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Travis Pastrana didn’t leave with a license to race a nitro-burning Top Fuel dragster. The X-Games superstar and noted adrenaline connoisseur instead left with an experience of a lifetime.

“I hit the gas, and it felt like my butt was way up the track and my brain wasn’t functioning; it was way still way back there,” Pastrana told Lee Craft of the Monday Morning Racer Show. “It was amazing.

“I got off [the throttle] in my second run, felt like we were wheelie-ing over towards the wall. I haven’t been so nervous going in a straight line in all of my life. I gotta come back one day and try get a full pull. This is amazing and such a great opportunity. “

The Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association’s (NEOPMA) 30th season of fast doorslammer racing will come to a close this weekend, and the organization has planned a Pro Modified party to celebrate. At least 30 cars will take part in the NEOPMA 30-30-30 race during Maryland International Raceway’s 37th annual Superchargers Showdown, Sept. 30-Oct. 2, with the winner going home with $30,000 of the $45,000 total purse. 
 
“We’re delighted to have our 30th anniversary celebration at one of the finest racetracks in the country, MIR,” said John Mazzorana, founder and president, NEOPMA. “Thirty Pro Mods, $30,000 to the winner for 30 years of racing. Again, we’ve been around for 30 years. There’s no club in the country that can say that. We’re going to have some of the fastest Pro Mods in the country. We invite fans and racers to come out and join us for some fun entertainment all weekend long.”

Long before he became as muscular as an NFL Linebacker and as talented as a nitro-burning Funny Car driver, Matt Hagan was as green as a race car driver could be and began his march to stardom behind the wheel of full-bodied race cars. 

A little over two decades ago, Hagan was finding his way into drag racing's upper echelon as a Pro Modified driver. The road to stardom wasn't exactly an easy one for the driver of Tony Stewart's Funny Car. 

When Hagan started drag racing, the idea of racing a fuel Funny Car was about as far from his thought processes as it got. 

Antron Brown still has plenty of swagger.

Brown, the time NHRA Top Fuel world champion, in his first year owning and operating AB Motorsports, is right in the mix to win world title No. 4 – especially after Sunday.

Ron Capps just keeps turning up the wick in his bid to repeat as NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series Funny Car champion.

Sunday’s Betway NHRA Carolina Nationals at zMAX Dragway near Charlotte marked the third win in the past four events for the rookie team owner. The victory, coming at the expense of Alexis DeJoria, was his 71st in Funny Car competition and 72nd overall (Top Fuel, Seattle, 1995).

Aaron Stanfield has had a career-best season in NHRA’s Pro Stock class, but it has not been easy.

Stanfield, however, was on top of his game Sunday as he captured the title at the Betway Carolina Nationals in Charlotte.

J.R. Carr didn't have the quickest or fastest Mountain Motor Pro Stock car during qualifying for the NHRA Carolina Nationals outside of Charlotte, NC. And, for the Richland, Wash.-based driver, he didn't need to.

On race day, Carr was the quickest and fastest when it meant the most.

Carr, a former NHRA 500-inch Pro Stock, captured his third win of the season behind the wheel of his 840-inch Camaro. He finished the four-race tour with three wins, the latest coming at the expense of John DeFlorian.

"We struggled in qualifying.," Carr admitted. "We knew everybody was going to be tough with an 8-car field, which they always are. Hell, they're tough with the 16-car field in this class. We just had the better car today, and I drove pretty well, and we'll take it. It's sure not easy."

Stevie “Fast” Jackson was feeling bold Sunday afternoon. After all, the two-time NHRA Pro Modified champion had just beaten Justin Bond in the Pro Modified final, and it was his first win since April 2021. 

Please understand that Jackson admits to having only two heroes in drag racing - six-time Pro Modified champion Scotty Cannon and 17-time Funny Car champion John Force. 

So when Jackson decided to fire his supercharged Bahrain-1 Camaro in the winner’s circle and drive back to the pits, he made a stop before heading to his hauler. With Scotty Cannon retired from drag racing and no pit area, it left only one place to stop. 

 On September 23, 2015, Lyle Barnett was 10 feet tall and bulletproof. At least, he thought so. 

The next day he found out different. 

Today, the three-time NHRA Pro Modified national event winner is fine not being ten feet tall and bulletproof. It took a horrific accident to teach him a lesson. 

Barnett was involved in one of the worst fires ever experienced in a doorslammer and survived.