Reigning POWERade Pro Stock champion Jeg Coughlin Jr. has an
enviable race day record of 355-165, one of the best winning
percentages ever. So when the 52-time national event winner gives away
a race by fouling out at the starting line, like he did Sunday at the
O'Reilly Spring NHRA Nationals, it's noteworthy.

For just the
ninth time in his career, Coughlin left before the green light came on,
negating a sure quarterfinal win over a broken Allen Johnson that would
have kept him in the points lead. Instead, Coughlin left Houston Raceway Park
three points behind eventual race winner Greg Anderson, who held the
points lead after the first two races of the season before Coughlin
took it away with his win in Gainesville, Fla.

Number 2 qualifier Tony Bartone and the Canidae Pet Foods
Funny Car team will have to wait until Las Vegas for a chance to
improve on this weekend’s impressive performance after smoking the
tires and losing traction at the start of their semifinal heat against
Ashley Force Sunday and handing over the race.

“All in all, we
are very happy with this weekend’s runs but everyone on the team can’t
help feeling a little let down after that one,” said Bartone.  “I think
we were a bit overheated going into the race against Ashley and that’s
what knocked us out. A tip of the hat though to Jim, Jon and the crew. 
What a great job they did. The fact that they were able get us here in
time and ready for Houston after the Gainesville thrashing of the car is a victory in itself,” added Bartone.

Four-time NHRA world champion Gary Scelzi faced a tough
match-up in Sunday's opening round of eliminations at the NHRA Spring
Nationals. As the No. 16 qualifier in the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger
R/T he was forced to meet up with the No. 1 qualifier Cruz Pedregon.

In
a brand-new Brad Hadman chassis under the Mopar/Oakley Dodge body,
Scelzi drove up to the starting lights with confidence and bluster, but
expectations fell short as he lost traction at the hit of the throttle,
slowing him to a 13.823-second run at 72.29 mph, while Pedregon pulled
out a 4.937/304.74 pass to win the round.

John Force had a chance to race daughter Ashley and
make it an all Force family final round but his Castrol GTX High Mileage
Ford Mustang was vanquished by Worsham in the semi-final round.

“Worsham is a hell of a racer. He was way overdue and hungry. He had
a car that was just fast. A lot of these cars have been carrying this
weight since last year. They have more runs on them tan us but we’ll
learn,” said winningest driver in Funny Car history.

FX Caprara Kia-sponsored Top Fuel driver Doug Foley's dream of
winning the 21st annual O'Reilly Spring NHRA Nationals disappeared in
13-thousandths of a second when he came out on the short end of the
closest drag race of Sunday's opening round of eliminations at Houston Raceway Park.

The
almost imperceptible amount of time was all if took for rookie Antron
Brown to edge past Foley, as he won with a 4.591 at 322.27 mph to
Foley's 4.606 at 320.13 mph. It was Brown's best quarter-mile effort of
the entire weekend.

"It was a good race. I thought we had won,"
Foley said. "I didn't see him at all and I was starting to celebrate
until I made the turn and they guided me away from the ESPN cameras. My
congratulations to that team; they did what they had to do to beat us.
The race could have gone either way and this time it went his way."

One of drag racing’s top parts manufacturers is returning to the Pro
Modified Racing Association for 2008 as a special award sponsor.
 
Bear's Performance Products will be the posting Consistent Qualifier Bonus award at each PMRA event.
 
“The PMRA has proven to be an elite series and the teams are very
competitive, both in Canada and the US,” said Kevin Zimmer, Marketing
Manager of Bear's Performance Products. “They put on a great show and
have a solid organization. We are looking forward to another great year
with the PMRA."

Joe Baker won his
second JEGS ProMod Challenge race of the season Sunday at Houston Raceway Park
to maintain a firm grip on the JEGS championship points lead after two of 10
races on the 2008 schedule.

Driving the ProCare Rx Corvette borrowed from
fellow racer Roger Burgess, Baker repeated his unlikely Florida victory with a
much more dominant performance in Texas. He had the quickest elapsed time of all
three elimination rounds run on Sunday, including a pair of 5.9s in the
quarterfinals and semifinals, and dismissed Tony Pontieri in the finals with a
6.022 at 239.19 mph to Pontieri's 6.048 at 237.42 mph.

Roger Richards Photos

Del Worsham, Greg Anderson and Matt Smith round out winner's circle

Antron Brown became the first to win in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Antron
Brown capped off an historic Sunday afternoon at the 21st annual
O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil when he powered
his Matco Tools dragster past Larry Dixon U.S. Smokeless dragster to
become the first driver in NHRA history to win races in Pro Stock
Motorcycle and Top Fuel.

He followed Del Worsham (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Matt
Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) into the winner’s circle at the fourth of
24 races in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series.

Sunday's final results from the 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring
Nationals presented by Pennzoil at Houston Raceway Park. The race is
the fourth of 24 in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series:

Top Fuel -- Antron Brown, 4.605 seconds, 320.28 mph def. Larry Dixon, 4.621 seconds, 309.06 mph.

Point standings (top 10) for NHRA professional categories following
the 21st annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals presented by Pennzoil at
Houston Raceway Park, the fourth of 24 events in the NHRA POWERade Drag
Racing Series