Bob Pellegrini Photos

The Funny Car final round at the NHRA Fram-Autolite Nationals in
Sonoma, Ca., represented a battle between the teacher and former JFR
driver Gary Densham and the student and successor Robert Hight. As
iconic as
his father-in-law John Force is, Hight pointed out one significant
shortcoming.

Robert Hight was groomed by Gary Densham to be his successor.

“Gary’s the guy that helped me a lot in the beginning because John
Force, as great as he is, is not a good teacher,” Hight admitted. “It’s
hard to learn from him. He’s the best in what he does but he can’t
teach it.”

Hight replaced Densham for the 2005 season and went on to win rookie of the year accolades.

Gatorz Eyewear, maker of high-performance eyewear and fashion
accessories, has been named title rights sponsor for the 2nd annual
Gatorz Ohio Drags Aug. 22-23, at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk,
Ohio. The Gatorz Ohio Drags is the sixth of nine eighth-mile drag
racing events being staged this year by the Flowmaster American Drag
Racing League (ADRL) presented by the National Guard.

“I’m already a Gatorz wearer and can personally attest to what a great
pair of sunglasses they make. It’s not often that you’ll see me at the
track without my Gatorz on, but I think what really proves their worth
is that I wear them constantly between races, too,” ADRL President
Kenny Nowling stated. “So to have Gatorz come on board for what’s going
to be one of our biggest events ever is very exciting.”

Gatorz Eyewear CEO Kerry Lynch said he is impressed by the ADRL’s
unique marketing method of providing complimentary tickets to fans at
each of its national events. He also appreciates the “Made in the
U.S.A.” vibe and heritage of the four-year-old drag racing series.

Despite missing the season's first five races because of sponsorship
challenges, Chevy driver Dave Connolly has muscled his way into the top
10 of the Pro Stock standings on the strength of his second victory of
the season.  

In an all-Chevy Pro Stock final round, Connolly drove his Charter
Communications Chevy Cobalt to a narrow hole shot win over his
teammate, Jeg Coughlin Jr., in the JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt with a winning
elapsed time of 6.628 seconds at 207.69 mph to Coughlin's slightly
quicker 6.627 e.t. at 207.24 mph.  

SCHUMACHER BECOMES SIXTH DRIVER TO WIN WESTERN SWING

Hight, Connolly and Sacramento’s Guidera round out FRAM-Autolite winners

Tony Schumacher became the sixth driver to sweep the Western Swing.

NHRA
Top Fuel ace Tony Schumacher continued his season-long domination by
winning the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals Sunday to sweep of the
three-race Western Swing and win for the eighth time in 15 races
overall.

He became the fourth Top Fuel driver (Larry Dixon in 2003 and Cory
McClenathan in 1997 and Joe Amato in 1991) and the sixth driver overall
(PS Greg Anderson in 2003, FC John Force in 1994) to sweep the Western
Swing, the grueling stretch of three-races-in-three-weeks through
Denver, Seattle and Sonoma.

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following the
21st annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, the 15th
of 24 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1. Tony Schumacher, 1,414; 2. Antron Brown, 1,018; 3. Larry Dixon, 953;
4. Rod Fuller, 905; 5. Cory McClenathan, 891; 6. Brandon Bernstein,
890; 7. Hillary Will, 843; 8. Doug Herbert, 773; 9. David Grubnic, 651;
10. Doug Kalitta, 629.

Sunday's final results from the 21st annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA
Nationals at Infineon Raceway. The race is the 15th of 24 in the NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Tony Schumacher, 3.886 seconds, 307.93 mph def. Hillary Will, 3.988 seconds, 306.19 mph.

Final round-by-round results from the 21st annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA
Nationals at Infineon Raceway, the 15th of 24 events in the NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

ROUND ONE -- Larry Dixon, 4.251, 243.99 def. Bob Vandergriff,
4.660, 250.60; Steve Torrence, 3.871, 309.77 def. Troy Buff, 8.144,
87.98; Rod Fuller, 3.868, 313.07 def. Morgan Lucas, 5.988, 131.73;
Antron Brown, 3.887, 313.44 def. Steven Chrisman, 4.273, 276.13; Tony
Schumacher, 3.865, 312.42 def. Doug Kalitta, 4.299, 284.99; Brandon
Bernstein, 3.862, 314.09 def. J.R. Todd, 6.448, 99.41; Hillary Will,
3.885, 310.77 def. David Grubnic, 5.050, 144.97; Cory McClenathan,
3.869, 312.42 def. Doug Herbert, foul;

QUARTERFINALS --
Brown, 4.428, 233.32 def. Dixon, 9.686, 80.19; Will, 4.479, 223.25 def.
McClenathan, 4.957, 165.29; Schumacher, 3.921, 292.77 def. Fuller,
4.500, 189.92; Torrence, 3.867, 306.19 def. Bernstein, 3.952, 286.56;

SEMIFINALS -- Will, 4.011, 299.73 def. Brown, 4.042, 246.03; Schumacher, 3.944, 300.86 def. Torrence, 3.909, 306.33;

FINAL -- Schumacher, 3.886, 307.93 def. Will, 3.988, 306.19.

Gary Densham is quick to point out the line defining the “haves” and
the “have nots” is becoming clearer with each race and

"It scares me that this entire sport may end up being owned by three or four people."

each increase in
operating costs.

“Obviously guys like John Force will put big wads of money in their
wallets because they can’t burn it in testing,” said Densham, speaking
on how the latest increase in nitro pricing will affect the teams.
“They’re going to forego 150 testing runs a year, that’s more than
going to offset the cost of diesel. It’s not just myself complaining.
There are plenty of teams out here last year who thought that they had
a pretty good budget for 2008. They calculated the cost of what it
would be to make their runs in 23 races and now you add one more race
and the diesel increase and you’re looking at a quarter million dollar
increase for these people to do more than they had to do last year.

Tony Bartone failed to qualify just one race after winning his first-ever professional national event.

One race after winning his first NHRA POWERade Funny Car national
event, Tony Bartone learned you’re only as good as your last national
event victory. He was the only non-qualifier this weekend in either
nitro category.

That’s okay for Bartone, as he spent much of the week prior enjoying
the spoils of his victory. He relaxed quite a bit, and admitted he’s
grown fond of his first professionally-earned trophy.

The 2008 season, as evidenced by his Sonoma shortcoming has been one of feast or famine.

At the 21^st annual FRAM Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway,
Ashley Force’s 4.096 second qualifying run on Friday held up to capture her
first career No. 1 qualifying position and hand Pauline Hann of Vacaville,
Calif., a new Whirlpool washer and dryer as part of the BrandSource “Win with
Force” promotion. At sixteen select events during the 2008 POWERade Drag Racing
Series when any one of the four John Force Racing Funny Cars qualifies No 1 at
the event one lucky winner wins a Whirlpool washer and dryer set.