rolex Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
rolex Carolinas Nationals, September 17-20
zMax Dragway, Concord, North Carolina

Top Fuel's Cory McClenathan, Pro Stock's Mike Edwards, and Pro Stock Motorcycle's Hector Arana jumped to the points lead in their respective classes with victories at the rolex Carolinas Nationals at zMax Dragway on Sunday. Robert Hight also made a big points move, vaulting from 10th to third when he won in Funny Car.

The rolex Carolinas Nationals marked the beginning of the 2009 Countdown to 1 playoffs that will determine the Full Throttle world champions, and with the racers entering the event separated by 10 points in most positions, that meant a lot of jumbling throughout the day.

McClenathan took the Top Fuel points lead when he won the final round, moving around incoming leader Antron Brown and Tony Schumacher, who are tied for second. The lead remained unchanged in Funny Car with Tony Pedregon keeping the top spot despite losing first round, but behind him, things shuffled quite a bit. Ashley Force Hood moved to second and is just one point back, and winner Hight is third, just 28 points out of the lead.

Edwards crushed the competition in Pro Stock, and his points lead of 56 markers reflects that. He took the lead when he won round two then just added to it as he went onto victory. Arana's final-round victory not only gave him a second straight Wally but the points lead over Eddie Krawiec, whom Arana defeated in the semis.

McClenathan picked the perfect time to grab his first win since the spring Las Vegas event last year. Appearing in his fourth final of 2009, McClenathan defeated rookie-of-the-year candidate Shawn Langdon to claim the 31st Top Fuel win of his career. In the final, Langdon got the jump at the Tree and appeared to be in the lead until about the eighth-mile mark when his engine let go. That allowed McClenathan to move around him and win with a 3.857, his best run of the day.

McClenathan's Fram Tough Guard entry lived in the 3.86-second range throughout eliminations as he worked his way to his 57th career final round. He put three straight 3.86s on the boards to dispatch fellow Countdown to 1 contenders Morgan Lucas and Larry Dixon and surprise semifinalist Doug Foley.

Langdon was impressive as he worked his way to his first ever Top Fuel final round. After a pair of 3.88 runs against Doug Kalitta and Terry McMillen in the first two rounds, two-time Super Comp national champion Langdon blasted to a stunning 3.826 that was low e.t. of the weekend to trailer Tony Schumacher in the semis.

Hight may have struggled to make the Countdown to 1 field, but proved he will be a factor in the championship chase after picking up his first win of the 2009 season and doing so with another strong performance. Hight's car ran no worse than 4.14 all day, including a 4.097 in the final that gave him the victory over rookie driver Matt Hagan.

Coming off a runner-up finish in Indy, where he had one of the best cars, Hight's Auto Club-backed entry ran right down the zMax 1,000-foot course all day long. He opened with a 4.105 that was second-best of the first round to defeat Jerry Toliver, and then followed with 4.14 and 4.12 clockings to defeat Bob Tasca III and teammate Ashley Force Hood. In the semifinal run, Hight just edged Force Hood, who finished a mere .003-second back with a 4.13.

Like Top Fuel runner-up Langdon, Hagan bolstered his bid for the Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award when he advanced to his second Funny Car final (the first came in April in Las Vegas). Hagan, whose wife Rachel will give birth to the couple's second child this week, was pretty much flawless through eliminations. Looking like a bracket car, Hagan put back-to-back 4.14s on the boards to defeat points leader Tony Pedregon and Jeff Arend in the first two rounds. Hagan then powered to a 4.102 to defeat Cruz Pedregon in the semis and earn lane choice in the final.

Edwards dominated the Pro Stock contingent, qualifying No. 1, setting low e.t. and top speed, running low e.t. of every round of eliminations, and winning the event. Edwards handily won the final over Greg Stanfield, taking a .013-second lead at the Tree and outrunning Stanfield by nearly four-hundredths. The end result was not only his fourth win this year and 19th of his career but also the biggest points lead in any category.

Edwards showed he would be tough to beat when he wheeled his Young Life/ART GXP to low e.t. and top speed of the weekend, 6.594 at 209.62, to oust Warren Johnson. He then put 6.62, 6.60, and 6.61 times on the board to defeat Tom Hammonds, Allen Johnson, and, in the final, Stanfield.

Stanfield used a combination of good driving and mid-6.6s to advance to his second straight final and third of the year. He opened with a huge win against Greg Anderson, and then defeated Kurt Johnson and Steve Spiess to earn a spot in career final No. 20.

Arana's dream year continued in Charlotte, where he was again the class of the field as he picked up his second straight victory, third in the last four events, and fourth this year. Though he would have been tough to beat with a 7.00 run from his Lucas Oil-backed Buell, opponent Karen Stoffer made things easy for Arana when she went red by six-thousandths.

Arana began his march to his seventh career final and fourth of the season with a 6.983 victory against Joe DeSantis. Arana then clocked a 7.01 to dispatch Steve Johnson. In the semis, Arana won a pivotal match with Krawiec, beating the incoming points leader on a hole-shot in a thrilling 6.997 to 6.991 match.

After a tough year that included just five round-wins in the first 12 events, Stoffer made a big turnaround when she advanced to her first final of 2009 and the 11th of her career. Stoffer's Achilles heel has been the starting line all year, but she won her opening round against Craig Treble at the Tree, parlaying a .003 to .079 reaction-time advantage into a 7.07 to 7.06 hole-shot win. She then posted another 7.07 to defeat a red-lighting Junior Pippin and a 7.05 to end Shawn Gann's day.

The Countdown to 1 continues in just a few days at the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries rolex Fall Nationals, September 24-27 at Texas Motorplex in Ennis (MFL photography provided by rolex.com).

rolex Carolinas Nationals
zMax Dragway, Concord, NC

www.nhra.com

Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
Utah 250, September 18-19
Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah

Robin Liddell and Dirk Werner got together coming to the white flag of Saturday's Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Acxiom GT race, handing the victory to Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato in the No. 69 FXDD SpeedSource Mazda RX-8.

Despite starting last on the 13-car GT grid due to an engine change after qualifying for the Utah 250 at Miller Motorsports Park, Assentato and Segal battled all the way to first in class. Then Segal had to do it all over again following a pit stop to take the team's second victory in the last three races.

In Daytona Prototype, Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty took a solid victory over their rivals in the battle for the 2009 championship. The pair led 43 of the 56 laps to win the two-hour, 45-minute race on the 4.486-mile circuit.

Gurney took the lead in the No. 99 GAINSCO Pontiac Riley on the 30th of 56 laps and paced the final 27 circuits, taking the checkered flag 1.264 seconds ahead of Max Angelelli. Scott Pruett finished third, 1.529 seconds behind the winner, with the top three teams in the championship sweeping the podium.

Segal stayed out under the second caution period, and after a wave-by, managed to join Andy Lally in pulling a huge gap on the GT field. Segal, driving the No. 69 FXDD Mazda RX-8, held a one-minute, five-second lead when the second caution waved after his teammateSylvain Tremblay in the No. 70 Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8, started from the pole by Nick Hamwas bumped off course and became mired in a gravel trap. Segal worked his way back to third, and found himself in the lead after the two leaders spun after contact on Lap 44 of 46.

Lally finished second in the No. 66 First Service Commercial Real Estate Porsche GT3 started by Scott Schroeder, who earned his best career finish. Rounding out the podium were two-time defending race co-winners Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards in the No. 07 Team Drinkin' Mate Pontiac GXP.R.

The late incident robbed Werner and Leh Keen the chance to eliminate their lone rival for the GT championship. The drivers of the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Porsche GT3 finished sixth, and now lead Collins by 30 points (329-299).

Liddell and Andrew Davis finished seventh in the No. 57 BryanMark Financial/Stevenson Automotive Pontiac GXP.R. Their Stevenson Motorsports team remains alive in the GT team championship, trailing Farnbacher Loles Racing by 29 points (329-300).

The victory for Gurney and Fogarty moves them into an eight-point lead (309-301) in the Daytona Prototype point standings entering the season-ending Grand Prix of Miami on Oct. 10 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Angelelli and Brian Frisselle, drivers of the No. 10 SunTrust Ford Dallara, took sole possession of second place, while Pruett and Memo Rojas are 10 points behind the leaders in the No. 01 TELMEX Lexus Riley.

Fogarty led the opening 16 laps before pitting. Timo Bernhard, who pressured Fogarty from the drop of the green flag, led 13 laps in the Penske Racing Verizon Wireless Porsche Riley, before Gurney took over on the final round of pit stops.

The race was slowed three times for 10 laps by cautions (once for debris, twice to tow stalled cars), with the three championship leaders in the top three positions. Each time, Gurney was able to pull away on the restart.

Practice for the Grand Prix of Miami begins on Thursday, Oct. 8, with qualifying on Friday and the race taking the green flag at 1 p.m. Saturday (MFL photography provided by Grand-Am Media).

Utah 250
Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, UT

Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge
Salt Lake City 200, September 18
Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah

Dion von Moltke passed teammate Josh Hurley with just two laps remaining in the Street Tuner (ST) portion of the two-and-a-half hour Salt Lake City 200 on Friday to earn his and co-driver Mike Sweeney's third victory of the 2009 season. Von Moltke and Sweeney drove the No. 181 APR/BBS Volkswagen GTI for APR Motorsport.

In a seesaw Grand Sport (GS) battle with the defending race winning driver and team at Miller Motorsports Park, Billy Johnson passed Bill Auberlen for the final time in Turn 1 of Lap 46the final lap of the raceand held off the 2008 winner by 1.095 seconds to earn his second class victory of 2009 and first ever for co-driver Jack Roush Jr.

The race, which started under bright skies and in 80-degree temperatures, ended in near pitch-black conditionsalbeit the 30-plus headlights navigating the 4.486-mile course and flashes of lightning south of the track.

The fight for the ST division lead was between APR cars for much of the event, before Randy Pobst in the No. 74 Skunk2/034 Motorsport Honda Civic Si and Tom Long in the No. 145 Mazda/Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5 joined during the final half hour. The four drivers went four wide at one point, and Pobst and Long staged a war for the third position, reminiscent of their battle for the lead in March at Homestead.

However, no team other than APR led a lap in ST. Pole-sitter Ian Baas led the opening 20 laps in the No. 171 APR/Gunther VW Volkswagen GTI before pitting and giving Sweeney the lead for two laps. Hurley picked up the lead on Lap 23 and held on until von Moltke made the winning pass, which came in near pitch-black conditions.

The second-place run for Baas and Hurleywho is on the verge of winning Rookie of the Year honors in KONI Challenge competitionvaulted the duo into second in the championship standings, now 27 points (286-259) behind leader Christian Miller, who co-drove with Pobst.

Subaru Road Racing Team co-drivers Kristian Skavnes and Andrew Aquilante dropped to third in points with a seventh-place finish in the No. 111 Subaru of America Subaru Legacy. The two are 31 points behind Miller after entering the race 25 points behind.

Fourth were Long and Derek Whitis, while Ford Racing Mustang Challenge regulars Rick Edwards and Ted Anthony Jr. finished fifth in the No. 76 Skunk2/Hondata Honda Civic Si.

Johnson, who joined the Horsepower Ranch team in June at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, regained the GS lead with an inside pass of Auberlen, kept Auberlen at bay for the first-ever win for Horsepower Ranch. Johnson also won in March at Homestead-Miami Speedway, driving for Motorsport Technology Group.

Johnson originally took the lead on Lap 31 from Dean Martin and led seven laps before Auberlen took the lead and held it at the line on Lap 38. Johnson put the No. 61 Valvoline/Roush Ford Mustang GT back out in front on Lap 39 on the front straightaway, and the two ran nose-to-tail for the next three circuits. On Lap 42, however, Auberlen slipped off the track momentarily, allowing Johnson to distance himself for about a lap.

It didn't last long, though. Auberlen regained his composure and, on Lap 45, blasted past Johnsonwho slipped off-linefor what he was hoping for his second consecutive victory and fourth straight for Turner Motorsport, which had won every GS race at Miller prior to Friday.

But Johnson fought back, and drag-raced Auberlen all the way into Turn 1, where he took over the lead once again. Auberlen dogged him around the track, but couldn't get past, instead giving himself and co-driver Matt Bell a second-place finish in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3.

Auberlen rejoined Bell after missing the team's last race, a victory in the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières last month in Quebec.

Bell moved past Martin into third in the GS standings by one point, while point leader and fifth-place co-finisher Ken Wilden lost two points over James Gue and Bret Seafuse, who earned fourth. Wilden and Seafuse battled for the majority of the opening 22 laps, with Wilden taking the lead on the first lap, and Seafuse moving to second by Lap 6. The pair pitted within a lap of each other, with Martin holding onto the lead after Wilden brought the No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT into the pits on Lap 25.

The only caution period came out on Lap 27 for debris in Turn 6, and the green flag flew to resume action on Lap 31, the same lap Johnson passed Martin, who had held a 10-plus second lead at the time.

Wilden now has 292 points, while Gue and Seafuse, in the No. 37 Trumansburg ShurSave Ford Mustang GT, have 274 points. A 14th-place finish in the Bosch Engineering Octoberfest Oct. 4 at Virginia International Raceway, regardless of what Gue and Seafuse do, will sew up Wilden's first Grand-Am championship. Bell also has a mathematical shot at the title, but he is still 29 points behind Wilden.

Gaining six positions in the final laps was third-place finisher Joey Hand, the co-winner the 2007 GS race, in the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 he shared with Chris Gleason, despite a second pit stop. The pair came from 17th.

Earlier in the afternoon, Dan DiLeo earned the pole position with a time of 3:09.544 (85.202 mph) in the No. 77 Maxwell Paper Products Co. Porsche 997. It was first career pole, and he and co-driver Bryan Sellers went on to finish 10th.

The final race of the 2009 season is the Bosch Engineering Octoberfest, a four-hour combined race Sunday, Oct. 4, at the 3.27-mile Virginia International Raceway (MFL photography provided by Grand-Am Media).

Salt Lake City 200
Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, UT

www.grand-am.com

IndyCar Series
Indy Japan 300, September 18-19
Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi, Japan

Scott Dixon claimed his fifth victory of the season, winning the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi on Saturday to dramatically take over the IndyCar Series points lead with just one race remaining.

Dixon now leads the standings with 570 points, followed by Dario Franchitti, who has 565. Ryan Briscoe, who went into the race with a 25-point lead over Franchitti and a 32-point lead over Dixon, finished 18th, several laps behind, and has 562 points.

That's the second closest 1-3 gap in series history and the 14th change atop the standings in 2009's 16 races.

Dixon, who started from the pole position and led a field-high 149 of 200 laps, took the lead for good on the 164th lap and finished 1.4475 seconds ahead of Target Chip Ganassi teammate Franchitti. Graham Rahal finished third, while Mario Moraes, who started on the front row for the first time in his 30-plus races, overcame an early pit miscue to wind up fifthhis third consecutive top five. Danica Patrick, who won at Twin Ring Motegi last year, finished sixth.

Briscoe, who entered the race as the points leader, saw his chances of winning the race and all but clinch the series championship dwindle after he made a mistake after a pit stop on Lap 106. As the No. 6 Team Penske car exited pit lane, Briscoe swerved as he lit up the tires, brushed the inside retaining wall and ran over a cone at the end of the pit lane. After multiple pit stops to repair the damage, he rejoined the race, but had dropped to 19th.

Brawn GP driver Jenson Button, the current point leader in Formula 1, attended the race as a guest of Honda.

The 2009 IndyCar Series championship will be decided at the season conclusion, the Firestone Indy 300, on Oct. 10 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (MFL photography provided by IndyRacing.com).

Indy Japan 300
Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi, Japan

Coming up:
American Le Mans Series
12th Annual Petit Le Mans powered by MAZDA6, September 23-26
Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA
www.americanlemans.com

SCCA SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship
12th Annual Petit Le Mans, September 23-25
Road Atlanta, Braselton, GA
www.world-challenge.com

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals, September 24-27
Texas Motorplex, Ennis, TX
www.nhra.com

Formula One
SingTel Singapore Grand Prix, September 25-27
Singapore Street Circuit, Marina Bay, Singapore
www.formula1.com

Redline: Time Attack! Series
Round 7, September 26-27
Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch, Pahrump, NV
www.redlinetimeattack.com

Battle of the Imports
Round 5: BOTI Oregon, September 27
Woodburn Dragstrip, Woodburn, OR
www.battleoftheimports.com

Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge
Bosch Engineering Octoberfest, October 2-4
Virginia International Raceway, Alton, VA
www.grand-am.com

World Rally Championship
Rally Catalunya, October 2-4
Salou, Catalonia, Spain
www.wrc.com

Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
Grand Prix of Miami, October 8-10
Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, FL
www.grand-am.com

IndyCar Series
Firestone Indy 300, October 9-10
Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, FL
www.indycar.com

Formula DRIFT
Round 7: Judgment Day, October 16-17
Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, Irwindale, CA
www.formulad.com

National Guard American Drag Racing League
LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals V, October 23-24
Texas Motorplex, Ennis, TX
www.adrl.us

Super Lap Battle Time Attack
Finals, November 11
Buttonwillow Raceway Park, Buttonwillow, CA
superlapbattle.com