No place does it like Vegas

Announcer Bob Frey talks to the crowd at the NHRA Vegas Style Fan Fest, the official kickoff to the 2009 NHRA Las Vegas Nationals, which took place Thursday, Oct. 29, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Fremont Street. NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series stars Antron Brown, Larry Dixon, Tony Pedregon, Tim Wilkerson, Bob Tasca III, Jeff Arend, Jeg Coughlin, Allen Johnson, Michael Phillips, Bob Bode, David Hope, Lex Joon, and others participated in the autograph session.  (Ron Lewis photo) [10/30/09]

No spoiler, he says; Toliver is looking to win

Jerry Toliver hopes to get the CANIDAE/Lucas Oil/WileyX Chevy back on the performance path it displayed last month qualifying in the top-half of the field at the U.S. Nationals and then a season-best third at Dallas. The Jim Dunn Racing team also had its best day of eliminations on the season at the Texas Motorplex when Toliver defeated Memphis winner Jeff Arend in the first round and Bob Tasca III in the second round before losing to Jack Beckman in the semifinals.

"We've had some ups and downs with the CANIDAE car this season, there's no question about that," Toliver said. "But we're real positive going into these last two races of the season at Las Vegas and Pomona. We owe it to ourselves, to our sponsors, to the Dunns to give it our best and try to get a win in these last two races.

"Like I said before, the Countdown to 1 is exciting and probably going to come down to the last round, but we're not looking to play the role of spoiler and ruin anybody's chances. I don't want to be a spoiler; I want to be a winner. We're looking to win rounds and win races, and that's what we're going to try and do."  (Ron Lewis photo) [10/30/09]