Anderson takes zMAX back to back.

Greg doing a burnout

Greg Anderson knew he would have to be at the top of his game to have a winning chance at the Four Wide NHRA Nationals at zMAX Dragway last weekend. Having qualified in seventh place, he fought his way to the final of this unique three-round, four abreast race by being the quickest in each of the first two rounds, where he would race against Vincent Nobile, Erica Enders, and his teammate Jason Line.

As was the case in earlier rounds, this race did not start of without problems, as Erica's scoreboard malfunction gave the erroneous impression that she had won the finals. However, once the NHRA officials reviewed the finish line video (in slo-mo), as is customary, it became apparent that the Summit Racing Pontiac GXP was well ahead at the finish line giving the four-time champion his third home track win and the 72nd of his racing career.

Greg (second from bottom)

"Seeing Jason a car length ahead of me for the whole race, I knew I must have lost to him", said Anderson. "He doesn't red light very often, so I didn't even think of that. I figured I must have been very late, and didn't even bother looking at my win light on the wall. As I came around the corner at the top end I was really bummed, because I was wondering who else might have finished ahead of me. I then saw the TV cameras coming towards me, and realized that I had somehow won."

In Top Fuel, Spencer Massey won by running 332 mph and actually just wanted to go from A to B and make his competitors beat him.

In Funny Car, Robert Hight became just the fifth Funny Car driver to win four consecutive events in NHRA history. His winning run was a 4.076 second pass at 314.83 mph with a reaction time of 0.58 seconds.

The next race will take place April 27-29 at the Royal Purple Raceway, in Houston, Texas.

Thanks for reading.

Source: Doorslammers.com.

Photos courtesy of: NHRA and Drag Illustrated.

The racing weekend that was

In NHRA:
Everybody loves Vegas, especially Robert Hight (F/C), Spencer Massey (T/F) and Allen Johnson (P/S) after this weekends' races at the strip.

Robert Hight drove his Ford to a win over Bob Tasca III to earn his 26th career victory with a 4.154 at 312.93 mph.

Top Fuel teammates Spencer Massey and Antron Brown met each other in the finals with Massey taking the win light with a 3.83 at 323.89 mph in his Fram sponsored dragster. Runner-up Brown now leads the series while Massey's win propelled him to third in the points.

The BK boys started the season with a bang and Line qualified #1, but that all ended with an all-Dodge Pro Stock final, when Allen Johnson defeated Vincent Nobile with a 6.648 at 207.3 mph. This is Johnson's tenth career win. Both Johnson and Nobile use engines by Roy Johnson (Allen's father).

Erica Enders had her best race of the season but lost to the eventual winner in the Pro Stock semi-finals. She has been beating everybody on the tree though! It is just a matter of time!

The next race is scheduled for April 13-15 at Charlotte, N.C., with the always exciting Four-Wide racing.

In ADRL:

A couple of first time champs dominate at the season's first ADRL event, the CarSafe Dragpalooza VIII. Here follows the first-time winners list:

Rickie Jones (Pro Nitrous),
Alan Pittman (Extreme 10.5),
Casey Stemper (Pro Extreme Motorcycle),
John Pluchino (Extreme Pro Stock),
Marco Abrussi (Top Sportsman),
Mike Castellana (Pro Mod).

The new and revolutionary SuperCar class made its debut and was an instant hit with the fans. Bo Butner went 5.862 at 119.46 in his Ford Mustang.

Next race: April 20-21 at Bristol Dragway.

In NASCAR:

What a race! Longtime race leader Jeff Gordon ran out of fuel following the first attempt at a green-white chequered flag when Clint Bowyer "dive-bombed" down the inside line and took out Jimmie Johnson.
The wreck resulted in several drivers with cut tires, spins or wrecking into the wall, including Kyle and Kurt Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya, Travis Kvapil and Dave Blaney.

At the end, Ryan Newman emerged victorious at the end of the 500 laps at Martinsville Speedway. To go to a race recap video, please click here.

Next race: April 14 in Texas, Sat 7 pm on FOX

In WRC:

Mikko Hirvonen wins the Vodafone Rally de Portugal, but after scrutineers find irregularities he is disqualified. Pending his appeal, Ford privateer Mads Ostberg is named the winner.

The scrutineers found differences in the car's clutch and turbo. However, Yves Matton, the teams's race director, claims the penalty handed down was too severe and is appealing the decision.

For the highlights video of this race, please click here.  In the words of a driver, "so much mud... so much fog."  Lots of slipping and sliding. Don't miss it!

Thanks for reading.

Source: NHRA, Fast doorslammers.com, ADRL, Nascar, Crash.net.