Rockstad, who says he's mulling an offer from IHRA chief Bill Bader to serve as the sanctioning body's western-U.S. coordinator when his tenure at SIR ends, has the unenviable task of trying to trying to put on a pleasant face for the July 27-29 NHRA national event. "That's going to be hard to do, with all the negative relationships," he says.

STEVE GREBECK GETS NMRA WIN OVER GLIDDEN

Some days everything comes together. The Halprin & Grebeck Racing team had just such a convergence at the 17th Annual Ford Motorsport Nationals at Maple Grove, Penn. They were fastest qualifiers, set new e.t. and mph records and even won the race. Driver Steve Grebeck took the 2001 Mustang to a 6.77/208 to lead the qualifying. He beat Brandon Switzer and Jim Briante to set up a final round confrontation with dominant Mustang racer Billy Glidden. This time it was Grebeck's day. (Photos by Ian Rae and Michael Ray)