As the saying goes, the third time is the charm. 

Jeff Cameron, can you give us an "amen!" 

In his third 'A' field final round of the season, Cameron outlasted Kirk Williams, the winner of the previous four Funny Car Chaos events, to reach the winner's circle for the first time. Cameron did so behind the wheel of an alcohol-fueled 2000 Pontiac Firebird.nging home the trophy in 'C' field.

There was a time when the duo of Phil Shuler and Todd Okuhara were best known for their throw the sink at it nitro tuning approach, many times resulting in either wins or No. 1 qualifiers. Then, in 2017, went different directions within Don Schumacher Racing. 

Shuler went to the U.S. Army team with Tony Schumacher, and Okuhara was reassigned to the Leah Pritchett Top Fuel dragster. When Shuler left DSR to tune Pro Modifieds in 2020, it appeared one of drag racing’s more aggressive tuning duos likely was a thing of the past. 

When Okuhara came down with Covid a few races ago, it was only natural when the Maynard Family Racing [JCM] team brought him in as a pinch hitter to work with assistant crew chief Marc Denner while he recuperated. The results tell the story. 

Weldon High Performance today announced its NMRA and NMCA Racer Appreciation Happy Hour schedule for 2023. The much anticipated Happy Hours are held track-side Thursdays at all NMRA/NMCA races and provide a lively social evening of camaraderie for racers, their families and teams, as well as all industry colleagues to kick back and enjoy great company over beverages and snacks.

Weldon has expanded its sponsorship of NMRA and NMCA Racer Appreciation Happy Hour events in 2023 to include the following races:

 The modern cockpit canopy is 10 years old. It celebrated its birthday in Brainerd, Minn. 

The bolt-on ballistic polycarbonate driver protection, which Don Schumacher Racing designed and engineered with help from Aerodine Composites debuted at this race in 2012. And it remains optional – and for some teams, questionable. 

While some still aren’t convinced they would be safer with the canopy and others would argue that the device (particularly the latest edition) is an aerodynamic enhancement more than a life-saving component, others have said they wouldn’t race without it. 

This past weekend’s Lucas Oil Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota was a tale of one racetrack with two different personalities.

Three-time Top Fuel champion Antron Brown spoke for many teams when he said, “All-and-all it was a good weekend here at Brainerd.” But current Funny Car champion Ron Capps summed up the event for many teams, as well: “This whole weekend here at Brainerd was a lot of adversity.” For many teams, it was both.

The facility was beautifully groomed, the Safety Safari did an excellent job trying to present two equal lanes and prepare the racetrack (particularly following rain showers Friday), and the fans turned out in force. But after blistering-hot weekends at Seattle and Topeka, the Minnesota northwoods brought a respite for drivers. The cooler-than-before temperatures turned out to be no guarantee of a smooth race day.

The American Drag Racing League announced today that the 2022 Extreme Racing Oil & Fuel ADRL Tour Presented by RJS racing is canceling the remaining dates, and the ADRL as a drag racing sanction is being shuttered, effective immediately.

ADRL General Manager Andy Carter recently signed a contract with a new organization, one that doesn't allow working with other drag racing teams or associations. Carter has released the following statement regarding the cancellation of the 2022 season and the closure of the ADRL:

Robert Hight used Brainerd International Raceway's 1,000-foot course to set the national-record elapsed time at 3.793 seconds in 2017 – the same race at which he set the track speed record at 338.00 mph.

Hight happens to have six of the top 10 speeds, including the fastest in the sport’s history – a 339.87 from that same year, at Sonoma, Calif.

The fastest a Top Fuel dragster has gone is 338.17 mph, by Hight’s John Force Racing colleague, Brittany Force. She recorded that in 2019 at Las Vegas. And she happens to own nine of the top 10 speeds in Top Fuel history. Her 338-flat at Las Vegas this spring ranks as No. 2 on the dragsters’ all-time performance chart, while that same clocking is only 10th-best in the Funny Car class.

For two seasons now, JR Carr has been the zookeeper of the Mountain Motor Pro Stockers [MMPS] at the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals in Brainerd. Carr, in a rematch of the 2021 event, stopped John DeFlorian, who was shut off on the starting line due to a leak coming from his Camaro.

"There are no ugly wins," Carr declared. "I hated this run by ourselves, but it happens, I guess."

Carr entered eliminations as the No. 1 qualifier with a 6.305 elapsed time. He remained in the low-to-mid 6.30s in sopping Bill Neri and Elijah Morton.

Top Fuel racer Steve Torrence reassured everyone this entire Camping World Drag Racing Series season that he hadn’t fallen on his lips suddenly, that he and his Capco Contractors Dragster team simply were taking time to experiment with different parts and set-ups and approaches to prepare for When It Counts. 

But even he knew he had to provide some evidence – if only to convince himself that he would win again.