plus 4, Dixon fastest in Top Fuel qualifying for ninth time - CBS Sports

Dixon fastest in Top Fuel qualifying for ninth time - CBS Sports
Rick's Crossroads home in Breeders Prep - Harness Link.com
MOTOR RACING: Edwards on verge of driving title - San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Dixon's track-record time holds up - ESPN.com
Ron Hornaday Jr. Wins Copart Challenge of Champions - Yahoo Finance

Dixon fastest in Top Fuel qualifying for ninth time - CBS Sports

Posted: 31 Oct 2009 08:11 PM PDT

LAS VEGAS -- Larry Dixon earned his ninth No. 1 Top Fuel qualifying position of the year Saturday in the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.

Dixon's track-record time Friday of 3.805 seconds at 318.24 mph that held up Saturday in the second-to-last event of the season.

Schumacher, who qualified fourth with a 3.839 at 313.07, holds a 41-point lead over Dixon in the Countdown to 1 championship chase.

Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also topped their divisions at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In Funny Car, Ashley Force Hood survived a scare, qualifying 14th at 4.197 at 292.52 in a Ford Mustang on her final run to set up a first-round elimination matchup with series leader Robert Hight, her brother-in-law and teammate.

Force Hood is a close second behind Hight in the season standings.

Edwards won all four qualifying rounds in his Pontiac GXP to grab his 15th No. 1 start this year, posting a track record of 6.623 at 207.75 on Friday to inch closer to his first Pro Stock championship. He needs to advance one round farther than Greg Anderson to claim the season title.

Arana's 6.979 at 192.03 on a Buell stood up from Friday to give him his seventh No. 1 qualifier this season in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Andrew Hines, fifth in the standings, moved up into second place with a 6.990 at 192.25 on a V-Rod.

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Rick's Crossroads home in Breeders Prep - Harness Link.com

Posted: 31 Oct 2009 07:21 PM PDT

The 3-year-old Dream Away gelding broke stride at the start and was buried almost thirteen lengths behind at the opening quarter.

Charlie Meador cut the opening panel in :26 3/5 over a good track, then continued his assault with a :56.0 half and a 1:26 1/5 third quarter. Driver Jason MacDougall rallied Rick's Crossroads though to within five lengths of the leader coming out of the turn, then stormed past seven frontsteppers in the stretch to nip fast closing Nicota by a neck at the wire in 1:55 2/5.

Rick's Crossroads, who earned his first win of 2009, is trained by Fran Raia II for the Richie Pat Bonvie Stable of Florida. Betting favorite Richie's Place took third.

In other Virginia-bred 3-year-old action, Charlie Dunavant's Blue Motorcycle captured the colt & gelding trot in 2:00.0, John Wagner's Sadie Eden took the filly trot in 1:59.0 and Don Milby's Tidewater Misty won the filly pace in 1:54 4/5.

All 2- and 3-year-old divisions will be decided in next Saturday's "Day of Champions" card at Colonial. The track will host a ten-race card Sunday afternoon beginning at 1:00 PM.

Katie PAINTER

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MOTOR RACING: Edwards on verge of driving title - San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Posted: 31 Oct 2009 08:11 PM PDT

LAS VEGAS - As the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series winds down, the Upland-based Mountain View Pro Stock team is just hitting its midseason stride.

There are two national events remaining on the 2009 schedule, beginning with today's Las Vegas Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The 24-event season will conclude Nov. 11 at the Auto Club Finals at Pomona Raceway.

Among all the big hitters at the conclusion on qualifying on Saturday was the Dodge Stratus belonging to the Mountain View team owned by Nick Mitsos, perhaps the most shocking development of the week. On Friday night, in cooler weather, Vinnie Deceglie recorded the second quickest run in the class, a 6.660-second run at 206.23 mph that trailed only Mike Edwards on the charts.

Edwards was light years ahead of Deceglie and the others by posting a track-record 6.623 at 207.75 run that pushed him to the threshold of his first NHRA driving title. But Deceglie, a Rancho Cucamonga driver who missed six events this year to be with his ailing wife, finished ahead of the likes of Ron Krishner, former champion Greg Anderson and Johnny Gray.

Joining Edwards as the top qualifiers were Larry Dixon in Top Fuel dragster, Matt Hagan (4.030 at 313.88) in Funny Car and Hector Arena (6.979 at 192.03) in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Dixon, locked in a points battle with five-time defending champion Tony Schumacher, led the 25 entries with a run of 3.805 at 318.24 in 1,000 feet.

Steve Torrence was second with Antron Brown and Schumacher trailing. If all goes according to the seeding, Dixon and Schumacher could meet in the semifinals.

The Funny Car story line was Ashley Force Hood's struggles - second in the championship race to brother-in-law Robert Hight. Force Hood finally made the 16-car field on her fourth and final qualifying pass.

"Man, this is stressful," Force Hood said. "I don't know how my dad (13-time champion John Force) has done it for 30 years. But we got into the show and that's all that matters."

In what will highlight the first round, Force Hood will face points leader Hight, who was third to Hagan and Ron Capps.

"It's kind of a bummer," Hight said. "But with the (bonus) points for qualifying, we got a lead of more than a round so if we lose, it's still not over. May the best Ford Mustang win."

San Dimas' Jeff Arena made the Funny Car field on his last pass, joining the Chino Hills' duo of Tony Pedregon (No. 4) and Del Worsham (No. 7).

Still, the buzz in the pits was the surprisingly strong performance of the Mountain View team, a medium-funded team. It didn't matter Deceglie couldn't post a number in two passes Saturday. He will start today's final eliminations against Rickie Jones in the

No. 2 spot, a career best for driver and crew.

"It's pretty awesome," Mitsos said. "It was like winning the World Series. We've been getting better since Brainerd (in August). This is a culmination of all that.

"And Vinnie is driving better than before, it's all a matter of seat time."

Deceglie, in his second season in the class, fingers the Allen Johnson engine package as making the difference for the Mountain View effort.

"It just gives us a lot of power," said Deceglie, who also noted the team had found a new balance.

"We run a Haas chassis and Allen runs a RJ Race Car," Mitsos said.

"So they've been working on making the adjustments to the shocks and chassis."

It was quite a treat for Deceglie and his crew.

"This is pretty good," he said, "not bad at all."

louis.brewster@inlandnewspapers.com

(909) 483-9363

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Dixon's track-record time holds up - ESPN.com

Posted: 31 Oct 2009 06:52 PM PDT

LAS VEGAS -- Larry Dixon earned his ninth No. 1 Top Fuel qualifying position of the year Saturday in the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals.

Dixon's track-record time Friday of 3.805 seconds at 318.24 mph that held up Saturday in the second-to-last event of the season.

Tony Schumacher, who qualified fourth with a 3.839 at 313.07, holds a 41-point lead over Dixon in the Countdown to 1 championship chase.

Matt Hagan (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also topped their divisions at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Force Hood is a close second behind Hight in the season standings.

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Ron Hornaday Jr. Wins Copart Challenge of Champions - Yahoo Finance

Posted: 31 Oct 2009 07:35 PM PDT

FAIRFIELD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT - News), a leading online vehicle auction, is proud to announce that Ron Hornaday Jr. has won the Copart Challenge of Champions and been awarded $5,000 to donate to his favorite charity – Victory Junction, a camp for chronically or terminally ill children.

"I want to thank Copart for their support this season and their generosity for providing $5,000 to Victory Junction," Hornaday said. "My wife Lindy and I have chosen to give the money to Victory Junction because kids are a passion of ours. They are the future of our sport and anything that I can do on or off the race track to help raise money for sick children I am more than willing to do."

Hornaday won the Challenge against fellow Camping World Truck Series Driver Todd Bodine with a final score of 642 to 594.

Copart sponsors two Truck Series champions – the No. 33 Copart truck driven by Hornaday, the 2007 champion, and the No. 30 Copart Tundra driven by Bodine, the 2006 champion. The two champions have raced Copart-sponsored trucks three times each over the course of multiple truck series events in the Copart Challenge of Champions, and raced a fourth time today in Copart trucks in Talladega. Hornaday, who accumulated the most points while driving a Copart truck during the specified races, was named the winner today and presented a trophy along with $5,000 for his charity.

Hornaday came into the Talladega race 106 points ahead of Bodine and clinched his victory with a 17^th-place finish today in Talladega. Bodine finished third in Talladega, but it wasn't enough to catch Hornaday.

Hornaday's win also was a win for Sheryl Montavan of Rockford, Illinois, who was chosen to receive a VIP race weekend in Talladega to cheer on Hornaday after voting for him at www.copart.com in the Copart Challenge of Champions Sweepstakes. Because Hornaday won the Challenge, Montavan also received autographed memorabilia from Hornaday and a lifetime status as a Copart member.

"I want to thank Todd Bodine for being a great competitor. It was fun to compete against him and he gave me a good race and helped put on a good show for the fans," said Hornaday.

Copart President Jay Adair congratulated both drivers on their competitiveness.

"They are both champions to me, and Copart has been proud to have both such outstanding competitors represent us this season," Adair said. "Congratulations to Ron for wining the Copart Challenge of Champions!"

Copart sells more than 1 million cars per year and has more than 50,000 vehicles each day to choose from including classics, early and late model cars, trucks, SUVs, motorcycles, boats, snowmobiles, jet skis and recreational vehicles. Copart sells vehicles in an online auction, in which people bid against each other to get a great deal. The highest bidder wins the auction, and just like in the Copart Challenge of Champions, winning is awesome!

For more information about Copart, visit www.copart.com.
For more information about Ron Hornaday visit www.KevinHarvickInc.com.
For more information about Todd Bodine visit www.GermainRacing.com.
Fans can also get all the latest Copart Racing news at www.facebook.com/copartracing or at www.twitter.com/copartracing.

About Copart

Copart, founded in 1982, provides vehicle sellers with a full range of remarketing services to process and sell salvage and clean title vehicles to dealers, dismantlers, rebuilders, exporters and, in some states, to end users. Copart remarkets the vehicles through Internet sales utilizing its patented VB² technology. Copart sells vehicles on behalf of insurance companies, banks, finance companies, fleet operators, dealers, car dealerships, the general public and others. The company currently operates 147 facilities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Salvage vehicles are either damaged vehicles deemed a total loss for insurance or business purposes or are recovered stolen vehicles for which an insurance settlement with the vehicle owner has already been made. For more information, or to become a member, visit www.copart.com.

Cautionary Language Regarding Forward-looking statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws, including statements regarding our expectations with respect to our Copart Challenge of Champions and our sponsorship involvement with Germain Racing and Kevin Harvick, Inc. In particular, we can provide no assurance that our racing sponsorships or racing sweepstakes as described in this press release will result in an increase in our brand awareness, customer base, sales volumes, or revenues. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied by our statements and comments. For a more complete discussion of the risks that could affect our business, please review the "management's discussion and analysis" and the other risks identified in Copart's latest Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We encourage investors to review these disclosures carefully. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time on our behalf.