Hagan, Herrera, Ashley and Anderson celebrate their zMAX wins – NHRA photo Racing of all types is filled with the highest of highs and often the lowest of lows. There’s only one winner and lots of losers at every event. While it’s always preferable to see the winning – and losing – occur on the track, sometimes the series has to step in and govern. This weekend’s Charlotte (N.C.) NHRA 4-Wide Nationals were held on the zMAX Dragway track next to Charlotte Motor Speedway. The second and final four-across drag race of the 2024 season had two instances in which the technical department of NHRA dec ..read more

Racing four-wide on a 1,000-foot track has always required an extra jab of confidence from drivers and crew chiefs in NHRA’s Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. This type of straight-line racing requires an added dose of concentration on starting line activities, and the best four-wide racers keep their eyes and their minds firmly on their own lane, nothing else. As NHRA arrives in Charlotte, North Carolina for its second, and final four-wide competition of the 20-race 2024 season, drivers with momentum in the nitro classes are the most recent winners: Doug Kalitta and Bob Tasca III. Those two ..read more

The 37th class of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) was introduced to the world at the start of the 49th annual Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Friday, April 19th. Comprised of standout racers from all forms of motor sport, this Hall of Fame is both diverse and legendary. This year, as is its custom, the Motorsports Hall Of Fame of America chose to honor outstanding contributors to the ongoing history of racing in a variety of categories: sports cars, open wheel, at-large, stock car, drag racing and off-road. Two historic category inductees, as is the Hall’s custom, will be an ..read more

First-time 2024 winners Bob Tasca III, Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Doug Kalitta celebrate in Las Vegas 4-Wide Winner’s Circle – NHRA photo For its fourth event on a 20-race calendar, NHRA’s Mission Foods Drag Racing Series held the first of two consecutive 4-Wide events this past weekend on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway north of Sin City. While 4-wide races mean there aren’t as many opportunities to see cars on the track, when this system works, it sure works well. And that’s what happened this weekend, as Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock racers battled for honors in Sunday’s 24th annual 4-W ..read more

It’s time for NHRA’s Mission Foods Drag Racing Series participants to block out the events they’ve worked since the start of the 20-race 2024 season. Those three events, at Gainesville, Pomona and Phoenix were two-abreast drag races; it’s time for 4-Wide competition on The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the first of two such competitions in a row – and the only two 4-wide races NHRA contests. Everyone in the straight-line community either loves or hates the 4-wides; with competitors lined up to race these two contests, it can get a wee bit contentious. And figuring out how to stage, roll ..read more

Austin Prock, Shawn Langdon, Greg Anderson won the 39th Arizona NHRA Nationals – NHRA photo There’s no doubt that fans of NHRA’s Mission Foods Drag Racing Series are elated to have Firebird Motorsports Park back on the schedule for 2024 and, hopefully, for decades to come. The track was intended to be sold and the dragstrip was going to be torn down, according to tribal executives who had made that decision in 2023 to hold the final race at the facility. A reprieve came in time to plan and execute this past weekend’s 39th annual Arizona NHRA Nationals – and fans responded by selling out all ti ..read more

This weekend’s 39th Arizona NHRA Nationals on the Firebird Motorsports Park dragstrip southeast of Phoenix, AZ offers racers opportunities to succeed they don’t normally get in a single race meeting. After the 64th Lucas Oil Winternationals were hit by Saturday and Sunday’s massive rain squalls, thunderstorms and even hail, NHRA made the wise decision to hold final rounds – all that was left in play – during this weekend’s race, giving finalists the opportunity to double up by winning both the second and third events in a 20-race 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series calendar. Justin Ash ..read more

Whether you’ve got plans to head to Ennis, Texas the weekend of April 4-6, 2024 or are stuck at home, the fourth annual Lone Star Forklift Funny Car Chaos Classic presented by Vertex Roofers can still be the highlight of your weekend.  Not only is the dual adventure of more than forty five outlaw funny cars going head to head along with the the DMP Awnings Nitro Chaos Championship Tour coming to the Texas Motorplex, but the event will be streaming live for free courtesy of Copeland Racecars, Cubic Dollars Racing Engines, Ken-Tex Roofing Systems, Aluminum Cabinet Company, Saye Logisti ..read more

Thursday night’s Roland Leong celebration of life had styanding room only – Anne Proffit photo Last weekend’s 64th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals, formerly the start of each Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series season and currently relegated to the second stanza in a 20-verse racing campaign, had more to recommend it than the idea of a race named for one season, winter, being run the first weekend of spring. For starters the #winternats allowed Mission to start its #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge for this “regular” season, with semifinalists from three – four – classes run at the 55th Amal ..read more

John Force is looking for his first race win in nearly two years – Anne Proffit photo Well, so much for the 64th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals. Weather won this weekend; no races were completed before skies erupted in rain, hail, thunder and lightning Sunday afternoon, March 24. NHRA, heeding the advice of meteorologists – and after failing to complete both Saturday qualifications and Mission Foods’ #2Fast2Tasty Challenge competitions – decided to postpone final rounds until the series goes to Firebird Motorsports Park southeast of Phoenix two weeks from now. It was a wise decision and ..read more