He's like the grumpy uncle who went on vacation from the family get-togethers.

After missing three of the NHRA Pro Modified family get-togethers, multi-time champion Rickie Smith returned to the high horsepower gathering at the Dodge NHRA U.S. Nationals with a lesson showing "Unk" still has elder status.

Smith qualified No. 1 in Friday's lone session and hung around until the semi-finals when his nitrous-injected Camaro drifted out of the groove, where he wisely lifted. He was very much capable of winning, as fellow nitrous racer Jeffrey Barker went on to nail down the crown for the bottle rockets. 

Tom Weisenbach is Director of the International Council of Motorsport Sciences, a group of professionals dedicated to the scientific, medical, and educational aspects of the human element in motorsports. It explores the latest innovations and initiatives in motorsport safety.

Ironically, his first job in the industry brought him to Indianapolis Raceway Park (now Lucas Oil Raceway) 25 years ago. There and then, with the double deaths of Top Fuel driver Blaine Johnson and Top Fuel Motorcycle racer Elmer Trett at the 1996 U.S. Nationals, Weisenbach got a harsh introduction to the unforgiving and sobering side of racing.

 Krista Baldwin can remember the carpets.

The 28-year-old Top Fuel rookie and third-generation driver – who happens to co-own her car and equipment with 90-year-old grandfather, Chris Karamesines – recalled her earliest memory. And naturally, it involved drag racing. After all, her father was Top Fuel racer Bobby Baldwin and her mother’s father was the legend known fondly to fans as “The Golden Greek.”

Baldwin said, “I remember when I was a kid that I can go to either pit. I could go hang out in my dad’s pit or I could go hang out in my grandpa’s pit, because I had different toys in different trailers. In my grandpa's trailer, it's like a short carpet. The wheels of my toy dragsters would glide across the carpet a lot easier than in my dad's trailer, because my dad’s carpet, or rug or whatever it was, was a little bit longer. So the wheels would get stuck. I still had the babies and the Barbies and all that kind of stuff, too. But I just remember rolling the dragsters on the ground. I remember the two different lounges on how different they were.”

​​​​They came with their hopes and dreams.

They came with their new dragsters and their tribute paint schemes.

Talk about making your fans wait for an encore.

It has been nearly 18 years to the day since Tim Wilkerson last went to victory lane at the sport’s biggest race, last winning the U.S. Nationals back in 2003.

Erica Enders has established greatness in NHRA’s Pro Stock class, winning four world championships in 2014-15 and 2019-20.

Now, she’s becoming a legend on the sport’s biggest stage – the U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway Park in Indianapolis.

Eddie Krawiec’s emotion was obvious moments after winning the prestigious U.S. Nationals Sunday.

The Pro Stock Motorcycle star’s voice was cracking when talking about his win over his Vance & Hines teammate Angelle Sampey in the finals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.

Tim Wilkerson won for the first time in more than five years and came through at the biggest event of the season, racing to the Funny Car victory on Sunday at the prestigious 67th annual Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.

Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won in their respective categories at the 13th event of the 2021 NHRA season. It is also the final race of the regular season before the Countdown to the Championship playoffs begins.

Heavy rain showers on Saturday wiped out the final two qualifying sessions of the 67th annual Dodge//SRT NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. Fields for Sunday’s eliminations are set from Friday’s single qualifying session due to the inclement weather.

Brittany Force (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car), Kyle Koretsky (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) will officially claim No. 1 qualifiers at the 13th of 20 races during the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. It is also the final race of the NHRA regular season before the Countdown to the Championship playoffs begin.

Hemi class racing at Indy didn't start with the Dodge Hemi Shootout, but for the last 20 years, it's been perfected. For almost the last decade, CompetitionPlusTV has been bringing you the action in this specialty event. This season, talented cameraman Les Mayhew captures all the action for the 20th-anniversary event.