If there's one thing Blake Alexander has learned in a year of driving for Jim Head, it's that attention to detail is paramount. It's not that Alexander, a talented driver who has won in Top Fuel dragster but still seeking his first in Funny Car, didn't exercise this approach.

It's just when you work with Head; the level is pretty high.

"Never scared to try new things and learn a lot about how to do business operationally, from a racing perspective, and it parlays over from his other business," Alexander added. "We're business partners. We operate together, but separately. At the end of the day, we both have responsibility to each other to do well and we always are striving for that."

The drag racing community might find it hard to believe since it watched him grow up.

J.R. Todd, the energetic and talented drag racer who worked his way from Junior Dragster competition to the nitro ranks, is turning 40 years old in December.

Todd drove the Kalitta Motorsports-fielded DHL Toyota to a 3.927, 324.20 best in testing at the PRO Winter Warm-ups at Palm Beach International Raceway.

He drove his way like a seasoned veteran, even though there are those who still call him "kid."

"When I worked at Gilbertson, I was definitely a kid then," Todd said. "Looking back at pictures of seeing how young I looked and how much skinnier I was. And one of the guys that always hung out there with Nicky and me was Berserko Bob [Doerrer]. He came and saw me the other day, and just, he's like, "Man, how old are you now?"

It was just another day for John Force, the iconic drag racer of over five decades had a lot of noise going through his mind prior to his first run in 54 weeks. To know Force, the 16-time champion, is to know there's always noise in the front, the back, and both sides of his mind at any given time.

In all honesty, Friday at the PRO Winter Warm-up test session was not just another day.

The event at Palm Beach International Raceway marked the first time he'd been in a race car since the 2020 NHRA Arizona Nationals. For 54 weeks, Force had remained idle behind the wheel of his Peak-sponsored Funny Car.

There's a lot of energy to be contained in the mind of the 70-something year old drag racer.

Joe Castello brings a lot to the table with his well-versed style and a distinct voice recognized throughout Motorsports. From March 19-21, the creator and host of the WFO Radio podcast will function as an integral part of the Johnson's Horsepowered Garage Southern Sportsman Showdown at South Georgia Motorsports Park.

Fans in the stands and viewers of the MotorManiaTV.com livestream will be treated to Castello's skilled delivery of on-track happenings at the eagerly anticipated event that caters solely to Stock and Super Stock racers.

Antron Brown didn’t have to have the coronavirus to see how devastating the pandemic was on its victims and the world around him.

Brown, who is working towards being a team owner, watched as the virus brought the drag racing world to its knees. He was one of the many who wondered back in April if he’d get to drag race again.

Friday, Brown hit the track with a new marketing partner in Sirius XM was a sign NHRA Drag Racing is headed in a good direction.

While Ron Capps is far from being an old dog, he did learn a few tricks at the PRO Winter Warm-up. The NAPA Auto Parts-sponsored driver will begin 2021 with new but familiar crewchiefs and crew. After three days of adjusting to new routines, and Capps is confident things will be just fine for the NAPA team under the guidance of John Medlen and Guido Antonelli, formerly assigned to the Jack Beckman Infinite Hero team.

The three-day adjustment period has been more like a reunion of old friends, Capps believes.

'It's been fun. I've talked before about how long I've known Guido," Capps explained. "We go back to my rookie year in Top Fuel. I was on the road, driving the rig with my crew chief, Terry Manzerat the time. And we spent a couple of weeks in Dallas between races, and he was on John Force's crew. So, we got to be really close friends and just hung out in between races back then and since.

When it came to winning the offseason, some might say everyone else finished second to Cruz Pedregon.

Pedregon, the two-time NHRA Funny Campion, grabbed many headlines when he signed John Collins, most recently with the Tommy Johnson-driven Make A Wish Funny Car. He made even more when he also added the crew which worked under Collins.

The PRO Winter Warm-up was their first time on the field.

SEMA filed an amicus brief in a lawsuit between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Gear Box Z. Inc. (GBZ) arguing against the EPA’s contention that the Clean Air Act (CAA) does not allow a motor vehicle to be converted into a racing vehicle used solely for competition. In the lawsuit, the EPA asserts that once a vehicle has been certified as a street vehicle, it cannot be converted into a racing vehicle even if that vehicle is trailered to the track and is never driven on public roads.

In its brief, SEMA asserts that the Clean Air Act does not apply to converted street vehicles used exclusively on the track. SEMA states that “the agency’s interpretation breaks from the plain language of the CAA, the legislative history, and EPA’s regulations and guidance.” The amicus brief notes that the EPA’s position contradicts its longstanding guidance and regulations and that the EPA previously stated that it “has no interest in vehicles that begin their existence as normal, EPA-certified production vehicles used on public roads and are then permanently converted to sanctioned competition-use only vehicles.”

With the 2021 NHRA, Top Fuel Harley [TFH] season about to start, both the racers and many NHRA fans can’t wait to see the big 1000 + HP Top Fuel V Twins thunder down the quarter-mile.

The season will kick off on March 12 – 14 at the NHRA Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals, held in Gainesville, Florida. One week prior to the famous “Gators” kicking off the 2021 season, there were eight of the big thunder-bike teams pre-entered.

Defending 2020 champion Randal Andras of Morgan City, LA tops the list, and he will be tough to beat, as will his teammate, Tii Tharpe of Pfafftown, NC. Tharpe won back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2019, while Jay Turner Racing [JTR] has essentially held a lock on the class since its inception.