Bruton Smith’s battles with the neighboring homes around his ZMAX
Dragway in Concord created quite the uproar in the local media earlier
in the year. Homeowners lamented the high decibels of the unmuffled
race cars would drive down property values in the area.

Smith felt vindicated after first day qualifying at the NHRA Carolinas Nationals.

He told a story of two local stations, neither of which he identified,
performed decibel tests in order to measure the noise emitting from the
facility.

In the oddest triple play combination, Humphreys ended up with Warren Johnson horsepower through an introduction by Roy Hill and goading from Bob Glidden. Both were at one time fierce WJ rivals.

The one common denominator is that all, to this day, carry a huge amount of mutual respect for each other.

“We had it planned to run 2009 with WJ, but since we were already out
of the Countdown, we decided to go ahead and convert over from Mopar
back to GM," said Humphreys.

SCHUMACHER TAKES ALL-TIME WINS RECORD IN TOP FUEL WITH VICTORY AT NHRA CAROLINAS NATIONALS

Beckman, Humphreys and Johnson also earn victories at first NHRA drag race at zMax Dragway

Tony
Schumacher became the NHRA all-time Top Fuel wins leader Sunday at the
inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway by racing to his
53rd career victory and moving past NHRA legend and longtime record
holder Joe Amato.

Jack Beckman, Justin Humphreys and Steve Johnson also were winners in
their respective categories at the first of six races in the NHRA
POWERade Series Countdown to 1, NHRA’s playoffs.

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following
the Inaugural NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway, the 19th of 24
events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, and the first of six
races in the Countdown to 1, NHRA's playoffs -

Top Fuel

1. Tony Schumacher, 2,202; 2. Antron Brown, 2,156; 3. Cory McClenathan,
2,117; 4. Larry Dixon, 2,108; 5. Hillary Will, 2,085; 6. Rod Fuller,
2,082; 7. Doug Herbert, 2,054; 8. Brandon Bernstein, 2,053; 9. Doug
Kalitta, 2,024; 10. David Grubnic, 2,013.

Final round-by-round results from the Inaugural NHRA Carolinas
Nationals at zMax Dragway, the 19th of 24 events in the NHRA POWERade
Drag Racing Series, and the first of six races in the Countdown to 1,
NHRA's playoffs:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Tony Schumacher, 3.873, 315.93 def. David Grubnic,
4.423, 291.57; J.R. Todd, 4.335, 236.55 def. Brandon Bernstein, 4.366,
231.83; Doug Herbert, 3.930, 314.39 def. Morgan Lucas, 5.251, 147.07;
Antron Brown, 3.915, 302.28 def. Troy Buff, 5.903, 109.73; Cory
McClenathan, 3.877, 314.24 def. Clay Millican, 4.032, 308.28; Hillary
Will, 3.945, 310.55 def. Bob Vandergriff, 4.054, 289.88; Rod Fuller,
3.942, 308.35 def. Doug Kalitta, 3.965, 307.58; Larry Dixon, 3.887,
307.93 def. Doug Foley, 3.863, 313.58;

QUARTERFINALS -- Will, 3.944, 311.20 def. Herbert, 3.974,
303.91; Brown, 4.071, 274.00 def. Fuller, 10.057, 70.68; McClenathan,
3.882, 314.53 def. Todd, 8.013, 98.66; Schumacher, 3.915, 308.71 def.
Dixon, 4.262, 256.21;

SEMIFINALS -- Schumacher, 3.909, 307.72 def. Will, 9.666, 77.39; Brown, 4.243, 247.43 def. McClenathan, 4.258, 246.03;

FINAL -- Schumacher, 3.882, 317.64 def. Brown, 3.923, 309.42.

Sunday's final results from the Inaugural NHRA Carolinas
Nationals at zMax Dragway. The race is the 19th of 24 in the NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series, and the first of six races in the
Countdown to 1, NHRA's playoffs:

Top Fuel -- Tony Schumacher, 3.882 seconds, 317.64 mph def. Antron Brown, 3.923 seconds, 309.42 mph..

John Force just wanted to talk and he commandeered an audience who just wanted to listen.

John
Force had an up and down weekend in Charlotte. On Friday, he saw the
John Force Grandstands. The next day he failed to qualify. On top of
that, Sunday's tickets are sold out and he can't get a seat in his
grandstands.

For the first time since 1979, Force has failed to qualify in back-to-back races.

A dejected Force talked to the media about the shortcoming on Saturday
afternoon following the final qualifying session at the NHRA Carolinas
Nationals in Concord, N.C..

“This is hard for me,” Force admitted.

A capacity crowd estimated at up to 30,000 witnessed the stars
of the American Drag Racing League (ADRL) go after a $100,000 purse
Sep. 13, in the ADRL’s Dragstock V at Rockingham Dragway.

Current
ADRL Pro Extreme world champion Jason Scruggs (left) and 2006 class
champ and eventual Dragstock V winner Bubba Stanton paired up in round
two of qualifying at Rockingham Dragway. The owners of the two race
teams were each offered a bounty of $10,000 if their cars posted
side-by-side, 200-plus-mph passes. They came up just a little short,
though, with Scruggs going 3.86 at 199.40 in his 2007 Dodge Stratus,
while Stanton and his 1963 Corvette earned the pole position with his
pass of 3.81 seconds at 197.33 mph.

Former Pro Extreme
class champion Bubba Stanton of Potts Camp, MS, steered his
supercharged 1963 Corvette to a final-round, 3.81-second pass at 197.02
miles per hour over the Rockingham eighth mile to beat Semora, NC’s
Chip King. Reigning class champ Jason Scruggs lost in the semi-finals,
but not before thrilling the fans with a pair of 200-plus mph passes in
the preliminary rounds.

Lend America’s Mike Ashley steps up with major sponsorship of this event …

For a doorslammer aficionado, Englishtown Raceway Park’s Shakedown at E-town has proven to be an incredible event.

The event has gotten even greater with an expansion to two days and an
incredible influx of sponsorship from Englishtown’s favorite son and
iconic Pro Modified driver Mike Ashley. His Lend America mortgage
banking firm has stepped up with primary sponsorship for the Pro Mod
Blown division. This represents one of the largest paydays for an
independent Pro Modified event.

“Pro Modified is at its strongest,” promoter Dave Hance said. “This
event promises to showcase the finest Pro Modified has to offer. When
you combine the talent we expect and the October air, not to mention
the great racing surface, you have all the makings for a historic
weekend of doorslammer racing.”

Texas Motorplex racers and fans need
not fret about Hurricane Ike ruining any plans for the O'Reilly Super
Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals Sept. 18-21  featuring the quickest
and fastest form of motorsport.

The 23rd annual event will
likely see some of the best weather of the late summer season –
something Texas Motorplex owner Billy Meyer couldn't be happier about.

"Hurricane
Ike is going east of Ennis and we're getting as little two inches of
precipitation. The forecast starting Sunday is going to be the nicest
weather we've had all year," Meyer said. "So far we have not heard
about any casualties from Hurricane Ike and our thoughts and prayers go
out in hopes that it stays that way. Ike could have been much worse and
we're just happy that it is less forceful than originally forecast.

"NHRA will be able to put on a great show and we are thankful Mother Nature isn't forcing us to make a schedule change."