Hondas and Suzukis are living in perfect harmony. At least on Craig Treble’s ageless Pro Stock Motorcycle they are.

Treble, of Harvey, La., rode his Kingston Honda-sponsored Suzuki to the
provisional No. 1 qualifying position at the NHRA SuperNationals in
Englishtown, N.J. His run of 7.008 seconds at 198.43 miles per hour
topped all sixteen bikes in attendance.

“The conditions got a lot better for us out there in the second
session,” Treble said. “We were a little soft on the clutch and
over-jetted for the first session. We saw that on the computer, leaned
it out [the engine] and tightened up the clutch, the track and the air
came to us.”

Following a review of recent performances in the Pro Stock Motorcycle
category, NHRA has announced that the minimum weight for the
Harley-Davidson 160-cid four-valve combinations will increase 20
pounds, from 620 to 640. The increase is part of NHRA’s ongoing efforts
at maintaining competition and parity within the category.

The Northeast Outlaw Pro Mods second event of 2009 will be held at
Maryland International Raceway (MIR) this Saturday. This event will
consist of two classes, Blower/Turbos and Nitrous/Aspirated. Gates open
at 10 AM and eliminations start at 7 PM. These Pro Mods cover the
quarter- mile in the high five-second range at speeds approaching 240
mph.

VP Racing Fuels has introduced a new traction compound system for drag
racing, which, based on recent race results, promises to set a whole
new standard for track prep. To Lane Choice 6TM, its top performing
traction compound, VP has added “LC6-Cold” and “Starting Line ResinTM,”
constituting a system for total track or touch-up applications in all
temperatures.
 
“While other traction compound manufacturers are standing pat, VP has
applied new technology to a system providing the safest, best
performing drag racing traction compound for any conditions a track can
experience,” said Steve Burns, VP’s Director of Research &
Development. “Bottom line—it performs better, it’s easier to apply and
costs less.”
 
“The worst scenario for a track is to prep for cold weather conditions
and it turns hot, or vice versa,” Burns explained. “With VP’s new
system, either situation can be easily fixed. In effect, there’s no
longer any excuse for not having a good race track—whether it’s hot or
cold, the track can always be good.”

BracketNews.com will present the richest race in the history of Gulf
Coast bracket racing next weekend, as the Huntsville Engine Great
American Race rolls into No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, LA. The
event, which features a $50,000 grand prize for Saturday’s winner will
be contested on the 1/8th mile at No Problem Raceway throughout the
holiday weekend.

Friday’s opening event will feature a $5,000 winners purse, with the
$50,000-to-win main event taking center stage on Saturday. The weekend
will close out with a $10,000-to-win event on Sunday. Weekend entry for
competitors is $700. The event will feature buybacks in the first or
second round of competition for the fee of $75 (Friday), $300
(Saturday), and $100 (Sunday). As a special bonus, Saturday’s main
event will feature a doubled $100,000-to-win purse if the event
attracts 250 entries! All purses are guaranteed, based on 110 entrants.

In the heart of Pro Mod country, it's anyone's game in the Get Screened
America Pro Mod Challenge, and the battle is heating up as competitors
enter the second of four races in a seven-week span this weekend at the
NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn. The race will also
feature a special tribute to 2008 event winner Steve Engel.
 
Most-recent event winner Roger Burgess is definitely on a roll, never
qualifying below No. 2 so far this season and consistently delivering
5.90-second performances when he stages his ProCare Rx Camaro. His
Duluth, Ga.-based team, tuned by 2004 Bristol Pro Mod Challenge winner
Al Billes, is to a man ready to put another Get Screened America
Warrior on the mantle, but to do that, they will have to get past
points leader Mike Castellana and his Al-Anabi teammate Burton Auxier.
 
Auxier has twice runnered-up this season, and Castellana has driven his
nitrous-powered '68 Firebird to a quarterfinal and semifinal finish to
go along with his Gainesville win.

NHRA Full Throttle Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson was uninjured in a
crash Tuesday afternoon while testing at Motor Mile Dragway in Radford,
Va.

Johnson confirmed he crashed his Mopar-sponsored Dodge Stratus into an
earthen berm when both parachutes failed to deploy after an eighth-mile
testing run.

“I just couldn’t get it stopped and the shutdown was a little bumpy,”
Johnson explained in a Tuesday evening phone call. “I tried to turn the
car around and ended up hitting the berm and it tore the front-end off
of the car.”

Johnson said the car suffered extensive front end damage but is
repairable and he plans to run the car during Friday’s qualifications
for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol, Tenn.

Hot Rod Fuller said he'd be back.

The 7-time national event winner returns to competition driving for Bob
Vandergriff, Jr., in the Patten Cat Top Fuel dragster at the NHRA
Nationals in Joliet, Ill.

Fuller will continue his longtime association with CAT, representing 
one of their marquee dealers in the country, Patten Industries in his
2009 debut.

“The fact that I was born in Chicago and now have the opportunity to
drive for Patten Cat, a dealer that has been in business in Northern
Illinois for more than 75 years, has made it worth the wait to get back
out on the circuit,” Fuller said.

Ron Capps and the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car team will unveil a new one-off NAPA Adaptive One Brakes paint scheme on the car at this weekend's NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway.

Capps, who has led the Funny Car point standings in the 2009 NHRA Full
Throttle Drag Racing Series since the first event of the year, is
geared up to win a third national event at this facility and his fourth
of the season as he aims for his first NHRA Funny Car championship this
year. He has faith in his crew chief Ed "Ace" McCulloch and the NAPA
Adaptive One Brakes Dodge Funny Car.

"We talked earlier in the season about success breeding confidence,"
said Capps, Bristol champion in 2001 and 2006. "There's been a lot of
confidence built in me as a driver by the success the NAPA team has had
so far. We've even brought out new chassis at the start of a race
weekend in the past and where a lot of teams might make check-out runs
to make sure everything was OK with a brand-new car, we've run it
straight to the finish line.

Last season, Tim Wilkerson made winning look so effortless.

This season has been a greater challenge for Wilkerson, which comes as no surprise.

He knew after finishing runner-up for the championship last year, that the expectations would be lofty in 2009.

That’s why Wilkerson’s toughest challenge at present is to find the
right balance between a healthy effort and trying too hard. The driver
of the Levi, Ray & Shoup Shelby Cobra has finally clawed his way
back into the top ten in points.

"One of the real direct things between drag racing and other sports is
the tendency to try too hard, and you see that all the time," Wilkerson
said. "You can't score a 21-point touchdown, and you can't hit a
six-run home run, so trying to get it all back or take over the world
in one big shot just doesn't work. I get impatient too, just like
anyone, but once we left Pomona we knew we had to focus on doing
everything like we've always done it. You just go step by step with
everything under control. When you try to do too much, you over-step it
and just go backwards.