenathan.  This is also the third consecutive win for Dixon.

Melanie Troxel earned her place in history in more ways than one on Sunday at the NHRA O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals at zMax Dragway in Concord, NC.

The nitro veteran, who pulled double duty in a Pro Modified car this weekend, became the first female to win in the class which was first introduced to professional drag racing in 1990. She also became the first driver to win in three professional divisions, this after winning in the Top Alcohol Dragster division during the 1990s.

The NHRA first recognized the Get Screened America Pro Modified division as a professional series this year after nine years as an exhibition division. Shelly Payne won an event as an exhibition series.

“I really don’t focus on the female aspect of things, for me winning in four different categories was special,” admitted Troxel.

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the Third annual  O'Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMax Dragway @ Concord, the 19th of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series -
 
Top Fuel
1.  Larry Dixon, 2,355; 2.  Cory McClenathan, 2,270; 3.  Tony Schumacher, 2,207; 4.  Doug Kalitta, 2,190; 5.  Brandon Bernstein, 2,172; 6.  Antron Brown, 2,146; 7.  Shawn Langdon, 2,134; 8.  Steve Torrence, 2,115; 9.  Morgan Lucas, 2,104; 10.  David Grubnic, 2,066.

Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Jeremy Teasley made his NHRA debut at the O'Reilly Auto Parts Nationals at zMax Dragway, but looking beyond the fresh-faced newbie exterior, one will find an already well-established cycle rider.

Teasley, just 19 years old, enjoyed success in the AMA Dragbike Championship Series before it recently ceased operation due to financial difficulties. He is the possessor of the 2009 AMA Dragbike BST Real Street championship title claimed aboard the Adams Performance Kawasaki ZX14 and won the AMA Dragbike APE Real Street championship in 2008. Teasley holds the national record in the
series with a 7.934 at 188.33 mph.
 
In the MiRock Superbike Series, the Columbus, Ohio, resident is currently leading the HTP Performance Real Street points, a plentiful 238 markers ahead of the second-place competitor.

There is just something special about quilts.

The two quilts hanging in the GEICO Powersports pit of Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Karen Stoffer are extra special.

“We have two quilts which we will auction off sometime this year with the proceeds going to D.R.A.W.,” explained Stoffer as her team worked to prepare her Suzuki for first round qualifying for the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway.

“We've taken (t-shirts from) the past champions starting with Dave Schultz, John Meyers, Eddie Krawiec, Andrew Hines, Angele Sampey, Gino Scali,Hector Arana and Matt Smith. We have 20 years of champions on this one quilt. And, on the backside we also have a t-shirt of Elmer Trent. It's the only one that is signed and he actually signed it the day he passed in Indianapolis.

The only thing more prevalent in the southeast than sweetened ice tea is humidity.

To hear drag racing tuners talk about the water in the air when they visit zMax, Bristol and Atlanta Dragways, you’d think it was a battle with the devil himself.

“It is a tuner’s nightmare,” confirmed Todd Okuhara, a co-crew chief on the FRAM Top Fuel dragster piloted by Cory McClenathan. “It changes the air/fuel ratio in these motors and you have to work hard to overcome it.”

Racers measure how severe the humidity is by the water grains. The level of water grains is calculated from temperature and relative humidity.

“Anytime the humidity gets in the 110 grains, it is hard to overcome,” confirmed Okuhara.

There has always been hope for C-Ped.

The kind of hope which kept Cruz Pedregon in pursuit of the dream despite not having a crew chief, using guys other teams rejected, parts which some would have classified worn out and a budget nearly two-thirds less than most teams.

At a time when he could have quit, Pedregon soldiered on. At a time when he could have laid down and saved a few dollars, Pedregon rolled to the line and beat the rest of the Funny Car bunch.

Good news for the competition, Cory McClenathan won’t be running an orange paint scheme in the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway which has resulted in seven final round appearances. The bad news is, on race day they will have to deal with a red, white and blue Valvoline scheme which is starting to develop a strong mojo of its own.

Make no mistake about it, looks don’t win races but a new look can renew a team’s enthusiasm and this weekend McClenathan’s team is racing invigorated.

“When it runs as well as it did last night, it provides you with a renewed enthusiasm,” agreed McClenathan. “Everybody is a little scared at first [of stepping outside of tradition] and getting away from the orange car.”

Summit Racing campaigner Greg Anderson sat atop the provisional pole at the conclusion of the first day of qualifying for the NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMax Dragway and then handed the title over to teammate Jason Line on Saturday, sliding the KB Racing crew into the limelight as serious contenders for the Full Throttle Series championship. Line was quickest in the first session of the day with a 6.604 at 209.56 mph that held through the afternoon and will stand as his first No. 1 of the season and the 17th of his career.

“It feels good to qualify No. 1 anywhere, but it feels a little bit better to do it here, where we have more friends and family,” said Line, who resides in the Charlotte area. “It's been so long since I was No. 1 [Houston 2009] that I can't really remember what it feels like. In all of the sessions, either Greg or myself was low, and Ronnie Humphrey, in our third car, he ran good as well. We're heading in the right direction and it feels great to be back near the top.”

Line picked up nine qualifying bonus points and Anderson scored six for their efforts. Defending series champion Mike Edwards collected seven.