Veteran racer Jay Payne became the seventh winner of the JEGS ProMod Challenge season Sunday by beating
first-time finalist Scott Ray in the money round of the third annual
Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park.

It was the first win of the season for the 2006 series champion and it
stole some of the attention away from a nip-and-tuck championship
battle between reigning titlist Josh Hernandez and Tony Pontieri, who
are now just 20 points apart in the JEGS points with one race left.

In a race unique to O'Reilly Farmington Dragway's normal program, fans turned out heavily to enjoy Saturday's open field Quick-8,
featuring nitrous as well as blower car entries. Fan appeal and
performance combos were diverse, and with weather as close to perfect
as you can imagine, Farmington's special event didn't disappoint. In
the end, Todd Tutterow was victorious over Dale Brinsfield.
 
Fans came out of their seats in the opening round of qualifying when
Todd Tutterow guided his C-5 Corvette down Farmington's concrete lane,
posting a 200mph lap across the scoreboard. Tutterow's 3.923 instantly
shot him to the top of the qualifying sheet, lowering that time to a
3.922 @ 199mph in round two.

Yes, Tony Schumacher won again.

Yes, he won the first round for the 24th consecutive time.

No, he didn’t clinch the championship.

Huh?

Schumacher won Don Schumacher Racing’s 121st national event at the NHRA Virginia Nationals in Richmond by stopping
Hillary Will, the second place runner who trails by 212 points.

Technically that’s still not enough to seal the deal. Fourteen wins in seventeen final rounds and the deal still wasn’t sealed.

CRUZ PEDREGON, CONNOLLY DRIVE WAY INTO CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENTION

Schumacher continues record-setting season with 14th win

Funny
Car driver Cruz Pedregon and Pro Stocker Dave Connolly closed out
clutch wins on Sunday at the Virginia NHRA Nationals to go from
afterthought to legitimate challenger in the race for the 2008 NHRA
POWERade Series championships.

The other winner at the fourth of six races in the NHRA Playoff, the
Countdown to 1, was Top Fuel ace Tony Schumacher, who continued his
record-breaking season with his 14th win and first at Virginia
Motorsports Park (the only two remaining tracks where Schumacher has
yet to win are Topeka and Atlanta).

Pedregon, the 1992 POWERade Series world champion, defeated first-place
Tim Wilkerson in the semifinals and second-place Jack Beckman in the
finals – Pedregon running a 4.113 at 296.44 in his Advance Auto Parts
Toyota Solara to Beckman’s 7.503 at 88.14 in his Valvoline/MTS Dodge
Charger – en route to his first win in more than two years (Las Vegas 1
in April 2006).

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following
the Third annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park,
the 22nd of 24 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1.  Tony Schumacher, 2,527; 2.  Hillary Will, 2,315; 3.  Antron Brown,
2,283; 4.  Cory McClenathan, 2,278; 5.  Larry Dixon, 2,253; 6.  Doug
Herbert, 2,245; 7.  Brandon Bernstein, 2,240; 8.  Rod Fuller, 2,179;
9.  Doug Kalitta, 2,145; 10.  David Grubnic, 2,110.

Sunday's final results from the Third annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at
Virginia Motorsports Park.  The  race is the 22nd of 24 in the NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Tony Schumacher, 3.811 seconds, 316.08 mph  def. Hillary Will, 3.847 seconds, 307.09 mph.

Final round-by-round results from the Third annual Virginia NHRA
Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park, the 22nd of 24 events in the
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Antron Brown, 3.803, 314.90 def. Brandon Bernstein,
3.832, 312.93; David Grubnic, 3.848, 313.00 def. Rod Fuller, 3.836,
314.24; Doug Herbert, 3.789, 317.27 def. Tim Boychuk, 3.957, 283.07;
J.R. Todd, 3.822, 315.27 def. Larry Dixon, 3.820, 312.93; Tony
Schumacher, 3.783, 317.42 def. Scott Palmer, 4.033, 291.45; Hillary
Will, 3.850, 310.27 def. T.J. Zizzo, 4.658, 161.36; Morgan Lucas,
3.881, 309.70 def. Cory McClenathan, 3.970, 307.37; Bob Vandergriff,
3.885, 309.77 def. Doug Kalitta, 3.905, 295.27;

QUARTERFINALS --
Lucas, 3.861, 308.85 def. Vandergriff, 6.608, 88.70; Will, 3.877,
306.12 def. Grubnic, 3.882, 302.14; Herbert, 3.831, 302.55 def. Todd,
3.845, 312.42; Schumacher, 3.779, 318.54 def. Brown, 3.847, 300.20;

SEMIFINALS -- Will, 3.837, 302.96 def. Herbert, 5.604, 142.97; Schumacher, 3.795, 314.68 def. Lucas, 3.885, 308.21;

FINAL -- Schumacher, 3.811, 316.08 def. Will, 3.847, 307.09.

David Powers Motorsports and Rob Flynn, crew chief on the Hot Rod
Fuller-driven Caterpillar dragster, have reached a mutual agreement to
part ways following the conclusion of the 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series season team owner David Powers announced today.

“Both Tim Buckley and myself want to thank Rob Flynn for the great job
he’s done for our team,” Powers said. “Rob has done an outstanding job
with the Caterpillar car nearly winning the championship last season.
We wish him well in his future endeavors in NHRA drag racing. We’re
searching for a dynamic crew chief that can compliment the leadership
that Lee Beard has brought to our organization.”

GM reportedly talking merger with Chrysler after pitching the idea to Ford …

This one might put a crimp in motorsports if it comes to pass.

According to a Reuters report released on Saturday, General Motors has
engaged in talks with Chrysler LLC regarding a merger at a time when
both are struggling to cut costs and grow cash. Months earlier,
according to the same source, GM had approached Ford with a similar
scenario.

Reportedly, the talks are off for the present, but should they resume, the Big Three could downsize.

There used to be a day when the Top Fuel competition could at least count on a token first round loss from five-time world champion Tony Schumacher.

To be exact that day was 23 races ago, September 2007 in Memphis,
Tenn., the last time the U.S. Army-sponsored driver lost a first round.

Once upon a time, he never got a break.

Now those breaks are falling Schumacher’s way. Case in point, he’s
smoked the tires twice in the first round and managed to recover better
than his competition.