One of the great things about Las Vegas Motor Speedway is that we have so many racing venues. On any given weekend you can find multiple activities taking place to keep you entertained. This weekend we are cranking it up a bit as both The Strip and the Bullring have three full days of racing activities scheduled. In fact, both venues are hosting multiple events on Saturday, which will make this weekend a race fan's dream.

We'll start out with a description of the activities taking place over at Gate 2 off of Las Vegas Boulevard. On Friday night the great folks at 600 Racing will host another round of INEX National point races for Legends, Thunder Roadster and Bandoleros at the Bullring. The Friday night shows are very laid-back and are focused on fun for the participant. Drivers race strictly for trophies and valuable National points. With this being the first of three days of racing, we expect a huge turnout of racers in the INEX classes as well dozens of cars testing. The great part about Friday night at the Bullring is that spectator admission is free.

The Bullring is very busy on Saturday and the action heats up early. The United States Auto Club (USAC) .25 Midget Series hosts their second points race of the season on the Bullring's kart track. Racers ranging in age from 6 to 16 will be competing on the 3/8 mile oval starting at 9 a.m. and will run until approximately 2 p.m. This is the last race before June's big USAC Blackjack 200 National Qualifying event so there's lots of pressure on these young stars to get their cars dialed-in for the big show. Spectator admission is free and it's a great opportunity for you to check out one of the neatest forms of racing if you have a child or grandchild who may want to get into the spotlight.

Saturday night the Bullring heats up with the fourth NASCAR Whelen All-American Racing Series event of the 2009 season. In the three races held so far, the action has been absolutely amazing in all of our regular classes. Also on tap for Saturday night is the return of the popular Baby Grand National cars. A large number of cars are traveling to Las Vegas for a gathering of Baby Grand National clubs from Canada, Washington and California. Last year they put on an incredible show that would lead you to believe you are watching a Sprint Cup race on a superspeedway.

The big experiment of the weekend comes on Sunday as the Bullring hosts a very, very rare daytime event. The SRL Southwest Tour will make their second appearance at the Bullring with a full show of qualifying and a 121-lap feature. Back in November, the SRL came to Las Vegas where local teen sensation Bear Rzesnowiecky made his series debut and also captured the win. Several local drivers are looking for rides for this event and the SRL will be bringing along close to 30 of the best touring cars in the Sothwest. In addition to the tour cars, Sunday's event will also feature two features for the Baby Grand Nationals as well as INEX National Championship Qualifier events for Roadsters, Bandoleros and Legends. It will be a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Keep in mind that all of the Bullring events are based on fan-friendly value. If you purchase your tickets before 5 p.m. on Friday you can get admission to each day's racing for just five dolalrs. Add that to our great $1 hot dog, $1 beer and $1 coke menu and that should get your wallet stimulated.

America's Greatest Drag Strip has another busy weekend ahead that will keep all of our local drag racing enthusiasts busy. On Friday night we'll host our standard Test 'n' Tune from 5 - 9 p.m. and then we kick off another night of Midnight Mayhem presented by MetroPCS from 9 p.m. - 1 a.m. All of the local car enthusiasts are fired up after watching the latest Fast and Furious movie so we expect another huge turnout of street legal cars who want to play drag racer. Our Midnight Mayhem events are all based on having fun and giving racers a chance to enjoy their car in a safe environment, we expect to have another successful show this Friday.

On Saturday morning more than 50 youngsters from Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah will converge for race number four of the Short Line Express Market/Chevron Jr. Drag Racing Series. Just as the USAC .25 cars are the stepping stone for oval racers, the NHRA Jr. Dragsters have opened the door for many of today's Powerade Series racers. Saturday's Jr. program includes a round of time trials, qualifying and eliminations. The action gets underway at 9 a.m.

As soon as the Jr. Dragsters clear the track (at approximately 4 p.m.) the quarter-mile heats up with point race number three of the Wicked HP Championship Drag Racing Series. More than 200 cars will be in competition on Saturday night including Motorcycle, High School, Sportsman, Pro and Super Pro brackets. In addition to the on-track activies, the Club Nitro area will feature the second "Hot Rods, Hot Dogs, Bikes and Budweiser" Cruise Night. All classic hot rods and custom bikes are admitted for free and the midway area features the most important part of a Saturday night car gathering: $1 beer and $1 hot dogs!

Racing in the Wicked HP Championship Series continues on Sunday with race number four and another complete program of bracket racing action. The two-day, two-show format is very popular with racers and fans alike and we expect a great turnout .

So, that is pretty much a preview of the busy weekend that's ahead for the racing operations department at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Five complete shows at The Strip and four complete shows at the Bullring. If you love racing at an affordable price the whole family can enjoy, then don't miss out. The weather forecast is great and there's never been a better excuse to get off the couch.

Hey race fans! I am looking forward to climbing back into the flagstand this weekend!  There is a full racing lineup this Saturday night at the Bullring. We have all of our regular divisions running with a special appearance from the ASA Speed Trucks.  

Looks to be a great night of racing and the weather should be perfect!

Don't forget that there will be 600 Racing events at the Bullring going on tonight with free admission and Midnight Mayhem over at The Strip.  PSCA makes its first appearance of the year at The Strip this weekend too, so there is plenty of racing to take in!

No matter what race track you come out to this weekend,  enjoy yourself.  Make sure you stop by the flagstand and say hi!

Have a great weekend, and as always, see you at the races!

Comments from Tony Schumacher, Top Fuel winner:

"Really, the team won today; I didn't do a great, great job driving. Last week I had a pretty special week and this week it was the team. They did just a heck of a job. Yesterday, I was a little gun shy. I went up there and red-lighted and had to get all that stuff out at some point.

"But that's what a team is all about. We put a good group of guys together and some days it's their days to shine and some days it's my day but at the end of the day we all shine together. It was a perfect, perfect run; that final was outstanding.

"Bernstein is an outstanding driver and has a great race team, but winning is about staging properly and getting a straight line down the track. I'm out there all the time and hammering down every time straight down the track."

"Most of the guys on my team haven't won two races in a row so that was so great for them and they did it today - they really did. I didn't drive flawlessly today ... I didn't do as good a job as I did last week. But that's what a team is all about."

Comments from Ronn Capps, Funny Car winner:

"I was asked several times by the media what was wrong and I just never worried. You need to get in your comfort zone. You'll find a lot of teams that seem like they may be struggling here the last few races. With four test dates for the whole year, there are a lot of teams testing things, including us, testing things that you have to try in qualifying once you get in the show and even on race day, believe it or not. It's tough to gauge how people are actually doing in their pit area. When we won that first round today and it was 4.21 and it wasn't that good, we got put over in the right lane and everybody thought we were doomed - and so did I - and it went right down there. It seems like when we don't have lane choice and Ace (McCulloch, crew chief) has got his back against the wall a little bit, he comes out swinging."

"As long as you know deep inside and your camp knows what you're doing, that's the thing. I got beat on a holeshot in Gainesville and there wasn't one thing said by anybody on the team - they know you're beating yourself up as it is. When you come back to the pit area and your guys, instead of saying, ‘Man, what happened?' they try to bring you back up right away and that's huge."

"Approaching the season, we had to step it up. The driver has to be on their game and on days like this, grind it out. It's going to be a fun year but we're really focusing on one race at a time."

Comments from Don Schumacher, owner of Team Schumacher:

"I am tremendously ecstatic about the runs today. Rookie Matt Hagan did a great job getting into the finals today. Having cars in all three classes come out on top is great and we couldn't be happier about that."

Comments from Jeg Coughlin, Pro Stock winner:

"We're used to having multiple rounds. The team had a ‘hurry up' offense this weekend. We had to hustle and really didn't catch our breath until the very final run. This is the second time we had a re-run and then came back to win the final. We had a tough day taking the top guy in pro-stock right now and running against Kurt."

"Here in this altitude weather, changes were made and problems were fixed. That's the name of the game to continue to improve and progress. We've had great luck, pro stocks are very difficult to turn a red light and the two red lights I had against me were very fortunate. Nothing to write home about, but when you're in the winner's circle drinking a cold one, it still feels pretty good with a win. There's a lot to be gained after a day like this and we're just trying every day to make these cars better and better. We're just trying to mix things up and stay on the offense during these competitions."

Las Vegas Local Justin Lamb, runner-up in Super Gas:

"I ran exactly what I needed in the final. We needed to go 10.05 and I ran 10.058 and (Seipel) was 10.07. He had a .003 (reaction time) and if I would have been .015 or .020 (instead of .055), I would have won. I just made a mistake and missed the tree. His son Kyle, when he races, races my car. His son has been racing for a really long time and when he does race, I always have an extra car so he drives my dragster, so it was actually very cool (to race Ted Seipel in the final). Obviously I wanted to win but if I didn't win, he'd be my next choice - it made losing not so bad. It's still a really good day - it's a great day. I now have a win and a runner-up in the first three national events so that's good for points."

6:14 p.m. - Comments from Justin Lamb of Henderson, Nev., who was the runner-up to Ted Seipel of San Leandro, Calif., in the Super Gas category Sunday at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals:

"I ran exactly what I needed in the final. We needed to go 10.05 and I ran 10.058 and (Seipel) was 10.07. He had a .003 (reaction time) and if I would have been .015 or .020 (instead of .055), I would have won. I just made a mistake and missed the tree. His son Kyle, when he races, races my car. His son has been racing for a really long time and when he does race, I always have an extra car so he drives my dragster, so it was actually very cool (to race Ted Seipel in the final). Obviously I wanted to win but if I didn't win, he'd be my next choice - it made losing not so bad. It's still a really good day - it's a great day. I now have a win and a runner-up in the first three national events so that's good for points."

Thank you and good night from The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

5:58 p.m. - Comments from Pro Stock driver Jeg Coughlin, who earned his second victory of the season and the 43rd of his career Sunday at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals:

(For the second time in your career, you had to go five rounds on race day) "I'm used to going multiple rounds from my days in bracket racing. For the team, we had kind of a hurry-up offense all day and really didn't catch our breaths until we got prepared for the final. The NHRA did a great job working with the situation and delaying the program just enough to get us prepared properly. We had to hustle. This is the second time we've had a re-run and today was Kurt Johnson - they don't get any tougher than him. We had a tough day. We're running for Full Throttle points here and for the dollars and for the Countdown to One and we'd love nothing more than to come out of Indy in first place in the Countdown with the extra bonus points that come with being number one. But there's a lot of racing between here and there."

5:20 p.m. - Comments from Funny Car driver Ron Capps, who earned his third victory of the season and the 28th of his career Sunday at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals:

(It was a nice way to rebound from the last two races when you lost in the first round) "I was asked several times by the media what was wrong and I just never worried. You need to get in your comfort zone. You'll find a lot of teams that seem like they may be struggling here the last few races.

With four test dates for the whole year, there are a lot of teams testing things, including us, testing things that you have to try in qualifying once you get in the show and even on race day, believe it or not. It's tough to gauge how people are actually doing in their pit area. When we won that first round today and it was 4.21 and it wasn't that good, we got put over in the right lane and everybody thought we were doomed - and so did I - and it went right down there. It seems like when we don't have lane choice and Ace (McCulloch, crew chief) has got his back against the wall a little bit, he comes out swinging."

"As long as you know deep inside and your camp knows what you're doing, that's the thing. I got beat on a holeshot in Gainesville and there wasn't one thing said by anybody on the team - they know you're beating yourself up as it is. When you come back to the pit area and your guys, instead of saying, ‘Man, what happened?' they try to bring you back up right away and that's huge."

5 p.m. - Comments from Top Fuel driver Tony Schumacher, who earned his second victory of the season and the 58^th of his career Sunday at the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals:

"Really, the team won today; I didn't do a great, great job driving. Last week I had a pretty special week and this week it was the team. They did just a heck of a job. Yesterday, I was a little gun shy. I went up there and red-lighted and had to get all that stuff out at some point. But that's what a team is all about. We put a good group of guys together and some days it's their days to shine and some days it's my day but at the end of the day we all shine together. It was a perfect, perfect run; that final was outstanding."

(Two wins in a row, it seems like losing your crew chief and losing a crew didn't seem to matter) "Obviously it matters because we had an amazing team. But when they said they were going to leave and we knew the guys were moving on, we didn't get down. We didn't throw helmets and we get angry. The fact is, that was the situation and now it's our job to hire good people and surround yourself with people that can make your car go down the racetrack and compete against those guys. Most of the guys on my team haven't won two races in a row so that was so great for them and they did it today - they really did. I didn't drive flawlessly today ... I didn't do as good a job as I did last week. But that's what a team is all about."

4:20 p.m. - Notes from the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals finals:

Tony Schumacher earned his second victory of the season and 58^th of his career. Schumacher is 2-for-2 in final rounds this season. ... Ron Capps notched his third win of the season and 28^th of his career. This was his third final round of the season. ... Jeg Coughlin appeared in is third final round of 2009 and picked up his second victory of the season and 43^rd of his career. ... Schumacher took over the Top Fuel points lead with the win and holds an 18-point lead over Antron Brown. ... Capps retained the points lead in Funny Car while Coughlin took over the lead in Pro Stock points. Capps leads Matt Hagan by 106 points and Coughlin leads Jason line by 12 points.

3:50 p.m. - Final results from the 10th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:

Top Fuel: Tony Schumacher (3.874 at 311.77) def. Brandon Bernstein (4.003 at 295.66).

Funny Car: Ron Capps (4.182 at 297.81) def. Matt Hagan (4.335 at 248.89).

Pro Stock: Jeg Coughlin (6.715 at 205.15) def. Greg Stanfield (foul).

Check back shortly for comments from the winning drivers.

2:38 p.m. - Semifinals winners and final-round matchup in Pro Stock:

Semifinals: Jeg Coughlin (6.708 at 204.60) def. Jason Line (6.738 at 205.79); Greg Stanfield (6.805 at 205.01) def. Greg Anderson (11.463 at 75.73).

Final: Stanfield vs. Coughlin.

2:32 p.m. - Semifinals winners and final-round matchup in Funny Car:

Semifinals: Ron Capps (4.201 at 292.20) def. Robert Hight (4.304 at 258.17); Matt Hagan (4.200 at 302.41) def. Cruz Pedregon (6.510 at 103.50).

Final: Hagan vs. Capps.

2:27 p.m. - Semifinals winners and final-round matchup in Top Fuel:

Semifinals: Tony Schumacher (3.932 at 308.43) def. Shawn Langdon (4.022 at 292.27); Brandon Bernstein (4.004 at 295.21) def. Antron Brown (4.149 at 216.51).

Final: Schumacher vs. Bernstein.

2:25 p.m. - Justin Lamb of Henderson won his fifth-round elimination race in Super Gas on Sunday and will get a bye into the final later this afternoon. Lamb turned in a 10.07-second pass in round five but his opponent, David Carroll, red-lighted. Lamb has four career national-event victories.

2 p.m. - Tony Pedregon appeared to have it over his brother Cruz in the second round of Funny Car eliminations after Cruz spun his tires about 200 feet into his run. But Tony dropped a cylinder three-quarters of the way through his run, drifted to the left and hit the timing cones at the finish line. As a result, Cruz advanced to the semifinals against Matt Hagan despite not taking a time in the round.

"I hate to see that happen; we like to go out here and put on a good show," Cruz said of the race. "The Pedregon brothers are about winning championships and doing a great job and I'm sure Tony would like to have that one back. Sometimes you need those breaks; we certainly got ours here last year."

1:46 p.m. - Second-round winners and semifinals matchups in Pro Stock:

Second round: Jason Line def. Rickie Jones; Greg Stanfield def. Warren Johnson; Greg Anderson def. Larry Morgan; Jeg Coughlin def. Mike Edwards (foul).

Semifinals: Coughlin vs. Line; Anderson vs. Stanfield.

1:24 p.m. - Second-round winners and semifinals matchups in Funny Car:

Second round: Cruz Pedregon def. Tony Pedregon (DQ - centerline violation); Matt Hagan def. Jack Beckman; Ron Capps def. Mike Neff; Robert Hight def. John Force.

Semifinals: C. Pedregon vs. Hagan; Hight vs. Capps.

1:10 p.m. - Second-round winners and semifinals matchups in Top Fuel:

Second round: Shawn Langdon def. Joe Hartley; Antron Brown def. Doug Kalitta; Brandon Bernstein def. Larry Dixon; Tony Schumacher def. Cory McClenathan.

Semifinals: Langdon vs. McClenathan; Brown vs. Bernstein.

12:45 p.m. -- First-round winners and second-round matchups in Pro Stock:

First round: Mike Edwards def. Steve Spiess; Jeg Coughlin def. Kurt Johnson (foul); Jason Line def. Dave Connolly; Rickie Jones def. Allen Johnson; Greg Anderson def. V Gaines; Larry Morgan def. Tom Hammonds; Greg Stanfield def. David Beckley; Warren Johnson def. Johnny Gray.

Second round: Edwards vs. Coughlin; Line vs. Jones; Anderson vs. Morgan; Stanfield vs. W. Johnson.

12:15 p.m. - A timing light malfunction will force Jeg Coughlin and Kurt Johnson to re-run their first-round Pro Stock race. According to NHRA officials, a stray piece of rubber led to a staging light malfunction that improperly gave Johnson a red light. The race will be re-run at approximately 12:25 p.m.

11:50 a.m. -- First-round winners and second-round matchups in Funny Car:

First round: Ron Capps def. Brian Thiel; Jack Beckman def. Ashley Force Hood; Tony Pedregon def. Del Worsham; Robert Hight def. Jeff Arend; Mike Neff def. Gary Densham; Matt Hagan def. Bob Bode; John Force def. Tim Wilkerson; Cruz Pedregon def. Bob Tasca III.

Second round: T. Pedregon vs. C. Pedregon; Beckman vs. Hagan; Hight vs. Force; Neff vs. Capps.

11:24 a.m. -- First-round winners and second-round matchups in Top Fuel:

First round: Doug Kalitta def. David Baca; Brandon Bernstein def. Spencer Massey; Cory McClenathan def. Troy Buff; Shawn Langdon def. Steve Chrisman; Antron Brown def. Mike Strasburg; Larry Dixon def. Urs Erbacher; Tony Schumacher def. Terry Haddock; Joe Hartley def. Morgan Lucas.

Second round: Langdon vs. Hartley; Schumacher vs. McClenathan; Brown vs. Kalitta; Dixon vs. Bernstein.

10:30 a.m. -- Here are the first-round pairings for today's professional eliminations:

Top Fuel: 1. Shawn Langdon vs. 16. Steven Chrisman; 2. Antron Brown vs. 15. Mike Strasburg; 3. Larry Dixon vs. 14. Urs Erbacher; 4. Tony Schumacher vs. 13. Terry Haddock; 5. Cory McClenathan vs. 12. Troy Buff; 6. Spencer Massey vs. 11. Brandon Bernstein; 7. David Baca vs. 10. Doug Kalitta; 8. Morgan Lucas vs. 9. Joe Hartley.

Funny Car: 1. Tony Pedregon vs. 16. Del Worsham; 2. Robert Hight vs. 15. Jeff Arend; 3. Mike Neff vs. 14. Gary Densham; 4. Ashley Force Hood vs. 13. Jack Beckman; 5. Bob Bode vs. 12. Matt Hagan; 6. Ron Capps vs. 11. Brian Thiel; 7. John Force vs. 10. Tim Wilkerson; 8. Cruz Pedregon vs. 9. Bob Tasca III.

Pro Stock: 1. Mike Edwards vs. 16. Steve Spiess; 2. Greg Anderson vs. 15. V. Gaines; 3. Greg Stanfield vs. 14. David Beckley; 4. Jason Line vs. 13. Dave Connolly; 5. Allen Johnson vs. 12. Rickie Jones; 6. Warren Johnson vs. 11. Johnny Gray; 7. Tom Hammonds vs. 10. Larry Morgan; 8. Jeg Coughlin vs. 9. Kurt Johnson.

10:15 a.m. - Good morning from The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where final eliminations for the 10^th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals will be contested on an absolutely gorgeous day. As was the case yesterday, there isn't a cloud in the sky, there is no threat of rain and winds out of the north are nothing like the gale-force winds that wreaked havoc on the racing Friday afternoon.

Driver introductions will begin at 10 a.m. (PDT) and final eliminations for the three professional categories gets underway at 11 a.m. Check back here often, as we'll be updating this blog throughout the day with news, results and interviews from the winning driver.

6:20 p.m. - Racing resumes at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway at 9 a.m. Sunday with Sportsman eliminations. Pre-race ceremonies for the 10^th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals begin at 10 a.m. and final eliminations start at 11 a.m.

Good evening from The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and be sure to check back Sunday for updates throughout final eliminations.

6:10 p.m. - Comments from Tony Pedregon, the top qualifier in Funny Car:

"Just good conditions today. What a huge benefit when you're qualified; we were able to enjoy.  We really felt that the run we had yesterday was going to keep us in the show even if it bumped us to the second round, and that really set the stage for what we were able to do this last session. I'm surprised that some other cars didn't take advantage of the conditions. It was a good racetrack out there and the car did, finally, what we told it to do. We're getting guys on track and I feel pretty confident about the car. When Dickie's doing his thing and I feel confident, we're pretty tough to beat. We've got a very good history here in this town and I love it. This is a great track, no complaints about it, and I've got my family here. (Did it help you having one run yesterday?) No question. Even for the guys who didn't get down the track, they've got data. The Top Fuel cars, I don't envy them having to make the best of two qualifying runs. The conditions were a little bit different today and we really didn't have the big disruption with the wind like we did yesterday. I know it pushed my car around a little bit and I know watching some other car run in front of us, it looked like they were affected quite a bit more by the crosswind that we had yesterday. Two runs is pretty tough to deal with, three is better and four even better. (On The Strip at LVMS.) This is really one of the nicest facilities and it's without question the nicest racetrack we race at. There are not a lot of issues with this track and if the weatherman is right and we have the same conditions (Sunday), then I feel good."

5:45 p.m. - Here are the 16 qualifiers in Funny Car for the 10^th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals:

1. Tony Pedregon; 2. Robert Hight; 3. Mike Neff; 4. Ashley Force Hood; 5. Bob Bode; 6. Ron Capps; 7. John Force; 8. Cruz Pedregon; 9. Bob Tasca III; 10. Tim Wilkerson; 11. Brian Thiel; 12. Matt Hagan; 13. Jack Beckman; 14. Gary Densham; 15. Jeff Arend; 16. Del Worsham.

5:30 p.m. - Comments from Shawn Langdon, the top qualifier in Top Fuel:

"It feels great. We've been working hard and I've been trying to do the best I can, being a rookie driver, and you don't want to hold the team back. We've got a great team and a great crew chief and great sponsors and I've just been trying my part and fortunately the guys put a good tune-up in it ... and I just kept it straight.

My first number-one, that's definitely a great feeling. (On yesterday's conditions) Going back to Houston, I was pretty nervous about the night run and yesterday, I was pretty nervous about the day run with all the wind because I'm still new to everything. I've been trying to adapt as quickly as I can, not to slow anybody down. It was definitely a little more of a comfort feeling for me to be able to run today - we had a little bit of a breeze but it wasn't as bad as yesterday. The guys were helping me out a bit. That's the great thing about the team; they've been really good about giving me pointers. (Did you feel this could be a number-one qualifier?) Yeah, the car has been running really good and we've had the potential (to be number one). We've run good and consistent in qualifying and we just struggled a little bit in eliminations. We've been kind of tickling around with the tune-up a little bit and I think Stew (crew chief John Stewart) is onto something; he showed a little bit today so hopefully we can get four good runs tomorrow."

5:10 p.m. - Here are the 16 qualifiers in Top Fuel for the 10^th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals:

1. Shawn Langdon; 2. Antron Brown; 3. Larry Dixon; 4. Tony Schumacher; 5. Cory McClenathan; 6. Spencer Massey; 7. David Baca; 8. Morgan Lucas; 9. Joe Hartley; 10. Doug Kalitta; 11. Brandon Bernstein; 12. Troy Buff; 13. Terry Haddock; 14. Urs Erbacher; 15. Mike Strasburg; 16. Steve Chrisman.

5:05 p.m. - Comments from Mike Edwards, the top qualifier in Pro Stock:

"I didn't think we'd run that fast. We ran (6.)67 during testing earlier, before Pomona, but this was a really, really nice run. Vegas is kind of a special place for me; it's kind of where it all started for me. It's a good start for us. I've never really been real good on Sunday here but hopefully tomorrow I can turn that around. (On the track conditions Saturday as opposed to Friday.) Today was worth coming out here for. Yesterday was miserable for everybody. Tomorrow's another day and we'll see what happens. You just tried to forget about yesterday. We didn't really draw on anything we did yesterday because the conditions were so much different. The head wind was not there and the track was warmer so we just kind of made adjustments off what we did in testing here. Hopefully, we can keep the momentum building and keep the ball rolling tomorrow."

4:20 p.m. - Here are the 16 qualifiers in Pro Stock for the 10^th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals:

1. Mike Edwards; 2. Greg Anderson; 3. Greg Stanfield; 4. Jason Line; 5. Allen Johnson; 6. Warren Johnson; 7. Tom Hammonds; 8. Jeg Coughlin; 9. Kurt Johnson; 10. Larry Morgan; 11. Johnny Gray; 12. Rickie Jones; 13. Dave Connolly; 14. David Beckley; 15. V Gaines; 16. Steve Spiess.

3:50 p.m. - In case you were wondering, Larry Dixon will become the seventh driver in NHRA history with at least 500 round wins when he reaches that milestone. John Force leads all drivers with 1,018 round wins and Warren Johnson (852), Kenny Bernstein (681), Bob Glidden (597), Joe Amato (527) and Kurt Johnson (508) all are members of the 500-round-win club.

3:30 p.m. - Two NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series drivers can reach significant career milestones Sunday during eliminations for the 10^th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA National at The Strip. Larry Dixon (Top Fuel) is two round wins away from 500 career round wins and can reach the milestone by advancing to the semifinals tomorrow. Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) has 397 career round-wins and can notch his 400^th by advancing to the Pro Stock finals Sunday.

3:10 p.m. - Ron Capps, who is second in Funny Car qualifying after two rounds, has been a fan of The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway long before this weekend. Capps, a two-time winner at The Strip, said the facility is one of few tracks the racers look forward to visiting.

"The Vegas race is always the track all drivers talk about," Capps said. "You know the track surface is going to be good, the racing will be good, there'll be great side-by-side racing and that takes the pressure off (the driver). Coming here is always nice. Chris (Powell) and all his people always do a great job."

Capps said The Strip offers drivers and fans alike an atmosphere that isn't found anywhere else on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

"Vegas is kind of a larger-than-life deal," said Capps, who won the fall event here in 2001 and 2005. "The grandstands are different here than any other track - they're stadium sized. When you walk out there or you get towed out there in your car, there's an enormous scoreboard, they've got a beautiful shut-down area, you got the scenery, you've got I-15, you've got these stands here.

"When they do the driver intros, there's no other track that gives us this kind of bang out there. It's pretty exciting for us to come out here."

2:05 p.m. - Bob Bode, Ron Capps and John Force remained the three quickest qualifiers following the second round of Funny Car qualifying. Cruz Pedregon remained fourth, Tim Wilkerson moved up from seventh to fifth and Robert Hight is sixth heading into this afternoon's final round of qualifying.

1:30 p.m. - Tony Schumacher, Brandon Bernstein and Antron Brown were the top three qualifiers after the first round of Top Fuel qualifying. Schumacher turned in a pass of 3.933 seconds at 297.81 mph, Bernstein was clocked at 4.027 at 281.13 and Brown went 4.071 at 268.49. Schumacher has been the No. 1 qualifier for the past six national events at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Both of Friday's Top Fuel qualifying sessions were canceled due to inclement weather.

12:45 p.m. - Mike Edwards jumped from sixth to the top qualifying spot in Pro Stock with a track-record pass of 6.656 seconds (206.16 mph). Greg Anderson was second quickest at 6.668 and posted a track-record speed of 206.70 mph. Greg Stanfield was third quickest at 6.690 at 205.94. The top four qualifiers after two rounds all bettered the Pro Stock track record of 6.703 second and fifth-place Warren Johnson equaled the mark. The previous Pro Stock speed record at The Strip was 206.07 mph, set last spring by Warren Johnson.

12:05 p.m. -NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series drivers Jeg Coughlin Jr., Cory McClenathan, Doug Kalitta and Tommy Johnson Jr. will compete in a special Thunder Roadster exhibition race tonight at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Spectator gates open at 5 p.m. and the exhibition race is scheduled to start shortly after 7 p.m. Details can be found HERE.

11:25 a.m. - Good morning from The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the second and final day of professional qualifying for the 10^th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals. Mercifully, the track is bathed in sunshine, there isn't a cloud in the sky and there is hardly a trace of the strong winds that whipped the track Friday. Pro Stock qualifying sessions are at noon and 3 p.m. and Nitro qualifying will be at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. All times are Pacific Daylight Time.

Check back here often, as we'll be updating this blog throughout the day with news, results and driver interviews.

6:16 p.m. - Just a reminder that Saturday's professional qualifying sessions will take place as scheduled and the weather promises to be more fan and racer friendly. Sportsman eliminations begin at 8 a.m., Pro Stock qualifying sessions are at noon and 3 p.m. and Nitro qualifying will be at 12:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Good evening from The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and be sure to check here Saturday and Sunday for constant updates from the 10th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals.

6:11 p.m. - Comments from provisional Pro Stock pole-sitter Greg Anderson following one round of qualifying:

"It was getting a little breezy out there but it really wasn't too bad when we ran. We got very lucky - to be quite honest with you, I probably got luckier than the rest of them because when I ran, I don't know why, but it seemed like the wind slowed down for me. This is a good start. I'm certainly not going to say that the number-one spot is in the books yet. If the wind goes down tomorrow, the cars will just get faster. If that happens, we're going to have to come back and run faster. Knock on wood; it has been a great run out here in Las Vegas since that first race. I love coming here and I love racing here - I love everything about this city. (On the decision to cancel the second round of qualifying.) It's pretty dangerous out there. You really don't want to be in a car going down that racetrack, to be honest with you."

5:45 p.m. - Comments from provisional Funny Car pole-sitter Bob Bode following one round of qualifying:

"When we came in here, we had a good number. We (qualified) 16^th at Houston but we had a good tune-up and we knew we could step it up a little. We didn't know we could step it up to where I'd be standing here. It was kind of a surprise. They were shooting for about a (4.)16 and then (4.)14 came up - everything worked the way it was supposed to. (Tuners) Richard Hogan and Walt Przybyl are the two guys who made this thing happen. It's amazing. We always had hopes ... coming in here, the dream was maybe to be in the top half after the first round or after all four rounds. Standing here, being the number-one qualifier after the first day ... all the stars lined up for us. But we worked hard at it - it's not like it fell in our laps."

5:30 p.m. - Due to strong winds and cold weather, NHRA officials canceled both rounds of qualifying today for Top Fuel and the second rounds for Funny Car and Pro Stock. The announcement came following three lengthy delays that put Friday's session more than three hours behind schedule.

According to an LVMS spokesman, those holding tickets for today's session can use their ticket as a credit towards the purchase of tickets for Saturday's qualifying sessions, for either the Friday or Saturday sessions at the fall event at LVMS or for the Friday or Saturday sessions next spring. Friday tickets may not be used for any Sunday session.

 Las Vegas Motor Speedway's NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals Rain Policy

5:20 p.m. - It appears as if racing is over for the day. Arley Langlo made the first - and only - Top Fuel pass and his engine blew up, leaking fluid onto the track. After a lengthy clean up, the remaining Top Fuel dragsters were sent back to the pits. Stand by for additional information and comments from the top qualifiers in Funny Car and Pro Stock.

5 p.m. - Bob Bode claimed the provisional Funny Car pole after one round of qualifying with a pass of 4.145 seconds at 303.43 mph. Ron Capps was second at 4.148 at 297.94 and John Force was third at 4.149 at 300 mph.

4:25 p.m. - After a delay of more than an hour to replace the ‘Christmas Tree,' Nitro qualifying has begun and the first Funny Cars have made their first qualifying runs. Stay tuned for results.

3:35 p.m. - This is what you call "filler material" when there's nothing to write about because electricians are dismantling the ‘Christmas Tree:' Kurt Johnson is the winningest driver in NHRA history to have never won a championship. Johnson has 39 career victories but has never captured a World Championship. He has finished runner-up in points four times in his career.

3:20 p.m. - What next? After a delay for rain of more than 90 minutes earlier today, now the ‘Christmas Tree' at the starting line has malfunctioned and officials are attempting to repair it.

3 p.m. - Greg Anderson continued his success at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the quickest pass during the first round of Pro Stock qualifying. Anderson's run of 6.718 second at 205.32 mph put him atop the speed chart Friday afternoon. Mike Edwards was second fastest at 6.721 at 205.19 and Jason Line was third at 6.725 at 204.88.

2:50 p.m. - Three-time NHRA Pro Stock World champion Greg Anderson is the most successful driver in the history of The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Anderson, who drives for Las Vegas businessman Ken Black, has six victories at The Strip, including sweeps of both the spring and fall events in 2003, 2004 and 2007. Anderson also has been the No. 1 qualifier five times in Las Vegas.

1:55 p.m. - The sun is peeking from behind the clouds, the track is dry and the last of the Sportsman cars are on the track. The first round of professional qualifying is expected to begin at 2:30 p.m.

1:25 p.m. - The folks from Goodyear Racing passed on this item from this morning's Sportsman eliminations at The Strip: Super Stock driver Shane Studley of Bellflower, Calif., won his class today in his first race on Goodyear tires. Studley won the Super Stock competition at the season opener in Pomona on a different brand of tires but switched to Goodyear before the Las Vegas event because he liked the tire manufacturer's service. "My dad used to race on Goodyears and the opportunity to race with Goodyear again was too good to pass up," Studley said.

12:55 p.m. - It has stopped raining and NHRA officials have a full arsenal of vehicles on the racing surface in an attempt to dry the track and get professional qualifying underway. No word at the moment when the track will be suitable for racing but it appears to be drying quickly.

12:25 p.m. - The first round of eliminations is on a temporary hold as a light drizzle has forced NHRA officials to suspend racing. Track officials expect the delay to brief a brief one. Stay tuned for updates.

11:45 a.m. - Good morning from The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the first round of professional qualifying for the 10^th annual SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals. It's cloudy and windy as Sportsman eliminations continue on the strip.

Professional runs begin at 12:30 p.m. (PDT), when the Pro Stock cars hit the track. The first of two Nitro qualifying sessions is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m. & nbsp; Check back here often, as we'll be updating this blog throughout the weekend with news, results and driver interviews.