(Pro Racing Summary – Courtesy of NHRA Communications)

Tony Schumacher, Ashley Force Hood, Jeg Coughlin and Hector Arana Score at Indy.

Bob Tasca raced to his second Funny Car victory of the season Sunday at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.

Tony Schumacher continued his domination of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil Monday, racing to his eighth victory at historic O’Reilly Raceway Park and tying legendary “Big Daddy” Don Garlits for the most Top Fuel wins at the world’s most prestigious drag race.

Ashley Force Hood, Jeg Coughlin, and Hector Arana also were winners of the final regular season event in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. The Countdown to 1, NHRA’s six-race championship playoffs, begins Sept. 18 with the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte, N.C.

Schumacher, who has been to the last eight final rounds at this event and 10 overall since he began his career at this race in 1996, powered to his fourth victory of the season and 60th of his career, with a performance of 3.861 seconds at 314.17 mph in his U.S. Army dragster to hold off rival Larry Dixon, who trailed with a 4.208 at 228.58 in his Al-Anabi Racing dragster.

“This win is special not just because we tied Don Garlits, but because we won Indy again,” said Schumacher, who pocketed $100,000 for the win. “To win this race for the eighth time and put the 60th trophy on my shelf is awesome. This is the U.S. Nationals. To have this much dominance at any track is incredible, but to be able to do it here at Indy is unbelievable. I don’t know why this is my lucky track, but I’m sure glad it is.”

Schumacher said to beat three-time Indy winner Dixon and his old teammates in the final was satisfying. Dixon drives for the new team created by Schumacher’s former crew chief, Alan Johnson. Together Schumacher and Johnson were virtually unstoppable, winning consecutive championships during the last five seasons and rewriting most of the Top Fuel record book during a stellar 2008 campaign.

“To hold this trophy at the end of the day with all the pressure and circumstances and beat a great team like they have over there in the final round, I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Schumacher said. “The reason I race is for days like this.”

Force Hood became the third female to win the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in a pro category and the first ever in Funny Car when she earned her second win of the season by outrunning teammate Robert Hight in the final round. Force Hood joined Shirley Muldowney, who won this race in Top Fuel in 1982 and two-time Indy Pro Stock Motorcycle winner Angelle Sampey in the record books when she crossed the finish line in 4.170 at 294.75 in her Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. She earned $100,000 for her third career victory.

It was actually the second time Force Hood has won this event. Back in her sportsman racing days, she made her maiden trip to the winner’s circle here.

“When I won in ’04, it was my first national event win, and I happened to win at the 50th annual U.S. Nationals, and you couldn’t pick a better time to win your first event,” said Force Hood of her Top Alcohol Dragster victory. “I don’t think I really realized what was going on that day. Now, I can look back and appreciate it. It’s funny because before that final round, I was thinking, ‘OK, Robert seems to have magic here. When that team comes here, they do really well.’ I’ve spent a lot of winner’s circles here with his team, so I thought maybe this was going to be his day. Then Jerry Darien walked by, and I just had to laugh because I thought, ‘Well, it’s been our day here before, too, with Darien and Meadows — we won here, too.’ It kind of relaxed me a little. Either way, team Force was going to get in that winner’s circle.”

Hight, in his fourth consecutive Indy final round appearance, finished in 4.217 at 271.19 in his Auto Club Mustang and with his effort for the day locked in the 10th position in the point standings and secured a berth in the playoffs.

Defending world champ Coughlin finished the Pro Stock regular season in impressive fashion, winning his seventh race and claiming the No. 1 position for the playoffs. Coughlin earned his third U.S. Nationals win and 48th of his career with a run of 6.689 at 206.48 in his JEGS.com Chevy Cobalt to hold off final round opponent Greg Stanfield, who posted a 6.691 at 206.35 in his Attitude Apparel Pontiac GXP.

“We had a three-time world champion in the first round in Greg Anderson and it doesn’t get any tougher than him,” said Coughlin, who also beat Roger Brogdon and top qualifier Mike Edwards to advance to the final. “It was a huge win (against Anderson) for a number of reasons. He was trying to protect Jason Line’s opportunity to unseed us for the No. 1 spot going into the Countdown to 1. The win over Greg all but sealed the No. 1 spot for us, which means a lot because you get an extra 20 points going into it. That’s how we started the day, but then good old Lady Luck put us through the next three rounds, without question. Hopefully we haven’t used up all that luck yet as we just got the Countdown started and it’s a six-race dash for the Full Throttle championship. Let me tell you, it’s going to be one interesting battle in Pro Stock.”

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Arana earned his third victory of the season and first ever at Indy by powering his Lucas Oil Buell to a 7.026 at 189.10 to defeat Michael Phillips in the final, who posted a 7.086 at 185.84 on his Phillips Racing Suzuki. Karen Stoffer secured the final playoff position when she won her first round match and Steve Johnson lost.

"This is the sweetest moment for me," Arana said. "All the years I struggled people always told me, 'There is something better for you,' but I always wondered when my time was going to come. Now, I've won three races this year including the U.S. Nationals and I can't ask for anything more."

In addition to Coughlin, Tony Pedregon also secured the No. 1 playoff spot in Funny Car with his first round win over Del Worsham. Antron Brown (Top Fuel) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) had already claimed the top playoff spots in their categories. Each of the regular season champions receive a 20-point bonus to start the playoffs.

Burgess Takes Emotional PM Title (By: Matthew Brammer)

Roger Burgess won his second event of the season and claimed the crown jewel of drag racing by winning the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge presented by ProCare Rx event at the Mac Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals. Burgess defeated Danny Rowe in the final and moved into second place in the points-standings after seven of ten events have been completed. Burgess dedicated his win to the memory and honor of his fallen teammate Bobby Monacelli who passed away from a heart attack on August 10.

Despite an abbreviated number of qualifying sessions due to scheduling and weather delays, the series enjoyed its quickest field in its nine-year history. The bump spot was a 6.120 held by Kirk Wilmes, more than a tenth quicker than the bump spot of 6.132 from 2008. Danny Rowe took low qualifier honors with a 5.943; Brad Personett ran top speed at 248.84.

Burgess’ path to the winner's circle began with a stellar day-one qualifying run of 5.960 at 242.45 mph that gave him the provisional pole. In the second qualifier he suffered mechanical failure and was passed in the standings by Danny Rowe and Joe Baker to land No. 3. First round eliminations action paired Burgess with John Russo and his unique 2000 Chevy S-10 pickup where Burgess' 5.979 at 241.45 handily defeated Russo's 6.723 at 164.79 and set the tone for the remainder of his elimination rounds.

Second round, he slowed slightly to a 6.062 at 241.07 but still had much more than he needed to defeat Mike Knowles' tire-smoking 8.408 at 110.60 mph. In the semifinals, series points leader Burton Auxier nailed a nearly perfect .003 reaction time to try and surpass Burgess Al Billes-tuned machine, but Burgess' “Ancient Warrior” '67 Camaro had more than enough power to pass Auxier, 5.996 at 239.74 to 6.068 at 232.99.

In the finals, emotions were running high as the teams had to quickly refresh their cars to make the call to the starting line. Burgess lined up against Danny Rowe who had been running his Sterling Bridge '67 Camaro like a bracket car, besting Kirk Wilmes, Rickie Smith and Ike Maier with a 5.949, a 5.986 and a 5.973 after having qualified number one with a 5.943 at 245.54.

At the lights, Burgess cut a .027 reaction to Rowe's .045 and then the Duluth, Ga.-based driver never looked back. Rowe's car suffered engine damage and slowed to a 6.585 at 160 mph, while Burgess ran his best lap of the weekend of 5.956 at 241.80 to take the win. As he climbed out from his car, the first words out his mouth were, "This one is for Bobby."

Burgess said, "We came to this race with a very heavy heart, mourning the loss of our friend and teammate Bobby Monacelli. We didn't talk about it, but every member of this team was resolved to win this event in the honor and memory of Bobby.

"As we worked our way through the day going round by round, we all felt that Bobby was up there watching out for us and smiling as we won each round. The entire team worked tirelessly to get us through each round.

"We'll be sending our trophy and a poster-sized photo that all of the team members and series drivers have signed to Bobby's father, Clem, with the wishes and heartfelt message that Bobby is still a special part of all of us, and that we will miss him greatly," Burgess said.

With their finishes today, Burgess and Rowe joined Auxier and Mike Castellana in solidifying their positions in the Matco Tools Pro Mod Clash which pairs the top eight drivers in a race-within-a-race at the series finals in Las Vegas with a grand prize of $25,000 going to the winner. Also currently in the top eight with just two races remaining to set the field are Joe Baker, Raymond Commisso, Jay Payne and Tim Tindle.

Danny Rowe claimed the B&J Transmissions $500 Bonus by defeating Kirk Wilmes in the first round. B&J's co-owner Mike Strasberg selected the #16 from a hat during the drivers meeting before the event, signifying that whoever was paired with the No. 16 driver would compete for the B&J Bonus.

Westcott Senior is Tops in Mopar® HEMI® Challenge (By: Roger Meiners)

The Westcott family, of Parma, Mich., pulled off another victory Sept. 2nd during the NHRA HEMI® Challenge at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis. Charlie Wescott, Sr., did it this time, in his 1968 Hemi Barracuda, besting David Barton, of Robesonia, Pa. Westcott needed a lot of help from his son, Charlie Westcott, Jr., and a bunch of their competitors.

Westcott Senior’s engine dropped a valve on the bye run that put him into the finals. “I figured there was nothing we could do but go home,” he said, “but my son is a workaholic.” Westcott Junior reclaimed a Mopar 426 Hemi engine he had just delivered to John Raines, of Santa Paula, Calif., and moved the Barracuda to Californian Jim DeFrank’s well-equipped trailer to do an engine swap.

With the help of many HEMI Challenge racers, the job took ninety minutes, which was just enough time to get to the starting line where finalist Barton was waiting in his Barracuda to take a bye run.

The match turned into a disaster for Barton, who left late, and a Cinderella story for the Westcotts as Charlie Senior was much quicker off the line He claimed the Hemi Challenge title with an 8.626 second run at 156.15 mph. Barton trailed with an 8.802 elapsed time and a speed of 152.87 mph.

Westcott Senior will take home $10,000 for the victory, his first at the U.S. Nationals. His son Charlie, Jr., has won three out of the last four Mopar Hemi Challenges in Indianapolis. Today’s win makes it four out of the last five for the Westcotts.

“Jason Line came up to me after I won and said, ‘You give me something to look forward to when I get old,’” said the 66-year-old Westoctt, Sr. Line is a veteran Pro Stock champion.

Westcott junior had the same engine problem as that of his father, preventing him from appearing in an earlier round. He was the fastest qualifier with an 8.491 clocking. Jim Daniels, of Yardley, Pa., was the second-fastest, recording an 8.519 in his HEMI Barracuda. Daniels made it to the third round before losing to Raines, who then lost to Barton in the semifinals.

Twenty-one 1968 Dodge Dart and Plymouth Barracudas participated in the Mopar Hemi Challenge this year. Entrants were from thirteen states across the U.S., ranging from New Jersey to California and from Minnesota to Louisiana.