Drag Strips

On February 7th, UMTR North will host its Champions Celebration to honor the accomplishments of the 2025 racing season. This past year featured an incredibly tight points race that came down to the wire in both classes. In the Quick Stick category, Tim O’Neal took home the top honor in his Chevy Vega, narrowly defeating Troy Hrdlicka by just 4 points. Additionally, Jeremy Murray secured his Street Stick championship in his Neon, surpassing Brandon Margo by a mere 3 points. UMTR North also an

One of the most iconic and significant drag racing events in the country, the Good Vibrations Motorsports March Meet, will return to Famoso Dragstrip, March 5-8, 2026. The 68th edition will feature Heritage Series and Nitro categories as well as a car show, swap meet and vendor row. While the NHRA celebrates its 75th year of professional drag racing the March Meet will continue to highlight the impressive past performers and nostalgic race cars that built the sport that is celebrated and en

Veteran nitro crew chief Ron Douglas will join Doug Foley’s Foley Lewis Racing Top Fuel team as a consultant for the 2026 season, the team announced today. Douglas joins a proven group led by longtime Foley Lewis Racing crew chief Doug Kuch as the team prepares for what Foley describes as a “rebuilding year” beginning at the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season opener, the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.  Douglas brings to the table years of experience leading championshi

When Manny Buginga’s red Mustang “Freddy” slammed the wall during SwanFest at Rockingham Dragway, it looked like the weekend was over. Instead, Matthew Herrick of Modern Racing turned a mangled front end into a working race car in less than 14 hours – then drove back to Rockingham to watch it go back down the track. Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #197, the 30 Under 30 Issue, in November/December 2025. Herrick, one of Modern Racing’s up-and-coming lead fabricators, w

Grannas Racing retires the heavy Supra build for a lightweight Fox Body Mustang. The 2JZ-powered domestic targets new stick shift records.View the full article

Bradenton, Fla. – Drag Illustrated has announced the addition of the $25,000 Winter Series Wild Card Shootout to the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod, further expanding race-day opportunities and reinforcing the Winter Series’ commitment to delivering the most competitive and inclusive Pro Modified program in drag racing. The new Wild Card Shootout will feature qualifiers 33 through 64, paying $15,000 to win and contested over five full rounds of eliminations on race day at Bradenton

There’s a difference between a great race and a great field. Wins come and go. Records get broken and eventually replaced. But when the margin between qualifying and going home shrinks to the point that elite teams are separated by thousandths of a second, something more meaningful is happening. That’s no longer about who won the weekend – it’s about how high the competitive ceiling of the sport has moved. That’s the conversation surrounding the Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented b

Devin Vanderhoof is ready to unleash his latest drag-and-drive monster. "Reddi Whip" is one sick twin turbo S550 Mustang. View the full article

SCAG Racing is excited to announce the renewal of Justin Ashley and Daniel Wilkerson’s partnerships with Mac Tools for the 2026 Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series season. Mac Tools has supported Ashley since 2023 and Wilkerson throughout his entire career, providing high-quality professional tools that help both SCAG Power Equipment teams assemble, maintain, and service their race cars at peak performance both on and off the track. “I am so grateful for the opportunity to continue rep

Even as NHRA prepares to celebrate its 75th anniversary season in 2026 and highlight some of the sport’s biggest legends, the 2027 season is already shaping up for another year-long epic celebration with one of motorsports’ most iconic figures. NHRA announced today that the 2027 season will honor the sport’s winningest star, legendary 16-time Funny Car world champion John Force, with a year-long “50 Years of Force” celebration at each stop on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series tour. To

Because when you invite the baddest door cars on earth to Bradenton…you don’t get a “race.” You get a knife fight. There are drag races…and then there are Drag Illustrated Winter Series races. The 2026 U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission didn’t feel like a stop on the schedule as much as it felt like a pressure cooker with grandstands. A four-day adrenaline drip. A place where reputations don’t protect you, the chip draw doesn’t care about your résumé, and the differe

In what was undoubtedly the greatest example of perseverance at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission, Cole Pesz went from the doctor’s office to the winner’s circle at Bradenton Motorsports Park. Just a few days after crashing the screw-blown ‘18 Corvette owned by Mark Gobert during pre-race testing, Pesz navigated five grueling rounds in the $40,000-to-win True 10.5 class at the Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service. What began as a devastating s

Joel Wensley Jr. was 14 when he began going to the track with his father, Joel Sr., to help his uncle, Bill Stetz, campaign his drag bike. He was enthralled by the entire experience, from the revving engines to the racing excitement, and he was immediately inspired to immerse himself in the magnetizing world of motorsports. Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #197, the 30 Under 30 Issue, in November/December 2025. He was given the opportunity to dive in deeper when his f

Buddy Hull is ready to focus his endless energy on team ownership. Hull talks about his new role as Funny Car team owner and driver.View the full article

Pro Modified’s first million-dollar prize will have to wait at least another year, as Snowbird Outlaw Nationals winner Jason Harris’s attempt at the inaugural Elite Motorsports Million came to an end Sunday when he lost in the second round at the U.S. Street Nationals presented by M&M Transmission at Bradenton Motorsports Park. After winning the Snowbirds, Harris needed to win the other two races in the Drag Illustrated Winter Series presented by J&A Service, the U.S. Street Nationals an

John Force Racing and Speedmaster have reached agreement on a multi-year partnership for the global leader in high-performance automotive parts and motorsports culture to serve as the co-primary sponsor, with Burnyzz Speed Shop, of the Top Fuel Dragster team driven by Josh Hart in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. Hart and the Burnyzz Speed Shop/Speedmaster Top Fuel Dragster team will make their debut at the NHRA’s 75th anniversary season-opening AMALIE MOTOR OIL NHRA Gatornationals at

AB Motorsports, owned and driven by four-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown, announced today that veteran crew chief and program advisor John Medlen has joined the organization as a consultant for the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. Medlen, a respected leader in nitro racing for over three decades, brings hands-on experience, deep technical knowledge, and proven leadership to the AB Motorsports Top Fuel program.  In his consultant role, Medlen will work clo

"Project Leftovers" is proof you should never judge a car by its looks. This Fairmont is a 7-second monster. View the full article

Use EFI data like closed-loop correction and fuel flow to spot a valvetrain issue and know when tuning isn’t the problem.View the full article

Kyle Wade, the racer and fabricator behind the massively popular BoostedBoiz YouTube channel – now at 1.45 million subscribers – has turned unlikely platforms like a Honda Civic, Toyota MR2, and even a Honda Odyssey minivan into fan-favorite, record-setting machines. But the numbers only tell part of the story.  Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #197, the 30 Under 30 Issue, in November/December 2025. “I’ve always loved cars,” Wade says. “I remember just watching videos

For John Vergotz Jr., drag racing has always been part of life. His father, veteran nitrous Pro Mod driver John Vergotz, has long been a fixture in doorslammer racing and now competes in PDRA Pro Nitrous, IHRA Pro Nitrous, and other eighth-mile Pro Mod events with a Pat Musi–powered ’69 Camaro. Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #197, the 30 Under 30 Issue, in November/December 2025.  “I was introduced to the racetrack only a couple weeks after I was born,” he says. “My dad wa

As part of the season-opening kickoff to NHRA’s 75th anniversary in 2026, the NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout returns to Gainesville Raceway, taking place on Saturday, March 7 as part of the 56th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals. The specialty race features a loaded eight-car field, including defending Callout winner and reigning world champion Doug Kalitta. He earned the top seed in the unique bonus race that offers a big purse and bragging rights to open the milestone campaign. The

Daniel Wilkerson and SCAG Racing are excited to welcome back Summit Racing Equipment as an associate sponsor of the SCAG Power Equipment Funny Car for the 2026 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season. A longtime supporter of Wilkerson, Summit Racing Equipment has played an integral role throughout his career, supplying key components essential to the performance and safety of a Nitro Funny Car — from driver safety equipment to critical performance parts. “Twenty years ago, when I go

In the 20-plus seasons that Piedmont Dragway’s Big Dog Shootout has been held on the first Thursday night of the month, many names have risen to the top, catapulting them to bigger events on a much bigger stage. One name that comes to mind is Travis Harvey winning his very first time in NHRA Pro Mod, the result of the success of the “Carolina Kid” at Piedmont Dragway. Another name is, of course, Jason Harris, who found himself in the thick of possibly winning a cool $1,000,000 in the largest P

Engine Pro has created a VVT Elimination Kit for GEN 3 Hemi engines. This kit is packed with great performance-enhancing features. View the full article