Retirement is a relative term; just ask Cory McClenathan.

So what was 34-time NHRA national event winner doing behind a wheel of a Pontiac Firebird Nostalgia Funny Car at the Bakersfield March Meet?

"You know, that's a good question," McClenathan said. "About two months ago, I got a call from Rick Akers, and he was wondering if I wanted to come out and wheel his Nostalgia Nitro Funny Car. And I'm thinking, 'Well, I've never driven one before. But that's not going to stop me from trying."

Up the NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla, Lenny Lottig had never won a Constant Aviation Factory Stock Showdown event, much less led the points standings. It wasn’t just a victory for Lottig; it was an exclamation mark.

When 15-inches of rain saturated Gainesville Raceway and left the racing surface void of any rubber, the NHRA’s Safety Safari laid a foundation that resulted in the top eight qualifiers in the Factory Stock division, all making the field by running under the national elapsed time record.

“It still doesn’t even feel real. It’s an over-the-top feeling,” said Lottig, who entered race day as the No. 10 qualifier. “I couldn’t do it without having all of the team, between David Barton and the people back at the shop helping me work on the car; Dave and Jesse and the whole gang. I lean on Barton, who helps me make the decisions. We went out there and just concentrated and tried to run my own game.”

The sun put the spotlight on commanding competition at the NMCA Muscle Car Mayhem presented by Holbrook Racing Engines, March 17-20, 2022 at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida.

The first of six events on this year’s Red Line Oil NMCA Muscle Car Nationals tour excited every step of the way, as racers went all-out with their sights set on the NMCA Winner’s Circle and alluring Victor awards.

Most VP Racing Lubricants Xtreme Pro Mod racers recorded 3.60s and 3.70s in incredibly intense qualifying sessions, and among them was Robert Abbott. He rocketed to a 3.66 in his Camaro to earn the top spot. Though Abbott made it to the final round of eliminations, Scott Wildgust wheeled to the holeshot win with a 3.71 against Abbott’s 3.67.

After a long, bumpy, and challenging road consisting of engine blowups, reconfigurations, and just some plain old bad luck, Competition Eliminator veteran Scott Cashio turned to his father after the Dallas national event last year and asked if he still wanted to do this. After all, the Cashios, like many of their fellow competitors, consider drag racing to be a family activity. 

Cashio's father, Tommy, a lifelong bracket racer, enthusiastically reassured his son that he is all in on this endeavor. Thus continued the journey of persistence that every drag racer experiences. For Cashio, the spark he needed to reignite his passion was just around the corner. 

At the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division 4 opener in Belle Rose, La., Cashio emerged victorious in his 2009 Cobalt, securing his first win in 11 years. Perhaps more importantly, he rose to the top of the list of competitors vying for their piece of Rodger Brogdon's alluring Comp Eliminator Bonus Fund, which offers additional prize money, to the tune of $300,000, at the end of the season to drivers competing in Division 4 events. 

Rob Goss and his Procharger-packed '09 Gen3 Hemi Challenger have some unfinished business to take care of next weekend at South Georgia Motorsports Park.

Early last month at Lights Out 13, after qualifying number one in X275 with a near-record 4.14-seconds pass on the same track, Goss bowed out in round three of racing with a narrow redlight start. The round before he'd lowered his own class ET record to 4.13 seconds.

For the reigning back-to-back Radial Tire Racing Association (RTRA) X275 champion, it just bolsters his belief that having the quickest package is not necessarily what wins races.

Leave it to a guy who likes a challenge to bite off a big one. 

Knowing that the midsection of the country was devoid of a big-time Pro Mod series, Keith Haney led the drive to create one. 

This weekend, the Mid-West Drag Racing Series launches its sixth season south of Dallas, Texas. It has evolved year to year as Haney tries classes, discards what doesn’t work, and adds more in an attempt to stay fresh.

When Pro Mod-based series ADRL and XDRL faded, and the upstart PDRA opted to stay well east of the Mississippi, Haney – himself a racer in the class – decided to take matters into his own hands. 

Up until today, likelier scenarios have happened, like the cow jumping over the moon and the dish running away with the spoon.

Longtime Chevrolet Mountain Motor Pro Stock stalwart John Montecalvo confirmed he will be driving a Ford in 2022 in alliance with Hall of Fame drag racer Roy Hill and sponsorship from Roy Hill’s Drag Racing School. 

“Yeah, I got all my Pro Stock friends saying Hell has frozen over and thinking I’ve fallen and hit my head,” Montecalvo said. “It’s got them all talking for sure.”

It’s not hard to understand why there’s a lot of talk going around considering Montecalvo, a multi-time series champion while racing IHRA, ADRL, and PDRA Pro Stock divisions, at one time was the only factory hot rod racer in those series receiving sponsorship from GM.

The fact they were at the NHRA Gatornationals spoke volumes about the heart of the Jim Head Racing team. 

Then to reach the final round, said it in a tone as deafening as the team's Mustang Funny Car driven by Blake Alexander. 

Gainesville was the first race back since the team suffered the tragic hauler accident that cost crewman Dylan Cromwell's life, killed in an accident en route to the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals. 

Big money will be on the line as some of the best DOT radial drag racers in the world look to battle it out at the 5th Annual Sweet 16 "Battle of the Thrones."

Presented by DuckX and BossX, and sponsored in part by Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels, Sweet 16 5.0 will feature the Baddest Radial Vs. the World, Pro275, X275, Limited Drag Radial (LDR) and ULTRA STREET competitions. Races will be held March 24-26 at South Georgia Motorsports Park.