NHRA officials immediately began finding ways to work around New England’s summertime weather patterns with schedule changes for Friday’s opening rounds of qualifying for the NHRA New England Nationals at Epping, New Hampshire. Pro classes were moved up with Funny Car being first to try and find traction on the tricky pavement at New England Dragway. Due to the possibility of rain, qualifying for NHRA Top Fuel was also bumped up as well as the opening round of qualifying for the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Series presented by Type A Motorsports was re-scheduled to follow the nitro drivers on track. The Lucas Oil Drag Series began racing at 9:15 am on Friday. The fourth of twelve rounds of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, a new specialty race that pits the semifinalists...

The Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge brings competitive racing to the NHRA’s Saturday round of qualifying. To get the fans fired up ahead of Sunday’s elimination rounds, this popular form of redemption racing is scheduled at all twelve side-by-side regular-season events during the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series campaign By pitting semifinalists from the previous NHRA race, the Mission Foods event provides an on-track way of settling any disputes over the outcomes that any driver in the semifinal rounds may have had. That way everybody has another shot at each other in a series of rematches, with the two winners then matching up in the final Round 2 qualifying session. Although year-end winners will walk away with a pocket full of money, the is also about...

After a three-year hiatus, the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series is returning to Route 66 Raceway for the 23rd annual Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals presented by PEAK Performance. From 1998 to 2019, Route 66 Dragway hosted world championship events for the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), making it a must-visit destination for any die-hard racing fan. The epic racing venue was built back in 1998 on a sprawling 250-acre parcel that includes a quarter-mile asphalt dragstrip and an impressive 3/8 mile dirt oval racetrack. In 1999, an additional 930 acres were secured to build the Chicagoland Speedway, which is owned by NASCAR. The dragstrip itself is a thing of beauty with a four-story complex of suites, 40 rows of grandstand seats with backs, and holds...

Route 66 Raceway was built on a 250-acre parcel in 1998 as a quarter-mile dragstrip and 3/8 mile dirt oval racetrack. A year later an additional 930 acres of land adjacent to the facility to build Chicagoland Speedway which is owned and operated by NASCAR. The asphalt dragstrip features a four-story complex of suites with 40 rows of fully backed grandstand seats and a total capacity of 30,000 drag racing fans. Route 66 Dragway hosted the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series from 1998 to 2019 with the NHRA event postponed now due to COVID restrictions. The third of ten events for the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Type A Motorsports and powered by PGT Trucking raced over the weekend at Route 66 Raceway in combination with the Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA...

When the NHRA announced that 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series was headed back to Chicago and Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois, Mission Foods jumped on board to host both Nitro classes and Pro Stock Motorcycle for the third round of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge. This is first time since the 2019 pandemic that the fan-favorite drag racing facility has hosted a National Hot Rod Association event and fans were eager to enjoy the intensity of the 11,000 horsepower nitro-powered engines with record breaking performances at over 330 mph. This all new form of grudge match racing has quickly become a popular specialty race on the NHRA schedule. Just take the world’s fastest drivers and teams (who may or may not like each other) and give them another chance to...

On Saturday, the first-ever NHRA Pro Stock All-Star Callout was hosted by the Route 66 Dragway just south of Chicago in Joliet IL. The specialty event has already become a fan favorite when staged for Nitro classes but the Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance at Route 66 raceway marked the inaugural event for the Pro Stock class. This was the first event for drag racing fans in Chicago since the 2019 pandemic, with four drivers from each of the two dominant Pro Stock teams in the NHRA (Elite Motorsports and KB Titan Racing) featured in an eight-car shootout for big money and bragging rights. Picks for the Pro Stock Callout First pick in the Callout went the number one seed Dallas Glenn. Glenn wasted no time in picking multi-time and defending Pro...

Over the weekend, NHRA nitro and Pro Stock teams challenged the famed four lanes at “The Bellagio of Dragstrips” in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle outside Charlotte NC. Currently, zMAX Dragway is only one of two dragstrips with four distinct lanes each with a Christmas Tree, retaining walls, and finish line. Teams last raced in Las Vegas at The Strip for the first four-wide event of the season. Four-wide racing changes a driver’s strategy for elimination rounds at NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series and the altitude, temperature, and track surface grip requires the team to make major changes to settings. Typically, after experiencing a problem off the start, the driver shuts down their high horsepower engine and starts making plans for the...

Have you heard of four wide racing? While the idea may not be new, as early drag racing venues tested many variations to traditional side-by-side drag racing, the innovative hero that brought a new twist to the NHRA Nationals was promoter Bruton Smith who introduced the format at zMAX Dragway over a dozen years ago. Since then, the concept expanded west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which like the Charlotte track, also hosts a two-wide event each year. The second race of the 2023 FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Type A Motorsports was powered by Culp Lumber Company at zMAX Raceway in conjunction with Circle K Four-Wide NHRA Camping World National outside Charlotte NC over the weekend. Pro Mod offers something unique for every racing fan with doorslammer bodies from...

Over the weekend, NHRA nitro and Pro Stock teams challenged the famed four lanes of The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This was the first of two four-wide racing events scheduled for the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series, as well as the first of two NHRA nationals hosted at The Strip. Race fans will head to Charlotte NC for the Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals (April 28-30) in two weeks for more side-by-side-by-side-by-side racing at zMAX Dragway, home of the first ever NHRA Four-Wide national back in 2010. Four-wide racing changes a team’s strategy for elimination rounds at NHRA National events. Typically, after experiencing any kind of problem off the start, the driver shuts down the 11,000-horsepower nitro-powered engine and starts making plans for the next...

Snow-capped San Bernardino Mountains greeted NHRA drag racing fans to In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip for the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals; but this year as the third race in the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series. Featured as part of Saturday’s qualifying rounds at two-wide tracks, the Mission #2Fast2Tasty hosts redemption rounds for the previous weekend's semifinalists. At Pomona, Justin Ashley claimed the overall victory along with the Number One Qualifier in Top Fuel by posting a 3.707-second elapsed time. There was also plenty of excitement in Funny Car qualifying as the winningest driver (155 wins) in NHRA history John Force tangled with J.R. Todd in a strange crash coming between the DHL Funny Car and the outside wall. Both drivers walked away and Cruz...