Bobby Cottrell understood that in just six short seasons, he’d experienced more success than a dozen average drivers could have combined. He’d won six consecutive NHRA Heritage Series titles, including an undefeated season last year. 

There was no reason to believe 2024 would bring more of the same, considering he’d amassed a 114-point lead heading into the final stretch of the NHRA Heritage Series season. Then, inexplicably, he lost his ride in August.

Getting Pro Modified rules that please racers of all combinations might be as viable as peace in the Middle East. But race officials at the 2024 - 2025 Drag Illustrated [DI] Winter Series believe they are as close as anyone has been. 

The DI Winter Series consists of three races hosted by Bradenton Motorsports Park. Its flagship division is the Pro Modified division. 

 Blake Bowser didn't need to see a spreadsheet, a ledger, or receipts to know he and his team had hit a home run. 

Bowser, the operator of Bakersfield's Famoso Dragstrip, knew the Good Vibrations California Hot Rod Reunion would be a success. He came into the event with an overwhelming mountain to move, and while remnants of it remain, he took a big chunk out with an event that featured good crowds and even better racing action. 

"It was a success in the fact that people had a great time," Bowser said. "The racing was great. I think everybody enjoyed themselves. The vendors did well. Everything is starting to build in the right direction with this race. So a success in that respect, absolutely. Financially, we're going to be okay. We're going to pay all the bills. We're going to give the museum a nice donation, which we promised them in doing this."

The Funny Car final at the California Hot Rod Reunion turned out to be an anticlimactic affair, as Jeff Arend, driving Matt Bynum’s Pontiac Trans-Am, soloed to victory. Arend claimed the event win after newly crowned series champion Bobby Cottrell was unable to make the call due to a fire that damaged his car in the semifinals.

Tyler Hilton clinched his third Nostalgia Top Fuel title on Sunday, cementing his place in drag racing history. The son of a former Top Fuel driver and a grandson of a Hall of Fame drag racing tuner, Hilton understands the significance and challenges of winning championships in the sport, particularly the first one.

For Pete Kaiser, everything he accomplishes this season is a trial run for next year. Saturday in Bakersfield, the Nostalgia Top Fuel driver used this logic to score his first win of 2025. 

Kaiser stopped Tyler Hilton in the final of the delayed Tulsa NHRA Heritage Series event hosted by Famoso Dragstrip. He won from the No. 1 qualifying position, making the win a clean sweep. 

"I'm trying to get better for next year," Kaiser said. "I'm trying to get better every pass. This is our first year doing this as our own, me and my wife own this thing and we're just trying to build up a team and building up parts and come out swinging. We're not going anywhere for a while."

After Dallas, Scott Palmer figured his season was pretty much over. Drag racing's popular blue-collar nitro racer had just failed to qualify at the Texas NHRA FallNationals, a shortcoming he blames on himself, and after the way his 2023 season ended with a horrific crash and started in 2024, headed home to regroup was not the worst proposition he could face. 

Saturday night after the painful DNQ, Palmer was standing around in his pits with the hard rock tunes blaring and a cocktail in his right hand when a gentleman who didn't mind the music and certainly wasn't bothered by the adult beverage. The two stared at one another and smiled. 

Twenty minutes later, at Brogdon's urging, Palmer was planning to race the final two events on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. He is now entered for the NHRA Nevada Nationals in Las Vegas and the NHRA Finals in Pomona, Ca.

Pete Kaiser admits he can sometimes be his worst critic. It was hard for the Pleasant Hill, Ca.-based Nostalgia Top Fuel to criticize his performance on Friday at the NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion [CHRR], as he secured the No. 1 qualifying effort from the delayed Tulsa Heritage Series, and in one fell swoop claimed a first-round win and low elapsed time of the round which established him as the provisional low qualifier for the original event. 

Kaiser was joined atop the CHRR leaderboard by Geoff Monise [Funny Car] and Vince Karsgtettler [Fuel Altered] in the first day of the NHRA Heritage Series finale. 

Killin Time Racing (KTR) will return to the Pro Nitrous Competition in 2025 with PDRA Elite Top Sportsman competitor Tim Paap. Paap, who finished second overall in the points standings in 2024, is gearing up for the new challenge after a successful season with crew chief Jeffrey Barker.

"We are eager to throw our hat in the ring and do battle in Pro Nitrous, I have a great crew and who would not be excited having the team at KTR with Barker and Jackson (Steve) helping make this program a reality," Paap said.