It was a real Payne for Jay

Although Jay Payne won the Get Screened America Pro Mod Challenge presented by ProCare RX on Sunday at Las Vegas, his weekend wasn’t without its problems.

In the second round of qualifying Friday night for the Top Alcohol Funny Car class, at about 300 feet Payne got out of the groove. Chaos follows, but Payne was not injured. Qualifying was suspended until Saturday morning.

Coverage of the pro classes is now up, with the Pro Mods and sportsman classes coming tomorrow in DRO. (James Drew photos) [11/2/2009]

Not with my engine, you don’t…

Rickie Jones had to make an unplanned engine change in his Mopar in order to meet Larry Morgan in the Vegas Pro Stock final round. Morgan didn’t want to face Rickie with the engine he’d built and leased to Jones. It is certainly within Morgan’s rights as a lessee, but jeez, it seems a bit of a small-time move for big time drag racing. But Morgan got the win, so we guess he knew he had built a good engine for Jones. (Darr Hawthorne photo) [11/2/2009]