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.

If you didn’t bring your A+ game to Dinwiddie in qualifying,
chances are you were going to be a spectator on Sunday at the NHRA
Virginia Nationals.

Ranging from top qualifier Greg Anderson's 6.554 to No. 16 qualifier
Steve Spiess' 6.590, the event marked the quickest field of Pro Stock
cars ever assembled.

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the
Third annual Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorprorts Park, the
22nd of 24 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Pairings
based on results in qualifying, which ended Saturday. DNQs listed below
pairings.

Top Fuel -- 1. Tony Schumacher, 3.771 seconds, 317.05 mph vs.
16. Scott Palmer, 8.610, 71.88; 2. Hillary Will, 3.799, 315.49 vs. 15.
T.J. Zizzo, 4.195, 213.03; 3. Doug Herbert, 3.814, 311.70 vs. 14. Tim
Boychuk, 3.906, 304.80; 4. Cory McClenathan, 3.815, 312.64 vs. 13.
Morgan Lucas, 3.890, 307.30; 5. Doug Kalitta, 3.815, 308.35 vs. 12. Bob
Vandergriff, 3.873, 308.00; 6. Larry Dixon, 3.816, 312.06 vs. 11. J.R.
Todd, 3.845, 311.77; 7. Rod Fuller, 3.823, 315.56 vs. 10. David
Grubnic, 3.837, 306.26; 8. Antron Brown, 3.823, 308.57 vs. 9. Brandon
Bernstein, 3.824, 312.71.

After showing a tiny bit of vulnerability in the first two rounds of
professional qualifying, point leader and defending JEGS ProMod
Challenge champion Josh Hernandez returned to form early Saturday
afternoon and posted the quickest pass in Pro Mod history, a stunning
5.900 at 242.71 mph, to earn the Ohio Crankshaft Low Qualifier Award.

Funny how 24 hours can change a situation.

Following Friday’s second session, defending NHRA World Champion Jeg
Coughlin Jr. was No. 13, outside of the provisional 12 carried into
Saturday’s final sessions at the NHRA Virginia Nationals in Richmond.

No problem for the thirteen-time NHRA Pro Stock world champion as he
went all the way to the No. 2 spot, losing the top spot on speed to
nemesis Greg Anderson.

Coughlin's 6.554 elapsed time at 209.10 mph also set a Virginia Motorsports Park elapsed time record.

Greg Anderson has been in some knock-down drag out Pro Stock battles before, but this weekend takes the proverbial cake. The downtrodden Anderson picked the perfect time to peak in the 2008 season.

“I’m very happy with the car and we really struggled in the hot and
humid conditions,” Anderson admitted. “We ran really well when the
conditions were cooler, but when it heated up we got a little bit lost.
I think it’s playing good back into our hand, but everyone else seems
to have gotten a good handle on it too.

Team Plans Agressive Approach To Rest Of Season ...

Cruz Pedregon made a historic run at Virginia Motorsports Park to put him atop the Richmond field.

Pedregon and crew chief Rahn Tobler decided before the event that it
was time to go-for-broke in their quest for the 2008 POWERade title and
accordingly the duo uncorked a candidate for NHRA's top pass of the
year.

Together they posted the quickest elapsed time of drag racing's
1,000-foot era when he blasted down track Saturday afternoon with a
4.041-second pass at 306.88 mph that earned his team the No. 1
qualifying position heading into Sunday's eliminations.