NHRA - BREAKING NEWS (April 16)

HIGHT WINS ONE FOR JOHN FORCE RACING: Only two weeks after skipping the Houston race to mourn the death of teammate Eric Medlen, and to do some safety changes, Robert Hight came up big for John Force Racing in Las Vegas. Hight battled points leader Ron Capps, who was in his third straight final-round, in the Funny Car final at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals. Hight came out on top and immediately dedicated the win to the memory of Medlen. The win vaulted Hight to the number two position in points. He is now 88 points behind Capps.

* THE STREAK ENDS: John Force’s unparalleled streak of consecutive races qualified came to an end at 395 this weekend in Las Vegas. He began his run back in October 1987 at the World Finals in Pomona, Calif.. From that point to this weekend Force had made the qualifying field of 16 in every race he participated in. He was not angry at this circumstance. “There’s bigger things in life that I’ve faced,” said Force. “Trust me. So, this is only a little stone. We’ve been climbing mountains lately.” Ironically, the second longest active streak came to an end this weekend, also. Top Fuel driver Doug Kalitta had a consecutive qualifying streak of 164 races coming into this event and he failed to qualify for Sunday’s eliminations, also.

* KELLEY HANDLES THE TURNS IN LONG BEACH: Xplōd Series racer Scott Kelley participated in the Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Kelley, who races a Toyota Corolla in the Honda Tuning All Motor Category, finished third among the pros and seventh overall. The overall winner was BMX biker Dave Mirra, who finished one-second ahead of tennis Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova. Even though he drives his Corolla in a straight line on the drag strip, Kelley was able to negotiate the turns in his Scion tC and pass several cars.

* CAPPS COME AWAY WITH A VICTORY: Ron Capps may not have won the Funny Car final, but he did earn the victory in an eight-lap NHRA celebrity race around the three-eighths mile paved oval known as the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The others racing Thunder Roadsters were Tommy Johnson Jr., Gary Scelzi and Cruz Pedregon, who finished in that order. The highlight of the night was Pedregon’s spinout on the third lap.

* SCELZI TO HOLD TELECONFERENCE: Gary Scelzi and Don Schumacher Racing will be holding a special teleconference on Tuesday, April 17 at 2 p.m. (ET) to make an important announcement regarding his future in the sport. Don Schumacher will also be on the call with Scelzi. For more information contact Judy Stropus at 203-438-0501 (office) or 203-243-2438 (cell).

COMING ATTRACTIONS

* VIRGINIA NHRA SPORT COMPACT NATIONALS, RICHMOND, VA., VIRGINIA MOTORSPORTS PARK, APRIL 21-22: The drivers of the NHRA Xplōd Sport Compact Racing Series are coming to Virginia Motorsports Park for the second year. Ed Bergenholtz will try to earn his second victory at this event in the competitive Pro FWD category.

* SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT NHRA SOUTHERN NATIONALS, COMMERCE, GA., ATLANTA DRAGWAY, APRIL 26-29: Race No. 6 in the NHRA POWERade Countdown to the Championship moves to scenic Atlanta Dragway, often the site of some thrilling side-by-side finishes at more than 300 mph. Defending winners include Doug Kalitta, Tony Pedregon, Dave Connolly and Antron Brown.

* REILLY NHRA MIDWEST NATIONALS, MADISON, ILL., GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, MAY 4-6: The NHRA’s annual visit to St. Louis comes nearly two months earlier this season, as Tony Schuamcher, Tony Pedregon, Mike Edwards and Chip Ellis will try to defend their victories from ’06.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

· 152: The number of races that Angelle Sampey has qualified for consecutively since she began racing Pro Stock Motorcycle in 1996. This makes her the current active leader in NHRA national event qualifying. Sampey has never had a DNQ in her professional career. She is followed by fellow U.S. Army rider Antron Brown at 131 races.

DRIVERS TELL ALL

· BERNSTEIN KNOWS MEDLEN WAS THERE: Top Fuel winner Brandon Bernstein knew that his buddy Eric Medlen was not there in body, but was there in sprit. “Every time I was in a final, Eric was always down at the end of the track,” said an emotional Bernstein. “If I won or lost, when I came around that corner, he was always there. It felt great that J.R. (Todd) was down there for me this time. I know Eric was there, too, he just wasn’t there in the Physical sense. It was very emotional. I loved that guy, I really did, with all my heart.” After the Winner’s Circle presentation, Bernstein presented his Wally trophy to Medlen’s mother Mimi Medlen.