Team Mopar left its mark on the 46th Annual Knoxville Nationals, as Joey Saldana, Paul McMahan and Sammy Swindell made their way through the four-day "Superbowl of Sprint Car Racing" event. Saldana and the No. 9 Kasey Kahne Racing team drove to a second-place finish in Saturday night's A-main finale, earning the team a $70,000 payday. The No. 9 team utilizes Mopar power built by Speedway Engine Development and is currently ranked second in the World of Outlaws Sprint Series points chase.

McMahan and the No. 20 Tony Stewart Motorsports team earned an 11th-place finish in the A-main event finale. McMahan drove to a ninth-place finish in Thursday night's preliminary A-main event and picked up a fifth-place finish in the Factory Value Parts World Challenge event on Friday. The No 20 team's Mopar power is provided by Kistler Engines. McMahan is currently ranked sixth in the National Sprint Tour Series points race.

Swindell and the No. 1s Swindell Motorsports team wrapped up the week's racing action with an 18th-place finish in the A-main. Kevin Swindell also competed in Thursday night's preliminary program, earning fourth-place in the C-main. The Swindell duo utilizes Gary Stanton built Mopar power.

Other MoPowered teams on hand for the event included Forbrook Motorsports and driver Tyler Walker. Walker was involved in a first-lap crash during the first heat race event in Thursday's preliminary program, sidelining the No. 5 machine early in the week. Luke Cranston in the No. 44x machine drove to a 20th-place finish in Wednesday's prelim event and earned 10th-place in the C Feature. Jon Corbin and the No. 33C team won the C Scramble on Friday and finished the week with a 13th-place finish in the C Feature on Saturday.

The National Sprint Tour Series and World of Outlaws Sprint Series will resume action this week, with the National Sprint Tour stopping at Junction Motor Speedway on August 14 and Billings Motorsports Park on August 18-19. The World of Outlaws Sprint Series will resume action on August 17 at Black Hills Speedway and at Nodak Speedway on August 19. For more info regarding the National Sprint Tour Series or the World of Outlaws Sprint Series, log on to nationalsprinttour.com or theworldofoutlaws.com.

Jerry Coons Jr., and the No. 69 Hoffman Auto Racing team kicked off last week's sprint car racing action with a phenomenal victory in the O'Reilly Sprint Bandits COMP Cams Tour 'N Topless Series at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa on August 8. Coons Jr., drove the No. 69 machine to a victory in the 30-lap event to earn the $30,000 payday. Bryan Clauson and the No. 67 Keith Kunz Motorsports team earned runner-up honors in the event.

Clauson carried the early week momentum to a victory in Saturday night's USAC National Sprint Car Series event at Salem Speedway. The No. 67 team led laps 29-50 to earn the win. Clauson is currently ranked third in the USAC National Sprint Car Series points chase. Keith Kunz Motorsports teammate Darren Hagen led laps 1-28 before being credited with a 20th-place finish. Hagen is ranked sixth in the series points race.

Tony Stewart Racing Enterprises' Josh Wise and Levi Jones also claimed a Top-five and a Top-10 finish at Salem. Jones earned fast qualifier honors en route to a fourth-place finish and continues to lead the USAC National Sprint Car Series points championship. Wise was second quick in qualifying and drove to a sixth-place finish in the A-main. Wise is second in the USAC National Sprint Car Series points chase.

Tracy Hines also competed in the event, putting the No. 69 Hoffman Auto Racing machine in second place for the event. Hines was third quick in qualifying and transferred through the third heat race event to lock himself in the feature.

The USAC National Sprint Car Series will resume action on August 27 at Winchester Speedway. For more information regarding USAC Racing, log on to usacracing.com.

Team Mopar driver and reigning NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion Gary Scelzi was on target to win his second national event of the season at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota over the weekend, but fell just one round win short.

The driver of the Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T Funny Car was ousted by a red-hot Tommy Johnson Jr. in the money round after defeating Cruz Pedregon on a holeshot with a 4.815-second elapsed time at 323.27 mph, Bob Gilbertson in a pedaling match with a 5.819/222.11, and Jim Head in the semifinal with a superb 4.787/323.81.

"Overall, it was a good weekend," said Scelzi. "At least we're in the race for third right now and that's what we're looking at. We're trying to get ourselves into third. Now we need to go to Memphis and do it again and maybe do it one step better."

The Minnesota memories won't be as sweet for Scelzi's Team Mopar and Don Schumacher Racing teammates. Ron Capps and Mike Ashley both had first round exits; Whit Bazemore failed to qualify for the field. Capps, driver of the Brut Dodge Charger R/T, continued to lead the Funny Car points race, as the second-place John Force made his fourth early-round exit in a row. Capps now leads Force by 48 points, with seven national events left. Scelzi is seventh in the points race, with Bazemore eighth.

Next up for the Mopar Funny Car contingent is the O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals in Memphis, Tenn., scheduled for this week. For more info on the NHRA or Mopar, log on to nhra.com, moparspeed.com or mopar.com.

Team Mopar's Allen Johnson continued his late season success in 2006, as the Team Mopar veteran scored his fifth semifinals appearance of the season at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota. After his win at Seattle and a strong showing at the previous event in Sonoma, Johnson has now advanced to three straight semifinals.

Johnson qualified his Team Mopar J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T, tuned by crew chief and father Roy Johnson, in the sixth position. He met up with "The Professor," Warren Johnson, in the first round. Despite a 3-17 career record against Warren, AJ sent him to the trailer with a pass of 6.782 at 202.55 mph.

Johnson then went Hemi-to-Hemi against Larry Morgan's Stratus R/T in the quarters, taking the win on a holeshot with a reaction time of .046 and a pass of 6.763 at 203.49 mph, to Morgan's .061 reaction time and 6.754 at 203.77 mph pass. In the semis, Johnson again blistered the lights, with a .008 reaction time, but the points-leading Jason Line chased him down at half track and took the win.

Brainerd proved disappointing for the pilot of the Team Mopar/Valspar Dodge Stratus R/T, Don Schumacher Racing's Richie Stevens Jr. After qualifying 16th, Stevens Jr., drew reigning three-time Pro Stock champion and No. 1 qualifier Greg Anderson in the opening round. Stevens Jr., couldn't pull off the upset, as Anderson led from start to finish. Stevens Jr.'s teammate Erica Enders also is happy to head to the next event, as she failed to qualify for the highly competitive Pro Stock field.

Stevens Jr. is currently 11th in points, with Johnson in the top-ten with a bullet at seventh. This weekend, the Mopar Pro Strockers will head for the O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis Motorsports Park in Tennessee. For more info on the NHRA or Mopar, log on to nhra.com, moparspeed.com or mopar.com.

Team Mopar's USAC National Midget Car Series contingent returned to action on Saturday, August 12, at Salem Speedway. Wilke-PAK Motorsports' Jerry Coons Jr., was the highest finishing Mopar powered machine, as he drove the No. 11 to a fourth-place finish in the feature event. Coons, Jr., and the Wilke-PAK Motorsports team continued to expand their series points lead as the team enters this week's USAC Indiana Midget Week event.

Tony Stewart Racing Enterprises' Josh Wise followed up his sweep of the Mopar Belleville Midget Nationals with a fifth-place finish at Salem Speedway on Saturday night. The No. 20 team was able to build on their series points chase momentum, as Wise is currently ranked fifth in the championship standings. The No. 21 Tony Stewart Racing Enterprises team and Levi Jones also had a strong run, as Jones earned a heat race victory en route to a 10th-place finish in the feature event. Jones is currently ranked sixth in the USAC National Midget Car Series point standings. Brad Kuhn also competed, earning a 15th-place finish in the feature event. Kuhn is currently ranked 10th in the series points race.

The USAC National Midget Car Series returns to action on August 18 at Gas City I-69 Speedway and at Kokomo Speedway on Sunday, August 20, with the Indiana Midget Week event. For more information regarding the USAC National Midget Car Series, log on to usacracing.com.