Third-generation drag racer Mason McGaha loves drag racing, and, as a result, he jumps at any chance to make laps in the family’s Pro Stock Camaros. McGaha plans to make runs every day this week during the Texas Motorplex Stampede of Speed, which culminates with the Texas NHRA FallNationals, Thursday through Friday. 

McGaha was entered in the NHRA D4 event at the Texas Motorplex in the days before the Texas FallNationals. He was running A/Altered with a Camaro formerly run in Pro Stock by his dad, Chris McGaha. The A/Altered weight break is 3.4 pounds per cubic inch, meaning at 500-inch displacement for the engine, the legal weight could have been 1,700 pounds. He will also run Competition Eliminator and Pro Stock at the Texas NHRA FallNationals. 

It was the first time McGaha had raced in Competition Eliminator since the Texas Motorplex D4 double divisional event in 2022. For those unfamiliar with the terminology, a double divisional is when two events are run in four days. 

The goal with Competition Eliminator is not necessarily to win in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series but rather to get extra runs down the track to apply to the Pro Stock team. Since the car is about 650 pounds overweight for its maximum potential in A/Altered, he isn’t bombing the index for the regular competition.

"I've been wanting to run Comp ever since I was a little kid because I always watched Chris run Comp before we started running Pro Stock," McGaha said. "So I guess you could say I was brainwashed into adoring Comp Eliminator. We were going to run the B/Altered at this race at one point; we'd gotten a 450 [CID, engine] built, and it was in the car a week ago, and we just needed to finish up the car to get it ready, and we kind of second-guess ourselves and went, you know what? Let's just take that out. We'll put one of our 500-inch motors in and we can run it just like a Pro Stock car and have a chance to test on the track that we're about to run the national event on and have some extra data."

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With the divisional out of the way, McGaha can now look forward to the Lucas Oil Series competition, which starts on Wednesday with the first of three qualifying sessions and with an expected full field due to the popularity of the Rooftec Competition Eliminator bonus series, he could get as many eight hits at the track should he reach the fin“We’ll“We’ll have three plus those three, and essentially six runs at minimum before Q1 of Pro Stock, which I think is pretty valuable,” McGaha sIt’s

It’s a pretty crafty way around the longtime NHRA policy of prohibited testing in the days leading up to a national event. The critical factor in getting around the regulation is that it’s a different car than the one he’ll race in Pro Stock. 

McGaha has had a good season in Pro Stock, reaching two semifinals and one final round headed into this weekend. 

Until Friday rolls around, he’ll be focused on making as many runs down the Motorplex’s iconic all-concrete quarter-mile. He’ll also settle into the family tradition of Competition Eliminator. 

"We love Comp, and [our family has] been around it for forever, and I guess seeing a bunch of people come and go and still some of the ones that are still around when they were running, they're still running when I ran this weekend," McGaha said. "And it's a cool little community that Comp Eliminator has."