Camrie Caruso drove to the win at the first NHRA Pro Stock All-Star Callout, claiming the victory over Aaron Stanfield on Saturday as part of the Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals presented by PEAK Performance at Route 66 Raceway.

In the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, Justin Ashley (Top Fuel) Ron Capps (Funny Car) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) won the bonus event in Chicago. Mike Salinas (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car) Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock) and Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1 at the sixth of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

Caruso, who was seeded eighth in the eight-car field specialty race, went 6.524-seconds at 211.03 mph in her Tequila Comisario Chevrolet Camaro in the final round to slip past Stanfield’s 6.525. The 2022 NHRA Rookie of the Year claimed her first career Pro Stock win earlier this year, following with an impressive performance in her first appearance at Route 66 Raceway, which is hosting its first NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series race since 2019.

Today, during the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals, Max Out Motorsports (formerly Justin Ashley Racing & Davis Motorsports) and JCM Racing jointly announced the creation of Maynard Ashley Racing, a new organization which will campaign the Phillips Connect Toyota Top Fuel entry piloted by Justin Ashley, starting with this weekend’s event.

Maynard Ashley Racing (MAR) was founded with the express goal of delivering world-class results, on and off the racetrack, for a growing community of marketing partners and fans drawn to Ashley, the 2020 NHRA Rookie-of-the-Year and seven-time tour winner who currently is second in points. 

Behind Maynard Ashley Racing is a partnership between JCM Racing led by Joe and Cathi Maynard, who have taken the NHRA by storm over the last year, and Max Out Motorsports LLC, a newly formed powerhouse partnership between Justin Ashley, Dustin Davis and Jim Epler.

Mike Salinas has not been happy with his recent on-track performance.

After starting the year with a win at the season-opening Gatornationals, Salinas has failed to make it out of the second round in the four races since, including a stagnant performance two weeks ago in Charlotte.

But after a few alterations, a couple of test sessions and a renewed drive, Salinas thinks he may have turned a corner in his Scrappers Racing machine.

Welcome back to Chicago, Robert Hight.

The track record holder in Funny Car at Route 66 Raceway -- and owner of back-to-back final round appearances at the facility at the most recent nitro races held there back in 2018-19 == Hight looked like he hadn’t missed a beat in his return.

Sporting a new look on his 11,000-horsepower machine, Hight drove his Cornwell Tools Chevrolet Camaro SS Funny Car to the top spot Friday in the first NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series race held there in four years. His 3.831-second pass at 335.07 mph reset both ends of the track record as Hight took the early advantage at the Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance.

On a day filled with tracks records, Robert Hight set two in Funny Car, powering to the provisional No. 1 position on Friday as the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returned to Route 66 Raceway for the Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals presented by PEAK Performance.

Mike Salinas (Top Fuel), Bo Butner (Pro Stock) and Gaige Herrera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also the provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the sixth of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

If there was one thing Larry Carrier excelled at more than arguing a point, it was thinking outside the box. The founder of the International Hot Rod Association, who was often outspoken on many topics, was a lot like Jim Tice, the founder of the American Hot Rod Association, in that he often doled out appearance money to ensure the leading participants were present at his events. 

“It worked,” Ted Jones, Carrier’s second in command, said of the appearance money procedure. “He had the names to put on his advertising, and that attracted the fans. It worked very well, and for that reason, the IHRA was an almost instant success. The big names were always determined by what they did in NHRA competition. If you did well over there – you were considered a big name.”

Scott Cashio understood from all those days of showing restraint in running under his index there would be a day like Thursday at the Texas Motorplex on Thursday, the first leg of a double NHRA Division 4 event, when he'd need some grace from the atmospheric conditions and a 120-degree racing surface. 

This event marks the fourth stop in the Rooftec Competition Eliminator Bonus fund, a special series that awards its champion $100,000 at the season's end.

Cashio played the situation like a fiddle, landing in the top spot by running -.647 under the A/Super Modified Automatic index with a 7.873 elapsed time. Ed Federkell was second, -.627, 7.243 under the B/AP index, while Dennis Smiley's A/Econo Dragster was third at -.615, 6.665.  

Veteran nitro Funny Car racer Justin Schriefer is back to take another swing against NHRA’s best this weekend.

Schriefer will make his 2023 season debut when he competes at the Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance May 19-21 in Chicago.

The track is only 35 minutes from Schriefer’s home in Grant Park, Ill. Chicago is returning to NHRA’s national event schedule for the first time since 2019.

“This track is right in our backyard,” Schriefer said. “I’m really excited to be racing in Chicago. I spent more than $200,000 on my car upgrading things. I have been adding motors, more new clutch equipment and a lot of spare parts. We have a lot of back-up stuff now. I know I can do (Chicago), and Indy and I’m signed up for Norwalk, (Ohio), but I will see how my work pans out and how much more sponsor money I get.

Competing at the highest level of NHRA drag racing in the Top Fuel class is no easy task.

However, Jake Opatrny is continuing his journey behind the wheel of a 11,000-horsepower Top Fuel beast as competes in his third career race at the Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance May 19-21 in Chicago.

David Reher couldn't believe what had transpired as he stood on the starting line at the Texas Motorplex. For the legendary Pro Stock engine builder, it was a bit of Deja vu.

Twenty years after standing on the starting line while testing at a small drag strip in Ardmore, Oklahoma, Reher and business partner Buddy Morrison watched in horror as their driver and close friend Lee Shepherd was killed while making what should have been a routine pass.