It doesn’t take but a few minutes of conversing with Steve Huff to realize he’s not like you -- and probably not like anyone else you’ve ever met. 

And that’s not even taking into account that Huff, 54, has three kidneys, is battling a rare cancer, or that he is an accomplished innovator despite the fact that he and his mother were homeless for a time.

GEARWRENCH, the manufacturer of premier mechanic hand tools, has partnered with Don Schumacher Racing to be the official tool supplier of Ron Capps and the NAPA AUTO PARTS Funny Car team.
 
The multi-year agreement between GEARWRENCH and DSR’s NAPA Funny Car team marks the tool maker’s first foray into NHRA drag racing since 2014. The brand’s racing sponsorship platform has grown substantially since 2017, having partnered with various IndyCar, NASCAR, Formula Drift, and Monster Energy Supercross teams, among others. GEARWRENCH is excited to join forces with Capps and the NAPA team for the opportunity to reach NHRA’s captive audience of automotive ‘do-it-yourselfers’ and grassroots racers.

There is no doubt that drag racing is an addiction for many — even most — of its participants. The NMCA Xtreme Street team of car owner Jason Waterman and powertrain owner and driver Dave Fiscus is no exception to this rule. Waterman, affectionately known as “Cheeseburger” by friends and foes alike, is driven by a hunger for the dragstrip and its allure that consumes just about all of his waking hours.

Warteman has tuned many Mustangs and other cars over the years, from Zack Posey and Tony Akins in the old NMRA BFGoodrich Drag Radial class to Ultra Street class-wrecker Shawn Pevlor’s nitrous-assisted Mustang to working closely on Martin Connelley’s race-winning efforts over the last couple of seasons. It’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about a thing or two when it comes to getting a high-powered small-tire Mustang to dance the strip. He’s even been behind the wheel himself, although not much in recent years. p“I used to drive it way back in the day, but I realized that I’m better at tuning than I am at driving, so I let someone else drive. I’m a racing addict — I have to race. My drive for racing is so strong that I wear people out. I wore my first driver out. I ran Shawn pretty ragged for a while,” said Waterman.

Recently, he’s been working with Dave Fiscus on tuning a unique vehicle in the world of small-tire racing, as Fiscus is well-known in the Grand National world and had been racing his own car in 235-style action at 3,500 pounds race-ready. Fiscus is currently building an all-new chassis at Tin Soldier Race Cars in Kentucky, with an eye toward X275 class domination upon its return. Waterman’s own Tin Soldier-built Mustang chassis was sitting in the garage with no drivetrain in it, as he had lent the existing nitrous engine to Martin Connelley for Connelley’s two-class assault on Lights Out 11.

He was one of Pro Stock’s superstars in the late 1970s and early ‘80s, winning 11 NHRA national events and having his name mentioned in the same breath as Bob Glidden, Reher-Morrison-Shepherd and the other icons of the class for a few of those years. 

Yet today, Frank Iaconio might best be remembered for something he didn’t win – the 1983 NHRA World Championship.

The controversial finish to that year overshadows the breadth of Iaconio’s career, in which he was a major player for about a decade despite a serious crash, a major NHRA Pro Stock rules change, a misguided effort to be part of a “superteam” and the legendarily fanatical efforts of his competition, who, like Iaconio, ran professionally without oodles of prize or sponsorship money.

When the 2021 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series begins March 11-14 in Gainesville, Fla., veteran Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Chip Ellis doesn’t have a ride and that’s all right with him.

“I don’t have anything going on right now,” Ellis said. “Last year I was supposed to run a couple of races with Matt (Smith) and then the COVID-19 stuff happened, and we have been messing with these boats some. One of the races I supposed to race with Matt interfered with a boat race and I was more interested in going boat racing than I was going Pro Stock Motorcycle racing.”

Ellis’ nod to boat racing is because his daughter, McKenzie, 19, drives their family-owned boat and he is the crew chief.

Terry McMillen was focused on the task at hand on Tuesday afternoon, massaging a section on his 1973 Nova project car's fender. Usually, he'd be confined to his office, putting the same effort into fulfilling a sponsor's program associated with his Amalie Oil Top Fuel dragster.

While this ship hasn't officially sailed out of port, the departure time for what has been a 15-year cruise is drawing quickly near. Still, McMillen is frantically searching for his ticket.

"Still chasing sponsors, trying to be able to start the season off in Gainesville," McMillen said as he worked feverishly to fulfill a self-imposed deadline.

It's race day at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, Ca.. Qualifying is complete, now it's time to begin the process of eliminating down for a winner of the VRHRA World Finals, the final event of the 2021 season. 

It's all fun in fantasy land to get away from the troubles of what is happening in the real world. 

For those new to this fantasy world, this is how it works. The race with the most votes advances to the next round. We had two days of voting to seed the eight-car fields. 

First-round ends tonight at 7 PM EST. 

Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels is back again as title sponsor of Lights Out 12, "The Baddest Small Tire Races in the World."

A leader in the small tire drag racing category with its ET Street Radial Pro line, Mickey Thompson has supported the annual Duck X Productions event since 2009.

If you’ve followed small-tire door car racing with any level of interest over the last couple of years, you’ve likely heard the name, Martin Connelley. He, along with his team, pulled off some of the most impressive feats of racing success seen in motorsports when they captured not one but two class wins — with two different cars and combinations, mind you — at Lights Out 11 last spring in DXP Street and Limited 235. In 2021, the team has decided to concentrate its efforts on one car and race it in three different classes: NMRA Renegade, NMCA Xtreme Street, and select Ultra Street events when possible.

While the dual-win accomplishment might be enough for many racers to sit back and rest for a while, Connelley raced both cars all season in DXP Street and Limited 235 and was undefeated in competition in those classes. Wherever he showed up, the win went back home with him to Kentucky. He and his gang are unrelenting in their quest for success, which puts them in a prime position for 2021.