CHALLENGERS HOPE TO KEEP MOMENTUM GOING AT TOYO TIRES NHRA NATIONALS: With three races to go in the Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship, the regular season leaders remain at the top of the standings; however, in each of the four categories, a bit of momentum seems to have been picked up by a few drivers who started the playoffs back in the pack. With less than a few rounds of racing separating first, second, third and, in some cases, fourth place in each category, expect the intensity level to be at an all-time high at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at scenic Maple Grove Raceway, October 7–10. Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Bob Tasca (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are the defending winners of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event, which will be televised on ESPN2 HD.

HELPING DEVELOP: K&N Filters will partner with the Ron Sutton Winner’s Circle program to supply young driver sponsorships worth as much as $25,000 to aspiring race car drivers.

SCHUMACHER GETS FIFTH WIN OF SEASON; HAGAN GRABS THIRD WIN OF SEASON AT DALLAS: Defending Top Fuel world champion Tony Schumacher moved even closer to Top Fuel points leader Larry Dixon when he drove his U.S. Army dragster past Shawn Langdon in the final round of the O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex in Dallas Sunday to pick up his fifth win of the season and 66th of his career. Schumacher held off teammate and second-place driver Cory McClenathan in the semifinal round, then drove past Langdon in the final to give “The Sarge” his fifth victory at Texas Motorplex.

CROWNED: Levi Jones (sprint car), Jerry Coons Jr. (midget) and Bryan Clauson (Silver Crown) were the winners during the annual USAC 4-Crown Nationals at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway Saturday night.

DIXON GETS 11TH WIN OF THE SEASON; PEDREGON GRABS FIRST WIN AT CHARLOTTE: Larry Dixon continued his domination over the Top Fuel class as he powered his Al-Anabi Racing dragster past Dave Grubnic, Tony Schumacher, Cory McClenathan and Doug Kalitta to grab the win Sunday at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina. It was Dixon’s 11th win of the season in 11 final round appearances, the most in the category for the year.

NHRA Pro Stock competitor Allen Johnson was disqualified from competition at zMAX Dragway in Concord, North Carolina, last weekend after registering a .027 reading on an alcohol breathalyzer test prior to the start of Saturday’s events.

DRIVERS PREPARE FOR CHARLOTTE AND SECOND STOP IN NHRA COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP: With just one event complete in the six-race 2010 NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs and the recently completed Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, the excitement and tension couldn’t be bigger in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Now the series heads to Charlotte, North Carolina, and zMAX Dragway for the second stop of the Countdown to the Championship—the third annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals.

Ashley Force Hood raced her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang past father and team owner John Force in the final round to pick up her second Funny Car win at Indy and first win of the 2010 season. Even more impressive, Force Hood moved from eighth to fourth place in the point standings with her first win in the Countdown to the Championship.

DRIVERS KNOW IT’S MORE THAN JUST A RACE; IT’S “THE BIG GO!”: As the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series descends on historic O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis this Labor Day weekend, drivers and teams alike need very little to pump them up for this year’s Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil.

“If you’re a drag racer, you don’t need anything to pump you up for Indy,” said three-time and defending event winner Jeg Coughlin. “This is the granddaddy of them all and has been since the start. Now that the NHRA has added the start of the Countdown into the mix it’s going to be all-time. I’m getting excited just talking about it.”

WRAPPED UP: Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas clinched their second-straight Grand Am Rolex Series Daytona Prototype championship Saturday with their Grand Am single-season record eighth victory at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

GRANTED: Martinsville (Virginia) Speedway has received a $1.5 million grant from the Virginia Tobacco Commission, which the track will match, making the total grant $3 million. The money will be used to improve track infrastructure. The International Speedway Corp., the track’s parent company, also pledged to do everything possible to keep two races at the track for the next five years.

STICKING AROUND: Former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year Regan Smith has signed a two-year contract extension to stay with Furniture Row Racing through the 2012 season.