A woman died Sunday after being hit by a tire from a crashing dragster at the NHRA Arizona Nationals.

The woman was watching a first-round Top Fuel run at Firebird International Raceway when Antron Brown's Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster went out of control on the strip and its left rear wheel came off.

Alia Maisonet, a spokeswoman for the Gila River Indian Community, said the woman was airlifted to a Phoenix-area hospital for treatment and later died. Gila River emergency responders were among the first to respond to the scene.

Maisonet said she didn't know the victim's name or hometown.

"The entire NHRA community is deeply saddened by today's incident and sends its thoughts and prayers to the woman's family and friends," the association said in an e-mailed statement.

Franki Buckman, the track's executive vice president, said Firebird International Raceway also is deeply saddened by the incident.

Brown was released by the track medical staff, but went to Chandler Regional Hospital for further observation, according to a statement put out by Don Schumacher Racing before the woman died. The NHRA said Brown wasn't injured.

"We're racers and we race and I'm ok," Brown said in the statement. "It all happened so quickly and I want to thank the NHRA Safety Safari for being there so quickly to help get me out of the car and also the track medical team for tending to me so quickly."

The racing continued after the accident, and John Force advanced to his second straight Funny Car final before the session was postponed because of rain. Force, the 60-year-old star who ended a 40-race winless streak last week with his record 127th victory, will meet Jack Beckman on Monday.

John Force Back atop qualifying in Arizona Nationals (NHRA MEDIA PHOTO)by NHRA Media
John Force continued to show that he’s back to his old form Saturday at the NHRA Arizona Nationals as the 14-time NHRA Funny Car world champion raced to his first No. 1 qualifying position in more than two years.

Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) also earned No. 1 positions in their respective categories at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event. Due to rainy weather conditions throughout the day, NHRA officials were forced to cancel one of the two scheduled qualifying sessions.

The 60-year-old Force sped to a 4.063-second run at 308.78 mph in his Castrol GTX High-Mileage Ford Mustang to claim his 132nd No. 1 of his career, seventh at Firebird International Raceway and his first since Sept. 2006. He will meet arch-rival Cruz Pedregon, a two-time series champ, in the opening round of Sunday’s 11 a.m. (MT) eliminations.
“It feels great considering the last few years have been kind of tough,” Force said. “We shook up our teams a little bit with [crew chiefs] Mike Neff, Austin [Coil], and Bernie [Fedderly], and I’ve got the new Eric Medlen chassis built by Ford Motor Co. and John Medlen and the Boss 500. I’ve finally got an all-Ford car and I’m still getting her down the lane, so I’m pretty excited.”

Force was a little surprised that he was able to move past Matt Hagan’s leading effort from Friday. Hagan’s 4.068 at a track record speed of 311.34 in his DieHard Dodge Charger held on to the second spot in the 16-car starting order.

Doug Kalitta leads day one at the Arizona NHRA Nationals - NHRA Media Photoby Phil Burgess, National DRAGSTER Editor
Doug Kalitta, Matt Hagan, and Mike Edwards are the low qualifiers halfway through qualifying at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Int’l Raceway outside of Phoenix.

The event is the second of 23 events in the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and comes just a week after the spectacular season-opening 50th anniversary Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, Calif.

Teams had to quickly regroup and make the six-hour drive across the state line to set up for the unprecedented back-to-back event launch of the season. Teams will get two more qualifying shots Saturday, with final eliminations scheduled for Sunday.

Winternationals runner-up Kalitta grabbed the No. 1 qualifying spot from the man who beat him in Pomona, event champ Larry Dixon, who led after the first session, supplanting Dixon’s 3.837 with a 3.825 to take the No. 1 spot. Kalitta’s last No. 1 qualifying effort occurred at the 2006 NHRA Finals.

Mark Martin led the first 55 laps of the Subway Fresh Fit 500 before giving up the lead to Kurt Busch. (Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Not bad, old man.

The 36th victory of Mark Martin's career was perhaps his most fulfilling.

The 50-year-old polesitter streaked away from Tony Stewart after a restart with six laps remaining to win Saturday night's Subway Fresh Fit 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Track conditions changed drastically as the sun set and the final portion of the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway was run under the lights. (Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR)Martin became the oldest driver to win in the series since Morgan Shepherd won at age 51 on March 20, 1993 at Atlanta. Martin's victory was his first since Oct. 9, 2005 at Kansas Speedway and his first since joining Hendrick Motorsports to start the 2009 season.

by Tony Veneziano
CONCORD, N.C. --

WHAT
•The famed Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix plays hosts to the World of Outlaws one final time this weekend on Saturday, March 28. The series debuted at the half-mile in their inaugural 1978 season and have competed in 16 different years, with 11 different drivers scoring A-Feature wins during that span. Leading the way is 20-time series champion Steve Kinser, who has nine career A-Feature victories with the World of Outlaws at Manzanita. Donny Schatz, the three-time and defending series champion, has two A-Feature wins at the track, as does three-time series titlist Sammy Swindell and 2001 champion Danny Lasoski. Other current drivers that have won at the track located at 35th & Broadway in Phoenix include Jac Haudenschild and Jason Meyers.
WHEN
• On Saturday, March 28 at Manzanita Speedway, the pit gates will open at 2 p.m. Mountain, with the grandstand gates opening at 4 or 5 p.m. Mountain with racing set for 7 p.m. Mountain.

WHERE
• Manzanita Speedway is located in Phoenix, Arizona. Take I-10 to exit 141 and go four miles south on 35th Avenue to West Broadway.

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