Joe Newsham, hospitalized since his Saturday crash with a fractured vertebra and injured feet he referred to as "ground up," said he was trying Sunday morning to get doctors to release him from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital so he could return to the racetrack and watch eliminations. In a phone interview from the New Brunswick hospital, Newsham, 40, said he was dragging around "a lot of sore muscles" as doctors were "making me try to walk softly."

Miraculously, no one was injured as No. 8 qualifier Jeff Rogers' Executioner '04 Mustang detonated on the starting line as he prepared to race Pro Mod Nitrous rival Robert Nicola during the Shakedown at E'town event on Sunday in Englishtown, NJ.

Aronson Motorsports has taken delivery of their new 2010 Mustang from Jerry Haas Race Cars. The car is now being prepared for paint and other procedures. The team expects the car to be race ready by the end of the month.

Hillary Will, driver of the Get Screened America A/Fuel Dragster, blasted her way into the final round of Top Alcohol Dragster at what has been called the most difficult Divisional race of the season, the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Pacific Division, Short Line Express Gambler Showdown. En route to her runner-up finish, Will crushed the World Championship dreams of not one but two stalwarts in the Alcohol ranks behind the wheel of her Tom Conway-owned and tuned dragster.
 
Will qualified number one in a field 21 drivers vying for one of the top eight spots, delivering a 5.359-second pass at 263.56 mph. In the first round of eliminations, she sent local Vegas driver and event title sponsor Duane Shields to his trailer early and ended his title bid with a 5.463 at 259.01 to Shields' 5.671 at 231.56. In round two, she ended the title hopes of Jim Whiteley, sending him packing with a 5.339 263.98 to a 5.391 at 264.49. That win assured TAD driver Bill Reichert a repeat as World Champion.

In what could easily be the best performance of his career, John Coughlin won the Top Dragster title at the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, scoring enough points in the process to clinch the Spitzer Race Cars Top Dragster season title for the second time in the last three years. Coughlin entered the Las Vegas event trailing leader Bob Cireddu in the standings and nothing less than a victory would allow him to make up the difference. Despite the pressure of a “must win” event, Coughlin never wavered as he drove his JEGS.com dragster through six tough elimination rounds culminating in a final round victory against Dave Morgan of Concord, Calif.

“I’m still a little shocked at what just happened,” said Coughlin. “I had to win this race and did it. This race was six rounds instead of the five that we usually run so that made it more difficult but the whole time I kept thinking about my brother Mike. He was in a similar situation in Top Sportsman and he won his last race and that showed me that is was possible. It’s still incredible to think that we were able to win a championship this way. My wife, Dianna and both of our kids, Cody and Kennedi were here and that helped make it even more special.”

Bill Reichert needed some help from Hillary Will and Tom Conway in doing so, but he clinched his 4th straight NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Top Alcohol Dragster National Championship this weekend at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Reichert, Owosso, Mich., had the point’s lead coming into this weekend with only Jim Whiteley, Grand Junction, Colo., and Duane Shields, Boulder City, Nev., within striking distance.  Whiteley took out Reichert in round one to keep his hopes alive but Shields lost to Will ending his, and setting up a semifinal match up between Will and Whiteley.  Will, Ypsilanti, Mich., driving for veteran racer and car owner/tuner Tom Conway ran down Whiteley at the finish line ending his chance at the title and securing the championship for Reichert.

In the Mickey Thompson Outlaw 10.5 class, the usual suspects zipped to the top of the order in the opening qualifying session at the Shakedown at E'town hosted by Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ.
 
Tim Lynch, ready to show that his '02 twin-turbo Mustang was better than it showed in the final round against Chuck Ulsch at last weekend's World Street Nationals at Orlando. Ulsch won that one. But Lynch had the upper hand this time with a 6.400-second blast at 224.06 mph that left in the dust his own 6.543-second elapsed time at 218.34 mph that earned him the No. 1 spot here last year.

"Jersey Joe" Newsham's hope of repeating his Outlaw 10.5 victory at the Shakedown at E'town ended early Saturday in frightening fashion.

In the first rounds of qualifying for the Short Line Express Market Gambler Shootout presented by Torco Fuels, Top Alcohol Dragster driver Michael Manners, Willis, Texas, and Top Alcohol Funny Car pilot Steve Harker, Gainesville, Ga., took the No. 1 qualifying positions in their classes.  The event marks the final event on the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series divisional schedule.  Lucas Oil Racers also compete at NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series which has one event to go, next weekend at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif.

Manners leads a strong list of racers in the alcohol dragster class taking the early pole with a run of 5.364 seconds at 265.70 mph.  Manners is followed by Hillary Will, Ypsilanti, Mich., and defending NHRA Lucas Oil National Champion Bill Reichert, Owosso, Mich., in the number two and three spots respectively.  Reichert, currently leads the chase for the 2009 national championship and is hoping to hold off Duane Shields, Boulder City, Nev., and Jim Whiteley, Grand Junction, Colo., who are qualified fifth and sixth.

Harker put his ’06 Monte Carlo on top with a lap of 5.672 seconds, 255.34 mph with Alexis De Joria and Tony Bartone in second and third.  De Joria, Bronson, Fla., ran 5.676 at 254.04 and Bartone, Long Island, N.Y., clocked in at 5.684, 250.97.