NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

News, notes, quotes, and photos from final eliminations at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.

The 38th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals has already been a riveting affair as drivers launch into the NHRA Countdown to the Championship. Qualifying at Maple Grove Raceway offered a receptive racetrack that hosted career-best runs and track records, and Sunday is slated to bring more of the same.

Don’t miss these photos from Saturday at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals, as captured by the fine NHRA National Dragster photographers at Maple Grove Raceway.

The Pep Boys NHRA Nationals is the first race of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship, and tension is high at Maple Grove Raceway after two incredible days of qualifying. With an early Sunday start, the first of six championship Sundays is laid out to be a battle royale.

NHRA officials announced a schedule change for Sunday’s eliminations at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove  Raceway. Eliminations will now begin at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sunday with the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.

The first portion of the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series was a wild one for second-generation Pro Stock racer Fernando Cuadra Jr., and it concluded with a final-round on the most prestigious stage. His start to the Countdown, though, brought an unexpected challenge.

For the second straight year, the NHRA and officials at Maple Grove Raceway announced a sellout crowd for Saturday’s qualifying action at the 38th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals.

After a spectacular first day of qualifying at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals, it looks to be a stellar Saturday at historic Maple Grove Raceway. Friday’s provisional low qualifiers intend to defend their lofty positions, but they’ve got a slew of competitors breathing down their necks. Saturday will determine low qualifiers and ladders at the first race of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship.

Glen Treadwell, Larry Leazer, and Victor Cagnazzi, led the list of winners as the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Southeast Division was in action at GALOT Motorsports Park.

The first day of the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals came with blue skies, pleasing temperatures, and a fast racetrack that allowed extraordinary runs. Justin Ashley, Bob Tasca III, Erica Enders, and Gaige Herrera were able to take best advantage and make early moves at the first of six races in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship.

It was quite a ride. That’s one way to look at J.R. Todd’s regular season, but regardless of the twists and turns in the road, the destination was spot on: Todd and his DHL GR Supra team will start the 2023 NHRA Playoffs as the No. 5 seed.

Our ace NHRA National Dragster photographers were all over Maple Grove Raceway on the first day of the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals. Here's a sampling of what they saw through the lens.

The first race of the 2023 NHRA Countdown to the Championship has arrived. Intensity is at a season-high as drivers across four professional categories look to make a strong step in the first of six playoff races, the 38th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.

A dominant and incredible regular season was one to remember for relative Pro Stock Motorcycle newcomer Gaige Herrera. Now, the second-year rider hopes to enjoy the same success in the NHRA Countdown to the Championship, which opens at this weekend’s Pep Boys NHRA Nationals.

Indy champs Antron Brown, Ron Capps, and Matt Hartford are favored to win the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway along with current Pro Stock Motorcycle leader Gaige Herrera.

With only four races left in the Flexjet NHRA Factory Stock Showdown 2023 season, competition amongst Chevrolet COPO Camaros, Ford Cobra Jet Mustangs, and Dodge Challenger Drag Paks is at an all-time high heading into this weekend’s Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway.

It takes a special kind of person to be both a driver and a tuner. Here’s a look at five who have done both and experienced success at Maple Grove Raceway, site of this weekend's Pep Boys NHRA Nationals.

Jacob Sterling, Jeff Riedel, Gage Wilson, Robert Sanders, and Bryan Tilson have qualified for the Summit Racing series Nationals Championships is Las Vegas after their individual wins at the Division 4 Summit Series Finals.

Heading into the opening race of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship, this weekend’s 38th annual Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway, Funny Car standout Ron Capps knows the challenge that awaits.

Zach Meziere, Steve Kelly, Jake Biscay, Terry Holloway, and Sherry Wilson won the Division 6 Summit Series Finals race of Champions to earn the right to represent the divisional at the National Championships in Las Vegas in October.

On this episode of the NHRA Insider podcast, host Brian Lohnes is joined by his right-hand man in the broadcast booth, Tony Pedregon, as the two look critically at the upcoming NHRA Countdown to the Championship.

Jake Opatrny will return to the driver’s seat of the Leverich Racing Top Fuel entry at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals for his third race of the year, representing Nelson Trucking and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150.

Third-generation racer Camrie Caruso plans to attend the Skip Barber One Day Formula Racing School at COTA outside of Austin, Texas, on Sept. 25.

Antron Brown won’t start the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship with the Top Fuel points lead, but nobody enters the playoffs — and this weekend’s opener, the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway — with more momentum than Brown.

What goes into the running of the world’s biggest and richest drag race, the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals? What does it take to plan, organize, schedule, promote, and stage six days of thrilling action on the fabled course at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park?

The 2023 Nitro Nationals presented by Z104.5 The Edge, a key race in the NHRA Hot Rod heritage Series, will roar into Osage Casino & Hotel Tulsa Raceway Park Sept. 15-16.

Justin Ashley and the Phillips Connect Top Fuel team enter the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship as the top seed. Crew chief Mike Green talks about their planning and preparation for the six-race playoffs.

Relive the incredible weekend of Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals Funny Car winner Ron Capps and Don Prudhomme from startup to the winner’s circle with the Hot Wheels/Prudhomme tribute car.

In the end, Justin Ashley, Ron Capps, Aaron Stanfield, and Gaige Herrera were definitely 2Fast for their fellow racers and claimed the season “championchips” in the new Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge.