Auto Club Finals Day 2

10:40 a.m. - I just arrived at the track. It looks like another beautiful day in Pomona. We have a very exciting day. We will have a video interview with John Medlen, a crew cheif for the John Force Racing Ford Mustang driven by Mike Neff. John will give us some of the safety features in today's funny cars.
I will also post the happenings and goings of the day.
11:15 a.m. - We head over to the John Force Racing pit and talk to crew chief John Medlen. Medlen came us some insightful thoughts of safety features he helped implement on the modern funny car. I won't give away what he said, but our video will up sometime tonight.

12:30 p.m. - Top Fuel drivers Morgan Lucas and JR Todd visit the Shav Glick Media Center to announce that Todd will compete under the Lucas Racing team banner, beginning in 2008, and that both young guns will also drive for B&M Racing in the Baja 1000 in less than two weeks.
"(Sponsor Evan Knoll) came to me a couple of weeks ago and told me we had a couple of options," Todd said. "I think this is really the best option I had and this is where I was really pushing to go for.
"I think this is a situation where we can both help each other. I know (Morgan's) first win is around the corner, and I think we both can be in the countdown to eight."

In the meantime, the duo will have an interesting winter vacation when they compete in the Baja 1000 with veteran drivers John Spar and Ed Hullinger.
"Originially, John talked to Larry Dixon," Lucas said. "We have to say thank you to Larry, because if it wasn't for Larry, we wouldn't be able to do this. It's kind of cool to race in a race you watched on TV since you were a kid. To me, it's an honor. It's going to be a lot of fun, but at the same time, the experience is something you can't measure."
2:49 p.m. - Top Fuel points leader Rod Fuller just smoked the tires, and will go into Saturday's qualifying sessions out of the 16-car field. He is currently No. 18 after making a 4.64 pass on Thursday. Fuller, who won last weekend's ACDelco Nationals in Las Vegas, came to this race with a comfortable 52-point advantage.
"We know the car is good," Fuller told track announcer Alan Reinhart. "We just have some malfunctions. This Caterpillar team have rode to the occasion all year. We'll be ready (Saturday)."

3:01 p.m. - Richie Stevens, who is No. 1 in Pro Stock with a 6.665, visits to the media center. Stevens talked about playing a spoiler's role to the Countdown to One entrants.
"It's to kind of play the spoiler," Stevens said. "But basically, we're all out here to win and we want to do whatever it takes to win."

3:26 p.m. - Rod Fuller visits the media center and gives his feelings about being out of the field after two qualifying runs.
"I'm upbeat," Fuller said. "I have a lot of confidence in my team. Everybody asks me if I'm panicking, and no, I'm not. Honestly, our car is a great car, and if we can't make a good solid run on four runs, we don't deserve to get in (to the field), and if means not winning the championship, we don't deserve to win the championship.
"I just told my guys, 'This is over, now lets go get 'em tomorrow."
Fuller has been in this position before. He was out of the show after two runs at Sonoma in July and wound up qualifying third. He hopes to make a similar effort Saturday.
"I believe we're going to make a great run tomorrow afternoon and get this thing in the field and then tomorrow night put this thing in the top of the field," Fuller said. "That's what champions are made of.
"What's upset me all weekend is that people think we have this thing in the bag. We don't have this in the bag. It's not a given. This is Top Fuel racing. From top to bottom, there's a lot of great racers. It's not like I'm going to qualify and go two rounds. I have nothing wrapped up, and as you can see, this is a prime example."
3:39 p.m. - Winternationals winner JR Todd visits the media center after staying atop the Top Fuel field with 4.521-second pass he made Thursday. He slowed to a 6.907 run Friday.
"I think we went up there and were a little aggressive," Todd said. "Plus, the track's not as good as it was yesterday. I didn't think that 4.52 would hold up, but it just shows how well we ran (Thursday)."

4:20 p.m. - Jeff Arend, who stayed atop the Funny Car charts with the 4.781 he ran Thursday, visits the media center.
But rather than talk about the sub-par 8.678 pass he made today, the Canadian-born Arend talked about his mother Sylvie Arend. The Paris native is in attendance this weekend experiencing her first Powerade Series event.
"She was pretty impressed," said Arend, whose mother last saw him race when he was 16. "Of course she had no idea what the facility would be like. It was a lot different than she expected. Of course, our sport has come along way in the past 20 years, so to the outsider, this looks really professional.
"I live nearby (in San Dimas) and she comes here for Christmas every year, so I said, 'Why don't you come early and watch me race.' I'm not getting any younger, so it was probably a good time."