Josh Wise wrapped up the 2006 USAC National Silver Crown Series season at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, as the 2005 Series runner-up finished the season in sixth place in the championship standings. Mechanical problems sidelined Wise’s No. 14 Foyt car for the Kansas event. Wise, who competed in dirt events for Tony Stewart Racing Enterprises and in pavement events for A.J. Foyt, utilized Mopar power in both types of events.

Wise earned four pole awards in USAC National Silver Crown Series action this season, taking top qualifier honors at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, Richmond International Raceway, the Milwaukee Mile and O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. He earned one series victory, winning over his Tony Stewart Racing Enterprises teammate Levi Jones at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on May 26.

Jones also competed in a full dirt event schedule for Tony Stewart Racing, earning several Top-five finishes, including second at the Indiana State Fairgrounds and third at the Terre Haute Action Track. The 2006 season marked Jones' first full year of competition in the USAC National Silver Crown Series dirt events.

For more information regarding the USAC National Silver Crown Series, log on to usacracing.com.

The rescheduled Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Pennsylvania proved to be a tough outing for the Team Mopar and Don Schumacher Racing Funny Car contingent, as the best the quartet of Hemi-powered hotshoes could muster was a quarterfinals appearance by the defending 2005 NHRA Funny Car champ, Gary Scelzi.

Scelzi qualified his Mopar/Oakley Dodge Charger R/T fourth, then was awarded the win in the first round, despite breaking down, after his opponent Gary Densham crossed the centerline and was disqualified. In the quarters, Scelzi struck the tires early on his Charger R/T, giving the win to Phil Burkart Jr.

Burkart Jr., also defeated Scelzi’s Mopar teammate Ron Capps in the first round, as Capps was unable to advance his Brut Revolution Dodge Charger R/T. Capps fell to second in points, only one marker behind the new leader, John Force.

The remaining Mopar and DSR Funny Car drivers, Jack Beckman and Mike Ashley, also exited in the first round. Beckman, piloting his Matco Tools Iron Eagle Dodge Charger R/T, lost on a holeshot to Force, while Ashley, the No. 2 qualifier in his Skull Gear Racing Dodge Charger R/T, went down in defeat against Del Worsham.

Next up for the Team Mopar Funny Car drivers is this weekend's Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond, Va., October 6-8. For more info on the NHRA, log on to nhra.com.

Allen Johnson grabbed one round win in the fastest Pro Stock field in the history of the NHRA at the Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals in Pennsylvania over the weekend, sending Jim Yates to the trailer in a close battle before losing to Greg Stanfield.

Johnson drove his Team Mopar J&J Racing Dodge Stratus R/T to a pass of 6.668 at 206.26 mph, giving him a margin of victory of only .001 over Yates. In the second round, it was AJ’s turn to lose a close one, as his impressive pass of 6.651 at 207.18 mph wasn’t enough to beat Greg Stanfield’s 6.642 pass at 207.69 mph. Johnson is currently sixth in the NHRA Pro Stock points battle.

Fresh off his win last week at Dallas, Don Schumacher Racing’s Richie Stevens Jr., was unable to advance his Team Mopar/Valspar Dodge Stratus R/T past the first round, losing to Kurt Johnson. Stevens Jr., and Johnson engaged in staging battle, with Stevens leaving first but then losing power soon after the launch.

Johnson and Stevens Jr., will both be in the hunt for their second win of the year at the next event, this weekend’s Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park in Richmond, Va., October 6-8. For more info on the NHRA, log on to nhra.com.

Paul McMahan returned to National Sprint Tour Series action on September 26 with a flourish, earning a fourth-place finish at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind. He was joined by his non-winged counterpart, Levi Jones, who strapped into the Tony Stewart Motorsports No. 20T machine for a rare winged sprint car appearance. Jones won the third heat race and was moving toward the front in the A-main before a throttle issue stopped his charge for the night.

McMahan and the No. 20 Tony Stewart Motorsports team moved on to Williams Grove Speedway for the Williams Grove National Open on September 29-30. The World of Outlaws Sprint Series event also saw Kasey Kahne Racing's Joey Saldana compete. McMahan won the third heat race event on Friday night en route to an 18th-place finish in the preliminary A-main event. He wrapped up the weekend with a 13th-place finish in Saturday's A-main.

Saldana drove to a hard-fought sixth-place finish in Friday night's preliminary A-main. The No. 9 Kasey Kahne Racing team finished sixth in the B-main event to end their night prematurely on Saturday. Saldana is currently ranked third in the World of Outlaws Sprint Series points chase.

McMahan and the National Sprint Tour Series will resume action on October 7 in Las Cruces, N.M. Saldana and the World of Outlaws Sprint Series will return to action on October 7 at Knoxville Raceway. For more information regarding the National Sprint Tour Series or the World of Outlaws Sprint Series, log on to nationalsprinttour.com or theworldofoutlaws.com.

Steve Francis and the No. 15 team took advantage of an off weekend from the World of Outlaws Late Model Series to travel to the legendary Knoxville Raceway in Iowa for the 3rd Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals. Francis kicked off the weekend with a win in the fifth heat race on Thursday night abd finished the evening up with a solid fifth-place finish in the A-main.

On Friday, Francis transferred through the fifth heat race to lock himself into the A-main. Driving the No. 15 forward through traffic, Francis completed preliminary action with a ninth-place finish. In Saturday's A-main event finale, Francis and the No. 15 team battled throughout the 100-lap event to wrap up the weekend with a 12th-place finish.

Francis and the No. 15 team will return to World of Outlaws Late Model Series action on October 8 at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. Francis has two series wins to date and is currently ranked sixth in the series championship chase. He is only 62 points behind series leader Tim McCreadie. For more information regarding the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, log on to woolms.com.

Rick Houser of Pasadena, Calif., won the Mopar Hemi Challenge portion of the inaugural NHRA Pacific SPORTSnationals event at California Speedway's Auto Club Dragway on Saturday. Houser qualified his 1968 Plymouth Barracuda SS/AH machine in the first position against five other competitors with a pass of 8.826 seconds to set the tone for the event. Other participants included Jerry Jenkins of Modesto, Calif., Mark Vieira of Turlock, Calif., Dave Raybourn of Modesto, Calif., Michael Ogburn of Mission Viejo, Calif., and Bob Mazzolini of Placerville, Calif.

In round one of eliminations, Houser squared off against No. 4 qualifier Raybourn. Houser posted a lap of 9.027 seconds/148.61 mph to defeat Raybourn's red light effort of 8.888 seconds/149.65 mph. No. 5 qualifier Ogburn defeated No. 2 qualifier Jenkins with a lap of 8.947 seconds/147.78 mph. No. 6 qualifier Mazzolini defeated No. 3 qualifier Vieira with a lap of 8.983 seconds/147.63 mph.

In the semifinals, Houser earned a bye round while Ogburn defeated Mazzolini with a lap of 8.890 seconds/148.97 mph. Mazzolini red lighted during the run. In the finals, Houser posted a run of 8.877 seconds/149.56 mph to defeat Ogburn's 8.899 seconds/148.64 mph effort. Houser's run gave him a margin of victory of approximately nine feet to earn the $5,000 payday, courtesy of Mopar.

For more information regarding the Mopar Hemi Challenge, the inaugural NHRA Pacific SPORTSnationals or NHRA Drag Racing, log on to nhra.com.