Led by an impressive victory by Super Gas racer Michael Sawyer and a runner-up finish by Top Alcohol Funny Car kingpin Frank Manzo, the team from the Northeast Division held on to win its third straight overall team title in the Jegs Allstars event. Following a lengthy debate, the Division 1 team was awarded the championship via a tiebreaker over Division 2.

To help preserve NHRA’s rich history and tradition while capitalizing on the success of nostalgia drag racing competition, NHRA has formed the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series. The series will kick off with the famed March Meet in Bakersfield, Calif., March 7-9 and conclude Oct. 10-12 at the California Hot Rod Reunion presented by Automobile Club of Southern California.

Fourteen-time NHRA Funny Car world champion John Force underwent additional scheduled surgery Tuesday at Kerlan-Jobe Medical Center in Los Angeles, where doctors inserted a pin in his right foot to support a broken bone discovered after he had flown home to Yorba Linda, Calif., following 27 days in a Dallas hospital.

With the rescheduling of the O’Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals presented by Q, the well-known Western Swing has turned into the “U.S. Swing,” taking drivers from Topeka, Kan., to Sonoma, Calif., hitting 10 races in 12 weeks. No driver recognizes how much of an impact this schedule will have on the Countdown to the Championship more than Funny Car driver Jack Beckman.

NHRA has announced changes to its online national event registration policy for the 2006 season. The system offers many advantages to racers, including 24/7 access to entry information, a streamlined process, the ability to complete a tech card online, and real-time data that shows accepted entries against the event’s quota.