Thanks to our coverage partners at DragStory.com and Mark Walter, we present to you the live video feed from the New Year Nationals at Palm Beach International Raceway. 

Back in the 1970s, long before any of the Super class racing existed, sportsman drag racers sought an affordable style of racing where they could race heads-up, with no breakout and do so on a pounds-per-cubic inch basis similar to their class racing. Their wants eventually led to the creation of Super Modified, the original 10.5 tire form of racing.

Not so far removed from the 1974 U.S. Energy crisis, class racers, then the only option for national event sportsman racing, had begun to feel the sting of extreme operating costs. Many opted for the new craze of the time, bracket racing, while a good number remained true to their craft seeking creative ways to preserve the only kind of racing they knew.

As was the case with many of the good ideas of the era, the plan began on a scratch sheet of paper and through the support of a major magazine became reality.

Car Craft Magazine presented the Super Modified concept in their July 1974 issue.

Dan Phelps wasn't even on the grounds at Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park when he clinched the 2019 Summit Racing Equipment Mid-West Pro Mod Series Race Star Wheels Top Dragster championship.

"We had lost in the first round and it was cold and there was nothing more that I could do anyway, so my wife and I just decided to pack up and go home," the Labadie, MO-based champ explains. "After qualifying I was 47 points ahead of Danny (Nelson), so at 20 points per round he had to at least win a semifinal to beat me.

There’s been something on my mind for a long time now, and I guess it might be the time to discuss it. That being the often talked about and maybe sometimes swept under the carpet idea of finish line racing, brake light racing, where a racer might sometimes have to hit the brakes rather hard in order to not run under his or her dial-in.

We’ve all heard of the stories; cars smoking the tires at the finish line, cars getting out of control, and in some cases racers being disqualified for hitting the brakes too hard. After a number of accidents, it was one NHRA official who I spoke with who said, “We have to stop this from happening.”

Officials at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, today announced the addition of the new Midwest SuperStar Bracket Series to its 2020 track schedule. The series, which will pay $10,000 to the winner of each day’s bracket event, will consist of six races over two weekends. The first event will be held April 17-19, 2020, in conjunction with the NHRA Division 3 JEGS Super Quick Series. A second event is scheduled for June 12-14, 2020.

“Our sales team, drag strip staff and our core racing community are working hard to secure additional sponsorships and bonus awards for the series so that participants are competing for a true championship,” said World Wide Technology Raceway Executive Vice President and General Manager Chris Blair. “Our team will be aggressively working the floor at the PRI Show in Indianapolis in hopes of securing both cash and product awards for the top 10 points earners in the six-race series. We hope to have some exciting announcements prior to the start of the 2020 season.”

Megan Meyer made history during the 2019 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. She became the first female Top Alcohol Dragster pilot to win the championship.

Also, she is just the fourth female to win a championship in the history of the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.

“It’s pretty cool that my best friend Mia [Tedesco] is also a champion,” Meyer said. “She was the third female to win a championship in the Lucas Oil Series. But to be the first female to do this, it’s pretty special. The Top Alcohol Dragster class has been around for a while now. I would have figured that it would have happened sooner than that. It’s so cool to be able to say that it’s me now. When I was racing Jr. Dragster, there weren’t many females in the Alcohol class, but we did have drivers, like Kate and Diana Harker, who I really looked up to. I hope that I can encourage and motivate younger female drivers to get into Jr. Dragsters to never give up and to keep working towards it.”

Billy Meyer should have paid closer attention at the 1981 NHRA U.S. Nationals. Amid Top Fuel eliminations, that year in Indianapolis, one by one, disgruntled Modified Eliminator racers paraded down the return road. Their actions were in protest of the sanctioning body's decision to disband their eliminator, relocating their classifications into Comp and Super Stock eliminators. The move was not wholly, but primarily to make room for the new Super Gas division coming in for the 1982 season.

Thanks to our coverage partners at DragStory.com and Mark Walter, we present to you the live video feed from the Fall Footbrake Frenzy at Piedmont Dragway.

Dan Fletcher is thankful for many things these days, but this week he's grateful to have a job still doing what he loves - drag racing. Each season, the job keeps getting harder and harder. 

Thanks to Chip Lofton, the champion of drag racing's little guy, Fletcher is racing another season on the tour while most of those he's shared the limelight has either retired or quit. 

"Chip Lofton at Strutmasters has been kind enough to step up and back my Super Stock program, as the major sponsor," Fletcher said. "And an associate on all the other cars."