NHRA gets boost from new format

The inaugural year of the Countdown to the Championship will add drama to the next two weekends in the NHRA Powerade Drag Racing Series.

Just two events remain — this week in Brainerd, Minn., and next week in Reading, Pa. — for drivers to qualify for the Countdown. The top eight in each of the four professional categories will make the cut for a four-race playoff-style series, which will reduce the field to four finalists.

Season champions will be determined by the finalists’ combined performances in the Oct. 25-28 ACDelco Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the Nov. 1-4 finale in Pomona, Calif.

Previously, total season points have determined champions.

Five teams in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock have clinched positions in the second round of the Countdown, and two each in Funny Car and Pro Stock Motorcycle have secured spots.

The new format resets points each time the fields are cut. After Reading, each pro leader will start with 2,070 points with totals decreasing incrementally by 10 points to the No. 8 qualifier, who will start with 2,000.

Las Vegas resident Rod Fuller, the Top Fuel points leader, is guaranteed to advance.

“My goal is to lock in the No. 1 position in the Countdown,” Fuller said. “We ran well (at Brainerd) last year, so we need to go out and win the race.”

The format for the last six national events will be unchanged, allowing even those eliminated from the Countdown to continue competing for event titles. …

Racing resumes tonight at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway dragstrip after a monthlong hiatus.

The popular street-legal Midnight Mayhem program starts at 8 p.m. today and runs until 1 a.m. The Jerry’s Nugget Championship Series for E.T. Bracket racing runs from 8 p.m. Saturday until 2 a.m.

• NASCAR — Rusty Wallace Inc. has hired Tony Liberati, former crew chief for the Gaughan family’s Las Vegas-based South Point Racing, to serve in the same capacity for Steve Wallace in the NASCAR Busch Series beginning next weekend at Michigan International Speedway. …

Las Vegas native Kyle Busch will start his 100th Nextel Cup race Sunday in Watkins Glen, N.Y. …

Las Vegan Alex Haase finished ninth Saturday in the NASCAR Grand National Division West Series race at Evergreen Speedway in Washington. He is second in the rookie standings. Brian Ickler of San Diego won for third time in four races.

• DESERT RACING — Chris Blais of Apple Valley, Calif., suffered a fractured vertebra and broken collarbone in an off-road accident Sunday near Tonopah while preparing for the Aug. 25 Best in the Desert series’ Las Vegas to Reno race.

He reportedly underwent surgery Sunday and was experiencing paralysis. The veteran desert motorcycle racer was third overall in this year’s 5,000-mile Dakar Rally. …

A Southern Nevadan is part of a top-five team in the SCORE Desert Series overall standings. The series next races Sept. 8 in Primm.

B.J. Richardson is first, followed by B.J. Baldwin, Las Vegan Rob MacCachren, Brian Collins and Sammy Ehrenberg. MacCachren is co-driver for Californian Mark Post, Collins teams with Larry Ragland of Arizona, and Ehrenberg’s partner is L.J. Kennedy of Orange, Calif.

• MOTOCROSS — Ricky Carmichael, fresh off winning gold in his first X Games, will return to the AMA Motocross Championship series Sunday in Millville, Minn. It is his last scheduled event in the series, and he is one victory from reaching 150 titles combined in Motocross and Supercross.