Formula One
Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, October 30-November 1
Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE

The final race of the 2009 championship was a cakewalk for Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel, who had it easy in Sunday night's inaugural day/night Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton had brake issues with his McLaren and became a non-factor. The win for Vettel cemented his second place in the drivers' world championship behind Brawn GP's Jenson Button, who finished in third behind Vettel's teammate Mark Webber.

Hamilton led from pole and built a lead of 1.4 seconds when he refueled on Lap 17. Vettel was able to run until the 20th lap and emerged comfortably in the lead. Soon afterward Hamilton's challenge ended when McLaren had to withdraw his car after the telemetry revealed a problem with the right rear brake pads, which were experiencing excessive wear.

Webber moved up to second, with Button at that stage a distant third ahead of Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello. Barrichello had run ahead of the Button on the opening lap but clipped Webber's left-rear wheel with the right-hand endplate of his front wing, causing understeer. Button overtook and chased after Webber a while, at one stage unsuccessfully fending off rookie Kamui Kobayashi until the Toyota driver finally had to refuel.

In the closing stages, Button found the softer Bridgestone option tire cured the understeer he'd had on the harder primes and homed in on Webber. On the final lap he drew alongside at the end of the backstretch, but Webber handled the situation well, making his car big on the inside line and forcing Button to go to the outside where he didn't want to go. They ran side by side for a while, but the Australian was able to keep his second place by 0.6s.

Behind the leaders, Panasonic Toyota Racing finished 2009 on a positive note with a double-points finish. Kobayashi gave a brilliant performance to score points in just his second Formula 1 race, while Jarno Trulli finished in the top eight for the eighth time this season.

Both drivers started on the medium compound Bridgestone Potenza tires, with Trulli battling hard on the opening lap to hold sixth spot as Kobayashi overtook Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen into Turn 1 to move into 11th. Trulli dropped a position on the second lap but then put in a series of quick times in the run up to his first pit stop, when he continued with medium rubber.

On the same lap, the hard-charging Kobayashi, on a heavy fuel load and one-stop strategy, passed Button for ninth. By the time his only pit stop arrived, he was running third while Trulli was battling in the top six. Kobayashi resumed the fight, now on soft tires, and kept up a strong pace to stay in contention for the top six.

Trulli made a late pit stop for soft rubber and resumed just behind Kobayashi, with the two TF109s crossing the finishing line just a few seconds apart.

Besides Hamilton, the only other retirement was Jaime Alguersuari. The Spaniard mistakenly tried to refuel in Vettel's Red Bull pit instead of his own Toro Rosso camp and was frantically waved back round. He stopped soon after, out of fuel on the track.

The final tally in the drivers' world championship is Button in first with 95, followed by Vettel (84), Barrichello (77) and Webber (69.5). In the constructors' world championship, behind Brawn and Red Bull, McLaren retained third place ahead of Ferrari, while Williams lost sixth at the last gasp by 1.5 points to BMW Sauber.

The F1 madness begins anew for 2010 next March 14, when teams convene at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir for the Bahrain Grand Prix (MFL photography provided by Red Bull Racing, Brawn GP, BMW Sauber F1, Panasonic Toyota Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso).

Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, October 29 - November 1
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada

Robert Hight essentially locked up his first NHRA Funny Car title when he drove to victory at the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, a win that put him 105 points ahead of the rest of his competitors. Hight was joined in the winner's circle by Spencer Massey (Top Fuel), Larry Morgan (Pro Stock), and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

The championship picture got much clearer in Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle, and a lot more complicated in Top Fuel in Las Vegas, the second to last event in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season.

The most interesting race heading into the final event is in Top Fuel, where just one point separates leader Tony Schumacher and second-place Larry Dixon. Cory McClenathan is just 48 markers out of the lead.

Hight very likely put the title out of reach when he went the distance and his closest competitors fell early. His biggest boost came in round one, when he defeated second-place Ashley Force Hood, who is now 105 points back.

In Pro Stock, Mike Edwards all but clinched the championship. Edwards leaves Las Vegas 139 points in front of Greg Anderson, the only driver left in mathematical contention, meaning he can clinch the title during Pomona qualifying.

The Pro Stock Motorcycle championship is now down to two riders, Hector Arana and Eddie Krawiec. The pair met in the semifinals with Arana coming out on top. Though Arana ultimately lost in the final, he holds a solid 54-point advantage over Krawiec heading to Pomona.

Though realistically he is out of the championship hunt (he has not been mathematically eliminated but would need a miracle), Massey may very well have locked up the 2009 Automobile Club of Southern California Road to the Future Award when he drove Don Prudhomme's U.S. Smokeless rail to his second win of the season; Massey also won in Chicago. Massey was on a rail through eliminations, capping the day with a 3.827, low e.t. of eliminations, to defeat Dixon in the final. This was a repeat of the Reading final, in which Dixon prevailed.

Massey advanced to his fourth career final round on the strength of 3.83- to 3.87-second passes. He opened with a 3.83 to oust fellow rookie Shawn Langdon, then clocked 3.87 and 3.84 runs to defeat No. 2 qualifier Steve Torrence and Richmond champ Brandon Bernstein.

Dixon just missed taking over the points lead when he came up short in the final, his ninth of the season and 92nd of his career. Dixon, who now sits one point out of first, had a perfect day leading up to the final, in which he smoked the tires. Dixon ran low e.t. of the first two rounds as he dispatched Morgan Lucas and Doug Kalitta. In the semi's, he had the second-best time of the round, a 3.845 that was only bettered by Cory McClenathan, whom Dixon beat on a holeshot.

Hight couldn't have scripted his Las Vegas outing any better. His Auto Club-backed Mustang was the class of the Funny Car field on Sunday, running low e.t. of every round. In the final, Hight powered to a 4.125 to edge Jack Beckman by .012-second for the win. Beckman, who got the jump at the Tree .058 to .075, finished with a 4.154. The win is the third of the season for Hight, all of which have come during the Countdown to 1 playoffs, and the 14th of his career.

Hight's big points day got off to a high-pressure start when he was matched with second-place points runner and teammate Force Hood. Hight was up to the task, running a 4.11 to defeat Force Hood, who faded on the top end and slowed to a 4.33. Hight then clocked a 4.12 to defeat boss John Force, who smoked the tires and crossed the centerline while trying to get his car to recover. Hight advanced to his fourth final of the year and the 26th of his career when he powered to low e.t. of eliminations, 4.080, to trailer Tim Wilkerson.

Beckman kept himself in mathematical contention with a clutch final-round performance that moved him up two spots in the standings, from sixth to fourth. Beckman's day was the polar opposite of that of Hight as the Don Schumacher Racing driver struggled most of eliminations.

In round one, Beckman outpedaled Mike Neff to win the tire-smoking affair on a 4.43 to 4.69 count. The following round, Beckman and teammate Matt Hagan both had troubles on the run with Beckman ultimately coming out on top with a 4.21. Beckman's sluggish runs continued in the semis when he clocked a 4.35 to oust a tire-smoking Del Worsham and advance to his fifth final this year and the 17th of his career.

Morgan snapped a dry spell that dated back to Sonoma 2002 when he defeated Rickie Jones in the Pro Stock final. Morgan led the final wire to wire, cutting a .012 light and outpowering Jones, 6.72 to 6.79, to claim his 10th career win.

Morgan may not be part of the championship chase, but he played a key role in it during eliminations. In round one, Morgan defeated Jason Line, eliminating the Summit driver from championship contention. He then denied Mike Edwards the 2009 world title when he defeated the points leader on a holeshot, 6.72 to 6.67. Morgan advanced to his first final of the year and the 32nd of his career when he drove his Lucas Oil-backed Dodge past Greg Stanfield.

Jones combined solid driving with a solid-running car to advance to the first final of his young career. Jones began the day with a holeshot victory against Vinnie Deceglie, combining a .020 light with a 6.72 to better Deceglie's .072-initiated 6.69. Jones then ran back-to-back 6.71s to defeat Roger Brogdon and Ron Krisher to advance to the money round.

Hines was mathematically eliminated from championship consideration in the semifinals, but he gave his teammate, Eddie Krawiec, a big boost in his bid to win back-to-back titles when he defeated Arana in the final. Arana made things easy when he left with a very early -.144 light. Hines also left before the green with a -.014, but at that point it didn't matter. Hines punctuated his win, the third this season and 18th overall, with a 6.998.

Hines really was the class of the field in eliminations. Though he wasn't quickest of the class in his round-one victory over Fred Camarena, Hines was the best of the following three rounds. He clocked a 7.00 to trailer Doug Horne in round two, then blasted to a 6.992, low e.t. of the day, to defeat Matt Smith in the semi's and advance to his fourth final of '09 and 31st of his career.

Arana extended his lead, boosting it to 54 markers, with his final-round showing. Starting from the No. 1 spot, Arana clocked a series of 7.0s en route to the final, beginning with a 7.05 to defeat Mike Berry. He then put a 7.02 on the boards to end Doug Horne's day. In the semi's, Arana won an important match with second-place Krawiec and did so on the starting line, turning a .016 to .032 reaction-time advantage into a 7.039 to 7.028 victory. That gave him a spot in his sixth final of the year and ninth overall.

Whatever loose ends are left in the points chases will be tied up in two weeks when the 2009 season comes to a conclusion in the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, November 12-15 at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, Calif. (MFL photography provided by NHRA.com).

NHRA Las Vegas Nationals
The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, NV

www.nhra.com

HALL-OF-FAME RACERS
Bergenholtz Racing to be Inducted into the NHRA Motorsports Museum

After years of tireless innovation and dedication to sport compact drag racing, Bergenholtz Racing will be recognized for its work and inducted into the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. Their first flagship racer, the Bergenholtz Racing Honda CR-X, will be installed into the museum for what the team accomplished with it in drag racing.

The Bergenholtz CR-X is most noted for being the first FWD drag car to employ wheelie bars, an innovation that would forever revolutionize front-wheel-drive drag racing.

"It is a great honor for the NHRA to recognize Bergenholtz Racing and its accomplishments in sport compact drag racing," said Bergenholtz Racing Team Manager Ron Bergenholtz of the honor. "I thought capturing the back-to-back NHRA Championships was at the top of the list, but being inducted into the museum is legendary.

"I know my grandchildren and great-grandchildren can go to NHRA Museum and look at the amazing things their grandfathers did in drag racing."

The NHRA Motorsports Museum will be showcasing the Bergenholtz Racing CR-X in a diorama-styled display. The diorama will showcase the Bergenholtz brothers' CR-X in a garage scene that will complement the overall presentation.

"The diorama took a fair amount of time to complete," explained Ed Bergenholtz, pilot of the famous Honda hatchback. "We had just completed the Formula DRIFT finals and started right away on preparing the CR-X, as well as acquired the necessary props for the display.

"The diorama came out amazing in the museum. I can't wait for everyone to see it!"

The induction of Bergenholtz Racing into the NHRA Motorsports Museum and unveiling of the display will occur on November 13, 2009.

Coming up:

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

NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series
Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals, November 12-15
Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, Pomona, CA
www.nhra.com

Redline: Time Attack! Series
Round 8, November 14-15
Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, CA
www.redlinetimeattack.com

Battle of the Imports
Round 6: BOTI Southern California, November 22
Auto Club Dragway, Fontana, CA
www.battleoftheimports.com

Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge
KONI Challenge at Daytona, January 29, 2010
Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
www.grand-am.com

Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
Rolex 24 at Daytona, January 30-31, 2010
Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
www.grand-am.com

Formula One
Bahrain Grand Prix, March 12-14, 2010
Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain
www.formula1.com

National Guard American Drag Racing League
ADRL Safety-Kleen Dragpalooza VI, March 12-13, 2010
Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, TX
www.adrl.us

IndyCar Series
March 14, 2010
TBA, Brazil
www.indycar.com

American Le Mans Series
Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida, March 17-20, 2010
Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, FL
www.americanlemans.com