Defying age and death
There were many, including this corner, who thought John Force had reached the end of the line last September when he crashed in Ennis, Tex., and suffered serious injuries.
We were amazed when the 59-year-old Force climbed back into his Castrol Ford Mustang Funny Car at the Winternationals and started competing once again in the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series.
Not only did Force prove me wrong, but the rest of his skeptics as well.
This past Sunday, the 14-time champion took it one step...
Read Louis Brewster's article about John Force's comeback in the San Bernardino Sun
Tasca pumped by qualifying effort
NHRA Funny Car rookie Bob Tasca III is fired up for today's eliminations in the NHRA Summer Nationals after a career-best No. 2 qualifying effort.
"We had one of the, if not the most consistent, qualifying car of the weekend," Tasca said in a team release. "I'm just thrilled with Chris (Cunningham, crew chief) and the guys that are just working so hard on this team.
"People don't realize how many things they do in between rounds, and everything has to be...
Read the full article by Rick Peterson in The Capital-Journal
Tags: Bob Tasca III, Summer NationalsSummer Nationals First Round Pairings
First round pairings / qualifying results for the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kansas, June 1st, 2008.
1 Tony Bartone R.T. (.089) E.T. 6.648 MPH 135.43
16 Gary Densham R.T. (.111) E.T. 4.962 MPH 304.32
2 Bob Tasca III R.T. (.017) E.T. 4.939 MPH 309.06
15 Tony Pedregon R.T. (.034) E.T. 6.199 MPH 150.16
3 Frank Hawley R.T. (.113) E.T. 4.849 MPH 306.95
14 Tim Wilkerson R.T. (.072) E.T. 4.889 MPH 307.79
4 Ron Capps R.T. (.029) E.T. 4.956 MPH 307.37
13 Cruz Pedregon R.T. (.052) E.T. 5.021 MPH 254.33
5 Melanie Troxel R.T. (.074) E.T. 4.940 MPH 297.81
12 Jack Beckman R.T. (.068) E.T. 4.976 MPH 303.03
6 Jerry Toliver R.T. (.008) E.T. 4.946 MPH 305.22
11 T Johnson Jr. R.T. (.072) E.T. 4.950 MPH 305.36
7 Robert Hight R.T. (.094) E.T. 5.237 MPH 219.72
10 Gary Scelzi R.T. (.070) E.T. 4.927 MPH 305.70
8 Ashley Force R.T. (.105) E.T. 4.880 MPH 307.93
9 John Force R.T. (.084) E.T. 4.890 MPH 291.95
NHRA Young Drivers Proving Themselves Once Again
TOPEKA, Kan. - It must have felt a bit like proving themselves all over again.
In 2006, Melanie Troxel reached a stunning nine final rounds with two wins in her first year of fulltime competition in Top Fuel, good enough for a fourth-place finish on the year. Then she followed that with another two-win season in 2007, firmly establishing herself as a contender in Top Fuel.
[snip]
Both Troxel and Connolly come to Topeka fresh off of their first wins of the season. For Troxel, the victory was a landmark.
After struggling through the first half of the regular season, Troxel became the second female to win a race in Funny Car, and the first female and the 14th driver overall to reach the winner's circle in the sport's two fastest categories, Top Fuel and Funny Car....
Read the full article
2008 O`Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals – Friday Recap
With air temperatures teetering near 90 all day and track temperatures bumped up near 120 degrees, competitors got their first taste of summer conditions during the opening day of action at the O’Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals presented by Castrol GTX, and Larry Dixon, Tony Bartone, and Dave Connolly adapted best to the hot, muggy conditions, grabbing the top spots on the provisional ladders in their respective classes.
[snip]
Bartone’s roller coaster ride of a season went back on the upswing when he outpaced the rest of the Funny Car field with a 4.881 clocking in his Jim Dunn-tuned, Canidae-backed Monte Carlo that seeds him No. 1 after two of four qualifying runs for the weekend. Bartone has one previous career start from the top spot on the ladder, in Englishtown in 2006.
[snip]
Rookie of the Year candidate Bob Tasca III is primed for the best start of his young career after wheeling his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang to a 4.901 for the provisional No. 2 spot. After sitting out a couple of events, Frank Hawley made a
...
Read Candida Benson's full recap at NHRA.com
Summer Nationals notebook: NHRA facing nitro crunch
Rumors of a nitro shortage appear to be true - NHRA cancelling post event testing, including August testing session at Indianapolis, recommends teams use methanol for pit warmups.
From the article:
National Hot Rod Association officials met with POWERade Series teams Friday afternoon to announce measures to conserve the use of nitromethane — used in the Top Fuel and Funny Car divisions — for the foreseeable future.
VP Fuels, the exclusive supplier of nitromethane on-site at POWERade events, has been in discussions with the NHRA in light of the recent decision by the Chinese government to halt and/or limit production and shipment of nitro this summer...
Read the full article by Rick Peterson in The Capitol Journal
Tags: NHRA, Nitro, Summer Nationals