One might think it's always a piece of cake watching Bobby Cottrell go to work every time he fires up the Bucky Austin AA/Fuel Coupe. 

One might be wrong; at least, that's how it played out during his first three days at the 65th Bakersfield March Meet.

The five-time NHRA Heritage Series champion, who has won the March Meet four times in a row, started the weekend with a fire while testing on Thursday. On Friday, the team couldn't get in their usual dominant groove, and Saturday's first session didn't offer much improvement as he hovered in the fourth and fifth positions. 

NHRA and Rooftec, owned by veteran NHRA sportsman and Pro Stock competitor Rodger Brogdon, have partnered for a unique bonus program set to take place at the prestigious Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.

The Rooftec NHRA Competition Eliminator Cash Clash will be a specialty race at the Big Go where the top 16 drivers from the Rooftec Comp Eliminator Bonus Fund face off for a total purse of $50,000. The winner of the specialty event will earn $30,000 and the Rooftec NHRA Competition Eliminator Cash Clash will also be featured in a special 30-minute broadcast airing after the U.S. Nationals.

PDRA Pro Boost standout Johnny Camp rocketed to the No. 1 spot in Pro Mod Friday night at the Drag Illustrated World Series of Pro Mod presented by J&A Service at Bradenton Motorsports Park. With his 3.626-second blast at 205.91 MPH in the “Hells Bells” ’69 Camaro, Camp leads a Pro Mod qualifying order that includes 60 other drivers fighting for 32 spots on race day Sunday. 
 
The first day of qualifying at the World Series of Pro Mod also included one session in the $hameless Racing Mountain Motor Pro Stock Invitational presented by Seminole Paving, the XFWD Challenge, the D H Davies Racing Factory Stock Classic, and Top Dragster. The provisional low qualifiers in those classes are Richard Freeman (MMPSI), Rafa Famania (XFWD), Lenny Lottig (FSC), and Pete Maduri (TD). 

If NHRA Heritage Series Funny Car racer Tim Boychuck didn't know it when he started qualifying at the 65th Good Vibrations March Meet, he did when he completed his second qualifying run.

Boychuck finished the day with a 5.692 elapsed time at 248.61 miles per hour performance to grab the provisional No. 1 qualifying position in the AA/Funny Car division. Cory Lee was second with 5.699. Friday's performance was just part of a big-picture performance. 

Joining Boychuck atop the professional categories were Pete Wittenberg (Top Fuel) and Dylan Winefsky (Fuel Altered).

“If you told me a year ago that I'd be standing here winning this race, I would’ve told you that was crazy.”

That was longtime Pro Stock veteran Jason Collins not long after beating Brylon Holder in the Pro 275 final for Lights Out 14, Mar. 27, at South Georgia Motorsports Park.

With a 3.75-seconds pass at 200.68 mph, Collins qualified Scott Tidwell’s ’69 Camaro 4th in the 32-car P275 field. Manny Buginga took the top spot at 3.71 and 203.06 mph, with defending race champion Mo Hall 2nd at 3.73 and 201.46, and Marcus Birt 3rd just three-thousandths back with another 3.73 at 200.23 mph.

Dreams rarely come to fruition overnight – and for some people, they never pan out.

Australian Shayne Stewart had almost reached the latter point as he pursued his goal of racing a Top Fuel dragster in the United States.

Then, a stroke of out-and-out luck changed his future. The dream that inspired him to uproot his family and immigrate to America is – at last – coming true.

Seven years ago, Stewart decided to move his family from Melbourne, a city of five million on Australia's southern coast, to Southern California. He had limited racing experience Down Under, having crewed on a Top Fuel dragster and the "Dark Horse" nitro Funny Car. He then built and drove a supercharged alcohol altered "only a few times" before constructing a front-engine dragster for Top Fuel competition. 

The Peach State’s own Tim Meissner repeated as a Duck X Productions winner at South Georgia Motorsports Park February 26, winning the Radials vs. the World final for Lights Out 14 over fellow Georgian Luis de Leon. He previously won Duck X’s No Mercy event in October 2021.

“I was 60 feet out and I was already on my radio telling the guys we got this,” said Meissner, from Douglasville. “Then I pulled the parachute and I think I lost my voice. We were screaming on the radio and they were high fiving each other back at the start and I got so excited that we fell about 300 yards short of getting to the end of the racetrack. I got stopped on the racetrack and they had to come get me.”

Matt Smith confirmed to CompetitionPlus.com he plans on riding a Suzuki at all the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series races in 2023.

Smith has won three Pro Stock Motorcycle world championships in a row – six in his career – but the last three have primarily come with him aboard a Buell.

“I am supposed to be full-blown Suzuki,” Smith said. “I have not signed a contract yet. I have committed to it, and they have committed to me, so I'm just waiting for a contract to be signed. I have committed to Suzuki and Suzuki has committed to me. We're just waiting for the lawyers to draw the proper paperwork up and me to sign it. But that is the plan.”

The legend of the phoenix is as ancient a tale as they come – a mythical bird that lives for hundreds of years before passing away in a shower of flames, only to regenerate, rise gloriously from the ashes and fly away full of youth and vigor. The bird’s “rise from the ashes” today serves as a fortifying notion to anyone who has experienced loss or devastation.

While no one experiences a literal “rise from the ashes”, a metaphorical rise isn’t only a possibility but a tremendous reality – something which only one who has experienced tremendous adversity can know.

Enter Darrell Gwynn.