Ellis enjoying being a championship contender
Chip Ellis has found a championship-caliber motorcycle at the perfect time and the end result has been one of the most enjoyable times he’s ever had racing in Pro Stock Motorcycle. It also means Ellis has a bike capable of winning his first…
NHRA Today: The return of Larry Dixon
In his first appearance of the 2016 season, Larry Dixon will slide into the Rapisarda Racing team’s Top Fuel dragster at the Dodge NHRA Nationals in Reading. The three-time Top Fuel world champion…
Event preview: Dodge NHRA Nationals
After two thrilling events to open it, the 2016 Countdown to the Championship continues this weekend at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading. With points tight in all four categories and a fall forecast that has the potential to once again produce the…
Key players from the Keystone State
Another week on the road, and another “retro” column from the Phil Burgess Archives to tide you over. When this column is published, I’ll be in Reading for the Dodge NHRA Nationals (Keystone Nationals for all you old-timers), and…
NHRA Today: St. Louis was gateway to Countdown redemption
The teams of Shawn Langdon, Tony Schumacher and Jack Beckman got off to a slow start with first-round losses in the opening race of the Countdown to the Championship in Charlotte, but bounced back in St Louis where all made big moves in the points…
NHRA Today: When good blowers go bad
When a Top Fuel car bangs the blower it happens in an instant; all you see in real time is a flash, but in an instant numerous engine parts are damaged and because the car has lost power it throws the driver forward in his or her seat. That’…
Tricky Tipster's Reading picks
For more than five decades, NHRA National Dragster's famed Tricky Tipster has tested his prognosticating skills prior to each national event, putting odds on the top eight racers he thinks have the best shot at victory in Tricky Tipster.…
NHRA Carolina Nationals Top Sportsman champ Gerard Milette
Driving the ’63 Corvette he and girlfriend Suzanne Poirier built themselves, first-time winner Gerard Milette outlasted the field in Top Sportsman presented by RacingRVs.com. Milette ran right on his 7.07 dial to turn on the win light in the final…
NHRA Carolina Nationals Top Dragster champ Bob Mandell III
After a trying summer, during which his Top Sportsman Corvette was destroyed in a racing accident, Bob Mandell III’s fortunes made a turn for the better when he drove his ’11 ProFab entry to victory in Top Dragster presented by…
NHRA Carolina Nationals Super Gas champ Jason Lynch
Super Gas winner Jason Lynch continued his strong run of late that included a semifinal showing in Indy and a runner-up finish in Brainerd. The victory, Lynch’s fifth, came courtesy of an on-the-index 9.90 in the final that allowed Lynch to…
NHRA Carolina Nationals Super Comp champ Ray Miller Jr.
Super Comp featured a first-time winner, Ray Miller Jr., who came one round shy of making the Indy final. Miller, the father of multitime winner Ray III, survived a series of tough races, including a double-breakout match against Steve Hoyt in the…
NHRA Carolina Nationals Stock champ C.J. McDonald
In Stock, CJ McDonald picked up the Wally in the first national event he entered. Though a first-timer at the national event level, McDonald is a veteran competitor who has been racing for more than three decades, and he put the skills developed…
NHRA Carolina Nationals Super Stock champ Peter Biondo
The Sportsman winner’s circle also featured the return of a familiar face after a two-plus-year absence. Peter Biondo, who last won in 2014 at the spring Las Vegas event, where he doubled, picked up win No. 49 when he bested Jeffrey Jewell…
NHRA Carolina Nationals Comp champ Doug Doll Jr.
Comp racer Doug Doll Jr. completed the perfect season with a strong performance in Charlotte, where he was the No. 1 qualifier and used a combination of solid driving and the strong horsepower from Charlie Greco’s dragster to get past Jim…
NHRA Carolina Nationals Alcohol Funny Car champ DJ Cox Jr.
For the second straight year, the Bartone Bros. Top Alcohol Funny Car was in the winner’s circle at zMAX Dragway but with a different driver. Like Mickey Ferro did last year, DJ Cox Jr. took full advantage of the opportunity when he was…
NHRA Carolina Nationals Alcohol Dragster champ Shawn Cowie
Shawn Cowie, who hails from Surrey, B.C., made the long haul from the West Coast to the East Coast pay off big when he outlasted Rich McPhillips to claim the Top Alcohol Dragster title, his sixth national event win. Cowie, who came up just short of…
NHRA Carolina Nationals Sportsman champion highlights
Doug Doll Jr. all but wrapped up the 2016 Comp national championship when he drove to victory at the NHRA Carolina Nationals, his third national event win of the season. Doll's win highlighted competition in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series at…
Legendary Force will try to keep momentum going
Legendary 16-time Funny Car world champion John Force knows all about the importance of success at Maple Grove Raceway, the site of this weekend’s 32nd annual Dodge NHRA Nationals, and how it relates to the championship. Force’s last…
Lucas takes Indiana Bicentennial Torch on a ride
Top Fuel racer and team owner Morgan Lucas gave the Indiana Bicentennial Torch a high-speed ride on his 10,000-horsepower Lucas Oil dragster on Sept. 23 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Indiana statehood. The event took place at Lucas Oil…
Back-to-back Funny Car championships
In this week’s Throwback Thursday feature, NHRA reporter Lewis Bloom goes into the archives to look back at the last time that a Funny Car driver won back-to-back NHRA Mello Yello world championships, way back in 2002, when John Force won…
NHRA Today: Pro Stock’s newest first-time winner, Alex Laughlin
Appearing in the first final of his career at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals in St. Louis, Alex Laughlin’s dreams became reality by turning when he turned on the win light over fellow Pro…
National Dragster's Top 10 Charlotte photos
NHRA National Dragster photographer Marc Gewertz stopped by the Wally Parks NHRA Studio to share with NHRA reporter Lewis Bloom the staff’s favorite images from the NHRA Carolina Nationals.
Time flies when you’re having fun
Greetings, all! I hope everyone is doing great and getting excited for the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship! It’s crazy to think that we’re already starting the Countdown – didn’t we just start the…
Young and young at heart
On Friday, Sept. 23, Koy Collier celebrated his 18th birthday by climbing behind the wheel of his father Steve’s ’68 Camaro Super Gas car and making time-trial runs in his NHRA national event debut. Two days later, Collier gave himself…
NHRA Today: Ozzy Moya brings four tracks into NHRA Member fold
From the Wally Parks NHRA Studio, Amanda Busick talks with racing businessman Ozzy Moya, whose four southeast racetracks -- Orlando Speed World Dragway in Orlando, Fla., Lakeland Drag Strip in Lakeland, Fla., South Georgia Motorsports Park in…
Laughlin to license and race in Top Alcohol Dragster; Top Fuel next?
Alex Laughlin, who became Pro Stock’s latest first-time winner last week when he drove his Gas Monkey Camaro to a final round win over Bo Butner in St. Louis, will take on a new challenge when he gets behind the wheel of a 275-mph Top Alcohol…
Kalitta enjoying the moment as championship race heightens
One of the big storylines of the 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship is Doug Kalitta and Ron Capps chasing their first career world championships in Top Fuel and Funny…
Paris Drag Strip to join NHRA Member Track Network
Paris Drag Strip, located in Paris Texas, has renewed its long standing NHRA Member Track Network participation in advance of the 2017 season when the facility reopens under new management. The track is part of Division 4, the South Central division…
A St. Louis Shake-up
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…
Texas Motorplex takes team title; four advance to Nationals
ENNIS, Texas – The team from Texas Motorplex dominated the team competition finishing nearly 20 points ahead of second place Royal Purple Raceway at the NHRA Summit Racing Series South Central Division Finals at Texas Motorplex. Max McGlothin…