In 2020 the NHRA season was a roller-coaster ride because of the COVID-19 pandemic canceling races.

Former world champion Shawn Langdon, who pilots the DHL Kalitta Air Top Fuel dragster, got through the abbreviated season that saw him finish sixth in the points standings, highlighted by him winning the U.S. Nationals.

“For me winning the U.S. National this year was more gratifying for me based off of the circumstances and for my team,” Langdon said. “It is awesome to win the U.S. Nationals and I have won it before, but it was different this year. In 2017 I raced with Connie (Kalitta) but the one regret that I had was leaving that team and not being able to win with Connie. We had a couple runners-up.

Jasmine Salinas admittedly is “terrified” of public speaking.

But the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster driver, through her distinguished video documentary “Five Foot 280,” has been a global ambassador for drag racing – and, maybe more importantly, a strong advocate for women in every walk of life.

The film, a joint venture with videographers/producers Joshua Harding and Matt Klug which runs for just four minutes, 44 seconds, offers a brief glimpse of this paradoxical 28-year-old powerhouse who is at once shy and self-assured, low-profile but principled.

The PDRA’s Extreme Pro Stock class will grow by at least one car and driver in 2021, as former Pro Outlaw 632 driver Jeremy Huffman announced today his plans to move up to the class next season. Huffman will make the move in the same 2010 Chevy Cobalt he drove to victory in Pro Outlaw 632 competition.
 
Huffman and his father, Mike, started racing in the PDRA’s Pro Outlaw 632 class in 2018 and in just a handful of appearances turned into a serious contender. The North Carolina-based driver earned his first low qualifier award and event victory at the 2019 PDRA World Finals before sitting out the 2020 season.

The motorsports industry’s annual Race Industry Week is set to take place online from December 9-12, with industry leaders and experts from throughout the world sharing the latest business practices, trends and strategies to help racing-related businesses adapt and thrive in today’s challenging environment.

While the industry typically gathers at the Indiana Convention Center during the week of the PRI Trade Show, this year’s Race Industry Week will take place entirely online. The program will consist of live presentations from the Race Track Business Conference and the ICMS Annual Congress, followed by three days of new educational seminars from PRI Education. The focus of PRI Education is to help racing-related businesses and professionals prepare for a successful 2021.

Robert Hight and NHRA Championship Drag Racing earned the votes in AAA’s Decision 2020: Drags or Checkered Flags to retain bragging rights as best racing series. Hight, who also won the contest in 2016, faced off with fellow AAA sponsored NASCAR driver Joey Logano.

After a grueling campaign highlighted by debates at the Auto Club 400 on March 1st and The Last Debate (held virtually on November 2nd), Hight garnered enough fan votes to win a second term for Dra

Tommy Johnson Jr. understands that he could face many dire consequences at this stage in his life.

Johnson, 52, finds himself on the sidelines, without a driving job for the first time since 2014, when he filled the seat vacated by Johnny Gray at Don Schumacher Racing. He's not finished driving, nor is he ready to retire, but Johnson understands the quality opportunities available for even a 23-time winner are slim to none.

In what could be described as the epitome of NHRA drag racing's next generation moving to the forefront, Troy Coughlin Jr. will become the lead driver for Team JEGS in 2021 and beyond, driving the JEGS.com Elite Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro tuned by Rickie Jones.

Just one year after the inception of the Pro Stock class 50 years ago, JEGS Automotive joined the battle with company founder Jeg Coughlin Sr. grinding gears in his JEGS-sponsored car. Troy Coughlin Sr., one of Jeg Sr.'s four sons who now own and operate JEGS, was next to contest the factory hot rod class, running various yellow-and-black hot rods from 1994-2004. Then came Jeg Coughlin Jr., who won five world titles and 65 races in the class during a 24-year professional career.

American fans of the straight-line sport are experiencing difficult times due to restrictions necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Hot Rod Association’s prime national event schedule of 24 events having being decimated through curtailment of many races. Coronavirus has invoked a literal shutdown of many facets of daily life, starting in mid-March and continuing in an onerous manner to this day.

Over in Europe, matters have been equally challenging for drag racing devotees, with Europe’s prime quarter-mile strip, Santa Pod Raceway, being obliged to cancel numerous events at the 250-acre site situated on the county borders of Northamptonshire and Bedford, some 70 miles to the north of the capital. It has been particularly galling insomuch as there were 72 events on this season’s calendar, which would have made it one of the world’s busiest tracks -- running from mid-February through to the first week of December. There’s truth in advertising as the well-chronicled rural facility bills itself as the UK’s most action-packed venue…