After five hours of successful surgery to repair the severe leg injury
suffered Sunday at the Rocky Mountain Nationals in Edmonton, two-time
defending IHRA Nitro Funny Car World Champion Dale Creasy Jr. is
recovering at Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. Creasy’s lower left
leg was severely injured during his semifinal match-up when his
transmission failed.

“The transmission was spinning,” Creasy said. “Something broke and it locked up. There was nothing I could do.”

From the outside it looked like all the elements were there. Most were.

Doug Herbert needed the victory he attained in Norwalk for more than just championship aspirations. (Roger Richards)

Doug Herbert and his SnaponFranchise.com Top Fuel dragster team lined
up for photos, smiles wide and arms raised in a victory salute that
never gets stale. That happiness wasn’t faked. Herbert had just broken
a 10-month winless spell and with the win in Norwalk gave himself some
breathing room with a 131-point cushion between his eighth-place
current seed and Morgan Lucas, who sits in the No. 11 spot currently
and is 32 points outside the cut for the Countdown to the Championship
playoffs.

Herbert’s 10-year-old daughter Jessie had never before been to the
winner’s circle with her father and without a doubt, this one was cause
to celebrate. This title at Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park,
already a somber event due to the death of Funny Car driver Scott
Kalitta just one week before, was the first Herbert had won since his
own sons died in an auto accident near their home in January. After
their deaths, Herbert, determined to win for his sons, named his 2008
NHRA POWERade Series world championship title quest the “For My Boys”
tour.

In a recent interview with CompetitionPlus.com, General Motors
motorsports icon Fred Simmonds said he's sure the newest version of the
Camaro may see action in Pro Stock one day but not likely in 2009.

CompetitionPlus.com's
rendering artist Greg Russell has fired off an
artist conception of the new 2009 Camaro Pro Stocker might look like.
The popular
artist, who owns and operates the successful Greg Russell Designs, has
a fondness for the Kurt Johnson Pro Stockers and especially loves this
particular scheme.

Two-time IHRA Funny Car champion Dale Creasy underwent five hours of
surgery on Monday at Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, Alb., for
injuries sustained to his legs in a drive line explosion during the
IHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals.

The accident happened during the semi-finals of the Edmonton-based event.

The 52nd annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, the seventh
of 10 events on the 2008 JEGS ProMod Challenge, will mark the 75th race
in series history. And with every single competitor still very much
alive in this year's championship chase, the fight to win drag racing's
biggest and most prestigious prize should be at an all-time high.

Tony Pontieri has been in control of the class for the last three
races, dating back to May 4, despite the fact he's never won an NHRA
national event. The Ontario, Canada-based professional has come close
on two occasions this year, driving Rob Sporring's Quality Plus
Compressors '57 Chevy Bel Air to runner-up honors in Houston and St.
Louis. It's been Pontieri's consistency that's been the difference as
he remains the only driver with no DNQs or first-round losses.

"We've had our ducks in a row and we need to keep it together moving
forward," Pontieri said. "We can't afford any failures or mistakes
because my favorite friend Joshua (Hernandez) is coming at us. He's
missed a race and yet he's right there.

The cost of nitromethane
is on the rise again for those purchasing through the official supplier of the
NHRA.

CompetitionPlus.com has
confirmed with VP Race Fuels the price will increase in time for this weekend’s
NHRA Mopar Mile High Nationals in Denver, Co.

Point standings (top 10) for IHRA professional categories following
the CARS RV & Marine & Motorsports Rocky Mountain Nationals
presented by TORCO Racing Fuels at Castrol Raceway, the fifth of 10
events in the  2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series -

Top Fuel

1.  Bruce Litton, 438; 2.  Spencer Massey, 405; 3.  Bobby Lagana Jr.,
371; 4.  Mike Strasburg, 369; 5.  Kevin Jones, 303; 6.  Terry McMillen,
256; 7.  Scott Palmer, 222; 8.  Chris Karamesines, 108; 9.  Tim
Boychuk, 74; 10.  Michael Gunderson, 50.

Final round-by-round results from the CARS RV & Marine &
Motorsports Rocky Mountain Nationals presented by TORCO Racing Fuels at
Castrol Raceway, the fifth of 10 events in the  2008 Knoll-Gas Nitro
Jam Drag Racing Series:

TOP FUEL:

 ROUND ONE -- Mike Strasburg, 5.551, 224.85 def. Mitch King, 8.534,
84.69; Tim Boychuk, 5.082, 262.33 def. Terry McMillen, 11.225, 83.70;
Bobby Lagana Jr., 4.990, 268.38 def. Bruce Litton, 5.051, 298.34; Kevin
Jones, 5.194, 252.99 def. Spencer Massey, 5.252, 270.05;

SEMIFINALS -- Lagana Jr., 8.018, 93.27 def. Strasburg, 17.996, 77.77; Jones, 4.797, 298.21 def. Boychuk, 4.982, 286.86; 

FINAL -- Jones, 5.271, 280.84 def. Lagana Jr., 6.301, 182.90.

Gary Scelzi credits the NHRA for making the right move in racing 1,000 feet. (Jon Asher Photo)

Gary Scelzi has no problem
with racing 1,000 feet. In fact, the 4-time NHRA nitro world champion lauds the
NHRA for the immediate steps it has taken to help improve the safety in a sport
where Funny Car speeds have exceeded 330 mph in recent years. 

"I'm very proud to
see that NHRA has taken immediate action starting at Denver (to shorten the
track from 1320 ft. to 1000 ft. for the nitro cars)," said Scelzi, who is
No. 12 in the Funny Car point standings, just 54 points short of the top 10.
"I don't know what their reaction is going to be for Seattle and Sonoma
(the two events immediately following the Mopar Mile-High Nationals outside of
Denver this weekend), but I think we should all band together and applaud the
NHRA for trying to make things safer.

Tony Pedregon proved his worth as a racer a long time ago.  When he’s
outside the seat of his Q Horsepower Chevy Impala Funny Car he
continues to prove his worth as a man on a daily basis.  After winning
the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals in Ohio last weekend he offered
up a prayer for Scott Kalitta and then, rather than spitting out a list
of sponsors as if by rote, he talked about the need for the racing
community to heal itself following that tragedy.  Still later,
addressing the fans gathered in the Summit Motorsports Park staging
lanes for the winner’s celebration, he exhorted the parents present to
spend time with their kids, because they’re what really counts in life.

This is not the same Tony Pedregon who raced for, and won his first
championship with John Force.  He’s clearly his own man these days, and
as such remains outspoken about the issues that he believes are
critical to the sport’s success.

Almost a month ago, on Saturday evening, June 7th, Pedregon was making
a qualifying run during the Route 66 Nationals when his Dickie
Venables-tuned engine had some sort of internal “disagreement” and
burst into flames.  Unable to see clearly through the smoke and fire,
Pedregon unintentionally rode the concrete guardwall until his car came
to a sudden and dramatic stop.  It had hit a heavy steel gate that
members of the finish line work team apparently left open after Bob
Tasca’s car had used it to exit the racing surface after an aborted run.