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Region�s top drag racers hit local track By Don Hunt The biggest drag-racing event to hit the Rogue Valley in the past eight years gets under way today at the Southern Oregon Dragway in White City. It�s the Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series, the last of six events in the National Hot Rod Association�s Northwest Division. More than 400 drivers in eight categories � including the popular Federal-Mogul Dragster and Funny Car divisions � will tear down the quarter-mile strip at speeds exceeding 250 mph. Drivers will compete for cash and contingency awards totaling $137,280. "Next to a national event, this is the biggest event you�ll see in drag racing," track manager Wayne Selden says. "A lot of the drivers who compete here also race at national events. "For us, this is huge." Gates open at 8 a.m. today and Saturday with qualifying and time trials set to begin at 9 a.m. Dragster and funny car qualifying sessions are scheduled for 3 p.m. today and at noon and 4 p.m. Saturday. Gates open at 8 a.m. Sunday, with eliminations starting at 9 a.m. Dragster and funny car eliminations begin at noon Sunday. General admission tickets are $15 each day for adults and $5 for children ages 7-13. Spectators can get in free today by obtaining a ticket at Littrell Auto Parts, 2888 Biddle Road. Drivers to watch include Mark Hentges of Federal Way, Wash., in the Federal-Mogel Dragster category. Hentges has two victories and a runner-up finish to his credit this year and can clinch the dragster Northwest Division championship with a win this weekend. Chasing Hentges is Duane Shields of Las Vegas, Steve Federlin of Oregon City and Brandon Henkleman of San Jose, Calif. In the Federal-Mogul Funny Car division, Salem�s Russ Parker could be the man to beat. Parker is coming off a victory at Yakima, Wash., and has two runner-up finishes, putting him in second place behind Pat Austin. Austin was headed for White City but decided at the last minute to compete at a national event in Topeka, Kan., this weekend. The Southern Oregon Dragway hosted a Northwest Division event prior to 1993, but lost it to Ashcraft, B.C., when the track fell into disrepair. When John Skinner began promoting the dragstrip two years ago, one of his first priorities was to attempt to get the event back, Selden says. The local track regained its NHRA Federal Mogul status following the installation of a new timing system, spectator reader board and concrete guardrails and the paving of its return roads. Although the top fuel dragster and funny cars at the NHRA national events go 25-50 mph faster than the ones will go this weekend at White City, due to their nitro methane fuel, the average spectator couldn�t tell the difference, Selden says. "The cars look the same, sound the same and go almost as fast," he says. "And 250 mph is pretty darn fast." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA