High winds forced the postponement of final eliminations for the second annual
JEGS NHRA Pacific SPORTSnationals yesterday at Auto Club Raceway at Fontana, but
not before champions were declared in Super Stock, Stock, and Super Street.   
One of the champions crowned on Sunday is Justin Lamb of Henderson,
Nev., who defeated Darren Smith of Palmdale, Calif., in the Super Stock final.
Lamb, who won the Top Dragster title at last year’s Pacific SPORTSnationals
drove his Chevy Cobalt to a final round victory over Smith’s ’68 Dodge Dart.
Despite the loss, Smith was able regain the lead in the ongoing battle for the
Super Stock national championship.

Gary Scelzi had a tough Saturday night before Sunday's eliminations at the NHRA Torco Race Fuels NHRA Nationals.

 
And, the complexity of the evening was not really his fault.
 

Blame it on the television. 
 
Scelzi went back to the hotel about 9
PM and was planning to call his family. Then he decided to shower because he
felt it would help him to sleep better.
 
Scelzi made the call and then
watched television before falling asleep at 9:30.
 
Scelzi said he woke
up at 10:30, then watched 11:30 pass and eventually turned off the television
well past midnight. He kept watching the clock and before he knew it, 3:30 AM
had come and gone.
 
“I fell really good and asleep and the alarm went
off about two hours later,” Scelzi said. “I woke up and I felt a little under
the weather. I was starting to get a cold and my nose was running. I took a
shower and then took two benedryls.”
 
Scelzi called his wife this
morning and explained to her that he couldn’t figure out why he was tired and
couldn’t get going – totally ignoring the fact he’d been up all night.
 

“I don’t normally take anything on race day and then it hit me,” Scelzi
said. “I said, ‘You dumb ass – you’re falling asleep and now you’re going to be
sleepy come first round.”

It was an early birthday present for BAE/Stivers HVAC-driver Rick Stivers as he
won the AMS Pro Mod Challenge event title at the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA
Nationals in Richmond, Va.
 
As Stivers’ son, Rick Jr., and wife, Jill,
raced to congratulate the newly crowned event champion, tears of joy flowed as
the family celebrated the win. Stivers defeated Raymond Commisso in the final,
with Commisso handing Stivers the win before the round even started by leaving
the line early and forfeiting the match.
 
"It's been a long road getting
here and no one knows how hard we've worked and what we have been through to get
here," Stivers said. "What an awesome thing - I'm almost speechless, which, for
anyone who knows me, is nothing short of a miracle in itself.
 
"Chuck
Ford really got this car running well this weekend. It's been such a long
season, and we just couldn't buy a break, but, today it all came together, and
thanks to Tim Tindle and Brad Anderson, we finally earned our Eagle," he
said.
 
Stivers, who turns 50 this coming Thursday, October 11, was given
a surprise birthday party Saturday night by his family and team. His wife Jill
said, "Hey, what better way to celebrate than to start the party early," and her
husband said he couldn't have asked for a better gift than to win his first
major event.

Dave Connolly might not do
windows in his regimen of housecleaning chores, but he certainly knows how to
sweep things up.

The former sportsman drag
racing phenomenon piloted Evan Knoll’s Torco Race Fuels-sponsored Chevrolet
Cobalt to a clean sweep in the five-race second portion of the Countdown to the
Championship. He joined elite company with Ronnie Sox, Bob Glidden and Greg
Anderson as Pro Stock drivers who have won five races in a row.

"It was definitely a big weekend for us, and on top of all
the streaks, it was our sponsor's race, Torco Racing Fuels," Connolly
said.  "(Owner) Evan Knoll, not only does he help a lot of the racers
out here, he also sponsors a national event like this.  And it was a
successful one at that just looking up in the stands.  It seems like here
at Richmond the
fans are always jam-packed in the stands and they're real drag racing fans,
especially for the Pro Stock category. 

"To pick up our fifth win and be put in a group with those guys, it's
pretty incredible.  It's something I never would've dreamed of.  I
just wanted to race Pro Stock, and here we are getting put on a list with guys
like that.  It was definitely a big win for us and things are just
clicking right now.  It was nice to sweep all four races in the first part
of the Countdown to the Championship, but there are still two races left and that's
our main goal right now.  This team keeps plugging away, though. 
Even before this race weekend we went to Maryland
for two days to test.  Now we've got a long stretch of tests scheduled
before we even hit Vegas, so the work's definitely not done.

SCELZI, CAPPS BUMP TEAMMATE BECKMAN ON DRAMATIC FINAL DAY OF THE COUNTDOWN TO 4

Kalitta wins first race of 2007; Connolly wins fifth in a row, enters Countdown to 1 as No. 1 seed in Pro Stock

Four-time POWERade Series champion Gary Scelzi punctuated a dramatic
final Sunday in the Countdown to 4, the first round of the NHRA
Playoffs, with a huge victory at the Second annual Torco Racing Fuels
NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park to claim one of the four
berths in the two-race championship.

Scelzi jumped from sixth to second place with the win over teammate Ron
Capps in the Funny Car final and he was joined in the winner's circle
by Top Fuel's Doug Kalitta and Pro Stock's Dave Donnolly, who swept his
way through the first round of the NHRA Playoffs with four straight
wins to earn the No. 1 seed in Pro Stock's Countdown to 1.

"Things are just clicking for us right now," said Connolly, who has won
five straight races overall. "It was nice to sweep the first leg of the
Countdown but we have two races left (in Las Vegas and Pomona) so
that's what we're concentrating on. This team will be ready. We tested
for two days before this race and we have a long testing schedule to
complete before we head to Vegas. The work is definitely not done."

Connolly's incredible winning streak in Pro Stock has now reached five
races, which ties him for the second longest run in class history
behind Bob Glidden's nine-in-a-row back in 1978-'79. Greg Anderson also
won five straight in 2004, as did Ronnie Sox in '70-'71.

Point standings following the Second annual Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals at
Virginia Motorprorts Park, the fourth and final race in the Countdown to 1, the
first round of the NHRA Playoffs. The top four drivers advance to the Countdown
to 1, the two-race championship round.

Sunday's final results from the Second annual Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals
at Virginia Motorprorts Park. The race is the 21st of 23 in the NHRA POWERade
Drag Racing Series:

Final round-by-round results from the Second annual Torco Racing Fuels NHRA
Nationals at Virginia Motorprorts Park, the 21st of 23 events in the NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing Series:

Shelly Payne crashed during the second round of AMS Pro Modified eliminations during the Torco Race Fuels NHRA Nationals in Richmond, Va. Opponent Tim Tindle aborted his run early and that very well prevented a two-car crash. Payne was walking around after the accident but later admitted to a local hospital for observation. She is expected to be released today according to a crew member on the team.

Torco's CompetitionPlus.com is on hand for this weekend's NMRA World Finals - Bowling Green, Kentucky

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