Angelle Sampey left no doubt who had the fastest bike at the Denso Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals.

Sampey powered to a track record 6.700-second elapsed time at 200.95 mph to grab the No. 1 qualifier position at the second race of the NHRA’s Western Swing.

Josh Hart turned a lot of heads last season. The part-time driver from Ocala, Fla, became the first driver since Darrell Russell in 2001 to win in his debut when Hart scored a massive win at the 2021 NHRA season opener in Gainesville, Fla., last season.

Hart, who appeared in 12 races last season, ran strong every time he showed up at the racetrack and would score his second career win later in the season in Charlotte, putting the rest of the Top Fuel class on notice that he was a force to be reckoned with.

With all the talk in the offseason about the stacked field in Top Fuel heading into the new year, Hart, who was stepping up to run a full season in 2022, would be expected to continue his outstanding performance from the year prior and be one of the frontrunners in the class.  

Here's a sneak peek of Stan Shelton's new Mustang that just rolled out of Jerry Bickel Race Cars. We are told the car is headed to ProLine for the installation of a new Noonan powerplant and is expected to see action in the NHRA's Pro Modified and PDRA Pro Boost divisions. 

Veteran nitro Funny Car driver Jeff Diehl is returning to the track.

Diehl will be piloting his Funny Car at the Denso Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals this weekend.

Diehl is racing thanks to his long-time sponsors as well as new sponsors.

“I’m excited about Sonoma and the new sponsors we will have helping us,” Diehl said.

Ever since Jim Campbell started competing in NHRA’s nitro Funny Car ranks, he has always been a glass-half-full guy.

Fast-forward to 2022 and that positive mindset has remained for Campbell. Campbell has driven for legendary team owner Jim Dunn since the 2017 season.

Campbell lost in the first round of the Mile-High Nationals on July 17 to John Force. Force clocked a 3.997-second time at 324.59 mph to get past Campbell’s 4.234-second lap at 299.20 mph at Bandimere Speedway.

Next time, Matt Smith will know better.

The five-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle champion walked into the media center at Bandimere Speedway with a sly grin and a reality that he had the field covered by a bunch. After the first session at the Dodge Mile High Nationals, the spread was almost .07 of a second. It tightened to a little over .06.

Smith cited the lack of spare parts for parking his Suzuki for the event, but he knew the Vtwin had an advantage in the thin air.

The truth was when qualifying ended on Saturday, Smith had .064 on the closest Suzuki. This advantage was nothing new as the Vtwins have held dominance over the Suzukis on Thunder Mountain. Last season, Smith held .06 headed into race day, and in 2019 (2020 was canceled due to COVID), low qualifier Eddie Krawiec, then on a Harley-Davidson, carried almost .11 into final eliminations.

In year one as a team owner/driver Ron Capps everything has exceeded expectations.

Capps, the reigning NHRA nitro Funny Car world champion, is third in the points standings after a second-round loss to Bob Tasca III at the Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colo., outside of Denver.

Although Capps was unable to make it in the winner’s circle at Bandimere Speedway he was still gushing about the work of his team.

Just when Stevie "Fast" Jackson thought he'd seen it all, he admitted the latest actions by the NHRA to rescind rule changes before they were put into effect on the track adds a new dynamic to the collection of examples he's witnessed.

On July 1, 2022, NHRA announced they reduced the centrifugal supercharger rpm limit from 10K rpm to 9500. The screw supercharger combination would have its overdrive from 75 to 65 percent, while the roots supercharger combination would have its minimum weight reduced from 2640 to 2615.

Twelve days later, the NHRA's tech department rescinded the adjustment.

Drag racing is headed back to Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., near Chicago. 

The track hasn’t hosted any type of drag racing since the end of the 2019 season.

Now, on Aug. 5-7, the NHRA North Central Division 3 race will take place. On Aug. 4, there also will be a Test and Tune session.