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POWERade points leader Doug Kalitta posted a quick 4.497-second run at 322 mph to lead Top Fuel during opening-day action at the $2.6 million Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, the most prestigious and longest-running drag race in the world. Kalitta was joined by Funny Car's Robert Hight, Pro Stock's Jason Line, and Pro Stock Motorcycle's Karen Stoffer on the day-one podium at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis with four more rounds of Professional qualifying left on the schedule. Just as he did in Memphis, Kalitta showed up reigning champ Tony Schumacher, who was in the other lane during Kalitta's pass. The...

Funny Car driver Tommy Johnson Jr. covered Route 66 Raceway in 4.672 seconds Friday night to highlight a very quick opening day of racing at the ninth annual CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals. The $1.9 million race is the 10th of 23 on the $50 million POWERade Drag Racing Series. Johnson's pass was his best ever and the third quickest in class history. Richie Stevens also earned high praise for posting a 6.635 at 207.40 mph, the second quickest Pro Stock pass ever. Top Fuel's reigning champion Tony Schumacher continues to qualify well, carding a 4.484 at 329 mph to...

Back-to-back Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher posted a 4.476-second pass at 331.53 mph Friday night to highlight a record-setting opening day of Pro qualifying at the 42nd annual Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals presented by Summit Racing. Seven of eight National Trail Raceway records fell by the wayside in the opening two sessions of the $1.5 million race, the eighth of 23 on the POWERade tour. The elapsed times of Funny Car's Robert Hight (4.715), Pro Stock's Dave Connolly (6.693), and Pro Stock Motorcycle's Andrew Hines (7.038) placed them atop their respective fields, although they had to share the spotlight with...

This is a new track record, just a shade off the current national record of 4.66 333.58, also held by Force "Living legend John Force celebrated his 57th birthday with a No. 1 qualifying effort at the 26th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals. Force (pictured) used a track-record 4.686 at 329.58 mph to make himself the early favorite at a race he's won seven times in the past. Brandon Bernstein (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) joined Force on the low qualifier's podium." snip Look at all the people who qualified in...

Top fuel driver Cory McClenathan talks about how he cheated death and survived a fiery crash (May 2) Crash video

BRISTOL – Cory McClenathan cheated death Friday night during the second round of Top Fuel qualifying for the NHRA O’Reilly Thunder Valley Nationals when he walked away from what looked like a devastating crash. Near the end of his run at more than 330 mph McClenathan’s dragster snapped in two right behind the cockpit, went up the air, erupted into a fireball and slammed into the retaining wall. Amazingly and in a testament to the engineering put into an NHRA dragster, McClenathan climbed from the smoldering pile of wreckage himself and was talking to track safety officials before all the...

Night time racing in Vegas this Friday. I plan on being there and will post up some photos. I also received an OK from the Army crew to photo some of the returning Vets with the Schumacher car! To start things, I'm doing a little photo piece on one of the greatest hot-rodders of all time Mickey Thompson. He challenged life many times, but lost his life when he was gunned down, along with his wife, by hit men. The Challenger I was powered by four blown pontiac engines. It made a top run at 406.6 mph. at the Bonneville...

U.S. Army Top Fuel racer Schumacher entered Saturday's final two rounds of time trails unqualified, and started his final pass sitting on the bump spot, but four and a half seconds later he was in more familiar territory as the event's No. 1 qualifier. Funny Car's John Force, Pro Stock's Greg Anderson, and Pro Stock Motorcyclist Ryan Schnitz joined Schumacher on the low qualifier's podium as the 37th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals completed its elimination fields. Schumacher's last-gasp 4.515 at 325.96 mph kept him perfect on the season as he earned his third low qualifier award of the year. It...

Mike Edwards sets a Phoenix speed record of 206.95 mph in his Young Life GTO. Eric Medlen got the job done when he roared to a 4.707 at 321.96 mph in Round 2 of Funny Car. snip After running such a great number in the first Top Fuel session, anticipation was high that Schumacher and his U.S. Army teammates would make some history after it cooled off. But it wasn't meant to be as he slowed slightly to a 4.47. Even so, his two passes were the only ones in the 4.4-second range. snip Sophomore Pro Stock racer Erica Enders...

A 31-year-old pregnant woman was killed yesterday when a man apparently drag racing on the Lowell Connector lost control of his car, which veered into the median strip at more than 90 miles per hour, became airborne, and landed on the woman's station wagon, police said. The driver of the Mercury, Carlos Rodriguez, 18, of Lowell, was ejected from his car and was taken to Lowell General Hospital with numerous injuries, State Police said. He was transferred to Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he was listed last night in critical condition, police said.

It will likely go down in history as the most freakish, nightmarish accident in drag-racing history. One top drag-racing official with 40 years' experience told the media he'd never seen or heard of anything like it. On the first Saturday in April, Michelle "Shelly" Howard, a 59-year-old registered nurse and mother of three who had been drag-racing for 27 years, took her Top Alcohol Dragster for a 10 p.m. practice run at Tulsa Raceway Park as part of a late-night event. Howard, the wife of a Tulsa physician, had huge experience—she'd won the Division 4 title twice and was a...

Racing at the track is a truly unforgettable experience! To pull up to the track entrance with a Van Load of kids (6 of us all together!) and ask for a run card to race, talk about stupid looks! Then to pull into tech inspection with all the Mustangs and Camaros and watch all the kids pile out. The tech inspector will normally not give it a close look until he notices the helmet in the seat and the slicks in the back. When I say I run 12 Second 1/4 miles, they do a double take. "You got a...

E-mail to Candidate Kerry #14 From: James (Cooter) Thompson re: Swift Boats, Bad Choices Dear Senator Kerry: Last Saturday night, a bunch of us from here in Lagniappe went to the drag races over to Hadleyville. We went mostly to cheer on Lorna Gibbs who is Armen Yazoo's cousin and was matched up against Frank Gaston who owns Frank's Welding. It was Ford versus Chevy, too. Ol' Frank red-lighted twice and was way down the track in his one fair start. As you probably know, drag races are over mighty quick. There is a quantity of time spent waiting between...

Trial for officers in Kmart raid starts June 2 By LISA TEACHEY Coypright 2003 Houston Chronicle Two former Houston police officers who were at the helm of a botched raid at a westside parking lot will go to trial June 2 to answer charges of official oppression. Capt. Mark Aguirre and Sgt. Ken Wenzel, who appeared in court today for the trial setting, each face five charges of official oppression for ordering the arrests of more than 300 people, including many teenagers, at a Kmart parking lot in the 8400 block of Westheimer on Aug. 18. The scene of hundreds...

Nov. 21, 2002, 10:35AM Testimony heard on police raid Lawyer: Focus is on Aguirre, sergeant By ROMA KHANNA Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Houston police Capt. Mark Aguirre and a sergeant who works closely with him appear to be the only targets of an investigation into the mass arrest of people in a Kmart parking lot, a lawyer for an officer cooperating with authorities said. "After reviewing all the evidence, my impression is that Aguirre and one other sergeant who is his right-hand man are the targets of this probe," said Clint Greenwood, who is representing Lt. Frank Jackson. Greenwood would...

<p>The police chief might go to prison for perjury. The captain who led the raid might eventually be fired. Twelve other officers have been relieved of duty. And the city faces millions in potential legal costs.</p> <p>The 5,300-man Houston Police Department is in turmoil, many aligning themselves behind either Capt. Mark Aguirre or Police Chief Clarence Bradford.</p>

Raid at hot dog joint preceded Kmart bust By ROMA KHANNA Houston police Capt. Mark Aguirre, the man who ordered the arrests of 278 people at a westside Kmart last weekend, prodded a local restaurant to allow his officers to conduct a similar raid of its parking lot Saturday in a sting that netted 25 arrests. Officials with the James Coney Island at 5745 Westheimer said they felt used after police swept in and arrested 25 people, some of whom were customers, for criminal trespass. "We were cooperative with the idea (of the raid), but are not necessarily happy with...

SAN DIEGO, CA - A traffic collision left two people dead and two others injured Monday night. According to the California Highway Patrol, the cars were drag racing just prior to the crash. It happened around 11:30pm on SR-52 near Convoy Street.