Jack Beckman moved from third into second place following his quarterfinal finish.

“My hat is off to NHRA for making this Countdown exciting, but they're
killing us," Beckman said, with a laugh. "We were hoping it wasn't
going to be quite this exciting here. This championship is going to
come down to the final race in Pomona.

Even when he loses, Jeg Coughlin Jr. gains.

Sunday at Memphis Motorsports Park wasn't the best day in Coughlin's
career, but it might turn out to be one of the more pivotal in the 2008
title chase as the driver of the JEGS.com Chevrolet Cobalt managed to
increase his lead in the championship standings from 14 to 32 point
with his quarterfinal finish.

"It was an exciting round throughout the pro ranks, just watching who
was advancing and who was going home early," Coughlin said. "We've all
been pointing to the Countdown to 1 since the start of the year and now
it's here and every round seems so big. Huge swings can happen and you
know the rounds remaining are slipping away fast. It's intense."

Coughlin would square off with the event's top qualifier, Allen
Johnson, in the quarterfinals. Continuing the theme of the opening
session, Coughlin was fortunate enough to have run quicker than Johnson
in Round 1 and therefore carried lane choice into their Round 2 race.

John Force Racing had a near record day almost advancing four Mustangs
to the semi-finals at the NHRA Mid South Nationals in Memphis.

Ashley Force was the last line of defense against the Wilkerson juggernaut in Memphis.

Wilkerson had dispatched team leader John Force in the second round and
Robert Hight in the semis before the sophomore driver pulled up beside
him in the final. In their last head to head race Force ended
Wilkerson’s day in the first round at zMax Dragway in Charlotte at the
first Countdown to 1 race dropping the points leader from first to
fourth. In Memphis she made a strong run at Wilkerson but in the end it
was not her day.

SCHUMACHER, WILKERSON KEEP THEIR POINTS LEADS WITH WINS; EDWARDS, TREBLE MOVE CLOSER TO CHAMPIONSHIP IN MEMPHIS

Top
Fuel pilot Tony Schumacher and Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson
strengthened their points leads as many Countdown contenders fell early
Sunday at the O’Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil.

Pro
Stock’s Mike Edwards and Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Craig Treble joined
Schumacher and Wilkerson in the winner’s circle with three races
remaining in the Countdown to 1 playoffs.

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the
21st annual O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil at
Memphis Motorsports Park, the 21st of 24 events in the  NHRA POWERade
Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1.  Tony Schumacher, 2,409; 2.  Cory McClenathan, 2,243; 3.  Antron
Brown, 2,230; 4.  Larry Dixon, 2,219; 5.  Hillary Will, 2,218; 6. 
Brandon Bernstein, 2,208; 7.  Doug Herbert, 2,169; 8.  Rod Fuller,
2,146; 9.  Doug Kalitta, 2,111; 10.  David Grubnic, 2,058.

Final round-by-round results from the 21st annual O'Reilly Mid-South
Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Memphis Motorsports Park, the 21st
of 24 events in the  NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Larry Dixon, 3.877, 306.40 def. Antron Brown, 3.881,
307.30; Cory McClenathan, 3.888, 305.08 def. Bob Vandergriff, 3.903,
306.60; Tony Schumacher, 3.880, 310.63 def. Rod Fuller, 3.897, 304.94;
Doug Herbert, 3.912, 301.54 def. Clay Millican, 3.972, 300.40; Hillary
Will, 3.892, 306.81 def. Morgan Lucas, 5.588, 118.79; Brandon
Bernstein, 3.884, 308.78 def. Pat Dakin, 3.967, 301.60; Doug Kalitta,
3.946, 304.12 def. T.J. Zizzo, 5.663, 119.40; J.R. Todd, 3.912, 308.00
def. David Grubnic, 4.590, 213.70;

QUARTERFINALS -- Herbert, 3.954, 299.73 def. Todd, 3.956,
300.00; Will, 3.929, 301.81 def. McClenathan, 3.913, 302.48;
Schumacher, 3.889, 310.55 def. Kalitta, 3.902, 304.74; Bernstein,
3.880, 297.09 def. Dixon, 4.541, 174.59;

SEMIFINALS -- Schumacher, 4.225, 243.85 def. Will, 4.476, 220.30; Herbert, 3.908, 303.09 def. Bernstein, 3.895, 304.05;

FINAL -- Schumacher, 3.880, 309.91 def. Herbert, 3.979, 295.85.

Sunday's final results from the 21st annual O'Reilly Mid-South
Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Memphis Motorsports Park.  The  race
is the 21st of 24 in the  NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Tony Schumacher, 3.880 seconds, 309.91 mph  def. Doug Herbert, 3.979 seconds, 295.85 mph.

First-round pairings for professional eliminations Sunday for the
21st annual O'Reilly Mid-South Nationals presented by Pennzoil at
Memphis Motorsports Park, the 21st 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. Brandon Bernstein, 3.825 seconds, 313.88 mph  vs. 16. Pat Dakin, 4.069, 294.05; 2. Hillary Will, 3.826, 313.66 
vs. 15. Morgan Lucas, 4.001, 298.93; 3. Doug Kalitta, 3.838, 311.20 
vs. 14. T.J. Zizzo, 3.972, 300.66; 4. David Grubnic, 3.848, 311.13  vs.
13. J.R. Todd, 3.968, 305.70; 5. Doug Herbert, 3.853, 311.49  vs. 12.
Clay Millican, 3.911, 307.58; 6. Tony Schumacher, 3.859, 310.84  vs.
11. Rod Fuller, 3.909, 300.53; 7. Bob Vandergriff, 3.861, 312.13 vs.
10. Cory McClenathan, 3.873, 310.13; 8. Larry Dixon, 3.865, 308.50  vs.
9. Antron Brown, 3.871, 310.05.

Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Chip Ellis pretty much blew the argument for Steve Johnson.

Johnson ranted for about 5 minutes following his NHRA Carolinas
Nationals victory about how the Suzuki’s couldn’t qualify with the
Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidsons and Buells.

Ellis ran a 6.910 elapsed time at 191.10 miles per hour in Saturday’s
first session on his Suzuki during the NHRA Mid South Nationals in
Memphis, Tenn. He was over .05 quicker than the quickest non-Suzuki
racer.

So much for that argument.