By Rick Sheek (rsheek@starhq.com)
BRISTOL — Mike Neff nailed down his first No. 1 qualifying position on Saturday, leading the Funny Car class in the eighth-annual O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.
The John Force Racing driver covered the quarter-mile strip in 4.783 seconds at 321.04 mph in a Ford.
“It’s an awesome feeling,” Neff said. [...]
By Rick Sheek (rsheek@starhq.com)
BRISTOL — Reigning and five-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher remains the man to beat.
Schumacher, who has led the points since winning the season-opening event, remained top qualifier on Saturday for the eighth-annual O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.
“The car’s driving fantastic, and the race track’s outstanding,” Schumacher, a two-time [...]
By Wes Holtsclaw (wholtsclaw@starhq.com)
BRISTOL — Pro Stock’s Professor returned to one of his favorite classrooms in a big way. Its defending champion, however, was sent home early.
Thirty years since he raced Lee Edwards in the finals at the track, eight-time Bristol winner and six-time NHRA champion Warren Johnson established a track record with his run [...]
By Rick Sheek (rsheek@starhq.com)
BRISTOL — Rickie Smith, Bristol Dragway’s all-time national event winner, doesn’t think much of the Pro Stock class these days.
The veteran driver and crew chief stresses big money has taken over the sport, fan interest has deteriorated and no longer does ability on the drag strip win races.
“We won a lot of [...]
By Wes Holtsclaw (wholtsclaw@starhq.com)
BRISTOL — Ron Capps is hoping a new chassis finally gets him over the hump.
A year ago, the NAPA Auto Parts Funny Car driver appeared ready to pick up his first NHRA title with one of the best seasons of his career.
Once the Countdown to the Championship began, however, things went awry [...]
By Rick Sheek (rsheek@starhq.com)
Forget her gender, the blood line is there and she’s proven she’s among the elite of her sport.
Ashley Force, daughter of 14-time NHRA champion John Force, prevailed last month at Atlanta. She became the first woman in Funny Car history to reach the winner’s circle.
“It’s been a long road,” Force, 25, said [...]
By Ben Davis (bdavis@starhq.com)
With the much anticipated game against Team USA surely looming in the back of their minds, Milligan was able to pull off a split in a big Appalachian Athletic Conference double-header against UVA-Wise on Saturday in a pair of games that featured the league’s top two teams.
The Lady Buffs won the opener [...]
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