Thu, 5 Nov 2009, 07:12 PM NHRA Opens Fan Voting for the Full Throttle Moment of the Year

Courtesy of NHRA Communications

GLENDORA, Calif. -- No sport does a better job of treating its fans as partners than the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series so it should come as no surprise that the league is turning to its fans to determine who will win "The Quest for the Full Throttle Moment of the Year" and the combined purse of $70,000.

Beginning today, Nov. 2, 2009, fans will be asked to go to http://www.nhra.com/features/quest.aspx to vote for what they believe was the most unforgettable moment of the 2009 season in each of the four NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series pro categories - Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle.

The "Quest for the Full Throttle Moment" is an innovative bonus program developed by Full Throttle and NHRA that recognizes a single unforgettable moment from each of the pro categories at each of the 24 races (the single moments from the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals are not eligible for the overall award).

At the conclusion of the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, ESPN analyst Mike Dunn selected four finalists from each of the four pro categories and those finalists can be found on http://www.nhra.com/features/quest.aspx. The rest is up to the fans, to debate on the merits of Dunn's selections, and to vote on which "Moment" they think is the most unforgettable.

The winning "Moments" will be announced at the year-end Awards Ceremony, Nov. 16, at the Hyatt Regency Century City.

The winning teams in Top Fuel and Funny Car were awarded $3,000 ($1,500 for Pro Stock, $750 for Pro Stock Motorcycle) each time they were recognized for the Full Throttle Moment at an individual race and the teams identified as having created "The Quest for the Full Throttle Moment of the Year" will be awarded $25,000 ($15,000 for PS, $5,000 for PSM).

The four finalists in each of the four categories are:

TOP FUEL
1) Atlanta - Morgan Lucas scores first career Top Fuel win
2) Chicago - Terry Haddock snaps Tony Schumacher's 35-race first-round win streak
3) Sonoma - Antron Brown becomes the seventh Pro driver to sweep Western Swing
4) Indy - Tony Schumacher ties Don Garlits with eight career U.S. Nationals wins

FUNNY CAR
1) Gainesville - Bob Tasca III wins first career FC event from No. 1 qualifying spot
2) Brainerd - Tony Pedregon wins after losing crew chief Dickie Venables
3) Indy - Ashley Force Hood becomes first woman to win in Funny Car at U.S. Nationals
4) Memphis - Jeff Arend gets emotional first win with Kalitta Motorsports

PRO STOCK
1) Englishtown - Jeg Coughlin wins despite not having lane choice in final round
2) Norwalk - Jason Line wins sponsor's event and moves into top 10 all-time in PS wins
3) Denver - Greg Anderson runs first 6-second Pro Stock run in Denver history (6.993)
4) Richmond - Mike Edwards sets national e.t. record in round 1 (6.509)

PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE
1) Atlanta - Eddie Krawiec gets first career Po Stock Motorcycle win
2) Reading - Michael Phillips runner-up moves him into Top 10 for first time this season
3) Indy - Hector Arana scores first career U.S. Nationals win
4) Las Vegas - Arana defeats Eddie Krawiec on a holeshot in the semifinals