NASCAR shafts NHRA

A thread on the popular drag racing website Nitromater.com is titled: “Are we second fiddle?”

It refers to the U.S. motor sports pecking order where NASCAR is No. 1 and NHRA a distant second.

The writer is not happy about a revision to the NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule that moves a race at Phoenix International Raceway from mid-April to the second race of the 2011 season on Feb. 27. The move was made after the date opened when Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., lost one of its two Cup races on what traditionally had been the weekend after the Daytona 500 opener.

Guess what? The end of February has been the traditional weekend for the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event at Firebird International Raceway near Phoenix for several years.

So now NHRA and Firebird have to come up with another weekend.

I suggest moving it to late September or early October and calling it the Fallnationals, which is what the national event at Firebird was called when it was held in October from 1985 through 1989 before moving to the spring.

Firebird shouldn’t feel too jilted and should be thrilled it still gets to host a national event after its pathetic track condition forced this year’s race to be stopped and postponed for several months. It should want to wait as long as possible before its next national event and hope racers and fans forget what happened there.

Second fiddle? Firebird is lucky NHRA still lets them play in the band.

NHRA Countdown

The fields for drag racing’s playoffs will be set after this weekend’s racing in Brainerd, Minn. The 10 competitors in the four pro categories get chances over the last six races to determine season champions beginning at the Sept. 1-6 U.S. Nationals.

Although the Countdown is better than NASCAR’s 10-race Chase, it still sucks.

It’s even worse this year because of low car counts at most national events.

Only 11 Top Fuel drivers and 13 in Nitro Funny Car have competed in each of the first 16 races.

MacCachren stays hot

Las Vegan Rob MacCachren won two rounds last weekend in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series event at Glen Helen Raceway in Southern California. His is the point leader in the Unlimited Pro 2 class.

Bullring is back

After taking six weeks off, the NASCAR All-American Racing Series returns on Saturday night to the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Six points races remain in the season. For complete details and ticket info, go to LVMS.com.

Here are the current points leaders:

MetroPCS Super Late Model
1. Scott Gafforini 229
2. Robert Ewing 220
3. Dustin Ash 217
4. Bear Rzesnowiecky 190
5. Glen Burke 181
6. Nick Halen 158
7. Dennis Rock Jr 136
8. Steve Anderson 130
9. Casey Kingsland 104
10. Fabian Bray 98
11. Nick Parmelee 94
12. David Anderson 86
13. Jeff Connors 70
14. Jim Petrie 64
15. John Spilotro 58
16. Nick Joanides 44
17. Ray Hooper Jr 32
18. Dusty Davis 28
19. Jeff Bargerhuff 18
20. Skylar Mortensen 16

Chargers
1. Phil Goodwin 392
2. Mario Opipari 386
3. Vinny Raucci 385
4. Chuck Burgess 343
5. Steve Tilton 316
6. Dallas Simonette 311
7. Hayley Lager 290
8. Mike Sell 254
9. Tom Pfundstein 250
10. James Wingard 236
11. Stan Mullis 157
12. Ron Barker 156
13. Dan Schools 107
14. Dylan Kwasniewski 84
15. Chad Mattos 68
Gary Griffiths Jr 68
17. Jerry Gentry 65
18. Joe Finger 64
Mike McKearn 64
20. Michael Riefler 37

Bombers
1. Wade Pearson 303
2. Bret Empey 288
3. Pete Meyer 280
4. Barbara West 277
5. Josh Morgan 258
6. Ben Sherard 216
7. Steve Borkowski 201
8. Shannon Aikau 185
9. Matt Vargas 181
10. Scott Castle 175
11. Gerri Pearson 148
12. Dave Stevens 122
13. Justin Griffiths 102
14. Roland Pelletier 64
15. Anthony Reigert 52
16. Casey Hallauer 33
17. Brandon Chapman 32
18. Dylan Cruz 31
19. Ercell Fortney 30
20. Bridgette Raucci 28
Dennis Thorn 28
Jim Merlino 28
Cayla Bronston 28

Legends – Pro
1. Robert D’Ambra 464
2. Justin Irwin 435
3. Jeremiah Wagner 424
4. Brecken Snow 365
5. Jay Beasley 328
6. Mike Abbate 325
7. Brandon Snow 258
8. Eric Gunderson 131
9. Wrango West 105
10. Brent Scheidemantle 87
11. Darren Amidon 42
12. Josh Gross 40
13. Nick Parmelee 38
14. Dylan Kwasniewski 36

Legends – Master
1. Frank McCourt 461
2. Michael Fox 417
3. Jeffery King 333
4. Rick Rogas 253
5. Fletch Hammond 203
6. Jim Galza 190
7. Michael Glazier 155
8. Spike Schultze 94
9. BJ Bollman 93
10. Terry Sykes 81
12. Robert Roth 48
13. Donna Gunther 46
14. Bob Kronenberg 43
15. Wayne Jacks 43
16. Brian Holley 38

Legends – Semi Pro
1. Cheyanne Schindler 428
2. Alex Young 424
3. Scott Rhoden 398
4. Andrew Muscanell 339
5. Spencer Gallagher 276
6. Chase Catania 261
7. Alex Pacheco 196
8. Josh Fultz 189
9. JK Snow 168
10. Bronson Butcher 136
11. Robb Bonanno 92
12. Austin Reed 42
13. Tony Cardenas 41
14. Cale Kanke 40

Legends – Young Lions
1. Jason Irwin 420
2. Ian Anderson 418
3. JA Junior 416
4. Nick Thigpen 380
5. Devin Mack 338
6. Kolleen Dresser 313
7. Dylan Cruz 309
8. Nikky Saxon 304
9. Kyle Weatherman 261
10. Kyle Niquette 219
11. Giles Thorton 144
12. Patrick O’Hanley 96
13. Mitchell Dejong 72
14. Zak Bozanich 45
15. Matthew Cardenas 40

Thunder Cars
1. Bob Dresser 388
2. Jacksen Smith 381
3. Travis Boyle 341
4. Doug Germano 268
5. Nick D’Egidio 214
6. Brecken Snow 200
7. Damon Blakemon 175
8. Jonny Budd 154
9. Chris “Spanky” Bosley 148
10. Ed Hohman 138
11. John Thomson 88
12. David Brandon 74
13. Alex Haas 42
14. Pat Petrie 40

Bandolero – Outlaws
1. Jacob Tilton 459
2. Christian Warren 435
3. Kayli Barker 426
4. Michael Morris 409
5. Austin Morris 391
6. Wyatt Harwood 366
7. Brooke O’Hanley 233
8. John Spilotro 229
9. Patrick O’Hanley 78
10. Danny Nikolai 50
11. Kolleen Dresser 43
12. Michelle Brachowski 38

Bandolero – Bandits
1. Chris Trickle 474
2. Christian Glass 468
3. Vinny Raucci Jr 452
4. Erika Thigpen 392
5. Cheyenne McCourt 339
6. Matthew Emery 308
7. Camron Stafford 90
8. Jimmy Petrie 78