Day one of the 49th Annual Nightfire Nationals got underway on Friday evening at Firebird Raceway. With the current pandemic looming, there are a very respectable number of professional cars who made the trip to the high desert facility. These are the results for Q1 which took place under the lights.

Sqwincher electrolyte replenishment products will be brightly featured on the Jim Dunn Racing team’s Funny Car entry during the NHRA Dodge INDY Nationals, August 8 -9, at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis.  

The team had previously planned to run the Sqwincher car at the NHRA national event in Topeka later this month, but with the Kansas race postponement, the timeline for the car was moved up.

Cory McClenathan doesn't need to be reminded he's 57 years old. However, every once in a while, Mother Nature sends him a reminder.

McClenathan, who is in a farewell tour redo of sorts, was handed the reminder on Thursday morning following a busy Wednesday of testing at World Wide Technologies Raceway located outside of St. Louis.

"I don't feel 57, but living in California, I had to jump on an airplane at 6:45 AM and then had airplane trouble in Phoenix and got in late into Indy on Tuesday night," McClenathan recalled. "Then to turn around Wednesday morning and get up at 5:45 and leave for St. Louis to go testing, and then we got home late that night, it makes for a long couple of days."

Bo Butner made the announcement he'd be stepping away from professional drag racing once before. His decision, back in 2018, lasted about three weeks once the reality set in.

Once again, Butner said he plans to step away from professional drag racing.

"My good friend Jason Line is retiring; this is his last year. Jeggie is also not going to be a full-time deal. Well, I am also making that same decision," Butner revealed as a guest on Joe Castello's WFORadio.com.

"I am probably going to expand my business. It's great, and I cannot turn it down. Ken and Judy Black have been great to me. I am not going to any other team. I might be at a race every now and then, but as it stands now. I am not going to come back to run anything fulltime.

Stevie “Fast” Jackson will make his Top Alcohol Funny Car debut on August 14-15th at the Mid-West Drag Racing Series event at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway during the Summer Speed Spectacular. Jackson will compete in Jim and Annie Whiteley’s J&A Service Alcohol Funny Car.

Besides Jackson, Jim Whiteley will also be competing in the Alcohol class at the event.

“It is no secret my dream is to crush Alcohol and Nitro Racing,” Jackson said. “This is a great opportunity for me to make some passes and fuel that passion. I cannot thank Jim and Annie enough for this opportunity. Sheikh Abdulla was also very supportive and always has my back. These are incredible people and a huge asset to drag racing.”

Josh Hart has announced that Camrie Caruso will be the Top Alcohol Dragster pilot for his Fearless Racing team for the 2021 season. Caruso is already familiar with Top Alcohol Dragster. 

She previously competed in the category for Randy Meyer Racing. In 2019, Caruso won her first Top Alcohol Dragster win at the Norwalk Divisional when she defeated Will Smith at the 13th annual Cavalcade of Stars presented by Budweiser at Summit Motorsports Park. 

“I’m really excited,” Caruso said. “I know the car chief [Adrian Long] really well and he’s amazing at what he does. I know Josh is a great person and he has great equipment. The team works really well together. I get to driver for a very good team.

The 2020 Gulf Western Oil Winternationals at Willowbank Raceway has been cancelled.

The biggest event on the Australian calendar was originally scheduled for June 3-7 but when Covid-19 struck was pushed forward until September 17-20.Australia -- much like around the world -- due to the global coronavirus pandemic. Presently, the borders are closed between Victoria and Queensland.

SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association, announced that due to Covid-19 and concerns that event facilities and services will be unavailable, the SEMA Show will not be taking place in 2020.

While both event organizers and industry members have been working tirelessly to deliver an outstanding SEMA Show in November, mounting uncertainty has rendered continuing with the event inadvisable. SEMA expects the decision will bring much needed clarity to an uncertain picture and will help exhibitors, attendees and partners plan accordingly.

During his recent battle with coronavirus, NHRA Funny Car driver Bob Tasca has discovered that America has an unsung group of front-line heroes.

They’re far away from Kent County Hospital at Warwick, Rhode Island, where he spent several days fighting pneumonia in both lungs, coughing uncontrollably, and watching his heart rate fluctuate wildly – all side effects of the disease. There his already slim body was dropping pounds nearly as fast as his Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang burns nitromethane on the dragstrip. 

They’re the technicians who have kept the service departments humming at his family’s new-vehicle dealerships in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut that represent Ford, Lincoln, Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Volvo, Mazda, and Nissan.

Check out this video from our friends at Quartermax Chassis & Racing Components. 

Brett Newell's reaction when he first sees all the updates completed by RJ Race Cars to his steel body 1969 Camaro. 

Like many racers at the racetrack, in pursuit of going quicker Brett began having traction and handling issues with his beloved '69 Camaro. A combination of age, wear and tear, and the stress of more and more horsepower led to several chassis related issues that he was battling with the car. When Brett decided to take action he called on Rick and Rickie Jones and the team at RJ Race Cars and Quarter-Max Chassis & Racing Components to help him find a solution.