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Five things we learned at testing

The nitro teams were in Phoenix last weekend for Nitro Spring Training, a test session to help them gear up for the 2017 season. Here are five things we learned from this year’s annual test in the desert.
07 Feb 2017
Candida Benson, NHRA National Dragster Senior Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Courtney Force
The nitro teams were in Phoenix last weekend for Nitro Spring Training, a test session to help them gear up for the 2017 season, which kicks off this weekend at the Circle K NHRA Winternationals. While testing isn’t always 100 percent indicative of…
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Silly Season Scorecard

The 2017 season launches in a little over a week at the Circle K NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, and when it does, fans will notice several big changes to a number of teams. We detail those changes in this silly season scorecard.
31 Jan 2017
Candida Benson, NHRA National Dragster Senior Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Silly Season Scorecard
The 2017 season launches in a little over a week at the Circle K NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, and when it does, fans will notice several big changes to a number of teams. Following is a scorecard of the offseason changes that range from car swaps…
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A look at the Funny Car performance surge

17 Jan 2017
Candida Benson, NHRA National Dragster Senior Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Jack Beckman's Funny Car
Since Jack Beckman and his then-Jimmy Prock-led crew turned the world on its head with back-to-back stunning performances in Sonoma and Seattle in 2015, Funny Cars have been getting quicker and quicker, and the 2016 season saw new track records at…
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Does Winternationals success equal season success?

10 Jan 2017
Candida Benson, NHRA National Dragster Senior Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Ron Capps in winner's circle 2016 Winternationals
When each season starts, drivers often talk about the importance of getting a great start to the season, but does early success, particularly at the Circle K NHRA Winternationals, lead to a successful season overall? It did for Ron Capps last season…
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Intriguing storylines to kick off the 2017 season

04 Jan 2017
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
tmcc
The 2017 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season kicks off in just over a month with the Circle K NHRA Winternationals Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.   Every February since 1961, fans have flocked to Southern California for…
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2016 Champions By the Numbers

13 Dec 2016
Candida Benson, Jr. Dragster Contributor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock), and Jerry Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) earned the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series world championships, but how did they get there? Round-wins, big head-to-head…
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2016 Pro Stock Qualifying by the Numbers

29 Nov 2016
Candida Benson, Jr. Dragster Contributor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Following is a look at the drivers in Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle who had the best overall qualifying efforts throughout the 2016 season and in the Countdown to the Championship, breaking down qualifying bonus points and average starts…
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2016 Nitro Qualifying By the Numbers

22 Nov 2016
Candida Benson, Jr. Dragster Contributor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Following is look at the drivers in Top Fuel and Funny Car who had the best overall qualifying efforts throughout the 2016 season and in the Countdown to the Championship, breaking down qualifying bonus points and average starts.…
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Saving the best for last

15 Nov 2016
National Dragster staff
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Antron Brown locked up the 2016 NHRA Mello Top Fuel championship in Las Vegas, and Ron Capps didn’t need to do much more than qualify to finally seal the deal on his long-awaited first Funny Car title, but that did little to reduce the…
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It all comes down to Pomona

08 Nov 2016
National Dragster staff
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series world championships will be decided in Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle at the Auto Club NHRA Finals, and, interestingly, in each case, the battle for the title revolves around teammates. In Funny…
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One down, three to go

01 Nov 2016
National Dragster staff
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Antron Brown clinched his third NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Top Fuel title while Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps moved a step closer to his first title after a strong semifinal finish during a thrilling NHRA …
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Rookie report card

25 Oct 2016
Candida Benson, Jr. Dragster Contributor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
The ballot for this year’s Auto Club Road to the Future Award has gone out to members of the media, and it features six drivers representing all four NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series classes. Voters consider a number of factors, including on-…
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Thinning the herd

18 Oct 2016
National Dragster staff
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Following a thrilling and memorable AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals in Dallas, the field of contenders remaining in the Countdown to the Championship has been trimmed to just a handful in most cases, but that doesn’t mean that anything has been…
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Survival of the fastest

04 Oct 2016
National Dragster staff
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Any race that marks the midway point in the Countdown to the Championship figures to be stressful for the drivers competing for NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series world titles, but the rainy weather that plagued the Dodge NHRA Nationals in…
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A St. Louis Shake-up

27 Sep 2016
National Dragster staff
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
As was the case at the first Countdown to the Championship race in Charlotte, the names atop the points order did not change following the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway Motorsports Park, race two of six in the Countdown to the…
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Welcome to the Countdown

20 Sep 2016
National Dragster staff
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
The 2016 Countdown to the Championship kicked off at zMAX Dragway at the NHRA Carolina Nationals, the first of six events to determine this season’s NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series champions. Although all four incoming top seeds held on to…
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Land of 10,000 horsepower

23 Aug 2016
Brad Littlefield, National Dragster Associate Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
The realities of the last two years have changed the perception of the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd Int’l Raceway. Once known for a laid-back atmosphere, the raucous campground on the premises known as “the Zoo,” and its…
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Upset winners

16 Aug 2016
Brad Littlefield, National Dragster Associate Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
In the 50 years that the Funny Car class has been contested in NHRA, there has been no shortage of memorable and unpredictable moments. Over the course of 802 events, 89 winners have been crowned with several surprises along the way. We ranked the…
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Emerald City makeover

09 Aug 2016
Brad Littlefield, National Dragster Associate Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
The final rounds of the Protect the Harvest NHRA Northwest Nationals presented by Lucas Oil in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series categories will take place away from Pacific Raceways due to rain, but what took place at the final stop on the…
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Heard it through the grapevine

02 Aug 2016
Brad Littlefield, National Dragster Associate Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
The 2016 Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals was a spectacular event worthy of the elevated platform it was extended by the sellout race-day crowd and live television coverage on the FOX national network. The second leg of the annual three-event Western…
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Prime-time players

26 Jul 2016
Brad Littlefield, National Dragster Associate Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Four former NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series champions shined bright under the spotlight of live FOX national network coverage at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Denver. John Force and Tony Schumacher, the winningest…
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Sweeping the Western Swing

19 Jul 2016
Brad Littlefield, National Dragster Associate Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Seven NHRA drivers and one in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series ranks have pulled off the elusive sweep of the three events held in Denver, Sonoma, and Seattle on consecutive weekends that have been a tradition on the Mello Yello Series since…
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Chi-Town Turnaround

12 Jul 2016
Brad Littlefield, National Dragster Associate Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
The K&N Filters Route 66 Nationals in Chicago is a super-sized event with days full of action that include all four NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series categories on hand and 10 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series categories competing for both…
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Funny Car milestones

05 Jul 2016
Brad Littlefield, National Dragster Associate Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
NHRA is celebrating 50 years of Funny Car racing this season, and the K&N Filters Route 66 NHRA Nationals is an appropriate event for the category’s milestone 800th race. Chicago is deeply rooted in nitro racing history. The match…
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'Eastern Swing' MVP

28 Jun 2016
Brad Littlefield, National Dragster Associate Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Teams prepared for four consecutive weekends of racing that has been informally dubbed the “Eastern Swing” knowing that their fortunes in the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season could change drastically in a short period of…
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A storm is a-brewin'

21 Jun 2016
Brad Littlefield, National Dragster Associate Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish. The NHRA Countdown to the Championship format makes those proverbial words ring even louder in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. In the case of the Top Fuel and Funny Car…
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Super Summernationals

14 Jun 2016
Brad Littlefield, National Dragster Associate Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Historic Old Bridge Township Raceway Park hosted the NHRA Summernationals, an event that lived up to its name when racers took on a warm racing surface Sunday. Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock), and…
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An epic Epping

07 Jun 2016
Brad Littlefield, National Dragster Associate Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
An action-packed NHRA New England Nationals may not have been executed as it was drawn up, but it was an event that people will be talking about for a long while. The Funny Car category itself stole the show once again. The first round of…
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Holding the Line

31 May 2016
Brad Littlefield, National Dragster Associate Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Can anybody stop Jason Line? The Pro Stock points leader and two-time Mello Yello world champion has completed the best stretch of races in his career in the first eight races of the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. He has been in…
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Record weekend

24 May 2016
Brad Littlefield, National Dragster Associate Editor
Tuesday Morning Crew Chief
Heartland Park Topeka is lauded as having one of the best racing surfaces in the country, which helps set the stage for record-setting conditions when the right ambient air conditions present themselves. Its history is full of milestone…
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