1. Taming Talladega
Talladega Superspeedway, the biggest wild card in NASCAR Sprint Cup’s Chase for the Championship, is up next. The AMP Energy 500 is 2 p.m. Sunday on ABC. This is sure to be an exciting race! With “the big one” looming over the Chase Drivers. This race can change everything in the Chase for the Championship!

2. Funny Car fever
The fourth annual Funny Car Nationals returns to U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin on Saturday. Gates open at 9 a.m., followed by time trials at 10 a.m. and racing at 5 p.m.

3. The race is back on
Ron Hornaday has almost caught up to Johnny Benson Jr. with six NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races to go. Benson has a one-point lead heading into Saturday’s 4 p.m. race at Talladega on the Speed Channel.

4. Stock car sizzle
Kalamazoo Speedway hosts the 22nd annual Super Shoe Nationals, with more than 250 cars. Time trials are 7 p.m. Friday, and racing is at 5 p.m. Saturday and 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

5. Bus bash
They’re not aerodynamically sound, but children love them. Bus racing returns to Berlin Raceway at 6 p.m. Saturday with school bus racing.

by Steve Kaminski | The Grand Rapids Press

Associated Press - June 21, 2008 6:53 PM ET

ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. (AP) - Scott Kalitta died Saturday when his Funny Car crashed and burst into flames during qualifying for the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.

State police confirmed that the 46-year-old Kalitta, a 2-time Top Fuel champion who had 18 career victories, was killed in the accident.

Witnesses told The Star-Ledger of Newark that Kalitta’s Toyota Solara was traveling at an estimated speed of 300 mph when the crash occurred.

The Palmetto, Fla., resident started his career at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in 1982. His father, Connie Kalitta, was a longtime driver and team owner known as “The Bounty Hunter,” and his cousin, Doug Kalitta, also drives competitively.

Gender no issue, unlike other series

Ashley Force and Melanie Troxel battle for Funny Car titles. Hillary Will competes in Top Fuel. Angelle Sampey and Karen Stoffer race Pro Stock motorcycles.

And no one cares that they are women.

In a motorsports year in which so much has been made of Danica Patrick’s victory in IndyCar and a discrimination lawsuit in NASCAR, racers in the National Hot Rod Association can’t help but look around and ask: You’re just discovering women now?

Women have been a part of NHRA since Shirley Muldowney burst onto the scene in the 1960s.

“We’re lucky to be in a sport that is open to having us there,” Force said. “Our competitors are happy to have us there.”

Well, maybe not.

When the NHRA makes its annual stop in New Jersey this weekend with the Lucas Oil SuperNationals in Englishtown, these women will not only compete, they may very well win — something they have been doing with regularity all summer.

Consider:

• On April 27, Force became the first woman to capture a Funny Car event when she triumphed at Atlanta Dragway — beating her 14-time champion father in doing so.
• On May 18, Troxel won a Funny Car title in Bristol, Tenn., making her the first woman to triumph in Top Fuel and Funny Car.
• On May 18, Troxel won a Funny Car title in Bristol, Tenn., making her the first woman to triumph in Top Fuel and Funny Car.
• On June 1, Will won the Top Fuel event in Topeka, Kan
• On Jun 8, Troxel became the first woman to earn the No. 1 qualifying spot in a FunnyCar event.

Impressive? Not to Troxel.

“I think there are a lot of capable women out there in race cars,” she said. “I don’t think it should be any big surprise, because all of the pieces of the puzzle are there to make it happen.”

Muldowney was a superstar, a Hall of Famer named the fifth-best driver in NHRA history in 2000 who legitimized women in the sport.

“We went from token to smokin’,” she said recently.

She won 18 career races in Top Fuel and was a three-time series champ, though she wasn’t the same after a horrific crash in 1984 — which became the basis of a movie about her life, “Heart Like a Wheel.”

Her successes paved the way for other women, who have been regulars in the sport for decades — and not just in Top Fuel and Funny Car, the top two classes in the NHRA.

Sampey broke barriers in the Pro Stock Motorcycle class, in which she won three consecutive series championships in 2000-02. And her 41 victories are the most triumphs by any woman in any class in NHRA.

“I’ve never thought of it as a matter of whether women could do this but whether they wanted to,” she said. “I don’t find it extraordinary.”

It’s actually quite ordinary. Will became the eighth woman in NHRA history to capture a Top Fuel event. And she credits Muldowney and others not so much for showing that women can win but for showing her the sport existed.

“I’m thankful that there have been women racers before me who paved the way,” she said. “Maybe that’s a big reason my dad even brought me to the racetrack in the first place, because he saw there were women succeeding in motorsports.”

The women of NHRA do their best to downplay their gender.

“The female aspect of it isn’t really that important to me,” Troxel said. “I understand it’s noteworthy, and I don’t have a problem with it, but … I’m not trying to measure up to the other females in the spot — I’m trying to measure up to everybody out there.”

The men of NHRA, however, are quick to emphasize it.

John Force, who starred with his daughter on the A&E reality show “Driving Force,” thinks women are key to drag-racing’s survival in today’s tug of war for the entertainment dollar.

“Women winning is a big positive for all sports,” he said. “We got to be creative, because the world is in a crunch. We’ve got to find new ways to sell the sponsors. And the females are making that possible.”

Force said his daughter’s success helps female fans “create their own heroes.” And that, he says, “brings corporate America.”

Of course, Force is not just proud of his daughter’s ability to make money.

“(She’s) proved that she can hold her own in a man’s sport,” he said. “And look at the other girls out there in all the other categories.”

The next step, Force said, is motorsports’ highest level: NASCAR.

“They’re going to come there, too,” he said, “and there ain’t nothin’ you can do about it.”

BY SUSAN WADE
For the Star-Ledger

The two exchanged heated words at the Coca-Cola 600.

1 NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series races at Dover (Del.) International Speedway on Sunday, and it remains to be seen whether Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon have put their recent mini-feud behind them. Gordon is a four-time winner at Dover, a high-banked, concrete track known as “the Monster Mile” where Martin Truex Jr. is the defending race winner. As Kasey Kahne was celebrating his win at last Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway near Charlotte, Busch and Gordon — who finished third and fourth, respectively — had heated words on pit road about how closely they raced each other. “I guess [Busch] doesn’t like people to race him,” Gordon said. “But I raced him hard tonight just like I did everybody. “He’s got an issue because he gave me the finger,” continued Gordon, a four-time champion. “That’s not necessary for a guy, he just didn’t like racing him the way I did.” When Busch was asked about the exchange, he replied: “That conversation will remain between Jeff and I. Thank you.”

2 Kahne won the race when Tony Stewart, who had a comfortable lead, suffered a flat tire with only three laps left in the 400-lap race. “It’s so hard to take,” Stewart said on his Sirius Satellite Radio show. “It’s such a long day and you go 397 laps and go 595 miles and sit there and have a tire go down and lose a race because of that,” the two-time Cup champion said. “That’s something that makes it real difficult to swallow.”

3 Speaking of frustration, Danica Patrick and the rest of the IndyCar Series heads to the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis., for its next race Sunday. Patrick’s car was knocked out of last weekend’s Indianapolis 500 when she collided with Ryan Briscoe coming out of pit road late in the race. “I’m looking forward to getting back in the car this weekend, especially after last weekend’s disappointing finish,” said Patrick, who this year became the first woman to win an Indy car race. “I have something to prove this weekend.” Meanwhile, the IndyCar Series said it added a race July 26 in Edmonton, in Alberta, Canada, expanding this season’s schedule to 17 races.

4 Drag racing’s Powerade Series is in Topeka, Kan., for this weekend’s O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals, the halfway point of its regular season that leads into its Countdown to the Championship playoff.
Brandon Bernstein and Mike Ashley are the defending winners in top fuel and funny cars, respectively.
Reigning top-fuel champion Tony Schumacher leads the points again this season and Tim Wilkerson tops the standings in funny cars.

5 In local racing Saturday night, late-model stock cars and super trucks head a multi-race program at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale. The Los Angeles Concours d’Elegance, featuring vintage and exotic race cars and passenger vehicles, is Sunday at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Tickets are $30 and proceeds benefit the Assistance League of Southern California.

By Jim Peltz, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 30, 2008

By Ryan McGee
ESPN The Magazine

I was just glancing over our ESPN.com Top 25 Drivers of All Time list, and, going from the bottom up, everything seemed pretty normal. Granted, Don Garlits being ranked behind Shirley Muldowney was a little odd, and I’m not sure where Bobby Allison, Parnelli Jones and Dan Gurney went (I had them all on my ballot).

But, hey, these things happen, right? No harm, no foul.

Then, I got to No. 6 … Richard Petty?

The guy with 200 wins?

The one with the big hat and sunglasses?

The King?

Sixth?

What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is going on here?! Did I miss something? Did the end of the Bible arrive, and I just haven’t found out yet?

Am I on “Punk’d”?

How can someone who had the kind of effect Richard Petty had on his sport — on American sports — be ranked outside the top five? Let’s go over the résumé, shall we? Each of the following is a NASCAR record:

* 200 career wins (David Pearson is second with 105)
* 126 poles (Pearson, 112)
* 61 wins from the pole (Pearson, 37)
* 7 Cup championships (tied with Dale Earnhardt)
* 7 Daytona 500 wins (Cale Yarborough, 4)
* 1,185 starts (Ricky Rudd, 906)

And those records only scratch the surface of what Petty accomplished on the track. The records section of the 2008 Sprint Cup media guide lists what it deems the 18 most impressive individual marks in NASCAR history. Petty owns 12 all by himself and shares two others.

That doesn’t warrant a spot in the top five? What more do you people want?

I called on some of the experts of the racing world to help me with my struggle. To explain to me what I was missing and why His Royal Fastness hadn’t even been invited to the court.

“Well, in some eyes, the longevity hurts him,” said Donald Davidson, historian at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which keeps one of Petty’s No. 43 STP Pontiacs on display despite the fact that he never ran a competitive lap there. “I think a lot of people discount the sheer size of his numbers because he raced for so long, like a baseball player that compiles big statistics simply because he played for a long time.”

RacingOne/Getty Images

Richard Petty has a glamour shot taken before the 1971 Daytona 500. That race was one of seven 500s in which he took home the trophy.

Fair enough, but before you throw out his numbers like he is Charlie Hough, let’s take a look at what kind of quality he included with his quantity. Petty won at least two races per season from 1960 to 1979 and at least one pole every year between ‘60 and ‘77. Between ‘62 and ‘77 — a span of more than 600 starts — his average finish was fifth! His average finish for his entire 35-year career was 11.3, including the final eight winless years.

If nothing else, his longevity adds to the impressiveness of his numbers. He raced against three generations of superstars — from Curtis Turner and Fireball Roberts to Darrell Waltrip and Earnhardt. And he beat them all.

“The schedule was so much different back then,” said Jeff Gordon, who ranks 10th on the ESPN.com list and sixth on NASCAR’s all-time wins list. “They ran 50 races a season and raced two or three times a week. Maybe people think that Richard got some cheap ones in there somewhere.”

Petty’s greatest season — perhaps the greatest season ever compiled by any driver in any series — came in 1967, when he won 27 races, including 10 in a row, and 18 poles. That year, he started 48 of the season’s 49 races (and, oh, by the way, posted an average finish of 2.4).

But the legend of The King was galvanized after NASCAR’s “modern era” began in 1972 and the schedule was slashed to a 30-ish calendar. Four of his seven Cup titles and 56 of his wins came against the same measuring stick we still employ today. And don’t even get me started on the Chase. It’s the only NASCAR points system in which Petty didn’t win a championship. Between 1971 and ‘75, NASCAR employed three scoring systems — and The King won Cups in all three.

“For the record, I’m not one of those people that question any of his records,” Gordon quickly added. “To me, you still have to get behind the wheel and drive that car. Clearly, he did that.”

Thanks for the support, Jeff. At least we gave you a vote.

“I know a lot of people were always jealous of Richard,” said Pearson, Petty’s archrival. “Because they thought maybe he had an unfair advantage all those years with so much money coming from Chrysler.”

I guess some dullards think Pearson’s famous No. 21 ride wasn’t being supported by Ford-Mercury. Or that Hendrick Motorsports gets no help from Chevy, or Roush Fenway never receives a phone call from Ford, or Joe Gibbs Racing never has had a conversation with the folks at Toyota. And perhaps Earnhardt’s GM Goodwrench Chevy never received any technical support from, oh, I dunno … GM?

“Trust me,” Pearson said with a wink. “If you’re winning, you’re getting support from someone.”

So, what’s left? Could it be that Petty’s relationship with the media kept him from compiling enough support to crack the ESPN.com top five? Is he the Jim Rice of NASCAR, doomed to pay the price for his contentious ways with sportswriters and sports fans?

“Do what?!” As John Force reacted to the question, the 14-time NHRA champion nearly blew his sunglasses off his head. “You know who taught me how to deal with fans? Richard Petty. You know who taught me how to deal with the media? Richard Petty. I don’t know a single racer in this country who hasn’t used him as a role model. Hell, I don’t know a single racer in this country who hasn’t asked him for his autograph. And you know he signed it for them, because you know what he told me? ‘Don’t ever say no. No matter how long it takes. Without them, there’s no us.’”

I placed a call to Guinness World Records and asked who holds the record for most autographs signed in the history of Earth. The gentleman I talked to said Guinness doesn’t keep that record but admitted he is a huge NASCAR fan and “though it is impossible to go back and count, the general assumption is that Mr. Petty is indeed likely the holder of the mark.”

“I think Richard set the tone for all of us,” Mario Andretti said. “And he put the pressure on all of us. We have to be as nice as he is.”

So, to recap, over the past 1,000 words, the following drivers have backed The King’s cause: Jeff Gordon, David Pearson, John Force and Mario Andretti. For our last voice of support, we reach out into the afterlife. To the one stock car racer most NASCAR fans point to as the man who always should be ranked ahead of Richard Petty.

In the fall of 1999, I was having lunch with Dale Earnhardt, just a few weeks after his startling spin-and-win Bristol victory against Terry Labonte. Soon the subject turned to ESPN Classic’s documentary series “SportsCentury” and its ranking of the top athletes of the 20th century. The Intimidator was particularly perturbed that no racer had cracked the top 50, while Secretariat, a horse, was ranked 36th.

“If you had to rank the all-time racers,” I asked him, “where would you put yourself?”

“I don’t care where you put me,” he said, adding that he merely wanted to be ranked ahead of Gordon. “But I have to be behind A.J. [Foyt], Mario and Richard. There’s only one King.”

And that King just got robbed.

Ryan McGee, a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine, is the author of “ESPN Ultimate NASCAR: 100 Defining Moments in Stock Car Racing History.” He can be reached at mcgeespn@yahoo.com.

GLENDORA, Calif. (May 20, 2008)
NHRA has announced that Lucas Oil Products will be the title sponsor of the 2008 Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., June 19-22.
Lucas Oil Products has sponsored many events through the years in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Currently, the company sponsors the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn. Along with their sponsorship of the two races Lucas Oil flies its colors on the Top Fuel dragster driven by Morgan Lucas, the Pro Stock car of Larry Morgan and the Pro Stock Motorcycle of Hector Arana.
“NHRA is pleased to have Lucas Oil Products as the title sponsor of the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown,” said Gary Darcy, senior vice president, sales and marketing, NHRA. “We appreciate Lucas Oil’s deep involvement with NHRA racing from the sportsman through the professional ranks. To have them involved with the race in New Jersey is tremendous”
“Lucas Oil is exceptionally proud to announce the sponsorship of the Lucas Oil NHRA SuperNationals,” said Tom Bogner, motorsports manager of Lucas Oil Products, Inc. “Lucas Oil Products, Inc. has an extensive consumer base in the region. We are looking forward to the race and being part of an NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event right in the middle of one of our strongest customer bases.”
Headquartered in Glendora, Calif., NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. It presents 24 events through its NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. NHRA has 80,000 members and 140 member tracks. The NHRA-sanctioned sportsman and bracket racing series provide competition opportunities for drivers of all levels. The NHRA develops the stars of tomorrow by offering the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, NHRA Summit Racing Series and the NHRA Street Legal Drags presented by AAA. NHRA also offers the O’Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League for youth ages 8 to 17.

By Allen Gregory
Sports Writer / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: May 18, 2008

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Melanie Troxel came to Bristol Dragway this weekend searching for her first win of the season. The first-year Funny Car driver left Thunder Valley with a piece of history and a win in the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. With Sunday’s dramatic decision over Mike Neff, Troxel became the first woman to ever post wins in Funny Car and Top Fuel. “We were really focused on just going out there and getting some rounds and getting a race win – we really needed that to happen,” Troxel said.

Troxel won four times in 15 final rounds while competing as a Top Fuel driver, including a pair of victories last season. Sunday, Troxel posted an elapsed-time of 5.066 seconds at 310.27 miles-per-hour, while Neff (6.471, 146.21) was doomed with a blown engine early in his run. It was the second straight final round for Neff.

Among the highlights on the long day, which featured seven rain delays, was the historic battle between Troxel and No. 10 qualifier Ashley Force in the second round. With fans on their feet, Troxel executed a near-flawless pass of 4.820 at 321.73 to edge Force and her 4.863, 314.90. It was the first time two females had ever faced each other in a Funny Car round.

“Everybody wants to make a big story about Ashley and I running against each other,” Troxel said. “For me, it’s not about the other female out here. “I think it’s pretty sad if we have to just compare ourselves against each other. I’m just happy to get a round win [against Force] because they are a tough team.” In the opening round, Troxel (the No. 11 qualifier) posted a very tight win over Tony Pedregon. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Troxel said. “This is the weekend we needed to turn things around. … I think we’re on the right road.”

Meanwhile, in Top Fuel, Tony Schumacher displayed a flair for the dramatic. Just seconds before a heavy rainstorm hit the dragway, the five-time NHRA World Top Fuel champion earned his 400th career round win by defeating Hillary Will. With yet another solid run, Schumacher stopped Larry Dixon in the finals with a pass of 4.555 at 306.81. It was the 15th time that Schumacher has won from the No. 1 qualifying position.
agregory@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2544

Canadian Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It was a matchup NASCAR could only dream of: Melanie Troxel and Ashley Force going head-to-head in the first all-female Funny Car elimination round.
Troxel won the round, made it to the finals and ultimately claimed the title Sunday at Thunder Valley Nationals - making her the first woman in NHRA history to win in both its nitro classes. Troxel downplayed the significance of her matchup with Force, trying hard to remove gender from the historic moment.
“Everybody wants to make a big story about Ashley and I running against each other,” she said. “For me, it’s not about the other female out here. I think it’s pretty sad if we have to just compare ourselves against each other.”
She’s right, of course. Female competitors are no longer a sideshow in most forms of racing, and Troxel’s championship proved women are succeeding at a consistent pace.
Except in NASCAR, that is.
As the most celebrated day in motorsports approaches this week, the differences in gender equality have never been more profound. Danica Patrick headlines a trio of three women who will compete Sunday in the Indianapolis 500, but NASCAR won’t have a single woman in its showcase Coca-Cola 600 later that day or in any of the NASCAR-sanctioned events spanning 10 days of racing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Three decades after Janet Guthrie became the first woman to race in the 600, NASCAR still boasts all-male fields at its premier Sprint Cup level. In fact, no woman has raced in the 600 since Guthrie, and the Cup series has not had a female racer since Shawna Robinson ran seven events in 2002.
“I don’t think it’s something NASCAR is really concerned about. A female driver is not something they really need,” said veteran racer Mike Wallace. “For a while, a lot of people thought it was a novelty. And I’ve had people close to me say ‘Girls can’t drive.’
“Well, maybe they can’t. But maybe there are one or two who can, and we just need to give them a chance.”
Wallace speaks not as a driver with 605 career starts spanning NASCAR’s top three series, but as the father of a 20-year-old female racer who dreams of someday making it to the Cup Series. Although she has just one career start in the Truck Series, Chrissy Wallace has taken over the role as NASCAR’s best bet to make it to the big time.
She’s doing it on her own, piecing together a schedule of seven planned truck races this year for Germain Racing. She was a respectable 18th in her debut at tricky Martinsville Speedway and hopes improvement over her next several races will lead to the funding she needs to run a full schedule next season.
“You have to have decent finishes and win races to attract a sponsor,” Chrissy Wallace said. “If we don’t get one, we’re probably only going to be able to do a limited schedule next season. It’s all based on performance.”
It’s all part of the vicious cycle in racing, where success is as much dependent on financing as talent.
It takes an extraordinary financial commitment to help a child grow from go-karts to bandaleros to late models and maybe someday into stock cars. Not every family has the resources - Denny Hamlin’s parents mortgaged everything and nearly went broke helping him.
Drivers vying for the top level are getting younger and younger in NASCAR, where team owners constantly are scouring short tracks for the next big thing. Just look at Joe Gibbs Racing, which is counting the days until protege Joey Logano’s 18th birthday next month, when he can make his Nationwide Series debut.
“The issue we have to confront is one of preparation,” said Marcus Jadotte, who oversees NASCAR’s diversity issues. “We need to get more young women involved at a young age and hold that interest so their developmental path is that of a normal young male driver.”
NASCAR recently began a financial partnership with World Karting Association to help fund opportunities for young female and minority drivers through its Drive for Diversity program. The sanctioning body recognizes capturing the interest of a young driver and holding it until they reach NASCAR’s minimum participation age of 16 can be difficult, and providing opportunities for development at the karting level is a start.
The current nine-member D4D program has three women in it, but Kristin Bumbera, Katie Hagar and Lindsey King all are competing on much lower levels of NASCAR-sanctioned racing.
“It is impossible for me or anyone at NASCAR to predict how fast a professional athlete is going to develop,” Jadotte said. “Our job is to create as many opportunities for them to develop and improve their skill level, then demonstrate that skill level to the industry to attract team and sponsorship support that will help them move up the ladder.”
Chrissy Wallace didn’t consider racing a possible career until three years ago, and she’s been playing catch-up ever since.
Although she’s won at every level, the sponsorship needed to continue her career isn’t pouring in. It has helped that she has a famous last name and connections - two-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart has provided both financial support and advice of late - but there’s still a stigma that exists among major corporations with money to spend on sponsorship.
Companies might shy away from sponsoring a woman because there’s no proven record of success among female racers in NASCAR. Others might simply be gun shy after Erin Crocker became involved with Ray Evernham, her car owner.
Crocker acknowledged the relationship stalled the sponsorship she needed to continue her career at the top level, and Wallace said she believes other women are feeling the affects.
“People question if that’s going to be the same thing that happens with me, but we’re two totally different people,” said Wallace, who considers herself friendly with Crocker. “It’s kind of unfair that all female drivers are often based on her experiences.
“There’s a lot of female drivers out there who are talented and work hard.”

Bristol, TN (AHN) - Move over Danica Patrick and Ashley Force and make room for Melanie Troxel.

Troxel got to Victory Lane before both Patrick and Force in their respective racing leagues, but on Sunday Troxel became the first woman in NHRA history to win in both Top Fuel and Funny Car.

Troxel, who transcended from Top Fuel to Funny Car, joined husband Tommy Johnson as one of 14 drivers in NHRA history to win in both nitro categories when she raced to the Funny Car victory Sunday at the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals.

“We were so focused on going out there and getting some round wins and getting a win,” said Troxel. “That’s kind of like icing on the cake.”

Tony Schumacher and Dave Connolly also won in their respective categories at Bristol Dragway in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event.

Troxel, who won five Top Fuel victories before switching to Funny Car this year, defeated rookie Mike Neff with a winning pass of 310.27 mph and became the second woman to win in Funny Car, following Force’s gender-breaking victory last month in Atlanta. Force lost to Troxel in the semis in NHRA’s first all-female Funny Car elimination round.

Don Schumacher’s run of 306.81 was good enough to beat Larry Dixon in Top Fuel as Schumacher scored his third win of the season t Bristol Dragway.

“Through the conditions we had all weekend, this was the perfect conditions to race in,” said Schumacher. “When you race someone that’s up ahead in the points it’s just a huge points spread. That was just a huge round.”

Dave Connolly topped Greg Stanfield in Pro-Stock with a speed of 204.70 mph.

by Buddy Shacklette - AHN Motor Sports Reporter

MADISON, Ill. – One week after his daughter made Funny Car history with a breakthrough victory in Atlanta, Ga., John Force celebrated his 59th birthday Sunday by becoming the first driver to win 1,000 competitive rounds in the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. When Force drove his Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang to a quarter mile time of 4.862 seconds, 320.20 miles per hour to beat defending event champion Ron Capps in the first round of Sunday’s 12th annual O’Reilly Midwest Nationals, it propelled him to what may be his ultimate accomplishment in the sport.

NHRA officials suspended first round competition to bring Force back to the starting line area where he was congratulated by NHRA president Tom Compton and presented a crystal trophy commemorating his accomplishment.

“You can’t win without a good crew, sponsors like Castrol, Ford, the Auto Club and Old Spice and crew chiefs like Austin Coil and Bernie Fedderly,” Force said. “Five hundred races (a milestone he achieved at Atlanta) just means you showed up a lot. But winning a thousand rounds, that means that at a point in time, we were pretty good.”

Bristol Dragway, Friday, May 9, 2008
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Jeg Coughlin Jr., is the defending Pro Stock champion at the O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals, defeating Ken Koretsky in the final round. At the 2007 O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals, Jeg Coughlin qualified in the No. 1 spot. Jeg has qualified in the top spot 11 times in his career. Last year, Jeg qualified No. 1 and won the race. He has done so two other times in his career (2000 Topeka and 2000 Englishtown). Jeg has set low elapsed time of the race 15 times in his career including last year’s Bristol event.
In six career starts at Bristol Dragway, Coughlin has a 7-5 record in Pro Stock elimination rounds. He has also qualified in the top half of the field four times. Jeg Coughlin enters the 2008 Bristol event in second place in the NHRA POWERade points standings. He trails current leader Jason Line by just seven points following a round two finish at last week’s O’Reilly Midwest Nationals in Madison, Ill. Coughlin is one of just four NHRA pros who have won at least one round of competition at each of the season’s first seven events. The others are Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), Antron Brown (Top Fuel), and Allen Johnson (Pro Stock).
Jeg is ranked No. 4 in the K&N Horsepower Challenge standings. The K&N Challenge is a special event that will take place in Norwalk, Ohio on June 28. It is a special $50,000 to win event that is open only to the top eight Pro Stock racers based on their qualifying performance over the previous year.