The accident came out of nowhere from Pro Modified low qualifier Justin Bond.

Moments after running a 5.763, 247.70 to win a bye run in the first round of the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, Bond’s Bahrain-1 Camaro made an abrupt turn left and into the concrete retaining wall. Reasonable speculation is the car broke something forcing the abrupt direction change.

Bond exited the car under his own power.

Justin Bond needed a positive, and at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn., he certainly got one. 

Bond saved his best for last, running a 5.757 elapsed time to eclipse fellow centrifugal supercharged racer Jose Gonzalez by .001 in the final session of Saturday qualifying. 

The last few races have not been kind to Bond, who, with all the other centrifugal supercharged drivers, were adjusting to a rule change where NHRA added weight to their combination a little over a week ago. 

Washington State native JR Carr is no stranger to racing at the NHRA. But, behind the wheel of a large displacement Pro Stocker, he is. 

Saturday afternoon at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, the former 500-inch factory hot rod racer was able to extract a good amount of horsepower from his 800-plus inch Chevrolet to top Mountain Motor Pro Stock qualifying with a 6.273 elapsed time at 223.50 to blow by Elijah Morton and secure the No. 1 qualifying position during Saturday's Q-2 session in Brainerd, Minn. 

Carr was one of two drivers in the 6.20s, as No. 2 qualifier John DeFlorian recorded a 6.285. Mike Bell was third with a 6.304, while Dwayne Rice anchored the eight-car field with a 6.486.

Under the lights at the historic SRCA Drag Strip, California-based doorslammer standout Ed Thornton put the Summit Racing Equipment Mid-West Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Services Pro Mod division on notice with a smooth-as-silk 3.733-second eighth-mile blast at a stunning 214.66 mph to take the provisional No. 1 spot at the inaugural MWDRS Great Bend Nationals. 
 
Fellow West Coast racer Chris Marshall (Top Alcohol Funny Car) also secured the provisional No. 1 qualifier in Kansas. 
 
“Honestly, that’s pretty close to the run we were looking for,” said Thornton, who drives the Derrol Hubbard-owned, twin-turbocharged D Bar D Racing 1970 Chevy Camaro Pro Mod. “We put a 3.72 tune up in it, so we maybe left a little out there, but it was good enough to put us on top, and that’s what matters.” 

A week after winning her first race of the 2021 season, Top Fuel star Brittany Force continued to roll, qualifying No. 1 for the fifth straight event on Saturday at the 39th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway. 

Bob Tasca III (Funny Car) also qualified No. 1 at the 12th race of the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. 

A week after winning her first race of the 2021 season, Top Fuel star Brittany Force continued to roll, qualifying No. 1 for the fifth straight event on Saturday at the 39th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway.

Bob Tasca III (Funny Car) also qualified No. 1 at the 12th race of the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.

​As a drag racing fan, you know you're in for a treat when one of drag racing's most decorated crew chiefs goes into "Secret Squirrel" mode. At least that's how Mike Salinas sees it.

Salinas' tuner, Alan Johnson, along with Brian Husen, were in full secret squirrel revelation Friday as they tuned the Scrappers Dragster to the provisional No. 1 qualifying position with a 3.752 elapsed time at 326.08 miles per hour. Salinas is .03 quicker than No. 2 ranked Leah Pruett with two sessions remaining in qualifying. 

Please make no mistake; Bob Tasca is doing some housekeeping before his big coming-out party. 

And as Tasca sees it, everyone is invited. Tasca sent out his preliminary invitations during Friday's lone qualifying session at the Lucas NHRA Nationals at Brainerd, Minn.

John Force learned a valuable lesson some 44 years ago, a lesson some of his foes would be wise to pick up on as they face the 72-year old, 17-time Funny Car champion. Some seem to forget in 1985; the relentless Force scored what some might call a meaningless American Drag Racing Association Series championship.

But not Force, the unheralded championship was part of his learning regimen, just like the McEwen lesson where the champ got schooled embarrassingly.

The Goose gooched him in a stunning example of how assumptions can lend terrible results.

Veteran chassis builder Jerry Haas has developed a stellar reputation for his talents in building championship-winning doorslammers. Haas has stepped outside his norm and has built one of the more exquisite No Prep race cars ever. This beautiful 1969 Chevelle of Mark Winger, of San Angelo, Tex., will soon hit the track with a procharged big block Chevy.